Ultimately, in Mockingjay, it was undeniable that Katniss was completely in love with Peeta. Even though both Gale and Peeta are great men who wanted the best for Katniss, there's no doubt Peeta was kinder, and more loyal and understanding.
The Hunger Games series, much like Harry Potter is for young adults, and the themes and motivations are not hard to understand. Katniss NEVER hated Peeta. She figured she'd have to kill him to survive and had no desire to like him because of that.
Peeta sleeps first. Katniss kisses him on the forehead, for herself, she admits, and not for the audience. She is glad to have him there with her, comforted by the thought that together they can fight Peeta.
In Catching Fire, people who have never met or barely know them think that Gale is her cousin. Gale admits to have fallen in love with Katniss in Catching Fire.
Does Katniss Truly Love Peeta By The End Of The Hunger Games?
Why did Katniss stop loving Gale?
In the end, Katniss and Gale grew apart, as many childhood friends and young loves do. She needed something different in her life, and with Gale's link to Primrose's death, Katniss found a reason to cut ties. If Katniss ever wanted to find comfort again, she knew she had to return to Peeta for the long term.
Katniss's focus on survival and her family's safety prevented her from fully considering romance, but her feelings for Peeta and Gale diverged in the end. Katniss ultimately chose Peeta because he understood her trauma and she didn't want to lose him, proving her love for him.
He jokes with her, whispering that it's okay to kiss him since they're madly in love, but once Katniss begins to clean him in the stream, she can see how weak he is.
When Katniss wakes up hours later, she notices that Peeta's fever has gotten worse. She checks his leg wound and finds that he has blood poisoning—which will kill him if it goes untreated.
Katniss Fell in Love With Peeta During the Quarter Quell
However, it wasn't until Mockingjay -- when Peeta got kidnapped by the Capitol -- Katniss realized how much she cared about him and that she couldn't live without him.
His feelings and memories are distorted with hallucinogenic tracker jacker venom, in a mind-control technique known as "Hijacking." The Capitol uses this method to turn Peeta against Katniss, making him believe that she is not only responsible for the death of his family, friends and the destruction of District 12, but ...
While the Hunger Games film never talked about it, the Catching Fire novel explained why she could only communicate through hand gestures. Katniss briefly mentioned that a previous stroke could have caused Mags' garbled speech. However, post-traumatic stress disorder could have also caused her speech incapacity.
Gale was responsible for creating weapons that would trigger a second wave of bombs to target first responders and combat healers. This invention potentially ended up killing Prim, but even if he wasn't directly responsible, Katniss found this tactic so abhorrent that she lost her affection for him.
Katniss thinks about how she and Peeta are supposed to be in love as she kisses him, and she also points out that she realizes Peeta's feelings have actually been to her benefit. Their relationship has attracted a great deal of attention, which in turn means more sponsors.
Does Peeta feel confident about winning the Hunger Games?
While Peeta doesn't have much faith that he can win, he does tell Katniss that he wants to make sure that when he's in the arena, he remains true to himself, that he doesn't let the Games change him.
She was only 13 years old when she was killed in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and her youth only makes the tragedy that much harder for Katniss to bear after everything else she had suffered. Prim's death is a truly heartbreaking moment.
Katniss has a conflicted relationship with her mother. Following her father's death, her mother fell into deep depression and now rarely speaks. As a result, Katniss has a difficult time feeling love and affection for her mother, even as she recognizes that her mother is a kind and intelligent woman.
He has betrayed her and is betraying all of District 12 by buddying up with the Careers, whom she calls the "Capitol's lapdogs." She decides that if the Careers don't kill him, she'd be more than happy to. Then, she wonders why Peeta hasn't told them about her bow and arrow skills yet.
Eventually, she finds herself truly worried about losing Peeta, being without him, and when they kiss, she feels her heart stir for him. They go to sleep, Peeta's arms around Katniss, and for the first time since her father used to hold her like that, she feels safe. They wake hungry.
She apologizes to Peeta and, again, feels that she owes him. That night, she and Peeta say goodbye to Effie and Haymitch, who will go to the Games Headquarters.
The love triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta is a major part of The Hunger Games franchise. There always appeared to be a spark between Katniss and her best friend, but when Katniss is reaped, everything changes. To survive, she's forced to fake a romance with Peeta, a boy who lives in her district.
Although she will never know for sure, Katniss does recognize that she cannot be with Gale. She will never be able to forgive him for his idea — the parachute bombs — that killed Prim.
It's only implied that they get it on via snuggling and other affectionate acts in close quarters — but if you have read the book, they really imply that they took their relationship to the next level.
