CHAPTER 51

Game Over Start Again

Annie scrambled closer to the end of the hide-out, hoping to find something for her week-long project. She pulled Navin closer and showed her the work in process, which her sister was quick to praise in a hushed voice. They had stirred some trouble that morning and being found out meant more than a few hospital visiting rights being revoked.

The sisters had been not only inseparable for the past seven days, but were also completely uncontrollable. At first, the theory had been that Navin, as confused and disorientated as someone without memories would be, grabbed her easily influenced sister by the arm and ran off somewhere within Thirteen's district until well late into the night—always minutes before lights out. The reality, to most people's surprise, was quite different. Annie had taken a week to grow desperate due to the general lack of news from Two's rebel camp, where Gianna and Theo had gone with Katniss to help in any way they could. The overall planning and meditation Annie had demonstrated for six consecutive days fell into nothing as she took Navin away from the hospital wing right in front of two utterly perplexed doctors.

"Do you really think Angel will like it, or are you just saying it's good to make me shut up?" Annie asked, twirling the ring between her fingers before deciding it wasn't good enough and restarting her search—that was her ninth try at a ring in almost seven days.

Navin sniggered and lay down beside her, watching Annie's hands at work as her fingers danced small strips of coloured wires around them. "If I had, it's clearly not working."

"Very funny," Annie replied with a huff. "I just need it to be perfect."

"Good thing, you just need that," she commented and laughed when her sister turned to her, cheeks tainted red, no telling if it was from embarrassment or anger. "Annie, come on, Angel will love it no matter what you give her. She's head over heels for you!"

"You don't know her," Annie mumbled, her eyes glued stuck to the new attempt at a proposal ring, "she's so elegant. Like, I swear, she's the most beautiful being in this entire world, and she only wears things that are as beautiful as she is, and… ugh, I don't know. I just don't want her to say she likes it because it's something I made…"

"But that's the thing. You made it." Navin sat back up, a hand carefully placed on her sister's shoulder. "Annie, for goodness' sake, will you please see how beautiful that is in itself? Anybody who's not an idiot would flaunt the ring at every given chance, and I'm pretty sure Angel is not an idiot."

Annie sniggered bitterly. "Yeah? How are you so sure? You've hardly seen her twice since you woke up."

"Well, for starters," Navin tucked her sister's hair behind her ear and smiled warmly, a kind of smile she hadn't shown a soul for months, "she got you to fall in love with her. And I might not remember much, but I can tell that's a feat worth my praise."

"Then I guess we both have people to praise," Annie mumbled and carried on with her new bluish-green wire ring.

There were ten minutes left until 'Lights Out', a regularly scheduled time for everyone to go to bed within District Thirteen, and Navin had to do her best to lift her sister's spirits. Annie had discarded and redone about fifteen or sixteen rings by supper when she gave up. She threw the ring across the hide-out, causing passing guards to discover them lying around in the packed space for school supplies at the far end of one of Thirteen's few classrooms.

A doctor appeared once again to remind Annie she had to go. Visits had long since been prohibited, yet nobody dared to ask such a frail person to leave, much less when she disregarded their existence. That time, the graceful appearance of her sister's hopefully soon-to-be-fiancée saved the doctor.

"Welcome back, Angel," she greeted softly, all the while Annie's head fought not to fall onto her sister's lap out of her own exhaustion. "How's your day been?"

"Oh, you know, doctors rushing to Command, demanding me to leave everything to go look for you and Annie. Fun stuff, really. It's the seventh day. You'd think they would just let it go," Angel replied, sniggered to herself as she caught Annie about to fall off the chair. "Now, what did you two do for her to be this exhausted? Were you running around or something?"

"You could say she's had a bit of a stressful day," Navin said with a smile. "With Gianna and Theo gone, she's been a bit over the edge… at least more than what she used to be a week ago."

Angel nodded sadly. "Things in Two are moving slowly, but apparently they got an idea from a kid—a Twelve's refugee."

"A good idea?" Navin asked.

"Depends." Angel shrugged and sighed, hugging Annie close to her chest. "Not too good for the poor innocent people over in Two, good for us since it will speed things up."

"What are they going to do?"

"The initial plan was to bury the people inside a mountain, a place where most of the Capitol's tech had been left to be guarded—Peacekeepers, Hovercrafts, machinery, everything you can think of. And when one can't take over, they make sure the others can make no use of it either… Thankfully, Katniss hoped for a more humane path, and now the train tracks will be left untouched for the people to escape. Not everyone will make it out, though. I'd be surprised if half survived. Not only the bombing and the fire, but the stampede, too. Tick a human in the wrong way and chaos will wreck even the most peaceful person in a matter of seconds… It'll be a carnage in there. And, well, we will be here… celebrating."

Though Navin had not one recollection of Angel in her hazy and pathetically incomplete excuse for memories, she couldn't bring herself to ignore her sister's loved one when she was shaking to her core. Despite having Annie in her arms, Angel didn't flinch or move away when Navin approached, hugging who she could only describe at that moment as her friend.

Angel couldn't reciprocate the hug, but her will could never be overlooked, nor her fleeting tears. "I had a chat with your doctors. Tomorrow, you'll be eating meals with us. They hope this will keep you from running away every day."

"That depends on Annie," said Navin with a smile present on her face. "I have no idea where we go most of the time, and she basically pulls me by the arm the moment she gets here, so I don't really get a chance to deny. Not like a want to, though."

"Bet you don't," Angel chuckled to herself, shifting Annie in her arms to carry her without trouble. "But the others miss you, you know? It'll do us good to have some quality family time."

"How many people are we talking about?" Navin asked, fearing the worst.

Angel's eyes darted to the side as she mumbled, "Let's see, us three, your father, Finnick, Johanna, the other victors, Prim, Piscia, Minerva, Cario… I'd say sixteen."

"Peeta can't join us?" asked Navin.

"Let's not push things that far just yet," replied Angel. "If it weren't for Annie, getting you out of the hospital would be completely out of the question for at least another month. This is already a treat they're giving us."

"A 'treat'?" Navin sniggered bitterly. "Are we dogs?"

Angel shrugged. "Looks like it."

Hours later, well late into the morning, Primrose Everdeen, a young girl training to be a doctor, stopped by Navin's room with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. Without knowing when or how, Navin got to hear Prim's never-ending praise for her sister, Katniss. She listened carefully until it was time for breakfast, when the little girl guided her over to the Cafeteria, a wide grey space that no longer surprised anybody who had been in Thirteen for more than a week.

They sat down with the rest of the family, chatting and listening attentively to hours-worth of stories that otherwise would have been forgotten. Finnick even decided to remind everyone of his favourite one, the one time a turtle swam away with his hat. To that day, he swore he hadn't worn a hat again to the beach in utter fear another turtle or the same one would come to steal it away as well.

"I need to see that," said Navin, stifling a laugh the best she could. "Please, if we ever go back home, wear a hat and let's go to the beach."

"Sure," he replied, a warm smile overtaking his previous smirk. "But you pick the hat."

"I'd be glad to," she replied.

The moment breakfast's scheduled hours were over, two guards stood at the side of the table, carefully keeping an eye on Navin in case she ran away. It took Angel and a few kind words from Joe to keep Annie from shouting at them, and yet everyone's attention was solely on Navin, nobody else.

"Can I at least say goodbye before you drag me away?" she asked.

"It would be best to be quick, Miss Cresta. You're on a tight schedule today," the right guard replied.

Though she had no idea what 'tight schedule' could refer to when she had done nothing other than lay in bed and be asked the same questions each day for weeks, Navin didn't question it and turned to her sister, who had already turned a deaf ear to the world. A kind of deaf that didn't work for her. Annie would hear even a mumble if it was Navin's, just like every sigh from Annie echoed in Navin's mind like a siren let loose.

She leaned over to her sister, close enough so nobody else could hear her, and whispered. "She'll love the ring, any of them, so please ask her today. If you want, I can slip out to give you some emotional support."

"Don't," Annie waved her hand, but kept the low tone, nonetheless. "I don't want you to get into any more trouble because of me."

"I wouldn't consider it trouble," Navin glanced over to the guards, actively losing their patience with every second they wasted talking. "It's more like a fun distraction." She was tempted to kiss Annie's head, but refrained from it to acknowledge the rest of the table. "I'll see you later… I hope."

The way back to the hospital was painfully slow. Navin had time to spot every little detail in the hallways that could tell her what differences there were between them, whether that was a sign or mark or even a stain on the railing. Despite that, the way passed by like a trip. Earlier that week, whenever she left the hospital, it was while running. She hadn't had time to look at her surroundings, much less take in the depressing dullness that Thirteen had extrapolated to its citizens, or perhaps the other way around. If there was anything notorious that morning to be mindful of, was the little time she spent in her room back at the hospital.

A group of people, gloomy and innocent like children, got to her before any doctor could explain a word, and by the time she had understood the overall message, Peeta had his eyes on her. He seemed better, better fed, at the very least. She, however, hadn't changed much since the last time he had seen her—the same white hair, frail skin, and the over-the-top concerned look in her eyes.

"It's good to see you again, whatever name you go by now," Peeta greeted, the start of a mocking grin pricking the corner of his lips.

Navin sighed and walked over to him, taking a seat where his leg should be. "It's good to see you too, Peeta… and, well, I'm back again at Navin. For now, anyway."

"You'll go crazy one day," said Peeta. "First Navin, then Olive, Liv, Livia… And now Navin again."

"It's too boring to keep using the same name all the time," she joked, getting Peeta to let out a soft chuckle. "How about you? Feeling alright in the head these days?"

"Not really," he answered. "The doctors keep telling me I'm safe and that nothing will happen to me here, but nothing ever changes. I still remember Katniss doing all those things, and…"

"They tell you it's not real, that it's what the Capitol wanted you to think," she finished for him. "And then you lay here, wondering whether to believe them or not, and why would you even have to trust anything they tell you. But you really want to believe them, because if they're not telling the truth… then you have nothing. Because if they're liars, then you're alone."

"Had some time to think, didn't you?" Peeta asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "I guess it's just fair. You have to believe so many people to even have an identity of your own… I'm surprised you're pulling yourself this nicely… They haven't shown you a single photo of you before the Quell, did they? No, I wouldn't have done it either."

Navin gulped a lump in her throat, the desire to ask burning deep inside her until she could not control her mouth. "What do you mean?"

Peeta smiled sadly. "You look nothing like Olive, Navin."

"How?" she asked, desperation and fear leaking into her voice. "But I'm… I'm not her at all, am I?"

"Not really," said Peeta, making her go silent. "Olive would have been so scared for me and my well-being that no doctor in their right mind would have let her come inside to talk to me. She would have asked about Minnie the moment she woke up. Olive would have gone through with a proper wedding with Finnick at the first opportunity possible because the hope of having a family with a loving husband was all she had to look forward to back when in the Capitol. And don't get me started on how she would have been with her siblings and her father."

"Stop it," she mumbled, "please, Peeta, stop talking."

"Your hair's white, your skin's pale… that's not Olive," he continued, forcing Navin to wipe away a few tears. "You're someone, Navin, but not her… And that might be for the best."

"What…?"

"Olive was my friend, a good one at that, but I'd rather let her rest. She deserves that much." Peeta fought the strap holding onto his wrist to reach out to Navin's hand. "Now, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss. My name's Peeta Mellark."

Navin let the tears roll down her flushed cheeks as she stared down at her hand, holding tightly onto Peeta's. "The pleasure is all mine, Mr Mellark. I am Navin Cresta, and I would love to be your friend."

"No, no, no." Peeta shook his head playfully. "I insist. The pleasure is all mine, my dear friend."

"We're not going to fight over this, Peeta."

"Do you admit defeat, then?"

"Never."

"Then you better prepare yourself to fight over it, Navin."

Despite Peeta's warning, the rest of their time until noon passed by chatting about memories, what they could recall and what seemed too foggy to make any sense of it. No doubt Peeta had more memories to talk about than Navin, but, as time went by, she could recollect different feelings, like an agonising fear the moment she thought of the accident at sea that she had read about in the diary or a flickering warmness that took over her heart when she tried to picture whatever Peeta told her about the 'good old moments' during the Quell.

It had been difficult for them to say goodbye, but seeing how well it had gone for them to be together, they could only hope the doctors would keep adding their already empty schedules with constant meetings. At meal time, Navin was glad to have something to add to the conversation, even if to her felt like nothing at all, since not one image or complete memory had come back to her, simply feelings or sensations.

The reactions to it were overall mixed. Some seemed happy about the news, while others tried not to dwell too much on it, especially on what that could mean in the long run. Navin knew that after everything she had said, everything they had gone through in the past two weeks, a spark of memory could indeed ignite the hope that she could remember everything again someday, but, by that point, nobody was too sure if it would be a blessing or a curse. Not even Navin herself. The more she thought about it, from what she had heard from Peeta and what she had read in her diary, her past wasn't something to miss. However, perhaps that could be unfair to the others. Peeta had said that Olive deserved to rest, but who knew how everyone else felt about it? What would Finnick think if she were to ask him to start over? To make it as if all the years of care and affection that solely he could remember meant nothing to either of them. It almost seemed too cruel.

"I got news!" Annie said cheerfully as she left her entire tray on the table without much thought.

"Well, don't make us wait," said Navin, forcing her lips into a smile that refused to stick to her face. "What is it?"

Angel grabbed a hold of Annie's hand and raised them, both of them flaunting beautiful handmade rings, each as different from the other as they could get. "Funny enough. We proposed to each other."

Without having spared a glance at each other, Finnick and Navin let out, "Finally!" causing both to look at each other and laugh.

"How long has been Angel stalling?" she asked.

"Oh, about forever," he answered. "What about Annie?"

"No clue." Navin shook her head with a light chuckle. "As far as I'm concerned, a good few weeks."

Angel folded her arms and scowled playfully. "You don't get to talk, Finnick. I had to put up with your, 'Should I really propose to her? I mean, we're going back to the Games. If I don't ask her now, I might not get to ask her ever again'. You rambled like that for months."

Before Finnick could attempt to defend himself, the televisions throughout the Cafeteria lit up immediately, showcasing Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay, right in front of a large tunnel. The horrors of the next minutes passed in a blur to Navin. She could only pick up people appearing on a train, only to be yelled at to surrender. The people complied, and though some still had weapons nearby, the rebel guards had no reason to push and pull the people by the collars of their shirts.

The tension that had done nothing but build up to that point exploded too quickly to dump the blame on either side. All that mattered was that a man had fallen victim to a bullet to the shoulder, perhaps more. Katniss immediately ran to his aid and fell prey to his hidden gun, pointed directly to her chin.

She talked her way out of danger slowly and carefully, making the man drop the weapon entirely. And then, as if her life had never been in any danger, she got up and addressed everyone, viewers, rebels, and district people alike. "Turn your weapons to the Capitol! Turn your weapons to Snow!" would have become the next rebel signature claim, if it hadn't been for Katniss being shot on live television.

Prim cried out louder than any person around them could ever try to, her frail and trembling hands desperate for someone to hold. Annie was quick to bring the young girl close, soothing her despite not knowing exactly what to say or do. Much like her, Angel turned a deaf ear to the rain of bullets being broadcast live to care for the child who had, for the third time, almost lost her sister.

"The suit was bulletproof, Prim," Angel repeated every time Prim's sobs dimmed, but her words would never get through. "It's OK. It'll be OK. I promise."