Chapter Ten
I bolted up, gasping for air. I've never heard a scream so loud and terrified in my life. I placed my hand against my chest, feeling my heart racing out of control. I squinted my eyes, able to see Rye's chest gently floating up and down in the dark. How did he not hear that?

I slipped out of my bed, my bare feet landing on the cool carpet. I quietly walked to the door, opening it to peer out into the hallway. I stuck my head out, looking back and forth. Carefully, I walked towards my parents' room.

Before I could turn the knob, I heard Dad's voice. Did he wake up from the scream too? I leaned my ear against the door, trying to hear what he was saying. "Katniss, it's alright. I'm right here. We're not going back to the Games. Everything's okay."

I backed up. I should have that scream memorized by now. I hear Mom's screams at least once a week. But it's never been so loud, so full of fear. I slowly back away, feeling like I've invaded her privacy. Like I shouldn't know what nightmare she had. I began to shiver, my warmth suddenly leaving me.

"Out for a nightly walk, sweetheart?"

I jumped, turning around to see Haymitch. His gray eyes were studying me and I probably now looked like a child caught stealing a cookie from the jar. I began to stutter, trying to think of an excuse. "I just wanted a drink of water."

He slightly scoffed, the corner of his mouth curling upward. "Follow me."

I shuttered, rubbing my hands up and down my arms as I followed Haymitch through the train. This was the first time I noticed how much we were wobbling back and forth. A few times I had to catch myself to stop from falling over.

Eventually, he led me to the kitchen. He poured me a glass of water. Before I could even think, I tossed it back as fast as I could. We both knew that I wasn't awake for a cool drink of water.

I handed him back the empty glass, my small hand brushing against his calloused one. "So, you were thirsty?" He asked, placing the glass in the sink. I hummed, nodding my head. "You don't need to lie to me, Willow. I'm not going to yell at you for waking up from your mother's nightmares. I'm sure this isn't the first time."

I lowered my head, feeling his eyes studying me. "I know. It's just," I stuttered, trying to think of the words. "I just feel like I'm invading her privacy. It's her nightmares, not mine. And I've never heard her scream like that before. What do you think it was?"

He paused, brushing my locks from my eyes. His expression was soft, a face I've only seen a few times. "The Games mess with everyone, Willow," he began. "I've only been in one. Your mother and father have been through two Games and a rebellion. It's best not to know what is going through her head on this train."

My eyes met his. I frowned. "That's why you guys know this train so well. It's the victor train. You've had to ride it many times before. To the Games and to the Districts." I replied.

"You should head back to bed." He softly spoke, placing his hand on my shoulder. Haymitch has never been one for comfort like Dad, but tonight he was probably the best person to confide in.

He lead me to my room and tucked me into bed. "Goodnight, Uncle Haymitch." I whispered as he brushed my locks from my eyes.

"Good night, sweet pea." He replied.

xxx

"'Low! 'Low!" Rye exclaimed, shaking me awake. "Wake up! Wake up!"

I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "What do you want?" I yawned. I stretched, making some of my bones crack in the process. I hardly got any sleep last night, but I couldn't show it. Mom doesn't need to know she woke me up.

"We're just arriving in District 7," he explained, his eyes lighting up. "Mom and Dad want you to get ready since we'll be having breakfast with one of their close friends."

I nodded my head as he rushed out of the room, giving me privacy. A close friend? I didn't know they knew anyone from District 7. Of course, I don't know a lot of things. You would think over the years I would at least know most my parents' backstory, but I'm too chicken to even ask.

I quickly yanked on a pair of overalls and a shirt. I brushed my hair, leaving it in its natural wave for Mom to braid. I felt exhausted and this was only our first day on vacation. I could only hope that Mom wouldn't have anymore nightmares.

"Nice to see you up and at 'em." Dad teased, pinching my cheeks. I softly giggled, walking to Mom. She smiled, turning me around. Her fingers quickly began the memorized process.

"Did you sleep well, peanut?"

"Yes, except it was a little hard to fall asleep at first. It was weird being so far away from home." I replied, trying to cover my story. I hoped it was convincing enough.

"Yeah, it's a little strange at first," she agreed. I felt her tie off the end of hair to make sure it wouldn't fall apart. She turned me around, placing a soft kiss on my temple, causing a grin to grow on my face. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it soon."

Before I knew it, we were in a whole new world. Trees grew taller than I could ever imagine. Plus they were all different shapes and sizes. I recognized a few from home, but most were unfamiliar. "Did we shrink?" Rye asked from beside me.

"No, the trees are just super tall here," I explained, resting my hand on the window. "District 7 helps out with our lumber. Ya know, so we can have paper and stuff."

"Oh. What does coal help the other districts with?" He added, furrowing his eyebrows at me. I softly smiled, genuinely happy that he was filled with this curiosity. Rye had learned a lot from being at school for only a few months. It nice to finally have some intelligent conversations with him.

"Well, coal helps with heating so people don't get cold." I answered. He awed, looking back out the window. He leaned his head against my shoulder as we watched more and more trees crowd our train. The sun was now slivering over the horizon, causing a light orange to streak on the sky.

The train pulled to slow stop and we exited, leaving our bags and such on board. The train had to refuel so it would be a few hours, so we had plenty of time to meet our parents' close friend.

My eyes darted around the place, unable to process how different it was. It smelt like the forest and gave me a comforting feeling. Sorta like a home away from home feeling. Only I knew we were miles away from the coal covered District 12.

"Well, well, well," a woman spoke up, marching towards us. Her dark locks were tied up in a tight ponytail and everything about her intimidated me. "Aren't these babies just adorable?" She declared as she squeezed my cheeks. Those words coming out of anyone else's mouth would have sounded like a compliment, but they sounded threatening from her.

"It's nice to see you again, Johanna." Dad smiled, pulling her into a hug. Johanna. The name was familiar. I've never heard it spoken at our house. Only at school. As my eyes quickly studied her face, I was able to recognize the former victor. She was one of few still alive.

"Gosh, this one has your eyes, Peeta," she stated, grabbing at my cheeks again, acting like I was some pet. Her brown eyes traveled over my face, almost as if she was trying to read my thoughts. "And even has Katniss's nose. I'm hoping she has your rebellious spirit." She added, now talking to Mom.

"Trust me, Willow has too much of that." Haymitch spoke up as Johanna moved onto Rye. Rye giggled as she poked his chubby cheeks and ran her grubby fingers through his curly blonde locks.

"Katniss's eyes and Peeta's hair. Gee, what a blessing," She said, standing up and smiling down at Rye, who was giggling like crazy. He thought she was hilarious. "I'm surprised these two haven't been broadcasted all over the country. They're cuter than a pair of buttons."

"We prefer to leave the cameras out of our lives." Mom replied.

Johanna shrugged her shoulder as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Had enough of the victor's life, huh?" She asked. It quiet for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Me, too. I don't let those cameras anywhere near me. They get an axe to the lens before they even know what's coming."

Mom chuckled, nodding her head at Johanna. Suddenly, all I could picture was Mom shooting an arrow into the lens of a camera that even seemed to be pointed anywhere near us.

"Well, who's hungry?" Johanna asked.

"Me! Me! I'm starving!" Rye jumped up and down, waving his hand like crazy.

"Alright, goof, let's go eat something." She replied, turning on her heels. Johanna seemed intense, but I actually didn't mind her. She was sorta funny. In an intimidating sorta way.

We were all seated around a table on her back deck. The view was perfect. The sun was now high in the sky, making the green grass shimmer with the fresh dew. The dark trees loomed over us, casting cool shades, so we sat in the sunlight. The table was made out of glass. It was weird to be able to see my legs when I looked down at my plate.

Placed on the table was a bowl full of freshly cut fruit. It was overflowing with apples, oranges, strawberries, you know it. Johanna called it a fruit salad, thought I didn't understand how it was mocked the salads at home, which were just different types of plants.

As the main meal, we were given grilled sausage meat and over easy eggs. It was really to be honest. We always had our choice of toast. Mom, Haymitch, and I went simple, just having sourdough. Rye, well, it was fairly obvious that he was going to choose rye bread. Dad went for a kind that I had never even heard of before. When it was placed at the table, I quickly noticed the green specks sprinkled in it.

"What's in that?" Rye asked, pointing at Dad's toast. Dad grinned, holding it, obviously happy that we asked.

"See, this is seaweed," he began. Immediately, Rye and I scrunched up our nose. Everyone laughed at us as Dad continued. "Each district has a special type of bread. This is the bread from District 4."

"Because District 4 is by the ocean!" Rye cheered, glad he figured it out by himself. "And seaweed is in the ocean!"

"Exactly!" Dad grinned, his eyes sparkling at Rye.

Eventually, the meal had quieted down, most of us stuffed with food. "So, I bet you two are the most popular kids at school." Johanna stated, setting down her orange juice. Everyone nearly choked, surprised by her statement.

"Willow doesn't even come close." Haymitch chuckled, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Ouch.

I'm not saying it isn't true, but, still.

Ouch.

"Why not? I'm sure everyone wants to be friends with Katniss and Peeta's kid," Johanna smirked, her eyes meeting mine. "Or friends with a child of any victor, really." She added.

"Willow isn't exactly the warmest person in District 12." Mom replied, trying not to hurt my feelings. Well, she was right. I don't really have many friends.

"That's alright. I don't have any friends, either. We loners gotta stick together, right?" She asked, her smile spreading to her face.

I returned it, nodding at her. "Right."

Everyone began to clear the table. Somehow, I was left alone with Johanna. Her nails dug into my skin as she tightly gripped my wrist. I thought I was going to drop my plate from how much pressure she applied. "I'm glad to see you sticking up for yourself."

"What?" I replied.

"I don't want to hear that other kids have been pushing you around, Willow," she explained, slightly shrugging her shoulder. "And if they suddenly do, I have a phone. I'm not afraid to come over to 12 to scare the hell out of them."

"Okay."

"No, you're supposed to say, 'Thanks, Johanna. That really means a lot to me.'" She grinned.

I smiled, able to detect her humor. "Thanks, Johanna. That really means a lot to me." I repeated with a small giggle at the end.

"You learn fast for being Katniss's kid." She teased, ruffling my hair, before we headed back inside.

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