Our Anthem

Searching For The End

It would be another day or so before we would see each other again. I was finally feeling better and when I got up and asked where Katniss was, I was told that she has been discharged already and was no longer in the hospital. As I stood there wondering where she could be, the doors from the elevator opened and in walked Gale Hawthorne, and he made a beeline straight for me.

"You're needed in the command room," he said with authority.

"What for?" I asked.

"Don't know, they told me to fetch you. You're being discharged. Head to your room first. Might wanna change first," said Gale, and he left me standing there confused as ever. I turned to the lady in teal at the front desk.

"Do you happen to know where either of those things are?" I asked her.

Apparently, the room I would be sharing with Katniss was D1127 (I couldn't wait to have a proper 'reunion' with her in there). I went in and found a dresser full of both of our clothes and picked out a pair of khaki pants and a light blue t-shirt, being careful to undress and then dress in regards to my shoulder. On the small table beside our bed was a photograph of Katniss and I on our wedding day. I picked it up and smiled at it, noting the very young faces that were smiling at each other and full of so much love. I had been wearing a white shirt and white khaki pants while she wore a cream-coloured dress and a tartan sash with the Fòlais colours. We each had a piece of bread in our hands - the toasting ceremony, a tradition in District Twelve representing marriage. I let out a sigh, missing her now more than ever, and wondered if maybe I would see her in the command room.

Before I left, I decided I needed a serious shave. Katniss had originally said she liked it, until she kissed me and must not have liked how it felt. There was a small bathroom with a shower, a sink, a mirror and a toilet attached to the room and I found a brand new razor and some shaving cream sitting on the shelf in front of the mirror. It took me about twenty minutes to remove almost two years of hair growth from my face, and when I looked in the mirror after I washed my face and patted it dry, I realised that I cut years off of my appearance. The beard really did make me look older.

The command room was on an upper floor, as I learned from asking for directions, and I found my way there eventually. I wasn't sure how to get in, but a guard told me that I could access it from a fingerprint scanner. Doing that, I was granted access to the room, and I walked in. It was a rather large metallic room with a giant table, and seated at the table were Haymitch and Carolina Abernathy, Finnick Odair, Cailean and Calum Fòlais, Beetee Latier who was with us in the arena, a couple other faces I didn't recognise and sitting on the table, Johanna Mason. As I took in my surroundings, the door behind me opened again, and Johanna turned towards the door. "Oh look, a bunch of Mellarkies," she said with a smirk, and I turned around to see that Donnel and Katniss had both entered.

"Hey, little bro. Glad to see you're awake," Donnel said, walking into the room and ruffling my hair. He sat down at the table next to Finnick. I turned back to face Katniss, who smiled at me when we locked eyes.

"I tried to visit you on my way out, but you were asleep," she said, crossing over to me and pulling me into a tight hug, being mindful of my injured shoulder. I wrapped my free arm around her tightly and kissed the side of her head.

"That's okay, you're here now," I told her. She broke the hug to look at me, running a hand over my freshly shaven face.

"You've shaved?" she asked me.

"You like it?" I asked her.

"Peeta, I'll love whatever you do no matter what, but I do think I prefer kissing you clean-shaven," she replied, and she gave me a quick kiss on the lips, which was interrupted by a throat being cleared.