The Seed is Strong (Hunger Games Fanfic)

The Saviour Returns

Ela wanted to run.
She wanted to run and hide, somewhere where she could never be hurt again.
She made it as far as the front door, before Glen stopped her by placing his arms around her.
"You can't leave the house" he reminded her quietly.
Ela sobbed loudly, and clenched fistfulls of his clothes.
"Keep the noise down. We can't have anyone hearing you" warned Melanie.
"Most people will be in the square watching the games. And those watching at home won't be surprised to hear cries coming from this house" replied Glen.

"He's... He's dead. Tomas is dead" cried Ela, as though she couldn't believe what had just happened.
She had known ever since her and Tomas's names were pulled out at the reaping, that one of them was going to die.
But actually watching Tomas die on screen, still shocked her.
Glen rubbed Ela's back, and tried to soothe her.
"He did everything possible to keep me safe, even going as far as faking my death to get me out of the arena. But when he needed me most, I couldn't help him" continued Ela.
"If you had been there now, he would've died protecting you, and not defending himself. You would not have been any help to him, so soon after giving birth" replied Glen softly.

"It's just not fair!" Shouted Ela, as she pushed herself out of Glen's arms.
"None of this is fair. But our lives have never been fair. The Capital rules over us with a cold hand. They force 24 children to fight to the death every year. Life for those in the districts has never been fair. Even those in 1 and 2 still get forced into the games, despite their lives being better than ours. We do not have control over our own lives. The President could kill us all with the snap of his fingers, if he wanted to. And we have to accept that" replied Glen.

"Well, he doesn't have a hold on me anymore. I'm supposed to be dead, which means that I'm free from his clutches. He can't control someone who isn't supposed to exist" announced Ela.
"No, but you can't leave here until Haymitch tells us what to do. Because if anyone sees you, word will get back to the Capital, and lots of peoples lives will be on the line, including yours" reminded Glen.
"Haymitch doesn't own me either. He can't tell me what to do. Besides, his plan was to get me out, I don't think he actually knew what he was going to do with me once I was out"
"I guess we will have to wait and see".

The next few days were very hard for Ela.
Tammy cried almost constantly, because she always seemed to be hungry.
When Ela wasn't feeding her, Melanie looked after her, so that Ela could recuperate.
Ela's body was slowly starting to heal, but her mind seemed to far gone to ever recover. And she woke up screaming, from nightmares that took place in the arena, after every nap she took, meaning that she never got much sleep.
Although Glen didn't want to leave Ela, he had to return to his parents for a few hours each day.
Everyone was very anxious, as they waited for Haymitch to return from the Capital.
Whenever someone knocked at the door, Ela had to hide under her bed until they had gone.
She almost felt like she was back in the arena, trying to avoid the other tributes who wanted to kill her.

Eventually Haymitch returned to district 12, along with Tomas's body, which he personally escourted to Tomas's family.
When he arrived at Ela's house later that day, she could smell the alcohol on him, stronger than ever before, and she expected he'd been drinking ever since Tomas's death.
Haymitch had tried his best to keep them both alive, and he had failed.
"Good to see you sweetheart" said Haymitch, as Ela came down from her room to greet him.
She instantly threw her arms around him, trying not to notice how bad he smelt.

"Thank you for getting Ela out, we're so grateful" admitted Stewart.
"It was nothing" replied Haymitch, in what Ela assumed was one of the biggest lies he'd ever told.
If it were that easy to sneak someone out of the hunger games, he would've done it before.
"Yes, thank you" mumbled Ela.
"You're welcome... Has she got a name yet?" Asked Haymitch, as he pointed to Tammy who was asleep in Melanie's arms.
"I called her Tammy, after Tomas" answered Ela.
Haymitch nodded, trying to hide the pain his eyes.
"So, what happens now?" Questioned Ela.
"What do you mean?" Quizzed Haymitch.
"What's the plan going forward? I mean, what do I do now?" Ela asked curiously.

Haymitch shrugged, "What you do now is up to you. I suggest not leaving your house ever again for starters".
"That's it. That's your big plan, is just to stay at home?" Frowned Ela.
"My plan was to get you out alive, so that you could come home to your boyfriend and raise your child. What you do now is no concern of mine. I promised I'd get you home, I never that said you were going to have a great life once we got back. And you shouldn't complain about how boring your life is going to be stuck indoors, not when you're the one who returned home alive" replied Haymitch.
"I know. And I don't want to sound ungrateful, as you did save my life. But I just hoped you'd tell me what to do next".

"I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. Tell your friends that you're alive if you want. Sneak out to visit them if you so wish. But if you get caught I won't be able to save you" admitted Haymitch.
"I don't have any friends worth risking my life to visit. Glen is the only one that I'd take that risk for, and he's right here" replied Ela.
"Well then, enjoy spending the rest of your life here. Goodbye" mumbled Haymitch, before he began staggering towards the door.
Glen moved to go after him, but Ela held him back, shaking her head.
"Let him go" she sighed.

"He wasn't much help" complained Glen, once Haymitch was gone.
"He's suffering, and we need to just let him be. Every year he has to get close to 2 children, and he has to watch them die, knowing that he failed to save them. We shouldn't judge him, or be angry at him. He got me home alive, and that was all he promised to do. So from now on, we're on our own" announced Ela.