Its not over until the Mockingjay sings - F. Odair

Chapter 32

6 months later

Annie had won the games, everything went exactly as Seneca told her. The day after their talk, the dam of the arena broke down and of the 5 tributes that were left, only Annie and the district one male knew how to swim. But being from District Four, Annie was able to survive the longest and was immediately declared the victor of the 70th Games. President Snow was not too happy with how the winner came to be and had the head game maker Dr. Gaul killed. Well officially he had "drowned" in his bath but Lea knew that her dear grandfather was really the one behind it all. With the previous head game maker dead, Seneca was immediately declared the new Head game maker for the coming years. 

Annie was not doing well, she hadn't been doing well ever since she came back from her games. The trauma not only from having to kill but also from seeing her district partner get beheaded and almost drowning really had an impact on her. Her behavior fluctuated a lot from day to day. Sometimes, she'd close her eyes, cover her ears, and whimper, other times she would at random start laughing really loud or fall into a stupor. 

Tyler tried his very best to be there for his girlfriend but it was really hard, he tried so many things but nothing so far had worked. He tried training with her, as he did with Lea to keep the nightmares away but every time she would come near a weapon, she would break down. Talking about it, didn't help either, 'cause it would only make her relive everything. Everybody hoped that over time, things would get better and that Annie would return to her old self. 

After a few months, everything was starting to go a little bit better and Annie was a little more like her old self again but then last week, it was her victory tour and everything went downhill from there. Ella had tried to push Annie a lot to greet the people at the districts, and greet sponsors at parties but by having to talk about her games over and over again. It was like she had just gotten out of them yesterday. 

"Honestly, I don't know what I can do, I thought that she was doing better but after the victory tour last week, it got worse," Lea said to Emma. 

"Lea, I know you want to help her, but I think, you need to give her a little more time. She went through a lot and it is already a miracle that she got out of the games, nobody here thought that she would be able to win," Emma signed. 

"Don't you think, I know that? In case, you didn't realize I went through the same thing, remember?" Lea scoffed. 

"It is not the same thing and you know it, you were doing okay after your games, Annie is not," Emma said. 

"That is how it appeared, but I wasn't as okay as I acted in front of you guys. I recovered so fast because of all the support that I received from everyone. But if Annie is not accepting any help, she can't get better," Lea yelled. 

"Calm down, I'm sorry. I am in no place to judge. I have never been through it and I am so glad that I never had to," Emma said. 

"I'm sorry too, I just really want to help her. It hurts me so much to see her like this," Lea cried out. 

"I know, I know. It is hard for me too. But for now, let her deal with this on her own and if it doesn't get better in a few months, we can try to intervene and help her," Emma said

"Alright, that is a good plan," Lea said. 

"How is Tyler handling all of this? He is not going to leave her, is he?" Emma asked

"It is hard for him, he also tries to help her in every way that he can, but she keeps pushing him away, just like she is pushing everybody away. But I know for sure, that he will stick by her side, he loves her too much," Lea said. 

"I really hope so, 'cause if on top of everything, Tyler would leave her, she would not recover," Emma said. 

"I know," Lea said.