I am a man of six feet tall
Just looking for some answers
In a world that answers none
Of them at all
I'll say "hi"
But not reply to the letters that you write
Because I found some piece of mind

19 Years Old.

The first time I hold her in my arms, I can barely breathe. She's so fragile, so delicate- one wrong move could break her. Katniss tells me not to worry, she feels that way too. She looks at the little girl as if she's wondering, as if she's asking her if she's really hers. The first time I hold the little girl in my arms, she is next to me, tears at her eyes. I have to remind her many times to keep breathing. Her fingers are curled around my shoulders, holding on so tightly, I'm sure they would hurt for a few weeks.

The first time I hold the little girl in my arms, I realize that even though she looks incredibly like Katniss, she looks a lot like her, too. Her laugh, her nose, her cheeks. I look for every little detail I can find. When I give her back to Katniss, I see her holding her breath as her little girl comes back to her arms. She gives a small giggles as the baby plays with her long braid.
Peeta is watching them like a protective hawk. He was the first one who held her in his arms, slicked back the couple hairs on her head, and gave her a kiss. Then Katniss gasped for her and she was in her mother's arms.

Beside me, she grins, her cheeks red and her hair wavy around her face. She looks so different from the girl I fell in love with thirteen years ago, but somehow the same. She has her big, pale blue eyes, her pointy nose, her delicate mouth, and her wavy blonde hair. She's outgrown her pigtails and her braids, but now she wears it down.
Her personality is exactly the same, her playfulness, her kindness, her shyness, everything that makes her, her.

All that goes through my head as I see her, and I lean in. "We should give them some privacy." I whisper in her ear. She nods, takes one last look at the girl in Katniss's arms as if she's in disbelief, and we walk out of the room, out the door, and into the streets of District 12.

We head into the woods in silence. The fence is still there, but there's a door now that you can use to get in. Someone hacked a messy trail that leads to a small abandoned house, a lake, a ripe strawberry bush, and plenty of hunting grounds. It's legal now to hunt.

We decide to go down to the strawberry bush with a basket in our hands. We pick without a sound for about thirty minutes or so until our baskets are full. With a silent agreement, we start heading for the lake, a small one with tiny fish that are too bony to eat, where lily pads scatter the surface, and where katnisses grow literally everywhere.

We reach the lake, and I'm surprised how fast the sun had gone down. It offers only a slight ray of sunshine that brightens our faces. She takes a katniss root in her hand, crouching down to the water. I throw a strawberry into my mouth, walk over to a rotting old dock someone built, roll up my pant legs and dangle my feet into the icy cool water. Being the middle of August, the wind that's blowing in my face is humid and I feel the drops of sweat pour down my cheeks. In a way, it's torture.

"Once, Katniss brought me here, a few days before she got married." She says suddenly, joining me on the dock and dipping her feet into the water. "She was nervous, like every bride is. She told me that dad and her came here lots of times before he died, where he taught her how to hunt, how to collect edible plants, pretty much how to survive." She pauses for a minute to munch slowly on a strawberry. Then she continues, this time with more joy in her voice.

"We spent the evening talking about him." she sighs. "Everything about him- his eyes, his clothes, his hairstyles. She reminded me of how I used to wipe off the coal dust on his shaving mirror. We cried together until it got dark and we ran home." She frowns. "I don't know why I told you that, it doesn't concern you at all. You must be bored out of your mind."
"No." I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. "I want to know everything about you; I don't care if it doesn't have anything to do with me."
She grins. "Thanks, Rory. I miss him so much." She bites her lip. "Katniss's baby looks so much like him, Katniss did too. The Seam look."

"She looks so much like you, you know." I say, swirling my legs around the water, making ripples. The sun is behind the mountains now, leaving a dim shadow on everything in the woods. It's pretty eerie as the mockingjay sing and the rabbits hop around on quick, nimble feet, but breaking a twig or two.

"I don't know." she says. "More like Katniss."I shrug. She got me thinking of my own father. Gale and I look exactly like him, with the shaggy dark brown hair, strong jaw, deep gray eyes, and long fingers. I notice the sun had completely disappeared, and I can't even see her face. A crazy thought pops up in my head. "I know what would get your mind off everything."
She looks at me curiously- or at least I think she did. "How?" she asks, and her voice sounds as if she's choking back tears.
"Let's skinny dip." I say seriously, running my hand through my hair nervously. I don't know what she would say. She's quiet, and I'm surprised to hear her laugh after a second. "Rory, you think of the best ideas." she says while she's giggling. "All right then, Rory. I guess we're skinny dipping!"

There's no point in hiding behind a bush to strip of our clothes. Besides, nudity isn't much of a problem at District 12. Even Katniss got over it after the Hunger Games.
I take off my shirt, my pants, and my boxer shorts. I shove my clothes behind a bush, concealing them under large maple leaves. Cautiously, I walk to the water's edge, completely naked and I hear her walking slowly towards me. I smile to myself, before giving my hair a quick toss, tuck my chin in slightly, raise my bare arms above my head and I jump, diving into the water.

The icy coolness of the water takes me by surprise. I'm frozen. My arms are so rigid I can't move them at all and it's as if all the feeling in them had left. The water tingles against my skin as I try to get my legs to kick. I'm getting deeper now; there is pressure against my ears. It feels as if someone is punching them. Slowly, I open my eyes. I adjust to the darkness and I look around. I can kick now, but I stay underwater as I pass mini, colorful fish. They dart around me and swim away as fast as I can. I see the dark green leaves of an unfamiliar plant as they wave at me, and I wave back.

Unlike most ponds and lakes in this forest, the water's crystal clear. Ever since the war, citizens of District 12 that had the courage to venture the forest have been coming here often for a drink or two. Nowadays, when icy cold, natural water is scarce, people would come for a refreshing drink. On hot august days like today, kids would have water fights and swim.

I swim to the surface of the shallower part of the lake and I poke my head out, gulping in air. I know she hasn't come in yet. "Come on, the water's nice." I call out. I hear my voice echo, and in a few seconds, I hear footsteps running on the dock, a joyful yell as she jumps in, and a splash. The moonlight brightens her face as she comes up to the surface, shaking her blonde hair. I swim towards her, grinning, and taking her hands. "It's about time!" I tell her, twirling her around in the water.

She rolls her eyes. "You were underwater for so long, I thought you drowned." She grins. "It's not that I would've minded or anything."
I splash water at her face and she does the same. I swim around, avoiding her sprays, laughing. The water's turning my legs numb but I don't care. If I could, I would save this moment forever, just live in it until I'm old and gray. Seeing her just lightens up my face. It gives me butterflies just thinking about her

.
She reaches me and dumps a handful of water on my head. I groan and spit water out of my mouth as she laughs, twirling around me as if she's mocking me. Her hair is illuminated by the moonlight, and I can see her face clearly now. There are drops of water rolling down her eyelashes and on to her nose. There are a few freckles on her nose, and her lips are curved up in an ear to ear smile.

I swim to her, and I look her in the eye. Slowly, I try to use my hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, but since I'm also treading water, I start to sink and I cause a big amount of commotion to steady myself. She's laughing at me as I pull myself up on the dock, shaking my hair. She follows me, and we get dressed behind a bush. The sun is coming up, but the night hasn't ended yet. I walk back to the dock again, hand in hand with her this time. We sit with our legs dipped in the water, staring at the sudden stillness of the lake.

I look at her with a smile. She grins too, and I'm about to look away, but instead, she takes my face in her hands. We're so close now; all I can see is her eyes. They're like the sky, the pale blue sky that falls over the Meadow just before the sun sets. They remind me of the first day we met, with the dandelions in her hair.
She leans in and presses her soft lips to mine. My mind goes blank; all I can think about is her. My body shudders as my hands wrap around her waist and I pull her towards me. She runs her hand through my hair, and as we pull out of our kiss, I feel her smile. We lay down on the dock, as close as we can, and watch the sun rise, together.