Fighting (Sequel to Fate)

Chapter 6

Katniss P.O.V.

I gasp and sit up in bed. I can't sleep without falling into a nightmare, but my eyes are so heavy, it's hard to keep them open.

It's been six weeks since we've arrived in 13. That's six weeks I've gone without Peeta.

Everyday I think about what I would give up to have him here with us. I've turned it into a game of sorts. Everything I touch; my food, my clothes, anything that gives me comfort; I think about how much of it I would give up just to be able to speak to Peeta for five minutes.

Two more videos have come in, and while Haymitch wouldn't let me see them, he did tell me that Peeta's life is in a very critical position. I already had that figured out, though.

I try laying back down, but my back starts hurting. I take a deep breath and sit back up. I try propping pillows behind my back, but it doesn't help. Knowing that standing sometimes help, I scoot over to the edge of the bed and push myself up to my feet.

The baby starts to tumble inside me, and I smile a little.

"Are you getting restless?" I ask softly. "You'd better move around all you like, because in a couple more months, you'll be running out of room in there."

It's in this moment that my brain decides tp remind me of my frequently asked question.

Would I give up this baby to see Peeta again?

The thought knocks the breath out of me, and I have to sit back down on the bed. Tears come to my eyes, and I start feeling overwhelmed.

I love Peeta and our baby so much. I would give anything up for them. But would I be able to give one of them up for the other? And if so, which life would I chose to keep?"

If my answer isn't automatically Peeta, then that makes me a horrible wife. And if my answer isn't automatically our child, then that makes me a horrible mother. I hope I'm never put into the position to chose between Peeta or the baby.

Now, if the choice was my life for theirs, then that would be easy.

The baby starts gong wild, and I lay a hand over my swollen stomach.

"Hey. It's okay," I say. "Mommy didn't mean to make you upset." I forget sometimes that my mood affects the baby too.

"Daddy's so much better at this than I am," I say as tears fall down my cheeks. "He can keep us calm, even when everything seems to be falling apart. But I'll try my best to keep us sane until Daddy comes home.

"You have to promise me something, though," I say. "Please stay put until this is all over with. When Daddy's here, and we can go home. I really don't want you to be born here, and I definitely don't want you to be born without your Daddy by my side. So if you can do that for me, I'll try my best not to get so upset about everything. Okay?"

The baby kicks, and I laugh a little.

"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" I say as I lay a hand on my stomach. I hear a firm knock on the door, and I take a deep breath.

"I wonder who that could be this early in the morning," I mumble as I mange to my swollen feet again. I go over and open the door to see Gale standing there.

"What's going on?" I ask him immediately.

"I thought you'd like to know that Coin is sending us to the Capitol in a couple hours," Gale tells me.

"She's found a way to get you all in and out safely?"

Gale shrugs his shoulders. "I don't really know what the plan is."

"She can't just send you to the Capitol to rescue Preta without you knowing what you're doing," I tell him.

"I know," he sighs. "Haymitch and Plutarch aren't too happy about it either."

I take a deep breath and shake my head. Yes, I want Peeta back. But this is ridiculous. If they go in there blindly without some kind of plan, they'll all be killed.

"Coin doesn't care about rescuing Peeta," I say. "She just wants me to submit to helping her. I don't trust her."

"At least she's trying," Gale tells me.

"No she's not," I say. "That's what she wants me to think. She's hoping that I'm dumb enough to believe her, and that I'll do what she wants me to. She's hoping that I'm desperate enough to see Peeta again that I'll become like a slave to her. She's no better than Snow."

Gale gives me a look. "I think you're reading too much into this, Katniss. We're in the middle of a war. I know you don't want to hear this, but rescuing Peeta is not Coin's first priority."

"That doesn't mean that she can risk lives..."

"I know," he says. "I didn't say it was right, but you have to understand that she has a lot going on."

"I know. But she asked for my help, Gale," I say. "All I asked from her was to get Peeta back safely. If she really wants my help, then she'll do this the right way. I'm not falling for it. I'm not that naive."

"I didn't say you are," Gale says. "Look, I didn't come here to argue with you. I just thought you'd like to know."

I nod my head. "Thank you for keeping me informed," I say.

"Yeah," Gale says. "I'd better go." He starts to walk off.

"Gale, just watch your back around Coin," I say. Gale turns around and nods his head, and I shut the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Have you heard anything?" Mom asks as her and Prim walk into the room.

"No," I say as I shake my head. "Haymitch has been by a couple times, but he says Coin won't tell him anything." I stop and take a deep breath. "It's been three hours. I should've heard something by now."

"Katniss," Mom says as she sits down beside of me on the bed. "It's not helping anything if you start stressing yourself out about it. I'm sure they'd let you know right away if something happened."

"I just don't like sitting around and waiting," I say. "If I weren't pregnant, I'd probably be right there in the Capitol with them. That would be better than sitting here hoping that everything's okay."

Prim sits on the other side of me and leans her head over onto my shoulder.

"I'm proud of how well you've handled yourself so far through all of this," Mom tells me. "Just hang in there a little while longer." I look over at her.

"I don't know if I can, Mom," I say as tears fall down my face. "I feel so broken right now, and only Peeta can put me back together. I promised the baby this morning that I'll try to stay as calm as I can for them, and I'm trying. But I... I just..."

I'm cut off by a loud knock at the door. I go to stand up, but Prim quickly beats me to it.

"I've got it," Prim says as she goes over to answer the door. Haymitch walks in and looks over at me before saying the two words I've been waiting a month and a half to hear.

"He's here."