#the story never really went back to okinawa for any large stretch of time or plot

[thecindercrow]

First Kashiwagi and Lau Ka Long, then Mine basically gets confirmed in an interview, now we see Richardson somehow survived as well.

Which kind of makes Rikiya the elephant in the Y3 impossible survivors room. And while part of me would be ecstatic to see my boy again and it does feel a little odd to leave him out while you're bringing all these others back... Well. It also feels weird to retcon all these guys' deaths to begin with, and Rikiya's would feel especially egregious and could really cheapen his original death if not handled well. It's like I'm waiting for the weirdest shoe to drop. Are they going to be weird and do it or be weird and not do it?

[everlarkficexchange]

To be Her O.A.O. (one-and-only) - Chapter 2

written by: @noneyabidnes

Rating: Mature

Prompt 73: Katniss marries Gale before he’s sent to fight WWII. Gale sends home his buddy Peeta to break the news to his wife and family that he’s fallen in love with someone else in Europe and is staying there after the war… Peeta is under the impression Katniss is a cold woman that only married his friend out of obligation but finds out the other side of the story soon enough. [submitted by @alliswell21]

Tags: era-appropriate derogatory terms for Axis powers, angst

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Chapter 2

The shadows are stretching long by the time we hear hooves coming up the road.  Prim jumps out of her seat saying she needs to check on the sheep as Katniss continues dinner preparations in the small kitchen.  I try to stand up to help just to have her shush me back down again.  I’ve offered more than once, but somewhere in the last couple hours, as we’ve talked about nothing in particular, she’s come to decide I’m an acceptable guest, and I’ve barely been able to take my eyes off her.  As she turns her back to me, I snag the rumpled photo back off the table and slip it in my pocket

It’s become my personal challenge to get her to smile as much as I can, telling stories about every Good-time Charley and cracked egg I met in the service.  I even managed a blush out of her, and Prim for that matter, delicately explaining why most guys referred to letters from their girls back home as sugar reports.  It prompted her to ask me about my own special someone, of which I had to admit I had none.  Delly Cartwright and I used to pal around a bit, but last I’d heard she’d gone and hitched up with Thom Quinn after he’d come back from France.  I wasn’t surprised to hear she’d fallen for the flyboy, nor was I hurt.  She and I weren’t cut out for one-and-only.

I’m still watching Katniss push onions around a pan when she starts to sing quietly to herself.  It’s a song from before the war, one I haven’t heard since before I shipped out to Parris Island, but what catches me isn’t sentimentality toward the song, but the rich tone of her voice.  Gale never mentioned she could sing.  He spoke endlessly about her hunting acumen, how sensible she was, if a bit distant and frigid in her demeanor.  He made it seem like getting any affection from her was hard-fought.  That even after they had married, he still didn’t think she really felt much love for him.  To hear the emotion in her voice as she sings, I know how wrong he was.  Not that she was in love—it does seem clear that wasn’t the case—but that she wears her heart where it can get trampled.  That this ‘cold woman with a hard stare’ as he often put it, is in fact a woman full of warmth.  Each smile I’ve earned from her has felt like a victory and now, to hear her singing as though she’s perfectly comfortable with me in her kitchen, I can’t imagine ever being able to tear myself away from this shack on this rock outcrop of a mountain.  From her.

And I immediately fill with shame for feeling it.  I shouldn’t be a goner for my best friend’s not-an-ex-wife.  We’ve only just met.  We know nothing about one another beyond the pleasantries we’ve exchanged these past couple hours.  There’s no way I could ever convince her that I’m an upstanding man if I were to tell her the thoughts running through my mind.  I’d only confirm her initial misgivings of having me here in the first place.

Prim stomps back through the door with a tall young man on her heels who is the spitting image of his older brother.  This must be Rory, the one Gale always speaks about with equal parts pride and frustration.  I carefully stand on one leg to shake his hand as he towers over me and Katniss gasps.

“We never went to your mother’s house! Oh no, we got so caught up talking about…what were we even talking about?”  She looks to me to fill in the gap and I return Rory’s solid handshake.

“Matters of deep importance, if I do recall.  Rory, I presume.  Your brother didn’t lie about how strong you are, but I doubt he realizes how tall you’ve gotten.  He was always proud of having a coupla inches on you.  I daresay you’re taller’an him now.  You must have been stealin’ rations.”

A grin breaks out on Rory’s face before he pulls me in for a quick, surprising hug, knocking me slightly off balance.  “It’s all the squirrel Katniss keeps feedin’ us.  Where is he?  Prim wouldn’t tell me anything.”  He hasn’t let go of my hand, but he’s looking around the shack, as though the Lance Corporal will appear any moment.

“We should go talk to you mother.” Katniss jumps in.  She turns back to the stove and shuffles pans away from the heat.  “Come on.  Let’s head over there.  Rory, can you help Peeta walk?”

“Peter?” He glances back at me and his eyes trail down to my prosthetic propped against the wall by my chair.

“Peeta,” she corrects before I can, and I have to fight the smile that threatens to take over my face at how natural my name sounds on her lips.  Lips I’m not supposed to be staring at.  The guilt flares again.  I have got to get a handle on myself.

“Peeta Mellark,” I fill in.  “Your brother and I served together for over two years.  Not many guys I can say that about, unfortunately.”

“But he’s okay, right?”

“Yes.  Likely already back in Japan with the occupying forces.  I would be there too, if it weren’t for my leg.”

His eyes widen, taking in the full extent of the situation.  Prim steps up.  “I told you, he walked all the way up here.  He can’t put weight on it for a coupla days.”

“Can you mount a horse?”

“Sorry, city boy here.  I’ve never been within twenty feet of a horse.”

“Huh.  Hard to imagine life without one ‘round here.  Okay, let’s see here.”

As Rory’s scratching his head, Katniss turns back to the stove and shuffles things around again.

“Rory, just go run and get your mother and bring the crew back here.  You can all eat here tonight.  I was just tossin’ together some stew anyway.” 

He nods at the order as though Katniss were his CO and Gale’s words about her strength pop back into my head.  He’s out the door before I can say anything else. 

“You run a tight ship ‘round here.”

“Hardly, but I’m his big sister, whether we share blood or not.  I carried that boy on my hip as much as any other woman on this mountain, and his little brother even more so.  They know better’an to give me lip.”

“Yes ma’am.” I salute her quickly before I return to my seat, surprised by how much standing for the short period on one leg has exhausted me.  I feel so far from the strong boot I was so few months ago.

She graces me with another small smile and I find myself berating Gale in my mind.  How dare you call this woman cold?  With the exception of her pointing an arrow at me when I first appeared on the mountain, she’s been nothing if not understanding and warm.  And she sings!  How could anyone walk away from her? Just as quickly the scolding turns back on myself.  She’s married, you cracked egg!  To your best friend!  Let it go!

In no time, Rory is back through the door with an even younger version of Gale in tow as well as a young girl who must be Posy.  I can see immediately why he is so protective of her.  Delicate features that are slightly gaunt, pointing to a rough life.  So beautiful and sweet in her countenance.  Her large grey eyes take me in and immediately turn back to her big brother. 

“He’s Gale’s friend?  Where’s Gale?”  Rory puts his index finger up to his lips and she falls silent.  I reach out a hand toward her.

“Hi Posy.  Yes, I’m Gale’s friend Peeta.  He sent me here to make sure you were all doin’ well.  He misses you so much, li’l sweetheart.  He told me lots about you, including how beautiful you are.  I’m sorry he’s not here himself.”

Katniss cuts in before I can say anything more. “Where’s your Ma?”

“She put herself to bed early and Vick couldn’t get her to crack an eye when he went in to wake her.”

Silence fills the small room.  What would they have done for dinner if Katniss hadn’t invited them over?  Looking at the boys, I’m sure they can fend for themselves, but it still reinforces the reason Gale wanted to marry Katniss before he left.  She’s the one who makes sure these kids are taken care of.

“Well, I guess there’s no reason to keep it hush-hush,” Katniss starts.  “Gale’s doing fine.  He got injured back on Okinawa, but he’s back with his battalion over in Japan now.  Thing is, he’s not gonna be comin’ home after he’s done over there.  He found a lady on an island that loves him and they’re havin’ a baby.  He’s gonna stay and live with her after he’s done his tour.”

Posy’s innocence cuts to the heart of it. “But I thought he was gonna have babies with you?”

Katniss shakes her head.  “No, Pose, me and Gale never was gonna have kids.  We’ve got you guys.  You’re all the family we ever wanted.  Don’t need no babies underfoot when I’m huntin’ or milkin’ the goats.”

“But you guys love each other.”

Katniss reaches out and pulls Posy into her lap like she’s done it a thousand times.  My heart breaks to see the comfort between them.  This is Gale’s family.  He should be here.  How did he walk away from this?

“Ya’ know Posy, you’re right.  Gale and I do love each other, but not the way your Ma and Pa loved each other.  Not the way Prim and Rory love each other.  Gale and I, we know, knew each other inside and out, but we were never big into kissing and hugging.  And this lady he met, he loves her much bigger than he loves me.  And that’s alright.  I’m happy for him Posy, ya’ hear?  Happy he gets to have someone who loves him like he’s the most important guy on this here Earth.  Someone who can give him babies and make him smile, because he deserves that, don’t he, Pose?”

The little one rests her head on Katniss’s shoulder and snuggles in tighter.  “Will you still give me hugs and kisses?”

“Oh, sugar, you and I? We’re together ‘til you can’t stand me, ya’ hear?  We’re family.  That had nothin’ to do with Gale and everythin’ to do with bein’ there for your first steps and first words, and holdin’ your hand on the way to school.  Gale can go have his big adventure.  We’ll keep being family here, no matter.”

“So he’s not takin’ you away?” The sweet girl points at me and Katniss’s eyes widen briefly before a soft smile graces her face.

“No, he’s not takin’ me anywhere.  Gale sent him here to make sure I was okay, to make sure we all are.  He doesn’t want us to be angry with him for stayin’ there.  And we’re not, are we?”

Posy shakes her head slowly against Katniss’s shoulder, her hand absently playing with the end of Katniss’s braid.

“Ma’s gonna be angry,” Vick speaks up and all eyes turn to him.

“Well, she’ll jus’ have to take that up with me,” Katniss states, leaving no room for argument.  “Now, if you wanna know how your brother’s doin’, this nice gentleman here, Mr. Peeta, can answer all your questions.  I recommend you ask ‘em one on top of ‘nother so that he can hardly keep up.”

She slides Posy off her lap and turns back toward the pots on the stove, but not before I catch the glint of mischief in her eyes.  Posy doesn’t disappoint, asking everything from what color Gale’s clothes are these days to what the baby’s name will be.  She keeps going all the way through dinner and up to the moment Rory picks her up to carry her tired frame back across the field to their home.

Prim follows them out the door, her hand resting on the small of Rory’s back.  I’ll have to write to Gale to let him know that Rory’s found his O.A.O., his one-and-only.  I wonder how he’ll react to it being Prim.  And I’ll have to fill him in on Posy’s interrogation. 

Behind me I can hear Katniss shuffling around by the small couch that Prim called her bed.  Just moments before Vick was sitting on it with Katniss and as I turn to watch I notice the threadbare sheets that are creating a home for me tonight.

“I know Prim didn’t really give you much choice, but if you’re more comfortable, I can sleep outside or in the barn.  I’m usta sleepin’ sittin’ up at this point.  I don’t need to be in your space.”

“Don’t you know better than to turn down mountain hospitality?  No, I don’t mind you being here.  It may not make much sense, but I kinda like havin’ you here.  The house feels a little safer, a little fuller.  I don’t know, maybe it’s just all those stories you told about Gale and the rest of the guys, but I feel like I already know you.  Like you’re just a long-lost friend that Gale managed to wrangle back to the mountain.”

She’ll never know how much those words mean to me, or how she’s brought hope to a man that has felt his worth in the world dwindling by the day, but I try to express at least a little of it.  “Thank you.  Gale told me you were fiercely protective of your brood up here.  I can see why, but yeah, from all his stories I kinda feel like I know all of you as well, although you’re a bit of a surprise.”

She turns to catch my eyes, a question on her lips so I plunge ahead. 

“I didn’t know how you would handle the news.  Most gals don’t take kindly to word their man’s shacked up with another girl.  Since I’ve told you, I’ve seen you smile and sing.  I dare say you’re genuinely happy for him.”

Bringing herself up straight and rigid, she rolls her shoulders back, incidentally drawing my attention to areas I’m better off not noticing.  “Ya’know Corporal, I am happy.  When we got married, I felt like I’d been trapped.  I knew it was the right thing to do.  I understood why he’d suggested it, but he, well, he had these feelings that I just didn’t have.  Only time we ever kissed was after the preacher finished our vows.  Shouldn’t a wife want to kiss her husband?  We didn’t even sleep in the same house that night!  He tried to…well, I shoun’t be tellin’ you all this.”

“You weren’t in love with him and he wanted you to be.”

She nods solemnly.  “We needed each other to survive for those many years after our Pa’s died, and he knew I’d take care o’ his family while he was gone.  I wasn’t lyin’ to Posy.  They’re my family, no matter what.  I didn’t need to marry him for that to be so.  But he wanted ta make sure his pay came here and that his mother didn’t drink it.”

“If you don’t mind my askin’, has there been a guy you did want?”

Her eyebrow raises, almost like a challenge.  “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Just wantin’ to make sure no one’s showing up with a shotgun while I’m sleepin’ in your house.  I’ve already been shot at enough in this life.”

She drops to the edge of the bed and levels me with her stare.  “You grew up in a city, so I’ll excuse you not knowin’ anything about small towns, but let me just tell ya, I’ve known ev’ry boy in this town since the days when they still ran around in nappies.  You’re the first new man I’ve met since before the war—ain’t no young fellas been around.  They all took off to fight the Jerries and the Japs, and those that stayed behind were chickens and ‘shiners.  No, Corporal Mellark, there’s no one poundin’ down our door in the middle of the night who’ll batt an eye at you on our cot, and if they did, I’d point my arrow right back at’em.”

“Hell, you’re like Artemis herself.  How could any man resist that?” I retort.

Happy with herself, the grin that splits her cheeks makes up for every bad thing I’ve seen in the last three years.  The heavy silence that sits between us stretches on until I wonder if I’m not the only one feeling awake and alive in a new way. 

When Prim pushes through the door several minutes later, she finds us still smiling silently at one another.  Shaking her head, she walks past us and into the back of the house to where I presume Katniss’s bedroom must be.  The spell is broken, but the smiles remain.

“I should be gettin’ to bed, Miss Everdeen.  My nurse says I have to rest up and I want to make sure I can help out while I’m here.  You got the fixin’s for pancakes in the morning?”  I don’t think my use of her maiden name goes unnoticed as she leans in so slightly toward me.

“You just have to sweet talk the chickens into givin’ you a coupla eggs, but I doubt that’ll be a problem for you, Corporal.”  Something about the way she says my rank sounds oh so good and my thoughts take a decidedly un-Christian turn, particularly with her sitting just across from me on what sure as hell looks like a bed.  Luckily, she takes that moment to stand. 

“Goodnight Corporal Peeta Mellark.” It rolls off her tongue, leaving me wondering if the innuendo is all in my head.  It has to be, right?  No way this beautiful woman could be flirting with someone as damaged as me.

My “Goodnight Katniss” as her skirt swishes past my knees comes out just shy of a whisper, but I swear she pauses to smile again. 

I’ve slept sitting up in the pouring rain as machine-gun fire bounced around me.  How in the world am I going to sleep tonight?