Chapter 36: The End

The deer spies me and tries to bolt. I take it down with an arrow after it has sprung a few feet. I get the game I need - but barely.

I suppose it is just because I am getting older. 15 years since the war can really take a toll on a woman's body. And here I thought my thirties would be one of the better decades of my life.

I skin my prize, and then roast the meat over a small fire before gathering it all into my giant satchel. I turn and stride out of the woods, heading for the fence. My filling out in my adulthood has forced me to cut a bigger hole in the barbed wire surrounding District 12, but I manage to crawl under the space. Now it's homeward bound.

As I enter the Victors Village, I can see that the growing lateness of the morning has drawn the others out of their homes to start the day. I spy Haymitch in his back garden, tossing feed out to the geese he raises and hollering at them to eat.

"Don't be too hard on them, old man!" I call to him. "I'll have some more liquor for you soon - just need to stop by Ripper's bar!"

By the center fountain, I spy the mini clock tower with its face popped open. Rounding the structure, I see Beetee with his head stuck in the thing. He extracts himself to smile at me.

"Good morning, Katniss. Just need to finish rewiring this clock. The hands have been frozen for at least the last week."

I raise an eyebrow, amused. "Aren't you a little old to be dealing with electrical equipment?"

"To have a long and healthy life, one must maintain a deep and healthy mind," the District 3 victor postulates.

"Who said that?"

He blinks in confusion. "I did."

I laugh and move on.

Right across the street from my house, I can see Finnick playing with his eight-year-old son in their front yard. Annie watches from where she is hanging the laundry out for drying with a smile.

As I climb the steps to the house I share with my husband and our family, I happen to glance at the home next door, the one that belongs to Johanna Mason. The lights are now on, where they have been laying dark for the last few days. She must have returned from her trip to the Capitol.

As I deposit my boots and coat in the foyer, my 15-year-old daughter, Ashley, comes running up to me.

"Did you hear? Auntie Johanna got back from the Capitol late last night!"

"I know; I saw the lights in her house." I greet my daughter with a peck on the cheek. "Anything else happen while I was gone?"

"Daddy left for the bakery; Eric and Clementine are still asleep," Ashley reports.

I nod. "And your grandmother?"

"Grandpa Haymitch told me she is getting ready to go see about a patient in the Merchant sector."

There is a sudden crackle, followed by loud cursing from outside. "Is that Grandpa Beetee?" Ashley asks, going to the window.

"He was fixing the clock tower when I came in," I inform her. "He's not hurt, is he? I warned him to be careful around that wiring!"

Ashley peeks out from behind the curtain and laughs. "Yeah, he's fine; just a little... shocked, is all."

I frown at her, placing my hands on my hips. Honestly, her puns are about as terrible as Peeta's!

"There's something else," Ashley offers up, and her eyes twinkle. "A stranger came into the Village carrying a suitcase. Obviously fresh off the train from the District 12 station. He must be visiting Auntie Johanna because he went right into her house without knocking."

Well, this is news. I can't help but feel a little concerned. "We may be an exclusive community, but we're not a busy one. What is going on?"

"I don't know, but Uncle Finnick thinks it's a friend Johanna met in the Capitol while she was serving as Ambassador for the Districts."

A few years after the war, President Paylor appointed Johanna to serve as a representative on behalf of all the districts of Panem. It was a pretty important position - one in the President's Cabinet, in fact - so when Ashley was still little, Johanna would be away from Twelve for up to weeks at a time. This most recent visit to the big city was to have her official Ambassador portrait unveiled. Believing that we would be a detractor from our friend's big moment, the rest of us Victors opted not to go.

But now, Johanna has a visitor in her house? Though we would never admit it, she and I are a lot alike, in that we are both very particular about who we let into our inner circles.

I decide to investigate. Telling Ashley to watch after her baby brother and sister. I march next door and enter Johanna's place without knocking.

My mouth falls open. There, in the middle of her kitchen, is Johanna kissing... Gale. And not just kissing; it's a full-blown make-out session!

"What is going on here?!" I screech before I can stop myself. Johanna and Gale break apart abruptly.

"What is it look like, brainless?" Johanna laughs. "We're necking!"

Gale looks to her. "You didn't tell Catnip, did you?"

I bristle at my nickname, never mind that I am even more peeved at his presence here. "Whatever it is, she most certainly did not."

Johanna turns to me, speaking more sincerely than I have ever known her to. "Gale and I met when I was serving as Ambassador. We were friends at first, but then, when I was going to the Capitol to oversee my portrait being done, we... started going out. We'll be married in the spring."

I gawp. I never took Johanna to be the marrying type. Then again, I never imagined myself to be the marrying type either, once upon a time. But, Johanna's my friend. More than that, even; she's my family. Even if I'm still angry with Gale, even if he will now likely be living with the rest of us, even if he and I never return to what we were before... I have to at least think of Johanna's happiness.

So I hug Johanna, and give Gale a cordial handshake. "Welcome to the family."

Gale smiles in relief. "Thank you, Katniss."

They play in the Meadow. My husband, our 15-year-old daughter, and my 8-year-old son. From our picnic blanket, I watch with a smile as I rock my youngest daughter. She's just a year old. The peacefulness of the day is broken as she stirs from her nap and begins to cry.

"Oh, ssssssshhhhhhh... ssssssshhhhhhhh..." I rock her. "Did you have a nightmare? I have nightmares too. Someday, I'll explain it to you. Why they came. Why they won't ever go away."

"But I'll tell you how I survive it. I make a list in my head, of all the good things I've seen someone do. Every little thing I can remember. It's like a game. I do it over and over. Gets a little tedious after all these years, but... there are much worse Games to play." I nod to myself, letting out a long breath.

"Oh, yes... there are much worse Games to play."