it was always you

the fourth

Once the two victors returned to the Capitol, it was only a matter of time before the two were swept into their new life.

While the wounds were being attended to, Amara was constantly pushed away from visiting the boy she loves.

"Why can't I see him? He's injured and needs support! His family can't come here, I'm all he has! Please." Her voice and body tremble from her lack of sleep and constant worries.

"This is our protocol. It has been this way for decades." The doctor's words did nothing to ease the blonde. They rather made her more worried. "You will just have to wait."

—

After waiting even longer to see her boyfriend, Amara finally was allowed to see the boy she had waited for, feared for, and almost wished to die for.

"Peeta!"

His pained face smiles into the tight hug. It's the embrace that he had waited for. The comfort he stayed alive for. She was his motivation in the area, his pained nights were saved by the idea of her.

"You came back." Tears coated the bottom line of her lashes, threatening to spill.

"Because of you."

The two stand in silence, basking in the aura of their lover. It's a common thought that when you truly love someone silence is comforting, and for the two teens it's a fact. Meaningless words are unnecessary, they don't need them to fill space.

Yet despite the comfort of the silence, there were words that needed to be said. Life needed to carry on, and in an attempt to make up for missing time, Amara dared to break the silence.

"Let me show you the design I have. I wanted to make you look more peaceful than the scary victor you are." Laughing at the obvious lie as the baker could never be scary, she pulls her portfolio out of her bag, more papers of designs fill the pockets, beautiful and serene, built from pure love and dreams of the future. All of the designs are more personal than the one she intends on showing Peeta now.

There's a set of a man and woman, the man akin to Peeta, and the woman resembling Amara. The two dressed in white, together and strong, but the outfits sit in the girls room, waiting for a future that will never happen.

Her intended design is a suit that is a simple blue, a kinder look to the reds and blacks. Twelve are no longer dangerous teens, but the survivors at the heart of the Capitol. Sponsors no longer want to watch a vicious battle but rather think about their selfish wants for the traumatized teens.

"I missed you." The blonde boy spoke with a soft smile gracing his face. Moving his hand to cup the girl's face, he continues "Every night. I thought of you every night. In case I died in my sleep, I wanted my last thought to be of you. In all of my waking moments, I thought of you. I wanted to die thinking of you. I wanted to stay alive thinking of you."

"Oh, Peeta."

"No, it's not sad, I'm here. You kept me going Mara. I'm here because of you, because I wanted to see you again. Wealth and freedom be damned. Love is what kept me motivated."

As tears pricked the waterline of her eyes, Amara pulled the boy into a tight embrace. The two soaking in the silence. A silence that only true friendship and love could bear.

As mentioned, the two teens didn't need words to understand their connection. Their love was a landmark, fighting against urbanization and war. It was something that defied borders and classes. It was a love that stayed with them, never allowing them to forget the other.

Their story was similar to the story of forgotten lovers, written centuries before the dark days. The two lived in the lives of forbidden lovers, the survivors of terror, and the grasp of friendship and enemies. It was the first written idea of star-crossed lovers, but hopefully this time it would turn out better.