The next morning I just pass Peeta’s room and go straight to the prep room. When I get there I can tell Gino is shocked to see me so early.

“Don’t you need to say goodbye to someone before we get started?” he asks.

“No, last night he had a strong flashback about me, he’s too dangerous for me to be around right now,” I say.

“Non-sense, no such danger can keep true love apart,” he says.

“If you want me to get hurt I’ll go in there but I don’t want to get hurt,” I say.

“You’ve already given up once before Katniss. Now are you just going to keep some fear between you and Peeta?” he asks. I shrug.

“Go, and if he’s sleeping give him a kiss, talk to him. The more the better,” he says. I leave the prep room and go to Peeta’s room. Through the glass I can see him sleeping. He’s still in the hospital bed but now all of his limbs are strapped down. The door was left open, probably for me. I go in and sit on the edge of his bed. I grab his strong hand and just look at him. Eventually I start to talk.

“Peeta I know you’re in there. Why are you hiding? It’s me your wife, Katniss. Your girlfriend that you had for four years. The person you had a crush on for thirteen years. Peeta I miss you. You got to be stronger than this because I know you can be. You’ve done it before, now do it again. I love you and I want you back. I miss having you around when I have nightmares, and I miss having you by my side. I just miss you. Please come back.” I give him a kiss then get up right as I’m walking out the door I hear a faint,

“Katniss?” I walk back over to him and sit on the edge of his bed.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m right here,” I say.

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

“I came to see you because I miss you,” I say.

“Leave, you’re in danger here, go.”

“No you’re not Peeta. You’ve made it through this before, now you have to do it again. You can be stronger than this silly thing,” I say. He leans up and looks me straight into my eyes. He opens up his hand and I hold onto it.

“Katniss, I’m still me. Just another person has taken over. And if you think this is silly you really don’t know the pain I’m going through,” he says. I nod my head and start to get up but he won’t let go of my hand so I sit back down. We just sit there looking at each other.

“Every time I have a flashback my whole body aches when I come back to my senses. I always have splitting headaches and I never know where I am for at least five minutes afterwards. This is terrible not silly,” he says.

“But Peeta I-,” he cuts me off.

“Katniss, no words,” Then Peeta does something that I thought he would never do. He pulls me down and kisses me. I didn’t kiss him, he kissed me. I put my hands on his shoulders. I can’t believe he kissed me. I feel like he’s back, he just can’t get through the last wall. He reaches out his hands as far as he can so they’re on my waist. I pull back and I see him smiling.

“I love you,” I say. It feels so good to say that again. He just kisses me again. I guess he couldn’t risk having a flashback during this moment. How can this be? Last night he was dangerous to be around, and now he’s the same old Peeta. He’s not exactly the same but he’s him again. Then out of the blue he sharply pulls away. I put my hands on his cheeks.

“Peeta fight it, I know you can,” I say. He closes his eyes and clenches his fists. He shakes his head. “Yes you can Peeta you’ve done it before,” I say. I start stroking his hair. “You can do it,” I say. All of the sudden he has the look in his eyes, the look to tell me he loves me. I give him one more kiss and get up but he grabs my hand.

“Don’t go,” he says.

“I have to,” I say.

“No you don’t. You can stay here with me. Help me heal. Stay,” he says. I just shake my head.

“Peeta you know I can’t. I have duties to fulfill. If I could I would. I don’t want to leave, but if I don’t Peacekeepers will pull me away,” I say. His eyes are starting to tear up. “I promise I’ll be here once I’m done.”

“Unless I’m having a flashback?” he asks.

“Unless you’re having a flashback, I promise I’ll be here. And if you are having a flashback I’ll just come back a few minutes later,” I say. I give him one more kiss then leave. Right before I walk out the door I run into President Paylor.

“Hello Katniss, Gino wants you in the prep room. But since I ran into you I’m going to make a quick trip to eleven so I won’t be here for a few hours, if you need anything Haymitch will be here,” she says.

“Why are you going to eleven,” I ask.

“I had a special order filled and I don’t want it sent to me so I’m going to go pick it up myself,” she says. I just nod my head and walk around her. I thought it was a little odd that she’s going to go get something herself than have it shipped. I just ignore the fact and walk over to the prep room. When I get in there Flauvis sits me down in a chair and gets started on my hair while Octavia and Viena did my makeup. After that Gino gave me my clothes and told me to change. Once I come out he puts my jacket on and we walk into the hovercraft.

“Why the rush?” I ask.

“Well you took a little too much time with Peeta. But since you did take so much time what did you do?” he asks with a smile on his face.

“All I want to say is that he’s back,” I say.

“You mean he’s back, like he can get up, walk around without handcuffs. He can be with you without hurting you, and he can sleep in the same bed with you without going on a killing spree?” he asks.

“I’m not sure about all of that but he thinks of me as his wife not a mutt,” I say looking down at my rings. “The next time I see him I think I’m going to give him back his ring.” He smiles

“I told you he was still here, you just had to find him again,” he says. Once we get to the Training Center I see Haymitch with an upset look on his face.

“Now what did I do?”

“You need to pay attention to the other tributes or else you won’t know what they are capable of,” he says.

“Can’t I just pay attention when I have to rank them?” I ask.

“No, I want you paying attention. Your attention can mean their odds of being dead or alive,” he says. He walks away and I just roll my eyes. But then I realize that I’m the only one other than Peeta that knows about what I did with Gale and Claudia. I sit down and try to pay attention to the other tributes but they don’t interest me. Almost no tributes except Gale and Claudia were at the weapons. At survival skills the tribute with the red and orange hair burnt him-self trying to make a fire and starting bursting out in tears. I don’t know if he realizes that that little burn is nothing compared to the arena. I had a terrible burn but I kept my tears back and just let out little yelps, like a lost puppy. But I was more lost than a puppy. My eyes keep going from the little wimps to Gale and Claudia, the only ones that have a chance. I swear if one of those little Capitol kids even get a scratch on their arm from a thorn bush they think they’ll die. This training session could not have gone by any slower. It felt like days before I could go back to the Control Room. When we got on the hovercraft it felt like I was in it forever when we just left. So I took off my jacket and took a nap. Once I got there I sprinted to Peeta’s room and when I got there he was sleeping. I quietly went into his room and sat down on the edge of his bed. I saw that they changed him to handcuffs so he’s not strapped down to the bed. I give him a kiss on his cheek which wakes him up. He looks at me then just closes his eyes again.

“Peeta you said you wanted to see me once I was done,” I say. He just ignores me. I give him another kiss on the cheek and he pushes me off the bed.

“Peeta what happened, just a few hours ago you were in love with me,” I say.

“I changed. Katniss you have to leave now before I do something worse,” he says.

“How did this happen?” I say getting off the ground. I sit in a chair and pull it up next to his bed. He turns on his side so he doesn’t have to see me.

“Peeta tell me. How did this happen?” I ask again. He shrugs.

“I don’t know. I go to sleep then when I wake up I feel different. Then every time you or another doctor comes in I try so hard to resist the urge to harm. Sometimes I can keep it in but other times I’m not as strong.” I start rubbing his back. It’s all I can do.

“Why are you doing this?” he asks.

“What?”

“Staying here, comforting me, while I want to kill you?”

“Love knows no boundary Peeta. Even though this is a strong wall to get through I’m not giving up. If you never want to see me again I understand but I know it’s not the Peeta I married.” He puts his hands over his ears. “I love you Peeta. I will do everything in my power to help you through this. Once I feel like I’ve finally made it through the wall there is another one even stronger waiting for me. There is no way to go around it, under it, or over it. So we just have to get through it,” I say. I see him clenching his fists again so I leave without a word more. On my way to my room I see Paylor. I go up to her and she looked a little frightened to see me.

“Yes Katniss?” she asks with a lot of guilt on her face.

“I just wanted to say that I think someone is hijacking Peeta. I’m not sure who but I just thought you should know that because he told me that every time he falls asleep he loves me, but when he wakes up he hates me. I’m not even sure if that’s the case but I just thought you should know my suspicion,” I say. She nods her head then walks away very fast. Guess she had to go somewhere. Once I get to my room I see Haymitch in my room on my bed. I tell him what I think is happening with Peeta and his seems shocked.

“You’re sure about this, because we can have extra security around the people that meet him the most”

“But what if it’s someone who barely visits him or only visits him when he’s sleeping,” I ask.

“Well we will just change the code to his room and only you, me, and Paylor will know it. We won’t even give the code to the doctors. We will see how it goes from there,” he says. I nod my head and he leaves. I know that Haymitch will take care of everything and that Peeta will probably not get hijacked again because everyone in this Control Room knew that code…but me. But Haymitch said that he would let me know what the code is since I go into Peeta’s room a lot. So now that I know that Peeta will be back to normal before I know it I relax until my prep team comes into my room and starts to prep me for individual training sessions. Even though they just did my makeup a couple of hours ago they said they needed to re-do it because it started fading. I didn’t complain though because I love when they are around me. They make me feel more at home, especially when Peeta is like this. I like to hear about what they have to say about the tributes and how when they go on the street how much quieter it is since a lot of families are mourning over what has happened. When they’re done and putting away they’re gear I hear Veina tell Octavia and Flauvis how Claudius almost didn’t announce this year because his long lost daughter was in the Games, but I guess he decided to. I wonder if Claudia was wrong about her parents hating her. If her dad almost didn’t do this he must’ve still loved her. I mean she hasn’t seen her parents in more than ten years, and when she did leave her parents had to have been broken hearted that they’re little baby ran away from home. Once my prep team left Gino comes in with my Gamemaker jacket and puts it on me. He takes a step back to admire my look when he puts a smile on his face.

“You seem happy, especially with Peeta in this condition,” he says.

“I’m not that happy but we think that someone is hijacking him in his sleep so we are changing the code to his room. So I’m pretty sure he won’t get hijacked anymore because everyone in the Control Room knew that code, but me,” I say.

“Well that is absolutely fantastic Katniss, I’m glad you’re looking at the better side of this and actually making a change with this horrible situation. I am so proud of you,” he says. He comes up to me and gives me a hug. What I really love about Gino is that he has always believed in my relationship with Peeta. Even though he’s only known me for a month or so, and never formally met Peeta he could tell I was in love just by seeing me come to him every day. “So did you check up on Peeta? Wait, did you give him back his ring, and did he take it? Tell me everything,” he says. I take a sigh. “Katniss what happened?” he asks.

“Well remember how I told you I thought someone was hijacking him?” I ask. He nods.

“Well I guess he got hijacked while I was gone,” I say.

“Wow, Katniss you are doing great with this situation,” he says.

“Only because Haymitch has got everything under control,” I say. He smiles then leads me onto a hovercraft. When I get on I see Haymitch and he walks right over to me.

“No need to worry, I changed the code but I haven’t seen Paylor today, by chance do you know where she is,” he asks. In my mind I’m thinking “I don’t care, just tell me the code” but what comes out is,

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Okay, great. While you’re here you want the code?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say anxiously. He brings me into another room and tells me the code. It’s my wedding date. 03232785. 

“Thank you,” I say.

“Now you can only tell Paylor, no one else, got it?” I nod my head. I look at him. I need to ask him something I can’t risk Peeta getting hijacked again tonight. I need to protect him. He knows what I’m going to ask

“With your permission can I sleep behind the glass in Peeta’s room tonight?” I ask.

“You won’t sleep good and tomorrow is the interviews,” he says.

“I know.” I knew he would say this. He’ll say no, but at least it’s worth a shot. He thinks for a moment.

“Okay, and maybe if you’re lucky he’ll let you sleep in his room,” he says. I give him a hug.

“Thank you so much, it really means a lot,” I say.

“Now leave before I change my mind,” he says. I walk over to the other side of the hovercraft and sit next to Gino with a huge smile on my face.

“More good news?” he asks.

“Because of you I will have my husband back,” I say. And that is all I say the entire ride. When I get there I sit down and within minutes the first tribute comes out. Claudia. I guess they’re going by mentor again. Claudia really impresses me with her survival skills and her strength but she could be better with weapons. Next to come out is Gale. He uses a bow and arrow and hits the target every time, and also shows his strength by taking some weights and throwing them on the other side of the center. I know what I’m going to give them each. The rest of the tributes bore me so much that it was funny. The kid that burnt his hand tried throwing a knife and it didn’t even make it half way to the target. Then this girl with light purple hair comes in and tries to show us her stealth by falling out of the trees that we have here. It felt like forever before it was the last tribute. It is a medium built boy who is about eighteen or nineteen. He has green hair with yellow high lights swayed to the side and blue eyes. When I see him I actually have some hope in this boy. I wonder why I haven’t seen him before but once he starts to use weapons he really has my interest.

He picks up a spear and hits the target right in the middle. My jaw drops all the way to the ground. I didn’t know how he could do that but I am determined to figure out. Since I can’t personally talk to the tributes I ask Haymitch to tell Caesar to ask that boy his strengths that he will use in the arena and how he learned them. By the time I finish scoring the tributes I go to the Control Room. When I get back to there I am exhausted but I still sprint to Peeta’s room. When I get there, there is a television sitting right outside his door. I guess they tried to get it in but they couldn’t. So I gather up all my courage, open up the door and wheel in the TV. When he sees me I can tell he’s getting better because he has a huge smile on his face. I have hope.

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Love, Bookjunkie001