Reunion {Ems}

"Can't undo the scars
All up and down our hearts
Can't forget how it felt when it all fell apart"

I didn't visit the tributes in the Justice Building this year. I didn't want to disturb them like I seemed to have done to Stanley Schuster the one and only time I met him. He didn't seem like he was pleased to meet me by any means, and I didn't want to risk making the tributes this year any more bothered by what was going on by having to have an awkward conversation with one of the Eightieth's surviving tributes who didn't even do all that well. They were going through enough, going into the Games, and I knew what they were feeling. They didn't need anything more on top of that.

This year, as soon as the reaping concluded, I had decided to focus on my work. My family makes shoes, and that's what I had taken up doing since I came back to District Eight after the Games two years ago. The family business was important to me, and I'd even received a permit to travel to other Districts on the basis of work. I was most looking forward to visiting District Nine and District Eleven, specifically, as there was a chance with visiting those Districts that I could run into them. My friends. Fiona, Carmen and Faux. I missed the three of them- my friends in the arena. They had been the only people who were truly on my side during the Games in that damn arena when it truly came down to it.

I'm not quite sure how I managed to get a work permit that allowed me to travel to three different Districts (those being Two, Nine and Eleven), but I was glad that I had. I'd be travelling to District Eleven first, then District Two, and finally District Nine. I wasn't quite sure why they were so out of order, but I wasn't going to argue. I'd gotten my permit to travel for work, and that was definitely nothing to complain about.

Arriving in District Eleven, I stepped off of the train with my work bag over one shoulder and my crutch under the opposite arm. The damage from the arena, both physical and emotional, hadn't healed properly and I was afraid that it never really would. My knee was severely messed up from when it was broken by the giant sloth mutt. Plus, I still got frequent migraines and had trouble remembering things here and there, due to getting my skull crushed by the same beast. When it came to my emotions- well- seeing as the memories of the arena would never end up completely going away, I was never sure I'd feel emotionally the same again, either.

When I first got to Eleven, I focused on what I was permitted to be there for, first. I dealt with the work I needed to do there. It took a few days, and it was tiring, but when it was over, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to look for Carmen and Faux. If I could find at least one of them, I would be happy. I just needed to see one of my friends again. Right then, I just needed someone who understood me.

It took hours of wandering the unfamiliar District before I came across him. I hadn't expected that I'd actually find him, but was beyond glad that I did. There he was, my friend, Faux Rhodes. It had felt like ages since I'd seen him. I mean, it had been two whole years.

I wasn't sure if I'd ever see him again after this, so I knew I had to make the most of the encounter with him. Using my crutch to help me in my walking endeavors, I made my way over to Faux, waving with my other arm to get his attention.

"Faux!" I shouted to him, as I wasn't close enough to ever imagine getting his attention using my voice at its normal volume. I shouted again. "Faux! It's Oliver!"

I was making my way over to him, hoping that he'd turn towards me. I needed to get his attention. I needed to talk to my friend. I needed to see Faux's face again.

I missed him.