Thank God this chapter is over. It took two days to write it! Normally I write a chapter in one day.

So the moment you all have been waiting for is HERE! I hope Katniss doesn't look too OOC. She is in love with Peeta and when you are in love, you don't think correctly.

I don't own THG characters nor The Little Mermaid world. Enjoy!

Everything around me vanishes.

I'm only looking at him. His handsome face with those bright blue eyes and easy smile. I don't dare make a move and keep seated on the sand. I try to make myself look decent, so I pull the ribbon from my hair, letting it fall around my face and down my shoulders.

"Al!" The dog runs to him and starts jumping again. "Stay still."

I smile at Peeta. I'm finally going to meet him, for real this time. No boundaries between us.

"Why can't you stay still." Peeta chuckles. He looks up and our eyes meet. "Oh..."

I'm getting that feeling again in my stomach. I grab my hair and start twisting it nervously. Peeta walks towards me, never breaking eye contact. He stops in front of me and I have to look up, since I'm seated on the sand.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asks concerned.

I nod a bit excitedly.

"Sorry if Al scared you." He kneels in front of me and turns to pet the dog. "He is a little rascal."

He turn to me suddenly and his eyes recognise something. "There's something about you that seems familiar. Have we met before?"

I nod and smile at him. He thinks about it for a minute before his eyes ligth up.

"You're that girl." He grins and grabs my hands between his. "The one that saved me." I keep nodding.

"I knew you weren't a dream." He smiles. "What's your name?"

I open my mouth to answer but nothing comes out. I frown. I hate this part of me already. I can never tell him my name nor confess that I have feelings for him.

"What's wrong?" He touches my cheek. His hand feels warm against my cold cheek.

I touch my throat. "You can't speak."

He removes his hand from my face, the other holding my hand and gets up. "Then you are not who I thought you were." He looks disappointed.

He can't just give up on me after what I went through to finally meet him. He can't leave me now. I get up quickly, forgetting that I can't stand on my legs for a few minutes, so I lose my balance.

"Hey, careful!" Peeta grabs my waist and pulls me to him. I hold on to his shirt tightly, not wanting to fall again. Our faces are a few inches apart and he is staring down at me with those blue eyes, searching my gray ones. If I just lean in, I could kiss him and end this spell quickly. I would get my voice back and then I could tell him everything. All the truth.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks again.

I frown, not knowing what to say. I could use hand gestures but that wouldn't be very helpful.

He smiles softly at me. "Let's take you to the palace. We can find what happened when we get there."

He removes his hands from my waist and puts one arm around my shoulders, tucking me into his left side. I take a quick glance and see Gale and Beetee smiling at me. I smile back.

"Come on, Al!" He calls and soon the dog is following us.

We start walking but my feet won't cooperate so I'm always losing my balance. Without warning, Peeta moves the arm under my shoulders and bends over, picking and lifting me of the sand with his other arm. I put my arms around his neck quickly, afraid to fall.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall." He smiles at me.

He continues walking through the beach, carrying me like I'm a feather. At some point, I rest my head on his shoulder and look up at his face. He has strong but at the same time light features. His eyes look so bright with the sunlight touching them and though his lips are closed, I can see the corners stretched up. I look in front of me and see a palace by the sea shore. It is big but not like the one back home. He climbs up a set of stairs that lead up to the palace and when we reach the main entrance, I think, the doors suddenly open. A man with copper hair and green eyes appears. It is that friend of Peeta. I think his name was Finnick.

"I have been looking for you all morning." Finnick says. "You should be resting, not wandering through the b- Why, hello..."

"Finn, don't scare her already." Peeta warns.

"She doesn't seem very frighten." Finnick smirks. "On the contrary, she looks very comfortable."

I blush and Peeta huffs. "Come on, get her inside. I'll call Effie."

We get inside the palace, Finnick closes the doors and then walks away, disappearing through a hall. Peeta, still carrying me, walks near a staircase, stopping there. He rests my legs on the light gray tile floor, but keeps his arm around my shoulders. I remove my arms from around his neck but still hold on to his shirt.

Peets starts laughing. "You don't have to hold on too tightly. I won't let you fall." I blush. He removes my hands from his shirt but holds them in his hand.

His hands and entire body feel so warm, I never want him to let go of me. He feels safe. I don't know why my dad thinks they are monsters. They look very friendly and welcoming. He never understood my perspective on humans. I tried giving him reasons not to hate them but he wouldn't listen. He will forever hate humans and there is nothing I can do to change that.

I'm break of my thoughts when I hear voices coming from the end of the hall. Two figures appear, one of them being Finnick and the other a middle-age woman. She has blonde wavy hair, hazel eyes and is wearing a light brown dress with a white apron tied around her waist.

"Oh dear..." She gasps. "What happened?"

"I found her on the beach by some pieces of a ship. Maybe the ship she was on sank." Peeta says.

"Are you alright, dear?" The woman asks.

"She can't speak, Effie." Peeta states.

"Oh..." Effie frowns. "Well, don't worry. We'll take good care of you." She smiles at me.

"Could you take her upstairs to one of the bedrooms and get her a bath?" Finnick orders. "Me and Peeta will go to the dining hall."

"Yes. Dinner is almost finished." Effie says and then turns to me. "Let's go, dear."

Effie starts climbing the stairs but I don't move and hold Peeta's hand tightly. I don't want him to go.

"Hey, it's ok." Peeta smiles. He removes his arm from my shoulders and squeezes my hands. "Just go with Effie. We'll meet downstairs after."

I look at his eyes and nod. He lets go of my hands and then he and Finnick walk away. I keep looking at them walking away until they disappear.

"Come on." Effie calls.

I turn and start climbing the stairs very slowly. I'm still a bit wobbly but I make it to the top of the stairs without falling. I follow Effie through a long hall until she stops in front of a double door. She opens the door and gets inside. I stop at the threshold of the door and my eyes widen. This room is really big. There's a big bed in the middle of the room, two closets in a corner and two windows in each side of the bed, one of them with a little balcony to outside. I see Effie opening another door on the left side of the room and then the sound of water falling. She comes out holding a towel.

"What are you doing there, dear? Come in." She walks to me and grabs my hand. "We need to get you ready for dinner."

She pulls me into the other room and my eyes widen. I think it is called a bathroom. Well it is a bit big for a bathroom. An enormous bathtub is right in the middle of the room, with sea figures carved into the stone. Colourful tiles cover the walls and floor and there is a big set of three windows with an amazing view to the sea. I wonder what my family is doing now. Probably wondering where I am.

I stand there, not knowing what to do. I never took a bath because I always lived inside water but I guess I have to step inside the bathtub and wash my body with the abundance of bubbles that are on top of the water. I untie the rope arund my waist and torso and let the cloth fall to the ground. I step inside the bathtub and sit until the water reaches my shoulders. I grab a handful of the bubbles and blow them. I smile, watching the bubbles float and then disappear when they touch the water surface.

"I'm going to put this towel here and then I'll come back later." She says. She grabs the cloth with a look of disdain and leaves the room, closing the door.

After taking a bath, I'm now sitting on the bed, wrapped in a towel while Effie goes to one the closets and gets two pieces of undergarments and a light blue dress with three-quarter sleeves. She helps me get dressed and then I sit in a chair while she brushes my hair. She pulls a few strands of hair away from my face and secures them with two hairclips. I put on a pair of dark-blue sandals.

"You look lovely, dear." She admires.

We leave the bedroom, walk the hall and climb down the staircase. I follow Effie through some halls until we reach an open double door and I see Peeta and Finnick talking inside the room.

"Don't be shy. Come in." Effie grabs my hand and leads me inside the room. This room is even bigger than my bedroom. Two walls are nothing but tall windows, there's a large table in the middle of the room and the other two walls are filled with patterns and some paintings. The floor is a soft brown tile.

I return my eyes to Peeta and he is already looking at me.

"Well, don't you look fantastic." Finnick smiles. "Does she, Peeta?"

"I..." Peeta stammers. "You look... beautiful."

I blush.

"Aren't you the little heartbreaker?" Finnick jokes with him. Peeta gives him a look. "Now let's eat because I am starving."

Finnick rests his hands on my shoulders and leads me to a chair. He pulls the chair out for me and I sit on it. Peeta sits at the head of the table, next to me and Finnick in front of me. I look up and see Peeta already staring at me. I blush and look down. On top of the table, I see a plate and next to it a brushork. I grab it and look at it. This one looks more clean and brighter and has drawings carved on the main stick.

"You know, it must be the first time we have such lovely company for dinner, right Peeta?" Finnick states playfully.

I look up and see them looking at me with raised eyebrows. I put the brushork back in it's place and look down, embarassed. I must look like a fool, admiring an object so simple to them.

"As I was saying, when you have such lovely company, we must have a special dinner." Finnick says. "Effie, what are we having?"

"Oh, the chef is making his speciality. Stuffed crab." Effie smiles.

Crab? I realise that I didn't see Haymitch when we left the beach. Oh no... Did they catch him and made him into dinner?

"Are you alright?" Peeta is looking at me, concerned. I nod and smile, reassuring him.

"I was thinking, maybe you would like to give our special guest some in sight on the kingdom." Finnick suggests. "What do you think, Peeta?"

I turn to Peeta, to hear his answer but he is already looking at me. Am I that interesting to look at? I chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Peeta smirks at me. I shrug.

"Did you hear anything I just said, man?" Finnick asks annoyed.

"What?"

"Oh, I see. The company is more important to look at than hearing your best friend." Finnick says sarcastically.

Effie arrives, carrying a tray with three covered plates. She grabs one and positions it in front of Finnick. He and Peeta are talking in whispers, when Finnick lifts the cover from his plate and inside I see Haymitch. I gasp and look at them quickly, hoping they won't look at me.

"Geez, Finn. You don't need to get all sarcastic."

Effie finishes putting all the plates on top of the table and leaves. I lift my cover a bit and motion for Haymitch to run quickly to my plate.

"Alright... I'm sorry but get your head of the clouds and listen when I talk to you." Finnick says. "So, what do you think?"

Haymitch runs fast through the table and then reachs my plate. I cover the plate again and rest my arm on top of it.

"Sounds good to me." Peeta turns to me. "Do you want to go visit the village with me, tomorrow?" I nod excitedly. Finally, I get a chance to see the human world away from the sea.

"Great." Finnick smiles. "Let's eat before this fantastic dinner runs away."

Finnick's eyes widen when he looks at his plate. I feel like laughing. If he only knew where his dinner is now.

Peeta laughs. "Well, it seems he already did."

"Here, Al!" Peeta calls.

Even from the little balcony in my bedroom, I can see his blue eyes shinning when the moon light catches them. I'm really falling in love with him and he doesn't even know. I sigh. One day has already passed and now I only have two more days to make him kiss me. Why only three days? I never seen no one fall in love with someone in that short amount of time. Well, first time I saw him, I felt something change in me. It felt like we were connected in a way I didn't know existed between a human and a mermaid. Back at the beach, when he held me in his arms, I felt something course through me. Like electricity.

I felt that again, ealier in the evening. After we finished dinner, Peeta accompanied me to my room. We went the whole way in silence, I couldn't speak and he seemed a little nervous, and sometimes I would misstep my feet so he held my hand until we reached my room. He wished me goodnight and then brought my hand to his lips and kiss it. His lips felt so soft against my skin. When I closed the door, I couldn't stop smiling like a little girl.

Peeta kneels and pets Al affectionately. Suddenly he looks up and stares at me. I straighten up quickly and can't take my eyes from him. He smiles and waves at me. I wave too and retreat inside, closing the balcony doors. I can't believe I was caught up staring at him.

"This place is horrible." Haymicth complains. "Why did I propose to help you? Ah, that's right. So you could make this human fall in love with you instead of becoming Coin's next pet collection."

I huff. He clearly hasn't understood what I have to do. I only have two days now to make that happen. He isn't the one making that and still complains. I should be the one complaining, not him.

"I hope in the end you will appreciate everything I do for you. I could be in the sea, telling your father the truth but I choose to help you." He says.

I ignore him and walk to the bed. I pull the covers back and sit down. I lie down and rest my head on the fluffy pillow. I pull the covers over me and turn on my side, looking at Haymitch. I smile. He's still muttering about how horrible this place is.

"You know, forget everything I said. Let's just focus on tomorrow and how you are going to conquer this prince." He suggests. He walks to the pillow next to mine and lies down. "Goodnigth, Katniss."

I smile at him and close my eyes.