AS THE WARM BREEZE BLEW IN THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM WINDOW, IT MADE SAGE STIR ON THE COUCH UNTIL HE FINALLY OPENED HIS EYES. It had been three weeks since he made it out of the arena. Three weeks since he finally got home. Three weeks since he fulfilled his promise of winning and coming home.  The three weeks that had passed felt like they had aged him a few years. Despite the dissolved graft on his leg, he couldn't but feel a phantom pain with every step he took. He had gotten into the habit of avoiding Ella's fingers from touching the back of his head where he knew the metal disk had been placed. It wasn't obvious, it didn't leave an obvious raised bump like he thought it did. But if you felt closely, you could feel the edges of the plate. He had only just begun walking Katniss and Prim to and from school again, he had only just started to allow himself to be seen by District Twelve. And he had even taken his sister's to the Hob again, where Katniss picked out a new pair of shoes, and Prim a new set of watercolor paints. Sage had just begun to feel normal again during the day. 

Nighttime was a different story. 

       The first few nights back in Twelve, he had been so exhausted that he didn't dream. At least not that he could remember, but the longer he was there, the more vivd they became. Sometimes he was on stage with Caesar Flickerman, blinded by lights but surrounded by no cheering. The rerun of his games were the only thing he could hear. Sometimes his hands were holding Watt under the water, or sometimes he was covered with the snakes. Sometimes he was watching the games in Twelve, watching Deedee get covered by the nest of snakes– her screams silenced the square where everyone watched the young girl die while Sage survived. But the worst dreams were the ones of Marena and watching her die over and over again, and Sage just couldn't get to her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach her. The only dreams he had that didn't make him wake up sweating were the ones where he was dead– whether by the hands of Marena or the mutts, if he was dead the dream would just turn black and Sage found it peaceful.

"Sage?"

Sage cranned his head to look over the arm of the couch, just to see his father standing before him. 

"Couldn't sleep last night?" he questioned, his father stepped up beside the couch and lowered himself onto the edge of the coffee table. Pushing the bottle of whiskey aside a bit, but not bringing any attention to it this time. Two weeks after Sage had been home, his father had questioned Sage's method of falling asleep and the conversation didn't go the way he had wanted it to. 

Sage shrugged, "Not upstairs." Sage replied simply. Sage had convinced himself that the worst dreams always came when he was in his own room. Probably because that was where he about killed Prim when she woke him up from one. 

"Well, I heard Katniss already getting ready in the girls' room." he pointed out.

Sage sighed heavily, beginning to prop himself up on the couch. "Can't you take her?" Sage questioned, "Or stop be the Hawthornes' and see if Ella would-"

"Sage." his father said sternly, "You've promised her."

Sage groaned, "I know. I know..."

         He still wished his father would take Katniss out hunting. Sage could barely make it to and from the school without his leg throbbing and threatening to give out beneath him. Sure the graft was gone, and his leg really gave him no real reason to hurt anymore. The scars were barely there even. He knew the pain was probably just in his head by now, but that didn't change the fact that it hurt. 

"Besides, I'm sure she'd like to spend sometime with you. Like before." his father added, reminding him that Sage had avoided almost any request Katniss had. Not because he didn't want to, Sage wanted to spend time with her. But he was scared to actually do it. If there was one thing he had figured out over the last few weeks, it was that he definitely wasn't the same anymore. And he didn't want Katniss to see that. Prim wouldn't even look at him for a few days after she woke him up. He didn't want Katniss to end up afraid of him too. "It could be good for you, to get out of this house, back out there. It hasn't changed."

"Yeah, you're right." Sage sighed heavily. "I'll see you tonight when you get home?" Sage questioned as he sat up across from his father. 

"Yep," he said, reaching towards the whiskey with one hand and the cap with the other. "put this away before Katnip comes down, alright?" he stated, his voice wasn't judgemental and he didn't sound like he was accusing Sage of anything. Not like last time. After awhile, unlike his mother, his father seemed to just accept how Sage was now. His mother appreciated Sages' forced banter, his feeble attempt at sounding and acting normal. His father however had accepted that Sage was different now. 

Sage nodded as he took the bottle and the cap from his father, "See you tonight."

"See you then," he replied, standing up, and patting Sage's shoulder as he stepped past him. "Love you."

"Love you too." Sage replied watching him leave the room, and then listened for the sound of the door opening and closing behind him. 

          As soon as Sage knew he was alone again, he took a swig from the bottle before twisting the cap back onto the bottle. Sage rose to his feet and made his way into the kitchen, putting the bottle on top of the fridge before he went upstairs to his room. Shutting and locking his door behind him. 

        Sage got dressed for the day, opting for a pair of jeans, a gray shirt, and his old leather jacket. Once he was dressed, he went to his nightstand and pulled the drawer open and picked up the bottle of morphling tablets. He hadn't made too much of a habit of using them. Whenever he took one he made sure to remind himself of just what he could look like someday if he did– the thought of the whites of his eyes turning yellow was enough to make him really consider if he actually needed it.

Today he did.

        He'd be on his feet for a good amount of time, and there was a chance he'd have to be lugging a deer back. This was the time of year that venison was a good trade at the Hob. This was the time of the year that people tried to save up on jerky before the weather started to change. So Sage took one of the tablets out and forced it down his throat. 

       Sage made his way out of his room and to the room that Katniss shared with Prim. He lightly tapped on it before cracking it open, only to see Katniss sitting patiently on the edge of her bed. Anxiously picking at her nail as she waited. As soon as the door opened, before he could even wave for her to join him. She was on her feet and hurried towards him. 

"Finally..." Katniss muttered as soon as she was in the hallway and Sage closed the door so they wouldn't disturb Prim. "I've been up for hours."

"That's your own fault," Sage chuckled, "Come on, let's get going before it gets too light out."

"You aren't going to believe how much better I've gotten." Katniss said over her shoulder as they descended down the stairs. "I could even use your bow if I wanted to."

Sage scoffed, "Now that I'm back, don't touch it."

"If I wanted to. I like Ella's better." she stated, her tone was nonchalant as she claimed to not like Sages' bow. When in reality, it was probably because Ella's was a great deal lighter than Sage's.

        The two of them made their way out into the morning air in Victors' Village and were quick about making their way across the district before the sky was engulfed with the morning sun. The district was still and quiet, they only passed a handful or people who were up. All of which looked to be heading for the mines, and all of them turned away from Sage and Katniss as they made their way towards the fence. That way, they could easily say they hadn't seen the two leaving the districts. Like before, they stopped and listened for the hum of the fence and when they didn't hear it, they both ducked under the wire and hurried across the small field until they were safe in the cover of the trees.

       Katniss seemed thrilled to be there. Her eyes were bright and alert as she hurried ahead of Sage to the hiding place for their gear. Sage however couldn't shake the feeling of doom that had begun to surround him. This was the first time he actually made it past the fence, Ella had nearly convinced him one other time but he couldn't bring himself to go past the fence. So really, this was the first time that he had been out there since the reaping day. Snow's warning for Sage to keep himself and his sister inside the fence had loomed over him. But Sage had decided that reaping day was different– the possibility of a ship seeing them was was too high then. But on a regular day like today, there would be no ships. No threat. At least that was what Sage had tried to convince himself.

"Here," Katniss said, snapping Sage out of his thoughts. Holding his own bow up towards him before reaching down and grabbing the satchel of arrows and passing those to him.

"Thanks," he replied as he took them. The bow felt heavy in his hand, he hadn't held any sort of weapon since the last day in the arena. He hadn't shot a bow since that day either. "well, come on. Ella said you're almost as good of a shot as I am. So lets so who's really the best, shall we?"

Katniss smirked, "Let's make it interesting then," she stated as the two of them began to make their way deeper into the tree's. "Whoever gets the least today has to get the other whatever they want from the Hob."

Sage smirked at her proposal, "Deal." he agreed even though neither of them would ever have to rely on trading at the Hob again. They could easily get whatever they needed at any of the shops, or from the Capitol it self now that Sage was a Victor.

         As the sun rose, the two of them made their way deeper into the trees. Through the treetops, Sage could see that the sky was clear. From what he could tell, there wasn't a cloud in sight. The birds began chirping, Sage wouldn't exactly call it singing, more of an annoyance actually. But regardless– his father had been right. Nothing out here had changed. Not the trees, the birds, the areas of the ground that were soft to step on because of the moss that had grown there. The only thing that was different was Sage. But out there, as long as he didn't think about it. Things felt the same. Like time had stopped, or at least like the games hadn't existed. 

"Sage,"

"Hm?" Sage replied looking down at Katniss.

"Are the games why you didn't want to come out here again?" Katniss questioned, "Did you really only like coming out here because we needed to?"

Sage sighed heavily, "It's complicated, Kat." Sage stated simply, "But now that I'm out here, I wish I had started coming back out here the day I got back."

Katniss seemed a bit relieved by the response. "To be honest, I thought you'd be different when you got back." she told him, "More like Haymitch."

Sage chuckled, "If that ever happens, Kat. I give you full permission to punch me in the face."

         The two of them were quickly snapped out of their conversation by the sound rustling in the trees. Both of them turned their attention and looked, and standing there before them was a full grown female deer. Trying to not make too much noise, Sage adjusted his grip on his bow and quietly reach back over his shoulder for one of his arrows.

"That's not fair, you'll win if-"

"Shh." Sage swiftly hushed Katniss' complaint, causing  the deer to bring her head up only a little before lowering it back to the ground.

         As Sage drew back the arrow however, he couldn't bring himself to release it. He noticed his hands begin to shake, and his chest began to tighten. And for a brief moment, it wasn't the deer standing before them. Instead it was Marena, his arrow imbedded in her and as soon as she stumbled and fell to the ground, Sage dropped the bow and arrow to the ground. The sound causing the deer to dart off into the trees.

       It was like whatever god was in charge of things threw one thing after another at Sage. As soon as the deer was gone, Sage felt as though her couldn't breathe. His cheeks felt hot as if he had a terrible sunburn. And he couldn't get the image of Marena out of his head. He could have sworn that he even heard a cannon go off, echoing through the woods.

"Sage!" Katniss gripped at Sage's arm, bringing Sage back to the real world. So he wasn't just stuck in his own head, as soon as he heard Katniss and felt her grab his arm, Marena was gone. Leaving a empty place where the deer had been standing. "Sage! Look!" Katniss yanked on Sage's arm and he looked down at her, only to see her eyes wide with horror and her finger pointing.

         Sage followed her finger, only to find that the cannon he had heard hadn't been a cannon at all. Instead, it had been an explosion that Sage had only heard one other time. When he was barely ten. 

An explosion from inside the mines.