CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Dawn

Disclaimer: This is my last disclaimer for Mind Games. This is also the last chapter of my version of the sequel to The Hunger Games by Susan Collins. If I was Susan Collins 1: I wouldn't need to write disclaimers, and 2: The sequel would be called catching fire, and 3: this would be a trilogy and this is not a trilogy. This is the end of this fanfic. This is my last disclaimer and if you've learned anything from reading Mind Games I hoped you've learned that I am not Susan Collins. Seriously, I am not that talented.

Before you read though I would just like to remind you that characters change and characters grow depending on their circumstances and the events that happen in their life. So this is the ending of my sequel these characters are still Peeta and Katniss but they grew and changed and lived. Isn't that normal? Anyway this is the end I hope you like it.

Alarms blared in my dreams. Peeta's arms shook me awake. The alarms were still going off, pounding in my ears. I looked over at Cinna. Grab onto something tight his eyes told me. That was all I needed. I knew we were falling out of the sky. Portia hustled out of the cabin, looking for a safe spot to wedge herself in to cushion her from the impact. Ashlyn and Mykalin huddled under the dashboard holding onto each other as if this was the last time they would get the chance to. Peeta and I cornered ourselves into a corner of the room. The corners were always the last to go. That's what they always taught us in school in case of earthquakes. Corners are the strongest part of the room. I made a silent prayer that out of all the corners in this room, this one would be the one that didn't collapse on us. The ship was plummeting out of the air even faster than before. Cinna didn't move. He kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the rapidly approaching ground. He was going to face it head on.

We felt when the ship started hitting things like trees as it skidded to the ground. Everyone got jostled around quite a bit, but it wasn't fatal, a few scrapes and bruises at most. The worst part was the noise. Hearing the ship tear apart around us was a horrific sound.

When the smoking cleared and the sputtering of broken electronics faded, and the creaking of the ship settled into the earth outside, we dared to move. Portia came back with a few bruises on her arm but a smile on her face. "Well that was exciting." She said cheerily. Only a capitalolite would say that, but I couldn't chastise her for it, after all she was on our side now, and this was pretty traumatic, if she could still be positive after our plans literally crashed and burned then I can honestly say Portia wasn't as bad as I thought she was.
"Everyone else alright?" Cinna asked loudly. Cinna was covered with bruises, cuts and deep scrapes, he was also bleeding in a few places.

Mykalin and Ashlyn emerged from under the dashboard. "We're okay." Mykalin spoke for the both of them. Ashlyn slowly ran her thumb across a scrape on Mykalin's cheek, then she put her lips to the cut as if her kiss could heal it. "I'm fine," He said more softly. "I'm fine, and you're fine. That's all that matters." He pulled her towards him and kissed her forehead gently. The scene between them was so intimate I couldn't help but avert my eyes.

"Katniss, are you alright?" Cinna asked. I nodded shakily.

"Peeta?" Cinna asked next.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I heard Peeta speak into my ear. I don't know when Peeta moved from beside me with his back jammed up against the wall, to hovering over me with one arm hugging my waist to him. It must have been when my eyes were closed, but here he is, his body hovering over mine, wanting to protect me from falling debris. He awkwardly started to remove himself from on top of me, with a pink blush clearly staining his cheeks.

Outside we were enveloped in a thicket of trees. Silently someone picked a direction and we all started following, unsure if we were even going the right way. No one was sure where we were. I wanted to ask Cinna so many questions like: what happened? And, why did we fall out of the sky? But looking at the crushed stars in Cinna's eyes made me keep my questions to myself. He looked so disappointed that he couldn't get us all to district 12 like I wanted. I wouldn't want him to feel even worse by asking him to recall what happened to the ship. Cinna gave me a weak smile. A smile that promised that he would still get us to district 12. Then he broke his eyes away from mine.

We approached a small clearing in the grove. There were houses embedded in the trees, enough houses to make a small village. In the center of the clearing there was a huge wooden post and the only people that could be seen, were tied tightly to the post with thick rope with cloth gags around their mouth. Cinna and everyone stay hidden in the cover of the trees as I approached the post to inspect the four men that were being held captive. Their robes were thick and rich in color, they were plump and well fed, their small black bead eyes glared at me, their pupils saturated in hatred. "They're keepers from the capitol." I muttered to myself when it hit me.

I was about to make my way back to the group and tell them when this middle aged woman with a broom in her hand ran out towards me. "You must not free them!" She yelled at me. "If you free them they will kill us all." She held the broom threateningly close to my neck. Despite the slight quiver in her knees that showed her fear she seemed quite resolved to beat me with the broom if I dared to take another step toward her poisoners.

I put my hands up to show her that I meant no trouble. I took a slight step backwards but she just stepped closer to me, jabbing the broom closer to my throat. At the corner of my eye I saw Cinna, Peeta, Mykalin and Ashlyn run out of the trees ready to restrain the woman if it became necessary. "I wasn't planning to release them. I'm on your si-"

Suddenly the woman dropped the broom and enveloped me in a nearly suffocating hug. "It's you Katniss. It's you. I thought I recognized you!" Cinna and everybody else was now surrounding us making sure that this poor middle aged old woman wasn't trying to kill me. "Oh I am so glad that I got a chance to see you in person. I've always wanted to say Thank you. Thank you so much. For all you did for my daughter. Thank you for looking out for her. You did all you could. Thank you." Now she was kissing my cheeks with tears in her eyes. I was about to pull away from this woman's embrace, deeming her a slightly demented, when I saw it. The resemblance was in her eyes, and her smile, in her similar small figure, this woman was Rue's mother.

Instantly I hugged her back and the tears I couldn't help, ran down my face. "I'm so sorry. I tried. I really did try to protect her. Rue was like my own sister. If I could have stopped it I would have. I really would have."

"I know. I know sweetheart. No more tears now. No more." Her tone was sweet and comforting just like a mom's tone always was. She wiped away the tears that had run down my cheeks. She rubbed my arms soothingly. She turned back to the house that she had run from and whistled a pretty tune. The wind must have carried her notes to the house, because suddenly kids flooded out of the house. There were five of them. A girl of 9, a boy of 7, a boy of 4 a girl of 2 and a little baby girl that wasn't even 1 yet. Rue did say she was the big sister, but looking at all of them standing there staring at me in their tattered and worn clothes made me feel even worse that the games had to take away their big sister from them.

"Katniss!" The seven year old boy grinned a toothy grin at me.

"Ricochet, look. It's Katniss." The nine year old said to the 4 yr old boy. The four year old boy ran up to me and gripped my ankles in a tight hug. This turned into a pile on, all the kids were hugging me except the nine year old girl who was holding the baby in her arms. "You're my hero." She said to me in awe. Rue's mother shooed all the kids off me.

"Where is everybody?" I asked. "The entire town is empty. It's like a ghost town. And how did you manage to tie up the keepers?" I whispered.

She shuffled me, the kids and everyone else into the small house that she called her own before she answered any of my questions. "Gale told us how to deal with the keepers before he and everyone else migrated down. It wasn't hard it was all timing. The hardest part is looking them in the eyes when it's time to feed them. I see such terrifying things in their eyes. I'm so terrified of what would ever happen if they get loose." She shuddered with fear. Her hands were shaking so much she needed to put her cup of tea down onto the table.

"So everyone's with Gale…"

"Yes mam. Everybody in the entire village when to fight in this rebellion, either to fight or build weapons, my husband included. Everyone except the Murchison's boys little Dalaia and my kids. They were all too young. So here I am taking care of them. That's my job as a mother." She said solemnly. I've adopted three more to look after but I don't mind at all. There's plenty of food to go around now since everyone is gone, and the kids help out when they can. So it isn't so bad." She took a long drink from her mug, then looked at me. "So what are you doing here? How did you get here?" She was asking the questions now.

"We ran away from the capitol." I said softly. "Right before we were supposed to drop Ashlyn and Mykalin into this year's arena. You know about Gale's rebellion. He's causing a ruckus, things are about to get really dangerous. You know that. I know you know that, you have your kids to take care of. I can see the bags under your eyes. I bet you stay up into the early morning hours wondering how you are going to keep them safe when the war makes its way down to district 11." She didn't nod. But the helpless look in her eyes and the tense line of her mouth told me that I was right. "I'm like a mother too. I have to take care of people that need me. I have to find my mom and my sister. I have lots of people that I need to keep safe. First things first, I have to find my sister and my mother in district 12. Lyly Trinkletop hid them away from me."

Her eyes pierced into me. She was no longer looking at me as one of her children, but as someone who also had to walk in her hard soled shoes. "You won't find them there."

I swallowed hard. That was not what I wanted to hear. "I will. I have to. They're all I have."

"I've seen your Lyly Trinkletop, once." She said calmly. "She was in a hurry. She gave a new job to our keepers. Then she left. You won't find your family in district 12, because they're here. Lyly smuggled them into the district quickly and had the keepers torture them and hurt them. I'm so sorry, but there was nothing we could have done until we had the keepers restrained. They're recovering from they're injuries now."

"Take me to them." I said instantly. "Now. Please." I said hastily. It seemed forever since I've seen Prim and my mother. They've always been on my mind, never knowing if they were safe, if they were dead or alive. Now that they're here I have to see them.

Rue's mother took me to another house in the village with two small beds Prim lied in one and my mother lied in the other. They had bruises and scars of cuts that had begun to heal all over their bodies. I ran my fingers over Prim's fair hair. "Do they wake up? Have they been eating? How long have they been recovering?" I ask Rue's mother.

" They've been recovering for a week. That's when we attacked the Keepers. That's when everybody left the village. They eat twice a day. I feed them myself. They do wake up during the day but they do take naps as well. Their bodies are still recovering. They need their rest." She told me.

"They can't rest here anymore." I stopped looking at Prim's bruised and beaten face to look her in the eyes. "You know as well as I do, that danger is coming here. It will be here sooner than you're expecting it. I have to get them out of here. I have to get them somewhere safe."

She flinched away from the truth I said what she didn't want to accept. "Where will you take them? Where is safe in this war between gods and humans?"

I shook my head. "I don't know yet. I can't think about that now. I don't have my whole family yet. There are more people that I need to protect. I need to get to District 12." I took her hands in mine. "Can you help me? Can you show me how to get there?"

Tears started to form in her eyes. "If you could take my children somewhere where they will be safe, then I would do anything for you."

"What kind of friend of Rue's would I be if I wasn't going to take you guys with me? Rue really was like a second sister to me, which makes us family now. We're all going to find a safe place together, okay? I promise."

She hugged me tightly and her tears soaked into my shirt. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much."

The next four hours were spent packing a change of clothes, food and other supplies we thought might be useful during our trips to come. "Head count!" Rue's mother shouted loudly. We were deep in the woods of the forest. "Ma-ma" the baby chimed. "here mama" the four year old echoed. "Present" the nine year old girl said over the ruckus of her siblings. "7" the 2 year old girl said. The four year old shoved her. "You're not 7 you're 4 dummy." The two year old stuck her tongue out at him, and he did it back. "A whooo!" the seven year old howled like a wolf. "We're all here mama." The nine year old said after they had all made enough noise.

"Murchison's?" Rue's mother called. The hands of the twin six year old boys with orange hair shot into the air."Dalaia?" Rue's mother called.

"I'm tired." The 5 yr old whined.

"Stop your whining now." Rue's mother scolded. Dalaia pouted but didn't say another word. Rue's mother turned to me. "Is everyone in your group here. Check, the easiest part to get lost is coming up."

I took a quick look around. My mom's arm was slung around my shoulder as I helped to support her, Prim was in Peeta's arms, Ashlyn picked Dalia up and held her in her arms, Mykalin was close behind her. Portia and Cinna were standing near Rue's siblings listening to a story about a huge dragon that one of them made up. "We're all here." I told Rue's mother.

"Good." She told me. "Everybody stay close!" she shouted so the entire group could hear her. In between two trees underbrush grew high and thick. The leaves were so dense you couldn't even comb them back to find the entrance to the tunnel. Rue's mother gently nudged her kids in the underbrush. One by one they disappeared. "Rosemary keep the kids clear." Rue's mom called into the shrubs.

"The entrance is going to open up beneath your feet. It's about a five foot drop down. If you bear left there are hand and foot holds that you can use to climb down if you want to get down that way. It's your choice." She told me. She stood there watching, and I stood there watching her. "I'll wait till you all get down safely before I go down. You guys have never done this before."

Cinna and Portia climbed down first. "We're fine!" they called up once they were at the bottom. Mykalin jumped down first, Ashlyn jumped down right after him. Peeta and I just stood there. This part was going to be difficult. Prim and mom were still weak, bruised and recovering, how were we going to get them down safely?

"I can go down first," Peeta said. "Then you can drop Prim down." He suggested cautiously. I was quiet for a moment. "Katniss you know you can trust me. I'll catch her, I swear."

"I know you will Peeta." I say giving him an honest smile. "The questions now are never whether or not I trust you. I know I can, Peeta. I know I always can. But mom. How do we get her down?"

"If you lower her down gently, I can catch her too." Peeta said casually.

" But Prim?" I asked

"Mykalin can hold Prim for a sec. Don't worry about it."

I nodded stiffly. Peeta gave me his signature carefree smile and he disappeared into the underbrush. Prim who was still in a daze was tossed after. My mom was lowered after Peeta gave the OK, finally me and Rue's mom followed.

Some of the kids had torches. Rue's mom grabbed a torch. "Alright, everybody follow me."

We took the liberty of learning each-others name during our very very long walk. The oldest girl holding the little baby was named Rosemary, the baby girl she carried in her arms was Renaissance, the seven year old boy was named Renegade and the four year old was named Ricochet, and the two year old was named Roulette. The names of the Murchison twins were Nickolas and Nathan, and I already knew Dalaia's name from when Raina (Rue's mom) told it to me.

Raina wanted Cinna's and Portia's stories. She wanted to know how we could have risked our lives by trusting capitolites. I told her how Cinna helped us take-over the air ship, I told her how Cinna was the one who kept Gale and their entire village hidden while they were in the capitol. I explained to her that Cinna was so much more than a capitolite. Despite the fact that happened to live in the luxorious city, his heart wasn't cold and hard like the rest of them, he understood warmth, mercy and compassion. Raina gave Cinna a look from the corner of her eye. Peeta or Portia would say it looked like a glare, but Cinna and I knew better. She was looking at Cinna, the same way I looked at Cinna, with astonishment and admiration.

Many stories passed the long hours of walking. We walked until the torches grew dim and the kids cried from exhaustion. "The check-point's not far." Raina kept chanting in a soothing, comforting voice. By the time we reached the check point everyone 12 and over was holding a kid in their arms.

I knew we had reached the checkpoint before Raina even announced it. Gale's tracks were all over the place. There was a stack of firewood, a stack of extra torches, several blankets and even a supply of preserveable food and fresh water. It reminded me of our secret meeting spot in the forest. I really hoped he was alright. Raina started a fire and Ashlyn and I made sure all the kids were wrapped in blankets. Soon enough even Ashlyn and Mykalin were coaxed into sleep.
"Come on. You need to rest to Katniss." Peeta wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. He led me to a spot against the wall that wasn't littered with kids and wrapped me in his arms. For a while I watched the smoke drift up towards the ceiling and out of the tunnel through the smoke holes in the ceiling. The place quickly grew warm from the fire, and with a blanket draped over me and Peeta's arms embracing me, even I couldn't resist the sweet sinful call of sleep.

Raina woke us all up and gave us some provisions to eat. I had no idea what time it was. The fire was out and once again the only light that led the way was torch light. After a quick meal we were straggling down the tunnel once again. Maybe it was because this time Prim and mom were able to walk on their own, or maybe it was because for the first time in a long time we were all well rested, but this segment of the tunnel seemed to go by a lot faster than the first. Soon enough I was once again in the familiar woods that I grew up in when I was a little older that Rosemary's age.

"Can you find your way from here?" Raina asked me.

"Yes I can. Thank you for bringing me all this way." I said to her.

"Think nothing of it." She said. "Make your way down to where you need to be getting. It should be safe but even so, the kids and I will stay here and wait for you to come and find us again." The kids were so happy to see daylight they took off playing almost instantly.

Peeta and I made our way toward the fence. We decided that Mykalin, Ashlyn, Prim, my Mom, Cinna and Portia didn't need to come. If it was just Peeta and I things would get things done faster. After clearing the gate Peeta and I split up. He headed towards the bakery and I headed towards Gale's house.

Norma was home. As soon as she saw me she gave me a huge hug and ushered me inside the house. Cyclone and Twister were home too. As always they were shocked to see me. "Katniss you came over? You almost never come over." Cyclone said casually.

Twister who was 13 and three years older than his youngest brother, looked at me really strange for a long time before he spoke. "How come you're here? Aren't you suppose to be at the capitol?" His mother gave him a hard slap in the back of his head as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

"The capitol is a mess because of your brother." She swallowed hard. I knew she was thinking: It was probably a slaughter, thankfully she didn't say this in front of the boys. "Be thankful she isn't there."

"Gale's doing something very brave." I said to his mom. I excluded the fact that I also thought that he was doing something very stupid and reckless. "He's fighting for the best cause there is. His family." His mother's lips pursed into a thin hard line of displeasure. I tried my best to hide my smirk. "Now, down to business. I would love to say this was a casual visit and I would love to stay and chat but there isn't any time. Gale is doing something very important at this very moment, and so am I, so I need you all to pack a change of clothes or two and come with me."

"Don't tell me you're part of that awful rebellion too Katniss. You are not going to drag Cyclone and Twister into this, they're too young!"

"Explanations later. Seriously, the quicker you move the better. It isn't safe here. Let's go boys!" I shouted at Cyclone and Twister. "Move it, move it, move it! Hurry!" I started clapping my hands at them in haste until they started scattering all over the small house so fast they started to trip over their own feet.

When we reached the rendezvous point Peeta and his family was already there. They each carried sacs of bread and baked goods. I guess they cleaned out the bakery before they left. His brothers gave me a nod, it was their way of showing me respect without words. Peeta's dad gave me his kind smile that he's always given me. His mom paid no attention to me at all.

"Is this everybody?" Raina asked to no one in particular.

"No." I told her. "I have to make one more stop before we've got everyone. Before I take off again though, I would like to introduce to you Gale's family. This is his mother Norma and his two younger brothers Cyclone and Twister. Knowing how protective Gale is of them, I take it you probably haven't met before."

"No, we haven't." Raina replied in awe. She went up to Norma and swept her into a hug. "I would just like to tell you on behalf of everyone in all the other districts, how grateful we are that Gale is taking the initiative for all of us to have a better future. Thank you, for raising him."

Norma was so shocked she could find no words. I took this chance to give out some orders. "Peeta, Raina. I haven't told them why I've brought them here and what are plans are. Do your best to explain it to them while I'm gone. Raina, make sure no matter what happens Cyclone and Twister do not leave this forest. Make sure they don't leave your sight." I gave Norma a quick glare. "I cannot leave Gale's brothers behind, under any circumstances. He's counting on me to look after them and keep them safe." I turned toward Norma. "If you want to leave after they fill you in that's fine. But Cyclone and Twister stay with me. Gale's been the head of your family for years, don't even try to deny it. He's been the one providing for you and them. This is what he wants. If you want to leave, leave, but I am letting you know that there is no way Cyclone and Twister is staying here with you so they can die young. Understand?"

"Who do you think you are? You can't take my kids away from me. You have no-"

"I'm Katniss Everdeen. For the last five years I've been putting half of your food on the table. Cyclone and Twister are my brothers now. As far as I'm concerned I have a closer connection to them than you do. And I will keep them safe. And let's be honest, between you and I, we both know that I've got a better shot at it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the rest of my family." I didn't wait for her to choke out a response. I took off into the woods.

I turned back when I heard someone trailing behind me but I didn't stop. It was Peeta. "Katniss, who's left?" he called to me.

"Haymitch!" I called back with a smile. He smiled back at me and stopped following.

"Make sure you bring him back!" he called again. "No matter how drunk he is!" Peeta understood more than anyone that we couldn't leave Haymitch behind. He had grown on us. He had become the drunk uncle that we weren't fond of, but he was family. And even though you don't always like the people in your family, you never leave them behind.

I didn't bother knocking on Haymitch's door for the sake of time. I figured that he was passed out inside considering it was just about noon-ish. In Haymitch time, that's still very early. I barged in and raided the house, but Haymitch wasn't anywhere. I ran down to the hobb hoping that he was there buying more spirits. If he wasn't, then that meant he could be passed out drunk anyplace in district 12. Searching the entire district to find him could take all day.

I heard Haymitch's booming voice as soon as I walked through the hobbs doors. Oddly enough he didn't seem to be buying spirits. Instead he looked like he was talking serious business with the blacksmith.

"Haymitch!" I called to him. He turned towards me and I waved him over.

"Katniss. My girl. I knew you were a survivor. Did Peeta make it out with you?" He gave me a hug. He seemed really glad to see me. Oddly enough his words weren't slurred and his breath didn't stink of alcohol.

"Yup. He's waiting in the woods. His family, my family, Gale's family, even Rue's family's there. The only person is missing is you."

"Missin' fer what babydoll?" he asked confused.

"We're going to go find a safe haven. Haymitch you of all people know it isn't safe here. Once the capitol recovers from Gale's surprise attack, they're going to fight back, and the first place they're going to hit are the districts. And Gale's district will be first. Come with us Haymitch."

"Where will you go?" He asked confused.

"We haven't worked that part out yet, exactly." I admitted. " But we'll figure it out. There has to be somewhere safe left on this planet. Come on." I grabbed his hands and started pulling towards the door. "You can help us figure out where to go. Just come with us." The look on Haymitch's face made me feel like I had to beg and fight for him to come.

Haymitch shook his head and wrapped his fingers around my wrists. "But where can you run to girlie? That's out fight out there. Why would you want to run away from that?"

That's when I looked hard into Haymitch's sober eyes. He had decided he was going to stay. Nothing I said could have changed his mind. I couldn't save my entire family, even though that's the only thing I wanted. Tears pinched at the back of my eyes threatening to come out. I shook my head as if to shake them away, as if I could shake Haymitch's rejection away too.

"That's not my fight out there." I told him "My fight is to protect my family, no matter the cost. I can't die in a fight that's not mine because my responsibility just multiplied 4 times over. Because now my family is Gale's family, and Rue's family, and Peete's family, and Dalaia, and the Murchison boys and Cinna and Portia, and Ashlyn and Mykalin, and I have to protect them all. I can't fight this war with you and Gale, Haymitch, because have a family to protect. They need me with them and I am not going to die until they don't need me anymore."

Somewhere in between my shouting my tears had started to fall.

Though I had just yelled at him Haymitch didn't seem angry or bothered at all. "Of course you won't sweetheart. They need you, and I know you won't let them down. He gently put my face in his hands and kissed me on the forehead. "That's all we're ever fighting for, to protest our families and the ones we care about" He smiled at me. "My family's these people in the hobb. I can't run away because I can't take all of them with me. And even if I could, they wouldn't want to run. They want to stay here and fight, so I have to stay here and fight with them. We're going to fight fer our home, instead of looking for a new one." He winked at me. "I even got sober for the festive occasion. With the help of Gale, but sober is sober."

I just kept shaking my head no. refusing to accept the fact that he was staying. "Katniss, I need to stay here and protect them. That's why I can't go with you sweetheart. I know you understand that. Now I know you can keep your big family safe, you and Peeta, you don't need me there to look out for you anymore. Alright? Be strong. And remember, there's no time left for being afraid." He wiped my tears away with his thumbs.

"But Haymitch, What are we going to do without you? I wouldn't be alive right now, if it wasn't for you." I said hoarsely.

"You will manage. I know you will, because you have to. Now listen Girlie. Ya listenin'?" He grabbed me by the shoulders and brought his face closer to mine. He spoke softly, now. "We might not win this war, but we're gunner fight as best we can. That should at least give you enough time for you to get far far away from here. You got that? Now go. Katniss. Take everybody you love and take them far far away. Now. Get back to them and decide on a destination quickly. We don't know how much time we've got till the capitol's back up on their feet." Haymitch pushed me out of the hobb and onto the open road. I knew that that I wouldn't see him again for a very long time. But if this was the last memory I was going to have of him, I was glad because I finally got to see Haymitch at his best.

"Where's Haymitch?" Peeta asked as soon as he saw I came back alone.

"He isn't coming." I said. All my tears were gone, but Peeta gave me a comforting hug anyway.

"It's alright. We'll see him again." Peeta told me soothingly. I shook my head no against his chest. "but right now Katniss…"

"There's no time." I finished his sentence for him. The words of Haymitch and Raina and Cinna all came back to me. There's no time to be weak, there's no time to be afraid, there's no time to mourn. There was no time left, because now we only had time to act.

All the little kids were taking a nap. The only ones awake were Rosemary, Twister and Cyclone. Cyclone and Twister were bickering about something and Rosemary was getting her hair braided by Raina. "Are we all here now?" Raina asked me again.

"Yes." I told her.

"Didn't you want to bring someone else back with you?" Raina asked.

"He decided he would serve a better purpose here, fighting." I told her while avoiding her eyes.

"Alright. Now that we're all here. What now? Where are you planning to take us?" Raina asked.

"I don't know." I admitted. "We're going to decide that now. Anybody have any ideas?"

It was silent for a long time. Ashlyn was the first one to speak up. "We could head toward district 13, camp out there till this is all over." She suggested.

"There's no life where district 13 use to be." Portia piped up. "Not one person would be able to live there, moreover all of us."

"We could plant new life." Rosemary chimed. "Mama and I plant food all the time. Every spring."

"We do have seed and enhanced growing water for crops. The soil's been bare for so many years now, it just might be able to sustain crops." Raina informed us.

"The capitol is going to retaliate with a vengeance. They will murder anything in their path and everything in their surrounding area. Do you guys really think they won't look for us there?" Mykalin's words were so blunt, they stung. "It almost, even seems like a big flashing target with ALL REFUGEES HIDING HERE written in big gold letters." Everyone grew silent. We knew he was right.

"This is ridiculous and leading to nothing. I'm taking my boys and going home." Norma said in her high and mighty tone.

"You are not taking them." I growled at her.

"Lady are you suicidal? Or do you just want to win worst mother of the year? We can't stay here we'll all drop dead the minute they drop one of their bombs on this district." Ashlyn barked at her.

"A 14 year old orphan has better maternal skills than you do, you should feel ashamed." I told her. Her lips resumed her pursed thin line of anger.

"We can't stay here but where can we go?" Twister asked the million dollar question. If only someone had an answer.

"We could stay in the tunnels, hide there till this is all over." Raina suggested.

I considered it briefly. "It won't work." I said. "There aren't enough resources underground. The kids need sunlight and room to run and play. Breathing in that dirt for a long period of time, could lead to bad coughs and maybe even worse. We don't have the resources to take care of them if they were to get sick." I shut my eyes at the terrible thought that just occurred to me. "And we all know the bombs are coming just like they did last time. There is a really high chance that the tunnels could collapse. I am not ready to risk any casualties. I don't think you're ready for that either."

"No. I'm not."Raina murmured softly.

"We're back at square one. Joy." Norma Exclaimed sarcastically. Everyone ignored her.

"What's beyond district 13. What if we went there? What if we went further than anyone thought we would go?" Peeta asked.

" That's impossible." Cinna sounded confused by the mere thought of it. "Nothing's past district 13." Cinna answered. "Nothing but water."

"Well what's past the water?" Peeta asked.

Cinna was quiet.

"Nothing. Nothing's past the water." Portia answered.

"It can't be nothing." Peeta said. "That's impossible. On this entire planet there is nothing besides Paanam on it?" everyone took a long moment to think about what Peeta was saying.

"It's someplace else. Someplace that isn't Paanam. Someplace, different." I said finally.

"Then that's where we'll go. Someplace new. Someplace that isn't Paanam. We'll go someplace where we can make a fresh start." Peeta grinned at me. "Katniss tell me this won't work. The capitol has even brain washed themselves to believing that there isn't anywhere else but Paanam. They will never think that we got away, they won't think we exist at all."

"Everyone," I said loudly. "we've got ourselves a destination. We leave as soon as the sun comes up. No if's, and's or but's."

Norma and Raina didn't look completely thrilled by this decision. "Trust me." I tried to say comfortingly "This seems like the best option we're going to get. The safest option for everyone. And I believe that we can do it. Have faith in me, have faith in Peeta. We won't let you down. Norma, you and your sons have never gone hungry. Gale and I made sure of that. Raina, I made a promise to Rue, I will protect you. Trust me. This is the best for everybody. They didn't say anything, but they didn't leave either.

I made my way over to Peeta. My arms wrapped around his neck. "I love you." I said gazing into his eyes.

Peeta grinned at me. Can you say that again? I'm not sure if I heard you right." His arms wrapped around the small of my back bring me closer to him.

"I love you Peeta Mellark. I love you." I said slowly, playing with the words on my tongue.

"I love you too Katniss. I hope you know that by now." He said as he gazed down at me lovingly.

"Thank you. For everything. I don't know what we would have done without you." I told him.

"You are very welcome." He told me slowly and very sexily. "And you will never, ever, have to wonder what you would do without me Katniss. Because I am never leaving you."

"Thank you." For loving me. I whispered against his lips.

"Thank you." For not pushing me away again. He whispered against my lips.

We just stayed there for the longest time talking with our lips but without words, loving the silent sentences we continuously told each other. I love you. Thank you. I can't live without you. You are the greatest thing to ever happen to my life. You make every day of my life worth living. I love you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Before dawn came I untangled myself from Peeta's arms and started preparing for our trip. Mykalin was up too. Silently we worked together to grab some more previsions and necessities for our trip.

Dawn came and everyone begrudgingly woke up, and we started our journey. Raina looked nervous walking through the open dense forest, but other than that things went pretty well. All the kids made it seem more like a holiday instead of a requirement. They played games, sang songs and told stories as we walked and walked and walked. They even managed to lift my spirits up a bit. I knew how much they needed me, but in reality, I needed them just as much, maybe even more.

Everything was going smoothly. We were all well fed with fruit, grain and meat, and we were even covering a good amount of ground of day. Our trip went on smoothly like this for two weeks.

Peeta and I usually stayed behind the group to make sure no one straggled off or got left behind, while Cinna, Portia and Raina took the lead. Watching all the little kids skip and twirl and bump each other along the way as they raced through their forest on their short little legs always brought a smile to my face. Something about watching them always made happy. And whenever I smiled Peeta always seemed to be smiling too.

Currently I was watching little Roulette bumbling around on her stubby little legs, half playing on her own and half listening to the scary story her brother Ricochet was telling all the other kids. Roulette reminded me so much of Rue. She loved to whistle as she skipped along with her siblings. Then, suddenly, she stopped skipping. She stood there whistling upward . She looked like she was looking for something she had lost. At the same time she also looked frightened.

"What's wrong Roulette?" I asked picking her up and swinging her in my arms. She didn't laugh like she usually did. She didn't even smile.

"The birds. They've stopped singing." She told me sadly. "Why?" She asked me with a child's innocence.

"I don't kn-" I started.

Roulette started shrieking from fright, her tiny arms clutched my shoulders for dear life. I didn't understand what had scared her. But Roulette saw her first.

"Hello darling! I missed you! Did you miss me?" Lyly had dropped down from the trees and she landed on Peeta's shoulders and wrestled him to the floor. "You left so suddenly! I didn't get a chance to give you a goodbye kiss." Peeta, flipped Lyly on her back and pinned her by her wrists. Lyly screamed with pain and excitement. "That's it baby! You know I like it rough!"

All the kids heard Lyly's scream. They all turned around to see Peeta and Lyly fighting. They all became terrified, each one screaming and crying and looking for someone to hold them and keep them safe from the danger they saw.

"Peeta!" Ashlyn called to him. Ashlyn and Mykalin started to rush to Peeta's side.

"Stay back!" Peeta yelled with a force that stopped them immediately. "Come any closer and the kids might get hurt."

Ashlyn tried to pry Dalia off her so she could go and help Peeta but Dalia only held on tighter and started screaming louder. Mykalin didn't even try to put Ricochet down. All Ashlyn, Mykalin and I could do was back up and protect the children from getting anywhere close to Lyly. I felt arms hug around my waist. It was Twister. Cyclone was hiding behind Mykalin. All we could do was watch.

"Might?" Lyly wrapped her legs around Peeta's waist. "Peeta don't you know me better than that? Kids will get hurt. They will all get hurt. I'll kill them all. Nice and slow."

"Stop it!" Peeta banged her wrists against the hard dirt.

"Make me. Peeta, make me stop. Please." She begged him. The sarcasm and the playfulness disappeared from her voice and was replaced with genuine fear.

She kicked into Peeta's stomach. Peeta let go of her and tumbled onto his side. Lyly rolled onto her feet and materialized a dagger. "Peeta. Stop me. Please." She sounded afraid. Tears trickled down her cheeks. "Stop me now. NOW! Before I hurt someone else."

Peeta was on his feet slowly approaching Lyly's outstretched blade. "Lyly, if you want to stop. Than stop, it's that simple."
"I can't! Peeta I'm telling you I can't!" Lyly brought the blade closer to Peeta. Her hands were shaking. "The capitol is scared. They're going to kill me." Tears streamed down her face. "They say that this rebellion is my fault, they said I didn't catch it in time. They say I let it spread like wild fire. But it wasn't my fault. My only job was to watch her!" She turned away from Peeta and jabbed the blade in my direction. Roulette started to cry.

"Not Roulette!" Rosemary cried.

"Lyly!" Peeta called to her. "Lyly turn towards me. Come on, that's rude, we're having a conversation here. Aren't we?"

Lyly turned back to face Peeta. "It's fine." She said calmly. "I know I deserve to die. I know it. I've been terrible. So so terrible. But, before I die they will make me kill you." She turned back to look at me. "All of you. You. Your family, and all these children. I'm so sorry."

"Lyly." Peeta called her again. "You're telling me that I have to stop you. How do I stop you?"

"Kill me. Peeta you have to kill me! If I'm going to die anyway that I want you to me the one to do it. Peeta please." Lyly begged.

Peeta rushed Lyly and grabbed her wrists. "I'm not going to kill you. Come with us. We can take you where no one in the capitol will ever find you again."

"Peeta." Lyly said tenderly. "We both knew it wasn't going to work out between us. You have Katniss now. Besides, you never wanted me anyway. Peeta darling, please hurry up. The capitol brainwashed me to kill you and return to them. This good girl streak won't last much longer. If you don't kill me before it wears off then you're all dead. Take the knife Peeta. Take it."

"I won't kill you." Peeta said. "Fight it Lyly."

"Peeta, I can't. And you honestly don't have a choice. You won't watch all of them die." Peeta stayed quiet. "Do you want to hear how each of them will die then? Renaissance will be dropped from the highest tree by her ankles. She'll fall on her head and break her neck. She'll die instantly. Dalaia will be cut open and dissected like a lab project. I'll feed her organs to the other kids."

"Lyly stop it!" Peeta shook her.

"I can't Peeta. I told you I can't! The twin boys will be decapitated limb by limb to see just how identical they are. I'll scatter their body parts so that wide no one hundreds of years later will be able to put them together. Little Roulette will be tied to a spit and roasted alive like a little piglet"

"Lyly stop it! I said stop it!" Peeta shook her harder. All the kids were crying and shrieking hysterically in terror.

Lyly shook her head. "Rosemary will be beaten until her skin-"

Peeta grabbed the blade from Lyly's hand sliced Lyly's throat. Blood flowed and Lyly's words came out as unintelligible gurgles. "I'm sorry Lyly. I had no choice." Peeta said emotionlessly.

"T- t- tha- nk. Y-ou. love." Lyly choked out. her fingers scrambled to wrap around Peeta's hand that was still holding the blade. She pointed the tip to her heart. "By… the… way. My … real… name's Lilith … darlin'." She coughed out along with lots of blood. She took Peeta's hand and stabbed the blade through her heart with a smile on her face. Then she went limp. Silence surrounded us as the aftershock set into our bones.

"Come on. Come on! Let's keep moving." Raina herded her kids forward, prying their eyes from the dead body.

"Come on Peeta. We've got to keep going." I told him. Peeta didn't move. He just stood there staring at her dead body. "Peeta, don't beat yourself up over this. You had no choice. Don't forget she was also a horrific person." I said as I tugged on his arm. He still didn't move.

"Lyly, was the worst living nightmare I could ever think to imagine, that's true. But, Katniss, in her last moments she wasn't a nightmare at all. She didn't kill us. She saved us all. She let us get away. And I killed her. She was a horrific living nightmare, but in the end wasn't she forced to be that way? The capitol was the real living nightmare. She was abused by them like we were."

"Peeta, she did let us live. It really was mercy on her part, but the only way that we could have lived was if you killed her."

"I know that Katniss. I do. I just, don't want to kill her and walk away as if nothing's changed. The capitol has made puppets out of all of us. They turn us into blood thirsty killing machines. They make us forget that the people we're killing; these people with names and lives and family, won't ever being waking up again, walking again or speaking again because they're dead. They make us kill and not even glance back at the corpse with remorse. I can't let them win. Lyly didn't let them win, so neither will I. I just wanted to look at her dead body for a little bit and really acknowledge that … she's gone. A living human being is gone from this earth, and it's because of me."

I put my hand on his jaw and gently turned his face toward me. "You looked at the person you killed. Good job. Now look at the person- no, the people you saved. Peeta you saved lives." I brought his head to my shoulder. He wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me closer to him. "You saved me."

"I saved you." He repeated into my shoulder. He brought me closer. He hugged me tighter, as if he was reaffirming the fact that I was still here and very much alive. "That's always been what was most important. Thank you for reminding me."

"Peeta, I should be the one thanking you." I told him gently.

He just brought me closer. And for a moment we stayed there, saying nothing, forgetting and remembering everything.

We caught up with the group a lot quicker than we thought we would. They were all just sitting around waiting for us. Raina answered my unanswered question. "Renegade found this and picked it up. Only God knows how long he's been holding onto it. We figured we should let you take a look at it." She handed me a medium sized black bag. It was weighty. I looked in the bag and saw things and things piled up on more and more things. It seemed like the bag had an unlimited supply of supplies. I stuck my hand in and rummanged around inside. I found medicine, food capsules, cloaking equipment and lots more, lots of things I didn't even know how to use. I felt my hand crumple what felt like a small piece of paper. I pulled it out. it was a note. It read:

Peeta,

Thank you. Thank you for setting me free.

My heart will always be yours.

Love Lilith (though you know me by my Lyly)

I passed the note to Peeta. As he read it his face went blank like a slate.

"Come here Renegade." I called to the boy looking like he was about to get in trouble for doing something wrong. He came to me and I wrapped him in a big hug. "You did a very very good thing. This bag is a great help. Thank you so much for finding it for us."

"You're welcome." He mumbled shyly.

"Can we hold on to it from now on and keep it safe?" I asked him. He nodded his head. "Thanks Renegade. Now go to mama." I pushed him towards Raina. "It's not dangerous Raina, it's the exact opposite. It's Lyly's black bag of tricks."

"Because that's not dangerous!" she huffed.

"Actually," Peeta said. "It just might be the advantage we need to elude the capitol until we get out to sea. Be thankful he found it." A smile spread across Renegade's face. "Come on. Let's keep moving." Peeta prompted, and our journey continued.

_SIX MONTHS LATER _

I sat by the fire as I watched the smoke dance in the air before it disappeared. Some of the tiny bits of ashen paper fell to the floor as others flew away in the night breeze. Mom told me if you write a letter and burn it, it will go wherever the dead go, and they can read it. I wasn't even sure if I believed her, but I did this from time to time anyway, just in case she was right.

I heard his boots walk up behind me before he spoke. "Burning another letter to Gale I see." Peeta observed.

"Yup." I shrugged my shoulders, as if to apologize to my silly habit. "Another letter he won't get, but I write them anyway."

"You know," Peeta said as he sat down next to me. "if you stopped burning them and saved them, maybe he would actually get a chance to read them someday. The war's still going on Kat. Maybe he's not dead. Don't give up on him yet."

The war was still going on. He was right about that. But who knew if he was right about Gale? I just shook my head, shaking away my thoughts and at the same time shaking away his words. That's the best I could do when it came to entertaining thoughts of whether or not Gale was alive.

"You always did love him more than you loved me" Peeta sighed next to me.

"Stop lying." I told him.

"Am I?" Peeta was going to say something else too but I cut him off.

"Stop being so childish." My scolding was followed by a smile. "How many times do you want to hear me say it? I loved Gale, but he was like a brother to me. It just took me so long to see that. Things were so messed up. I felt like the capitol was trying to control my feeling and it made me so angry. The spirit of rebellion made me do things I never would have done with Gale."" I put my hand over his and gave him a genteel squeeze. "If we had never been picked for The Games. If the love we have had developed naturally..." I brought his face to mine so I could cover is lips in kisses. "We would have reached here a lot sooner."

"I don't care." Peeta said. "The easy way, the hard way, as long as we're here, I'm the happiest man in the world. I love you more than anything Katniss."

"I love you too." I told him flirtatiously but I knew he knew how much I meant it. He kissed me in that moment and I kissed him back. I kissed him like it was the most important thing in the world, and right now it was. "The only person I love more than you is Prim." I told him after I broke our kiss. "And I am pretty sure that you are going to drop down to the third slot in another 6 months.''

"Ouch. Even when we're together you still manage to hurt me."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah. I'm also pretty sure, that's never going to change either." I told him. "But you need to know that there is not ever going to be another man that I would want to spend every day of the rest of my life with. And there's never going to be another man that I would even consider growing old with, because I want to grow old with you. And I will grow old with you. Thank you for making that possible." I told him seriously. Peeta gave me another loving kiss that made me hate myself for not realizing how much I loved him so much sooner, so I could have been this happy so much sooner.

Peeta released my lips only to pull me onto his lap and surrounded me in his arms. "Thank you for making me the luckiest man in the world." Peeta whispered in my ear. "So what did you write gale this time?" he asked me.

"Oh, the usual updates. I told him that we are all eating well. I gave him a re-cap on all the children. I don't know if I can call his brothers children anymore though. They grew so quickly into young men. And I'm still so shocked at how big Rue's siblings are getting. I re-assured him that we are well-protected with equipment from Lyly's bag of tricks, but not to worry, because we are also saving some of her tricks for the unknown land we are venturing for. I told him that we finally finished creating a boat that will be able to fit all of us as, well as be able to fight the perilous waves. I told him that we planned to leave in 3 days and all we still need to do is pack the food." I rambled off the things I could remember.

"Did you mention me at all?" Peeta asked curiously.

A smile stretched across my face without permission "I was wondering if you would ask."

"Well, I asked. Now will you tell me?" He asked again as he kissing my knuckles tenderly.

I smiled at him. He knew I always mentioned him in my letters. And he already knew I was going to tell him what I wrote. "I told him I am very happy. I also told him the story of our wedding."

"Didn't you tell him we were married in a letter already?" He asked

"Yes," my smile doubled. "but I told him again. In case he didn't read it the last time. I also told him that in six months will be having a new addition to our big family. I told him that if he's alive out there he better come to Cinna's birthday."

"Or Portia, if it's a girl." He reminded me. "I would love to have a daughter just like you." He kissed my temple. "Speaking of the baby, lets go inside where you can wrap yourself in a blanket in addition to my arms. The fires dying and it's starting to get chilly. I don't want you catching a cold."

"Alright Peeta, let's go inside." I complied and he helped me to my feet.

AN: Okay! Well there it is! The last chapter. Oh My Goodness! IT. IS. FINISHED! Okay, so here's what you should know about me. Endings… scare me. I am always really worried that I would ruin the entire story with one ending. Yaaaay! It's done! I am so happy right now. Please review and tell me what you think about the story. I worked really hard to finish it please tell me what you think. Idk if people even read to the end of the last chapter because I got no reviews. So im a little bit worried abt posting the end.

Since this is my last AN I just want to say. I got so so so so so many flames. You guys can all shut up now. It really is and always was a Katniss and Peeta story. Going back in all my reviews and seeing how many flames I got I can't believe I finished it at all. But I did.

Okay so before people kept wanting to know if I was team Gale or team Peeta. Since the story is now done I can finally give you my answer. I am team Gale. I looove Gale. The thing is I know that Katniss needed to be with Peeta. I just wanted to give Gale a fighting chance.

So the epilogue was going to be the letter Katniss wrote to Gale, would you guys be interested in reading it? Do you want the epilogue or no?

Lastly, since this most likely be my last AN for Mind Games, I want to thank you personally for reading my story and sticking through the inconsistencies and reading it till the end it, thank you for all the encouraging reviews motivating me to finish the story. It really means so much to me. Mind Games is only as good as the people that read it. Thank You.

-Celeste