The Beauty Beneath The Beast

Chapter 4: Peeta

I look at Katniss, who still lays in my arms and can't help but think about how tiny she is. At least I think she's tiny. It's not like I really remember how big humans are. I don't even think I remember how tall I used to be. All I know is I'm a lot bigger than a human right now.

It's been nine years. I don't even remember what I looked like before. I think I had blonde hair, but I'm not really sure. It's not like I can look back at old pictures of myself. After I turned, I destroyed them all in my rage.

I carefully get up, carrying Katniss with me, and take her back to her room. I lay her down on her bed and carefully cover her up in her blankets. I start to leave but I hear her get up.

"If you show me the kitchen, I can start breakfast," she says. "I'm not a very good cook, but I think I can manage some scrambled eggs if there are any chickens in that barn out back."

"There's no need," I tell her. "I have servants to do that."

"I've seen no one but you here," she says. "And Finnick, I guess."

"Lets just say, there are quite a few like Finnick here," I tell her.

"More Candelabras?" she asks.

"And dishes, brooms, chairs," I say. "Anything you could think a servant to be using or in charge of, is enchanted."

"Then why do you need me?" she asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"At first I thought you wanted me to be your lover, but you've made no move to suggest it. Then I thought maybe you needed a servant, but you've just made it quite clear that you have more servants than you need," She says. "So why do you need me?"

"I'm lonely," I say. "I haven't had any real company in almost nine years. I wanted a friend. Someone from outside these walls, who knows what the world still looks like."

"Well I'm afraid you are kind of out of luck with me," she says. "I'm not very good at being friends. I lost the only one I had before I came here because of my temper and stubbornness. Although it was his own fault. He was trying to pressure me into marrying him and decided to bring it up when I was worried about finding my sister."

"I like you," I say. "I already know you're stubborn, but that makes you extremely brave. But I'd like to know more about you then being stubborn and good with a bow."

"How do you know I'm good with a bow?" she asks.

"Why would you carry it as your weapon if you weren't?" I ask her.

"I'm okay," she says.

"I'd like to see your talent sometime," I say. "But for right now, I'd like to learn about you as a person."

"There's not much there," she says. "You already know I'm stubborn and good with a bow. That's it. That's all there is." I chuckle as I walk over to sit beside her.

"No there's more," I say. "You just don't want to tell me." She just stares at me and I sigh. "You see the way this whole friend thing works is we tell each other stuff about each other. You know, the deep stuff."

"Deep stuff?" she asks. "Like what?"

"Like," I start and pause for a moment, trying to think. "What's your favorite color?"

"Now you've crossed the line," she says laughing her sweet melodic laugh.

"Seriously though, what is it?" I ask her.

"Green," she says. "Whats yours?"

"Orange," I say.

"Really?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say. "Why?"

"I don't know," she says. "Its just such a loud color. Really bold, you know."

"Well, not like bright orange," I say. "More of a sunset kind of orange."

"I like that," she says. "Sometimes at home, I'd sit on the hill behind my house and watch the sunset. I always loved watching the sky swirl in reds, pinks, and oranges as it fades to violets, blues, and blacks. There's this lake in the woods I used to hunt in, and the reflection of the sunset always sparkled so beautifully."

"That sounds like a really nice place," I say.

"So tell me about you," she says. "What do you enjoy Peeta?"

"I like to paint," I say.

"Really?" she asks. "I'd love to see some of your work sometime."

"You really want to?" I ask her.

"Yes," she says. "I'd like to see what you've created."

"Okay," I say standing up and holding out my paw. "Come with me and I'll show you." She takes my paw in her hand and allows me to lead her through the castle. I take her into the art studio and she gasps.

"Oh Peeta," she says. "They're beautiful." She reaches out and runs her fingers gently over one of a stag standing in an Autumn forest. "It's like I can reach out and touch him."

"Thank you," I say. "I paint a lot of the things I remember from before."

"Before what?" she asks. I sigh realizing my slip up and look out the window.

"I wasn't always like this," I say. "I was a normal person for sixteen years. But my father, he made a sorceress really angry. He never really told me how. But it didn't matter. She was mad, and she didn't care who got hurt on her way to revenge. She turned all the servants into the objects of their occupation and while they don't age, they're stuck like that. But when it came to my father, he always had a trick up his sleeve. My mother convinced him to make a deal with the sorceress. In exchange of allowing my father, mother, and two older brothers to be free of obliteration, she was given me to do with whatever she pleased. She knew I was innocent in all this so instead of destroying me, she turned me into the monster she saw in my father. She gave me a way to break the spell, but I don't think that's ever going to be possible."

"Why?" she asks. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you right now," I tell her and she nods.

"That's okay," she says. "I understand." She smiles as she continues to look at the painting.

"You really like that don't you?" I say.

"It reminds me of when my father was alive and he took me into the forest," she says. "How he thought me about all the plants and animals. And how to survive."

"Then take it," I say. "It's yours."

"Oh no Peeta," she says. "I can't let you do that. These are your memories."

"Consider it a gift," I say. "Maybe something like that hanging in your room will make you feel more at home."

"Thank you Peeta," she says. She walks up to me and wraps her arms around my neck. I hesitantly return the favor, wrapping my arms around her small frame, careful not to crush her. I hear something and look to see Finnick hop into the room. Katniss' back was to him so she can't see the smirk he gives me before clearing his throat.

"Master and My Lady, Breakfast is being served in the dinning room," he says.

"Thank you Finnick," I say and he leaves the room. I release Katniss and she goes to leave but looks back when she notices I'm not following her.

"Aren't you coming?" she asks.

"I'll be right there," I say. "But I think I'm going to go hang up the painting in your room quick before I do that."

"Okay," she says. She walks up and kisses my cheek, taking me by surprise. "Don't be too long." And with that she leaves. Leaving me dumbfounded. I didn't think it could be possible, but maybe, just maybe, she might start to love me back.