Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

It's not Right but it's Okay

Three-Shot

Part I: Stupid Idiot

Katniss's POV

"Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-forth Hunger Games," comes Claudius Templesmith's voice, booming into the arena. "The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."

"They never meant for us both to win," I say to myself as the truth – what I have already known all along – sinks in. "It always had to be just one," I raise my voice so Peeta can clearly hear me.

"If you think about it, it's not that surprising," he agrees as he looks at me with longing and sadness. "It always had to be you, Katniss. It's always been you, from the very start. Why do you think you're the first one everyone else went after?"

"Because I scored an eleven, it was the highest score. They always go after the-"

"You're wrong, Katniss," he cuts me off. "I mean, yeah you did set the record this year, but that's not why they went after you. They went after you because they could see how strong you were; you intimidated them."

"Okay, who cares why they went after me," I breathe. "That doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that neither of us is going to go home until we figure this out. We need to think. We need to-"

"Figure this out?" he cuts me off again. "Figure out what, exactly?"

"How to get out of this," I say stupidly.

"How to get out of this?" now he is smiling, laughing, almost. "How to get out of this is for one of us to die. And standing around talking about a solution to an impossible plan is just prolonging the inevitable. Besides," he lowers his voice as he leans into me. "We both know the longer we do the more bored the audience is going to get, and the more bored they get the more enthusiastic Claudius is going to get about sending us another terror," he finishes as he pulls his head away from mine and lets out a sigh, smiling.

"You're impossible," I tell him, and he lets out a laugh.

"I was just thinking the same thing about you," he tells me.

"But this doesn't have to be," I tell him as I feel the Nightlock berries resting, waiting, in the pouch strapped to my belt. He looks at me curiously as I loosen the pouch and hold it out in my hands, emptying the berries into Peeta's hand. "No!" I stop him as he begins bringing the sinister things to his mouth.

"Katniss, you just-"

"No," I tell him as I pull his hand into my own and scoop some up. "It doesn't have to be impossible to figure out who has to die… Not if we're both already dead," I explain as I begin lifting the hand containing the berries to my mouth, but Peeta reaches out to stop me.

"On the count of three," he tells me. "Together."

"Together," I agree.

"But first," he says as he leans into me and kisses me softly. "I just wanted to do that one last time," his words, though however simple and pure, leave me with a feeling of a double-meaning, and I can't control the suspicious chill that rushes up my back. He smiles at me while saying, "One."

I close my eyes and turn my head, opening my eyes to look over at the Cornucopia one last time before never seeing it - or anything else – again. "Tw-" the sound of my voice is drowned out by the harsh and familiar sound of the canon blast. "No!" I scream as I drop the berries from my hand and look back over to Peeta, but instead of seeing him standing there smiling at me, his lifeless and pale body lies at my feet. "No!" I scream again as I drop to my knees and crawl over to him, placing my hands upon his shoulders and looking into his still eyes.

Tears are clouding my eyes and blurring my vision as the voice of Claudius Templesmith fills my ears. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the Seventy-forth Hunger Games," he calls out cheerfully as I lean my forehead onto Peeta's, and lean my lips into his one last time.

"You stupid idiot," I tell his lifeless body as I drape my hands over his eyelids to close them.

Sitting up I look up at the sky. "Katniss Everdeen of District Twelve!"

Peeta swore from the moment of arriving into the arena to protect me, and protect me he did, I think as I look over at his body one last time. But it shouldn't have meant his death… It shouldn't have meant any of their deaths. It's not right that any of us had to die, but as far as the Capitol is concerned, it's okay.

TBC