Twisted Perfection ~ Everlark

Hello old friend.

3 months later.
Peeta's PoV:
The warm and mild weather says goodbye to the world for the next few months. December comes round again. It's cold this year round; very cold. District 11 struggles to grow crops in such weather, so a lot of vegetables are in short supply. Me and Katniss make do though; we always do.

Today is a simple day. A good day. No flashbacks, no complications. Just me and Katniss. I paint in the study, whilst Katniss is out hunting for some deer. At the moment, district 10 are low on livestock, so Katniss is hunting again. I'm glad she has something to occupy her mind with. I have painting and cooking, and she has animals and nature. As I paint, I think to myself that I haven't painted Katniss anything in a long time. But what can I paint her? Prim, a willow tree, her father from memory: they've all been done. I decide that this drawing is going to be a risk. She'll either cry from hatred and anger or from sentiment and happiness.

As I paint, I hear noise outside. Like talking.

Katniss' PoV:
The old, yellow and brown leaves hustle in the wind, as the sounds of dead, weak trees, creak at every push the wind gave. It's the start of winter and the air is colder than an ice cube, as it climbs through my jacket to the bottom of my spine. Most of the leaves are already gone. And the sight of every living thing coming to an end, depresses me. The crumpling of the brown stiff leaves creates a home to many animals that need a place to hid during this time of empty sorrow. The birds have ceased to sing no more and I must take this time to enjoy whatever is left here in the woods. It has always been my best friend. It has been my rock and foundation of my life ever since I lost my loving father then my sister.

Each step leaves a fresh, crisp footprint in the snow. It is as if I'm the only soul to have ever walked here, yet the tracks of a stray deer prove otherwise. I find her grazing on a small patch of grass that wasn't covered in the white powdered snow. I stare. It's been years since I last saw anything as green, or as graceful as she is. I watch, my breaths silent. After a while I hug my bow, snatch an arrow... aim... shoot.

Walking back with the deer in my hands, I go round the back to avoid an mess with the deer. As I'm about to turn the corner of the house, I hear a car pull up outside. I drop the deer, and my equipment and see a rather exquisite car parked by mine and Peeta's doorstep. When the door opens, and I see someone's foot step out, then their legs, and then their whole body, I'm speechless. The notion of them even being here would bewilder me, never mind puzzle me.

The person stepping out the car is Johanna...

I walk over and she sees me. "Hello Girl on fire. Don't except me to kiss your hand. I'm not the adoring type." She says, as sarcastic as ever. "Johanna, what...what are you doing here?" I say, in shock. It's only been 6 months since the wedding, when me and Peeta last saw her, but I didn't expect her to walk out of that car. "I'll tell you when we're inside. How are you?" I ask, as she grabs her luggage from the boot of the car. "Lonely. Indifferent." She replies with no sarcasm in her voice. "Well, you must be pretty desperate to come here and spend Christmas with me and Peeta." I pause at what I've said and then speak up again. "I'm guessing you're coming for Christmas?" I ask and she nods. "Yeah, I've got no other person to spend it with. What's Christmas without people? Nothing." She says, shrugging her shoulders. I chuckle slightly. "Come on, lets get you inside."

Peeta's PoV:
I hear talking. I drop my paint brush and wipe my hands, which are now covered in ink, on my painting shirt. Walking through the hallway, I hear a voice that's all too familiar to me. A voice I've heard scream and wail in cries. A ballad of cries, all melting into one ear piercing howl. A voice that never fails to relate.

It's Johanna. The girl in the next locked up cell to me.