Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. That brilliance belongs to Suzanne Collins. I'm just borrowing her characters for a while.
The grass around her has been freshly mowed. The landscape is cut even and crisp. A small breeze rushes past her, blowing her hair away from her face. The sun peeks out from the clouds, casting shadows here and there. It's a good day today.
Katniss sits on the grass, plucking a few blades and letting the wind take them. This makes her smile.
"What are you smiling at?" he asks teasingly.
Her smile widens at his voice. She didn't hear him arrive. She never hears him arrive. "I was just thinking how it's a good day today. Even better now that you're here," she says, looking up at him.
Peeta stands in front of her. His blonde hair glistens in the sunlight and his eyes sparkle as he returns the smile. She doesn't move to get up, so he joins her on the grass and perches himself against the stone across from her. He stares at her for a minute and she fidgets under his gaze. This brings another smile to his face. "Why are you so nervous?"
Katniss scoffs at his words. "I'm not nervous. I just don't like being stared at," she reasons. "Makes me uncomfortable."
"You're beautiful," he says softly. His eyes drop down to the grass sadly. "I should have told you more."
"Stop! None of that today, ok?" she asks, scooting a bit closer to him. "It's a good day, remember?"
He brings his gaze up to hers and nods in confirmation. They sit in silence for a while. Katniss watches Peeta as he takes in the scenery around him. "There's a lot more trees than last time we met. Tried climbing any more of them?" he asks with a laugh.
Her laughter fills the air around them, remembering what he's referring to. As kids they used to come here late at night and climb the trees for fun. Or at least what Katniss thought was fun. Until the day she coerced him into climbing the biggest one and he fell, breaking his ankle.
"That was a long time ago, Peeta. Why do you hold it over my head like that?"
She's still laughing when he reaches his hand out to grasp hers, but stops short and pulls back. She tries to hide the frown that crosses her face, but fails. "We miss you," she says quietly, crawling towards him and settling herself in front of him on her knees.
"Oh, Katniss," Peeta whispers.
Katniss's head falls down as tears roll down her face. He brings his hands up to cup her face and stops short before letting them hover just in front. Katniss sees this and can't help the sob that escapes her. She brings her hands to cover her face as she sobs uncontrollably into her hands.
"I'm sorry. So so-rry! I know we're not supposed to do this when we meet, but I can't help it," she cries. "I miss you so much Peeta. You're missing so much. It's just not the same without you."
Peeta's face is somber as he takes in her words. "Katniss. You know I miss you, too. More than life itself," he says, but gets a scowl mixed with tears in return. "You know that if I could be with you I would. Life doesn't work that way. You know that. I would do anything to be with you, but it's just not possible."
Her cries grow louder at his words. His hand reaches up to stroke her hair. They stay in that position for a while, Peeta letting Katniss get her tears out. Finally, she looks up and their eyes meet. His face is pained as he takes in her puffy eyes and red cheeks from crying. "I love you, Katniss."
"I love you, Peeta. So much."
"Mama?"
Katniss turns and finds herself looking into the blue eyes of her daughter. Quickly wiping the tears still running down her face, she stands to move next to her. "Baby, what are you doing here?"
Her daughter holds her gaze intensely. "I woke up and you were gone. Why didn't you tell me you were coming? You know I would've come with you. I know what day it is."
Katniss looks down in shame. "I'm sorry baby. I just needed some time by myself."
Her daughter frowns. "Mama… I'll always be here for you."
Katniss smiles at her daughter sadly and pulls her forward. "Where's your brother? "
"Still sleeping. Lazy ass!" Katniss gives her a stern look. "Sorry. I'm sure he'll come later."
"Come on. Come say hi to your Father."
She steps aside so her daughter can walk forward. Slowly she bends down and places flowers on the patch of grass in front of the stone Peeta had just been in front of. She watches as her daughter traces the name and words on the stone.
Peeta Mellark
Loving Husband and Father
"Hi Daddy. Happy Birthday!" she says with a slight quiver in her voice. "Um, I brought you some flowers. Mama always said you liked primroses…. I made the honor roll.. again….I think I might want to go out of state for college but I don't want to leave Mom…."
Katniss steps back to give her daughter some privacy. Peeta's death came as a shock to everyone, and when he died, the kids were only 8 and 5. The boy was a little too young to remember much, but the girl remembered everything about him. She had his eyes, and it was so hard to look at her some days. But having them made her life just a little easier to get by.
She watched as her daughter leaned forward and placed a kiss on her father's tombstone. Lifting herself up and wiping her knees, she turns and walks to where her Mother is standing.
"Ready to go?" she asks quietly.
Katniss looks back towards the grave, where she sees Peeta leaning against his tombstone. "I just need a few more minutes."
Her daughter gives her a small smile and nods before walking toward the car.
She walks back slowly toward him. His smile is as bright as the sun. "She's beautiful Katniss. She's gotten so big. She's smart as hell, too. Just like her mother."
His words almost cause a fresh wave of tears to fall, but she holds them back. "She is, but I'm pretty sure it's all because of her father."
His smile widens. "You never could take a compliment," he says, shaking his head. "Where's the boy?"
"Oh you know. Being a boy. A teenage boy," she says with a grimace. "Oh, Peeta. He looks more and more like you every day. He has my temper, though. God does he have my temper."
Peeta throws his head back with laughter, then his face grows serious. "Katniss. They're wonderful. You are wonderful. You're doing such a good job with them. Please don't mourn me. I want you to be happy."
"I am happy Peeta. Having them was the best decision we ever made together." She pauses as she hears her daughter call to her. "I have to go now. Duty calls."
Peeta laughs. "Take care of my babies. I love you."
Katniss swallows hard. "I love you, too," she says as she turns to walk away, but stops and turns back. "Will you be here next time?"
Peeta smiles and whispers, "Always."
A/N: Written for Prompts in Panem Day 3 ~ Modern Locations prompt. Thank you to yourpeetaisshowing once again for being such a wonderful beta. And to aquarpisc for always helping me out :)