"Katniss?" Peeta's voice breaks through my jumble of thoughts and I look up from my most recent kill.

"Yes." I'm relieved that it's my Peeta behind those eyes. Sometimes I'm still afraid I'll see the tortured look the Capitol gave him.

"Can we get out of the house for a while? I'm starting to feel cramped up."

I wipe my hands on a rag and smile up at him. "Sure. I could use a breather too."

Peeta follows me out the front door of my house in Victor's Village. A month has passed since Peeta came back, we've still barely touched, but a warm feeling shoots through me as his hand brushes mine. The sun blinds us momentarily as we step into the lane. All of the bodies have been buried and the ash has blown away. We walk in silence for a while and I'm beginning to wonder where Peeta is taking us as we pass the town square. The buildings here are still mostly destroyed, but a few have been cleared away completely. As we enter the Seam I'm at a loss.

"Peeta, where are we going?"

He keeps walking for a few moments before he answers, "I wanted to go into the woods; to get away from all of this." He's searching my eyes for something and I get the feeling he's embarrassed.

Completely baffled, I take his hand for the first time in what seems like an eternity and lead him toward the fence. I show him how to slip under it and as we're walking toward the tree line I realize why Peeta hesitated to tell me where he wanted to go. Gale. The woods were mine and Gale's refuge, our livelihood. Peeta was trying to figure out if I'm in love with Gale. Strangely, the thought seems so alien. Gale is gone, probably forever. And after Prim I know I could never have that kind of relationship with him. Prim.

"Let's stop for a minute." I tell Peeta, my voice catching in my throat.

"Is everything all right?" He brushes my hair behind my ear.

"I just thought about Prim." I plop myself down on a fallen tree. "It sneaks up on me sometimes." Peeta doesn't say anything, he doesn't have to. He just wraps his arm around my shoulder and lets me calm down. "Do you think anything will be normal again?"

Peeta considers this for a moment, "It won't be the normal we used to know. That life is over. I think as time passes, we'll find our own normal. Things from our past will always haunt us, but one day we'll be thankful for that. We'll remember the past and be thankful for the life we have now. And we'll miss the ones who can't share it with us."

I wrap my arms around Peeta, happy that he's mostly my Peeta now. I'm surprised he doesn't even pause, but just hugs me back. After a minute we both stand up. "Where would you like to go?" I ask him.

"What about the lake, since you already hunted this morning?" He gives me a small smile.

"The lake." I say. "Maybe I can teach you to swim."

We hike through the forest in silence for a while. It's an odd feeling to be in the forest for nothing but swimming. No need to hunt or plan desperate escapes. I run my fingers along the leaves, I could get used to this. Just me and Peeta. As the lake comes into view something unfamiliar rises up in my chest. I turn to look at Peeta and as I do it's as if the feeling explodes. Not destructive, but exhilarating. I try and contain my emotions as we sit on the bank and take off our shoes.

"Why are you smiling so much?" Peeta asks, looking a little worried.

"I'm just happy to be here." I take a deep breath and then add, "With you."

"Me?" Now Peeta's confused and worried. I think I should probably explain before his emotions get too overwhelming and he loses it.

"I don't think you ever realized how much I missed you when you were…gone. I couldn't ever stop thinking about you. It's so surreal to be sitting here with you doing something so normal."

"I gave you a pearl. Real or not real?"

"You did. I kept it with me for a long time. Guarding it like it was your life. And when you came to Thirteen I kept it for the memories. I never got it back after the bomb went off in the city circle. I guess it was blown up with everything else."

Peeta sits staring at the ground for a long time, probably trying to work through his real thoughts and the hijacked ones. I want to say something else, something comforting, but I don't want to startle him. After a while I decide to just go swimming and he can join me when he's ready. I stand up and take off my shirt and I'm about to take off my pants when he asks "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go swimming. I didn't want to disturb you."

"But why are you taking off your clothes?" I'm starting to get frustrated when I remember that the Tracker Jacker venom is probably messing with his thought process.

"I'm going to swim in my underwear. I don't want to walk back in soaking wet clothes." And for some reason this makes him blush. Nonetheless he stands up and joins me. After ten minutes of splashing around I decide to teach Peeta how to float.

"Just hold really still." I tell him. "Take small breaths and keep your chin tilted back." He's doing really well and I feel like I should tell him, but I'm too distracted by the way the sun is dancing off his eyelashes. It still surprises me how long they are. He looks so peaceful with his eyes closed. He almost looks like the boy the Capitol reaped four years ago. Without even thinking I lean over and kiss him on the cheek. Butterflies erupt in my stomach and I can feel a blush creeping up my face. Peeta just smiles.