After much deliberation, I decided to write one more. I don't know if it was a good idea or what. Please review!
It's over. That's the just about the only thought going through my mind right now. And of course my joy at being alive, and having won over Katniss. But as I'm sitting up here in the victor's chair (or love seat), watching the highlights, I can't help thinking back to the Games, more specifically, each moment that the screen shows…
The moment Katniss found me. It meant that I would no longer need to shoulder my burden alone; I had someone to share it with. The thought that she actually cared to find me gave me hope for my future prospects with her. How she treated me, fixed me up, cared for me…I owe my life to her. I can never repay her…
The first time she kissed me. Around me, the audience gives a little sigh when they see that one. I remember the sweet feel of her lips upon mine, so cold as compared to my own feverish lips, but still so inviting…
When we found out about the feast. Me refusing to let her go, her saying, "What am I supposed to do? Sit here and watch you die?"
"I won't die. I promise. If you promise not to go," I say. I couldn't let her throw her life away for me like that. She still had a chance.
She then says, "Then you have to do what I say. Drink your water, wake me when I tell you, and eat every bite of the soup no matter how disgusting it is!" I don't care. At least she's not going.
Then me eating those sweet, sweet berries. Me realizing too late that she meant to drug me so I couldn't stop her. Me falling unconscious, and her saying, "Who can't lie, Peeta?"…
I didn't know she said that. Good one, Katniss.
Me waking up, feeling a hundred times better. I wonder why. The first thing I see is a needle lying nearby. So she did go to the feast and get me my medicine. Surprisingly, I'm not too mad right now. Then I see her, lying in a pool of blood, unconscious. I freak out. Then I fix her up, and put a bandage on her head, and keep watch until she wakes up…
When she first admitted the true depths of her feelings for me, I was on cloud nine. Nothing in the world could touch me, not even Cato. If Cato had come through that cave just then, I would have just jumped down from the cloud I was on and struck him down. I was just simply ecstatic…
My surprise when the cannon to signify a death fired when there were only four of us left. I catch a glimpse of the girl that Katniss called Foxface rising through the trees on board a hovercraft. My immediate thought was one that Cato was near, and I say, "Climb. He'll be here in a second. We'll stand a better chance fighting him from above."
Katniss replis, "No, Peeta, she's your kill, not Cato's.
I was puzzled. "What? I haven't even seen her since the first day. How could I have killer her?" I ask.
She holds out the berries in answer. Then she explains to me how Foxface tried to steal enough not so anyone would notice, but just enough to stay alive, and how she wouldn't question the berries safety that we were about to eat. This shell-shocked me, but then I realized, we were one step closer to District 12…
When we were all up on top of the Cornucopia. When Cato had me in a headlock, and was choking me. I didn't want to give up. We were so close to being back home; I just could not give in. So I had to trust Katniss. I painted a red X on the back of Cato's hand, and then watched as Katniss' arrow pierced it and he fell below to the howling mutts. Watched as he was slowly but surely was beaten into submission and then death…
And then finally, the moment of truth. When the announcement came. When Claudius Templesmith's voice sounded, "Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."
With that short statement of his, he had doomed me. I could not let Katniss die. She was just so…so perfect. Me, I was already injured, and dependent on her for everything. So I tried to kill myself. I ripped off my flimsy bandage on my leg that was only just barely keeping the blood inside of my body. But Katniss puts it back on.
"No, you can't kill yourself," she says.
"Katniss," I say. "It's what I want." I want her to live. I love her more than I love myself.
"You're not leaving me here alone," she says.
"Listen," I say. "We both know they have to have a victor. It can only be one of us. Please take it. For me." Then I go on about how much I love her. I want her to know, before I die.
She then fumbles with the pouch on her belt. She wants to kill herself with the poisonous berries! No! I take her hand and say, "No, I won't let you."
"Trust me," she barely whispers. She puts some berries into my hand, and takes some herself. "On the count of three?"
I see now. We shall both die. This is perhaps the best way of all. Now I will get to share her company for all of eternity. Before we cross the final bridge into the afterlife, I need to kiss her one last time. And I do, softly, gently. "The count of three," I say.
"Hold them out. I want everyone to see," I then say.
We count together. "One." This is really happening. "Two." I'm about to die. And you know, as long as Katniss is here with me, I don't mind at all. "Three!" We put the berries in our mouths. All of a sudden, the voice of Claudius Templesmith booms down frantically, "Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you --- the tributes of District 12!"
And that was that. Neither of us had swallowed the berries. And now, here we sit, together. Forever.