A/N: Please give my story a chance and read through to the last chapter. There may be things you don't like, there may be things you love but you won't know until you give it a chance. I know it doesn't start off happily ever after but there is a reason for it. If you do read it I ask that you review it, even if you hate it. Constructive criticism is what helps writers improve their work and I would greatly appreciate anyone that is willing to take the time and write a review.

Chapter 1

Pain

Katniss drops the phone no longer able to hold it. Her hands are shaking and she just keeps turning her head back and forth not wanting to believe it. She can hear the voice on the phone, louder now, hollering her name but she ignores it. The pain in her chest threatens to consume her. Dark hair and gray eyes flash through her memory and she breaks, wailing like a wounded animal. Peeta runs in ever her protector but there is no protecting her from this. He is trying to tell her something but it's as if she has gone deaf. She watches him as he picks up the phone, as his face transforms to one of sadness and understanding. That's when she runs. Stumbling through the back door, she races through the streets not stopping once to even catch her breath. She fumbles a few times but keeps going even as the people turn to catch her attention. She passes over the spot where the fence used to be, runs through the meadow without a second thought, and continues into the woods.

The trees cast shadows on her face as she searches, she hasn't set foot in these woods since long ago, and time has done a toll on the vegetation but it doesn't stop her. With an invisible thread pulling her she weaves her way around bushes and brush until she see's it. Their meeting place. She collapses on the rock, fatigue finally getting to her, and hugs it tight as if it was the person she really wanted to hold.

Gale. The name brings up so many feelings, love, loss, regret. Regret being the forerunner in the tumult of emotions warring inside her. Sobs rack her body and she hugs the rock tighter. Why didn't she apologize when she had the chance, why didn't she go to him, tell him how she felt. Now it was too late. He would never know that she had forgiven him, that really there was no reason for forgiveness. He wasn't the one who killed Prim. She knew that even then yet he was there to blame. She recalls the last time she ever seen him in person, it was the day he had given her the bow and arrow to shoot Snow. She remembers the look of anguish in his eyes, could feel his touch on her cheek even now, yet she can change nothing as she watches him walk away from her life forever.

She stayed there like that until the sun started to descend from the sky, probably would have stayed longer if she hadn't heard Peeta stomping through the woods. He didn't say anything at first once he found her, only taking his place beside her and rubbing her back in comforting circles.

"The kids," Katniss says her voice hoarse from crying.

"Fine, just waiting at the house," Peeta replies staring out into the woods. He really hasn't changed much. His hair is still blonde with touches of gray at his temples and he has a few wrinkles but over all he still looks like the young man she fell in love with, especially when he smiles. Right now he doesn't smile and lines of worry mar his face. Worry for her or what she will do, she wasn't sure.

They lapse back into silence for a few minutes, just listening to the sounds of the animals as they settle for the night. Katniss was laying her head on Peeta's shoulder drawing on his quiet strength.

"The funeral is in a couple days," Peeta finally says.

"I don't know if I can go," Katniss replies. What she truly wanted to do is bring him back here and bury him in the woods so that he would be close always.

"It was requested you be there, he would want you there," Peeta says.

Katniss gave a sad smile, "No, he wouldn't but for them, I'll be there."