It is still early morning, maybe only a bit past 7am. The sun is higher now and the snow that fell last night placed a blanket over the ruins of twelve, seeming like it was shielding me from seeing the destruction. But no amount of cover will ever be able to hide the vastness of the damage.
Peeta attempts to make small talk with me to distract me from a possible break down. I answer back, only mindlessly however, just to get him to slightly believe that I am okay. But I am not.
Walking through Victors Village was even difficult, though I knew that the houses destroyed were completely vacant. And once we left the village, I immediately took Peeta another way to the fence that did not involve going through the town.
We are steps away from the fence and Peeta stops and states, "Katniss, are you sure you will be okay? I mean, you really don't think this is too soon?"
I guess my small talk didn't convince him after all. And I answer, overly doing my enthusiasm, "Yes! I want to go. I can really handle it." And I even plant a quick kiss on his frigid cheek bone.
This is one of the best things I admire most about Peeta, his endless efforts to put everyone else before himself-something that I do not do nearly enough.
One late night laying in his bed together, I can recall that Peeta began to list the things he admired the most about me. Knowing that the list wouldn't be very long, I can remember him saying words such as strong and courageous , but another word he said was selfless.
Selfless, that word stuck in my head for a long time, pondering how he could ever call me something so opposite of myself?
He tried to justify his answer with, me volunteering for Prim, helping young Rue and agreeing to be the Mockingjay. However, with every answer he gave, I gave, in my opinion, a truer answer against his statement of being selfless. Some of which included, threatening to eat the nightlock, destroying all of twelve, and basically killing almost everyone I love. Though, he just shrugged off my justifications and kissed me anyways. He is so good to me, too good to me. Because I know I deserve so much worse.
We then pass through the wires of the dead fence, but only after I listen for the hum of the electricity.
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The Hunger Games: Extended Epilogue
FanfictionAn extended epilogue to Mockingjay. Katniss has finally admitted her true love for Peeta and has sealed this confession by moving in with him. At first, the transition is smooth and effortless. Though, as the memories slowly return, how will Katniss...
