Author's Note: Here we go again. I've started my new story about my version of Mockingjay. I will be posting it as soon as I have a couple chapters down. We are getting closer to lemons time. Please let me know what you guys want me write about. Here is Chapter 25. Enjoy.
I don't own The Hunger Games
Chapter 25
Katniss's POV
When I wake up it is already late afternoon. I look around the room until my eyes lock with Peeta's. His ocean blue eyes have been watching me, those azure orbits that can take me to places I've never been, they can take me to paradise. Peeta brings his hand to my cheek and starts caressing it.
"Hello" he whispers.
"Hi" I say. He leans in and presses his lips against mine. His lips are so soft and delicate against mine; he kisses me like I'm the most precious jewel, the most expensive stone. I can't understand how Peeta can always make me feel so special even though I failed him so many times. If it wasn't for me Peeta would be the only victor, he wouldn't have gone through another game or be tortured and hijacked by the Capitol. I'm the reason why he has suffered so much but he still came back to me, he is still my light in the darkness, my morning star.
"Greasy Sae left us some lunch. I know it is kind of late but what do you think if we go downstairs and get some of it? I'm starving and I think you may be too since last time we ate was breakfast in the hospital." Peeta says once we pull away. I just nod and get up before helping him up. Together we make our way to the kitchen.
"You should sit down and rest. I can handle getting it together." I say when I notice Peeta making his way to the stove. He turns around and smiles at me.
"I'm okay Katniss, I promise. I don't mind a little help though" He says. I smile back at him and make my way to the stove to help him. It takes us a couple minutes to get our lunch/dinner together and ready to eat.
"Do you want to eat in the living room by the fireplace?" he says. We each grab a bowl and a cup of water before making our way to his living room. He gets the fire going while I grab a blanket and put our bowls on it. Peeta sits by my side and gives me a kiss on the cheek before we start eating. I can't help but remember last time we were in this same situation, sitting by his fireplace. My stupid decision of living him almost killed us. Peeta started working to death and I fell in a deep depression, again. I lost too much weight because of it so I still find it difficult to eat my meals, my stomach seems to be used of being empty.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Asks Peeta. I didn't realize that I stopped eating and was staring at the fire.
"I'm just not used to eating so much anymore" I answer honestly. Peeta stares into my grey orbits, his worried blue eyes and blonde locks reflecting the fire, he never looked more handsome.
"I know, but please try eating a little bit more. You look a so tinny, I'm worried about you Katniss." He says. What on earth did I do to deserve such a wonderful person by my side? Peeta worries about me even though I'm the person who hurts him over and over again. I nod and make an effort to eat at least half of my stew. My stomach feels like its turning but I keep a smile on my face like I'm enjoying this, I feel sick just by thinking about food.
When Peeta is finally satisfied, he grabs out bowls and brings it to the kitchen before returning to me with a blanket.
"I though it would be nice if we could lie by the fire and talk for a little while." He says. He grabs a pillow that was on the couch before making himself comfortable on the floor and pulling me to rest of his chest. We lie on the ground, our legs and fingers intertwined, his right hand caressing my hair and my right hand caressing his abdomen under his shirt. We stay in silence for a couple minutes before he starts speaking.
"How are you doing love?" he asks.
"I'm better now with you." I answer him.
"Me too. But I'm not talking about your superficial feelings, how are you overall?" I'm taken back by his question. How do I even start?
"I don't know Peeta. Everything that's been happening is affecting me so much. I have this wound inside of me that will never heal, I miss her so much Peeta, I miss my sister so much. Sometimes I feel so guilty because it feels like I'm forgetting about her. After what happened to..." I pause, this is taking a lot from me. I swallow the tears and hold myself together. "After what Gale did, what happened between us and your accident, it feels like I didn't have time to grief." I can't control the tears that stream down my face. My sister. My prim was the reason why I fought so hard, well…..until I started fighting for Peeta's life. My mission was to safe Prim's and Peeta's lives but I was only half successful.
"Hey, shhh. It's okay. I know how much you miss her. You are so strong to hold yourself together after what happened with those bombs. I'm sure that wherever she is, Prim is happy and looking down at you. She is with your father." Peeta soothes. He is so good with words, I wouldn't believe anybody else but I know that Peeta would never lie to me.
"Do you miss your family?" I ask as I clean my face using my sleeve. I don't know if I should be asking him that but I want him to open his heart for me.
"I don't know. I mean, of course I miss them. But I don't actually remember my family that much. I only remember some moments of my childhood. I remember my father teaching me how to bake, my brothers teaching me how to wrestle and my mother….yelling at me and beating me over and over again. Anyways, the memories are blurry and some of them don't make sense. I definitely remember the first time saw you though, you looked so beautiful and carefree holding your father's hand." He says. I'm chocked; I thought the Capitol only messed with Peeta's memories about us, not his family. Because of me Peeta will never be able to see his family again, and now I find out that his memories were stolen from him, Snow played with his mind and made him forget the best moments of his childhood because of me.
"I'm so sorry Peeta." I whisper.
"Why for Katniss? I don't understand." He asks.
"It's all my fault. Snow bombed district 12 to destroy me, he killed thousands of People, including your family, because I rebelled against his rules. He came to my house a couple days before the our victory tour and told me to convince him that I loved you. I don't know if I was successful or not, he never told me, but he tool you away from me and hijacked you because he noticed how much you meant to me. If I would've eaten those berries and died this wouldn't have happen, your family and half of district 12 would still be alive and you would still have your memories." There, I finally said everything that is in my heart. All this guilty is killing me, suffocating me, I can't keep it to myself anymore.
"Of course not. Katniss you don't know what you are saying. None of this is your fault, you never meant for this to happen, the entire Panem and me know that you didn't want the civil war to happen, you were just trying to save your family. Eaten those berries and died? Don't you think about me? What would've happened to me if you died? I feel in love with you so deeply in that arena that I couldn't leave that place if you didn't leave with me. If you died I wasn't going to go home and live happy ever after. My life would be completely over, I would be right behind you sooner or later. I would fight again, be captured, tortured and hijacked by the capitol over and over again if It meant that I could be here with you." Peeta and his breathtaking way to manipulate words. He could move mountains just by using his intelligent mind and his mouth. This boy, who just made me fall in love with him a little deeper.
'I just want for you to be happy." I say honestly. The most beautiful smile crosses his face.
"I'm happy as long as I have you by my side." He kisses my lips softly, so soft that I barely feel it.
We spend a couple minutes just enjoying each other's company. I can feel his muscles under my palm; he is tense and I know that something is still bothering him. He wants to ask me something but doesn't know how.
"Are you okay?" I whisper. I look straight into his eyes, those beautiful ocean blue eyes shining with the flames. He smiles and nods, but I know that he wants to say something. I wait a couple seconds until he finally decides to let it go.
"I was just wondering how you are feeling, you know, about the….what Gale did. You were pretty hurt and I feel like it's been so long since we talked about it, I know how much you hate to even think about all this but I need to make sure that you are healthy and well." Of course he is worried about me. Peeta is always thinking about me before himself, and this is just not fair.
"To be honest I was so worried about you being in that hospital that I stopped thinking about it." I start. I'm definitely not good at expression my feelings but who else do I have to talk about this? Peeta is the only person I can open myself with. "I think I'm just trying to forget. I want to wake up and find out that everything was just a terrible nightmare."
"But are you still hurting?"
"Not a lot." It hurts to remember how much pain I felt the couple days after that…incident. "My mother gave me a couple herbs to take and I feel like the stitches feel out on their own. Depending on how I sit and sometimes even how I walk I can still feel the burning pain." I whisper. I can feel myself getting emotional again. I don't want to talk about this, I don't want to remember, but I know that Peeta is only concerned about my health.
"I know baby, but I will make sure that you get better and forget about all this." He says as I lie back down on his chest. I don't even notice when my eyes close and I finally fall asleep.
I'm lying on Peeta's bed and he is lying next to me, fast asleep. He looks so peaceful, so relaxed. It takes me some time to realize that we are both naked. Wait a second….Naked? what happened between us? Did we really….No, that is not possible. I would remember it.
"Peeta?" I whisper. I would like to let him sleep but I need to know what is happening. "Peeta" I say again, a bit louder this time. He isn't moving, it's like he can't hear me. But there isn't until I touch his cheek that I notice that his skin is pale and extremely cold. Lifeless. Peeta is dead. I immediately jump out of the bed and try to turn the light on.
"Good Evening Miss Everdeen." I hear someone saying. This voice, I would recognize it anywhere. The smell of blood and roses that haunts my worst nightmares. Snow.
"Oh I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" he asks. A shiver runs down my spine. Isn't he supposed to be dead?
"Katniss, what is happening?" I hear another voice. This voice is also familiar, but it only brings me comfort. Peeta.
"Oh Peeta, my lovely boy. What a honor you joining us." Snow says. Suddenly the entire room is illuminated, a bright light coming from the window. I can now see his face clearly and he is not alone. Peeta gets out of bed and starts walking in my direction, he is wearing a pair of boxers and that's it. I'm sure he was naked a couple seconds ago. I take a moment to look at myself, I'm wearing one of my mother's nightgown, the one she was wearing the night we received the news that my father was dead, I could never forget the restless hours I spent crying on it while she held me.
Two of Snow's peacekeepers start waking towards Peeta. Each one of them holds one of his arms and brings him to snow. I'm frozen in place, I can't move and Snow is taking my dandelion away again.
"What are you doing?" I yell "LET HIM GO." Snow's devilish laugh echoes through my room.
"You took everything from me Miss Everdeen. You took everything that I loved. You tool my life. I'm just doing the same to you." One of the peacekeepers forces Peeta to kneel in front of Snow. Another peacekeeper hands Snow a gun and he point it to Peeta's head.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM." I yell.
"Like I said before Miss Everdeen, you took everything from me and now I'm going to take your most precious loved one." Snow says, each words full of venom. Two Peacekeepers appear behind me and hold me back. What did they come from?
"Snow please don't do anything to him. I will do anything you want. Just please let him go." I plead. The whole situation finally kicks in and tears start to stream down my face. Snow is here, he is alive and about to take the life of the man I love.
"Katniss, it's okay love. I love you, it's okay." Peeta says.
"Time to say goodbye Star-Crossed Lovers." Snow says.
"Katniss listen to me. Close your eyes, I will be always with you. Please don't look baby." I can't close my eyes, I watch as Peeta takes his last breath and say his last words. "I love you alwa…." And the gun goes off.
Here we go guys. Sorry it took me so long to update. I will be very busy for the next couple of weeks so updates are going to be slow. I need some ideas about how Gale should be punished, let me know what you guys want. Please review and until next time.