Catching Fire - Peeta's POV

Chapter 14 - Lakeside

This is the first time I have ever been past the fence. It holds metres of wire that is supposed to be whirring with electricity 24 hours a day. Only recently was it turned on by the new flock of Peacekeepers. But, as Delly points out to me, there is a section of the fence where the electricity doesn't quite reach. It is the furthest point from any building in the district, so it takes a while for Delly and I to walk all the way there. We easily manage to squirm in between the loose wires, and Delly leads me to wherever she wants to take me.

No talking happens during the journey, which seems to be alright for the both of us. I am thinking about my paintings, and I think Delly is thinking about the route to our destination.

Places in the forest stick out in my mind. A tall, old looking willow, of which the limbs loosely hang from the trunk. I immediately connected it to the song that I heard only once in a blue moon, The Hanging Tree. Another place is generously sprinkled with brightly coloured daisies, which I connect to The Valley Song. The very song I claim to have listened to, moments before I fell in love with Katniss. How gullible the Capitol people are.

Another place is painfully distinguishable. A patch of primroses and katniss tubers sprouting from the lake.

"Oh, yes. I meant to take those out. I remember seeing you observing a patch like these during the Games when you and Katniss went hunting. Why didn't you tell her?"
"Didn't want to make her break down in front of the cameras." Like she would. Katniss may care for her family, but she is not stupid.

"Anyway, Drobs was showing me this lake." Delly dramatically sprints behind me, revealing a medium sized lake, caked in mud and covered in weeds. "You have worked so hard the last month, but there is still one skill you haven't quite mastered." She bends her knees, and lunges into the water. Instinctively, I start to remove my shoes so that I can jump in after her, but her blonde hair peeks out, followed by her laughing face.

"Swimming!" I hear, but her positive attitude doesn't make me more enthusiastic.

Swimming is most likely one of the hardest things I have attempted. It is in no way connected to walking, and the sensation of being submerged under deep waters is heart-stopping. But, Delly persists. She doesn't let me out of the lake, only resting on the side with my legs still underwater for rest. She teaches me one technique, which is cupping your hands to push and cut through the water. After a while, she deems my progress acceptable, and covers me with a blanket. In a brick building nearby, she emerges with two cups of steaming drinks. We sit together, sipping our tea, and watching the water sparkle.

"I leave tomorrow." Conversation is so scarce that I decide it is time to properly talk about the inevitable.

"Listen, Peeta. You need to look out for yourself. I know your thoughts are of only saving Katniss, but you have already done that. You were there for her when she wasn't there for herself. You saved her in the arena when she only wanted to save herself. Now, it is time to think about you. Last time, I didn't say goodbye. Heck, I wasn't even at the Reaping, too afraid to go, with a bag ready to flee into the woods if Peacekeepers showed up at my door. Last time, you probably felt alone, like you had no reason to return. That Katniss had more people counting on her. You have your brothers. You have Thom, you have Haymitch, you have your father." She turns her glance from my eyes, and diverts them to the motionless lake. A tear swells in her eyes. "And you have me." Her hands conjure something gold, with a chain attached to the main thing. It is rectangular, with intricate silver lines traced on either side. "But I know that in your heart, you will never allow yourself to have her death on your hands. So here," Without glancing back, she gave me the jewellry. "To remind you of home." Before leaving, she wraps her hands around me, and gives a warm hug. Unbeknownst to me at the time, that was the last time I saw her before the Games.

After fiddling with the jewellry for a while, I managed to pop it open. Inside, I find a folded side, with three of the rectangles filled with photos. One side holds Prim, the other Mrs Everdeen, and the final side holds Gale. They all look happy. Prim holds a bouquet of flowers, probably the left-over ones from Katniss' photoshoot. The day before the announcement.

Mrs Everdeen is holding jars of herbs, crushed into a fine powder. She holds them ironically, her mouth open in a cheery gape.

Gale isn't as excited as the other two look. You can see a glint of happiness, maybe relieved. He is dressed in a dirty miners outfit, but his shadow of a smile means that he has finished the hardest part of his life - his reaping years.

Why would Delly give me something like this? If she knows that I am not returning, and she wanted to remind me of home, why remind me of the reasons that I am leaving this world? Why remind me of the things that would never accept me, if it was I who replaced their daughters place on the Victory Tour? What purpose does this serve.