Hey all! Welcome to 'Anniversaries', my first Hunger Games fiction piece. I am really a lot nervous about the reception this will have…eek! Peeta and Katniss lover here…but I've really found myself trying to get into pre-Epilogue Katniss' head, thus the birth of this story (though we will explore Peeta's mind as well!). Each chapter will be the same day of the year for several years. I'm excited, scared, and anxious about people reading this! But hopefully it sparks some interest. While writing this first chapter I was listening to Solitude Lyrics - Black Sabbath on repeat. I've not had anyone read this yet so all mistakes are my own (feel free to point them, albeit gently). Sadly, I do not own Hunger Games…which kind of sucks because I love it!

Solitude
My name it means nothing
my fortune is less
My future is shrouded in dark wilderness
Sunshine is far away, clouds linger on
Everything I possessed - Now they are gone

When the first anniversary of her death is thrust upon her she is absolutely destroyed by the feeling of her heart breaking apart in her chest all over again. The burn inside of her is so extreme that every piece of her feels dead, like her...and every part of her wishes it was actually true. So quickly her breaking point had been reached and slowly every bit of resolve she had managed to build up in the previous 365 days shattered somewhere deep inside of her, in a place she hadn't even known existed prior to that moment…and she knew she would never be whole again. There was no possible way she could be; after all that had happened within the span of those brief terrifying moments she…she didn't want to think about what had happened, but she couldn't help it. It consumed her, defined her…ruined her.

She felt his comforting, warm, and unfailing hand fall to her shoulder but she shrugged it away, she wasn't moving, she just wanted to lie there and die. How could they expect her to go on without the one person she'd lived for? After their father had died…her reason for living had become her little sister. And now her little sister was gone…and she wanted to be gone, too. She didn't know how to exist without her…and she didn't even want to try. Closing her eyes, she began to hum softly. The tune was familiar, her song, and for a brief moment in time it proved successful in its ability to drown out the loud silence that surrounded her…surrounded her memories around them.

There was still a 'them'. She didn't care what anybody else said, there would always be a 'them'. Four billion years could go by and she would still referrer to herself as one-half of a 'them'. But…nobody would ever know the other half again. Nobody who hadn't known it before would know it now. She couldn't even fathom that. Nobody would ever know how blessed she had been to have that blond haired girl in her life, how knowing she couldn't fail her had kept her going when all she'd wanted was to die like their Father had, it was impossible for them to know that now. Bringing her hand to her face she wiped away the tears that were stinging her eyes, finally allowing him to pull her back against him, letting his embrace tether her to reality. There were a million moments, it seemed, that made up one day and it had only taken one fraction of one moment to change her life. The remainder of her existence would be drastically different than even she had ever imagined it would be because of one third of one half of a moment. It just didn't seem fair. One ever so brief moment in time had turned her world upside down.

"Katniss…"

Shaking her head back and forth vigorously she brought her hand to her ear in an attempt to block out the sound of his voice.

"No."

Anything but his voice would allow her to remain in that bed, until she died too. His voice had always been, would always be, the voice that crushed the stubborn strength she had that told her to do what she knew she shouldn't. She couldn't stand him convincing her to get up, she wanted to stay down. She needed to stay down! Her entire body trembled as he pulled her hand down, his own hand still wrapped gently around her wrist. It was only then that the sobs racked her body and shook her soul as well as the bed they lay in.

"I know," his soft voice began as he stroked her head.

"No!" she cried. "No!"

Reality had finally dealt her a cruel blow making birth, life and death harsh unpleasant truths in a nanosecond. Harsh screams escaped through her mouth, her stomach turning in such a way that she almost vomited and her hands fisting so tightly that she couldn't feel anything but her fingernails piercing into her palms. The pain consuming her was so horrific she couldn't even breathe…it hurt to try.

"Shhh," he attempted to soothe her as he pulled himself up into a sitting position before taking her in his arms again, cradling her as he rocked back and forth gently, but his supportive hold only proved to make her cry more. Wrapping her arms around him she buried her face into his neck and held on, her back heaving with every fresh eruption of sobs as they escaped from the very depth's of her soul.

"No!"

Her entire body trembled violently as she lifted her head and placed her chin on his shoulder. She felt his hand come to rest on the back of her head and as he whispered his genuine apologies into her ear she slowly found her way back to being able to breathe again.

"I…she…" she sniffled between gasps. "I…"

"I know," he agreed gently.

"I don't know…" she shook her head back and forth and blinked through the blur of her tears before continuing. "What do I do now?"

His sad blue eyes considered her for a moment as he tried to come up with the right thing to say. How do you find an answer when there isn't one? Nothing could undo what had been done. Nothing could fill the void that her death had left in its wake. Slowly, since his return, they'd started to heal together…but this was a moment he didn't think they could fix. So, he just held her, and continued to search for the words that would have the power to save the girl he'd loved since he'd known what love was from her immeasurable pain.

"Peeta?"

"I'm right here," he whispered as he pressed his lips to the side of her head. "I'm right here, Katniss."

"Don't ever go…" she begged as she continued to tremble. "If you go…"

"I'm not going," he promised quietly. "I'm never going."

"Please…don't go."