Afterwards

Katniss gathered her hunting clothes in her arms and studied them for a while. She ran her fingers over her frayed clothing before dumping them in the trash bin, squeezing her eyes shut as she let the garments go. She would no longer need to hunt, not when conditions have improved. Of course she was going to miss those days in the serene forest, huddled side by side with her best friend, Gale, as an unlucky animal enclosed itself in one of their snares, but she also unwillingly knew that that was then, and this was now.

Those were the good old days, before the girl on fire birthed.

After gulping down a bowl of delicious cereal and scrubbing down her and Prim's dishes, she took her sister's hand and headed outside. Prim's back was hunched forward as her brand-new blue backpack rubbed against her back.

"That's a big bag you got there," Katniss laughed, "School's only started a week ago." Katniss eyed Prim's backpack and couldn't stop herself from shaking her head.

Prim stuck her tongue out at Katniss who still couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"You know you're in our new history book," Prim announced, changing the subject.

Katniss stopped laughing and only shrugged, suddenly remembering Peeta. She hadn't seen him since they left the Capitol. After Geena had led them out of the Capitol, along with Gale, Keel, and their mini army, a mob of at least a thousand people united from separate districts were waiting for them, cheering and relieved of their children's safety. Katniss' family hadn't been there, but Keel's parents and many other's, not including Peeta's and Gale's, were. By the looks of it, she knew Haymitch had organized the group, something way out of the ordinary. He was slouched to the side, standing in front of the crowd, with a drunk smile plastered on his face. His eyes had lazily scanned Katniss and Peeta before he strolled forward and embraced them in a tight hug. A tear had dripped onto Katniss' shoulder and she had realized that that was the first time she ever saw Haymitch cry.

After a heart-quenching reunion, everyone had gotten down to business. Many volunteered to stay at the Capitol to complete unfinished tasks, Haymitch and Peeta among them. Katniss had begged Peeta not to go but Peeta's stubbornness wouldn't budge.

No news of the volunteers had reached them ever since, and Katniss had been worried to death.

"Katniss, we're here!" Prim's voice rang and she tugged on her older sister's sleeve. Katniss ruffled Prim's gold hair and pulled her in for a hug.

"See you later," Prim giggled and ran towards the remodeled building along with other kids. Including other parts of District 12, many of the buildings are under construction and remodeling, making the place seem livelier than ever. It felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off the district's shoulders when news of Snow's death reached them. Each district was either celebrating or beginning to reconstruction the area, hoping to make their city a better place now that they were on their own. New villages had even appeared on the outskirts of the districts because all the wired, electrical fences had been taken down. All the peacekeepers were even kicked out of many districts. And the most amazing thing that happened in Katniss' district was the sudden growth of population.

Katniss smiled as her eyes scanned the missing prison gate that should have been around the back of the school, changing the district completely. A moving figure in the still forest caught her attention and she squinted her eyes against the sunlight to spot it out.

Not finding anything, Katniss kicked off her sandals, icked them up, and sprinted towards the forest. As soon as she passed a the first tree, a pair of arms caught her. She was about to yelp but stopped short when a pair of familiar gray eyes grinned at her.

"Gale!" she breathed in relief and hugged him back, knowing she hadn't had time to see him since they got back.

Lost in words, the best friends stayed entwined for a lengthy moment, each missing the scent of the other.

"Catnip, I haven't seen you in a while," Gale's voice vibrated. It was true, ever since they had returned from the Capitol, she hadn't had time to visit friends or do anything else but aid each part of the District.

Being friends for the longest time, no words could describe how they felt. Instead, they gaited side y side and walked each other to the Hob, their favorite and most memorable place in the district. It had changed ever since they came back. They assed a new flower shop and Gale ran inside rapidly. Katniss followed, knowing who would greet her on the other side.

"Hey Geena," she smiled as the scent of buttercup and roses filled her lunges. Geena, who had been sitting behind a carved desk, jumped up and ran to embrace Katniss.

Instead of returning to her district, Geena decided to stay in District 12 and bring Alex along with her, both now living with each other, Geena taking care of Alex. Katniss had helped her open the flower shop after Katniss found out Geena's personal hobby was gardening. So far, with the district members never seeing flowers for such a long time, the shop was running smoothly. Flowers were now the ideal thing to scent their houses with.

Gale headed back to Katniss, a tulip between two of his fingers.

"For you," he said and gently handed the flower to Katniss, who raised a questioning eyebrow. "It matches your outfit." Katniss knew he was now picking on her because this was probably the first time he saw her strolling around in a summer dress decorated in flowers. It wasn't that Katniss became girlier or anything—she wasn't sure if she would be able to stand that either, but she had began to like how a dress felt on her, so light and easy to move around in as long as it was a summer dress.

"Very funny," Katniss retorted and Geena giggled beside her.

Behind them, footsteps sounded as two people approached. All three of them turned around and smiled as Keel and Madge entered the shop, a heavy picnic basket held between them.

"I thought you guys would be in here," Keel said while switching her hands and giving the other one a turn to carry her side of the basket. Gale slipped over to the pair and slid the basket out of their hands, his face showing not even one stress mark from the weight of the basket.

"Would you two like to join us for a picnic?" Madge smiled politely. I had been surprised the first time I heard Madge and Gale began to get along to the point where they wouldn't kill each other over a meal, but Katniss was glad. Madge had been one of her best friends and having to deal between her and Gale had been becoming a problem.

Katniss and Geena glanced at each other with a smile spread on their faces. They both nodded at the same time.

That night Katniss woke up to the sound of movement in her room. She groggily stretched her hand to switch on her bedside lamp, but a warm hand stopped her fingers. Suddenly, another body sat beside her on the bed, causing Katniss to grow completely awake.

"Who are you?" Katniss warned, her body going ridged.

A chuckle vaporized beside her and a hand gingerly touched her cheek.

"I have a knife in my other hand and I'm not afraid to use it," Katniss lied, but her determined voice camouflaged any such flaw.

"Gee, Katniss. I didn't come here to molest you."

Katniss couldn't believe her ears. Her muscles let way beneath her and she landed on her plush pillow.

"Peeta?" she said in total disbelief.

"Yes Katniss? I was hoping you would recognize me," Peeta's voice spoke, faking a hurt tone.

"I must be dreaming," she whispered incoherently.

"If you were dreaming, could I do this?" A gentle hand trailed over her face and stopped at her lips. The hand slowly moved aside as a pair of lips planted a calm kiss upon them. Katniss' eyes shot wide open.

"How did you get in here?" she asked after his lips left hers. She hoped he didn't break in, making the security system not all it was cracked up to be.

"Prim let me in," Peeta laughed. Katniss shook her head, still in disbelief. Her hands went up to Peeta's face, feeling his bone structure, his long eyelashes, then his disheveled blond hair.

"Is everyone back? What happened?"

"Yeah, everyone's back. We signed a treaty with what was left of the Capitol. You should have seen them Katniss, they were in total chaos without the President to lead them. But the thing is, none of them are evil or hate us. The only person we really wanted to take our revenge on was the President. As for the districts, we decided to separate and flourish on our own, while staying in contact with each other, of course."

"YOU LEFT THEM ALONE?" Katniss was still in shock about his second sentence, not caring what his explanation was.

"Katniss, not everything has to end in violence." Peeta began to chuckle, "That's why I went and you didn't," he teased.

Katniss playfully slapped him on his cheek, still unsure whether or not he did the best thing. He was right of course, remembering Cinna, Portia, the oblivious crowd that cooed for them—maybe they were never a threat to them. Under her hand, she suddenly felt the stress marks that blemished his perfect face.

"You must be really tired," Katniss observed guiltily.

"Yeah, I am pretty much burnt out," Peeta said, "I just couldn't help myself from seeing you before I headed home." He then began standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Katniss couldn't help herself from grabbing his hand. She hadn't realized how much she truly did miss him until she had to see him leave again.

"Don't leave," she pleaded like a child. The only way she caught the smile on his face was from the sliver of moonlight striking his face through the window. She sat up on her bed and moved over to the other side, eliminating an area on the mattress where he could sleep next to her.

"Can we pretend this is a night in the Games just one more time?" she spoke, mirroring his words from what felt like long ago, when their innocence was great and their maturity striking the bottom. When they hadn't known that it could have possibly been the last time they would see each other. When they hadn't known how much they did and would always love each other.

"No," Peeta whispered slowly. Katniss gulped down a ball of dread until he gently seated himself beside her. He turned his head, and although there was minimal lighting in the room, Katniss could see his bright blue eyes scanning her own the same way she was.

"Not like the Games," he continued while placing a light hand on her jaw.

"This time we're not acting for anyone."

A/N: Being the end of my epic fanfic, I would like to take the time and thank everyone out there who took the time to read the fanfic and especially those who reviewed. I would list all the people I truly thank but believe me, it would be a long one. :D

You guys are the awesomest (and I don't care if that's not a word)!!! I hope you guys read any of my upcoming fanfic!!! Not only do I hope you guys enjoyed the story, but I hope you guys enjoyed Catching Fire also because it is unbelievable!!!!!!

PS: The "can we pretend this is a night in the Games just one more time?" was quoted by Peeta in chapter 6 of my fanfic incase you had forgotten or didn't understand the allusion.

Once again, thank you to everyone and best of luck with your fanfics, stories, reading, painting, sports --- whatever you do! :P

~smyle94~