17th Game [video]

[stillplaying]

[It had almost come as a relief when the droids had appeared on her doorstep the day after the shift ended. She hadn't wanted to see Prim. Prim, that darling sister that meant the world to her. The girl that she would have died for. Nearly had on multiple times. Prim, who she had forgotten all about during the shift. It hadn't ever been that bad when Peeta had been here. The Malnosso had been kind in that regard, always let them know each other in some form. Would it have been so much to ask to keep Prim her sister regardless?

Apparently.

It would be easy to say she deserved that. Deserved to experience love again - real love like she had had with Peeta - only to discover that it had been as imaginary as her last relationship. Jim didn't love her. She didn't love him. The whole idea of an engagement had been a lie. Everything had been fake. Nothing real. Maybe, maybe under other circumstances, it would have been easier to accept. If matters hadn't ended with Sokka the way they had, if those wounds hadn't still been so raw, maybe...

There had been no argument when the droids appeared. Going meant avoiding those encounters. Meant not admitting she had forgotten her sister or an awkward discussion with Jim. It meant maybe trying to find Effie, make certain that she was alright. It was the closest thing short to going on a mission that she could get to leaving Luceti.

Prim would be alright. She'd have Richard and Teddy. People who hadn't forgotten her the way Katniss had.

But time with the Malnosso came to an end all too soon. And as she stared at the familiar walls of the painted room, the trees of her beloved forests outside of District 12, she felt almost tempted to run away. Go on one of those missions. Not have to see anyone here. Pick up the pieces of the mess she had made her life before the last shift. Or the mess that had come as a result.

She had never been good at running away though. Not even when they should have before the Quarter Quell, before Panem went insane. Damn it. Damn, damn, damn.

Sighing, Katniss picked up the journal and turned on the device. She brushed a stray strand from the braid out of her face and quirked her lips a little to the right. It would be better this way, announcing her return through the journal rather than being brave enough to seek them out.]

For anyone who might care, I'm back.

[Dare she even ask what more she might have missed?]

Comments

[crimsonblade]

[There she was. Her...the girl who'd been her niece during that damn experiment. Now, she suffered from conflicted emotions. Part of the redhead was relieved that Katniss was alive and well..ish. The other part was just glad that the girl managed to make it through the shift and her disappearance without any sort of visible scarring.

As to why Nel finds that she has to comment, considering the only contact they had outside of that stupid shift was largely negative, she can't say.]

More people care than you realize. It's good to see you're back, Katniss.

[stillplaying]

[She had enough visible scars on her body. Nearly two years later and evidence of the skin grafts and burn scars still remained on her body. Evidence of her sister's death; Katniss' own inability to protect her as she had promised. At least the majority of the scars she had taken on here in Luceti had been internal. Invisible to all those around her. Or, at least, would be if she didn't continuously give in to her own self-loathing and self-despair.

Being away hadn't made it any better. It only put off the inevitable. Facing people she probably owed apologies to, explanations for that damned shift. Couldn't they just forget? Not say a word regarding everything that had happened? Matters that were completely out of their control.

Considering their last conversation, the one before the shift, Katniss wouldn't have considered talking to Nel again. It hadn't exactly gone very well. So she blinked in surprise at hearing the voice, seeing the face of someone who had been family not very long ago.]

Thank you. I- [Should apologize. Didn't know how.] It's good to see you, too.

[crimsonblade]

[Before coming to Luceti, Nel could count the people she'd let hug her on one hand and the people she'd hugged on her own on one finger. So, the shift had forced her outside of her own comfort zone. Now, she was trying to reach out to the girl that her "other" self had been so attached to.]

I...This is fairly awkward for us, I suppose. Neither of us are the type of person to be very...tactile, from what I've gathered.

[Video]

[complicatedliar]

Welcome back to the village of neurosis, I suppose.

[Video]

[stillplaying]

[Though she still couldn't bring herself to fully trust the man, the more she talked with him, the more she found herself enjoying his wry sense of humor. He understood matters that Katniss found others here didn't. Saw the world through similar sort of lenses.

His words were enough to crack a smile. It didn't quite reach her eyes, but the amusement was evident.]

Nothing's changed?

voice:

[shenevermisses]

[Being taken is always messy. And after everything that had happened with the last shift...

Well, Clove leaves her regards as a simple -- but strangely sincere -- question:]

You okay?

voice:

[stillplaying]

[It's the sincerity that makes her pause, makes her consider that there's more to the question than the simple two words. They had been sisters this time, something much more significant than the childhood friends the Malnosso had previously set upon them. Memories, vague and almost dreamlike, still make her wonder. What would it have been like if the Panem they grew up in hadn't been the Panem they knew?

Would they have been so close were life circumstances different?

Maybe. Not that she deserves such friendships. Not after all the hell she's put other friends through. Still,]

I survived.

[Voice]

[strangelyliteral]

[Katniss. The other daughter.

Yet, with all the announcements from her former-family members lately, there's only one thought on the top of her mind when she finds herself responding. She's not even sure why she's responding. Maybe she does care? Even though there's no reason that she shouldn't. Maybe.

Ugh. Too confusing.]

... You're not getting married too, are you?

[Voice]

[stillplaying]

[She's thankful that for once she opted not to change the journal feed to video. Because the look that crosses her face is that of a deer caught in her arrow's sight. Shocked and frightened. Quickly tinged with incredulity. And maybe a hint of anger.

Married. Of course she's not getting married. Who would want her? Who, aside from Peeta?]

No. [The word's choked out, almost a testament to the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside of her at that question.] No, that wasn't real.

voice;

[ex_tessen852]

...So you did come back.

[A mission with Sokka helped her get over a lot, but she still felt some bitterness towards Katniss.]

voice;

[stillplaying]

[Their prior conversations hadn't gone well. It hadn't been such a loss to her. The girl had treated her with the disdain that Katniss believed she deserved then. Still believed, to a degree. No time spent away had changed her thoughts on that. On actions taken both in Panem and Luceti. The litany of mistakes she had made in her life.

But the voice was more civil than she expected to hear. Not that she expected to hear anything in the slightest from Suki.

Quietly,]

I couldn't leave Prim here alone.

voice/filtered

[onlyeffie]

"Katniss?"

The voice on the other end sounds dry and a little strangled. Effie is still in a bad way after her kidnapping, which means she has had a lot of time on her hands and little to do. One thing that HAS filled her time -- aside from worries about her own future -- has been worrying about what has happened to Katniss.


And the concern, of course, that Katniss won't like the fact that she's crashing at House 43 once more.

video/filtered

[stillplaying]

It was a voice she had hoped to hear while she had been with the Malnosso. That familiar Capitol lilt that she had never expected to miss. But she had, hadn't she? Even before Effie had let herself be taken by the Malnosso, when the woman had decided to move out of the house she had once invited herself to live in. In such a short time, she had grown so accustomed to having Effie as a roommate, it had been strange to think her gone.

There was no mistaking the relief that crossed Katniss' face upon hearing Effie's voice. Her lips even flickered into a brief smile. The woman was back in Luceti. Safe as far she knew. Alive.

"You're back."

action

[markofthewise]

It's while Katniss is out in the woods, for one reason or another, that she's suddenly being pursued by a FEROCIOUS saber toothed moose lion. And by ferocious, only slightly cuddly. The two horns on his forehead and the emergence of two sabers on its front jaw offset some of its adorable nature, as did its size, now standing waist high at her. But instead of wanting to eat her, it wanted to stare blissfully at her while panting and waiting for some kind of treat.

Sokka would be along shortly. His voice could already be heard not far away, calling out "Foo Foo!"

action

[stillplaying]

It's instinct to draw her bow and notch an arrow at the slightest sound of unexpected footsteps in the forest brush. Especially loud footsteps that could only be made by something four legged and heavy. It could be a stag, prey that could provide her household with enough meat to last for weeks. Or it could be something out to kill her. A mutt. Some terrifying beast the Malnosso thought up.

She doesn't expect to see Foo Foo. And as soon as the saber toothed moose lion skids to a stop in front of her, the guilt immediately hits. The arrow is put away and she looks around as fear hits. He lives with others. A whole number of others. It's not necessarily him out here.

"Stupid beast," she mutters fondly as she reaches into her satchel to pull out a squirrel. One carcass won't hurt her supply. And whether she'd admit it or not, Katniss had grown fond of the dumb animal. "You're going to scare away all the game."

[Video]

[savedtheworld]

Katniss? [He says with some weakness - hesitance. He had learned a lot more about Katniss than he'd liked to. But regardless of everything, he knew he wasn't just going to stop talking to her.]

You're back... Are you alright?

[Video]

[stillplaying]

[They had had a long talk, hadn't they, before the shift occurred. She remembered some of it and tried not to dwell too much on it. On any of the conversations she had had then. Maybe Effie had been right. Maybe she was only sabotaging herself - her reputation - by admitting to her role in the 76th Hunger Games on the journal.

But it was too late now. She could only move forward. Death wasn't a viable escape here. And she couldn't do that to Prim. Not ever.

Still, the hesitance is something shared when she finally replies.]

I'm fine. I'm alive.

[And that's all that matters in the end, isn't it? Your own continued existence?]

[greenjacketed]

Even now, Richard Sharpe was not a man prone to using his journal unless it was required of him. So -- upon realizing by a hundred little clues that Katniss was home -- he took to haunting the hallways in the hopes of finding her as if by accident. All while trying to avoid too many crossed paths with the once-again interloper, Effie Trinket, lest they be led into yet another sticky comedy of manners.

In this hour, perhaps he caught her after her hunt. Bringing her game into the kitchen, perhaps? Katniss may have noticed that he'd put himself to work on their house's extension while she was missing, though he himself had been absent during the invasion itself. In this way, he hadn't spoken to her for quite a while. And although Effie wasn't meant to be living here, he continued dutifully on their construction project.

He looked up from the table where he was sorting various sizes of nails and although he did not smile, his eyes lit up to see her. "You've returned...!"

[stillplaying]

It was the note in his voice, the way his eyes lit up that nearly did her in. Of all the people left in Luceti, there were two that meant the most to her. Prim, whom Katniss was terrified of facing. What did you say to the sister you had forgotten? It didn't matter if it had been out of her control. That freedom she gave to others in that regard didn't apply to herself. She should have remembered, shit or no shift.

But the other person was a lot easier to face. He hadn't been there. And even if she felt bad for forgetting their relationship, for finding a temporary father in Jack Horner of all people, he wasn't Prim. It wasn't the same.

Where he didn't smile, she did. Hurried quicker into the kitchen and placed the meat on the table, clearly wanting to move closer but afraid to do so. "So have you."

[video]

[not_a_troll]

Everyone returned. So do you.

We also need to have a conversation, Katniss.

[Loki's voice sounds curt and businesslike]

[video]

[stillplaying]

[His voice is unlike that of the young boy she remembered from the shift. It's more like his normal self. The annoying boy that always seems to argue with her, offer opinions especially when unwanted. It's that which makes her reply with caution.

A conversation? In her opinion, there's nothing to talk about. Nothing more than their usual arguments.]

Why?

action;

[prims]

[ Prim doesn't bother replying to the journal. Instead, the second she hears Katniss' voice over the journals, she goes back to the house, asking a friend to cover her tables at Seventh Heaven (and it's easy, because she rarely asks for favors) before going home, as fast as she can.

She had been worried about her sister, scared for her, but...

Katniss was home. That was all that mattered to her, as Prim rapped on the door, opening it a split second after. Her shoulders relaxed when she spotted Katniss, her lips twitched up into a smile. Even despite having forgotten everything the other month... ]

Katniss! You're back. ...Richard and I missed you.

[ She doesn't add Buttercup to the list; that might be a bit of a lie. ]

action;

[stillplaying]

[The knock at the door nearly made her jump from her seat on the bed, unexpected in its occurrence. Though she had housemates, Effie had chosen to talk through the journal. And she hadn't seen Richard yet. While the man might knock, the other two she lived with wouldn't. So when Prim walked in a second later, she blinked in further surprise.

Bolting up straight in her seat, back utterly straight, she remained still as she stared at her sister. No change. Prim looked as healthy and happy as ever. And not for the first time since arriving here, Katniss couldn't help but wonder if Prim would be better off without her.

But the thought was quickly dismissed. Katniss was too damn selfish to let Prim go and she knew it. There was no use pretending. And no use in pretending that everything was okay, either.]

Prim...

[I shouldn't have forgotten you.]

[voice]

[halfnhalf]

People do care, Katniss. Especially me.

[He's making a point here; don't sell yourself short, don't think the friends you have don't love you just because of an experiment, and he shows it in his voice. After a moment's pause, though, he lets his voice soften, and he smiles for her.]

But hey... welcome back. Are you okay?

[voice]

[stillplaying]

[It's good to hear his voice. As good as it was to be able to hug Richard again and curl up on a bed with Prim. He's been one of those people there for her. People she's still half convinced she doesn't deserve. But she has them anyway. People she's missed while gone. Didn't even know she missed during the shift.

...the shift.]

You watched over Prim then, didn't you? During the experiment? [Of course he did. He had been her older brother then. He hadn't forgotten her. She owed him for that. So, so much. And unlike Gale, he didn't fail. Prim was still here. Alive. His question goes ignored as she continued,] Thank you, Teddy. Thank you so much.