Always

Stuck like glue

"But everyone thinks she's pregnant." Gale point out and I roll my eyes.

"I am pregnant." I deadpan.

"No, absolutely not." Rye tells me from his seat beside me and I ignore him because the look Coin is giving me means there is more than what she said.

"It follows that any deviance from her mission, in either motive or deed, will be viewed as a break in this agreement. The immunity would be revoked and the fate of the four victors determined by the law of District 13. As would her own."

One wrong move and we're all dead. This could be my wrong move.

"Where would you send me?"

"Katniss, no! You're not doing this. It's dangerous, and you could get hurt." Rye tells me.

"District eight, there was recently a bombing and you could go visit the survivors." She says.

"How do I know that the bombers won't come back?"

"We have done a full sweep, and you will be completely safe."

"Fine. I'll go, but I need Rye and Gale as my bodyguards." Coin nods her head and leaves the room, dismissing us all.

"I can't believe you did that. Peeta made me swear I would protect you, if anything were to happen to you." Rye tells me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Before you left for the arena the second time, he made me promise to take care of you. He said that you were his world and he was going to do everything he could to get you home, even if it meant dying in the process."

"And so he wanted you to look after me." I finish for him.

"Not only me, him too." Rye says nodding his towards Gale.

Memories flood back of Gale and Peeta talking in the ally, Peeta making Gale promise to protect me, and to love me. It all makes sense now, Peeta never intended to come home, he was always going to die for me.

"She was going to take the deal away, if I didn't do this. I had to." I tell them.

"Well then we'll stick by you." Gale tells me and I manage a ghost of a smile.

"You and me," Rye says and takes my hand leading me towards the cafeteria. "Stuck like glue."

As the doors to the cafeteria open, all eyes fall on me. Or on my stomach to be more exact. When we came to thirteen, everyone thought that the pregnancy was a ruse, something Peeta had made up to protect me. But as the days went on and my stomach grew, people began to realize the truth. The fiery souled mockingjay, the one that caused a rebellion by picking a few berries, wasn't such a warrior after all, but simply a heart broken pregnant teen.

And I suppose that's why Coin needed me to agree, because even though I was here in the flesh my heart wasn't in the rebellion. The Rebels were loosing hope, and I was the only one that could rebuild it. So as we walk trough the cafeteria, I let the women touch my stomach and I let the kids ask me what I'm having, not because I want them to, but because they need to see that there is a reason to fight.