So from the reviews I got last chapter, many people didn't read the chapter. I think you only read and then don't feel like writing a little message. It won't hurt your fingers to type. I'm not being bossy, I'm just a bit disappointed but that won't stop me from writing this story :)
Now, day two on Katniss's quest. Effie is super nice, Katniss and Peeta visit the village and then the almost kiss. And I used an idea from Kiera Cass's The Siren. You should read it.
I don't own THG characters, The Little Mermaid world nor The Siren by Kiera Cass. Enjoy!
"You know, sweety," Effie says while brushing my hair. "Even though you can't speak, you are a very special young woman."
Since this morning, when Effie woke me up and helped get dressed for the day, she hasn't stopped making comments on me and how she is starting to see changes in Peeta after a long time. I'm not one to gossip and, particularly, don't like when those gossips involve me but the parts about Peeta leave me smiling. Maybe those changes have something to do with my arrival. Maybe there is some hope of him falling in love before tomorrow. Maybe. Not 100% certain. When you fall in love, there's always those doubts you need to overcome to be fully involved in that love. I don't know if Peeta has overcome them but I'm starting to.
I smile at her, through the boudoir's mirror.
"But just between the two of us, I hope Peeta keeps you here for a very long time." She beams.
I look at myself in the mirror, wide-eyed. Is she telling me she hopes Peeta marries me someday? I hope so too.
"There." She rests the brush on top of the boudoir. "You look very pretty."
Effie has done my hair in a side braid, with a few strands framing my face and has also applied a bit of lip rouge on my lips.
"I'll leave now and go call Mr. Odair to escort you." She says. I nod and she leaves.
I remain sitted, looking at myself in the mirror. There is only today and tomorrow to accomplish what I come here to do. I can't and I won't give up. I will make him see how much I have fallen in love with him. I will defeat Coin and get my voice back. I will remain human. Human...
I won't be a mermaid anymore. I'll leave that old life behind. Leave my family and friends. But maybe I can make them co-exist in my life, together. My dad would see and finally understand my perception on humans. My love for Peeta. He would accept him and he would never doubt them again. He would learn to trust humans again.
I sigh and get up from the chair. I straighten my soft orange dress. This one has small sleaves, a straight neckline and reaches my ankles. I walk barefooted to the window and down below can see the garden, just when last night Peeta was playing with Al. I smile at the memory. He is so carefree. He isn't like the other princes I have met in some celebrations at the palace. They were snobby and cocky, some were even rude. They would ask me to dance with them but it was just to keep appearances. Peeta is simple. The way he talks and even dresses transmits that. He doesn't care how he looks, as long as he makes others happy and welcome.
"Well sweetheart, don't you look fantastic." Haymitch breaks my thoughts. I look at him, lying on the bed. "I hope that's enough to conquer sweet ol'prince because I don't know how I'm going to help you."
I shake my head. He clearly thinks Peeta will only care about my looks. He must come with me, so he can give me some advise on how to act. I never tried persuading a man into falling in love with me.
A knock on my door startles me. I leave the window and walk to the door. I open it, revealing Finnick.
"Good morning." He greets happilly. "I'm here to escort the young lady to her date."
I roll my eyes and go to the dresser. I grab a pair of cream-coloured high heels and put them on. Discretly, I walk to the bed, grab Haymitch and put him inside a little pocket on the dress.I walk to the door and Finnick grins at me.
"What a coincidence." I raise an eyebrow. "You are wearing Peeta's favourite colour."
I look down at the dress. Peeta like orange? I chuckle. Well, it's always nice to discover something new about him.
"Shall we go?" Finnick holds his arm out, smiling. I nod and loop mine through his, resting my hand on his forearm. He closes the door and we walk down the hall. We descend the staircase, walk to the main door and Finnick opens it. I feel my heart beating a bit more fast. In the pavemented courtyard, Peeta is arranging the horse attached to the coach. We climb down a few stairs and walk in Peeta's direction. Finnick coughs to get Peeta's attention. He turns around, looks at me and then smiles.
"You look wonderful." Peeta admires.
Suddenly Finnick laughs. "Maybe you should forget about the girl from the beach and try to get this one."
Peeta shakes his head. "Just forget what he said." He turns around and finishes arraging the horse. Forget? How can I forget when I'm those two girls? He still thinks he'll find the girl from the beach. That girl. Not me.
"Ok, everything is set." He says. "We'll come back later."
"Alright. Have fun but not too fun." Finnick wiggles his eyebrows.
"You are a disgrace." Peeta says.
"But you don't want to get rid of me." Finnick smirks and then walks away.
Peeta holds out his hand to me. "I'll help you get inside." I keep looking at his hand. He chuckles. "Grab my hand and then put you foot here." I do as he says and then I sit on the bench. He also gets inside and sits beside me but keeps a bit of distance.
"Open the gates!" He orders the guards standing by it.
And then we are moving. This is so strange. How can only one horse pull this heavy weight? I admire the landscape on both sides. It's so green. I think those are called trees. We pass by a archway and the ground is pavemented again. A few houses line the street and I see people walking by. Some even say hello. They look so friendly, I want to leave the coach and get to know them all. We pass by a small bridge and then we are in the middle of the village. Lots of humans walking, shouting, talking. I have never seen something like this. It's so loud, on the contrary of Atlantis.
Peeta stops the coach, gets out and helps climb down too. We begin moving when something passes right by my feet. I almost fall but Peeta hold my waist.
"Are you ok?" He asks. I nod.
He removes his arm from my waist but he stays close to me. We continue walking through the square, people greeting Peeta like he is one of them, not a prince. At one point, he stops to talk to one of the villagers so I'm left looking around the street. I see a little house with weird objects inside boxs. People are buying them and even start eating them. Strange. I leave Peeta's side and walk to it. Some of the objects look welcoming because of their colours. Orange, red, green and yellow.
"Hello dear. Do you want some?" I look up and see an old woman smiling at me. "These are very tasty." She points to the red ones.
I open my mouth but I remember I can't answer back. The old woman is looking at me, waiting for an answer.
"We'll take five." Peeta appear at my side, smiling. The old woman nods and grabs a bag. "You can't wander alone without speaking."
The old woman hands me the bag with the objects, Peeta pays and we resume walking.
"If you want to see something, just point. Alright?" I smile.
I follow Peeta everywhere but sometimes I point at something and he will show me them. I have never seen so many amazing and breathtaking things. A man building a jar from mud but Peeta told me it's called clay. One little house, a shop, had various paintings outside, on the street, with fantastic images. The sea, people on the streets, the palace seen from the beach. We sit in small staircase, eating the things we bought. The red ones are apples and they are delicious. At the palace, we would only eat fish and algaes. He also buys a flower, a daisy, and gives it to me. We pass by people dancing to the sound of musical instruments. Their movements are so graceful and beautiful. I look at their feet. They control them so well, it's incredible how they don't fall with such many steps.
"Do you want to dance?" Peeta asks, curious. I stare at him. I have danced but never with these legs. "I'll teach you."
He grabs my hand and leads me to a vacant space near the other people.
"Put your right hand on my shoulder." I do as he says. He puts his hand on my waist and leaves our other hands united. "Now, step back with you left foot. Yes. And now the same with you right foot. Don't worry, I'll lead." After a few tries and some stepped on feet, I can dance normally. I smile. I'm dancing on human legs. I look up from my feet and look at Peeta. He is smiling at me.
"See? You're dancing." He congratulates. I nod excitedly.
We dance until the song stops and then walk back to the coach. We leave the village, Peeta leading the horse to the seashore. The sun is already making it's descent to the horizon.
"Are you having fun?" Peeta asks.
I look from the landscapes to him. I nod, grinning. This day has been... There are no words to describe it. The human world is full of wonders and amazing things still undiscovered. But to make this day more memorable, I need Peeta to really fall in love with me. I don't think that's going to happen. He's still set in fiding that girl. The one he thinks saved him, not me. I sigh and look away from him. We stop at a zone full of trees and I see a little port with a boat. We leave the coach and walk to the boat. I shouldn't be this close to water. My dad must have everyone looking for me and Haymitch.
Peeta gets inside the boat and holds his arms out to me. I put my hands on his shoulders and he lifts me into the boat by the waist. We sit down, face to face and Peeta starts rowing the boat, away from the port. We stay in silence. Peeta is rowing, looking deep in thought and I can't break the silence because I don't have a voice.
"If you don't want to become part of Coin's collection, kiss him already." Haymitch hisses from my pocket.
I huff. I'm not going to throw myself at Peeta. I never kissed a man before, much less an human.
"Move closer to him." He whispers. I look down at him, slowly. "Just do it."
I inch myself a bit closer, almost touching Peeta's knees. He looks up, startled and smiles.
"You know," Peeta rests the oars. "You never told me your name. Well how could you." He chuckles.
I hear Haymitch sigh exasperatedly.
"Maybe I could guess." He says. "Let's see. Ingrid?"
What! No way my name would be that.
"Alright. Sorry." He laughs. "Alice?"
"It's Katniss." Haymitch whispers.
"What?"
"Katniss." He hisses.
"Katniss?" I nod. "I like it. It suits you." I shrug. It's just a name.
"No, really." Peeta sighs. "How do I say this?" I chuckle.
"You appearing was a coincidence. I was looking for someone and then you suddenly appear, out of nowhere. And you have this... scent." I stare at him. "You smell like the sea. It's always present, like it is a part of you. I know this sounds strange but I can't stop thinking about it. You having this name makes you a mistery."
I shake my head. He grabs my hands and looks deeply into my eyes.
"I don't know anything about you nor do you can tell me but even though you can't speak, every little thing you do it's enough to describe who you are." He smiles softly.
I want my voice back to tell him everything I feel and wish. He is looking into my eyes but he can't see the truth. I'm like an open book. Why can't he see that I am the girl that saved him? I'm standing right here. He doesn't need to look anymore. I may not speak but I can do something. He is watching my every move so I start leaning closer to him. I close my eyes and when I'm almost touching his lips, I feel the boat shake and then we fall into the water.
I try to swim but my body won't move and my breathing is being cut, slowly. I feel a pair of arms pull me out of the water.
"It's ok. I'll help you." Peeta says.
I take quick intakes of breath and try to pull my hair away from my face. The braid has come undone with the force of the fall.
"Here." Peeta takes my hands and pushes the hair away with his hands.
I smile, thanking him.
"We better get to the palace. It must be past dinner." I nod.
The water wasn't too warm nor too cold but I'm getting cold in this drenched dress clinging to my body. I look at Peeta and his shirt is almost glued to his chest and his blonde hair is all over the place. I chuckle.
"What?" He asks.
I reach for his hair with my hand and straighten it a bit.
"Thank you." He smiles. I smile back. "Let's go."
I follow him through the lake, gripping his arm so I won't fall. If this hadn't happened, I could have kissed him. Right now, I could be talking. I sigh. I only have one more day left. I can't waste that opportunity. I want him to find out the truth. To know that I'm the one that saved him. To fall in love with me as I have fallen with him.
The next chapter will be in 3 different POV's and it's where I make the change in this story. Don't forget to review :)