A/N: Finally, the last step in the process of the revelation. I felt a little hope in my heart as I wrote about it…so appropriately titled. I have left this story "in progress" just in case there is more that needs to be said. Reviews will help influence that decision. Not sure exactly where it will go, but I am sure I can think of something. LOL.

Update 3/12/13: Reformatted the text, inserted more line breaks for easier reading

Light of Hope

I stopped in my tracks, a good 20 feet between us and looked at him.

It was the first time in a long time that our gaze was uninterrupted. It was uncomfortable, but somehow warm. I almost started the conversation reliving the visit I had from Snow but realized that it would only sound as if I was pleading for him to help me act.

No. I had to begin the process of sincerity. It felt surprisingly easy to smile at him. Probably the first smile I had given him since we left the Capitol.

"Hey," he said, breaking the silence between us. "I was just going to sit with Haymitch for a while, try to slow him down a little if you know what I mean," he continued.

His tone was so distant with me and I could swear he almost seemed to be in pain talking to me. My first reaction was to retreat and hide within myself, but that feeling welled up inside me again and I knew that if I ever wanted to begin to tear down the walls, I had to learn to face the uncomfortable moments.

This wasn't something I could just shoot and kill, or something that I could put behind my survival thoughts, this was foreign to me. But the ever-present need for him to be in my life and to be more than just an acquaintance kept my feet firmly planted and I spoke.

"Peeta, I never thanked you." I said. His look changed from painful to puzzled. I continued, "I never thanked you for saving my life both here in the district and in the arena." I stared at the ground and furiously worked my hands back and forth in my pockets.

This was hard. I was trying to be so careful with my words, unsure of how he would react if I just blurted out that I didn't want to forget.

It was from our conversation on the train when he asked, with a hope in his eyes, what we would do when we got back. I had so quickly replied that I guessed we would try and forget. Try and forget the horror of the games and try to forget any confusing feelings we had.

My desire to return home and back to normal had cascaded out of my mouth before I even thought about the consequences and the pain it would cause. But now here in the dark of the night, I was trying to find the right way to tell him that I had not forgotten, nor would I ever forget how he continued to save me with each new day we were alive.

"You don't have to thank me. I should be thanking you for looking for me and for risking your life to save me," he said. "I'm sorry." I blurted out. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks and the tears were there again.

"I'm sorry that I have been so distant from you. You have never been anything but nice to me, and I trampled on your feelings for me." I continued. His countenance changed and that caring look returned.

He took a few steps toward me and I returned the gesture.

"Katniss I know that I haven't been very easy to be around. I didn't talk to you for all those years and then I turned your world upside down by revealing that I was attracted to you all along." He said. "I just want us to be friends, if nothing else is possible, just friends. I need that and hope that you can give that to me when you are ready." He said and then lowered his eyes to the ground.

In a soft whisper he said, "It's all I have every really hoped for since that day…"

It was the same Peeta. Here he was reducing his feelings and his desires to rock bottom in a hope that he could still keep up some sort of relationship with me.

My heart melted and I walked toward him until we were close enough to feel each other's body heat.

"Peeta, I know this won't sound like me and believe me when I say it's not something I am used to…" I trailed off, but finally worked up the resolve and looked into those endless blue eyes. "Peeta, I don't want to forget either. Any of it. Iwill always be your friend, but I hope that it's not too late for…more." I said.

By now, I was shaking and I wasn't sure if it was from the cool air or from the nervousness of finally spilling out, in my weird sort of way, my affection for him. When his hands found mine and pulled me close to him, all the tension in my body floated away.

Yes, I was still in hot water with the Capitol and I was still the same closed off girl from the seam, but right here and now, I was someone's object of affection and someone cared for me in a way that I had never known. We hugged each other for what seemed like days.

When we finally released from each other's grip, I looked up at him and smiled. His eyes and smile gave me the answer I so desperately had hoped was still there.

"Nothing could change how I feel about you," he said.

In this moment I know that my life is once again changing. Changing for the better?

I don't really know. But what I know is that I will face each day moving forward with a rock-solid foundation standing next to me. I am excited in some small way to be experiencing something that just months before I had so adamantly denied I ever wanted.

This excitement is tinged with the fear of losing it all and I am not really sure how those two feelings will play out.

I still dread the thought of this tour, but am now filled with the hope of growing closer to my best friend, my protector, my love.

This will surely change everything about how we both approach our lives, but somehow it doesn't feel quite as scary as it has before.