This is Peeta remembering the first time he saw Katniss. (Italics are the flashback) They're both five years old.

I look down at Katniss's sleeping form. She's nestled into my side. She looks more relaxed then I've seen her in awhile. She sighs contentedly in her sleep. Her face has a childish quality about it that reminds me of the first time I saw her. I close my eyes and drift to sleep, dreaming, like always, of Katniss. This time, it was more a memory then a dream.

My dad walks with me to school on my first day. I'm terrified that nobody at school will like me. I voice my concerns. He lays a reassuring hand on my shoulder and tells me not to worry, that I'll be fine. We arrive at the school and I look around nervously. I search for people who look friendly. My eyes find a little girl with a red plaid skirt. She's a seam girl, I can tell by her dark skin and hair, which is split into two braids. She's too skinny but she shines with more light then everyone in the entire school yard combined. My father looks at her too. He points at her.

"See that little girl?" he asked. I nodded. How could I not see her. "I wanted to marry her mother but she ran off with a coal miner." I looked at him in disbelief.

"A coal miner?" I asked. "Why would she want a coal miner if she could've had you?"

"Because when he sings," he pauses and looks up at the sky, "even the birds stop to listen." He's silent for a moment. He shakes it off and gives me a smile and a kiss on the head. "Have a good day at school, Peeta," he says. I nod and then he's gone.

I'm too shy to approach her, but over the next few days I find out that her name is Katniss Everdeen. One day when we were all in music the teacher had us all sing a ballad for the class. When she called me up I walked to the front of the room, fixed my eyes on one of the three posters that colored the brown room, and sang to it. I hurried through it then quickly took my seat.

Then the teacher called Katniss up. She shuffled to the front of the room. Her eyes never left the ground. She opened her mouth and the notes sprung out with more beauty and clarity then I had ever heard.

I sat, staring at her with wonder. I knew what my dad meant. When Katniss sang, all the birds went quiet and stopped to listen to her, and so did I.

I woke with a start. I smiled slowly.

"I don't think I ever stopped listening," I whispered to her. I kissed her lightly on the head and fell back asleep.