13. Peeta!

I glance up into Peeta's eyes and he is staring down into mine, a look of concern overwhelming his expression. All I can think about is how close he is. How I haven't seen these beautiful blue eyes so close to my own in over a year. My breath catches as I glance at his lips. Think of how he is close enough that he could just lean down right now and kiss me.

Peeta stares down at me for a few moments and I hear nothing but his breathing as I seem to have lost mine. But after a few moments, Peeta's face twists into an angry expression and he barks at me "What were you doing?! You almost got yourself killed!"

His words snap me back to reality. I was just standing here watching as a box almost crushed me to death. I was…letting it happen. I zoned out again, but this time it almost got me killed.

"I…um…" I say slowly but, before I can finish my jumbled words Peeta is pushing away from the ground and me. As he sits up on his knees, he pulls me up and together we both stand. I waver slightly as he pulls me up to my full height, his hands gripping mine tightly.

Peeta's anger has dissolved, and he is instead looking down at me with clear concern. His eyes search mine and he says shakily "Katniss? It was like you just…froze. What happened?"

Before I can speak, try to explain about the hospital and the bombing I hear a soft, angelic voice calling "Are you okay?!" I look over and see the red head walking towards us and her disruption immediately infuriates me. Her soft porcelain skin seems almost luminescent though there is barely any light, and her brow is etched up in concern. She's very pretty, I see now that she is so close, and I recall her arms wrapped around Peeta at his door. Although she is clearly speaking to me, her eyes are on Peeta's hands which are still gripping mine. I slip my hands away from him, drop them limply to my sides and nod shortly.

Now, I'm intensely angry. I don't want this strange pretty girl interrupting my talk with Peeta. My Peeta. But then…he isn't really. Not anymore. And before Peeta can introduce his new friend, which he is clearly planning to do, I quickly turn and walk away, leaving him looking silly with his mouth hanging open.

It is only a few steps to the box, which is enormous. It's actually more of a crate really and I gaze around the square and see at least 4 others, smaller, but almost the same size. I can only imagine how many others are being parachuted in throughout the patches of barren land. I pull at the tag on the side, and it reads "District 12: Good Health!" I stare over at the wooden planks trying to decide the best way to ply the boards off, when I remember the small pocketknife I keep in my boot at all times. It occurs me to that Haymitch may just be right about my paranoia, but I ignore the thought as I pull out the knife and systematically ply the boards away.

Inside there is a large cardboard box sealed with tape but punctured with holes. I slice through the tape and then step back quickly as piles of flour, sugar, spices, apples, vegetables, and frozen goods slip out all around me. After that, there is yet another box inside, wooden again with more holes punctured. When I cut into this one, I am staring into the eyes of a large brown cow. I look around the square and see the other cows being unleashed. Along with the meats in one crate, the vegetables in another. One is pouring with fruits of all kinds some of which I've never seen.

And then I see the people. They are laughing and cheering and thanking Gale and thanking Plutarch and thanking me. And soon the square is filled with what is surely all of the District 12 residents; which is a little over 200 people. And they are tossing food around and laughing and I begin laughing with them. I laugh and feel more elated than I have in months. They will have food and we will all be okay. Eventually someone hoists me up onto their shoulders and we are all singing a District 12 chant.

Long Live District 12!

Live Long District 12!

Long Live District 12, to Health and Wealth and Happiness!

And as I stare out into the square at all of the people and even find Gale also being unwillingly tossed through the crowd and Markeal and his wife, and Haymitch-who knows how he got here?-and many others I don't recognize, I feel a small swell in my chest. It is a swell of pride and thankfulness and that other thing that I haven't felt in so long, a swell of promise. The promise is that there can be better tomorrows for everyone in our District.

It is strange, my dream of Peeta. It doesn't fit in with the others. It is not exactly a nightmare, but it is dark and confusing.

Peeta stands in a tiny pool of water, his eyes full of sadness focused on a girl who stands before him on a dry mound of sand staring back. I stand beside the girl, but I cannot move my body or speak and as I look over at the face of the girl I see that the girl who stares back at Peeta…is me. Her face is a blank, emotionless mask. I feel my heart throbbing anxiously in my chest wishing one of them would speak. Instead Peeta's eyes just look at the unfeeling girl expectantly. His eyes are at first pleading until eventually he is crying, sobbing shamefully his eyes begging her…me for…something. But I don't know what he wants.

I watch myself staring at him unmoving and from within I shout "Help him! Do something!" but the Katniss whose body stands before him does not move, only blinking in response to his cries. I can see her continuing to stare at him, emotionless, until finally near hysteria, Peeta dissolves into the water and disappears into the ground. I emit a low scream, the first sound I have been able to release. The feeling of loss and longing surrounds me and inside I scream for the Katniss who stands before the pool of water to save him, but she remains unmoving as if nothing has happened.

This is one dream that I wanted to wake up from but did not. I wake up only when the sunlight hits me and my eyes open and my joints feel stiffened, as if the unmoving and unfeeling girl from the dream really was me. As if I'd spent those 8 hours, standing stiffly staring into the eyes of the crying Peeta…

I lay staring up at the ceiling trying to piece together remnants of understanding. I last saw Peeta a few days ago with the redhead in the square, so why dream of him now? I am just thinking of his eyes so close to mine in the past when something startles me into the present.

What is that…?

The smell is so familiar that my mouth is immediately watering. But it makes no sense. I sit up in bed and wonder if my mind is wandering further into the realm of insanity than I know. Until I hear the voice. Yes, someone is in my house laughing, I note.

I climb out of the bed, wrap the robe around myself and rush for the door. As I pull it open, my hand instinctively reaches for the arrows above my head when I realize the ridiculousness of it. Remember the little green-eyed boy who clung to Haymitch fearfully. So I leave the arrows but on my way down the hall, I can't help but grab the vase. Just in case.

As I get closer to the top of the stairs, recognition hits and I know what the scent is. Cheese. And bread. No. Not just bread, buns. The buns with the thin layer of cheese on them that I so loved, the ones that Peeta makes. The ones that Peeta makes?! I think, realizing that this can only mean one thing: Peeta is…here?!

I drop the vase, barely noticing as it bounces down the steps beside me, apparently made of hardened plastic, and race down quickly. I fling myself into the kitchen not bothering to grip my robe tightly as I am only wearing the long shorts and sleep shirt that Peeta has seen me in a hundred times before.

"Peeta!" I yell, surprising even myself at the joy I feel at the thought of his presence. My joy is so enthusiastic, in fact, that I feel completely and utterly dumbfounded, when I see instead, not only Peeta but…

…4 other familiar faces staring back at me.