Katniss wakes in a District 13 hospital after being shot in District 2 and learns the bullet did not pierce her armor but the impact ruptured her spleen. Johanna, recovering in the next bed, steals morphling from Katniss's drip and talks bluntly about pain, safety, and resentment. Their conversation turns unexpectedly honest when Johanna admits she partly hates Katniss out of jealousy, and Katniss suggests Johanna would have made a stronger Mockingjay.

Gale visits Katniss and they argue about the morality of collapsing the Nut. Gale defends the strategy as no different from other wartime killing because it helped defeat District 2 and stop future attacks, but Katniss insists that such logic can justify any atrocity, even the Hunger Games. Gale reports that after Katniss was shot, the Nut workers turned on the Capitol soldiers, giving the rebels control of District 2.

As Katniss recovers, she films a hospital-bed propo to prove she is alive and to praise the districts' unity. During a walk above ground, Plutarch explains that the Capitol is now isolated and vulnerable because its people depend on luxury, food, and spectacle. He plans to exploit that weakness with propaganda built around Finnick and Annie's wedding, which becomes both a morale boost for District 13 and a symbol that the rebels can still create joy.

Katniss helps prepare for the wedding by taking Annie, the prep team, and others to her old house in District 12 to find dresses Cinna left behind. The ceremony is simple by Capitol standards but deeply moving, and the celebration expands into music and dancing that Plutarch eagerly films. Katniss joins the dancing with Prim, pleased that Snow will have to watch her and her sister alive, united, and joyful.

The celebration changes course when a magnificent wedding cake appears and Katniss recognizes Peeta's handiwork in the decoration. Haymitch reveals that Peeta has moments of near-rationality and has asked to see her. In their supervised meeting, Peeta remembers the bread and dandelion from their first real connection, but his recovered memories do not restore trust. He questions whether Katniss loved him, challenges what he has seen on the tapes, and coolly judges her behavior. Katniss leaves shattered because Peeta no longer idealizes her and instead sees her as violent, distrustful, and manipulative.