A girl and a boy stand in a beautiful clearing near a sparkling lake. But looks can be deceiving.
The two observe each other, calculating their next moves. The boy slowly slides his knife from its sheath and tosses it at the girl's feet. He gives her grim smile, sealing his fate. The girl lowers her poised bow, its silvered arrow glinting in the sunlight. She stares at him in shock. But he is determined.
The boy steps forward carefully, lifting her bow back into the position; poising the arrow so it points directly at its target; his heart.
The girl's face becomes pained and forlorn, and she drops the deadly weapon with a sharp clatter that resounds in the air around them.
He's getting frustrated now. Why does she prolong it? He knows why, he just won't accept it. He steps closer to the girl until their lips are inches apart. Grey meets blue.
Then the girl closes the distance hurriedly, as if she can't stand it another minute. The kiss tastes like desperation, dust, hopelessness, love; something pure and delicate finally coming to an end. Within their kiss are all the words that can never be said. I love you; Why does it have to be this way; I can't live without you; and Goodbye.
He breaks the kiss first, stroking his lover's face gently, and holding her in the safe haven of his arms. His pure blue eyes scream words to her, but he says nothing. Why spoil the moment with something as petty as comfort? In this kind of world, comfort is fruitless. He steps back, handing her the bow again.
Do it now, Katniss, his eyes tell her. And she does.
With a determined look in her eyes, she pulls back the string, releasing the sliver arrow with a sharp Twang! It seems to happen in slow motion. As the arrow slices through the still air; lodging within his heart, her strangled cry rings throughout the air. His mouth opens in a surprised 'O', and the he falls over; blood foaming from his mouth.
The boy's body lands with a dull thud, and he lies in the black dirt, struggling to hold onto the last threads of life. His lover rushes to his side, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Kiss me", the boy murmurs. He is moments from death. She nods mutely and leans down to kiss him one last time. Their lips meet, this time tasting of reassurance and the sharp copper-like taste of blood. After a few minutes, the girl pulls back, tears flooding from her eyes.
"I die today a happy man", he breathes, before his cold hand goes limp in her tight grasp.
A silence coats everything in its thick veil; disturbing her in an unspeakable way.
In desperation to fill this endless silence, she begins to whisper into his ear as his crystal-blue eyes stare up into the beautiful, cloudless sky. How cruel the world is to be so beautiful and innocent when he's no longer in it.
"I love you; I'm so sorry." She whispers again and again until she is shouting it.
Driven insane by the murder of her lover, the girl clutches her scalp, leaving crescent-shaped cuts. And so the people of Panem watched as their Mockingjay became truly unhinged.
She thrashes, and her screams pierce the thin layer of air surrounding them. They sound animalistic and disturbed, even to the people of the Capitol who watch as she unravels before their very eyes.
The girl screams for hours, her voice growing hoarse, until she begins to laugh maniacally. A wild gleam overtakes her eyes, and unearthly voices whisper in her ear; mutterings of the dead, insane, the inexistent. They all tell her one thing: "You're a murderer".
Finally, she can't take it anymore. Clutching the arrow that ended her lover's life, the Mockingjay stabs herself through her broken heart; her destiny to lie broken and insane with her one and only, Peeta Mellmark.
Their blood mix and fuse together, making them one, and as her last words hang on her lips, Katniss Everdeen can't help but think about the verses of The Hanging Tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
The girl closed her eyes and took her last breath before her shattered heart stopped beating. The girl and the boy lay side by side, lifeless and bloody, but content. They were, in fact, together at last.