Under The Stars

Chapter 9

Peeta

The berries tumble from our hands as the announcement is made. Katniss looks at me with relief and I pull her into a hug. I feel her tears fall on my shirt as she clings to me and I gently rub her back.

"It's okay," I say. "It's over." She shakes her head and looks up at me.

"Oh Peeta, I wish I could believe you," she whispers. "But this will never be over." I wish I could ask her what she means, but at that moment the hovercraft comes for us. She pulls away from me and grips onto the ladder as it freezes her to it. Blood runs down out of the hole in her calf as she's lifted into the hovercraft.

I follow her and when we are inside, I watch in horror as she slumps to the ground. Figures in white clothing and masks start working on her immediately, hooking her up to several different machines and IVs. I'm not sure how long it takes them to get her stable, but I think her heart stopped three times on the way to the Capitol. After that, they sedated me because I began going nuts.

I woke up in my old room in the training center. I get up out of bed, feeling even weaker than I had in the arena. I open my door and instantly go to Katniss' door. I open it and my heart nearly leaps out of my chest when I find it empty, her bed neatly made with the coverings pulled tight by the avoxes.

"No," I say quietly. "We got out. You can't be dead. We made it out."

"She isn't dead," I hear Haymitch say behind me. I turn to him. "She's in the hospital, recovering. They want to film your reunion on live television."

"She's okay?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"She's alive," is what he replies with. "She's skin and bones though. They wanted to surgically alter her, make her more feminine again, but I convinced them to replace it with padding. She's got a lot of scars and she wasn't exactly eating at first, but she's alive. She needs you though boy, she isn't going to be okay for a very, very long time." He walks away and I let out a sigh of relief.

In the next hours, Portia comes and prepares me for our reunion and interview. I can't help but wonder how she really is. Haymitch never said anything about her leg. He never told me how she really is. Just that she was alive. Half starved, but alive.

"Have you seen her?" I ask Portia as we walk to the side of the stage and she nods. "It's not good is it?" She sighs.

"She's still just as beautiful as before. Nothing could change that," she says. "But you need to prepare yourself."

"For what?" I ask her.

"You'll know when you see her," she says. "But it's not my place to tell." She starts to walk away and l grab her arm.

"It's her leg isn't it?" I say. "That's why no ones mentioned it. She lost the leg?" Portia looks at me with pity and nods. Then she walks away. I just look at my hands. If I hadn't climbed up first , if I had shoved her up there before climbing after her, this would never have happened. She's a hunter. She needs her leg to walk so soundlessly through the trees like she does. I've ruined her life.

When I'm brought out to meet her, where she stands awkwardly holding herself up with a cane, a golden dress filled with fake curves, I'm barely able to take my eyes off her. She looks better than she expected. Her eyes seem to light up a little when she sees me. I touch her as though she'll break beneath my fingers and she wraps her skinny arms around me. I gently pull her into a kiss while the whole place oohs and awes. I lead her over to the small love seat they have waiting for us. Her steps with her new leg are stiff and uneven. When she sits beside me, I notice how careful they were to make the prosthetic look like a normal leg. It matches her skin tone pretty closely and seems to moves like a normal leg. But when I touch it, it's cold harsh plastic.

She kicks off her sandals and curls her legs beneath her, scooting closer to me. I lay my hand around her slender waist and she lays her head on my shoulder. Caesar smiles at us and she rolls her eyes at me.

"So, it appears that this is a happy reunion?" He asks and we both nod.

"A very, very, happy reunion," I say and Katniss smiles at me.

"Even with only three legs between us, we're very stable," she jokes, but the light doesn't reach her eyes.

"Yes, I had been meaning to ask how you are adjusting to that," he says and she sighs.

"Everyone is," she says. "It's still really weird, but I'm sure with time I'll get used to it. It was either the leg or my life. I'm happy to give it up if it means I get to be by Peeta's side for the rest of my life."

"And of course I plan on helping her learn how to get around without that cane," I put in. "It'll give us an excuse to spend more time together." The crowd laughs and I feel her hand slip into mine, gripping it tightly.

After that, it's more stupid questions and then onto watching highlights of the games, Katniss mostly hiding her face, not wanting to relive what we just went through. I gently rub her back as she cries quietly in the dark room, the only light coming from the images on the screens above us. It ends and we answer more questions, mostly about what we plan on doing when we get home. We answer simply, saying we'll just have to see what happens after we get settled in to our new homes.

Katniss and I part ways after that. She smiles sadly at me.

"I'm really sorry about your leg," I say and she shakes her head.

"It wasn't your fault," she says softly. "It was my leg or my life, just like I said before. But my leg doesn't change anything. You still love me don't you?" I look at her sadly and she losers her head.

"Katniss, I," I start but she shakes her head.

"I can't believe I really let myself believe it was more than an act," she says. "How could I have been so blind? How could I really let myself believe this was real?" She does wait for an answer, walking away from me and ignoring my calls for her to wait.