“A light was on in the kitchen. His mother sat at the kitchen table, as still as a statue. Her hands were clasped together, and she stared fixatedly at a small stain on the tablecloth. Gregor remembered seeing her that way so many nights after his dad had disappeared. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to scare her or shock her or ever give her any more pain.So, he stepped into the light of the kitchen and said the one thing he knew she wanted to hear most in the world."Hey, Mom. We're home.”

“Vikus looked at Luxa and opened his arms. She stood, still frozen, staring at him as if he were a complete stranger."Luxa, it's your grandpa," said Gregor. It seemed like the best and most important thing to say at the moment. "It's your grandpa."Luxa blinked. A tiny tear formed at the corner of her eye. A battle took place on her face as she tried to stop the feelings rising up inside her.The feelings won, and to Gregor's great relief, she ran into Vikus's arms.”

“As miserable as Gregor felt about being dumped with a rat, his heart ached for Vikus. He wanted to scream at Luxa, "Say something! Don't let your granpa fly off like this! Four of us aren't coming back!" But the words caught in his throat. Part of him wasn't ready to forgive Vikus for abandoning them, either."Fly you high, Gregor the Overlander," said Vikus.Gregor struggled with how to respond. Should he ignore Vikus? Let him know that none of them, not even an Overlander, could forgive him? Just as he had steeled himself against replying, Gregor thought of the last two years, seven months, and was it fifteen days now? There were so many things he wished he'd said to his dad when he'd had the chance. Things like how special it was when they went on the roof at night and tried to find the stars. Or how much he loved it when they took the subway out to the stadium to watch a baseball game. Or just that he felt lucky that out of all the people in the world, his dad was his dad.He didn't have room inside him for any more unspoken words. The bats were rising into the air. He only had a second. "Fly you high, Vikus!" he yelled. "Fly you high!"Vikus turned back, and Gregor could see tears shining on his cheeks. He lifted up a hand to Gregor in thanks.And then they were gone.”

“If she cries, he will nose his way into her arms and curl up there until she calms down and falls asleep. I'm so glad I didn't drown him.”

“You'd have thought we planned it," says Peeta, giving me just the hint of a smile."Didn't you?" asks Portia. Her fingers press her eyelids closed as if she's warding off a very bright light."No," I say looking at Peeta with a new sense of apreciation. "Neither of us even knew what we were going to do before we went in.""And Haymitch?" says Peeta. "We decided we don't want any other allies in the arena.""Good. Then I won't be responsible for you killing off any of my friends with your stupidity," he says.”

“He said, See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner."-Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games”

“My father got to know my mother because on his hunts he would sometimes collect medicinal herbs and sell them to her shop to be brewed into remedies. She must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam. I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her for my father's sake. But to be honest, I'm not the forgiving type.”