Katniss spent years hating winter.
She hated winter since his father died during one, years ago. She hated winter because there was barely minutes of sun. She hated the winter because everything was frozen and she could not hunt. She hated winter because it was nearly impossible to go outside. She hated winter because while his work as a waitress in Abernathy's was not to bad, in these months it was barely tolerable and she was dying of boredom.
In fact, she hated winter for another reason... but that reason was what she was trying to keep her mind away from.
In any case, as every year the winter had come inexorably, and this time with a twist: Prim, her beloved little sister, had gone to Anchorage to begin a college intership as a doctor. And Gale, her boyfriend, had gone to the Northern Territory to work in the oil fields. Although ... maybe Gale was no longer her boyfriend.
However, although she hated every winter she could not hate this one because, despite everything, was finally going to fulfill one of her dreams.
Haymitch, his boss and the owner of Abernathy's among other businesses, had hired her to be the guide of a photographer from National Geographic, and Katniss had always dreamed of being a guide in Alaska, she felt free outdoors, but to get the qualification and license had cost her a lot of money and effort. Her priority had always been Prim dreams, and she dreamt about becoming a Doctor.
Haymitch's story was worth telling. He had come to Alaska with pockets lined with money and drunk as a skunk. aboard of one of those cruises for well-off tourists crossing from Vancouver to Whittier, in the Kenai Peninsula.
His wife, Mayselee, had abandoned him after winning the lottery and although the money was divided equally, he never recovered from his "stroke of luck" considering that he loved her deeply. After that he turned to drink and he took a ship to north. When he arrived here, he decided to stay after one night watching the aurora borealis. He said that he had finally found something that surpassed Mayselee's beauty and then she would be easier to forget.
And so, the National Geographic was coming to Fairbanks to photograph Aurora Borealis in several parks and most scenic places. She had argued with her ex boyfriend about it.
Katniss kept thinking back to the last discussion she had with Gale:
"Oh, of course you are not going anywhere!"
"What are you talking about, Gale?"
"I'm talking about you going off with a photographer for two months… alone. That's what I'm talking about"
"I cannot believe what I'm hearing. Are you jealous? Because this is funny, you go out every year to the northern platforms and, are you trying to tell me that there are no women there?"
"That doesn't matter. I love you and I am faithful" replied Gale obstinate.
"And what the hell does that mean?" she answered more sorrowful than angry.
"That's the question, Catnip ... you have never told me" he said with sadness' tone. For a moment it softened her heart. But that feeling lasted only for a few seconds because she was hurt with his doubts. She had been faithful the whole time they had been together and of course she loved him! They had been together for several years now and they had shared a lot of experiences. He had almost been her "first" in a bunch of things: her first serious boyfriend, her first lover, her first apartment with a couple "So?"
"So, today it is not going to be that day either."
She slammed out of the apartment they had shared for six months and when she returned, he had already packed up and flown north.
But now, she didn't only think about her conversation with Gale that day because of the result but because that conversation reminded her everything where he hadn't been her first.
He was not her first date or her first kiss... and definitely he was not her first love.
She took her green coat, the one her sister usually said that it could be seen from space due to its color, because everything in Alaska was white during winter except her coat , and headed to Abernathy's, under the first snowflakes that falling this season. Today she was going to meet with their client.
The route was quite simple: first they would go to Valdez, where in addition to photograph the Northern Lights, they expected to photograph orcas, then they would go via the Glenn Highway to Denali National Park where they got a special permission to enter out of season and to camp at Wonder Lake where they would hopefully see caribous, moose and wolves. Last but not least, they would go north to Fairbanks, which was the worldwide capital of the Auroras Borealis and even further to photograph polar bears.
The trip was planned to last between two and three months depending on how lucky they were and depending too not only on atmospheric phenomena but with wildlife viewing.
When she arrived to Abernathy's, she was surprised as always about the darkness that reigned in the establishment. It was one of his trademarks.
Haymitch said it was because it gave privacy to his customers but Katniss had always thought it had more to do with his boss dislike to clean up. She glanced around the pub looking for Haymitch behind the counter, his usual spot, but she saw him seated at the back of the room, facing her. He was accompanied by someone who had her back turned to her.
Katniss started walking towards them, when suddenly something familiar about the blond hair of the stranger and his broad shoulders took her breath away and stopped abruptly.
It can't be, she told herself, it's completely impossible. Get over it already, Everdeen, you've heard nothing from him for more than ten years.
But she continued to stand in the same place, until Haymitch noticed her and motioned for her to approach . She started walking again but without the steady pace that characterized her. She felt a little dizzy possibly due to her anxiety.
The blond man, presumably the National Geographic's photographer, didn't turn around at any time, so Katniss couldn't check whether her apprehensions were well founded or not. Making an effort to not look to him when she walked by his side, she approached first to Haymitch and left the unknow man behind her.
"Hey, I thought we had to meet in fifteen minutes."
"Yes, but our client came early. Let me introduce you, this is Peeta Mellark, Katniss"
Katniss turned around at the very moment in which Haymitch pronounced his name. She was met by a pair of blue eyes and with a smile that she remembered as if it were only yesterday, although she had managed to bury him in her mind.
But ten years had transformed his teenage face in a sharp-featured man. If Peeta at fifteen was handsome, now he had become into an irresistible man.
"Haymitch, we need to talk" and before the older man could utter a syllable, she said "Now."
They went to Haymitch's office which was behind the counter. More than an office, it was a small and dirty room full of bills and empty bottles.
"What's the matter? Are you angry with the world?" Haymitch asked resignedly.
"No. Well, yes. What I mean is that I cannot do this work Do you know who is that out there?" Katniss said emphatically pointing to the door.
"Yes, he is a client, and a client that pays pretty well" "No," she replied as if he did not understand anything "That out there is Peeta Mellark."
"Tell me something I don't know, sweetheart," Haymitch said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.
"Haymitch, try to understand. Peeta Mellark, that one Peeta Mellark broke my heart. In fact it would be more correct to say that he ripped it into small and tiny fragments.
"He abandoned me, do you understand?"
"When was that? Because either you have it well hidden or it was centuries ago. I don't know the boy."
"Look, Katniss," he said suddenly getting serious "I need that money. So get over it or leave the work and I will find someone else."
"Okay, I'll tell you tomorrow ..."
"Not sweetheart, it does not work that way, you have ten seconds," Katniss looked at him in horror but her glance did not scare Haymitch who continued his countdown "nine, eight, seven..."
To her desperation Katniss had accepted before the man could reach to five. The truth is that she also needed this job.
"Okay, I accept. But it will be on my terms."
"I am not the one you have to discuss details with... you should talk to the boy."
And with that, Haymitch dismissed her from his office and Katniss had no choice but go and talk to Peeta again. But even if she had agreed to be her guide, she'd make clear that this trip was only a business trip.
Anyway, who are you fooling, Katniss? He was the one who left you, you would have walked to the moon for him, and with those thoughts she sat before him.
"Hey ... how's everything?"
"Let's go to the point, Mellark. I'll be your guide, but we need to talk about some rules before."
"I thought the customer was the one who set conditions," he said with a mischievous smile.
"Usually yes, but not this time."
"And what is so different this time?" Peeta asked again knowing he was walking on a thin ice. But he would not allow her to have the last word as always ... like ten years ago. It was true that he left but he was fifteen for God's sake. What does she think he could do? Challenge his parents? Precisely Katniss knew that his mother was not the easiest person in the world.
"You" said Katniss, staring into his eyes possibly for the first time since they'd started talking, "You and the way you turn up here ten years later as if nothing had happened."
Peeta remembered those gray eyes and that strong and determined look as if it were only yesterday the last time he saw her. It was one of the things that had always fascinated him, but now he couldn't find anything more in her eyes, not the love she felt for him once. That thought turned his stomach. When he was told who was his guide, he felt an absurd happiness and he felt hope too but during the whole time he tried to control his expectations. Unfortunately, he was right on the last part.
So he accepted the fact that Katniss had not forgiven him and that she didn't feel what he still felt. He thought that to spend some time with her, was better than nothing. He even thought that maybe, sometime in the next two months, he would get her to laugh for a second, and that would be reward enough.
"Okay Katniss, whatever you say. I don't wanna make this harder for either of us."
"This is business, strictly business and we won't keep small talk or we won't talk about the old days or about our lives during this time. I don't want to know anything about your family, or your brothers or if you have a pet or ..." but before uttering the next word it was choked in her throat. Katniss looked down at his hands, expecting to find a wedding ring in one of his fingers, but to her relief, because although she did not want to admit it, that is what she felt, she saw that he was not wearing any, "or a girlfriend."
"I agree with your conditions, I can do it. you don't have to worry I will be able to control myself."
"All right then, I will pick you up at your hotel at 6 am, we have a long journey ahead."
"Wait! I haven't told you where I'm staying."
"No need, everything is in your dossier." And without another word, she walked away and Peeta wondered if he could really keep all that she had asked.
Next morning, as regular as clockwork, Peeta saw a huge truck that was approaching to his hotel entrance.
"Good morning," he said with a smile, waiting for her to answer him. But all he got was a grunt and an instruction to drop his luggage in the trunk.
The day passed gray as the sky around them. She confined herself to give some indications of where they were. Things like "at your right you can find the famous Rainbow Mountains" or "Just at your left you can see Wrangler-Saint Elias National Park, one of the world's few remaining stands of absolute wilderness and six times larger than Yellowstone".
He only spoke only to thank her or ask, in the most polite way, to stop to take some pictures. Although he was tempted to remind her, that he had lived there too and he knew that part of the state. But, definitely, under their current circumstances, it wouldn´t have been a good idea.
They arrived and left Valdez faster than they thought. They had to spend only a week and had already achieved their targets: photograph the aurora borealis over the Valdez Glacier and photograph several whales on their migratory passage through the waters of the bay.
There was only one thing worth to highlight and was that he managed to make her laugh once.
They were hiking a trail near the Salomon Gulch, which was supposed to lead to splendid views of Port Valdez and to a lake with the objective to capture some breathtaking pictures of the city. It was not a very long hike, just two hours round trip.
"Then, we aren't going to find bears around here, are we?" Peeta asked for the tenth time.
"You've heard the girl in the tourist office, in this time of the year is weird."
"She said that it is unlikely but not impossible".
"Peeta, you're a nature photographer, how is it possible that you have not seen a bear? Or a big animal, for that matter…"
"I used to take pictures of landscapes and animals but from a boat: whales, dolphins, sea lions ... I had not photographed them on the field, but when this job came and it was in Alaska I decided to try luck and come back home"
Katniss ignored the last comment and continued talking.
"Okay, we're going to review the rules of what we have to do in the case we see a bear. Go ahead."
"We have to make noise so the bear will not be surprised if it sees us."
"Exactly," she said patiently, "as we are doing right now. Keep going."
"If we bump into one, we must stand still and not look at it. But most importantly ..." Peeta was reciting as they turned a corner and found themselves face to face with a black bear.
"The most important thing is that we are not going to run," Katniss said as she held Peeta by the arm "Now chill, okay? Bears are not meant to be aggressive."
The next few seconds were eternal, but eventually the bear turned and resumed his march. Peeta collapsed on the floor instantly and Katniss could not help laughing.
"I told you that nothing would happen."
"It was a huge bear and smelled us, Katniss" he said as he recovered from the shock.
"It just raises the snout, Mellark" she replied with a laugh, "It was not interested in us; the bear had just eaten thousands of salmon down there".
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Do you mind to help me up?" said Peeta reaching his hand.
And she took his hand for a moment. Despite the bear, Peeta thought it was a great day.
When they made their way to Denali, Peeta found that Alaska was really more beautiful than he remembered, but what seemed even more beautiful was Katniss. There were days when it was hard to look away from her.
"You know," Peeta said while looking at the landscape through the camera he always carried with him, "I always wanted to go to Denali, but my mother never wanted to leave home, and when she really wanted to discover something new, she took us to the other side of the country ".
Peeta waited a moment, expecting from her any kind recrimination for violating the rules, but he did not hear any hiss or growl by her. When Katniss talked again, was only to say that it was getting late and they should resume the journey.
Denali was astonishing, although they couldn't see the yellow, red and orange tones that turned it one of the most popular National Parks. The autum here was short and lasted only a few weeks and now almost everything was covered by a white snow mantle.
However Katniss could not appreciate all the beauty right now, Peeta was gone more than two hours ago when the sun was going down and had not returned. He never took so long when he photographed the sunset. She was sick with anxiety.
Finally, she could hear his heavy footsteps walking towards the camp, but instead of relaxing she noticed her angry.
"Where, the hell, were you?" she shouted as she ran towards him.
"Taking some photos, you already know it..."
"Peeta, it is very late, I was worried. You have gone more than usual and ..." Katniss stopped talking when she felt like her eyes filled with tears and turned before he could see it. She didn't want Peeta to know how much his actions and presence affected to her.
"It's okay, I'm here now. I'm really sorry, I was trying to capture all those oranges in the sky and the time flew...
She recalled that his favorite color was orange, and she recalled too the day that he had told her. They were on his roof while were watching a similar sunset and they kissed for the first time. Tears flowed freely down her face and she couldn't hold them back anymore ... too many emotions and too many memories, so she ran to her tent.
An hour later she smelled an exquisite aroma and heard as Peeta approached.
"Katniss are you awake?" he asked her through the fabric of the door. But she did not answer "Please Katniss, I'm sorry. I've cooked dinner."
Food was something that Katniss could not deny and Peeta knew it. It could be a despicable trick but when she emerged, raising her nose, from the tent, he didn't mind too much.
"What is it?"
"Lamb stew with prunes. It was one of my father's favorite recipes and dishes".
"I know," Katniss said "I remember it".
"Ah, I wasn't sure that you remembered" he said sheepishly "I remember everything about you, though".
"Well, you shouldn't. I have a boyfriend now, did you know that?" She said angrily lying about Gale. "I don't know what you intend with all these stories: the sunset, the orange and the stew, Peeta."
"I just wanted to do something nice for you ..."
"Reminding me our first date. Are you teasing me, Peeta? Did you really think that I wouldn't remember it?"
"I don't know, Katniss. We have hardly spoken these days. You've barely talked two words with me" He said exasperated.
"That's because we have a deal, this is business."
"Forget about this stupid deal, Katniss. This is me! I'm here and I told you I would return " Peeta started angry when he spoke, but finished it sadly "it has just taken more time than I pretended. I was fifteen, Katniss, I had to leave with my Family"
"The problem is not that you left" she reproached him "the real problem is that you didn't tell me. You knew it since we started dating, but you still didn't tell me. You waited till the last night, just a few hours before you left to tell me that you were leaving... you deceived me, Peeta. You let me fell for you and then you abandoned me" she said through her tears while hiding her face in her hands.
"Katniss, please don't cry" Peeta moved closer to where she was and embraced her. He could feel her body trembling and sobbing and he pressed her tighter to his chest. "I did not want to make you cry, i just wanted you to remember about us".
Katniss moved away from Peeta's hug and stepped back.
"Well, I have already told you. I remember everything ... and I don't want to, because it still hurts too much."
"Katniss, I didn't tell you because I was scared. I knew that if I told you, you wouldn't want to spend that time with me. I knew you didn't like goodbyes. I was selfish, I know, but you have to understand that I love you since I was five."
«He said he loves me», in present tense? Katniss thought before he could keep going.
"It was my last chance, so I took the plunge. I figured that if you were getting to know me or date me, we could continue what we had once I had left. I couldn't bear the thought of never knowing anything more about you, and at first I wasn't even sure that you knew my name. Everything that happened between us was a dream, Katniss. In fact, everything was better than my dreams, because it was real, and it was you and you loved me. And when you got angry with me that night after I told you and you left, I thought you'd forgive me, and I wrote every day, Katniss. Every single day for a year. Three hundred and sixty-five letters. Did you read them?"
"I didn't" she replied looking at his eyes that were reflecting her same pain "but I didn't throw them either. I just kept the letters in a box, and they are still at home"
"Okay, Katniss, never mind. I just want you to forgive me and go back to being friends again. I hate that you hate me. So, do you want to be my friend again?"
Katniss didn't answer, her head seemed weighing all the alternatives and Peeta feared the worst when she began to speak.
"Let me ask you something before I answer your question" she said as she stood up and approached him again. Peeta nodded. "You've said that you were in love with me, but you said it: in present tense or past?"
"Katniss, you don't have to worry about that, I know you have a boyfriend and I would never try nothing ..." he continued nervous while he was losing his last hope
"Peeta, the truth. Do you still love me?"
"I do" he answered finally, laying his cards on the table.
Katniss said nothing and turned around to head to her tent, but just before entering she faced him again and with a sexy gesture of her finger she pointed him to come closer.
Peeta went to her and stood waiting. Katniss leaned her body to his and stood on tiptoes, whispering in his ear.
"Gale is no longer my boyfriend and just in case you have not noticed, I'm still in love with you...also"
Before he could answer, Katniss kissed him tenderly on the lips but Peeta was quick to respond and when he kissed her, he kissed her with all the passion he felt after ten years, stopping only when he gasped for air.
"So, I guess that this is a reconciliation, isn't it?" Peeta asked as he kissed her neck and collarbone.
"Come to my tent and I'll show Mellark" she said with a wink, as she held his hand and dragged him inside.
THE END.
Thank you very much to anonalece for helping me with my English Grammar. She has been a great support.
Besides this story is based loosely in my trip to Alaska, at least the heart part is true!
Hope you enjoy it, and I apologize for all my english mistakes, as I'm not native.
Please, send your reviews!