Before the Epilogue

Chapter 1

The next morning I decide to take Peeta to the lake in the woods. Its a long walk and it takes Peeta a while to climb under the fence with his leg but finally get him under. When we get there, he sits by the lake and draws while I go hunt.

I see two birds, I eye them up carefully and then let my arrow go. I walk over and pick them up, then I walk back over to the lake and sit down next to Peeta.

"My father would've loved to buy those birds," he says.

"Oh, Peeta," I whisper. Then give him a hug.

After about five minutes, I wash the meat while Peeta makes a fire. We sit there in silence eating.

Then Peeta speaks. "Katniss," he begins, "Doesn't being out in the woods make you think of the arena?"

I sit there for a minute, stunned by his question, but then I answer. "Yes, but when you're here with me... All the bad memories go away, and all the good memories like the cave, winning, the moment you came back from the dead, and the locket come to mind."

This gets his attention. "The cave?"

"What did I do to you in the cave?" I ask. "Try to choke you or something?"

"Nothing... You saved my life," he exclaims .

"They didn't use the cave to torture you?" I ask.

"They tried, but the memory is too clear in my mind to be messed up," he says.

I guess the expression on my face looks like I'm about to cry because he walks over and gives me a hug. We finish the rest of our dinner in silence. Then just as we're about to leave, Peeta gets down on one knee, pours his heart out, and asks me to marry him.

"Real?" I ask. "This wasn't the capitals idea?"

"Real," he says. "No capital this time."

"Then yes," I say.

He slides the ring on my finger and we sit by the lake, wrapped in each other's arms, and watch the sunset. When it's completely dark we walk back to my house and go to sleep.