What If

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Katniss

I had kept my word. It'd been a month, nearly two, since I'd been back to visit Peeta, Camellia as well. Part of me felt guilty, but the guilt was outweighed by my overwhelming fear.

A few days after I'd stopped seeing Peeta I had decided to funnel my energy into something to get my mind off of everything. I chose training, as I still wanted nothing more than to go the capitol and kill Snow for doing this to me, for ruining my life.

During the day Camellia was passed from me to Finnick and Annie, Prim, my mother, and occasionally Johanna who I trusted her with despite my better judgement.

Catching up with my training had been hard, nearly impossible. After all, I had missed about two months of classes. I'd been exiled to a lower class away from Johanna, but with my determination I had surpassed her in a matter of weeks.

I had passed my final exam to go to the capitol and was assigned a squad. I was told we were leaving in a matter of days and to be ready by then. I was excited but also extremely overwhelmed.

That night I instantly headed to Johanna's compartment, full of excitement. I'd lost Johanna after the testing as I'd assumed she'd just been assigned to another squad. I walked into her compartment, which was dark.

Johanna was balled up on her bed, a towel wrapped around her. She was shaking, visibly upset. I clicked on the light and instantly ran to her side.

"Johanna," I whispered urgently. She didn't look at me. "Johanna, are you alright?"

She shook her head and laughed bitterly. When she spoke her voice was hoarse and weak, but still filled with her snark. "Does it look like I'm alright, Brainless?"

I had coaxed her into sitting up. Then she explained to me everything that had happened to her. During her personalized exam they'd flooded her street. Johanna didn't know how to swim, which I had already knew. Then Johanna went on to explain how they'd used water to torture her in the capitol, and suddenly everything made sense.

I instantly wrapped my arms around her. She scoffed but didn't pull away, and I could tell that she was thankful for the embrace.

"Did you pass?" she asked weakly as we pulled apart. I bit my lip nervously. She noticed my anxiety towards the subject. "It's fine, you can tell me."

I nodded. "Yeah, I did."

Johanna then grabbed my shirt and looked at me intensely, her voice gravely serious. "You have to go, Katniss. You have to go to the capitol and you have to kill Snow. For you, for me."

I nodded. "I—I will. I'll try."

Johanna shook her head. "No, you'll go. You have to. I'll do anything I can to make sure you get there. When you kill him—savor it."

I nodded and promised Johanna that I would. I stayed for a few more minutes before she told me she needed rest, so I told her a final goodbye and left. I made my way to my mother and Prim's compartment.

Prim answered the door and smiled when she saw me. I pulled her into a hug, which I could tell caused her great worry.

"Im going to the capitol," I told her.