The Flame That Scorched On: The Second Quarter Quell Katniss and Peeta Fan Fic

Chapter 2

I turn just in time to see him only an inch away from me, as he pushes me to the ground, then the explosion blows us back even more. A buzzing noise blares in my ears like sirens, and I feel my lifeless body roll down the sandy beach. I splash into the water and I feel myself sink to the bottom, as my eyes stare blankly at my surroundings. Sucking in water, I learn I have no more breath; I will die here beneath the waves.

My eyes begin closing and I find myself tired. I’m free, free to die I thought to myself. The lights fade more and more the further away I get from the surface. Tick tock. Tick tock. It’s a clock, a clock timing the last few moments of my life I think as I drift off.

But that’s when I see a burst of bubbles, followed by claws that shred through my skin. Just as they begin pulling me closer to the world above, the coolness of the air makes me shiver and I feel something in my lips, then a gust of air runs through my lungs. The pressure on my lips is taken away for a few seconds, and another burst of air is pushed through my lungs. Slowly, I peel my eyes open as light casts through me and I catch a glimpse of Peeta... and then Johanna. Who Peeta doesn’t seems to have noticed. She flips him over, while he begins whaling as though he was a small baby in the middle of the night, but I know Peeta, and he won’t go down without a fight. My lungs pump in then push out automatically, refilling my insides with oxygen. Inhaling, my chest sucks in far enough I feel it touch my back and then as if it were in a race it speeds up trying to catch up to itself.

I push myself, taking all my strength and see Johanna cutting through Peeta’s wrist. Without a thought, I topple myself over her, but it’s as if she suspects me and when I begin to pounce on her, her knife enters the side of my left shoulder, slashing me to the ground. Scrambling, I make my way up, holding my arm, surely as Johanna is ready to take Peeta’s life but I can’t let her. I just can’t.

Pulling out my bow, I take an arrow from my sheath and aim to shoot. I am completely unaware of when Johanna dodges the arrow, which is slow because I have lost nearly all of my physical strength She tackles me while she pins me against the ground, pulling her knife up and slicing it through my head as if it were a delicate piece of fruit. The horrible stain of blood covers my eyes in a weary curtain.

The pain of her knife in my forearm is unbearable; my body slumps up and down and begins having spasms. A piercing scream clenching through my teeth and now I know I am going to die. She pushes my arms down and I hear her walk away leaving me here to die.

Peeta still stands over me, wiping away the stains on my eyes while my body becomes covered in his blood.. For only a matter of seconds we sit there, taking in each other’s presence while I try to recover from the lightning bolt that nearly killed me and how Johanna tried to kill me by slitting my wrists. Which brings me back to why am I not dead? The bolt went off when I still had a firm grip on it, didn’t it? And I surely have lost a lot of blood from Johanna’s attack. One thing is clear though, Peeta saved me, saved me by pushing me from the wire which could have killed me and from then on I must have fallen into the water, and suffered some kind of head trauma. That explains why the only thing I can hear is the sound of my brain against my skull.

I recognize I am still in the arena with the tropical plants which wait off the beach and the sun that feels as though it is only a few feet away from where you’re standing. And although I am soaked, I feel the water evaporating while the sticky dew still clenches my skin. But off in the distance, I see objects in the air, as if in a race. I try to sit up but I can’t and it’s Peeta’s voice which brings me to the ground. “You’re going home, Katniss,” he forces a smile and leans into me.

The warmth of his lips fills my body with relief and it is as if I am at home. I take him in, reminding me of the Peeta who I loved, the Peeta who I promised to crown victor for the second time and I hold him close. “Peeta, keep yourself alive, for me.” I use the last bit of strength that I have and stroke his face calmly.

Peeta realizes that this is my death speech, the last words I will ever announce to him or anybody or even the whole nation of Panem.”No no no,” worry is a constant theme while he talks and it’s as if his first instinct is to back up, take it all in.” You’re not dying, you’re not dying, Katniss.”

I feel the world slowing down and my eyes threaten to close. Now I know how Rue felt, vulnerable and scared, yet in a way calm. Ready to face death and whatever comes after it. Ready for your loved ones to forget, and move on. Ready to accept everything you have done in your life and realize how it has made you.

Peeta speaks, in fast unrecognizable words, then eventually screams and I all can give him is an empty stare, where a brisk light begins to form. An amazing rejoicing glow that I know is the light that is ready to take me away. He clutches my hand as tight as ever, but I can no longer feel it, no longer take anything in. But I want my last words to ring throughout Panem, I want them to be the words that make me, so losing sight of Peeta, I hear parts of my speech to Peeta, to anyone. But instead of the powerful voice I imagined, I temble and my voice falls out in unrecognizable clumps.

“Rebellion. Must. Live.”

Peeta’s voice is the only thing that keeps me alive, the softness of his warm breath and reassurance as he tries everything he can to keep me alive as I just stare past him, past the arena to my home in District 12 .My hand loosens its grasp on Peeta and my stare turns to an empty gaze, the world turns white, and I hear my words mumble out, “Stay with me,” just as a black form appears in the sky above me. Then I decide to leave.