Chapter Nine: The Capital Games

"Peeta?"

"Finnick!" He ran to embrace his friend.

"What are you doing back here?" Finnick demanded happily. "You should be home with your sister!"

"She came with me," Peeta sighed. "Primrose, come over here."

Prim was stumbling from the car where they'd had to come to a stop. Crowds made of District soldiers swarmed the streets of the Capitol; coming in droves to tear down the monuments made of gold and diamonds. Peeta had seen a woman pushing a wheelbarrow of pearls in front of her; he imagined the pool he and Finnick shared had been drained of its luster.

Fires had popped up here and there, but it was surprisingly organized. He imagined Thirteen must be a very orderly District.

Prim stopped gawking at the tall and unusually shaped buildings and people. She ducked over to her brother. "Prim, this is Finnick."

She blushed at his handsome face. "Hi," she said shyly.

Finnick whistled. "You're even prettier than Peeta said." Prim grew redder. He looked over his shoulder to a huddle of well-tanned citizens. "Annie!"

A small woman with wide, pale green eyes and unkempt black hair wandered over. Peeta could see she was pretty, but her beauty had been marred by fear and pain.

"Annie Cresta," Prim murmured.

Peeta recognized the Victor who had to swim through the corpses of her fellow Tributes when the Arena flooded during her Games. Without land for three days, she'd had to bind the bodies together for a raft so she could sleep without drowning. She'd been nearly catatonic in her Victor's interview. Caesar talked to himself for five minutes.

Her hand was warm, though. She smiled a bit. Finnick held her at his side protectively.

"So this is your wife?" Peeta asked.

"Yep," Finnick said proudly. "And this is going to be our son," he grinned, rubbing her belly. She giggled.

"Congratulations!" Prim jumped up and down.

Annie flushed. "Thank you."

Finnick turned to Peeta. "What brought you back? Did Coin call you?"

"Who?"

"I guess not."

"I, um. I came back for Katniss." Peeta had to look away. Knowing what Snow had put Finnick's wife through, he didn't think he could explain.

"It's okay, Peeta," Finnick whispered. "We were all children once."

Peeta nodded gratefully.

"I'll take you to Paylor. She's Coin's deputy."

They walked slowly down the row of cells. Names were written in what appeared to be marker on the doors. Many, many were crossed off. The gentle-faced woman called Paylor sucked in air and bit her lips. Peeta thought she looked like she didn't belong among the hard-edged rebel soldiers. He found her to be much more compassionate than he anticipated.

Peeta passed a door labeled "C. Flickerman." He thought he heard soft weeping from the other side.

His eyes found a door labeled "K. Snow." The "E. Snow" beneath it had been crossed out.

He couldn't breathe.

"When-?" he whispered.

"Yesterday," Paylor murmured quietly. "For public viewing."

He squeezed his eyes shut. He felt Prim's hand find his wrist. "It's okay," she whispered.

"You should go back upstairs," he told her. "Wait for me there."

"No," she shook her head. "I'm here for you."

Paylor unlocked the door with her ring of keys. "I'll leave you alone. Just pull the door closed when you're through. The guards are right down the hall if you need help. Um-"

Peeta paused.

"She's...Good luck." She pulled the door open. He and Prim stepped inside.

It was dim. She was a dark figure outlined in one ray of light from the narrow window butting up against the ceiling. Her hair was tangled. She sat on the bed with her knees pulled to her chest. She turned her head to the intruders with hesitation.

"Hi Katniss," Peeta whispered.

"Hi," Prim whispered bravely.

She blinked at them for a moment. "You're Primrose," she finally breathed. "I recognize you from your picture. You're very beautiful." Her voice sounded far away.

"Thank you," the little girl said. She couldn't smile at the compliment.

"Katniss?" Peeta worried.

Her smile was a distant. Her eyes turned to the small square of light. "They hung Mother yesterday," she told them, a wisp of mania in her lilt. "I could see it from this window. I called to her, but I don't think she heard me. She didn't want to go." Her stare was vacant. "I think they'll kill me soon. Maybe Thursday. I hope tomorrow."

"Katniss?" Peeta tried to see if she could even hear him.

"I think they killed Cinna," she went on, tracing the crumbling mortar between the bricks with her fingernail. "That's a shame. He was so lovely, wasn't he? He made me so beautiful. Much more than I should have been."

"Peeta, she's gone mad," Prim whispered in a frightened voice.

He nodded to his little sister. "Katniss, I'm going to talk to Paylor, all right? I'm going to see if I can find you a more comfortable cell."

"I'm comfortable," she assured the mortar. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"Why not?"

"I'm going to the Games."

Peeta sputtered. "What?"

She smiled vapidly. "Mrs. Coin told me. I get to go. But it's only me; no other Tributes. I just have to go survive. I guess they ran out of people they wanted to kill." She looked back to the window. "I wonder if they'll have a bow. I miss my bow. I miss my Daddy. Even more than when he was here." Her voice trailed off and she stared at the grates keeping her from daylight.

Prim spoke up. "I brought you Gus." She held up the bear.

Katniss seemed to recognize it. "Oh. It was a gift."

"I know. And thank you very much," Prim murmured. "But he missed you and wanted to come back."

Katniss smiled. Her arms trembled as she reached out and took the bear from Prim. "Hi, Gus. I missed you too," she whispered.

She hugged the bear and buried her face in the tattered fur.

He pulled Prim out of the cell and closed it gently. Katniss barely seemed to notice.

"Peeta, she's …"

"I know, Prim."

Paylor had insisted the few soldiers camped out in Katniss' room relinquish it to Peeta. He got the sense she thought of him as a bit of a celebrity; as a symbol. Haymitch tried not to roll his eyes when Peeta murmured this watching the soldiers curse as they packed up their stuff and stormed out.

When he saw what they'd done to her things, he was defeated.

Her posters were all destroyed; her bedding and linens shredded. Her clothes had been piled into boxes to be given away, her jewelry missing. He wondered what happened to her fishhook earrings.

He found the picture of her and her father in the garbage. The frame had been smashed. He fished the scratched picture out of the frame and carefully tucked it into his bag for her.

He asked Haymitch to stay there with Prim while he went to find Coin, but she wanted to come with him. They compromised that she could wait outside for him.

Haymitch said he didn't care what they did as long as he could nap on the sofa while they were gone. Forty eight hours sober was starting to wear on him.

They followed the trail of noise and commotion to the room he knew Snow had used for his afternoons with Esmeralda.

He pointed out things to Prim to ease her tension. "That's a gift from Six," he said of the ancient train wheel mounted on the wall. "It was from the first engine that ever went over 200 miles an hour."

"Wow," she breathed. "What's that?"

"That's a portrait of-" he stopped. The diamonds had been plundered from the mosaic. Katniss' diamond eyes were as blank as her own in true life. He tripped as he stopped to stare at the destroyed portrait.

"Let's keep going," he gritted.

They found the afternoon room and he slipped inside.

"Paylor? May I have a moment?" he whispered as he slipped into the President's conference room. They'd taken over the large oak table he'd used to display his finest roses.

Paylor was standing with the hard-faced woman he recognized from the display linked up to Twelve's monitors. He remembered her slapping Katniss as she was imprisoned. He tried not to glare.

"Pax Peeta, yes," Coin smiled. "Come on in."

"Would you like some tea?" Paylor gestured towards the silver tea service on the gilded sideboard. "It's rosewater. His personal blend."

He shuddered at the thought. "No, thank you. I've come for a favor."

Coin's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"I need you to spare Katniss Snow's life."

They stared at her. "I'm sorry?" Paylor coughed.

"She's gone mad down there," he pleaded. "She thinks she's going into the Hunger Games."

"She is."

"What?"

"It's not fully back up," Coin sighed. "I had wanted to put her little friends Cashmere and Enobaria in there, but they died in the assault. But just her alone will be fine. There are plenty of mutts left into the underground labs anyway."

Peeta couldn't breathe. "That's barbaric."

"I think nearly a hundred years of grieving parents would disagree with you," Coin said quietly.

"She's a child! She's seventeen."

"You're seventeen."

He stared. "She's done nothing wrong."

"I seem to recall her kidnapping you," Coin said pointedly.

"She offered me my sister's freedom. I chose to stay."

"Peeta, that's hardly a choice," Paylor said gently.

"But it was still my choice," he shot back. "I chose to stay with her."

Paylor broke in to diffuse his anger. "Peeta. We have to quell the country. Everyone is angry. I know it's wrong," she whispered, eyeing Coin glaring at her. "But this may give a lot of people closure they desperately need. It's a mercy."

"You think murdering her is mercy?"

Paylor looked struck. "I – I – "

He spun on his heel and slammed the door as hard as he could.

Prim didn't need to ask. She jogged after him as he stomped down the hallway.

"What do I do?" he asked her miserably. "She's going."

"Where?" Prim whispered.

"To the Games."

"But where?"

Peeta paused. "Coin said it wasn't repaired," he murmured. "It must be my Arena. The new one wouldn't be ready just yet."

"How do you find out where it is?" Prim asked.

Peeta set his jaw. "Go to the source of all gossip."

"Where is the Arena?"

Caesar looked up from the rolls Peeta had snuck to him from the kitchen where Sae had been put to work for the soldiers. They remembered her as a Tribute's aunt and let her be. She volunteered to feed the prisoners to keep an eye on Katniss. Peeta saw her relief when he told her she was at least alive if not fully aware.

"Mpffhgh?" Caesar had stuffed an entire roll into his mouth.

"My Arena. From this year."

Caesar swallowed with difficulty.

"Why?"

"They're sending Katniss in."

The man in the gold suit blanched. "That girl? She'd never make it off the pad."

"I know. I have to get her out. If I can find the Arena I can head off her hovercraft and get her out."

Caesar stared.

"What?"

"Why would you help her?" he asked Peeta.

"Because not one more child should die in an Arena. Ever."

Caesar looked at him. "I don't know where the Arena is," he breathed. "But-" he broke in before Peeta could curse. "Claudius Templesmith is three rooms down."

Peeta had snuck out of the guest room while Prim was still asleep. He'd left her a note saying how sorry he was he didn't tell her he was going, but she had to be safe and go home to Dad even if he didn't survive. He left a note by Haymitch's snores to make sure she got home quickly.

He met Finnick at the hovercraft bay. They crouched outside the door leading to the command tower.

"Thank you for coming. I know you'd rather be with Annie right now," Peeta mourned.

"I'm here because you're right, Mellark," Finnick whispered. "When I got your note...not one more person should die. I have to make sure this world is the best I can make it for my son."

"What are you going to call him?" he smiled.

"I don't know. I kind of like Pax," Finnick smiled.

Peeta shook his head. A clatter of a coffee cup being set down came from the center room of the bay.

"Who's in there?"

"This early?" Finnick whispered. "Probably three or four pilots. Should only be one flight controller." He glanced at Peeta's curious expression. "I spent a lot of time with a hovercraft designer my first year following my Games. She talked in her sleep." Peeta offered an apologetic look, but Finnick shrugged.

"So. Four pilots?" he considered anxiously.

"Peeta," Finnick sighed. "You survived the Games. You can do this."

"Right," Peeta exhaled. "Okay. On three?"

"One." Finnick counted. "Two. Three!"

They jumped through the door, fists raised.

The sole inhabitant of the room spilled his coffee on his shirt in surprise.

"Oh. Sorry," Peeta mumbled. "We thought there'd be more of you."

The flight controller still looked confused. "What?"

"Where is everyone?" Finnick asked.

"Watching the launch."

Peeta felt like he was being strangled. Finnick lunged forward and grabbed the controller. "When did she leave? How long ago?" He demanded. He pressed the man harder against the wall by his throat.

"Just an hour. She's…probably not…in the…tube!" the man choked.

"Get in the hovercraft," Finnick ordered. "You're taking us."

"I can't!"

Peeta grabbed a wrench-looking device from a toolkit on the hangar floor. He tapped it lightly against the pilot's teeth. "I think you can," he threatened. He hoped he looked menacing. The idea of yanking out someone's tooth was making him ill.

Finnick winked at him over the man's head.

They dragged the protesting man to the hovercraft.

Peeta ran from the hovercraft, leaving Finnick to tie up the pilot.

It was exactly the same. Nothing had been torn down. He felt the terror that had gripped him that morning. But today it wasn't Leevy driving him onward, giving him something to focus on.

Katniss was his reason to survive now.

The launch doors were all closed. He kept running.

He saw one labeled "Six – Female" ajar. He ducked inside.

Gus was lying on the floor by the tube.

He forced his eyes to look to the launch tube. The platform was at the top. She was in the Arena.

He ran to the next one.

He scrambled over to the pad. He looked all over. There were no launch buttons. It was all manually done from the Control Room. His mind raced. How could he get in? How could he launch himself?

The idea was a cold flash of lighting.

He ran around the launch pads until he reached the door marked "One – Male."

As he suspected, there was a self-launch button for the Career districts.

He stepped onto the launch pad. He held his breath. He pushed the button.

His mind went blank as he started to rise.

Leevy. Katniss. Prim. Mutts. Pain. Fire.

Then he was in the open air. The sun was shining. It was a beautiful day.

He looked around.

Peeta stepped down carefully around the holes where the boy from Three had dug up the explosives. He'd seen on the video review the fate the poor boy suffered when they malfunctioned and exploded the Career's food supply and Marvel accidentally.

It was incredibly quiet.

"Katniss?" Peeta called out. He could hear cameras buzzing all over him as they zoomed in. This was certainly a show everyone was watching. He hoped Finnick would have time to hide before the Rebel Gamemakers came to collect Peeta.

He frowned. What would she do? What did she know to do?

She could shoot. He looked at the Cornucopia. There were new weapons at the mouth. It looked like the small pile had been untouched for the most part, but he knew there had been a bow. Claudius Templesmith said they had wanted her to survive at least one day in fear and pain.

He walked over to the pile. He picked it over. He found what he was looking for.

Pocketing the set of fishhooks and wire and the half-full canteen of water, he left the swords and flamethrowers and maces and walked into the woods calling her name.

No one else had come through the launch pads and discovered him in the last two hours. He wondered if Coin would be happy to let him die with her. Prim was probably both furious he'd snuck out and terrified she'd lose him again.

He sighed and looked to a camera buzzing nearby. "Sorry, Prim. I have to try. I'm sorry, Dad. I love you both very much."

He hiked to the river to catch something to eat.

He built the fire to cook the fish with a lot of green woods and leaves. The smoke poured through the treetops. He hoped she'd see it and come to him. He cooked the two fish he caught slowly. He ate one. He waited. The fire died down. He ate the other.

He climbed to his feet and hiked along the river.

When the thought occurred to him, he began to run.

It was nearly half an hour before he found the rock face where he'd lost Leevy. He steadied his shaking legs and bent down to crawl to the lip on all fours.

There was no body below. He closed his eyes and breathed.

No cannon had fired. No celebration had begun. He could convince himself she was alive. She was armed. She'd last one afternoon.

He had to keep going. Before the rebels stopped him or death stopped her.

The scream jarred him from the rock where he was dozing in rest.

Was it a dream? Was it just Prim in his head? Telling him to come home?

The scream echoed through the woods. It was late afternoon. It would be dark within a few hours.

He leapt to his feet. "Katniss!" he shouted.

He ran but didn't know in which direction to head. Her terror was all around him. Her cries bounced off the trees and came at him from a million angles.

The crashing underbrush grew louder. He looked up. The trees were moving.

About a hundred yards away, the branches were shuddering and swaying and connecting and separating. He furrowed his brow. How could trees swing like that?

It wasn't until he saw an arrow fly up into the canopy and the monkey fell did he realize it was dozens of mutts chasing her. He could hear her running below.

"Katniss!"

He charged forward, pushing apart bushes and tripping over roots as he tried to find her. Another arrow flew and he tried to track where she was.

He saw a flash of white through the trees. Of course they'd put her in white. So she'd be easy to see for all predators. Including the spectators.

It was worse when he finally saw her. She was wearing the dress she'd had made for her birthday. At least they'd given her boots to run.

The quiver bounced on her back and she ran. Her red face was streaked with tears and her hair was matted with sticks and leaves. Her knuckles were white clutching the bow. She was a hundred feet to his left when she burst into his field of view. She looked over her shoulder at the advancing mutts.

"Katniss!"

She stumbled when she saw him. "Peeta?"

"Katniss. Run!"

He ran towards her, arcing as she realized she couldn't stop to ask him why he was there, why his life was in danger too. He came to be running side by side with her. He caught hold of her hand and they ran towards the tree line.

"Can they swim?"

She shook her head unknowingly. Her eyes were blank save terror.

"Let's get to the lake!" he tried.

The monkeys bore down on them. One leapt from the trees and caught a fistful of Katniss' hair. She screeched in pain and Peeta kicked it as hard as he could. The manufactured claws had torn at her dress and the long fangs had etched bloody lines on her shoulder. It lurched away and he dragged Katniss back to a full sprint.

The line of sunshine where it met to shadow land of the trees was coming up. Just a hundred yards to the clearing. Just another fifty yards to the lake.

She shot an arrow over her shoulder. The monkey fell and brushed Peeta's arm. He looked at her empty quiver.

He could see the clearing. He could see the trees rocking and swaying on the other side as monkeys closed it on them from all sides.

"We're not going to make it," he realized.

He heard Katniss whimper.

He knew it now. "We're not going to make it."

He felt her try to pull her hand free. She was looking over her shoulder. Her feet were slowing.

"No!" he yelled, squeezing her hand tighter. "No one else dies for this!"

They burst into the clearing. His lungs felt like they were about to explode. Katniss was gasping for air. The Cornucopia was dead ahead. Monkeys gnashed their teeth and screamed at them from all around.

Peeta hit the pile of supplies first. Katniss grabbed a sword and swung wildly. She knocked away three animals and stabbed a fourth.

He grabbed the flamethrower.

The jet of fire flew out. Monkeys scattered. He circled Katniss and her sword slowly. The circle grew as the grass caught and blazed.

The ring of fire closed. They were surrounded.

The monkeys cried and chattered around the perimeter. They climbed up the Cornucopia, looking for a way to jump over to attack. Peeta sprayed at them with the flamethrower and they bared their teeth and ran away.

Katniss threw down the sword and dropped onto the grass.

Peeta set down the flamethrower away from the circle and moved to sit by Katniss. She cried silently.

He pulled her in and held her. He let her cry.

"I'm so sorry about your parents," he told her. "I miss my mother every day."

She nodded into his shoulder. She pulled back.

"Why?" she sobbed.

"I had to come," he smiled at her. He looked up at the blue sky, filling with the oily black smoke from their protective circle of flames. "This Arena…all of them…was what was wrong with our world. If it's going to continue," he looked back to her, "then I belong here. With you. I don't want to live in that world anymore."

She smiled weakly. "You're too good for this world."

He pulled her close. The monkeys chattered from the other side of the wall of fire.

"How long?" she whispered.

"I don't know," he said. "Not too long."

"I'm tired," she murmured.

He closed his eyes. "I know. We'll sleep soon."

The flames began to dip. He could see the monkeys advancing daringly as the wall began to shrink.

"Peeta?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

A monkey was against the edge of the fire wall. Peeta stretched his fingers and grabbed the sword she'd dropped. He pointed it at the monkey. The monkey growled and snarled. He could hear another breathing inches behind them.

He looked up to the sky. "Is this what you wanted?" he asked the cameras. "Is this the happy ending you were hoping for?" He began to cry. "Prim! Dad!"

He dropped the useless sword and held onto to Katniss. The monkeys were lining up, waiting for the wall to dissolve.

"Katniss," he sobbed. He pressed his lips to her ear. "You were always good enough. And...and," he whispered, "I love you too."

She sighed happily. "We're going to sleep now."

The ladder hit him on the head.

"Ow!" he looked up. It rose up to the hovercraft.

"Katniss!" he stood up. The monkeys were snapping through the flames. He dragged her up.

"What?" was her groggy response.

He closed his hands over hers on the ladder. The current rushed through them and they were locked on. They lifted off the ground as the flames extinguished.

Peeta could hear the howling monkeys below, but he couldn't move. He could only look at Katniss, surrounded in his arms. She stared at the ladder but saw nothing.

Finnick pulled her into the hovercraft. Another pair of hands helped Peeta to his feet.

"You are the bravest, stupidest kid I know," Haymitch yelled at him. He threw his arms around Peeta. "Never do that again."

"I don't plan on it."

Paylor appeared from the cockpit.

"I take it I'm in trouble?" Peeta asked.

"Well, the pilot isn't pressing charges," she said, suppressing her hopeful smile, "but, yes. I think Alma may want a word with you."

Peeta looked over to Katniss. She was sitting on the floor. She was looking at her shoelaces with confusion.

"Katniss?" he knelt next to her.

"Whose shoes are these?" she blinked.

Peeta felt his heart drop. She wasn't any better. She wasn't back.

"Finnick, is there a place to lie down?"

"Yeah, the medical bay is over here," he murmured.

"If Coin needs a word," Peeta told Paylor, "she can wait until we've rested." Peeta lifted Katniss to her feet and led her stumbling to a room with a narrow cot that smelled of antiseptic. Finnick kept her from tumbling over while Peeta lay down and he lifted her to lay by Peeta's side.

"Wait, I have something." Finnick disappeared

"Her feet must be cold," Katniss whispered. "The girl. I have her shoes."

"It's a beautiful day," he whispered to her. "The grass will feel good beneath her toes. I'll take you to the meadow in Twelve. You can run around without shoes and pick flowers." He kissed her scalp.

Finnick was back. "Look Katniss. I found Gus."

Her eyes brightened and she stretched out on arm. Finnick set Gus on Peeta's chest and Katniss curled into him.

He thanked Finnick and his friend left so he could hold her in silence.

"I'm tired," she murmured into the bear.

"We're almost home."

Coin was waiting for him as he descended the gangplank into the hovercraft. He had Haymitch hide Katniss inside until he was sure they wouldn't be killed on sight.

"What the hell was that?" she screamed at him. Even her bodyguards looked terrified at her fury.

"I had to give it a shot," he mumbled. "I had to do that for her."

"You had to do that for her?" Coin sneered. "For the daughter of the cruelest tyrant that has ever ruled our country? You just had to save her, didn't you?"

"She's just a girl," he told her. "She's not anyone's daughter anymore."

"Alma." Paylor's voice was firm.

They all turned to look at her. She was holding her communicator to her ear. "There's something you should hear."

The conference room phones were ringing nonstop. The lackeys trying to establish themselves in the new government were running around the room, trying to answer them all unsuccessfully. The noise was chaotic and overwhelming.

"What is this?" Coin breathed.

"The parents. The surviving parents for the last fifty Games. They've been calling their mayors and finding their Overseers." Paylor looked up. "Now they're calling here." She smiled sadly at Peeta. "I think...I think she's your problem now." She glanced over at Coin. "Unless you want another uprising."

Coin's face turned a violent shade of red. He felt her hand go around his wrist. It tightened painfully. She leaned in to his ear. "I never want to see you or her again. Do I make that clear?"

"You don't need to," he told her. "We're never coming back."

Prim was sitting on the guest bed. Peeta asked her to stay with Katniss while he packed up some clothes for her. He didn't want her to see what had happened to her room. To her life.

Katniss was talking in whispers to Gus.

"Thank you for getting me out of the Reaping, Katniss," Prim said carefully.

"You're welcome," Katniss murmured.

"How did you do it?" she asked.

Katniss smiled airily. "Capitol families are exempt. I had listed you as my cousin." She gazed at Gus. "I don't have any cousins. I don't have any friends," she said blankly.

Peeta entered. Prim gave him a worried look. He nodded.

He pulled Katniss onto her feet. She looked dazed. "Is it time?" she asked. Her fingers found her neck in fear. She looked towards the gardens where the gallows had stood before Haymitch burned them down the night before.

"No, Katniss. Remember? You're coming to Twelve. You're going to work for the butcher. Hunting animals."

"I am?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "Do I like hunting?"

"You're very good with a bow," he told her, leading her out of the room as the rebel guards watched in pity. "You're the best in the country."

"What country?"

"This country. Panem."

"My father ruled a country called Panem once," she blinked.

"Yes, Katniss. But it's all new. It's better now. It'll all be better now," he hoped.

Gale and Hazelle were waiting to meet them when the hovercraft landed. Gale's jaw was set in resistance. Hazelle looked worried.

"Hi," Peeta smiled nervously. "This is Katniss."

Gale mumbled something near 'hello' and Hazelle waved, but her dulled grey eyes were wide on the trees and town.

"Katniss? Katniss." She looked at him dazedly. "This is Gale. You remember Gale? And this is Hazelle." He pointed to them each slowly. "You're going to help them feed this town. This is called District Twelve."

He turned her around so she could see all around her. There were people moving up and down the streets, repairing their homes, building, talking, and glancing at her.

She turned her head to stare at the trees again.

"This place is very beautiful," she whispered.

He smiled at her. "It is now."