I seem to be churning out crap lately, so I hope this is satisfying... a bit. So, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Katniss, Peeta, etc., and such.


In the middle of the flames I find Prim's body laying on it's side, staring past the black pavement on the grounds of her death. Her pale blue eyes sit still above her pale blue lips, her fingertips burned off. All of her skin in blackened, and I am suddenly aware of a force that is pulling us away from each other. I wave of fire passes between me and her, and I scream as I am yanked away from my sister. I cannot save her.

I am slammed onto my back and find myself against a layer of coal in the mines, hundreds of feet under the ground. I can't breathe or see, but something sticky and wet brushes against the back of my head. Someone behind me that I cannot see, a phantom, I assume, shines a light in front of them. The wet substance on the walls is blood. The person that the blood came from lays in pieces on the ground about fifteen feet ahead of me. The phantom shines it towards that direction. I see a foot shoved under a mound of coal, the bones of a hand left broken near my feet. The phantom shines the light a little further back.

It's my father.

I scream, and the phantom grabs me and starts pulling me back quickly, faster than I can register where I'm going. I try to look back, but the light blinds me.

The phantom then drops my from a tree, and I'm in a deeper part of the forest I only dared to go to with my father. I can see flowers and green grass and evergreens surrounding me. It smells like home, like a place better than what exists on earth. But a sound rings in my ears, and I step to the side to catch my balance. But I hit something solid. I look down.

Peeta.

I can finally breathe in this beautiful place. "Peeta! Peeta!" I yell, kneeling beside him. His body seems dead, unmoving, but a small part of his face finds me and looks into my eyes. He blinks slowly and a tear falls, but I catch it with my finger and wipe it away. His hand finds mine and I cling on for dear life. His mouth twitches and his eyes close. His hand goes limp. "Peeta, stay with me!" I yell. "Peeta, I can't lose you again! Please come back!" I put my hand on his heart to feel for life. I feel one long, shuddering thump, and he exhales, his last breath taken. His heart becomes still.

I grab onto his shirt and don't hold back the tears any longer. "Peeta, Peeta," I cry, holding his face in my hands. I feel that same force pulling us apart from each other, the phantom pulling me by the neck. I start grabbing onto Peeta anywhere I can as I lose traction on the ground, and when I finally get a stable grip on his hand, he starts to sink into the ground. I start to scream and cry for him, for death to give back all it's taken, but I know death is unforgiving.

The phantom takes me away, into the Meadow. I see Gale sitting on our little perch, a rock that overhangs a cliff looking towards the mountains and the forest. I am about ten feet away from him. Just one step and I can reach out to him. But the phantom holds me where I am, a sickening weight in my ankles keeping me tied to the ground. I call for Gale, but he doesn't look away from the mountains ahead of him. My voice becomes louder and more desperate, until I scream and wail at the top of my lungs.

Then Gale turns to me, his grey Seam eyes staring right past me. Not looking into my eyes, or anywhere in particular. But past me. When he speaks, he sound like he's behind a wall of glass. He then turns his head and points towards the setting sun behind the mountain. In the distance, I see winged figures.

I see them. The people that have died because of me. The people that that I love, even somewhere deep down. Prim, my father, Peeta, Finnick, Boggs, Cinna, Cato, Clove, Foxface, Rue, Marvel, Wiress, Seeder, Chaff, Jackson, Madge.

I look back to Gale, and he begins to sit up, his back stretched out and revealing a gold pair of wings to me. He kneels at the edge of the rock and tips himself over, his wings carrying him over to them. He finds his place behind Madge and Jackson and flies out of my sight.

Not only sadness, but anger fills my veins, stings at my heart. I sharply turn around, looking for the phantom. I can't see them, but their pressure is still on me. I scream for them to reveal themselves, and I find myself looking into pale blue eyes, sunken into a wrinkly and deep skull. My mother.

I scream at her, asking to be released. But with unnatural strength, she throws me off the cliff, releasing me, and I fall onto a patch of grass, feeling hard pressure against my back. And then I feel something touching my cheek, my hair, my waist, my arm. But it's not my mother, I can tell.

"Katniss," I hear. It's soft in volume but desperate in pitch. The person of the voice, I can tell, is who is touching me. "Katniss. Katniss, wake up." What?

My eyes open, a painful rush of air filling the space above them. My eyes are sticky, and I realize it's with tears. I move my hand, which feels like something that isn't in my control, that is not part of my body, and touch my cheeks. Fresh tears roll down my cheeks, but I don't feel the normal emotions that come with them. Other than overwhelming confusion, I feel numb.

"Katniss," Peeta whispers. I turn to him. I see his blue eyes, soft, wavy blonde hair. He looks very tired. And then I remember how, in my dream, yes, that's what it was, he was calling me. But he had sunk into the ground.

I feel Peeta wrapping his arms around me before I register the tears that are errupting from my eyes. And like nearly every night - like we did on the train, in the training center, in the arena, and after all this time - Peeta holds me until I cease to cry, and he's is there for me until my eyes can't stay open any longer.

.:LoveConquersAll:.

When I wake up, Peeta is dressed for the day and making two of my three favorite dishes: cheese buns and lemon tarts. When I pad down the stairs, Peeta gives me a small smile and leaves two dishes of pastries on the table. But I don't want food now. Maybe later.

I walk over to Peeta and immediately wrap my arms around him, giving him a kiss on the cheek, seeing the lines under his eyes. "Did I keep you up long?"

He frowns, but squeezes me. "Not any longer than what you had on the train." He kisses me on the forehead as I curl my fingers behind his soft, wavy blonde hair.

After a long pause, I ask a question I've been meaning to ask all this time. "Peeta?"

"Hmm?"

"Why... why did you choose me, after all this? Why do you put up with all of my nightmares? You deserve better, Peeta. You know that."

Peeta looks down at me sadly. "Because you're all I've ever seen. All I've ever needed. You are the only person that I ever want to spend the rest of my life with. Because we saved, and protect, each other. That's what we have done. That's what we will always do. Because you're the only person I love." He squeezes my hand and kisses my cheek as he speaks again. "So, why did you choose me?"

"Because... I realized that I didn't need Gale's fire. I have plenty of that myself. But what I needed is the dandelion in the spring," I tell him quietly, to not make the cracks in my voice visible as I begin to cry. "The bright yellow that means rebirth. Instead of destruction, the promise that life can go on, no matter how bad the losses. That life can be good again." I can't contain the tears anymore. I wrap my arms around Peeta as I say, "And only you can give me that."

Peeta squeezes me tighter, wiping the tears off my cheeks. "Thank you," he whispers to me. I feel so safe and happy here, I dread the moment when, once again, my Boy with the Bread lets go.