Felt I needed to write this. A one shot. Based on the song 'Both of Us' By B.O.B and Taylor Swift. I cried writing this. Sorry is this is totally depressing… 3
Katniss blinks, willing herself not to cry. She can't believe it.
The boy with the bread is gone.
She brings a wrinkled hand up to her face and wipes her eyes.
"Mommy?" Tana asks, peering around the door, her dark hair in a thick braid just like her mother. Katniss bites her lip. She hasn't been called Mommy for years. "We need to go."
"I'll be down in a minute." Katniss promises her daughter, who is now so grown up. She even has two children now. Katniss is a grandmother.
Tana leaves the room and Katniss is left alone in the bedroom, sitting at the vanity. She inhales, exhales, and looks at herself in the mirror. Behind her wrinkles, behind her scars, the innocent Seam girl is staring back. The same grey eyes, wizened with age, the signature braid that has defined her is now grey. She looks down at her hand. Her wedding ring. A simple gold band with the pearl from the Quarter Quell beach embedded in the centre. Always. Engraved on the inside.
Katniss twists the ring. She stands and smoothes over the duvet on the bed. The bed that consolidated their marriage. The place where Tana and Hugo were conceived. The place that provided each other with a place to remember, comfort and rest.
Peeta hated wrinkled sheets.
Katniss looks up and sees his shoes lined up by the wall. She smiles to herself. The window remains open, the birds tweeting merrily. A notepad sits on Peeta's bedside table. Katniss walks over and flicks through it.
So many drawings. Peeta's always drawn. Katniss couldn't remember the last time she saw Peeta without a notepad.
Sunsets, people, objects, animals, Tana, Hugo, Katniss. Snippets of his life, captured perfectly on paper.
The last picture is a picture of Katniss, in the days when the Hunger Games was just a horrible thought hanging over your head. When things were so much simpler.
Her eyebrows knit together. She runs her fingertips along the edge of the paper and peels it away. A hidden drawing, on the final page, sealed with saltwater.
Katniss pulls the leaves apart, smoothing the pages flat. A dandelion is sketched in the middle of the page. Although it's in grey pencil, Katniss can clearly imagine the green of the leaves and stem, the bright yellow of the flower that meant rebirth.
Hope.
Strength.
And then written in Peeta's neat cursive, is a short message.
Katniss, my girl on fire.
I love you.
You are my friend, soul mate and lover.
Always,
Peeta.
Katniss' bottom lip trembles.
Peeta was always good with words. A single tear drips down her cheek and lands on the paper. She wipes it away.
Closing the book and holding it to her chest, Katniss feels her heart swell. He died yesterday, during his sleep. He felt no pain. No anguish. He went, by Katniss' side, with a smile on lips.
Katniss will never, ever forget their last conversation.
"I love you." Peeta says, his chest rumbling under Katniss' ear. She looks up at him and smiles.
"I love you too."
"Always?"
"Always." She reaches up and presses her lips to his. He breaks away and pulls her tight to him. She inhales his scent. A tear falls down her cheek.
"Why are you crying?"
"I wish was strong enough to lift both of us." Katniss whispered.
"You are," Peeta insisted. "You cared for Prim and your mother when you were barely old enough to take care of yourself. You volunteered for The Hunger Games. You convinced an entire nation, and a naïve townie, that you were desperately in love. You survive two games and then led a rebellion. You gave me two beautiful children. You made me complete." Peeta wipes away a tear from his wife's cheek.
"You are the strongest person I know."
"Not as strong as you," Katniss says. "You did all that and gave yourself up before the games had even started to save a girl from the Seam. You put yourself on the line each time. You survived the Capitol. You gave me two beautiful children and a lifetime full of memories." Katniss takes Peeta's hand and squeezes it.
"No-one is a strong as you." Peeta stays silent.
"We lift each other up. We are forever and always." Peeta concludes with a smile.
"Never leave me alone." Katniss mumbles, the tendrils of sleep beginning to pull her under.
"I'll be by your side," Peeta promises, his voice filled with so much emotion that Katniss fights the urge to burst into racking sobs. She places her hand over his heart, absentmindedly tracing a pale scar on his skin with her finger.
"Always."
Always. That one simple word that has caused her so much grief, so much pain, so much joy. Katniss stands and adjusts Peeta's locket around her neck. She straightens her jacket. She takes a deep breath and head downstairs.
Passing through the house, Katniss remembers things. The place where they kissed for the first time without cameras. The place were Katniss whispered to Peeta that she was pregnant. The place were Tana took her first steps. The place where Hugo drew on the wall with a red crayon. The notches in the wall were they measured their heights over the years.
All so precious. All so unforgettable.
Katniss walks out of the front door and takes Tana's hand. Hugo takes her arm.
Together they walk to the meadow.
There is a small gathering, about twenty people. Annie and Finn are there; Johanna sits at the side, her eyes wide. Greasy Sae's granddaughter swings her legs. And then, at the side of the meadow where the grass and flowers turn into the leafy forest ground, is a rectangle dug into the ground. Tana and Hugo leave to sit on the front row.
"Hey Annie, Finn." Katniss says.
"Katniss!" Annie says, her green eyes wide as she embracing Katniss. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe he's actually gone."
"I know, but he's lived a good life." Katniss smiles.
"I wish I'd known him for longer," Finn says, an exact copy of his father, right down to the dimple on his cheek. Peeta was like a father to Finn. Finnick Odair was nothing but someone he wished he had met to Finn.
"He loved you," Katniss says, her words muffled in Finn's golden hair. She pulls away and smiles. "I think I'll go and see Johanna now."
"Sure." Annie says, smiling ruefully at Katniss' retreating figure. Katniss moves away and sits next to Johanna, who looks absolutely petrified. She can't believe she's sitting here.
"I always thought I'd be the first to go." Johanna confesses.
"You've always been stubborn," Katniss laughs, trying to feel happiness at a time like this. "Don't cry, he wouldn't have wanted you to be too upset." A single tear runs down her cheek. Katniss fishes a tissue from the pocket of the pants and reached out to dab at her friend's cheek. Johanna's hand whips out and grab's Katniss' wrist.
"I don't care that you're in this situation- I'll rip your throat out." She says, a ghost of smile on her lips. Katniss laughs, but her tears are flowing freely now, along with Johanna's. "He promised me, in the Capitol, that he wouldn't die." Johanna mumbles before bursting into loud sobs and collapsing against Katniss.
"He promised he'd never leave me too." Katniss breathes.
"He isn't allowed to go." Johanna cries.
"No, no, please don't cry!" Katniss says, hugging the District 7 victor to her chest. "You'll make everyone cry!" Johanna pulls away and sets her jaw.
"I'm pretty good at doing that." She laughs, taking Katniss' tissue and wiping at her cheeks.
The funeral continues, and Hugo, who's always been strong, surprises Katniss when he begins to sob, leaning into his mother for support. Tana sits, her back straight and smiles, a dandelion tucked behind her ear. Katniss gets up to say a few words, and looks around at the faces if Peeta's friends, Katniss' friends, everyone.
"Peeta Mellark was an amazing person. He has always been strong, and kind, and loving. I know that he would appreciate everyone who has turned up today, for all the kind words.
Katniss presses her lips together and looks up at the sky.
"He's the one who's good with words, not me.
This earns a few teary laughs.
"So, I would just like to say that I wish I had realised that I loved him from the very start. Haymitch, if he were still with us, would have laughed at this. But it's true. I wish a lot of things." The group is silent, and Katniss wonders if she's stunned everyone into silence. But then, from the back of the group, someone stands and starts clapping.
Gale.
The entire group looks around at the sound, assuming that he's being sarcastic.
But the look on the Seam boy's face shows nothing but regret. Katniss steps down from the podium and runs to Gale, throwing herself into his arms.
"I came here as soon as heard." Gale says, hugging Katniss to him. "I'm sorry for being late."
"I don't want anyone to apologise anymore. I'm just glad you're here." Katniss says. Gale nods, his eyes filled with something.
Longing, perhaps, but mostly sadness.
Handfuls of dirt rain down on the simple brown coffin. Murmurs of 'rest in peace' are heard and when it's Hugo's turn, he does so with no more tears.
"Later, buddy." Johanna says simply.
Annie and Finn remain silent, but the look on their faces shows that they need no words.
"I'll miss you, old man." He says, before standing back.
"I'll miss you too, Daddy." Tana says, her hands balled into fists as she helps cover her father's grave.
"Goodbye Peeta," Katniss whispers as she adds to the pile of dirt. "I'll always love you."
"Oh, Mom!" Tana sobs, burying her face in Katniss' side.
"It's okay, we're okay." Katniss says.
"He's were he's safe now," Tana says, her eyes glistening. "He's never going to hurt again."
"Lets remember that." Katniss says, wiping at her cheeks. Hugo slips his hand into his mother's-needing the support. Katniss can't look into his eyes. He, like Finn, has eyes like his father. Katniss doesn't know if she can handle it.
Later that day, Katniss sits outside, watching the sunset from the porch swing. She smiles, enjoying the silence.
Peeta would've drawn this sunset. Stayed out until he had finished it. Added it to his extensive collection.
That night, after friends and family have gone, Katniss curls up in bed. She sleeps on Peeta's side of the bed, the smell of him still on the blankets and pillow. The book filled with the story of everything is beside her. Peeta's notepad is clutched in her hands. Her Mockingjay pin on her jacket. Her ring on her finger, Peeta's locket around her neck.
Katniss Everdeen dies that night. In her sleep, a smile on her lips just like her husband. She dreams of Peeta's arms around her.
The next morning, Hugo finds his mother.
"Tana! Quick!" He says, his eyes wide. Tana runs up the stairs, her eyes filled with sorrow. She stops, standing beside her younger brother.
"She's gone, isn't she?" She asks, knowing the answer. Hugo nods.
"They're finally together." Hugo whispers.
"She died of a broken heart."
Katniss is buried that evening beside her husband. The mockingjays gather in the trees, and as flowers are laid of the graves of loved ones, they remain silent.
The baker's son and miner's daughter are finally together.
Forever and always.