A/N: This is just a one-shot guys; please don't hate me for the ending! It just popped into my head when I was watching a clip of "The Wizard of Oz" earlier in class.
-Somewhere Over the Rainbow-
She rolls over and snuggles to the warm body next her. Strong arms circle her waist, pulling her closer to the heat.
"You kept screaming last night." He whispers softly into her ear. He hasn't shaved yet, so his stubble tickles her neck.
She lifts up an eyebrow as she forces one eye open. "Your ego has gotten way too big lately, Peeta."
He chuckles, his throat vibrating against her skin. "I wish. I know you had a nightmare, want to talk about it?"
She sighs and turns away from him. She didn't want to talk about it; if she did then she'd spend the whole day in bed…and she couldn't do that.
Peeta pulls her against him and she smirks when she feels how much he wants her.
"Don't be so frumpy in the morning. We can do other things than talk." He suggests, starting to trail kisses down her neck.
She moans softly. She turns back over and pulls him into a heated kiss; one of her hands tangles itself into his messy, but still soft hair. His hands cup her breasts, so tenderly that she wants to cry. He circles his thumbs over her nipples, causing them to harden instantly.
She moves her lips to kiss his mouth softly, shoving all her love into that small contact. He smiles as she places open kisses down his neck to his chest. Her hands trail down his body, they already know his body like they know hers. She scrapes her nails lightly over one of sensitive spots located on his side and he moans in response.
She kisses him again, missing the taste of him. She straddles him and cups his penis in her hands, massaging every inch of it. Peeta moans loudly before she silences him with a kiss. His tongue licks the bottom of her lip and she gladly opens her mouth, allowing his tongue to taste her. She continues to rub him, but places on hand on his balls.
"Don't be like that." Peeta chokes out, ending their kiss.
She smiles, but gives in. She lifts herself up and places her entrance above the tip of his dick. She rubs herself on him, and they both gasp in pleasure from the sweet contact. She wants to tease him a bit more, but finds herself needing him inside her more. She lowers herself down his length; it takes a second for her to adjust to his size.
He places his hands on her hips and helps her set a fast pace. They know that they don't have much time. She is already wet with anticipation as he lifts his hips to thrust deeper inside her. She groans, wanting more, needing more from him. He doesn't disappoint and continues to thrust as she picks up the pace. She cups his balls and squeezes them, making him cry out.
"Shh!" She tells him desperately.
Peeta chokes back another cry, as she slides slowly down his full length, until she reaches the bottom. She keeps toying with his balls and he reaches to toy with her delicate breasts.
She speeds up the pace and bends down and sucks on his neck, wanting to mark him in her own way. She moves her lips to his earlobe and softly bites it, causing a soft moan to escape his swollen lips. She bites harder and his hands move to grip her hips again.
"I can-n't h-hold it any-y longer-r!" Peeta stutters, forcing her to smile at his reaction to her.
Peeta digs his nails into her flesh and thrusts into her one last time, deeper than before. She cries out in ecstasy, feeling the familiar pressure build up and explode inside her stomach. She sees stars when hot liquid spreads inside her. Some of the liquid runs down her thighs, tickling her.
Peeta pulls her down to lay next to him. "Let's just stay in bed all day."
She laughs and kisses him once more, before she forces herself to leave the warm bed. "We can't, but maybe we can go to bed early tonight." She winks over her shoulder at him.
He throws a pillow at her. "Don't be such a tease Katniss!"
"Who's the one who seduced me this morning?" She calls out to him as she enters their shared bathroom.
"You're the one who tries to seduce me every morning!" He replies.
She turns the knobs on the shower. She returns to the door and leans against the door. "I never have to try hard. Now, are you going to join me or what?"
Peeta smiles and climbs out of bed, eager to join her. She cups his face and kisses his slowly, but thoroughly. He grabs her ass and grinds himself against her. She gasps in shock.
"S-stop it!" She demands, slipping out of his hands and heads into the shower.
Peeta smirks when he joins her inside. "I can't help it that I have a seductress for a wife."
She chooses not to answer and focuses on cleaning her body and then his. She controls herself from jumping his bones again, knowing that they must keep to a certain schedule or they'd have to deal with unpleasant consequences later.
It really was his fault that they were in this predicament really. Five years ago, she told him that she wanted to wait so that they could have more time to spend long days in bed, but he had been insistent and finally after all of his begging, she relented.
That following year she had their daughter Rose, named after her late sister. Peeta was overjoyed, secretly wanting a daughter with her ever since they began dating when they were eighteen. Rose had Peeta's golden locks, but had her mother's Seam eyes. Her personality was exactly like Peeta's except for her stubbornness that she inherited from Katniss.
Katniss leaves the shower before Peeta and hurries to get her normal clothes on. They're bit tight on her from all of Peeta's homemade cheese buns. She rushes down the hall and enters the only room with a pink door.
Rose is still asleep, cuddling the puppy that Peeta had to give her a month ago. Katniss stands there for a moment, overwhelmed with the feeling of pure love. There are moments when she hates the weakness that Rose causes her to have. But then Rose hugs her and all is forgotten as she is again consumed. She still has moments when she has to spend the odd day in bed, not wanting to face Rose and see how she looks exactly like Prim and not wanting to lose her too.
Katniss kneels beside the bed and brushes a stray stand of blonde hair behind Rose's ear. Rose's eyes flutter open and a big smile breaks out onto her face. The puppy is instantly overlooked as she clutches her mother's clothes. Katniss pulls her in for a long hug and stands up, carrying her.
"Mama!" Rose cries out happily, kissing Katniss' cheek.
Katniss smiles and pats Rose's small head. "Morning."
"Daddy?" Rose asks, pouting.
"I'm not sure, baby." Katniss pretends to ponder, then snaps her fingers quickly. "I bet he's in the kitchen again!"
Rose's face lights up. "Go to daddy?"
Katniss' eyes sparkle. "Only if you help me pick out something for you to wear today."
Rose's face crumples up in thought. "Ok."
Katniss bends down to kiss Rose's cheek and then carries her to her closet. They spend some time going through all the clothes until Rose finds something that she "deems" perfect. She chooses to wear a soft forest green dress that is still a tad too big for her small frame.
"Daddy now?" Rose pleads and Katniss can't control the smile that spreads across her face.
"Yep, let's go find daddy." Katniss tells Rose, picking her up and holding her close to her body.
The puppy, Katniss believes his name is Jay, remains asleep on the bed. Katniss takes Rose to the kitchen, where Peeta is. He is at the stove, making breakfast. Katniss and Rose's stomachs growl at the smell of his delicious cooking.
He chuckles. "It's about done. Rose, would you help your mother set the table?"
Rose smiles and nods against Katniss' chest. Katniss smiles and holds her closer to her body, not sure if she'd ever let her go. Katniss grabs the plates and hands Rose a small handful of silverware. They set the table and Peeta joins them. He sets the plate of pancakes down and then begins to tickle Rose.
Rose breaks out into a fit of giggles until he stops. He kisses her forehead and puts one pancake onto her plate. He sits down next to Katniss and pulls her in for a small kiss. Katniss then helps Rose slice up the pancake into bite size bits.
"What do you say?" Peeta asks her.
Rose looks up and smiles wide. "Thank quo!"
Katniss smiles at her. "Good job!" Peeta encourages her.
They all dig in, Katniss eating more than usual. Peeta smiles, one of his hands resting on the small bump on her stomach.
The day passes in a blur. Stolen kisses happen between Katniss and Peeta throughout the day at the bakery, the living room, and most of all in their bedroom. Rose pretends not to notice her parent's "mushiness" and focuses mostly on her crayons. When Peeta returns home from work and Katniss returns home from hunting, they both pick Rose up from Haymitch's house (that was clean for once!).
They all return home together. Rose was fretting over her puppy that drank some of Haymitch's white liquor out of his bottle. Peeta was making sure that Katniss hadn't overexerted herself. Finally, Katniss was smiling at her silly family. The family that she hadn't wanted, but had received so easily after her hard life. The family that she couldn't imagine not having. She placed her hand on her bump and smiled brighter, the family that was growing again to welcome another part of Peeta and her.
She had experienced so much loss over the years and though she wished for her sister to be back here in this time and place; she was happy with what she had even if she had frequent nightmares and moments of depressing thoughts. She had found her Soul mate and she couldn't ask for more.
-*.*-
Her eyes fluttered open, tears streamed down her face.
"It was just a dream." She whispered out loud.
She clutched at the wound on her stomach. Warm, hot blood oozed out and spread across her once white shirt. She gasped in pain when she applied pressure onto the wound to stop the bleeding.
It was futile, she realized shortly. She'd bleed out before anyone could help her, before Prim could get help. She smiled softly; at least she got a nice dream. More tears rolled down her face as she cried relentlessly in the cold, dark, and silent forest.
She should be happy that she saved Prim's life from that rabid wild dog. She was truly. It was just, her life was incomplete, so unfinished. Life had just returned to normal here after they ended the Games. She hadn't had time to tell Peeta how she felt! She hadn't realized how she felt until now really.
She wiped her face clean. She would not be remembered like this. She would leave Prim with the image of the protecting sister, not the hormonal teenager that she truly was. She pictures Rose in her mind and smiles sadly, that could've been real sooner or later.
She weeps for the children she will never have; for the boy that she'll never fully know and for the million touches and kisses she'll never receive or give. She cries for the body that she'll never know intimately. Most of all, she cries for all the times that she didn't tell Peeta that she loved him, her boy with the bread.
She cleans her face for the last time. She lies against the hard tree, a tree that she climbed almost every day. She waits for her sister, knowing that it's too late; her body is already cold and numb. She stares ahead and counts down the last minutes of her life.
"Katniss! Oh God! K-Katniss! I've got help!" her sister calls out. Katniss can detect the hint of worry and panic in her voice.
She smiles and waits. Her young sister appears, her blonde hair messed up with twigs and leaves. She has never looked more gorgeous. Her blue eyes are wide with fright, but Katniss believes that they never looked as blue before.
Prim rushes over to her and a small number of people follow, but Katniss' eyes are solely on Prim. "I-I got help! See? You're g-going to be o-okay!" Prim chokes out.
Katniss brushes Prim's cheek. "I love you so much."
Prim starts to cry and Katniss can feel the others inspecting her wound. Whispers start and everyone knows that there is no point in helping. The dog hit a major artery and it's already bled out too much. They don't have the medicine, blood supply, or equipment prepared let alone with them. Katniss knows that she is on borrowed time.
"H-help her!" Prim begs, clutching onto Katniss' jacket.
No one speaks. They don't want to tell her, neither does Katniss.
"I had a dream while you were away." Katniss whispers.
Prim turns to stare into her dying sister's eyes.
"W-what happened?" Prim asks biting her lip as tears came crashing down her face.
"I saw a girl that looked just like Peeta and you. She had my eyes though. I called her Rose, I can't remember anything else." Katniss replies, running her hands through Prim's soft hair. Hair that was soft like Peeta's.
"Y-you can be happy here too!" Prim responds.
"I am. I was." Katniss remarks.
Prim shakes her head. "D-don't lie to me."
Katniss smiles. "I was happy here with you Prim."
"No you weren't! Every day, you stare at the bakery's window with sad eyes! You don't laugh or smile anymore! You won't talk to me, Haymitch, or even Peeta anymore!" Prim bursts out.
Katniss leans back against the tree, feeling so tired. "I was so happy." She voices out softly.
Prim smacks Katniss. "Stay awake! You don't get to die here and now because of me!"
Katniss forces her eyes to focus on Prim. "It's never because of you Prim. It's just something that happened. I shouldn't have taken you out here."
Prim wipes her face. "But I kept begging you!"
Katniss tries to move her hand to cup Prim's face, but realizes that she can't. Instead, she smiles. "I was more than happy to take you. I knew the risks."
Prim continues to cry and everyone else watches Katniss and her have their last fleeting moments together.
"You'll stay with Rory and his family." Katniss tells her and Prim nods.
"I love you Prim, from the moment you were born and I haven't stopped and I never will. Everything I do is for you because you mean more to me than anyone else, more than the whole world." Katniss tells her as Prim cries louder.
"Will you tell Peeta? Will you tell him?" Katniss asks franticly, losing focus and feeling.
"Tell him what?" Prim asks, scared
"I l-love…" Katniss begins but never finishes. Her last words drift off into the wind.
Prim shakes her and screams. "He loves you too! Don't leave him just yet! He wants to marry you! Just hang on for him! For me! Please!"
Katniss smiles softly, but doesn't respond as her body slowly turns stiff and cold.
Her finally thoughts were of a five year old girl and a blonde-haired baker.
-*.*-
Prim walks home that night for the first time without her sister. She climbs the staircase and goes into Katniss' bedroom. She sits down at the old desk and pulls out a piece of paper. She begins to write.
Dear Peeta,
It's Prim. I know that you are on a "secret mission" at the moment in District Four. I also know that means that you're finally buying an engagement ring for her. (Prim stops to cry, but forces herself to keep writing). I know that you'll be back soon, but I have to tell you something. Something that I still can't believe. Katniss died earlier today in the woods. I-I can't tell you how guilty I feel when I tell you this, because I caused it.
I convinced her to let me accompany her this time and when a wild dog tried to attack me, she got in the way and received a deathly wound. I rushed back for help, but I was too late. She wanted me to tell you that s-she loves loved you. It was the last thing she said, so you were the last thing she thought of.
I want you to know that my sister loves loved you and she means meant it. She has loved you for so long, even before the Games. She tries tried to hide it, but I knew. She always asks asked about you even in the past few weeks. I know that she would've told you yes to your proposal. I just know it.
Forever Your Sister-in-law,
Primrose Everdeen.
Prim sees that the letter is filled with mistakes and tear stains. She still sends it. She goes over to Rory's house and his mom comforts her. She knows that Katniss will be in her dreams from now on. They'll be happy dreams, filled with laughter and happiness. They'll be the worst dreams that she'll ever have, because when she wakes up, the laughter will die and the happiness will wilt.
Prim knows that Katniss was happy, if only for a moment, so she forces herself to be happy too, because in some small way, Katniss' dreams came true.