Hey, guys, this is my first time writing for The Hunger Games, so be easy on me, please! I generally write for NCIS, it's my...forte if you will, but I instantly fell in love with the Hunger Games and just HAD to write something!

This is set when Katniss and Peeta come back after Mockingjay. Things have settled down. The new government has taken over and Katniss is trying to find her place in everything.(:

Review please! If you don't like it, constructive criticism is welcome but try not to spit fire. And definitely let me know if you wanna see another story from me again(:

I sit in the rocking chair beside my bed and stare out my windows.

Who knows how long it's been since they brought me back. Greasy Sae comes to check on me; feeds me spoonfuls of broth, but I don't notice. All I do is sit and stare.

I wonder why Gale took that Job in two, or my mother in four. But I know the answer to those. They're needed. I'm not. What do you do with a mockingjay who's done her job? The rebellion is over and won. So what now? All I can do is sit and I stare and I wonder if this was really the right thing to do.

Was the rebellion really a success? Would it have been better, easier, if things had just stayed the same? But I can't answer those questions.

There's a knock at my front door. I don't know who it is; figure they'll go away soon enough, so I ignore it. But there it is again; that same persistent knock that sparks the hint of a memory. So I push myself onto my legs, unsteady as I take my first few steps in awhile. I realize I haven't showered in what must be days. Who knows how long I've been sitting in that old rocking chair. I probably smell. But who cares? There's no one around anymore; just Haymitch and me.

Whoever it is knocks again and this time I'm annoyed. "I'm coming, damn it," I try to say, but my voice is so sorely used that nothing comes out but a rough raspy sound, clawing its way out of my throat so harshly that it burns.

I manage to make it to the door just as the knock comes again and I swing it open, ready to let my anger spew. But then I see those baby blue eyes, the same color as the midday sky, and that golden hair that flops in front of them, the soft pink, Cupid's bow lips that curl up into the most beautiful smile, and I lose it.

The barrier that's kept up my indifference, and held back all the jumbled emotions and feelings, breaks and I collapse. He catches me just as I'm about to hit the floor and I register tears spilling from my eyes and I vaguely notice the sobs issuing from what could only be my own mouth. And the whole time all I can say is Prim. I say her name over and over; as a question, a statement, anything as long as it'll bring her back to me. Where is she? Why isn't she coming when I call? Why hasn't she come to say hello with Buttercup trailing along behind her, hissing at me? Why is there no goat's milk in her pretty, soft little ivory skinned hands? There's words now; words being whispered into my ear, and I try to quiet myself so I can hear them. The sobs die down slowly and I nearly have to hold my breath to quiet that as well.

"It's alright, Katniss, I'm here, don't worry, everything is going to be alright," it whispers and I allow two strong arms to lift me up and carry me back into the house. "I'm here, everything is alright," the voice whispers over and over again before setting me in my bed, pulling the blankets down and allowing me to cocoon myself up inside them. He pulls the rocking chair I'd previously occupied up next to the bed but I won't have it.

My hand juts out from the blankets and I'm pulling him closer. "Stay," I manage to whisper, pulling him down onto the bed, "Stay with me." I hear the soft thuds of his shoes hitting the floor and then his warmth invades the space. He's always so warm, bringing sunshine and happiness and enthusiasm everywhere he goes. I curl into his side, my head fitting right at the place where his neck meets his shoulder and I inhale the scent of him. The words slip out before I realize I'm saying them, as if my heart and body know the truth before I do. And I can't summon the energy to take them back. So I let them drift to his ears and I feel his smile against my cheek as he whispers back, "I love you, too, Katniss."

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Bright sunlight pours through my windows and I'm momentarily disoriented. I'm blinded briefly while my eyes adjust and the blood drains out of my head. Looking around I realize I'm in my own room. Well, that's a relief. But I had the most amazing dream. Peeta had come home and…no, I dispel the thought from my head.

I'm here by myself now. Haymitch and I aren't needed anywhere else, right? So they may as well have sent us home. We're just fine on our own. Mother's in district four looking over medical production and Gale is trying to make up for the fact that it was his bomb that killed Prim. Prim. I push her thought away too, not up for a whole crying spiel so early.

I'm standing by the window, trying to determine the time when I hear it. Someone is in my house. My normal thought would be that it's greasy Sae, but she never moves around that loudly. She's so quiet, I rarely register the fact that she's here. I grab the closest thing to me that could be used as a weapon and tip toe out the door, table lamp in hand. I'm almost to the door that leads from the hall way to the kitchen when it bangs open on its hinges.

"Oh, there you are, I was just going to come ask you if you wanted a cheese roll, and what's with the lamp?" he's suddenly cautious now, hands held up defensively. But just as quickly as it came on, the fight drains out of me.

I drop the lamp, not caring if it breaks or not - which it does - and step forward to hug Peeta tightly. I feel his heartbeat against my cheek and I can't help but feel like maybe the world is good after all. His arms come around me, so long that his arms over lap and he's got a hand on both sides of my waist, but I don't really care. He's breathing and alive and here and not trying to kill me and that's all that matters. I breathe in the scent of flour and butter and basil and baked cheese and smile for the first time in who knows how long.

"When did you get back?" I whisper, pulling away to look at him and place a hand on either side of his cheeks. My thumbs run down his nose, trace his eyelids, smooth over his forehead and finally move over his lips slowly as he answers.

"I came back yesterday, Katniss, don't you remember? As soon as I dropped everything off at my house I came to see you. Only then you started crying and calling for Prim, so I took you up to your room and you fell asleep..." he trails off slightly, reacting to whatever expression has found a home on my face. So it wasn't all a dream.

I simply hug him again, tightly, and whisper, "I really missed you."

I feel his hands brush over my hair as he chuckles, "I really missed you, too."

Please review?(:

-Sarah(: