The wind rustles the leaves lightly around us, stripping them gently from the trees as autumn finally begins to take over. It is my favorite part of the year; the woods are more than abundant and I am one with nature, taking my share to get us through the winter.
We've already gotten what we need for this week, now we just sit and watch the sunset from a small bluff hanging out over the valley. Lady was especially productive this last week, and we are enjoying the spoils spread out over bakery-fresh rolls.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a mockingjay lands on the mossy rock a few feet from us, his funny little head cocked sideways questioningly.
"Sing to him, Catnip," Gale coaxes me, twisting a few fingers through my hair playfully. I brush him off, but continue to watch the bird.
"Deep in the meadow," begins Gale. His deep, warbling voice is not that of a singer, but it charms me nonetheless.
"Don't, you'll scare him off if you do that," I tease. Resigned, I pick up where he left off. As I sing, the bird listens intently, determined to memorize every note. I become lost in my thoughts, my mouth forming the words automatically while I watch the sun sink slowly beneath the trees.
My singing is cut off suddenly by Gale's lips pressing softly, oh so softly, to mine. There is no urgency, no beginning, and no end. It is natural, almost lazy, to be here with him. I break off first, a smile I know I am mirroring spreading slowly over his features. His eyes remain closed a second more before opening, revealing their familiar misty gray.
"You didn't let me finish," I say, a little breathlessly. The mockingjay has flown away, apparently uninterested in our little world.
"You didn't either," he responds, pressing his lips into me again. A brief feeling of contentment envelopes me and leaves a residual calm that I soak in. Snow is dead. Panem is free. The Hunger Games have ended. Without the pressure of appearances, Peeta and I have fallen into friendship, but nothing more. Sitting here with Gale, the last days of our adolescence falling slowly away to reveal a love that has been there all along but that only time could truly uncover, I can't help but feel this is how it was meant to be.