Open Window

by Peetabreaddd

Peeta and Katniss just got home from the Games. Katniss is battling with herself on whether she should let Peeta into her life or not. By her own indecisiveness, she has hurt Peeta again. This story is bit different from the rest. Gale is present, but only as her best friend. This story will take us through the Victory Tour, the Quarter Quell and the war. It's up to Katniss.

4. Chapter 4

Peeta could see the look of surprise on Gale's face one night when he was coming home from the Mines, to see Peeta waiting for him. "What're you doing here? Where's Katniss?" Gale asked as Peeta stood up from where he was sitting.

"She's at home. Hopefully still sleeping. I left a note in case she woke up," Peeta said and fidgeted around.

"Peeta?" Gale asked. Peeta looked over and then took a deep breath.

"I need you to take care of Katniss when she gets home," Peeta said, looking down at his feet. Gale could hear his own heart beating in his ears.

"And take care of my baby," Peeta said and squatted down. "I need you to be her dad," Peeta cried. Gale had been praying that Peeta wouldn't come and ask him this. In truth, Gale had been trying to avoid being alone with Peeta, in fear of this conversation. Which had to be why Peeta surprised him at his house.

"Just please…be the dad that I won't get to be. And love the baby like it's yours. Please let her know that I love her so much," he said and stood up to control himself. "Not just that I did love her. Because that's in past tense. Tell her that I do love her. Because the way I feel for her…I'll always love her," Peeta said. Gale threw his lunch box down and paced and then groaned.

"Damnit Mellark. Why did you have to say any of this? DAMNTI!" He yelled and kicked it.

"Please Gale. Katniss needs you. She's gonna feel so alone. She just needs you to be there for her. Just take care of her. And be a dad to my baby. I need Katniss to know that she still has a strong man in her life, and one that can be a good dad to our daughter," Peeta asked. Gale scoffed.

"For God's sake. You can't come here and ask me to be a father to your kid Mellark. You just can't. I can't be your kid's dad,"

"She's not gonna have me, and I need her to still have one any way," Gale wouldn't look at him.

"Please Gale. I just need to know this when I'm in that…stupid arena," Peeta said, pushing his fists into his eyes. "I need to know that when I'm fighting in there, that my wife and daughter have you to come home to," Peeta said. Gale could see how badly this was taking its toll on Peeta. He did a really good job of hiding it, but Inside, Peeta was breaking.

"Please Gale. Promise me," he begged.

"For the rest of my life. I'll always be there for them…I'll always take care of them," Gale promised him. Peeta nodded.

"Thank you," Peeta scrubbed at his face.

"It's a girl?" Gale asked. Peeta let out a chuckle.

"We don't know yet. But I know in my gut that it's a girl. Because I see her in my dreams every night,"

Gale wasn't the only one that Peeta spoke to. He asked his own best friend, Delly, to always check in on Katniss and his daughter. But more so, he asked her to check in on his dad and brothers.

He asked Madge to keep an eye on Katniss. He had a different request for Haymitch. "I need you to quit drinking," Peeta said as he and Haymitch were skinning rabbits.

"I'm sober, aren't I?" He grumbled.

"When you get back home," he informed him. Haymitch wouldn't look at him. "When you come back home, I need you sober. Because Katniss is gonna have a baby. And you're the only one in this world who will give Katniss that tough love that she needs. Not sparing her feelings. Just going in there and telling her the truth no matter how ugly it is. I need you there for her. I need you to force her to get back up when she lays on the floor and wants nothing to do with life. I need you to be sober to get her attention,"

Haymitch threw the rabbit across the yard at that point and went back to his house. The conversation with his brothers didn't go that great either.

"Will you make sure she knows all the family recipes?" Peeta asked one day from the counter. His brothers looked up at him. "We know them by heart. I want her to know them to. She won't spend as much time in the Bakery as we did, but- "

"Wait a minute…are you talking about your kid?" Ryee asked. Peeta nodded.

"And make sure you let her decorate the- "

"NO! I'm not gonna teach your kid anything! I'm not the decorator. You are!" Rye said and stormed upstairs. Peeta let out a deep sigh.

"Wheet please," Peeta begged without looking at him.

"How am I supposed to wish that you don't come home, and hope that it's Katniss? Or wish that Katniss comes home, and you don't?" Wheet whispered. Peeta couldn't look at him. "How do I wish for something like that? Do you know how horrible that is?" Peeta turned around.

"It's not horrible. Because if Katniss comes home, then part of me comes home to. My daughter,"

Everyone got mad at him and walked away when he asked these things. But what did they expect from him? He had this small amount of time and had so much to do before he was gone. He had to set up a future for Katniss and their daughter. He had to make sure they were going to be ok.

When he knew Katniss was in a deep sleep, he'd sneak away from her and go into one of his empty bedrooms. He decided that this was the room he wanted for his little girl. He wanted her to know that her dad loved her from the moment he knew she existed. Heck, even when he was in denial, he still loved her.

He wanted her to lay in her bed and look at her walls and see what he created for her and know, my daddy made this for me. He was painting the world on her walls. He wanted her to build her dreams in this room. He just wanted to leave her something of him.

He just didn't have enough time in the days that he had left in District 12, to get everything ready for when he was gone. He had so much more life he wanted to live with Katniss.

He was watching her skin a squirrel one morning while he was baking. She had a nightmare that night, and she hadn't been able to go back to sleep. She got up early to hunt a little and came back with a couple of squirrels.

But she was acting odd. She was thinking too hard, and it made him nervous. "You ok over there?" He asked her. She looked up sadly at him. He put the bread down and grabbed a rag to wipe up his hands it and came over to her, pushing some hair out of her eyes. She wouldn't look at him.

"Katniss?"

"You think I don't know what you've been doing?" she asked him, still looking at the table. "You think I don't know that you went to my best friend? To Haymitch?"

"They told you?" he whispered.

"They don't have to tell me. I know them. And I know you. You want Haymitch to get me out and come back and live in this damn place by myself with a baby. How do you expect me to take care of a baby by myself. How do you expect me to be happy?" she demanded, finally looking at him.

"There are gonna be times when it's hard. I'm not naïve about that. But you'll get through it. And I just want you out and for the baby to- "she threw the glass bowl down on the floor, shattering it.

"This isn't our baby!" she yelled at him. Tears falling down her cheeks. "The second this baby is born; it won't be mine. It won't be yours because you won't be here, so there's no chance for it to be ours. The moment that this baby is born, it becomes Snow's baby," her chin trembling as she started shaking.

"He'll parade this little baby around, year after year, after year, reminding me that you're dead. Reminding that baby that they don't have a daddy because he killed you," she sobbed. He didn't think about Snow in regard to the future he saw for Katniss and their child.

"That baby…will never be mine. Peeta why have this baby just so it'll belong to him. I already belong to him, why should I offer up one more person to him? Why should I bring a baby into this world, just to sacrifice it to the Capitol?" she sobbed. He was frozen. He didn't know what to say.

The room was quiet, you could hear a pin drop. He almost didn't realize that Katniss had stormed out of the house. He was just too stunned to move.

Katniss ran out of the house and bumped into Rory. "Hi Katniss. Are you ok?" Rory asked her. Katniss nodded her head but didn't answer him. She was looking at the box in his hands. "Your mom ordered some stuff, and I brought some of it for her," Rory said, motioning his head towards the wagon he had been pulling. Katniss peered in and saw different things that her mother had ordered. Medical supplies.

"Just order a ton of it," Katniss told her mother.

"But why so much?" her mom asked.

"Because I may not be coming back. I need you to have as much supplies as you can buy to work. And to live. So, spend it all," Katniss told her.

Katniss recognized a bottle and reached in and snatched it up, walking in the opposite direction and out of the Victor's Village, ignoring Rory's calls. She walked into the meadow and looked around. This could actually work. This could actually be a logical plan. Peeta would have no reason to put Katniss first in the arena. He would fight to stay alive. Or it could put a stop to him being sent into the Quarter Quell all together.

If she swallowed all these sleeping pills, then she'd die. Right here, right now. Snow would have no reason to send any of the Victor's into the Quell. Peeta would be safe. He could find another girl.

She stopped and put a hand to her belly. The bump she tried to ignore was there. She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. He could start another family. He could find a future if she were to die right now.

Peeta ran outside to look for her. "KATNISS!" Peeta called, looking around the Victor's Village for her. He walked into Katniss' house to see her mother, Prim, and Rory in the kitchen, unpacking boxes.

"Hi Peeta," Prim said.

"Hey Prim. Have any of you seen Katniss?" Peeta asked.

"Yeah, she came outside and she took one of those bottles out of the boxes," Rory said. Emily looked up from what she was counting.

"Which bottle?" Emily asked.

"I'm not sure. It had a bunch of pills in it," Rory told her. All three of them just stopped and stared at him. His eyes widened. "What?" he whispered. Peeta looked at Emily.

"What bottle of pills did you buy?" Peeta asked. She dropped a basket in her hand and started rummaging through the boxes, looking at different bottles. After a moment she stood up and stared at Peeta, frightened.

"Sleeping pills," Peeta knew exactly what she was doing. No. He wouldn't let her. He turned and grabbed Rory's arms.

"Which way did she go?" he yelled. Rory pointed and Peeta went running out the back door. He knew where she was going. To her favorite spot in the meadow. "HAYMITCH!" he yelled, not bothering to look to see if Haymitch heard his cry for help.

"No God Damnit!" he yelled to himself. He refused to let her do this. Katniss was coming home from the arena. She was going to live a long life and watch their beautiful baby girl grow up. His heart was pounding. He knew his body was running so fast, but he felt like the space between him, and the meadow were just getting further away, the faster that he ran.

He could see her, doubled over. "KATNISS!" He screamed. She didn't move though. He was trying so hard to reach her. Please, it couldn't be too late. He slammed into her body, and he landed on top of her. "What did you do?" he demanded and looked around. The bottle was opened. Pills everywhere. He looked at her face and knew she had taken some.

"NO, YOU DON'T GET TO DO THIS!" he yelled and grabbed her around her stomach and held her against his chest. He moved his finger to her mouth, and she must have realized what he was doing because that was when she started fighting him.

"You're not leaving me Katniss," he cried and fought against her. He shoved his finger into her mouth, shoving it down as far as he could. She tried biting him, but he could barely feel it. He felt her gag, and then could feel her throwing up all over his hand. He should move it and let her breathe, but he wasn't giving her a chance to get away from him and kept pushing his finger inside her mouth.

"Don't do this to me. Don't you dare leave me like this," he sobbed. It was all a blur really. She was fighting him with everything she could, but she was no match for him. He held on tightly and wouldn't let go. He sobbed and held firm.

Begging her not to do this. Telling her he loved her. He let her breath a few times and she would scream at him. "LET ME GO!" she screamed, reaching for the bottle again.

Peeta didn't know how long they fought for. But everyone was there. Haymitch, Katniss' mother, Prim, Rory, his father, Wheet, Rye and Gale. When and how they all got there he didn't know. But somewhere along the line he was just behind her, holding her and they were both sobbing.

"Please. I just want you to live. He won't put you in the arena. If I'm dead," Katniss cried. Peeta just shook his head. "I just want you to live," she cried. Gale was in front of them then. He was covered in coal dust. Rory must have gotten him from the mines. Peeta looked up over her shoulder and at him. Gale had been crying.

"Let's just get you home and into bed Catnip," Gale said. Haymitch and Gale helped Peeta stand Katniss up, and Gale helped pick Katniss up. What a sad group they were. Mourning.

Peeta tried to avoid walking through town, but he had to walk through part of it, otherwise he'd have to walk the entire perimeter just to get home. So, it was unavoidable to have people looking at them. Walking through the edge of town, and near the mines…District 12 was quiet as they walked past. They knew what had happened. There was no way that they couldn't have heard them. Peeta had no idea what the commotion looked like in order to get his family out of the Bakery, and Gale out of the mines.

He got her home and silently brought Katniss upstairs. She was like a rag doll. He took their vomit covered clothes off and got into the bathtub. He had the shower raining down on them while they sat in the tub. He had her lay down against his chest and he just held her.

"You're just going to take it easy tomorrow. Just rest. And then the next day is Sunday. And we'll spend it with our family. It'll be a beautiful day," Peeta told her as he bathed her. Katniss could barely keep her eyes opened.

He dressed her and put her into bed. He heard a knock on the door and watched it slowly creek open. It was Emily and Hazelle. Emily looked terrible. Shaken. "Emily said she needs some fluids. She wants to hook Katniss up to an IV. We'll get her set up, and there's some soup down there that she wants you to eat," Hazelle said. Peeta went to protest but Hazelle had put the tray down and took his hands in hers and smiled strongly at him.

"You'll just go downstairs…and it'll give Emily a moment to…" she trailed off and saw Emily shaking. Hazelle smiled again. "It'll give her a moment to get some fluids into her. Check her out and make sure she's ok to get some sleep," Hazelle said and cupped his cheek. Peeta nodded and slowly walked down the stairs. When he got to the bottom step he just sat down, staring at the front door.

He hadn't even realized that everyone was still in his house until his father's hand on his shoulder startled him. "How's Katniss?" Gale asked. Peeta gulped. Gale was still filthy from the mines. But you could see that he had been crying, by a few tear tracks down his face, causing white streaks.

"She's sleeping," Peeta said.

"And how are you holding up son?" his father asked. Peeta nodded his head.

"I'm fine dad," Hazelle came down at that moment.

"Emily will be down in just a minute," she said. She put her hand on his shoulder, and he took her hand and squeezed it. He looked back at the group.

"You all should take off. There's nothing more anyone can do. I'm gonna go get some sleep once Emily comes back down," Peeta said. Everyone cleared out, and Emily had come back down, taking Prim with her. Haymitch followed Peeta back up to his bedroom. Peeta sat down and looked at her laying in bed and picked up h er hand and held it in his lap.

"Tonight, Snow tried to kill my wife…I'm her husband and my wife almost died tonight because of him. I'm a husband who's supposed to take care of his wife, but I can't protect her," Peeta gritted through his teeth, tears streaming down his face.

"She tried to kill herself tonight. And I can't protect her," Peeta cried. Haymitch yanked him to stand up pulled him tight to him and let Peeta sob. "I can't lose her," Peeta cried into his shoulder.

Peeta laid awake that night, just holding Katniss in his arms. There were only so many moments he was going to have like this. He had waited 11 years to be with her. And now that he finally had her, she was being ripped away from him.

He wondered what he did to deserve this. What Katniss did to deserve this. What anyone in the Districts did to deserve this.

All his thoughts just circled each other. He kept repeating the same thing over and over again. It was depressing living with these same thoughts circling his head day in and day out. But he just has to push them all aside now. He had to just spent the very small amount of time he had left now, with Katniss.

She was very out of it the next day. She woke up a couple of times but then would go back to sleep. Her mother checked on her a couple of times. It was to be expected after her suicide attempt. The words brought tears to his eyes. Katniss tried to commit suicide.

He felt like a failure. He was supposed to take care of her. Protect her. And he couldn't do anything. He couldn't even try to run. They were doomed.

Peeta was downstairs later that night making them some hot chocolate while Katniss was with her mother getting checked out again. Prim was waiting for her mom and sitting at the counter, looking lost. Peeta slid the mug in front of her and then touched her cheek.

"I'm gonna miss you ya know," Peeta told her. Prim squeezed her eyes shut and he went over and touched her back. She whipped around and wrapped her arms around his waist and started crying. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back.

"I know Prim. But it's gonna be ok. I promise you Prim, I'm gonna send her home to you. I promise that your sister will make it home," he said and hugged her tightly.

They left a little while later and Peeta brought a mug up to Katniss. She was sitting up in bed and he sat the mug down on the dresser and sat down, facing her. She looked terrible. But even then, she still looked beautiful.

"How ya feeling?" He asked her. She shrugged her shoulders. He nodded and let out a deep breath. "We only have a few days left at home together," he told her. She turned her eyes to the wall.

"And when you're feeling better. Tomorrow, I wanna spent that time making love to you," she closed her eyes, letting tears fall down her cheeks. He leaned forward and kissed her tears away and leaned his forehead against hers. "I want to make love to you as many times as I can. Can I do that?" He asked her. She nodded her head.

Their last Sunday with their family was hard. Peeta's dad came for the first time. But his mother didn't show up. He figured she wouldn't, but it was still hard not having her there. It was a somber day. It was rainy and gloomy, which fit the mood well. There wasn't that much talking. There were hugs. There were tears. Random tears that sprang out of nowhere.

The last night was the hardest. Peeta had excused himself a little early to give Katniss a moment with her mom and Prim. When she came back though, she was shocked by what she saw. Candles. Everywhere. Leading up to their bedroom and into the bathroom.

"What is all this?" She asked. Peeta came out of the bathroom and smiled.

"I want to take a bath with you first, and then spend our last night together in our house, in our bed, making love to you," he said. Katniss took a deep breath and looked away. Willing the tears not to come. He picked her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Get in the bathtub with me, wife," he told her. They undressed slowly and sunk into the hot bath. She laid her body against his and sank into the bubbles. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I love you. Always remember that" Peeta told her. She squeezed his arms and turned her head towards him. He kissed her nose. "No matter where I am. I'll always love you Katniss Everdeen," she smiled without opening her eyes.

"Don't you mean Mellark?" She chuckled. He joined her soft laughter.

"I meant to say Everdeen. Because I've loved you the most as Everdeen. But yes, I do love you, Katniss Mellark," he said and kissed her. They stayed in the bathtub for awhile before getting dried off and into bed. Peeta opened the window a little to let in the cool breeze, got into bed and climbed on top of his wife.

He slowly slid inside of her, making her gasp in a deep breath. They went at a low pace, never breaking eye contact. Rocking against each other. Taking their time to climax. But their climax didn't make Peeta stop slowly pumping into her. He stayed hard and he continued to rock into her. Somewhere in the night one of them had to break first. It was Katniss. She started crying, and it made him start. He hugged her tightly to his chest. This was their last night together in their bed. The bed they shared together as husband and wife. Their last time making love because they figured they wouldn't make love in the Capitol.

It was a hard thought to wrap their minds around. Spending one last night in their house together. Once the tears happened, there was no more making love. They couldn't. All they could do was hold on to each other.

That morning was terrible. They couldn't focus. Their time was ticking away. Shaky hands got them dressed, and they walked down the stairs and Katniss put her hand to the doorknob. "I'll be right back," Peeta said and went running back up the stairs and into his future daughter's room. He had finished it in record time. A beautiful sunset. A meadow with millions of dandelions.

"You feel my heart beating in this room for you baby girl," Peeta whispered and choked on a sob. "I won't regret anything I do for you in that arena, because in 7 months, you'll be sleeping in this room, and my whole life will have been worth it," he sobbed and jammed his fist into his eyes.

"I love you. Your daddy loves you…so much. And I love your mom too. Whenever you need me baby girl…I'll be in this room, because this is where I left you my heart," he cried and left the room before he could collapse on the floor. He pulled out a letter for Katniss that he left under the mattress and put it on the bed for when she came home. His final words to her.

Katniss was waiting on the porch and stood motionless. "What did you do?" she asked. Afraid of the answer, but he shook his head and wiped his face.

Their heads whipped over to see Haymitch running up on the porch, his face staring at the gate. Peacekeepers were coming in. Katniss cried and Peeta went to grab her, but Haymitch yanked them off the porch.

"Haymitch what- "he interrupted Peeta and grabbed his collar, and grabbed her chin and made them look at him.

"Listen, to my words. We don't have much time. Stay, alive! Outlast the arena. Together. Don't forget my words," he whispered harshly. Before they could even question it, Prim came barreling into them to hug Katniss.

"Please come back," Prim sobbed. Katniss started crying and Katniss' mother came up to them.

"I promised you Prim. She's coming home," Peeta said and kissed the top of her head. Before Katniss could protest, the Peacekeepers were in front of them.

"We're here to escort you to the Square. NOW!" one of them yelled, and yanked Katniss from her sister.

They had no time. They were rushed up onto the stage. "Don't volunteer for him. Please Peeta. Don't do it-"Katniss was shoved roughly by a Peacekeeper to the other side of the stage.

"DON'T SHOVE HER!" Peeta yelled, going to lunge at Peacekeeper, but Haymitch yanked him back.

"Now is not the time," Haymitch told him.

"When is the time then?" Peeta demanded. Haymitch gripped him harder and put him in his spot. He grabbed Peeta's cheeks.

"You'll get it. I promise," Haymitch said. Peeta couldn't understand what was with Haymitch this morning. He couldn't understand all his cryptic messages.

It was a blur listening to Effie call Katniss' name. He wasn't sure if he actually heard it or not. He just watched Katniss. She didn't move when Effie called her name. Thread stepped forward to grabbed her, but he knew Katniss well enough. He jumped forward and caught her before her head hit the floor.

"Get her up!" Thread demanded. Haymitch pushed him back.

"Will you back the hell off of her. She fainted. How do you expect an unconscious body to stand on their own?" Haymitch snapped at him. Thread took a step closer to them and Haymitch put a foot in front of them. "Go right ahead and do something on camera. The whole world is watching. You go after the darlings of the Capitol, and they'll come for your head on a silver platter," Haymitch hissed.

"Katniss wake up," Peeta said as he shook her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered opened, and it took her a minute for her eyes to focus. Mayor Undersee appeared a moment later with a cup of water.

"Have her drink this," he said sadly. Peeta cradled her head and then took the cup of water and held it to her mouth.

"Slow slips," Peeta whispered to her. He waited a moment before putting the cup back down and brushed her hair off her forehead. "Come on sweetheart. Let's just get this over with," he kissed her cheek and helped her stand up and put her next to Effie.

"Well look at her. Good as new. Alright then. And now, for the men," Effie reached in, and could see the paper. "Haymitch- "

"I volunteer as tribute," "NO!" they called out together. Haymitch grabbed him.

"I can't let you do this," Haymitch said.

"You can't stop me," Peeta said and stepped forward. Katniss covered her face.

"No," she cried into her hands.

"Very well. The Tributes from District 12. Katniss Everdeen, and Peeta Mellark," Effie said, trying to keep sound energetic. Trying to sound happy. But failing. Everyone raised their fingers in the District 12 salute, and the Peacekeepers grabbed at them. Not letting them say goodbye to their family.

"NO! We didn't say goodbye to our family," Peeta yelled at Thread. But they would hear none of it. They were shoved onto the train, and then they were off. He looked out the window and watched District 12 whizzing by. There would be no closure.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!" Katniss screamed and she shoved him. She tried attacking him, but Katniss was no match for Peeta's strength as he held her, flaring her arms and trying to hit him. "We could have come home together. I could have come home to you. How could you do this to us?" she sobbed. He held her tightly to his body as she sobbed. She stopped fighting him at some point and he picked her up and brought her to his room. He laid her down on the bed and rubbed her back.

"The best way to get you out of that arena, is for me to be on the inside, and Haymitch to stay out and get you sponsors. Me and Haymitch are where were supposed to be, so you can come home and raise our daughter," he told her. She just sobbed on his chest.

Once they got to the Capitol, they were separated to get ready for the Chariot ride. Katniss was miserable and didn't even speak until she was with Cinna. He was dressing her, and he was narrowing his eyes at her. Rearranging her outfit. He locked eyes with her in the mirror, and she let out a deep breath. Cinna knew. Cinna knew since he came to have her try on wedding dresses.

"You're pregnant," Cinna whispered and then gulped. She couldn't lie to him. She just nodded her head, and he leaned forward and hugged her so tightly. "I'm so sorry Katniss," Cinna said as he hugged her tightly. Cinna was the first person to apologize to her about being pregnant.

"Please don't let anyone find out," she whispered. He pulled back and nodded. He played around with her outfit and was able to hide the little bump. No one saw it in the City Circle. Especially after her and Peeta were on fire.

They were late to training the next day due to Katniss' morning sickness. But Effie didn't need to worry. Barely anyone was there. One of tributes was there puking up the alcohol from the night before. And Haymitch wanted them to make friends? Make allies? "So far I'm not overwhelmed by our choices," Katniss said sarcastically.

She wasn't feeling good. Her morning sickness was hitting her hard that day. But she was refusing and willing her body not to throw up. She didn't want anyone to suspect that she was pregnant. She didn't want anyone to find out. Hell, she didn't even want to know it herself.

She didn't want this baby. She didn't see herself with this baby that was growing inside of her. She had accepted that she would be dying in the arena. But those weren't the thoughts she was avoiding. The thoughts and feelings that scared her was when she realized that when she died in the arena, she wasn't just killing herself…she was killing her baby as well. Their baby. Peeta's baby. He won't be a dad to this baby because she was taking him or her with her when she died. These were the thoughts that frightened her. She wished there was some way that she could send this baby home with him. He'd never be alone. He'd always have a piece of her with him…always.

Peeta had noticed her lack of trying in Training. So did everyone else. He was watching her giving up, and he couldn't take it anymore. She was laying in the middle of the training center, on these different sized beams. He threw the spear over his shoulder, making a loud noise. Everyone watched him as he stomped over to the center of the room.

"What are you doing?" Peeta hissed at Katniss. She leaned up on her elbows.

"Laying down. Care to join me?" she asked. He didn't want to lay down. He leaned forward and grabbed her arm and yanked her up and stomped with her out of the room. People started clapping and hooping and hollering, thinking they were leaving to go have sex.

"Peeta let go," she demanded. But he ignored her, taking her all the way up to the twelfth floor and dragging her into their bedroom. "What's the matter with you?"

"What's the matter with me? What's the matter with you? You go down there, and you don't care. You show no emotion. You don't fight!" Katniss stopped and watched him.

"I need you to fight Katniss. I need you to be the Girl on Fire. I need you to show the Capitol that they don't own you. To show Snow that he doesn't own you. I need you to be the girl that fought so hard to survive to keep your promise to Prim and come back home to her. To keep her alive. I need you to fight to keep our baby alive," Peeta choked out. Katniss stopped breathing. She shook her head, not wanting to hear anymore. He knew she hated to talk abut the baby. She refused. But she needed to hear this.

He walked up to her and grabbed her cheeks, and he started crying. "I need you to fight for her to be born," he cried. He knew she was pregnant with a little girl. Every day he became more and more certain of this. "I need you to raise her…and tell her that I loved her,"

Katniss let's out a sob and shakes her head. "No. No, no, no. Don't say this," she sobbed. He grabbed her shoulders and held onto her tightly.

"You want to ignore her. But you can't anymore Katniss. You have our baby growing inside of you," he said, and put his hand to her lower belly. She let out a sob. "I need you to fight for our daughter Katniss. I need you both alive. I need to send you home. I need you to let this baby be born," he sobbed. He collapsed then and her arms went around his neck, sobbing right along with him.

"Please Katniss. I'm begging you. I want our daughter to have a life. You and her. Please Katniss. I'm begging you to fight for her," he cried.

They didn't go back down that day. They didn't leave the room. Peeta ordered their dinner to the room, and they stayed in each other's arms. But the next day they walked into training, and they were the last ones. Everyone looked at them. Katniss walked right over and grabbed the bow and arrow, that had been waiting for her all along.

And she gave them all a show. For 30 minutes straight, she played game after game, and no one could take their eyes off of her. But when she was done, she dropped the bow and leaned over, panting. He didn't run to her though. He wanted her to stand up on her own. And after a minute, she did. His Girl on Fire was going to fight…and she was going to be an amazing mother to their daughter.

They spent a wonderful last day together on the rooftop, just the two of them. Then the next day they were whisked away by their Prep teams, and Peeta wanted to hurl when he saw his sui,t and then looked to Portia. Snow was making him wear his wedding tux. Which meant Katniss was going to be forced to wear her wedding dress.

Peeta was right about that. But even in a hideous Capitol type of wedding dress, he still thought she looked beautiful standing up there with Caesar. He kept turning to look at her during in his own interview.

He and Katniss never discussed what either of them would say during their interviews. But he knew what he was going to say.

"It's not a legal marriage. But we toasted. And in District 12, that means more than any piece of paper the Capitol would make us sign. She's my wife, and that's all that matters," Peeta said and looked up at her. She smiled at him. It was a sad smile. But even the sad smiles on Katniss' face he loved.

"I wouldn't have any regrets if it wasn't for the baby," Peeta said. People started yelling, and Caesar was shocked. Peeta took the microphone. "Katniss is pregnant with our child, and she's going into an arena," Peeta said.

"Haymitch told me what you were going to say tonight. And right when you say it, hit this button. It's gonna change Katniss' dress just a tad," Cinna said.

He pressed the button, and everyone watched as Katniss' dressed changed once again, after transforming into the Mockingjay. Cinna had made some material to flatter her belly, but the dress was letting it out, and tightening in area to accentuate her baby bump, shocking Katniss. She raised her head and tears filled her eyes.

Peeta gave the microphone back to Caesar and ran up the stairs and hugged her. He pulled back and laid a hand on her belly, over hers that was already resting there. "Why did you do that?" she asked.

"Because I want the world to know that he's sending my pregnant, 17-year-old wife into an arena to die. He needs to be held accountable for that. And he is now. In front of all of Panem," Peeta said.

The Victors held hands, and then the lights were shut off, and they had to return to their rooms. Katniss and Peeta took a shower. A slow, solemn shower. It would be the last shower that they'd ever take together. Haymitch was waiting for them when they came out.

"Snow won't cancel the Games…I was hoping that you work," Haymitch said sadly. He covered his face with his hands. "I'm sorry," he said. Peeta patted his shoulder.

"It's ok Haymitch. We did everything we could," Peeta said. Haymitch cleared his throat. "Any last advice?" Peeta asked. Haymitch looked at them.

"I gave it to you right before we left," Haymitch said. Peeta hoped Katniss had figured it out because he knew she always did before. But she was so distracted. Haymitch turned to Katniss then. "You remember who the real enemy is when you're in the Sweetheart,"

And then it was just them. Peeta had so many ideas of what their last night would be like. But it turned out nothing like he had planned. It was a night of sad, slow love making, that never ended in a climax. Neither one of them could finish. And neither one of them could stop crying. His family was slipping through his grasp. He could be losing his family in a matter of hours.

The knock on the door broke them apart the next morning. They pulled on their clothes and walked outside. They were going to be taken in two different directions. He grabbed Katniss's neck and pulled her to him, their foreheads touching.

"Remember what I said about the cornucopia,"

"We don't need anything. We'll have enough sponsors to get what we need. We run in the same direction. If the cornucopia's blocking us, you go right and I'll go left. We'll find each other. But run. Just run away,"

"Yes, I remember the plan," Katniss cried.

"I'll see you soon. I promise you Katniss. This isn't goodbye," he told her and kissed her.

Cinna held onto her for the hovercraft ride. Got her to eat as much as she could stomach. "Try Katniss. You need to keep your strength up for you and the baby," Cinna said. She put her hand on her stomach in fear of someone overhearing. But it was out in the open now. It wasn't a secret anymore.

She went to stand in the tube, but it wouldn't open. "What's going on?" she asked. They turned around and three Peacekeepers came in. Two of them grabbed Cinna and the other stood in front of Katniss.

"President Snow send his regards to the baby," he said. Katniss didn't have a time to react before the Peacekeeper punched her in the stomach. She fell to the floor, and she was kicked a few times in the stomach, and then was shoved into the now open tube. The baby!

As she curled up on the floor and sobbed, she saw the three Peacekeepers beating Cinna. "NO!" She yelled, forcing herself up. She beat the glass as his blood splattered on her tube.

"CINNA NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE! CINNA!" She screamed for him. Two the Peacekeepers picked his arms up and started dragging him out of the room, and then other turned around to her.

"Enjoy that baby gift," he said, and her tube started bringing her up to the arena. She couldn't see Peeta anywhere. She doubled over. Did the man break her ribs? She couldn't stop herself from throwing up.

"Oh God," she cried. She felt dizzy and her stomach was searing in pain. The baby. Snow believed them. He knew it wasn't an act. She must have finally convinced him that she was, truly in love with Peeta, because she was carrying his baby.

No, she was carrying Peeta's child. In past tense. Now? There was no chance their baby was still alive.

Peeta!

She clock was counting down. She swore she would protect him. She never gave up hope that Peeta would be the one to walk out of this arena. She had to protect him. She couldn't but throw up over the pedestal and into the water. She stood up shakily, crying as she did. "Oh my God," she cried, holding her stomach. She wanted to die, right there! But she couldn't. She needed to save Peeta. Because she just realized, Peeta couldn't swim! Katniss would be the only person saving him from drowning.

She fought her way to the Cornucopia, staring at Haymitch's bracelet on Finnick's wrist. Finnick was being forced on her. "DUCK!" Finnick yelled. Gladly! She fell to the ground in relief.

"Katniss get up. I'll go this way and find Peeta!" Finnick yelled. Peeta. She needed to find Peeta. She grabbed the weapons they'd need and followed Finnick's voice to where Peeta was. Finnick was talking to her, but she couldn't really understand him.

But someone was fighting with Peeta. "PEETA!" she yelled. She went to jump in after him, but someone grabbed her. She looked down and realized it was Mags, shaking her head. She heard the cannon and looked at Peeta.

"PEETA!" she screamed again. She fell to her knees when she saw his head pop up. She doubled over, and just cried. Peeta was alive. Her head was spinning, she was in so much pain. She just wanted to lay down. She could lay down, right?

But she was being shaken. She tried focusing her eyes. She could see blonde hair. "Peeta," she breathed.

"Katniss wake up. We have to move! NOW!" Peeta yelled at her. Her bow was forced into her hands and she nodded her head. She was pulled from the rocks and onto the beach and was told to run. One foot in front of the other. That's all she had to do. Just keep on running. Don't think about the Peacekeepers who beat Cinna in front of her. Cinna. Was he alive? No, don't think about that. Don't think about the Peacekeeper who kicked her in the stomach, aiming for her baby.

Run Katniss. Run. It's all I kept telling myself. You have to stay strong. You have to keep running. You have to keep moving because you need save Peeta. Peeta wins. Peeta gets out of the arena. You're fighting for Peeta. Your sole purpose is to make sure Peeta survives. Peeta. Peeta. Peeta. Peeta.

"Katniss!" She heard her name being called. She was sitting on the ground of the jungle. And it was hot. So very hot.

"Katniss can you hear me?" She tried to focus but the pain in her abdomen was blinding her vision. The last thing she saw was Peeta's face before everything turned black.

"Katniss! Wake up!" Peeta shook her frantically. He was cradling her body in his arms and looked up at Finnick. "Did someone hit her?" He asked.

"She came up from the tube like that. She was all doubled over and throwing up off the side. It has to be the baby," Finnick said. He and Mags were hovered over them.

"She's had morning sickness, but never like this," Peeta said. He was terrified for her. Something was wrong. This was more than morning sickness.

"She was never in the arena when she was pregnant," Finnick pointed out. Peeta stared at him and then looked back down at Katniss, passed out in his arms. She had never passed out before. She had never been dazed as she was. She had never sweated like this before. He knew it was hot, but it was something else. Something wasn't right with her. He could feel it.

They waited almost 30 minutes before she started to wake up. "Oh, thank God Katniss. I've got you," Peeta whispered to her and kissed her sweaty forehead. Her eyes flickered and she started moaning in pain and curled up into his chest.

"Katniss are you ok? What hurts?" He asked. She let out a sob and touched her stomach. His heart stopped. The baby!

"What's wrong with the baby?" He asked her as he placed his hand on her belly and she rolled away from him and threw up on the ground. Nothing by bile. She had nothing in her system. No food from breakfast to sustain her for a little while. He rubbed her back and pulled her braid behind her shoulder. She collapsed on the ground and panted.

"Baby come on. We have to keep moving. We can't stay here," Peeta pleaded with her. He helped her sit up and he watched as she wobbled. "Are you dizzy?" He asked her.

"Yes," she whispered softly. Before he could say anything, the sound of the cannon went off, signaling the other Victors that have been murdered.

"We'll I guess they're not holding hands anymore," Finnick chuckled. Katniss looked up then. He knew that look.

"You think that's funny?" She demanded. Not in full force. She was hissing through her teeth. Something wasn't right. He didn't really listen to their arguing, but noticed she pulled her knife out. He crawled In between them.

"That's enough. We need to keep moving," Peeta said. Katniss glared at them but then closed her eyes to take a deep breath. "Where are you hurt?" He asked her softly. She shook her head and opened her eyes. He could see the pain there. Something was wrong with her. He knew it.

"I'm ok," she lied. He helped her stand up, and she was unsteady on her feet.

"No, you're not. What happened. Finnick said you collapsed on the pillar when you came up, and you were throwing up," Peeta said. He watched as Katniss glared at him.

"You mind your own business," she said as she pushed herself off Peeta, but Peeta knew she just wasn't ok. She wobbled on her feet and looked a little lost. He took her elbow.

"Just follow me," Peeta said as he took the lead. He caught Finnick's eyes.

"Watch her…please?" He mouthed to him, pleading with Finnick. Finnick and Mags eyed each other and then he nodded and hoisted Mags onto his back.

Peeta took the lead again. He was terribly worried. He had prayed that nothing would start this early once the gong sounded. When he came up into the cornucopia, he couldn't find her. He didn't even know how he was gonna get to her without knowing how to swim.

And then he was pulled under before he knew it. He tried to hold his breath as much as he could. All he could think of was Katniss and his daughter. He wasn't letting anyone take him down because he was getting them home! He was staying with the until the end, and he was not going to let this man drown him in the first five minutes.

He punched at him, kneed him, and then was pulled under one last time. But he had his hands to the man's throat. The guy didn't gasp a big breath of air before they went under like Peeta did. So, he felt the life leaving his body as he squeezed harder. The man stopped fighting and he knew he was dead. Peeta just killed a man!

He came up gasping for air and grabbed the pillar. "Peeta!" He turned and saw Finnick O'dair. His fear took over again. How could he drown a Career from District 4? Katniss. His daughter.

But something strange happened. Finnick held up his wrist. "We're allies, remember?" Finnick said. How did he get Haymitch's bracelet? He instantly trusted Finnick, because Haymitch trusted Finnick. He wouldn't send Finnick to Peeta if he couldn't trust him. He gulped and nodded.

"I can't swim," Peeta admitted.

"Don't worry. I got you. Mags has Katniss," Finnick said. Peeta looked over and saw her, waiting.

"Oh, thank God," they're ok. He allowed Finnick to grab him and swim home over to the edge. His heart stopped when Katniss looked dazed. Her face was red. "Katniss are you ok?" he asked as he pulled himself up on the rocks. He didn't wait for an answer and grabbed her face, calling her name.

"Katniss wake up. We have to move! NOW!" he had told her. They took off running, but heard Finnick telling her a few times to hurry up that had scared him. She was struggling to keep up. It was normally the opposite. He was always trying to keep up with her.

"KATNISS!" Finnick yelled. Peeta spun around, and she had collapsed onto the ground. He was terrified as they had waited for her to wake up. He thought he had already lost her, and not even an hour had passed.

He knew something was wrong. She wasn't acting normal. She never passed out unless there was a reason. He couldn't figure out the reason for her just collapsing like this. And now she was throwing up? It was more than morning sickness. Something happened before she came up into the arena. But she wouldn't tell him. He had to get them out of the arena. He had to be the strong one.

If only had been paying attention to the forcefield when his knife made contact with it and sent him flying backwards.

When he woke up the pain in his chest was unbearable and there was ringing in his ears. But he could hear Katniss sobbing. "Be careful, there's a forcefield up there,"

She laughed and then kissed him. "You we're dead. You were dead, your heart stopped," she sobbed. He didn't mean to scare her. He felt terrible for her.

"It's ok, it's working now love," he said as she collapsed on top of him. Sobbing, but something was in her cry. There was pain in it. Physical pain. Something was hurting her. She was moaning in the middle of her sobs and her body was twitching.

"Katniss please, tell me what hurts," he begged her. She leaned up but fell, crying out from the pain.

"Let me help you," Finnick said, and helped pull her up. She was sobbing from the pain. From fear of losing him. "You wanna stand up to?" He asked Peeta. He nodded his head and allowed Finnick to help him for the second time that day. The pain in his chest sent fire through his whole body. But he bent down and helped her stand up and she jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, but she twitched again and cried out in pain.

"Baby please tell me. Please tell me what's wrong," he begged her again.

"You can't die. Please don't die," she sobbed, ignoring his own pleas. He sighed into her hair, being gentle with her.

"It's ok. I'm ok Katniss. I'm here right here. I got you," he tried soothing her. He was trying to hold her up, without applying too much pressure. Why wouldn't she tell him what was wrong?

"We can't stay here. We gotta keep moving," Finnick told them. He wanted nothing more than to lay down and rest. He was in so much pain, and so was she. But Finnick was right. They did need to keep moving. He needed to keep everyone away from his wife.

"No, he needs to rest. His heart stopped. He just died," she cried. Peeta took her in his arms.

"I'm ok Katniss," he lied and kissed the side of her neck and then pulled back. "Finnick's right Katniss. We need to keep moving. We can't just stand here. It's not safe," he looked to Finnick.

"I don't think I can move like I did before," he admitted embarrassingly. He was the one that was leading them moments ago.

"Slow is better than nothing," Finnick said and hoisted Mags back up. He felt bad for Finnick suddenly. He was left with three crippled alliance members. He'd be better off leaving them all where they were and letting them fend for themselves. But Peeta realized that the man wasn't leaving Mags! And it didn't look like he was giving up on him and Katniss at the moment.

He knew from getting to know the other Victors the past few weeks, that Mags helped raise him when he became a Victor. His family had died right after he won, so Mags is the one that took him in. He loved her. He couldn't stand to leave her behind. He glanced at Katniss as she walked. He understood it. Not in that type of relationship, but he'd never leave Katniss in the arena.

They walked for a while, throwing nuts against the force field so they didn't hit it. Eating them along the way. Once they stopped for the night, Peeta and Katniss argued about her hunting for food. In the end, Katniss won. He gave her a time limit, and a direction where she could go. He was about to go looking for her when she came back with some arena animal.

"I couldn't find any water. But there's some nearby. He was drinking some," Katniss said as she plopped down. She was panting from barely being gone ten minutes. He sat down next to her.

"Are you alright?" Peeta asked. Katniss nodded her head and went to work on skinning the animal. He watched her hands stumble a few times before he grabbed the knife. "You're going to cut yourself. Let me do it," he told her softly, but she yanked on the knife.

"I'm fine. I've been doing this for years," she said tiredly.

"Just let him skin the damn thing," Finnick said. They both looked towards him. "The last thing we need is for you to cut your hand. So, let him skin it already," Finnick told them as he laid up against a log and closed his eyes. Katniss handed the dead animal and the knife over to Peeta without a word.

They made a fire and cooked it but were dying of thirst. "Why don't you try and rest," Peeta said to Katniss, who was fighting sleep. She had a death grip on her bow, ready to stand up and fight at any moment, as the sky grew darker and darker.

"I'm fine," she whispered without opening her eyes. He reached over to wipe some sweat off her face, but then stopped. He moved his hand around her head.

"Katniss you're not fine. You're burning up," he said frantically, and he used both hands to cup her face. She pushed him away.

"I'm fine Peeta. I'm just dehydrated like everyone else," she grumbled at him. But she still hadn't opened her eyes. Peeta stood up then and looked up so the cameras could see his face.

"Alright Haymitch. If you're not too drunk up there, how about you send us some water, and something for Katniss' fever!" he said loudly, but not too loudly.

"I don't have a fever," Katniss groaned. Finnick huffed and stood up and walked over and used the back of his hand to feel her forehead.

"You have a fever, honey," Finnick said and went and sat back down.

"Damnit Haymitch come on!" Peeta called out, and there were two parachutes falling towards the group. Peeta grabbed the first one and pulled out fever pills. "Oh, thank God. The other one must be water," Peeta said as the other landed in Katniss' lap. She pulled out a little metal contraption and stared at it.

"What the heck is that?" Finnick asked as he took it and examined.

"A spile," she whispered. She told them how to use it, and they all went to the tree and started drinking their full of the warm water. It didn't matter that it was warm. But it helped Katniss, and that was all that mattered. Peeta got Katniss to take the fever pills, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Katniss and Finnick started arguing about who was going to stay up and guard. "Honey, if I wanted to kill you, I already would have. As it stands, I've said both of your lives already," Finnick told her.

"Me and Peeta…don't need you to save our lives," Katniss said drowsily. She swayed on her feet and Peeta caught her. "I'm fine," Katniss said to Peeta, as he helped her sit down.

"I'm going to take watch. And then I'll…wake you…up," Katniss said and dozed off. Finnick snorted.

"I can't believe she actually stood there and argued that she was going to be on guard. She'd let the Careers walk right up to us and slit our throats," Finnick chuckled.

"Yeah. She's super, super stubborn," Peeta says sadly. He enjoys her stubbornness. It's what makes Katniss, Katniss. He loves everything about her. And he doesn't know what he's going to do, because any minute now she's going to be taken away from him.

"Pretty worried about her huh," Finnick says, shaking him out of his thoughts. All Peeta can do is nod his head as he watches her.

"Somethings wrong with her. Something happened between when we left each other, and when she came up into the arena. I know she knows and she's just lying to me. She's in more pain than she's letting on, and I just don't know what to do," Peeta rambled. He scrubbed his face with one hand.

"I'm sorry," Finnick said. He knew he made Finnick feel awkward. But he couldn't help it. He needed someone to talk to.

"I just want to keep her safe. I can't watch her die. There's no way I can handle that. I'll die of a broken heart right there…it wouldn't just be her…I'll be watching my baby die as well," Peeta said and stopped before he started crying. He leaned over onto his knees and dug his fingers into his eyeballs, hoping he didn't start sobbing. He wouldn't let the Capitol watch him cry.

"How could anyone think this is entertaining?" He asked out loud, scrubbing his face. He couldn't watch his wife and his baby die.

He felt Finnick's hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard. But just stay strong for her. And stay together as long as you can. It's all you can do," Finnick said. All he could do if try to soak up every moment with her before he was dead. "You need to get some sleep. I'll take watch," he told Peeta. Peeta didn't argue. He couldn't.

"Thanks," Peeta said and went over and laid down next to Katniss. Her wrapped his arm over her waist and started to settle when he felt her jerk, and moan. She pushed at his arm.

"No, my stomach hurts," she moaned. He instantly took his arm off of her and leaned up on his elbows.

"Katniss is something wrong with the baby?" He asked frantically. But she groaned and turned towards him, curling up to him with her knees in between them, making sure her stomach was safe. Her face showed the pain she was in. He kissed her forehead and could tell that her fever hadn't broken.

"Everything will be ok Katniss. Just sleep now," he said, resting his arm on her shoulder.

She slept through the nightly anthem, letting them know which Victors had died that day. It was hard to watch. He noticed Celia was one of the faces and he closed his eyes tightly then. She was a mother. And the Capitol just let her die. He couldn't have Katniss, a soon to be mother die in the arena. He wouldn't allow that.

He didn't realize he fell asleep until he heard Finnick yelling. "THE FOG IS POISON!" He screamed as he started working with Mags to get her up and onto his back. Katniss hadn't moved. So, he got on his knees and started shaking her roughly and made her sit up.

"Katniss get up. The fog is poisonous. He said, jarring her awake. He reached over and grabbed all their things and yanked her up and put the arrows on her back and shoved her bow into her hands. She was dazed.

"What?" She looked around like she didn't know where she was. He grabbed her face and it felt hotter.

"Katniss wake up. I need you to run. NOW!" He said and yanked on her hand and pulled.

That night was terrible. They ran from the fog, but it was closing in on them. Finnick fell at one point, knocking Mags off his back. He was pulling on Katniss for a while until she got the point and was running on her own. But she fell and he ran back for her, getting hit with the fog.

He tried to control his body, but he couldn't. His body was jerking all around and he got hit again. Katniss was on top of his back crying, and he heard Finnick yelling for Mags to come back, and then he heard the cannon.

Mags had sacrificed herself so Finnick could carry him. He felt Katniss being yanked off his back, and Finnick yelled at her that she had to help him carry Peeta and they ran from the fog, only to fall down a hill.

They all laid there. His body was burning like fire. He reached out and touched Katniss' fingertips. This was it. The fog was going to take them both. He went to look at her but then watched as the fog stopped. Like hitting a glass wall. They were safe from the fog.

He ended up figuring out that putting his hand in the small little pond of water, the fog with leave their skin. He got all the fog out of him and went back for Katniss. She cried from her stomach, begging Peeta not to touch it. He was terrified, not knowing what was wrong with her. There was nothing he could do but help her along.

After he had gotten her settled, he went to Finnick and dragged him into the water. He hasn't realized that Finnick had gotten the worst of the fog…because he had stopped to help Peeta. Because Peeta had stopped to help Katniss. He felt terrible that Finnick was suffering because his alliance…were a bunch of weaklings.

He made Katniss just sit in the water to try and cool her down. The water was warm, but it was cooler than her body, which was still burning with fever. He had them both drink and was standing at the tree drinking when he heard Finnick's voice.

"Peeta. Walk over here slowly," Finnick said. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his body froze. He slowly looked to his side to see that Finnick had helped Katniss up and she was pointing her bow, while Finnick had his spear up, and one hand on her back. They were looking above his head. Something was there. He slowly tried to move, but then it jumped. Monkeys! Muttation monkeys.

The three of them fought in the water with their backs towards each other, protecting one another. The groaning that was coming from Katniss was from pain. She was fighting with all she had.

He turned suddenly when a monkey jumped on her and had her submerged in the water. He ran to her, stabbing the monkey in the back and yanking it off her. He snatched her up and she gasped and coughed for air. She couldn't fight anymore.

"Get up and get to the beach. Don't stop running," he yelled at her and pushed her. They went running, but then the monkeys attacked and knocked them over.

It happened all in slow motion. The monkey was jumping at him, and the knife had fallen out of his hand. His life flashed before his eyes, and he was angry at himself for dying, and not saving Katniss. But someone jumped in front of him and saved him. The monkey attacked them, instead of him.

He grabbed his knife and ran up and stabbed it and yanked it off the person. It took a moment to see who the person was. "It's the Morphling. Quick, help me get her to the beach," he told Katniss, who grabbed her other arm and the dragged her into the water, hoping the monkeys wouldn't follow.

He turned and saw Finnick tumble onto the sand and prepare to attack, but the monkeys wouldn't step onto the sand. And then, they turned and walked away.

The Morphling died in his arms a few moments later. She sacrificed herself to save Peeta. Why would she do that? Why would Mags sacrifice herself so Finnick could save him? Why did Finnick save him? None of this made sense.

He voiced his opinion to Katniss, but only about the Morphling before he could stop himself. She grabbed onto his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder as they watched the hovercraft take the Morphling away.

"I love you," she whispered. He turned and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you to," he said. He felt her wobble and he turned and held her. "Katniss!" He said, making her shake her head. She was about to pass out in his arms. He had her take a few steps before she did pass out. Peeta carried her to the beach and laid her down.

"Is she alright. Did she get bitten or scratched?" Finnick asked.

"Nothing that I can see," he said worriedly as he patted her whole body, being careful with her stomach.

"Lay down. I'll catch some food," Finnick said. Peeta let Finnick tell him what to do. He figured Finnick needed some time to himself. He lost Mags.

When Peeta woke up, he saw that Finnick had gone to work. He made a covering for them from the shade. He saw mats laying on the sand that he assumed for when they laid down again on the sand. There were bowls of food and water waiting for them.

"I just caught everything. Best to eat it while it's fresh," Finnick said, appearing at the mouth of their little shelter.

"Thank you for doing this. Have I been sleeping long?" Peeta asked as she softly started shaking Katniss.

"Just a few hours," Finnick told him, spinning his trident around in fast circles.

"We'll let me get her up and eating and you can sleep," Peeta said, turning his attention back to Katniss. She was still hot, "Katniss wake up. You gotta eat something," he said as he shook her a little harder. She blinked her eyes and moaned.

"I'm not hungry," she groaned.

"Sweetheart I know you don't feel good. But I need you to eat. For the baby," he said. She opened her eyes and stared clearly at him. He could see the terror in her face and ran the back of his knuckles across her hot cheek. "Please Katniss. Please try and eat something for me," he begged her.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath and nodded her head. He helped her sit up carefully, and Finnick sat down and handed him a bowl of fish that he had cut up.

"Left all my seasonings at home. You should have tasted what I could do with a filet of fish," Finnick joked. Peeta grabbed some oysters and started cutting them open.

"Mmmm. I loved these when I tried them in 4," Peeta said. He looked over at Katniss who was taking small bites of the fish. Her face was deathly white. "Here, you liked the oysters to," Peeta said and put it to her mouth. She started eating it but then started coughing. Finnick thrust a coconut at him that he had fashioned into a bowl, and Peeta put it under her chin and had her throw it up.

"It's ok Katniss," Peeta said. Finnick held out the coconut with water.

"Give me that one," Finnick said. He traded coconuts and held it to her mouth to drink.

"I can't eat anymore Peeta. Please don't ask me to again," she groaned. Peeta nodded his head. He turned back to his food sadly and cut open more oysters, not even tasting them.

He opened one and was surprised by the little dark pearl he found. "Oh," he said and grabbed another coconut of water and poured some into his hand, cleaning the pearl off. He held it out for Katniss

"For you," he said. She looked at his hand and then slowly took it, examining it. He watched as her eyes filled with tears. He knew why. He thought of it too. It was the last present he'd ever give her.

He put the food down and scooted back and pulled her to his shoulder, sitting next to her. "It's alright Katniss. Don't cry. It's just a pearl," he said.

"It's a beautiful pearl," she clarified.

He got her to lay back down, and Finnick also went to sleep. He stood up and took guard. Turning and watching to jungle and watching across the water. Watching for anyone who wanted to harm them. Who wanted to hurt Katniss.

Finnick woke up a few hours later. "She any better?" Peeta bent down and into their makeshift tent. He felt her forehead.

"God she's burning up," Peeta said and stood up. He paced and scrubbed his eyebrows. He snorted sarcastically.

"You know her mom's a healer. Her sisters going to be as well. Katniss would know what to do right now. She says she's not a healer, but she is. If that were me, she'd be able to nurse me back to health," he said he let out a sarcastic laugh. "What am I saying. She already has done that,"

"In the last arena," Finnick said. Peeta nodded his head. They watched her for a moment before he cleared his throat. "I'm gonna get her some water. Let's see if we can get some more fever pills in her, and then try getting her in the water and cool her down. At the very least clean her up a little," Finnick said as he went to tap a tree.

He woke Katniss up again and she was still so groggy. Finnick handed him a coconut and Peeta grabbed the fever pills that he had been keeping in the canister that Haymitch had sent them. "Here, try and take some more fever pills," he said. She moaned and turned her head.

"Katniss please don't fight me. We need to bring your fever down," Peeta said. She took the pills and the water and washed the pills down. He leaned in and kissed her. Her lips burned his. "Thank you,"

She nodded her head. "Let's get into the water. See if it helps cool you down at all," Finnick bent forward and helped Peeta pick stand Katniss up without hurting her. But she grimaced anyway.

He walked her into the water a little past their waists. She closed her eyes, and he cupped his hand and brought water up to the top of her head. He spent some time washing the dirt and sweat from her face and trying to wash out her hair. He worked slowly trying to untangle her hair.

"There. Now I can see my wife again," he said and smiled at her. She gave him a soft smile that didn't meet her eyes. She leaned slightly forward and just rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her loosely. "Katniss…please tell me what's wrong…what happened?" He begged her. She stood still for a moment and then shook her head. Her let out a deep sigh. Something bad happened, that she was too afraid to tell him.

He kissed the top of her head. "You'll be ok Katniss. You'll make it out of here. I'll get you out of here. So just hold on…just hold on to me," he told her. She nodded her head.

They heard yelling then and looked towards the beach. Three people came out of the woods. Oh god, they left Finnick alone. And Peeta's knife was still up on the beach. "JOHANNA!" Finnick yelled and went running towards the group.

"I guess we have more allies. Come on baby," he whispered and kissed her hot lips again. The water did nothing to cool her down.

They made it up to shore to hear Johanna's story about the blood rain. Blight hitting the force field. Beetee taking a knife to his back to get the coil of wire. Wiress grabbed Johanna and she shoved Wiress to the ground.

"HEY! Leave her alone!" Katniss said and shoved Johanna. Johanna lunged at her, and Peeta and Finnick screamed at Johanna to stop. Peeta jumped in the middle, but she had already shoved Katniss, and she fell. He didn't want her to go after her again. Finnick had grabbed her.

"I don't care if you're pregnant. I'll kick your ass. I got them out for you," Johanna yelled. Peeta bent over Katniss, and she turned and threw up. So much for getting some fever pills into her.

"Johanna leave her alone," Finnick said.

"Don't touch her again!" Peeta yelled, pointing at her. He turned back to Katniss and rubbed her back as she cried on the beach. "Katniss it's ok. Shhh it's ok," Peeta tried to sooth her.

"What the hell happened?" Johanna demanded. Finnick let her go, and Peeta and him just stared at each other.

"We don't know. She has a fever and can't keep anything down," Peeta said sadly. He noticed that Finnick, Johanna, Wiress and Beetee all eyed each other. He couldn't focus on that. He had to focus on Katniss and getting her through the arena. She just had to outlast everyone. He thought of Haymitch's words then

Stay, alive! Outlast the arena. Together.

Whatever that meant. He got Katniss to sit up and sat next to her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "Just ignore her Katniss. And save your energy," he kissed the top of her head.

Finnick had brought Wiress out a little to help her wash the blood off, as Johanna and Beetee did the same. Peeta and Katniss just watched them.

"Tick tock, tick tock," Wiress kept repeating.

"I wonder what's going on in her head?" Peeta wondered out loud. She just kept saying it over and over again.

"Tick tock," Katniss whispered. She picked her head up and looked around the beach. "Tick tock," Katniss whispered again.

"Katniss don't you start on that too," Peeta told her.

"It's a clock," Katniss said and looked back at him. "It's a clock. We're in a clock," Katniss said. She leaned on Peeta, and he instantly jumped up and started helping her stand up.

"It's a clock. The arena's a clock!" Katniss said loudly for everyone to hear. "Wiress, you're a genius," Katniss cheered. Katniss told them they all needed to go to the cornucopia. They grabbed their weapons because you never go anywhere in an arena without them. Peeta took a stick and drew out a clock and they went through all of the different hours that they knew about.

Trying to come up with a strategy. Katniss must have noticed it first because they all reacted to her gasp. Wiress had stopped singing. They looked up to see that Gloss was behind her, and he had stabbed her. Peeta heard the cannon. She was dead.

But Katniss was quick and shot an arrow through Gloss's heart. Another cannon.

Cashmere appeared and threw a knife, but Johanna shoved Katniss out of the way and threw her axe into Cashmere's chest. A third cannon. Brutus appeared, and Peeta went to attack him, but Finnick shoved him out of the way. Fighting both Brutus and Enobaria on his own, taking a knife to the arm. Finnick held him back as they tried to run, but Katniss got around him on the other side.

"KATNISS!" Peeta screamed. Finnick jumped to go after her, once he realized she ran around him, when the ground under them started to spin. Everyone fell to the ground, holding on to the spinning cornucopia, while trying to not get killed from the sharp weapons flying their way. He almost slipped, but Finnick grabbed him.

"HOLD ON!" Johanna screamed.

"I can't. It hurts too much. I can't do it anymore," Katniss cried, and she slipped from Johanna's grasp. She fell into the water, choking. She didn't want to fight this anymore.

The spinning stopped and it took a moment for Peeta to stand and shake off the dizziness. "Katniss," he called out.

"KATNISS!" Johanna screamed. They went running around the cornucopia to see Johanna screaming to where Katniss was in the water, trying to come up for air.

"KATNISS!" Peeta screamed as he went running down the rocks. Finnick ran with him and then dove in the water to pick Katniss up and hold her above the water as she choked on water. He swam with her to the rocks and Peeta helped pull Katniss out of the water. "Oh God are you ok?" Peeta asked.

She fell to her side and curled up into a fetal position. "Please make it stop. I can't do it anymore. It hurts so bad," Katniss sobbed.

"Baby what hurts. Please tell me. I'll ask Haymitch for some medicine, I just need to know what's hurting you," Peeta cried.

"My stomach," she sobbed. He tried touching her stomach and she screamed.

"We need to get her back to the beach. Come on, I'll help you with her," Finnick said as he pulled himself up. Peeta and Finnick carefully maneuvered Katniss up in their arms, and down the rocks to sit on the sand. She laid on her side and curled back up, sobbing that it hurts.

"Just breathe through it Katniss. Just listen to my voice. Concentrate on what I'm saying ok?" Peeta soothed her. She listened to him as he directed her to breathe in and out. She squeezed his hand, and he kissed her knuckles. After awhile she finally calmed down and started breathing normal. Heavy, but better than before.

He placed his hand on her forehead, and turned to Finnick. "She's still burning up," Peeta said. Finnick just stared at him, not knowing what to say. Everyone sat in silence for a while until Peeta stood up.

"Damnit Haymitch, we need something for her! Send me something!" he yelled towards the sky.

"Do you really think that's gonna work?" Johanna asked. Her eyes widened as a capsule fell from the sky. Peeta yanked it open and was sad. It was only a bowl of broth. Just like the one he sent for him in the arena.

When Haymitch would send things to Katniss, she knew that he had hidden meanings. The meaning behind the broth last year, was for Peeta, to get something into his system. But the message to Katniss was clear. It wasn't a good enough kiss. Haymitch needed more. So, was this a sign to? Were they not doing something right? Why wouldn't he send medicine?

"Maybe she can hold that and some fever pills down this time," Finnick said as he came back to Peeta with a coconut full of water. Peeta nodded his head and got Katniss to sit up again. She was so dazed.

"Haymitch sent some broth. This'll help make you feel better," Peeta lied. Broth didn't help him feel better, and he knew it wouldn't make Katniss feel better. She had her take the fever pills first, and then he started spooning her broth. She only made it four bites in before she shook her head.

"I can't," she whispered. He closed it back up. It would remain hot, and he'd give her some more later.

"It's ok. You did good," Peeta said as he leaned in and kissed her. Katniss moved around a little to adjust herself and leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked over and saw that Finnick, Johanna and Beetee looked terrified. He couldn't understand what they were looking at. He caught Finnick's eyes cast down at Katniss.

"What?" Peeta asked. Finnick gulped and pointed his eyes down towards the sand. He sat up and leaned forward to look at Katniss, and what he saw there terrified him. He reached down between Katniss' legs and touched the inside of her thighs and then picked his hand up. Johanna gasped and covered her mouth.

On the sand, and on his hand…were covered in blood. Katniss was bleeding from inside.

Peet's stared at the blood on his hand and his whole body started trembling. She was bleeding. This couldn't mean what he knew it meant. He shook his head. He wouldn't accept that.

"What's wrong?" Katniss whispered when she opened her eyes. He looked up at her through his tears. He watched her look at his hand, and she gasped. "Are you bleeding?" She asked, grabbing his arm. All he could do is shake his head.

"No sweetheart…you are," he whispered. She stared at him and then looked down between her legs and gasped.

"What?…why…why am I bleeding?" She asked frantically and then looked up. They just stared at each other. He didn't know what to say to her. And he wouldn't accept why she was bleeding.

"I need to look at you Katniss," he told her. She held her stomach on her hands. But he reached over and took one of her hands. "Katniss please. I need to look at you. Please don't keep hiding from me," he told her. She closed her eyes and tears fell. He leaned his forehead against hers.

"I don't want everyone to see me," Katniss whispered. Peeta looked around. How does someone get privacy with cameras all around.

"The mats. I'll tie them all together. We'll go over to the cornucopia. Me and Beetee can cover you, and we'll put Johanna on top to watch.

Finnick went right to work on gathering vines and taking the mats to tie them together. Peeta picked Katniss up and carried her slowly across the rocks to the cornucopia. She moaned the entire way.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. The jarring her around was causing her more pain, and he hated it.

He got her to the cornucopia and put her down. Finnick put the mat down, and Johanna grabbed the coconut halves they brought and got some water in them and Beetee placed them next to Katniss.

"Help me get her up there," Finnick said, meaning Johanna. Him and Peeta hoisted her up there and handed her her axe. "Can you see everything from there?" Finnick asked.

"Perfectly," Johanna said. Finnick grabbed the mat and he and Beetee held it up so no one could see anything.

"Do you have enough light?" Finnick asked.

"Yeah, it's good," Peeta said. He took a deep breath. "Ok. Sit up for me," Peeta said, help pulling her to sit up. He reached around and unzipped her suit.

"Ok, let's have you lie down," Peeta told her and helped her lay flat on her back, and he started pulling down her wet suit. As soon as he pulled it down, he could see the blood covering her panties and the inside of her thighs. He gulped and scrubbed his face. He needed to be strong for her.

He looked up at her and knew he needed to look. He pulled up her tank top and gasped. "Oh God Katniss!" He breathed. There were bruises covering her stomach. These weren't from a little while ago. These were from before she entered the arena and after she left him that morning.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" Peeta asked. But she didn't answer. She covered her face and started softly crying. He leaned forward and took her hand and squeezed. "It's ok sweetheart. Just…just relax for me. Don't cry," he whispered to her. She nodded her head and then he sat back on his feet again.

He hooked his fingers into the sides of her panties and pulled down. He spread her legs and gulped. He grabbed one of the coconuts and started washing her. Trying to wash the blood away.

"You're doing great sweetheart," he told her. He wiped some blood away and then choked on his breath. There was a blood clot. Was that the baby? No, it couldn't be.

Everyone jumped as they heard a cannon. One of the Careers were dead. There were only six of them now. Only six left in the arena. Only four more people he had to kill so he could send Katniss home.

He went back to Katniss and washed the rest of the blood away, and then looked at her. She was staring at him. He couldn't face it. He wouldn't face it.

"It wasn't meant to be Peeta," she told him. But he shook his head.

"No that's not true you don't know that" Peeta said. But he just looked at her and he let a choked sob escape his throat. Katniss had a miscarriage. They lost their baby.

He shook his head. "No," he whispered and then moved so he could sit Katniss up and hold her. He couldn't keep it inside and he started crying. His daughter was gone. He had been fighting to save her, and she died before she ever had a chance.

Katniss wasn't crying. That wasn't good. "It's ok to cry," he whispered

"Cry for what?" She yelled. He squeezed her tighter. Katniss accepted it then. Even by some chance if she were to ever live, she'll never live. The only thing she'd have of Peeta, was gone.

"We can Cry for the life that we never got to have," Peeta told her. Katniss started crying then.

The three Victors standing by all looked at each other. It was awful to listen to as they both cried. No one wanted to stand by helplessly and listen to them mourn a baby.

"I'm so sorry Katniss," Peeta cried. Katniss became hysterical then, not being able to stop and he just pulled her into his lap and cried with her. He knew she had avoided the entire time that she knew she was pregnant, that she was in fact pregnant. But it still didn't mean that she didn't love her baby. Peeta knew that.

"I lost her Peeta. I tried to keep her," Katniss sobbed.

"I know Katniss. I know you did sweetheart,"

"I killed her. I wasn't strong enough," he pulled her back and made her look at him.

"No, you didn't. They killed our baby. They killed our daughter,"

"I never wanted her in the arena Peeta. I tried-"Peeta wouldn't let her finish that sentence. He remembered the day she tried to kill herself. But it wasn't like that. She didn't set out to kill their baby. She just wasn't in her right frame of mind.

"This isn't your fault Katniss. You loved her. I know you did. And she knows you did. You didn't hurt her.

"I wanted her to live," Katniss cried. The tears streamed down her face. He imagined Katniss holding a little girl that looked just like her. He wanted her to live to.

They sat there for a while just mourning their baby. The life that they created, that would never come to be. Katniss had suffered a miscarriage. It was a fact. And it was a devastating, soul breaking fact, and it crushed every inch of his soul.

But Peeta was still determined. His feelings hadn't changed. He was still going to get her home, and out of this arena!

"Let me wash off your underwear and wetsuit," Peeta said as he helped her lay back down and then stood up. Finnick moved to let him out and he saw Finnick's face. Pity was all he saw in his and Beetee's face. Finnick put his hand on his shoulder and just stared at him.

What happened effected Finnick. He looked to Beetee and saw it as well. Their hearts went out to them. They weren't ok with what just happened. Peeta just closed his eyes and walked towards the edge of the rocks. He looked up and saw Johanna. She had the same look on her face. No one was accepting what just happened.

He balanced himself to wash the blood off the best he could, without falling in. Finnick would have to jump in and grab him and that would expose Katniss.

He went back behind the makeshift curtain and slid her panties back on and helped her with her wet suit.

"Let's get back to the beach and I'll wash you off," he told her. She just sat there. "You ready?" He asked. She just put her head down and he bent down and scooped her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck.

Finnick and Beetee moved the mats and let Peeta walk past them and slowly down the rocks. He turned into the water once he got to the beach and walked out till the water was to the middle his stomach and let her down gently.

"Let me take your wet suit back off," all she did was nod and he unzipped her and pulled it down. He took a deep breath and went under water to the bottom to help her balance on his shoulders and he pulled them off. He threw them over his shoulder and started gently cleaning up her torso.

Now that he knew she had been…what, punched? Kicked? Beaten?...he shook his head to get the thoughts out. He knew to be careful now. He had her bend a bit so he could clean her chest. He didn't want that captured on camera. He cleaned her up again down there and had her lean back over his arm and he rinsed out her hair.

"I love you," he told her. She opened her eyes and bit her lips. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. "It's ok. I know love," he told her and leaned down and kissed her.

When he stood her back up, she laid her head on his shoulder and they just held each other. He ran his hand up and down her back. "I wish I could take away all your pain," he whispered.

"Me to," she said pitifully. He kissed her neck. He just needed to get her to keep going. To be strong. This is what they had been training for. He wasn't giving up on her, and he wasn't letting her give up on herself.

"It hurt so bad. It still hurts," she whispered to him.

"I don't know how you made it this far. You're so strong. So much stronger than you know Katniss. I'm so proud of you," he told her. She shook her head.

"I can't fight anymore. My body…I can't move it right," she cried.

"Yes, you can. And you will. Look what you've done in here. Look at all the danger you've faced, and you've survived. Every time. You're gonna survive this Katniss Mellark," he told her. She grabbed onto him harder.

"I want you to go home Peeta," she told him. How could she think that he could just go home without her?

"No. I have nothing without you. I'll have no one that I care about. You're who I care about. You need to go home,"

"I can't leave here without you. I'll have nothing without you. I'm gonna die without you. I don't want to live, and you can't change my mind. It'll be a waste because…I'll take my own life, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. It's either you or…I just can't live in this world without you Peeta. Nobody needs me,"

"No sweetheart that's not true. You have Prim and your mom. Gale and his family. Haymitch. You have Madge…and you'll have my family," he choked on that last bit. "You have so much to live for. So many people who love you and need you," but she shook her head.

"Please stop thinking like that," but he wouldn't stop. He wasn't going to give up so easily. "If I go home, I'll never leave the arena," it broke his heart to hear her say that.

"I didn't spend all these months training with you for you to give up now. You're gonna fight. And you're gonna go home and live a long life,"

"You made me love you…you made me open that window, when I never wanted to give in. I told you why I couldn't do this. Why I shouldn't. I knew that if I let myself love you, I'd lose you. I can't live my life with you dead. With our baby dead. I can't do that," she sobbed.

"I made my peace that day the quell was announced. I always planned to die and save you," Katniss told him.

"I planned the same thing," they stood there just staring at each other. "Please I need you to promise me. I need you to live. I need you to live your life. Prim and your mom need you. Gale, Haymitch and Gale's family need you. I know in my heart that you can be happy. I know you love me, and you'll always love me till you take you take your last breath. But I need to know that you'll go on. Please,"

She just looks at him and shakes her head, and he lets the tears fall down his face.

As he just held her, he started accepting, that she wasn't leaving the arena. She wasn't even going to try. She had given up. And it broke every inch of him. He held her tight.

He was choked up. How could he convince her to live? He hated himself. He should have never given in on the train. He should have kept her away. She'd be fighting to survive right now. And they wouldn't be mourning the loss of their baby.

"But I promised Prim I'd send you back to her. I promised her you'd go home," he whispered.

"She'll understand," she whispered back. So, this was it? They were giving up?

"So, what do we do?" He asked her. Katniss pulled away and looked at the beach. Peeta followed her gaze and saw Finnick, Johanna and Beetee on the beach.

"We help them," she whispered. She turned back to Peeta, and it broke his heart to see her face. So much pain and so much defeat.

A few hours later Peeta was trying to get her to eat some bread that one of their Mentors sent. "Please Katniss," he said. She groaned into her hands and shook her head. She couldn't keep anything down. He looked up at the sky.

"Damnit Haymitch, please send her something!" Peeta yelled.

"Do you actually think yelling at Haymitch is gonna keep working?" no sooner had the words left Johanna's mouth did a parachute start floating down.

"This is the third time he's asked for something, and he's gotten it every time," Finnick said.

"He likes Peeta," Katniss grumbled into her hands.

"Yet he's not sending things for me," Peeta said as he opened the cannister. There was a tube of liquid. He sat back down and held it out for her. "Just try and drink this. You know Haymitch wouldn't send anything that wasn't good," he told her, before she could argue.

She nodded her head and took a sip, and then handed it back to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was able to keep it down, so Peeta was able to get half a roll, one oyster and a half of water in a coconut into her system. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Beetee spoke then, discussing a plan on how to kill the Careers. Going to the lightening tree and electrifying the beach, and all the food sources in it. Everyone agreed that it was a good plan. They wouldn't enough time that night. They'd have to wait till the following night. Katniss nudged Peeta at that point and then eyed them. He took a deep breath as they stared at each other and then linked their hands together. He nodded his head.

"Me and Katniss…" he trailed off and just stared at her. She smiled sadly at him and nodded her head. He took a very shaky breath in and cleared his throat. He couldn't look at anyone when he said this. He felt like a failure. "Katniss and I know that…we're not making it out of here," he said and scrubbed his face. He wasn't completely throwing in the towel. If he could get her to stay alive, he'd still risk his life to save hers.

"Her and I don't want to leave the arena without the other…there's no life for us if we leave…and now with the baby- "he let a choked sob attempt to leave his throat, but he just had to get through this and hold it together. He waited a minute before he started speaking again.

"So…we just want to stay together, for as long as we can. And we'll help you against the Careers…but then we won't fight you…" he trailed off and looked at Katniss who had tears streaming down her face. He reached over and wiped them with his thumbs.

"What exactly…are you saying?" Finnick asked slowly. His voice was strained, and Peeta couldn't figure out why. Peeta finally looked at them. The three of them had their eyes wide, and a look that he just couldn't understand.

"That we'll help you three, whole-heartedly fight against Brutus and Enobaria. So, one of you can win…but we just won't fight you guys…," he looked at Katniss again.

"I can't do much. But I can be a really good distraction for them. They'll go after me for sure," Katniss said. She leaned back into Peeta, and he kissed her head. Johanna stood up stomped into the water. Finnick got up a moment later and followed her. He looked over at Beetee, who instantly looked away. Their three alliance members couldn't look at the sad, married couple in their faces, after offering up their lives to fight for them.

"I'm not killing a girl who just had a miscarriage," Finnick told Johanna. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well, I'm not fucking doing it," She told him.

"I can't live with that guilt," he told her. Johanna snorted.

"I'm not getting my hands dirty with that. Snow killed her baby. So, Snow can go and kill her. I'm not fucking touching her,"

"What are we supposed to do then?" Finnick asked, staring at each other. What were they supposed to do? This wasn't part of the plan, at all.

"Let the Careers kill them," Johanna snapped.

"We're going after the damn Careers," He reminded her. Johanna threw her hands up in the air.

"I don't know then Finnick. We either have to kill her or let the Careers kill her," she snapped at him again. She scrubbed her face and then looked back at the beach. Neither of them knew what to do. But they had to save face. Snow was still watching.

"Or we just sit back and let her own body kill her," she looked up at Finnick and they mirrored the others terrified face.

"She's not going to last long. Her body's rotting from the inside," Johanna said, wanting Haymitch and Plutarch to understand her meaning. Everything in this arena will have been for nothing if they let Katniss die.

"We won't have to kill her Finnick. Because Snow already did," Johanna said, making Finnick gulp.

Peeta had gotten Katniss to drink more of the medicine Haymitch sent, and it helped her keep water in her system, which she had drank two coconuts. But it didn't help with the pain.

They all stopped when the anthem played, and they would show who had died that day. But they stared at the sky in confusion as there was just a white space after they showed the others first. There was no picture. They all looked at each other. They heard a cannon though.

"It was blank," Johanna said. Peeta understood right away. His breathing slowed down.

"Why would they?" Finnick didn't need to finish his sentence, because he understood it as soon as Katniss gasped loudly. Peeta grabbed Katniss and pulled her to his chest as she loudly started sobbing.

The blank screen was for their baby that had died in the arena. This was too much. How could he mock their dead baby? How?

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Johanna screamed towards the sky.

"Johanna stop it," Finnick hissed as he stood up and grabbed her arm.

"Someone will hear you," Beetee reminded her. Johanna spun around towards him.

"They already hear Katniss sobbing. And she's not going to stop any time soon," Johanna said. Peeta thought she was angry that Katniss was making noise, but realized that yes she was angry, but it wasn't at them.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO THEM YOU FUCKING BASTARD? DO YOU ALL SEE WHAT HE JUST DID?" Johanna yelled to the Capitol. Yelled to Panem. "THEY JUST LOST THEIR DAMN BABY AND HE SHOOTS OFF A CANNON AND SHOWS A BLANK SCREEN IN THE SKY TO MOCK THEM!" she screamed.

He didn't know that he could feel pain like this. Being mocked when you lose your unborn child…when you know you're going to die, and the love of your life is as well. It was too much.

"You will pay for that," she snapped. Finnick shook her.

"Damnit Johanna stop if. For her," Finnick said, looking at Katniss. They just watched her as she sobbed loudly. The Careers had to know what was going on. There was no way that they wouldn't hear Katniss.

"He killed…he mocked it…I'll never…she never…" nothing made sense of what she was saying through her sobs. You couldn't understand it.

"Please don't cry. I know Katniss. I know. I'm so sorry," he cried. They mourned together. It was just the two of them there on that beach. They didn't acknowledge anyone else.

The others let them cry until Peeta and Katniss couldn't anymore, and fell asleep. No one asked Peeta to stand guard.

The next day Peeta could tell the other three had a hard time looking at them. Katniss was worse. She couldn't hold anything down but a little bit of water. "Peeta," she called to him quietly. He sat up and pushed some hair away from her face.

Her fever was getting higher. It scared him to think about how high it actually was. Finnick tried to make enough shelter to block out the sun as best as he could, but all the shade in the world wasn't helping.

"You ok?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I think I have to pee. But I can't get up," she said. He scooped her up and brought her into the water and had her stand on her feet. That's when he realized how weak she was, because he had to hold her up.

"It hurts," she whispered.

"It hurts to go to the bathroom?" he asked her. She let out a sob.

"I don't know. Something hurts. I don't even know if I'm peeing right now. I'm trying," she cried on his shoulder. He ran his hand up and down her back. Her body was shutting down. They tried a couple more times throughout the day, but Katniss couldn't tell.

"I think I'm bleeding again," Katniss told Peeta at one point. He came over to her and squatted down in front of her and spread her legs. She was. It was all over the sand.

"Let's get you into the water baby," Peeta said and reached down and picked her up into his arms and walked into the ocean with her. He put her feet down and was having trouble getting her to stand up and pull her wet suit off. Johanna and Finnick appeared in the water with him.

"Can she stand at all?" Finnick asked. Peeta shook his head.

"Just hold onto Peeta," Johanna said. Katniss wrapped her arms around his neck and Johanna unzipped her. The three of them worked together on pulling her wet suit down. Finnick went underwater and got it off her feet and handed it to Johanna who started washing it out.

"I'll keep her standing, you just wash her off," Finnick said and pulled her back into his chest. Peeta was taken back by how kind they were. He remembered what Katniss had said to him after watching Finnick and Mags, and then looked around the room.

"Peeta how are we gonna kill these people?"

They were his fellow Victors. They knew what he was going through. "I'm sorry I wanted to kill you," Katniss said. They looked up at her. He thought maybe he voiced Katniss' thoughts out loud. But she must have just been thinking the same thing.

"Who are you talking to sweetheart?" Peeta asked. She chuckled as she laid her head back against Finnick.

"Finnick. But Johanna to. Too bad about this Quell thing. We could have all been friends," she chuckled. "One, big, happy, fucked up Victor family," she laughed.

"Did Haymitch send her booze?" Johanna asked. Katniss laughed again.

"I only drank…one time. Oh. And I threw up. I'm sorry Peeta. I threw up on you," Katniss said. Finnick and Johanna chuckled, and Peeta couldn't help but give a lite smile.

"That's not when you threw up on me. You threw up on me one morning when you were skinning a squirrel and the smell just didn't agree with you," Peeta said. She smiled.

"Oh yeah…that was morning sickness," she opened her eyes then. "I don't get morning sickness anymore," she said. No emotion in her voice. The other three didn't move, but just stared at each other awkwardly. What do you respond to that?

They eventually got her dressed and brought her back over to the beach. Katniss was in and out of lucidity all day. They were waiting until it started to get dark before they were going to go up to the tree. And they decided that Peeta and Finnick would take turns carrying Katniss.

He had Katniss sit up while the sun was setting, and he had her sit between his legs while they watched their last sunset together.

Katniss realized at some point that she was in fact dying. Her body was failing. And she had spent all this time avoiding thoughts of the baby, that she finally let them in, and they just overtook her. And she hadn't realized that she was voicing her thoughts out loud, or that when she knew she was talking to Peeta, that other people could hear her. She forgot where she was.

"I want her to have your eyes," Katniss said suddenly. Peeta looked down at her and knew she was out of it. "And I want her to love to bake. You'll teach her and she'll make a mess," she chuckles as she stares at the water.

"And I want her to have blonde hair with wild curls and piercing blue eyes…I can just see her now," she said, smiling out into the water. "And you can teach her to paint, and you'll paint her room. It'll be a beautiful sunset," she said. Peeta started to cry. What she wanted; he already gave her. He gave their daughter a beautiful room, with a beautiful sunset. He wasn't going to ruin her happiness that she had found in this moment. Not with the truth.

"That all sounds so beautiful Katniss," he kissed the side of her head. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Will you do it?" he would do anything for her. He wish he could live inside her head with her right now. Where she wasn't in pain, and their daughter was still growing inside of her. He nods his head and puts on a brave face for her. He'll give her whatever she needs in her final moment.

"Yeah, I'll do it Katniss,"

"With beautiful colors?" she asked. She had turned her body somehow and he was cradling her. He ran his hand through her hair and one of his tears landed on her cheek. But she didn't notice.

"Only the best," he whispered.

"She'll be a daddy's girl. I already know it. She'll have you so wrapped around her little finger," he looked away and tried to hold himself together. It was a life he wanted so badly.

"Prim will be touching my stomach all the time. I wonder who will touch it more, her or you…what do you want to name her?" he let out a sob then, not being able to contain it. They never got to name her. They never got to hold her.

"I don't know," he cried. He took some deep breaths.

"Why not dandelion?" she asked. He remembered the story she told, about how the day after he threw her the bread, she saw a dandelion and it gave her hope. He looked back down at her. "We can call her Dandy for short. And I'll always have my two favorite dandelions," he stared down at her. He wondered how much longer she had.

"I love it," he whispered and kissed her forehead.

"And I'll make her a little bow and we can go hunting together. You can't come though, you're too loud," she reminded him, making him laugh and wipe his face.

"That's ok. That'll be your special place. You and her," he said sadly. Her smile started leaving her face then.

"She's going to be reaped though Peeta. You know that…well only have so much time with her," Katniss said as she started crying. He helped her sit up more and shook his head.

"No Katniss. Please don't say that. It won't happen," He kisses her softly. "Just think of all the good things you've been telling me, ok?" he said. But she was coming out of her daydream, and realizing where she was.

"She's losing her sanity," Finnick whispered to Johanna and Beetee. Beetee was too worried to speak. But leave it to Johanna to say something.

"Yeah well, crazy people usually do. If she honestly thinks they're both getting out of here she's highly mistaken," she said and stood up. "It's time to go right?" she asked. Everyone looked around at each other and nodded. Finnick helped stand Peeta up, and they started making their way through the jungle.

Peeta and Finnick had passed her off a few times, and each time Peeta got her back, he felt like she was closer and closer to death. He tried to fight back his tears as he carried her. She was going to die in his arms any moment. "Peeta, I think I have to pee again," She whispered.

"Ok. Ok hang on," he said and looked around. She couldn't stand anymore, and she wouldn't be able to squat. And there was no way he could take her wet suit down. So, the only thing he thought of was sitting her on a rock.

"What's wrong?" Finnick called down the hill as he sat her on a rock.

"She says she has to pee," he squatted down in front of her while she held on to his shoulders. Katniss didn't even notice that all of Panem was watching her try to go to the bathroom right now. She threw her head back and cried.

"It hurts. Am I even going? I have to, I know I do but it just hurts," she cried. He cleared his throat and put his hand on the inside of her thigh and moved it up to feel around. He shook his head.

"I don't think you are Katniss," she just sat there crying. He couldn't do this to her anymore. He turned to the others.

"She can't make this trip up there. Just…just go on without us ok. We're just gonna stay here," Peeta said. He'd stay here with her, and this was where she was gonna die. They just stared at each other.

"Fuck that!" Johanna huffed and stomped down the jungle to them. "Stand up!" she ordered Katniss.

"Johanna leave her alone," Peeta snapped.

"No. I won't," she leaned down. "Don't give him the satisfaction of laying down here and accepting that you're gonna die. Get up and fight until you have no more breath in your body," Johanna told her. Katniss just stared at her. And then she nodded her head. She leaned on Peeta's shoulders, and he jumped up to help her stand up. She leaned heavily on them.

"Hang on I got you," Peeta said and went to pick her up, but she shook her head.

"No. I wanna stand Peeta," she said. He stood up and faced her and nodded his head and he smiled.

"Ok. Let's try and walk," he said.

"Oh, give me her. You two rest your arms because she won't be able to walk for very long. Just lean on me," Johanna said and threw Katniss' arm around her shoulder. "And if you have to pee…just go ahead and pee on me. I've been covered in worse," she grumbled. Peeta nodded and he let Johanna start pulling her up the jungle. Peeta walked behind them. Katniss was barely walking, but she was standing proud, not letting Snow win, and that was all that mattered.

They walked in silence, until Finnick broke the quiet. "I mean, is no one else gonna ask what worse you've been covered in?" Finnick asked. The group laughed, even Katniss. After about ten minutes though Katniss cried out and fell into Johanna's body.

"Katniss what hurts?" Peeta ran to her and held her shoulders.

"Well, that's just great. Well guys, she's peed now. Apparently is just burned like hell," Johanna grumbled. Peeta pulled Katniss back and her knees gave out and Peeta grabbed her and held her to his chest.

"It hurts so bad Peeta," she breathed heavily.

"We're almost to the top. Let's keep going Katniss," Finnick called down to her.

"I've never had anyone pee on me before," Johanna said and got behind Peeta so he could walk up the rest of the hill. He sat her down against a tree and she cried out in relief and held her stomach. Peeta sat next to her and picked up her and kissed it.

The others went to work on wrapping the wire around the tree, but Peeta didn't pay attention. He didn't care. All he cared about was this girl that he had been in love with for 12 years now.

"I'm so sorry I failed you. That I wasn't strong enough for you," Peeta said. Katniss opened her eyes and narrowed them at her. The sounds she was making to breathe were a noise he'd never get out of his head. Breathing sounded painful for her.

"How can you think that? You were strong enough for me. Are strong enough. You got me this far. You pushed me for months to be this strong and you got me to last all this time…you made me fight to stay alive in here," Katniss said. Peeta just cried and she reached up and wiped away his tears. "I don't regret opening that window to you. The only thing I regret is not opening it up to you sooner. So, I could have more memories with you," she said. He kissed her hands.

"You're gonna go and fight them…and when you leave, that's when I don't want to fight it anymore. And I don't want you to watch me die," she said. He let out a sob and he doubled over, cradling her hand to his face and kissing her palm. She ran her other hand through his hair.

"It wasn't your fault. They beat me before they threw me in the tube," she said suddenly, and everyone stopped and stared at her. Panem had to have heard that. Those bastards beat his wife and killed their baby. "If you were there though, I know you would have saved me," he leaned up and kissed her.

When he pulled back, she rolled her eyes and let out a sarcastic laugh. "Haymitch has the worst advice. Stay alive. What an idiot," she said.

"I'm sure Haymitch has given you more helpful advice then just that," Finnick said, interrupting them. He had, but none of it mattered anymore.

They finished the wire and Finnick and Johanna left to take it down. Both of them staring at Katniss before they left. Peeta thought their looks were always odd. But he'd never have time to figure it out.

"I wanted to die as myself…my body gave up a while ago…but I'm still me, right?" Katniss asked Peeta. He cried and nodded sadly.

"Yes Katniss. You're still you. You've been you. You never stopped being you,"

They all whipped their heads over to the wire. Something was wrong. The wire had been cut. Beetee and Peeta stared at each other, and then he turned back to Katniss. No. He wasn't done with her yet. There was still so much left to say.

"Is this it?" he cried. She nodded her head, while he just shook his head. He couldn't leave her here.

"Yeah, it is…and I want you to be the hero," she said as she cupped his cheek.

"I can't just leave you here," he cried.

"You have to. You have to save them…and I don't want you to see me die," they started sobbing and he picked her hand up and kissed it repeatedly. "I want you to be the hero. I want you to die as you, and not a piece in their Games," she said, repeating his words from last year. He just stared at her.

"Go and save them," she said. He leaned forward and hugged her. How was he supposed to say goodbye? How could he just leave her there. But he pulled back and looked at her.

"I love you so much Katniss," she let out a sob.

"I love you too," she cried, and he leaned forward and kissed her passionately. Both of them crying through it, and he rested his forehead against hers.

"I'll love you till I take my last breath. And I'll keep on loving you for all of eternity," he said and kissed her again. She put her hands on his chest when they heard someone screaming.

"Go. Please save them. One of them has to win," she cried. He picked up his knife and ran down the hill and looked back up at her. She smiled her last smile at him. He turned and ran down the jungle and she let out a sob. She was never going to see Peeta again.

She wasn't given a moment to herself because she felt her bow being thrusted into her hands. It was Beetee. "You should always listen to Haymitch. He has very smart advice. Even now," Beetee said and went back over to the tree.

She couldn't understand what he was doing. She was fading in and out. But she saw him fly up and away from the forcefield. What did he just do? Did he try to electrify the forcefield. "Beetee?" she called out. Her hearing wasn't the best because she never heard someone running through the trees. Someone ran to Beetee and cut him with a knife. She gasped as she realized it was Johanna.

Johanna betrayed Beetee. Were the Careers even dead yet? Why was she going after Beetee? Johanna ran towards her and got on top of her and stabbed her arm. Katniss cried out. "You betrayed us," she panted. Johanna covered her mouth and wiped her hands all over Katniss' face.

"Will you just shut up and stay down," Johanna hissed. She grabbed her axe and threw it and went running. That was when Katniss saw the Brutus and Enobaria. They halted when they saw her and Beetee.

"Don't bother with them. They're already dead. Come on, let's get the other three," Enobaria said as they ran away. A few minutes later she heard another cannon.

Stay alive. Outlast the arena together

She could hear Haymitch talking to her. She threw her arrows over shoulder, and then struggled to crawl over to Beetee. He was still alive, but his arm was bleeding from where Johanna cut him. She had a similar cut on her own arm. She looked at the wire that Beetee had and examined it attached to the knife. Why would Beetee do that?

"KATNISS!" She heard Peeta yell. Her heart stopped. Peeta was in trouble.

"PEETA!" she screamed back. Johanna betrayed them. Finnick had to of betrayed them as well. She stood up and held out her bow when Finnick appeared. He stopped and held up his hands. "Where's Peeta?" she panted. She was about to fall down.

"Katniss, please don't shoot me. Remember who the real enemy is," Finnick said. She lowered her bow. Haymitch told her that. She looked down at Beetee. It all made sense. He was trying to get out of the arena. Haymitch put Finnick with them. People had been sacrificing themselves for her and Peeta. They had been trying to take care of her. They weren't her enemy. Snow was.

She bent down and grabbed the knife and unraveled the wire and wrapped it around her bow and held it straight up as the lightening started.

"Katniss, get away from that tree," Finnick told her. She let the arrow go and then felt the pain in her body again as it went flying through the air.

She woke up in worse pain then ever. She knew the lightening hit the tree. She was about to die. There was such a loud noise. And she felt someone holding her hand. And something was over her face. She tried taking it off, but someone's hand wouldn't let her. Peeta was calling for her, she had to get to Peeta.

"Peeta," she called.

"Sweetheart just let them work on you," she heard someone say. Was that Haymitch?

"I didn't kill my baby on purpose," she cried. She felt a hand on her head.

"No one thinks you did that,"

"Please tell Peeta I'm sorry,"