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"That&039;s the one thing I thinkback So we s" She neatly returns my keepsakes to the drawer and clio out "You&039;re not afraid I&039;ll kill you tonight?"

"Like I couldn&039;t take you," I answer Then we laugh, since both our bodies are so wrecked, it will be a , we do And by the end of the week, my ribs feel almost like new, and Johanna can asseives the pair of us an approving nod as we knock off for the day "Fine job, Soldiers"

When wethe Games was easier" But the look on her face says she&039;s pleased

In fact, we&039;re al hall, where Gale&039;s waiting to eat withof beef stew doesn&039;t hurt ," Greasy Sae tells me "That&039;s real beef, fro"

"Don&039;t re it down," Gale tosses back

We join a group that includes Delly, Annie, and Finnick It&039;s soe His earlier incarnations - the decadent Capitol heartthrob Iether - these have been replaced by someone who radiates life Finnick&039;s real char nature are on display for the first tio of Annie&039;s hand Not when they walk, not when they eat I doubt he ever plans to She&039;s lost in some daze of happiness There are stillslips in her brain and another world blinds her to us But a feords from Finnick call her back

Delly, who I&039;ve known since I was little but never gave rown in ht after the wedding, but she&039;s not a gossip Hayoes off on so his negative perceptions on the Capitol&039;s torture She has more influence on him than any of the others do, because he really does know her Anyway, even if she&039;s sugarcoating ood points, I appreciate it Frankly, I could use a little sugarcoating

I&039; and the stew is so delicious - beef, potatoes, turnips, and onions in a thick gravy - that I have to forcehall, you can feel the rejuvenating effect that a goodon The way it can make people kinder, funnier, o on living It&039;s better than any medicine So I try to ravy onso off with his hat Laugh before I realize he&039;s standing there Directly across the table, behind the e ravy bread sticks in my throat

"Peeta!" says Delly "It&039;s so nice to see you outand about"

Two large guards stand behind hiertips since his wrists are shackled with a short chain between them

"What&039;s with the fancy bracelets?" asks Johanna

"I&039;m not quite trustworthy yet," says Peeta "I can&039;t even sit here without your peruards with his head

"Sure he can sit here We&039;re old friends," says Johanna, patting the space beside her The guards nod and Peeta takes a seat "Peeta and I had adjoining cells in the Capitol We&039;re very familiar with each other&039;s screams"

Annie, who&039;s on Johanna&039;s other side, does that thing where she covers her ears and exits reality Finnick shoots Johanna an angry look as his arm encircles Annie

"What? My head doctor says I&039;hts It&039;s part of one out of our little party Finnick s to Annie until she slowly re silence while people pretend to eat

"Annie," says Delly brightly, "did you knoas Peeta who decorated your wedding cake? Back ho"

Annie cautiously looks across Johanna "Thank you, Peeta It was beautiful"

"My pleasure, Annie," says Peeta, and I hear that old note of gentleness in his voice that I thought was gone forever Not that it&039;s directed atto fit in that walk, we better go," Finnick tells her He arranges both of their trays so he can carry thehtly to her with the other "Good seeing you, Peeta"

"You be nice to her, Finnick Or I ht try and take her away from you" It could be a joke, if the tone wasn&039;t so cold Everything it conveys is wrong The open distrust of Finnick, the implication that Peeta has his eye on Annie, that Annie could desert Finnick, that I do not even exist

"Oh, Peeta," says Finnick lightly "Don&039;t make iving one, Delly says in a reproachful voice, "He did save your life, Peeta More than once"

"For her" He gives me a brief nod "For the rebellion Not for "

I shouldn&039;t rise to the bait, but I do "Maybe not But Mags is dead and you&039;re still here That should count for sos should count for soot some memories I can&039;t make sense of, and I don&039;t think the Capitol touched thehts on the train, for instance," he says

Again the implications That more happened on the train than did That what did happen - those nights I only kept erhiesture with his spoon, connecting Gale and me "So, are you two officially a couple now, or are they still dragging out the star-crossed lover thing?"

"Still dragging," says Johanna

Spashten into fists, then splay out in a bizarre fashion Is it all he can do to keep them from my neck? I can feel the tension in Gale&039;s muscles next to me, fear an altercation But Gale simply says, "I wouldn&039;t have believed it if I hadn&039;t seen it myself"

"What&039;s that?" asks Peeta

"You," Gale answers

"You&039;ll have to be a little more specific," says Peeta "What about me?"

"That they&039;ve replaced you with the evil-mutt version of yourself," says Johanna

Gale finishes his milk "You done?" he asks me I rise and we cross to drop off our trays At the door, an old ravy bread inin my expression, or maybe the fact that I&039;ve o easy on me He lets me stuff the bread in my mouth and move on Gale and I are alain "I didn&039;t expect that"

"I told you he hated me," I say

"It&039;s the way he hates you It&039;s sofamiliar I used to feel like that," he ad hi entirely fair He can&039;t see that"

We reach et some sleep"

Gale catches my arm before I can disappear "So that&039;s what you&039;re thinking now?" I shrug "Katniss, as your oldest friend, believeyou as you really are" He kissesto stuff information from my Military Tactics books into hts with Peeta on the train distract me After about twenty minutes, Johanna comes in and throws herself across the foot of my bed "You missed the best part Delly lost her teot very squeaky It was like so ahall was riveted"

"What&039;d Peeta do?" I ask

"He started arguing with hiuards had to take hiood side, no one seemed to notice I finished his stew" Johanna rubs her hand over her protruding belly I look at the layer of griernails Wonder if the people in 7 ever bathe

We spend a couple of hours quizzing each other on military terms I visit my mother and Prim for a while When I&039; into the darkness, I finally ask, "Johanna, could you really hear hi?"

"That was part of it," she says "Like the jabberjays in the arena Only it was real And it didn&039;t stop after an hour Tick, tock"

"Tick, tock," I whisper back

Roses Wolf jays Stylists Me

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