CHAPTER 15- In The End

In the midst of the moment it might've seemed like a rash decision, but Peeta and I decided to take off to Four for a couple of weeks for what Effie calls a "honeymoon". Apparently, in Capitol customs, couples always go on a vacation of sorts after their wedding, for weeks on end. We're supposed to just relax and have fun, and for once, I'm able to do that. So as Peeta and I lay here on the beach, my head on his chest, his hands fiddling with my hair as they so often do, I feel a complete bliss fall over me. More and more I've been able to just sit back and enjoy myself, even after all the hurt and loss that has been ever present in my life.

"Katniss, did you know you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen?" Peeta teases playfully.

"So you tell me," I smile at him, "You are the sweetest, most charming, kindest man I've met," He smiles back. I turn over on my stomach and look into his soft, blue eyes. We both laugh.

"So, tell me, when was it again that you finally fell in love with me?" Peeta asks me goofily.

"I don't know," I tell him simply.

"Seriously, Katniss, tell me! When?" He reintroduces the question with a playful yet pleading look in his eyes.

"You first," I tell him.

"You already know the answer to that question, it was on the first day of school, your hair was in two braids instead of-"

"Okay, Peeta, I get it, I know the story," I pause, unsure of when I really did fall in love with Peeta. "I don't know when, Peeta."

"Come on, you have to have some idea," He pleads. I think for a moment. When did I fall in love with the boy with the bread? In the cave, there was that first kiss that really made me feel something. Then there was the victory tour, when he would crawl into my bed with me every time I would have nightmares. Maybe it was when his heart stopped and I thought I had lost him for sure, or maybe it was the night on the beach. Then there are all those instances when I thought the Capitol had taken him away from me for sure, when he was captured, when I saw his blood splatter the white floor on live television, his hijacking, when Coin sent him to kill me, maybe even way back when he had tossed me the bread, when his eyes would quickly flit away in the school yard, when I had looked down in embarrassment and picked the dandelion that had saved my life. . .

"I don't know," I answer timidly, "There are so many instances that I think back on and just know that I had to have loved you then, even if I didn't know it at the time."

Peeta gives a slight laugh and wraps his arms around me. "Well I don't care when it started anymore, I'm just glad we're here and we love each other now."

"Me, too," I say as I calmly look into the lush forests that lie just in-shore of the beaches in District Four. Peeta shifts underneath me and I slide my torso off his chest to lie next to him in the sand. As I move, I spot a small yellow fleck amidst the green foliage of the forest. I get up on my feet and walk to it, when I get close enough to it, I realize my suspicions were correct, it's a dandelion. I grab it by the base and pull it out of the ground. Luckily, no roots come with it. I walk back to Peeta and sit down. I toss the small yellow flower back and forth in my palms. I see that Peeta is looking at me through a few lose strands of blonde hair that rest against his face. I push them back behind his ear and weave the dandelion into his hair to hold them back.

"I always knew it was you," I tell him.

Fin.

A/N~ And now, dear reader, we have come to the end of a remarkable tale of two lovers who have overcome so much in their lifetimes. Sad, isn't it? :( This is my version of a sort of "epilogue" for Moving On. Not really an epilogue, but sort of. It's short and it tells us that they're happy, right!? IT WORKS.

BUT! Read Moving On- Revised and Rewritten which may or may not be put under a different title. It's better written, most likely it will be LONGER, and you know. I like it so far. So read it! I hope you enjoyed the original Moving On. :3 Have fun, my shippers of toast/Everlark/Peeniss/Katpee. :3

Just an explanation- I say "Fin." instead of "The End" or something as I do not believe that there is ever an end to any story. Would one be able to write a sequel to this? I think yes. Stories are never over, they just move to your imagination. :) Ta ta for now, dear readers!