Katniss lay struggling to breathe on the cool forest floor with Peeta's words still ringing in her ears, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she begged the dark leaves for forgiveness, knowing that they would never grant her wish. Why had she been so narrow-minded, so self absorbed to not realise she was losing the one thing she still had left to live for.
As Katniss lay in the silence that covered her, she never wanted to leave this paradise, but it brought back so many memories of times of happiness but also times of loss. Her father, her sister, her mother, Gale and now Peeta gone because of her ignorance. Katniss sat up on the damp ground with her head between her knees, she felt alone, truly alone, she knew there was no second chance, no lost friend she could turn too. She began to cry, fear filled her and it mixed with the regret consuming her body, she was so scared, she was just a little girl lost, confused and alone. As she sat in the middle of the forest with tears streaming down her face, she became a child again. She let her guard down, her tough exterior that had been hastily put up on the day her father had died and had been strengthened over the years with ever person she lost and every memory she remembered.
All she wanted now was Peeta, his face, his voice, his touch, making her feel special, wanted, happy, safe. With the going of Peeta, Katniss knew that she wouldn't, couldn't ever feel that way again, time can never heal all scars. The pain she felt now would never go away, but what amplified it was that Katniss knew that she had brought this on herself. All she longed for was his eyes, his lips, his voice so calming making her feel safe and loved, something she had longed for ever since her father had died. But now there was no one to go too, nowhere to run to anymore, everyone was gone, nowhere was non-existent. Katniss didn't no where to go, all she saw was his eyes and all she heard was his voice saying the last thing she ever truly listened too. How she longed for those eyes so blue that they could cut through the darkness, his eyes could save her now, carry her home in the bliss they brought her.
Katniss started to speak softly whispering the same words over and over again, a prayer for the lost and lonely to give them strength in the dark of night. She sat there reciting it over and over again, the words never losing their meaning, but becoming the only words she knew for certain were real. As Katniss chanted, she thought of what Peeta had said, how ever long ago it had been ago, being in the woods made you forget there was a real world that you weren't just alone with the thoughts in your head. They were the last thing he had said to her before he had left, the words so simple yet so complex it had taken her till now to work out what they truly meant, she had used them so many times not realising the true power they contained but now that she had nothing left, and no one ever to say those words to again she understood them. The realisation brought tears to her already wet eyes,and brought a fresh wave of sadness crashing through her body.
The three words, so small but so meaningful Peeta had said to her as left her for the last time were the only words that mattered now, how she longed to see those eyes look into her soul, and how she wished to hear his calming and safe voice reassuring her, saying the three words she needed to hear, "I love you".
