"People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

The small box seemed to weigh fives times its real weight in Peeta's pocket. It bounced against his thigh as he walked back towards Victor's Village. He had been a nervous wreck all day at the bakery just knowing that he would be able to buy the ring after closing. He had chosen it more than two weeks ago, but Katniss was too observant for Peeta to chance keeping it around the house.

He would rather have done this during the day in all honesty. Preferably, out in the meadow where they spent a good deal of time, but the meadow was too public, which Katniss would dislike. Besides, now that the ring was in his possession, Peeta couldn't help but act on it right away.

Even as Peeta neared the house, he wasn't sure exactly how he was going to go about it. Engagement rings were a new trend out here in the districts. Apparently, they had always been around in the Capitol, where the citizens took every chance they could to purchase more jewelry. The rings purchased in District 12 seemed to be more downplayed in comparison, but the people seemed to not mind and took pride in purchasing the best ring they were capable of.

Peeta knew that the ring wouldn't be at all important to Katniss, but he still felt good about his purchase. He probably could have afforded the most expensive ring stocked in the small jewelry store, but it had been a gaudy-looking sort of thing that Katniss would never wear. Instead, he had decided on a nice one that seemed to fit Katniss's personality the most. It was a beautiful ring, even with a gem smaller than most of the other rings in the shop. If ever there was a ring Peeta could convince Katniss to wear, this was it.

His heart began to beat faster as the house came into view. The steps required to get to the front door seemed to have shrunk, and before Peeta even realized it, he was walking down the hall towards the kitchen. No one responded to Peeta's call that he was home, meaning that Katniss was either still in the woods or back in the town Peeta had just left. His heart calmed slightly at her absence, but quickly sped up again as he realized that he had more time to dwell over what he was about to do.

Having nothing else to ease his mind, Peeta set to work with dinner. His hands shook slightly, making it a bit hard to not splatter things on the counter, but he managed to not make too big of a mess. The entire meal was laid out by the time Katniss came through the front door just before their typical dinner time.

She clearly didn't think anything was amiss as she went about her usual routine. She greeted Peeta with a kiss and thanked him for already having dinner ready as she settled into her usual seat at the table. If she picked up on Peeta's nervousness, Katniss didn't comment.

Peeta, deciding that after the meal would be best, began to eat his own food while ignoring the sickening feeling in his stomach. He had managed to eat everything on his plate by the time Katniss scooped it up to take it to the sink, but it sloshed around unpleasantly in his stomach. His fingers itched to pull out the small box still nestled in his pocket as Katniss scrubbed the plates and silverware clean, seemingly oblivious.

As soon as she was finished, Katniss smiled at him innocently and motioned slightly towards the living room with her head. The living room was where they spent most of their time after dinner, and Katniss followed the usual routine right down to the spot she typically sat in. She had to finally be picking up on Peeta's mood as he sat down beside her, arms brushing. Jasmine rustled around in her cage, completely oblivious to her owner's fearfulness or what was about to happen in front of her.

Peeta took Katniss's familiar hand in his own. It was nothing unlike his actions every other night, except tonight he took extra care to caress the finger that could soon be adorned with a slim silver band.

Katniss seemed to shiver slightly as his fingers touched hers, and Peeta wondered if she suspected, if he really had been that obvious over the past several days.

His hand went for his pocket, all worry pushed aside. His adrenaline took over as he grasped the velvet covered box and pulled it out into the light. Peeta could feel Katniss's eyes snap to it immediately. He looked up to see her watching the box intently with just the slightest hint of worry in her eyes.

"Katniss," Peeta began. She tore her eyes from the box to look at him. "I know you always said before that you never wanted to be married, but you can't deny that the two of us have built our lives together over these past two years. It would mean so much to me if you'd agree to marry me?"

Peeta pulled his hand from hers to open the box and reveal the ring. The worry eased in her eyes as she saw the design of the ring, and Peeta's nervousness diminished.

Katniss's gaze only lingered on the ring for a second before snapping back up to look Peeta in the eyes.

"Yes," she stated simply, not an ounce of fear in her voice.

Peeta felt as if he had suddenly floated off the couch. Katniss watched him with thinly veiled amusement.

"Were you worried I'd say no?"

Peeta shrugged, feeling somewhat foolish now.

"You were always against marriage before. Even with our relationship these past two years, I couldn't sure that you were ready, or ever would want, to take this step."

"I was against marriage in the Panem we lived in during the games. I always said that things could be different if I didn't live in that sort of place, and I don't anymore. I've already intertwined my life with yours, Peeta. I'm not scared to marry you and make it more official."

Peeta's hands shook as he pulled the ring from its box and clumsily slipped it onto Katniss's finger. They both watched as it sparkled slightly in the light.

Katniss sighed. "It's not as bad as it could be," she remarked. The slight smile on her face hinted that it was mostly a joke, but Peeta knew she would have never chosen to wear a ring herself.

"You don't have to wear it all the time, or ever, if you don't want," Peeta assured her. "I just wanted to give it to you. It makes no difference to me what you do with it."

Katniss tilted her hand to watch the ring sparkle and shook her head. "No, I'll wear it. I want to. Not for the ring, but for what it means."

Peeta smiled and leaned in to kiss her. His hand reached for hers again, and his fingers traced their way over her skin, just like always. Only this time, they also brushed over the sleek silver and sparkling diamond that now sat perched on Katniss's finger as a symbol of the rest of their lives together.

A/N: Woah. That's the end, guys. I can't believe it. Thank you so much to everyone who read and supported it. It means a lot. For those of you who don't know, there will be a companion story to this one! It's not a sequel. It will follow Gale and Johanna in District 2 during the same time span of this story, and it will overlap at times (probably not difficult to figure out where). That will be called Move On and Recover, and I'm hoping to have the first chapter up before the end of 2014. It'll be the final story for the Hunger Games 100 theme challenge, so that'll feel amazing to have completed. As of right now, a draft is written, and I'm editing it. I'm almost done with my first round of edits, and then it's going to a couple of people who have a agreed to beta read it. Once they send it back, I'll make the necessary changes and have it up for you guys as soon as I can! I hope you guys will enjoy that one too, but I can understand if Gale/Johanna isn't your thing and you decide not to. Thank you again so much for reading! I really appreciate every single reader, especially every single one of you who left reviews. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.