Our Anthem

In His Darkest Hour

The days were bleak, and growing bleaker. Darkness found me in every crevice of my mind and refused to leave until I succumbed to it. It had been months since I heard from her. I had no idea if she was alive or if she was dead. She could very well be dead, and I'll never know. I mean, I would eventually, but I would probably be dead before the news ever reached me.

The days were cold, but growing warmer. It wasn't because of hope - it was because the earth was waking from its winter slumber and the season was turning to spring. It didn't make the feeling in my heart any warmer. I sat, watching over my team as they all slept. We were somewhere in the forests of District 8, but I didn't know where. Somewhere between the border of 8 and 10. I was alone, seated away from my team as I held a device in my hand. I forgot what it was called, but it didn't matter. It was a way to communicate with the other team, with her team, but the communication died out long ago. I could also hack into the Capitol's news. I looked out for footage of her, but none came. On this bleak day at dusk, as I sat by myself with my back to a tree, I searched through the archives of the Third Quarter Quell. I fast forwarded to a scene on the beach. It was us. Our backs were to the camera, but our voices spoke clearly.

"Katniss?" I saw myself approach her, and she glanced at me briefly before glancing back at the sunset. "I'm sorry if I upset you... Finnick started talking about home and how much he'll miss it..."

"You're not going to die," she responded, seemingly without emotion.

"One of us has to, Katniss..."

"Then it'll be me. It has to be me," she said, turning to face me.

"Katniss, I don't have anything at home for me anymore, okay? My family hardly speaks to me anymore, claiming I've changed so much. Only my father and occasionally, Christos, will come by for a visit but no one else will. If you die, and I live... there won't be anyone left that I care about."

"Peeta..." she said tenderly.

"It's different for you. You've got your family to care for - Prim, your mother... Gale... Who knows... maybe you'll find someone to make you happy."

"I'd like you to marry a nice girl... One who treats you the way you deserve... I could have treated you so much better," she responded back to me.

"Your family needs you, Katniss." I pulled a locket out of my wetsuit and lifted it over my head, then opened it and placed it in her hand. It was a picture of her mother, her sister and her longtime friend.

"What about you?" She asked me, seemingly fighting back tears.

"Nobody needs me," I said with a sigh and a shrug, and then I sat down on the sand. After a moment, she sat down beside me, her eyes trying to catch mine.

"I do," she said in a hushed tone, and I looked at me with a confused expression. "I need you." I opened my mouth to speak to her, but she leaned towards me, took my face in her hands and kissed me, briefly, and pressed her forehead against mine. Her hands rested on my shoulders, and then it was my turn to cup her face in my hands and kiss her again, this time with more passion. This had been our first real kiss, a kiss that we poured both of our hearts into, that we both wanted, that belonged in the moment. It was the first kiss that felt totally and completely right, and when we came up for air, we pressed our foreheads against one another's, simply enjoying the moment. I smiled as I watched, knowing what was coming next.

"I love you, Peeta..." she whispered breathlessly to me.

"You... you do?" I asked her, and I had to laugh at myself. I was so young and naive back then, and so blind. Since then, I've grown a beard, but mostly from a lack of having the ability to shave it. If I ever had the chance, it would go.