Back on the train, Katniss lies awake thinking through Haymitch's warning that the Capitol expects her future to be tied to Peeta forever. She resents losing even the freedom to choose whether to marry or have children, and she fears that any child of hers would be especially vulnerable to the reaping. Remembering Haymitch's lonely life after his own Games, Katniss briefly considers suicide or fleeing into the woods with everyone she loves, but she forces herself to focus on surviving the Victory Tour because too many other people now depend on her performance.

The next morning, Effie informs Katniss that the team is heading to District 11, Rue's home, and Katniss dreads the stop. Katniss endures another exhausting round of Capitol beauty treatments while resenting that Peeta does not need the same kind of preparation. By lunch, Katniss is physically raw, sleep-deprived, and miserable. When the train is delayed by a mechanical problem and Effie starts obsessing over the schedule, Katniss snaps at Effie, storms out of the dining car, and leaves the train to sit alone by the tracks.

Peeta follows Katniss instead of Haymitch. Peeta apologizes for the way he withdrew from her after they returned home, admitting that jealousy over Gale made him bitter and that he should not have held the arena against her. Katniss accepts, and Peeta suggests that they at least try to be real friends instead of pretending only for the cameras. Back on the train, Katniss apologizes to Effie, then Peeta shows Katniss his paintings of the arena. The paintings are vivid and disturbing, but Peeta explains that painting his nightmares helps him cope, and Katniss realizes that both of them are still reliving the Games.

As the train approaches District 11, Katniss and Peeta see how different it is from District 12: enormous fenced boundaries, armed watchtowers, vast fields, and workers laboring under harsher control. Effie reviews the ceremony, which will include remarks about Rue and Thresh. Katniss arrives in an armored truck and is rushed into the crumbling Justice Building. When she steps outside for the ceremony, she sees the grieving families of Rue and Thresh, and Rue's resemblance to her siblings makes the loss feel immediate again.

During the ceremony, Peeta departs from the prepared script and announces that he and Katniss will give each family one month of their winnings every year for the rest of their lives. Katniss is deeply moved and kisses Peeta sincerely. Then, ashamed that she has stayed silent, Katniss speaks on her own, honoring Thresh's independence, Rue's beauty and kindness, and the bread District 11 once sent her in District 12. The crowd answers with Rue's mockingjay whistle and a united three-finger salute. Katniss instantly understands that what was meant as gratitude has become a public act of defiance against the Capitol. Before she can respond, Peacekeepers seize the old man who whistled and execute him in front of everyone.