A/N: So hey there guys! :D Thanks for reading, sorry for the shortness of this thing -.- I need your help! Please help me decide whether this story should be a one-shot or whether I should carry it on with moments like this from all the books, both ones that I've made and ones that actually appear in the books. And you can only do that by reviewing! Pleeeaase? It's my first fanfiction so I'm all nervous! XD xx
Slowly, the sunset melted into the stained sky, gently healing into the inky black of night. This was it: for all she knew she could never be coming back. As she gazed beyond the very much Capitol-influenced train station and out into the scruffy meadow, an immense tide of memories surged through her body so tears pricked the back of her eyes like needles, and a lump gathered in her throat. She swallowed quietly and coughed a little, making sure her over-enthusiastic escorts didn't hear. They had given her a snippet of quiet time before the journey, and she didn't want that to be cut short by them snapping back to reality when they heard her muffled sobs, reminding them that she was very much still there. Because they probably had much better things to worry about than her. Of course, why would she distract them from what was in their opinion a light lunch when the starving in her District would call it a banquet? Priorities, obviously.
She was leaving all whom she cared about. In her short life she had lost too much and gained too little; surely she didn't deserve more pain? Though this time she would only be losing herself to The Capitol. She could ask Peeta, the other tribute from her District, what that meant.
As she contemplated this, he emerged from the dim light of their cabin, blonde hair silvery in the silky, pure moonlight. He was clutching something close to his chest, so she edged closer curiously. "I brought you something," he whispered, holding out his hands. She clasped her finger s around it. They were dandelions. "Th-Th-Thank you…" she stuttered, puzzled by his kindness towards her. He blushed.
"Good Luck," he ventured, "I have no chance." She shivered as a breeze settled and hung in the air.
"Neither do I," Katniss was never really good at saying what she felt. It was as if her emotions were perfectly balanced in her mind, but when she tried to speak them they never came across how she wanted them to.
"You can hunt. My father, he bought your squirrels. Never said where he got them from, but we all knew."
"That's animals. And never have I seen a bow and arrow in the arena."
"Katniss," he breathed, "People are no different."
An eerie silence fell about the air. That was two people that had told her that now, and she was starting to believe that it was true. Peeta was the first to break it. "I think they want you back inside now. The train sets off soon."
"But… But…" Tears streamed down her face as she struggled for words. Again.
"I know," Peeta grimaced as he strode towards her, holding out a comforting arm that she didn't refuse, "I feel the same way… All you have to do is win The Games, Katniss. And you're more than capable of doing that." Katniss didn't have the strength to answer. A whole new wave of sobs racked her body and Peeta released her from his grasp, limping away to the carriage. "Just come in when you're ready."
It took her a few minutes to even face the thought of returning to the train, but before she did, she crept away down a passage bordering the train track and into the shadows that were created by the monumental impediment: the train. Delving deep into her pockets, she retrieved the bunch of dandelions given to her by Peeta, and began to shred them. The fine petals flew into the wind and their grey shapes melted into the darkness around, no longer a cheerful yellow colour. All the while, she chanted, her voice deep and monotonous.
"He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not…"
She carried on until the gathering of flowers were stripped bare, their dismembered corpses littering the floor; a massacre. And as she reached to pluck the final petal from the almost naked flower head, her lips barely formed those meaningful three words…
"He loves me…" she choked.
A/N Yeah I forgot an author's note the first time I uploaded this -.- So review? Pwease? For Peeta ;3