The Seed is Strong (Hunger Games Fanfic)

Reunification

The next couple of days were some of the hardest in Ela's life.
After just giving birth, she was feeling very rough, and it felt as if her whole body was against her.
The pain relief she had taken in the games, wore off shortly after the train departed, leaving her in considerable pain.
Giving birth had also left her insides a mess, and she couldn't control her bladder, so she ended up peeing herself inside the box.
Ela was also extremely hungry and thirsty. But luckily Haymitch hadn't left her completely on her own in that department.

Halfway through the first day, she found several thin pouches under her clothes.
2 pouches had water in, not enough to quench her thirst, but enough to stop her dying of dehydration, and enough to make her pee herself again.
There were several other pouches full of dried fruits and things that could be eaten without needing to be cooked, and that could be consumed quietly without alerting anyone outside her box.
This kept her alive, but did nothing to brighten her mood, or make her forget that she was lying in clothes covered in urine, blood, and other fluids that had escaped her during labour.
Despite wanting to, she never heard her daughter cry, which she assumed was because she was on the opposite side of the train to her.

Eventually the train came to a stop, and Ela was forced to play dead once more, in case anyone peaked inside her box.
Being lifted into the air again was much more uncomfortable than the first time. And Ela could tell that she was being carried all the way from the trainstation to her house, which was a long walk, but even longer if you were carrying a large coffin.
Ela was constantly being thrown side to side, and was unable to do anything about it, since she was meant to be dead.
She heard a sea of voices around her, but they seemed to all be talking at the same time, so she couldn't focus on just one.

Unfortunately for Ela when they arrived at their destination, her box was dropped on the floor, and she had to bite her lip from crying out in pain.
She knew was home straight away, because she could smell that she was back in her house.
It was a scent she never thought she'd smell again, and smelling it brought joy to her heart.
The sound of the front door slamming shut made her shudder, and she assumed that those who had carried her from the station were now gone.
Even though Tomas had told her not to open her eyes until she was told to, she knew that she was going to have to go against that, in order to stop herself being cremated while still alive.

"You open it" insisted a voice that sounded like it belonged to her mother Melanie.
Ela could feel light enter her box, through her closed eyes, as the lid was removed.
She heard the sound of crying, and Ela knew it was time to reveal herself to her family.
Wanting to do it slowly, so that she didn't scare them, Ela began breathing much more heavily, to see if they noticed.
Luckily for her, someone in the room was more alert than Ela's parents.
"Hang on a minute. She's moving" mumbled Glen.
Just hearing her lovers voice again, made Ela's heart flutter, and she couldn't remain still any longer.

Ela flicked her eyes open and stared up at Glen and her parents who was staring down at her.
"Oh my God" gasped Glen.
Ela smiled at him, and her smile grew even bigger when she saw their daughter fast asleep in his arms.
She flexed out her arms and pushed herself out of the box, that had been her home for the last few days.
"I know that I probably look like death right now, but I'm alive, I promise" she revealed.
Melanie and Stewart looked like they were going to faint, but Glen threw his free arm around Ela, holding her tight, while also trying not to squish their daughter.

After Ela convinced her parents to sit down, she explained to them what had happened, from her point of view.
She didn't have all the details, as Haymitch and Tomas hadn't involved her in their plans.
"So, you're alive, and you're back?" Questioned Glen.
"Yes and no. I'm alive, but I can't go back to my old life before the games. I don't know what Haymitch has planned, but we'll have to wait and see. Until then, I can't step outside the door in case anyone sees me" replied Ela.
"Who can we tell, that you're not dead?"
"No one. I'm not even sure if Haymitch wanted me to tell you three, since he couldn't exactly sit me down and tell me what he wanted from me. There were always cameras in the rooms, filming our every move. We might be able to tell your parents if it comes down to it, but it's probably best that we don't, until Haymitch says it's O.K".

"I can't believe that you're really home" admitted Stewart quietly.
"Me neither. I never thought I'd see this place again" revealed Ela.
"You've no idea how hard it was for me, watching you on that screen every day. And it was even worse when I saw that you'd died in child birth. I felt terrible, like it was all my fault. I've had a few really hard days" said Glen.
"Not nearly as hard as it was for me to actually be in the arena, I can bet" replied Ela, a little colder than she had intended.
"No. Sorry. You're right... I can't believe how strong you were in their. I'm proud of you"
"Thanks... Had I not been pregnant, things would've been very different. I would've been a real contender to win. I would've probably killed people, and I certainly wouldn't be here in front of you now"
"You should be thankful that you were pregnant then".

"You being pregnant is something we will have to discuss at a later date" frowned Melanie.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you" apologised Ela.
"It's alright, we understand why you didn't. And we're so thankful that you were pregnant, because you wouldn't be here now if you weren't, since everyone thinks you died in childbirth" reminded Stewart.
"You're right. She saved my life, more than once, since no one wanted to kill me because I was pregnant" admitted Ela.
"Have you thought of a name for her yet?"
"I've had a lot on my mind dad"
"I know, I was just wondering if you've had any ideas"
"Well, I was tossing up a few ideas in my head on the way back. But I didn't want to settle on anything, before I spoke to Glen".

Glen smiled, "You brought our little girl into the world. I want you to name her whatever you like".
"Really?" Questioned Ela.
"Yep... So, what were your ideas?" Quizzed Glen.
"Well, I wanted to name her after the guys who saved my life; Haymitch and Tomas"
"Except she's a girl"
"I know that, which is why I was mixing up their names to see if I could decide on a combination that I liked. In the end I landed on Tammy, because the beginning sounds like Tom, and the name ends in Y, like Haymitch's last name"
"Tammy. I like it"
"Tammy it is then".