'Peeta...'

I hear her voice calling to me, and I desperately try to find her. My prosthetic leg usually doesn't feel too different from my old real one, but right now, it feels like its been made completely from lead. It's catching on every root, every leaf it seems. I can't run anywhere near as fast as I need to. I feel like a clunking, lumping oaf, bashing my way through the jungle, and its with no small amount of irony that I understand why she was always so frustrated when she tried to hunt with me even in the area.

'Katniss!' I scream, my heart racing, fear and dread filling every part of me as I search, following what I think must be the path she and Johanna used to reach the beach. I must have broken off from their trail at some point, because when I hear her calling to me next, she's not only further away, her voice is coming from behind me.

'Peeta! I'm here!'

I turn back, whipping round as fast as I can, and have to yank my leg from between some thick vines on the jungle ground. I think we cut through these on our original route up to the lightning tree, but it could just be that I'm really that clumsy. I start chasing my path back, desperately hoping, that she's alright, trying to find me as I am her, but not hurt. I don't think I could cope if anything has happened to her. I should never have let them split us up. I should have gone with her as soon as she said, but no, I had to stick to the allies, see if the plan worked. Really, it doesn't make a difference does it? If we had left then or after. The glory of hindsight. I run as fast as I can, everything aches, but I can't stop. The fear that she might be hurt is too strong, and I push myself harder. It's damn good luck that we trained so hard before the Quell, because if we hadn't, I would have never even gotten half as far as I have. I beg and plead in my mind, that someone is with her, keeping her safe. It's the hope that she's alright, that keeps me going. If she is alright, I swear to myself that I will do whatever she wants, as soon as she asks. I'll never let her out of my sight again.

'Katniss!' I'm making good progress now, so I should be nearly back to the path, I just need to know where she is. I pant heavily, unable to get enough air to my desperate lungs because I just can't stop. Every second is crucial, I need to see her now.

'Peeta..!' I hear her, and she's close! I can see the lightning tree, and I suddenly realize where she is. I head straight for the huge tree, and as soon as I make my way into the clearing, I see her. She's bent over Beetee, checking his pulse and looking between him and somewhere just beyond the tree.

'Katniss!' I cry, a desperate kind of relief flooding me as I drink her in. Every time I ever see her, I feel overwhelmed by love. This girl, who even as a kid, was overflowing with determination and fiery passion. I adored her from the first time I laid eyes on her, and I was lost from the first time I heard her beautiful voice. There's a sense of relief reflected back on her face, as she turns and sees me exit the jungle. She's on her feet in seconds, and crossing the distance faster than I can with this stupid leg.

'Peeta!' She cries, and flings herself into my arms. I'm reminded of when she did this in our first games, and I hold her to me fiercely tight, just as I did then. 'I heard the cannon! I was so scared I lost you!' I close my eyes and press my nose into the crook of her neck, reveling in the feel of her against me, and of her confession.

'I know, I thought the same... It's ok, I'm ok, I'm here.' I say, mumbling into her hair as I stroke her back and pull her as close to me as I can. I open my eyes and hold her away from me, raking my eyes over her to make sure she really is fine. It's only then that I realize she's been hurt. 'What happened? The Careers..?'

'I wish!' She says, raising a hand to a nasty looking bump on her head. I gently move her hand and look the wound over myself, but I cant see that there will be anything more than a really bad headache and a probable concussion. 'Johanna knocked me over the head with the coil.' I start, sure I heard her wrong, but I know that I'm not mistaken from a look at her face. 'She cut up my arm too... but, when Brutus and Enobaria showed up, she told me to stay down, and she led them away... They thought she'd killed me...'

'Why would she..?' I start to ask, but I don't get to finish because she's clearly had enough of talking about Johanna and doesn't want to try and work out what goes on in the spunky district 7 victors head anymore.

'I don't know or care Peeta, I just... I was so scared that Finnick had done something to you...' She grabs me and crushes me in a tight hug against her, and its all I can do to hold on. I put aside thoughts of 'what if' and just relish in her closeness. For now, it's enough to know she's safe, and we can work out what is going on with the other tributes once we've worked out what we're going to do ourselves. I look over at Beetee.

'Is he alive?' I ask, nodding towards him as I reluctantly release my grip, allowing her to turn in my arms and see where I'm looking.

'Yes, but only just...' She frowns and takes my hand, leading me over to him where he lay sprawled on the ground. 'Peeta, look. What do you make of this..?' She asks, picking up a knife completely wound in Beetee's wire. I mimic her own frown, and follow the wire along the ground to a point just behind the tree. 'I think... Peeta, I don't think Beetee ever intended to electrocute the Careers on the beach... I think he was planning to blow up the forcefield around the arena...' I stare at her in shock, not entirely able to follow what she's telling me.

'But, how, why..? What would be the point? And why lie to us? Why make a separate plan, just for our sake?' I ask, but even as I ask these things, I can think of answers for them. The wire around the knife. Beetee had planned to use the lightning strike to overpower the forcefield, which would probably erase any control over the arena that the Gamemakers had back in the Capitol and, would most likely give them a chance to escape. Unseen too, because every camera inside the arena would be fried too. As for why they were lied to, why they weren't told the real plan, there could really only be two explanations. Because he didn't believe everyone would help him otherwise, or because he wanted us separated. We now have a greater conspiracy. Beetee wants us separated, and only tells us part of his true plan. Johanna knocks out Katniss, and Finnick... well, he's around somewhere I guess.

'Peeta... I think I can do it.' I look at her and she can tell I'm not on the same page as her, she unwinds the wire from the knife, and takes out an arrow. She twists the wire until its tightly wound around the arrowhead, and nothing is going to make it move again, I can tell. She un-slings her bow and loads the arrow, before looking to me, as if asking if I agree. I look up, and I know we have probably less than a minute to decide. If we do this, its an open act of defiance, everything we've tried to avoid. But is there another option now? We've been used, played and lied to, and we don't ave many chances of getting out of here now. I won't let anything hurt her. I can't. I look her in the eye, and nod, and instantly her lips find mine. It's like the kiss on the beach, and I can tell, there's something real about this one too. My heart is thrumming in my chest like a beast trying to escape, because this is just what she does to me. I wonder briefly if she will ever know the full effect she has on me. When we part, its like the world is both brighter and darker at the same time. I could live off the high of Katniss Everdeen's kiss, but the come-down after she stops is killer.

'Maybe we should move away from the tree as far as we can, as soon as you've fired I want us both to bolt. I really don't want you to be around this tree when that lightning hits.' I say, taking her wrist and walking her to the edge of the trees. I stare at her for a moment, drinking her in, and I smile as I hold out my hand. 'Together..?' I ask, and I love that she smiles so widely. She steps in front of me, and aims at a spot I can't make out over beyond the tree. I don't ask why, because she usually knows what she's doing. I step up behind her, and wrap my arms around her waist. She fires, and we aren't given the chance to run, because without warning, that's when the lightning strikes.

'Peeta...' I can hear her, calling to me. I try to open my eyes, but I cant tell if I've managed or not, because I still cant see anything. I slowly manage to roll over onto my side, and I can just faintly make out some blurred colours. Guess my eyes are open after all.

'Peeta...' I raise my head and try to shake the dizziness away, hoping to clear my vision enough to find her. I blink several times, as the blurred colours begin to look more like shapes.

'Katniss..?' I call, before retching. I guess being electrocuted twice in such a short span of time is disagreeing with me. 'Katniss..?!' I call again, stronger this time.

'Peeta... I'm here...' She isn't shouting, so I guess she's ok, but just winded like I am. I can see her vague outline on the ground, a handful of paces away. I begin to crawl my way over to her, but its still slow going. My prosthetic leg, for all that its normally just like my old real one, is completely unresponsive now. Must be damaged from the blast.

'Katniss, I'm here, its ok.' I say as I make my way to her. She isn't moving, but its probably just that her body is still in shock from the lightning strike. It would have hit her harder, as she was in front of me. I suddenly wish I had made her stand behind me and fired the arrow myself, but I would never have been able to make the shot like she could. I crawl up beside her and grasp one of her hands. She turns her head, and I see through the blurred shapes around her that her face is very pale. She smiles, and I think about how amazing this girl is for what is probably the hundredth time in any given day. 'Hey, its ok. I got you.'

'Peeta...' She says, still smiling at me. The whole world is a brighter place when she smiles like that. I brush the hair from her face, and then glance around quickly, but there's no one nearby, so I don't try to hurry her to her feet. 'I know now.' I look back at her and smile as I stroke her hair some more.

'What do you know?'

'All this time, I was so confused. I just, I didn't understand.' She's looking at me like I'm the only person she's ever seen in her life. Although my heart is pounding like mad from the way she's looking at me, my brain is screaming at me that something is very very wrong.

'What do you mean?' I can feel the frown forming on my brow as I try to figure out what she means.

'I never realized. I was such an idiot.' Tears are forming in her eyes, and my hearts pounding redoubles, because I can sense that something very bad is about to happen. 'I should have just let myself feel it sooner, should have never doubted it.'

'Katniss, I think we need to move...' I say, because this conversation is giving me serious chills, and also because we really need to try and get out of here.

'Peeta...' Her smile is radiant, euphoric even, and she's staring into my eyes like they're the deepest mine back in district twelve. 'I love you.' My heart all but stops, and I choke, because right after she says that, her eyes grow dark and blank, and her chest stops rising.

'Katniss! Katniss!' I scream, releasing her hand and feeling her neck. There's no pulse to be found. 'Katniss! Katniss, no!' I try to move, pull myself up and tilt her head back, preparing to give her mouth to mouth, just as Finnick apparently did for me after I was electrocuted before. My lips press to hers, and I send a large gulp of air into her lungs. I'm just about to begin compression's on her chest, when I feel something brush around my shoulders, and I suddenly freeze. I can see something clicking together underneath her, but I can't control any part of myself. I'm forced to stare directly into her unseeing eyes, as we rise into the air. I can only scream endlessly in my head, as silent tears pour down my face. When I'm finally released from the force of the hovercraft's claw, I fall forward onto her un-breathing body, and deep into a black oblivion, where my screams are my only company.

A/N:~ Having just read all the Hunger Games books, I was moved to try a fic. I love all the characters really (except Gale) and I just wanted to see how it would turn out, but you'll all have to let me know as I'm not really sure whether this take is any good!

I hope you can see some potential in this, and that you'll review so I know if you liked it, and would like some more or not.

My love and thanks for your time xx