To Kill a Mockingjay

Annie's home was beautiful, it was standard but decorated in a lovely manner. Her walls were a pearly white with tints of light blue that looked like it came straight from the sea. Shells and messages were in bottles that surrounded the house. It was beautiful. We took our things to the guest room, Peeta was ecstatic. I placed my bag under the mattress and turned to him. He was closer than I realized. His arms wrapped around my waste, bolts of lightning shot through me.

"Aren't you happy to be here? To be seeing Annie?" He whispered. I smiled some and nodded.

"Good, because when you are happy, I am happy." He murmured.

Annie came in then, her eyes locked on Peeta's arms, and then on my face. She smiled brightly. "You too seem to be making yourselves right at home, aren't you?" She joked. She seems to be doing well since Finnick's death. "Tonight we will be having Salmon and a plate of fried rice with eggs condemned in them. Is that alright?" She asked.

"That sounds great, Annie." Peeta replied. I nodded in agreement. Annie left us to clean up before dinner, she wanted us to have a chance to relax and enjoy the small time that we had to be in District 4. I was laying on our bed when Peeta came over to me, his ocean blue eyes glistened in the sunlight. He crawled on top of me, his finger tips caressed my chin. I starred into his pupils, trying to calm the thumping sound of my heart beat inside my head.

"Come away with me to the shore, where we can lay contempt on the land." He whispered. My brows furrowed; I didn't understand. "Don't think." He continued. I bit my lip, trying to find the reason behind his sudden urge to be a hopeless romantic more than usual. "Peeta-" I started.
"Do this for me, Katniss. Don't think, don't speculate all the consequences, just let go of the world, run with me to the horizon." My cheeks flushed in agony, I didn't know what came over him but I was on my feet, ready to make a run for it. His arms were around me then, those lips of his inching closer to me. "Throw it all away, just for a while. Annie won't mind," he smiled. Anxiety began to course through me. "Between you and I the ocean lies, you're not so far away." He whispered. "Peeta..." He put his lips against mine. I was lost in his tide, for the first time in my entire life, I let everything hang loose, I let everything go with the flow.

Peeta guided me to the beach, where the ocean air combined with the smell of palm trees. The warm breeze ran its fingers through my hair, it was a revitalizing feeling. Peeta turned to me then, a bright smile bared.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" He chuckled.

I shook my head, still in awe.

"Why did you act like that back at Annie's?" I ask suspiciously. He didn't answer me; he only got closer to me, for a split second, I felt fear pierce my spine.

"I want to be able to do things like a regular human being, to be able to use his exaggerated charm on the girl he is madly in love with." He said. I stayed silent, analyzing his facial features. Peeta was incredibly beautiful, he always has been, and my love for him, though I do not express it, burns like a thousand suns. Losing him is not an option anymore, I won't be able to move on in life like I would have been before the Capitol crumbled. I bit my lip, looking at him, sorrowful.

"I appreciate it, that you are trying. But I love all your qualities as they are. I don't need anything else." I responded, letting my fingers intertwine with his tightly. "We've decided not to live without each other, that should be enough to display to you that I'm not going anywhere." I said. Peeta's eyes fell to the ground, I felt a part of me enjoy his poetic speech that brought us here in the first place. "Don't get me wrong, what you did back there was beautiful, and made me feel...different."

"What do you mean?"

"It was something new, something you've never done before, and I liked it. It wasn't necessarily implied, but I liked how it made me feel needed." I said simply.

We spent the rest of the time on the shore in silence, letting ourselves feel each other's warmth; before long we were making our way through Annie's front door. Annie smiled when she saw us and exclaimed that we were just in time for dinner. We ate our food in a blur, the conversations never ended until Annie would blank out, but like Finnick, Peeta were bring her back to reality. Annie went on telling us about her soon to be born baby, she wanted it to be a surprise when she finds out the gender. We are to leave tomorrow morning, it seemed like time flew by. Annie has gotten a lot better, she takes care of herself now, and is ready to take on motherhood. We arranged for Peeta, Haymitch, and myself to come for a visit as soon as the baby is born.

Once in our room, Peeta and I slept in each other's embrace, trying to forget that the nightmares are on their way.

I could see Prim in the woods, her body still and pale white. I screamed to her, but it was no use. Her eyes flickered in my direction, but focused on what was behind me. My father was not far behind me, he motioned that we needed to get to Prim. Tears streamed down my face as we ran, I was losing both of them all over again.