stillplaying: ([sad] sad)
[How long has it been since she last opened the journal not to peer at the other entries but to make one herself? It feels much longer than the couple of months that somehow managed to move by so quickly. Forever, perhaps. And yet, in that short time, so much has changed. People have left. More importantly, people have arrived. Rue, Johanna, Peeta... And none of them have yet disappeared.

Two months of knowing Peeta's so close. A trip across town to his apartment. Walking by the bakery. His memory is no longer a ghost that haunts her. Instead, he's something real. Something entirely too real. Two months and she hasn't yet figured out if she's relieved to have him back. Or if she's more frightened of losing him. There's limits to the filial magic, as she's starting to discover. And those limits worry her. Will she lose him all over again? Lose Prim or Rue or Richard or Teddy?

If there's one thing that hasn't changed in these two months, it's her growing weariness of the disappearances in Luceti. Even Sokka, Sokka who had been here for four or more years, was now gone.

Who was next?

It's a nightmare that wakes her. A nightmare of losing everyone she loves. Watching them die at the hands of lizard mutts, necks ripped out by wild dog-like creatures with the eyes of lost children, others murdered in drafts against the Third Party. She wakes with a start, skin covered in a sheen of sweat, eyes wide and frantic. Her throat is soar from screaming in her sleep and she gasps. When her senses return, she turns on a lamp and reaches for her journal.

She can't lose anyone. Not even to something like returning home. But she takes the coward's way out and she pens her thoughts rather than admit to them aloud:]


There was someone here once who asked if it was possible to bring people here from home. Has anyone ever tried the opposite? Tried to keep people here instead?


action;

[That done, she throws on a leather jacket and boots over her sleeping clothing. She can't go back to sleep. Not right now. And she can't be in here either, not wanting to disturb her housemates any more than she already might have. Her bow is slung over a shoulder with her quiver, just in case.

It's cold out there but she doesn't care. There's something comforting about being alone in the night, no longer surrounded by oppressing walls. The nightmares don't seem so bad now, away from her bed. She can almost pretend things will be okay, regardless of whatever responses she might have to her inquiry when she gets back.]
stillplaying: ([interest] leaning in)
[It's been five days since asking Peeta to spend the nights in her room again. In her bed. With arms wrapped around her tight at night. Words to comfort her when she wakes screaming in the night. It hasn't kept the nightmares away. Not completely. But they've been tamer. Not nearly as gruesome. Survivable. It's like the time spent on the Victory Tour all over again. Managing the darkness together. But this time, there's no Effie to disapprove.

And if it's not enough for Peeta, he doesn't say anything. Doesn't bring up loving her again. The star-crossed lovers of District Twelve. There's no mention of the facade they lived to appease Snow or the Capitol. And no mention of their recent hijacking. But still, sometimes, late at night, she can hear Haymitch's words. Telling her that she could do a whole lot worse. She shoves them away. Ignoring the advice. Whether anyone agrees or disagrees, this is a game. They're trapped in a game. And that's no time to dwell on feelings.

Morning comes. Six days after the end of the hijacking, the most recent shift - game. Whatever you want to call it. And like most mornings, it's spent in the woods. From the crack of dawn till noon, she's out in the woods despite the rainfall. Hunting and harvesting. She comes back, showers. And notices, with a slight grin, how she's gained some weight back. Small steps. But maybe Doctor Aurelius was right. Go through the motions, keep busy.



Today, when she enters the town proper, she doesn't bother covering up with a jacket. Doesn't care if the scars on her arms and hands show. Let them stare. She makes her way to the library without an umbrella. Wanders the aisles until finding the books she's looking for. Then she sets up camp at a table. The stack of books on one end, a pile of carefully obtained leaves and berries, flowers and roots on another. And in the middle sits her family's plant book.

If something is to happen to her, she doesn't want Peeta and Rue to have to depend on the food in the stores. Someone has to record these strange plants, mark whether they're edible or poisonous. Whether they have any medicinal uses. And what better place to record the information than within her plant book?

After a while, a thought occurs to her and she pauses. Takes out the journal. And in careful, neat handwriting, poses a question:]


Does anyone have a camera I could borrow?