Six months have passed since our honeymoon and Twelve has already become an entire new place. Things have changed so much in so little time. To think Peeta and I were getting married eight months ago in a desert of debris.
After Lana's appeal on the national television, the population of district Twelve has increased to about twenty thousand people, most of them Avoxes in search of a new beginning. They are getting married, finding jobs, easily merging with the rest of the people and producing children very quickly.
Given the quick change in demographics, the Capitol gave orders for a hospital to be built in the district quickly. Brand new machines came from the richer districts and the whole construction took only three months to be completed.
Delly came back as soon as it started, so that she could spend the remainder of her pregnancy with Thom and deliver her babies in district Twelve. Johanna was most thankful to see her go, because her own pregnancy was almost starting to show and, although Peeta, Annie and I really think she should tell the truth about the baby, she wants to keep it a secret for now.
Twelve is now known to some people as the Avox district, so a special wing of the hospital was built just for that effect. It has been the headquarters of a very innovative project: the implantation of prosthetic tongues in Avoxes, somehow connected to their brains by artificial intelligence.
As everything that is new, the procedure is risky and costly. Many people are afraid of it, but not all of them: Pollux has become the first Avox in history to have a new tongue implanted in his mouth. If it works, he will be a national inspiration. We still don't know the results because of the very nature of the procedure: it takes four months to know if the process has worked.
On the first day of internment, the surgery is performed to place the prosthetic tongue in the patient's mouth. It doesn't end up there, however. The patient must be hospitalized for the next four months in a solitary room, not allowed to speak to anybody except the therapists. The goal is to grasp the use of the new tongue before speaking to family or friends. The specialists consider that a bad interaction, or a failure to speak correctly in the beginning – which is to be expected – in front of the loved ones may cause self-esteem issues and hinder the process.
The program promotes intensive therapies, focusing mostly on speech, but not only. People in internment are allowed to have visitors every day, but they are always separated by thick glass so that their voices can't be heard. After the first four months being passed in confinement, the patient will still endure two years of intense speech therapy, but at least will be staying at home.
Lana, who dreads being an Avox, was willing to be the first patient. Since it is a new project, Haymitch didn't want her to take part in it just yet; he wanted her to see how things worked to the others first.
"They will improve the procedures with time," he said, "Don't be their guinea pig."
If I am to be honest, I think his main concern was to spend four months without her.
Lana didn't agree with him. One day she went to the hospital in secret to have exams – exams to evaluate her body's readiness to the surgery - and the next thing she told us was that she had been admitted to the program.
Haymitch went almost crazy when she told him. Saddened by the prospect of living the next four months without his wife, he decided to follow Peeta's advice and seek the most innovative treatment against alcoholism at the Capitol. As such, he is to be confined for two months.
There are lots of tears on the day their temporary separation begins. We leave Lana at the hospital's door with the small suitcase she once brought from the Capitol. She and Haymitch kiss so sadly it makes everyone cry. She waves us goodbye with a reassuring smile, but still weeps when we leave. It's easy to see she's second guessing her decision, but in reality she has nothing to lose.
Then, we take a teary-eyed Haymitch to the train station. When the train finally departs to the Capitol, his face shows determination and steely hope. In that moment I'm confident he will never drink again.
I had never understood how much Haymitch's absence makes our neighborhood feel so empty. But Peeta and I have each other and our cats, so life is still comfortable and happy as before. Bligh, on the other side, has no one but a bunch of brutish geese to feed. He is to take charge of the Abernathy's house until they come back, and that includes taking care of the said geese, watering the garden and searching for India Phipps, Lana's sister. Those are curious functions. He's an interpreter turned into a housemaid, but times are hard.
Lana has her surgery on the first day, and then we visit her almost daily to let her know she's not alone. But we're trying to deceive her and ourselves; she is indeed alone. She cries every time she sees us; we conclude she has too much time in her hands to think about Haymitch and India.
When we got back to district Twelve, right after the honeymoon, the Abernathys rushed to their house to read the documents Plutarch Heavensbee had sent to them concerning Lana's sister. The only thing he could say was that she was indeed alive and living in a plantation in district Two, but nothing else.
When Gale showed up to visit me, Haymitch took the chance to ask for his help. Gale is in the military in district Two, so he is the right person to investigate the matter. And Gale promised he would, so we knew it was a matter of time until we had some news.
The news come by mail some days after Lana's surgery. That's a day we will never forget: the day we come home from the bakery to see Bligh looking paler than we have even seen him before.
"Her sister is still enslaved," he promptly announces, "In district Two."
Peeta and I gasp.
"How is that even possible? Every kind of slavery was abolished one year ago."
"It still happens everywhere," Bligh says, "But that's not the worst."
"What can possibly be worse than that?" Peeta asks.
"The girl was turned into an Avox at the same time Lana was," Bligh says, "She was only seven years old. They even spent some months at the same asylum before India was sold."
"Lana never saw her sister there," I observe.
"Maybe they divided people according to age," Bligh shrugs, "India went to the slave market and was bought by the owner of a well known plantation in Two, named Strawberry Gardens. It is the largest producer of fruit and vegetables in Panem."
"But India wasn't even involved in Lana's –" Peeta states, horrified.
"Revenge, I guess," Bligh replies, looking nauseous.
Unable to say more, he goes outside and pours the contents of his stomach right between our porches. By the looks of it, it's not the first time he has done so since receiving the news.
"I grew up so close to that farm," he shakes his head, "They had a good reputation, we always bought produce from them. I could never have imagined that they enslaved people –"
"Still, she could have been sold into adoption," I say, "Why would they turn a seven-year-old into an Avox?"
Bligh shakes his head.
"India didn't know Lana's story, but she knew she belonged to the Phipps family. The Capitol didn't want an heir to show up one day and claim their money and properties."
Apparently, Gale had promised to visit the plantation, and he fulfills that promise. When we get home a few days later, after our visit to Lana, the phone is ringing. Peeta picks up the call and it's Gale himself.
"Hello, Gale," I hear him say. He then looks at me. "Gale wants you to listen to this too," I follow him, "All right, she's here. I've put you on speaker."
"Hey, Catni -" Gale's voice says, "Katniss."
"Hi, Gale," I never seem to be too happy to hear from him since that fateful day at the Capitol. Maybe one day I will, but not yet, "Let me bring Bligh here too."
I run to the next house. Less than a couple of minutes later, Bligh is with us in our studio.
"I'm calling you guys to say I've been there. I was at the plantation and I've seen the girl."
"You saw India?" Peeta asks, and Gale confirms.
"How is she?" I ask.
"She lives like a princess, very spoiled by the owner of the plantation," Gale says, "She wanted nothing to do with me."
"How did things go?" Peeta asks.
"Badly. The owner still has lots of Avoxes working for her. I threatened the lady with criminal charges and she got nasty. Then I tried sending Peacekeepers there, but there was no use. The family has enough money to bribe anyone."
"And India, what was her reaction?"
"At first she seemed interested, but after… I may have lost control of my temper and she became afraid of me," Gale says, sheepishly, "The owner was crying and she was calming down that old hag when I left."
"What kind of person is the owner?"
"She's an old spinster who seems to have no one besides India and a few greedy nieces who just show up for money," Gale explains, "She spoils her a lot, as I said. I don't think she will ever let her go."
"Thank you, Gale," I say, discouraged.
"I promise you guys that I will find a way. I can't believe that old witch still enslaves people."
He hangs up. There's a reason Gale is calling us and not Haymitch: our mentor isn't allowed to have any contact with the outside world except for his wife. His wife, on the other hand, isn't allowed to speak on the phone while she's interned, so he is basically alone as well.
"I'm going there myself," Bligh decides.
"You?" we ask.
He shrugs.
"I'm doing nothing here now. I may even lose my job when Lana comes back home speaking," he says, "I should visit my mother anyway, I haven't done so for a long time now. She lives near that plantation, so it's all for the best."
If there's one thing I learned about Bligh, it is that under his soft exterior there's a resolute man who always does what he sets his mind into doing. We doubt it will make a difference, but we don't try to stop him. It's settled. Bligh departs on the next day.
A few hours later, Thom calls us to announce that Delly has just delivered two healthy boys. We visit them as soon as we're allowed to. They are the first babies both made and born in district Twelve after the war, so everyone celebrates.
Delly hugs us both and cries when we show up. I think this is the happiest moment of her life. They invite us to be the godparents of the boys and we gladly accept.
Somehow I decide to learn how to bake, because that's what a Mellark does. Peeta is shocked and overjoyed when I tell him my decision, especially because he has never asked me to do so. Unfortunately for everyone involved, I'm a terrible baker, so I decide to deliver bread instead until Rory starts working as the driver.
Peeta himself doesn't bake a lot anymore; he just does the cake design for the most special occasions.
We finish the details of our children's book and send it to a publisher at the Capitol. He finds it lovely, as we know he would, and now the ball is in his hands. All we can do is wait and be nervous about the country's feedback.
The hours pass slowly, but we always find ways to have fun. Peeta completes his 19th birthday. We call Johanna every night before bed. We take care of our godsons while their parents rest. We don't go to our lake because it's too cold. We feed the damn geese and regret it every time. We start our own home garden. Mostly, we spend our days cuddling in front of the fireplace.
A letter from Bligh comes and we rip it enthusiastically. We read it in the front stairs of our porch, the paper in my hands and my body sitting between Peeta's legs.
Dear Katniss and Peeta,
I hope you're all right.
I did what I told you and went to Strawberry Gardens. I was received politely and made conversation with the owner. She didn't seem an ill-intentioned woman, just a lonely old lady without a husband or a close family. From what I could see, her treatment of India resembled the one of a grandmother to her granddaughter.
Although the plantation is still full of Avox slaves, India never worked in the fields. She's more of an adored child. She used to be treated like a young teenager, even though she's already twenty-three, and, as the old woman told me, they have spent all their days together since India first arrived.
The lady says she was only looking for slaves many years ago, but bought the girl because she felt sorry about her age.
Although the old lady was initially distrustful of me because of her previous conversation with Gale Hawthorne, she was very happy to have someone to speak to. While I was just making polite conversation with her, I was making different gestures to India. I was trying to gather if she dominated sign language, as she apparently communicated well with the other Avoxes and seemed to understand everything. It also became evident that her old master didn't know sign language.
So, when I secretly told her I came to fetch her for her sister Milana, India presented me with the most beautiful smile I've ever seen and held my hand, refusing to let me go away without her. It's needless to say that the old lady was outraged at my shady behavior when she found out what I had done. I asked her to only let me take India to be registered as a citizen and I would bring her back later if that was what she wanted. She only accepted after hours of pleading on India's part. We then left, promising we would come back later in the day.
I asked India if she still remembered her birth name because, at the plantation, she was called Millie. She said yes and correctly told me her original name: India Phipps. Then I explained her everything about slavery and registration and told her she could choose the name she liked the most. I meant that she was free to choose between India and Millie.
She gave me her happiest grin. That should have been a clue, but I trusted her enough to register herself alone, and so she did. I'm not exaggerating when I say I almost died when she showed me her new citizen card. She had registered herself as India Bligh. When I asked India why she did it, she said Bligh was the most beautiful surname she had ever heard.
After all that we visited a fair, bought cotton candy and went to the carousel a dozen times. Then we visited my mother and ended up having dinner with her. She absolutely adored India's manners, so she asked her to stay with us for the night. India accepted it immediately. I didn't care about our promise to the old lady anymore, because she had no right to keep India enslaved in the first place.
On the next morning, India told me she had decided that she was not going back to the plantation. She said she wanted to follow me and be with her sister.
She still wanted to talk to the old lady, so I asked Gale Hawthorne for help, because the situation could get dangerous.
Arriving there with three soldiers, we learned that the old lady had died during the night. Heartbreak was the probable reason. I felt somewhat responsible for her demise, but my guilt didn't last long. All Avoxes took the chance to run away. Her niece was already there and she didn't allow India to fetch any of her possessions, including the only doll she had brought from her parents' house. India was heartbroken, so we left.
We tried to take the train to district Twelve, but there was a mistake. Because we shared the same age and surname, the stationmaster mistook us for a married couple and assigned as a couples room. I wouldn't let it happen, so now we're waiting for another train.
I expect to arrive in a day or two.
Your friend,
Icarus Bligh
It's incredible, but Bligh was correct when he believed that he was the right person to bring India home. For starters, they grew up in the same place, so they may have some things in common. Then his presence is more soothing and reassuring than Gale's, who would obviously scare a sheltered girl off with his fiery temper. Last, Bligh could easily say one thing to the owner and the exact opposite to India, because of his fluency in sign language.
Bligh arrives with India two days later.
We are somewhat nervous to meet her but, once we see the girl we've been looking for all this time, we understand there's really no reason for that. She's just a younger Lana, a tad shorter than Bligh, with light blue eyes and light brown hair. The only apparent difference between them is in their hair tones: where Lana has blonde shades, India's are red.
She chuckles heartily when we open the door. Then, she gestures to Bligh, who looks amused by her reaction.
"Yes, it's them," he says softly, "The star-crossed lovers from the Hunger Games. They are your sister's best friends."
She smiles shyly and greets Peeta and I with hugs.
They have dinner with us. It's a quiet affair, because India and Bligh spend the whole time closed in their own small world, full of signs and smiles, clearly besotted with each other. I had never seen him so comfortable and cheerful. Our usually hesitant friend has suddenly transformed himself into someone who is very easygoing but, once we interrupt their interactions, the spell is gone and he goes back into his usual self.
Peeta and I exchange a meaningful glance and decide to give up on them, having a parallel conversation ourselves. They don't even seem to realize it.
"So, India," Peeta asks by the end of the dinner, "Where will you stay until Lana comes back?"
India points to Bligh, who shakes his head.
"You can stay with us," I say, as Peeta and I had talked about it beforehand.
India looks around and shakes her head. She shrugs and gestures to Bligh, who chuckles and turns to us.
"She says she has no way to communicate with you without me," he then looks at India, "But they are your sister's friends, and I know they'll be yours too. You would be fine staying here with them."
She points to Bligh again and crosses her arms.
"I don't think there's a problem if –" Peeta starts.
"I'm staying at your sister's house," Bligh says to India, "But I'm sure your sister and your brother-in-law don't want you to share a house with a man. I'll have to go back to my hotel room if you want to stay there."
"I don't think they would mind if you were in the house together," I reassure them, "They trust you, Bligh."
He blushes and clears his throat, obviously uncomfortable with the idea.
"Let's see how it works," he says through gritted teeth.
When they turn to leave, I see a golden bracelet in India's left wrist. It looks familiar, like the one Bligh found at the beach in Four, the same bracelet he had told me he would give to the girl he decided to marry.
He never gave it to Johanna, not even when they were getting along again in Four, more than six months ago. But since maybe he is going to be a father, I always thought he would give it to her then.
Coming closer to India, I see the inscription I feared I would read there: FOR ALL TIME.