Archive of Our Own ^beta

The day of the Reaping for the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games begins as a fairly regular day. Katniss goes hunting with Gale and they have a meal, then they go into town to make some trades. At home she tries to ease Prim’s fears as they dress and get ready.

It isn’t until Effie Trinket calls out, “Primrose Everdeen!” that everything starts to go wrong.

There is no hesitation when Katniss breaks away from the crowd shouting, “Prim! Prim!” and shoves her sister protectively behind herself. “I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!”

There’s some discussion, and Katniss thinks they’ll let her, but then finally Effie Trinket says, “I’m sorry, but the rules state that once a tribute is chosen he or she must come forward. Volunteers must step forward before a name is drawn.”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said I volunteer! Take me instead!” Katniss shouts as three Peacekeepers approach her.

Effie Trinket sniffs and wrinkles her nose at that, as though she thinks Katniss is terribly rude. “I’m sorry, but Primrose has been drawn. Please come up here, Primrose.”

“Don’t, Prim! You’re not leaving, you’re not- get off, let go of me-” Katniss says as one Peacekeeper pulls Prim away from her and the other two each grab one of her arms and start hauling her away from her little sister.

She can hear Haymitch Abernathy going on about how he likes her, how she has spunk, as he stumbles to stand next to Effie who yanks the microphone away so that nothing else he has to say can be picked up.

“Miss, you need to calm down or we’re going to have to lock you in the stocks,” says the one on her left.

She fights them a little longer until she sees Prim is already up on stage and shaking her head at Katniss and mouthing stop, which is the only reason she gives in and stops struggling. They let go of her, and she yanks her arms away from them, but they don’t leave her side.

The next name they call takes her by surprise. “Peeta Mellark!” Effie trills.

Oh no, she thinks. Why him? The odds are not in her favor today, not at all. Katniss turns her attention to search for him as he walks out of the group of boys and can tell he’s struggling to stay stoic. No one leaps out of the crowd for him as she had for Prim, not the brother he has who’s still young enough to be in the Reaping with them.

The mayor reads off the rest of the official things. Just before the Reaping ends, Katniss presses her three middle fingers to her lips and then holds them out toward Prim and Peeta, and soon the rest of the crowd does the same until the two tributes from District 12 are shuffled off.

* * *

Katniss stops to say good-bye to Peeta, because she knows if she sees Prim first that she won’t have enough strength.

He looks shocked to see her, his blue eyes wide and his mouth gaping just slightly.

“Hi,” she says lamely.

“Hi, Katniss,” he says back and clears his throat. “I didn’t expect to see you. I thought you’d be with Primrose.”

“Prim. She likes to be called Prim,” she says and her voice chokes a little at the end. She takes a deep breath before going on. “Look, it- it wouldn’t be honest if I said I hope you win.”

To his credit, Peeta doesn’t look that offended. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t the very tiny, sad smile he gives her. “I appreciate the harsh honesty, actually. Everything about this thing on television looks so fake and horrible. Something honest is... appreciated.”

Katniss nods and takes another deep breath. “I love Prim more than anything else in the whole world. I’m pretty sure she’s the only person I love, but I wanted you to know... I guess I wanted you to know that I’m sad it’s you going with her, and- and to thank you for the bread. Just- I’ve always felt like I owed you for that, but you probably don’t remember it.”

He smiles a little more, making her wonder how he can possibly smile at a time like this. “Of course I remember,” he says quietly. He’s looking her square in the eye and she actually blushes a little from how surprisingly intense it is. He hesitates and starts to say something, stops himself, and then squares his shoulders. “I remember everything about you,” he finally says, still quiet but with a definite firmness and determination in his tone.

Katniss isn’t sure what that means, or how to take it, and there isn’t time to ask. “It meant something to me, and it saved me- my whole family, actually, and- just in case... I wanted to thank you,” she says and leans up on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek.

Peeta blinks and touches his cheek when she pulls away. There’s something in the way he starts to lean forward that makes her think he’s going to reciprocate, but he stops and smiles more, his shoulders relaxing. “Thank you,” he says and adds, “and... I’ll try my best to look out for her.”

She doesn’t want to say good-bye to him, and knows wishing him luck will be a lie, so she nods and dashes out the door to go see Prim.

Her sister is sitting with perfect posture, her back straight as a pole and her hands folded in her lap. She looks dainty and sweet and not at all like someone who people are expecting to turn into a killer, and Katniss is so proud of the way Prim is putting on a brave face. There is a little cloth bag sitting on an end table that makes Katniss raise her eyebrows, but she’s not concerned about that right now.

“It shouldn’t be you. It should be me,” Katniss says and crouches in front of her sister on her knees, pulling Prim to her as she wraps her arms around the girl’s waist for a tight hug and buries her face in her lap. “I did everything right- it shouldn’t be you-”

“Shh,” Prim says and brushes her fingers over Katniss’ shoulders. “Stop it. You have to take care of Mother, and- and I’m going. It’s just the way it is.”

“It’s not. Stop talking like that. You’re going to come home,” Katniss says, and she knows it might be a lie, but lying to Prim makes her feel better; lying to Peeta felt wrong. “You have to try your hardest to win. Promise me.”

“I’ll try,” Prim agrees. “Come on. Stand up and hug me the right way.”

They stand and Katniss pulls her into a tight hug. “I wish I had something to give you for your token.”

“It’s okay. I think- I think having something to remind me of home will make it harder,” Prim says, and finally she shows a sign of how scared she is as her lower lip quivers. “I’m going to try, but I don’t know how to do anything, not like you.”

“You’re small, and you’re a healer. You got that from Mother. Try to hide, and if you get hurt you can take care of yourself. That might be enough. It’s about surviving, so find a safe place and don’t let them find you. Show them how smart you are,” Katniss and presses a few kisses to Prim’s forehead. “You’re brave. We’ve gone hungry, and you know your plants. Don’t go for the food supply, find your own.”

“Katniss, I’m scared,” Prim whispers, and Katniss just starts thinking of a way for them to trade places, how to fake it and swap, but a knock on the door startles her, and a Peacekeeper sticks his head in. “We have to leave now.”

“I’m not done yet,” Katniss says and holds Prim tighter.

It quickly turns into another display. They have to call in three more people to pry her off of Prim, and Prim’s brave face quickly falls at the sight of her sister kicking and screaming as she breaks into tears and begs Katniss to stop fighting them, but all Katniss knows how to do is fight for her family. They drag her off the train as she keeps shouting Prim’s name over and over and they toss her onto the ground when the train begins to pull away. She looks up in time to see Peeta leaning out the window. She thinks she hears him say, “I’ll look out for her!” but she isn’t sure because the whistle drowns out everything else.

* * *

It seems like an eternity passes until it’s time for the parade. It isn’t at all what Katniss had been expecting, either. Whomever has District 12 has outdone themselves, because they managed to make her sweet, adorable sister and kind Peeta Mellark look like real contenders, fierce, and to be taken seriously. They’re burning embers. Tiny little Prim and Peeta are holding hands, and it looks like Prim needs it because Katniss can tell that he’s holding her steady as the chariot makes its way around, and both of them are staring straight ahead, not interacting with the crowd, but staring with a steel gaze, and it’s a huge attention-grabber, reminding the audience not to rule them out as victors.

Judging by the looks on the faces of the other tributes, they’ve figured this out, too. The crowd was noisy before, but once 12’s chariot rolled out everyone seemed to go wild over the two tributes who look like smoldering embers.

Katniss wants to hug and kiss the person or people responsible for this, for giving 12 some recognition and giving Prim and Peeta a chance. Peeta’s rather strong and might be able to survive for a while; Prim, though, is small and couldn’t stand to see a stray cat be drowned and could never even so much as pinch someone without feeling bad. Without this kind of bold display no one would have paid much attention to the little scrawny blonde girl from District 12. Peeta might have gotten sponsors on his own, but Prim hardly stood a chance.

Katniss inches closer to the television and presses her hands against the screen, whispering encouragement to Prim that she’ll never hear and, feeling guilty about leaving him out, adds some for Peeta, too.

“Katniss, what are you doing?” her mother asks as she enters the room. Her mother had been inconsolable since the Reaping, which was no shock to Katniss, and she hadn’t bothered trying beyond telling her to snap out of it once. Prim wasn’t there to need the woman, and Katniss was fine without her.

“Watching Prim. And Peeta,” she says,

Her mother simply nods and looks at the television for a few seconds, her youngest daughter looking serious and determined during a close-up, but then shakes her head and goes back to the bedroom.

Katniss sighs and watches the remainder of the parade until it ends. When they start airing a rerun of the Reaping, she turns off the television and closes her eyes as she rests her forehead on its screen. “Please come home,” she whispers to the quiet room, to Prim who is so far away that she won’t hear, but saying it out loud makes her feel like somehow she’s helping.

* * *

The night they show the Tributes’ scores, Katniss has to admit she’s impressed. Gale and her mother are sitting with her in the living room, and they all seem surprised by Peeta’s ten.

“What could he possibly have done to make them rate him a ten?” Gale asks Katniss and her mother.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him do anything outside of working at the bakery,” says Mrs. Everdeen.

Katniss scowls slightly at both of them. “He’s strong. He came in second place in a wrestling match, and I’ve seen him lift bags of flour over a hundred pounds, and- he must be good at more than that.”

“We’ve never seen him out hunting. He’s probably never broken a rule in his life,” Gale says with a derisive snort.

She frowns a little more. “Just because we’ve never seen him doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to take care of himself,” she says, but in all honesty she can’t think of what that might be and she has a hard time imagining him hurting anyone, let alone knowing how to use a knife or shoot something.

“If he’s anything like his father, I doubt it,” her mother says, earning curious looks from both Katniss and Gale. She notices. Her face remains rather blank as she says, “You know I grew up with the merchants. I used to know his father.”

They look at the screen as Prim’s score comes up, and she has a four. Katniss isn’t sure if she thinks her sister’s score is a fair estimate of her skills or if maybe she should have something higher. Even though she’s small and has never gone into the woods to hunt, she’s smart and could survive on the plants out there if she can find a place to hide.

“Well, it could have been worse,” her mother says.

That brings on a sudden burst of anger. “What? You’ve already given up expecting her to come home, haven’t you?” Katniss snaps and springs to her feet. “You don’t think she can make it? You’re already expecting her to die?”

Her mother stays silent but her eyes widen at the outburst.

“Katniss, maybe we should go outside,” Gale says and reaches for her arm.

“No, don’t touch me. I want to know what’s going through her mind right now,” Katniss says and wildly waves her finger at her mother.

“I want her to come home,” Mrs. Everdeen says quietly and looks down.

“But you don’t believe in her! You already expect her to die!” She makes a frustrated sound and really just wants to break something to vent her anger. “All you’ve done since she left is hide and lock yourself away when you should be watching everything!”

Her mother cringes. “You don’t understand, Katniss,” she says, her voice firmer than before. “I’ve lost my husband. Losing a daughter-”

“You should be watching her! You should be living and going on so that if she does come back, you’ll be ready for her!” Katniss shouts and stomps her foot.

Gale gets up and keeps his hands to himself, but looks down at her. “Come on, catnip. Let’s get some air.”

She wants to shout at him, too, but manages to rein in her anger enough to nod and storm out of the house.

“I know it’s not right, but going off on her isn’t going to help,” Gale says as he falls into step beside her.

Katniss glares at him. “I told you what she was like before. I can’t stand that she’s given up all hope about her coming home when- when that little shred is all I can cling to. I need to keep hoping, or else- or else-”

“You’ll end up like your mother?” Gale asks quietly.

She scowls up at him but eventually nods slowly. “I hate her for it. There’s a chance Prim will come home, and I have to keep holding onto it.”

“You seemed to think Peeta Mellark has a chance,” he points out after a brief silence.

“You were being rude for no reason, that’s why,” Katniss says. “You barely even know him, and- and he said he’d look out for Prim. Maybe- maybe-”

“Maybe what? The brave, noble merchant kid will protect a little girl from the Seam from the evils of the Games? You think a baker’s son is going to be any help to Prim? Or that the second the Games start he won’t fend for himself and ditch her?” Gale says, frowning back.

“Shut up,” Katniss snaps. “I don’t want to think about it-”

“Well, too late, you brought it up,” Gale says. “He doesn’t know Prim. He has no reason to do anything for her. I want her to come home too, Katniss, but what makes you think he gives a damn about her? Or that he’ll do anything aside from keeping himself alive? That’s what the Games are, or have you forgotten?”

“I said shut up!” Katniss shrieks and shoves him hard, sending him stumbling backward.

“What the hell, Katniss?” he says as he catches his balance.

“Hope is all I have right now, Gale, and I won’t let you try taking that from me, too!” she says and pushes him again.

“Katniss, I’m not- hey, wait,” he calls after her as she sprints off without looking back.

She didn’t have anywhere in mind and just followed the urge to be somewhere, anywhere that wouldn’t remind her of Prim or the Games or Peeta, somewhere she can cool her head and calm down. After running and running, she drops to her knees beside a tall tree in the woods and curls in on herself to be alone for a while.

* * *

Prim looks so beautiful during her interview with Ceasar Flickeman. Her dress is black and transitions into a combination of red and gold sheer material that looks like flames surround her shoulders and arms, and she looks older than twelve-years-old. She looks sweet and serious at the same time during her interview that Katniss has to marvel at her.

She tells them her favorite thing about the Capitol are the showers, because the knobs are so fancy, and that when she’s grown up she wants to be a healer like her mother. The crowd and Caesar think that’s impressive, and Prim tells them all about how great her mother is at what she does, but admits that she wishes she were stronger and brave like her sister. She gives the camera a winning smile, and the audience is clearly paying attention to her.

“Her name is Katniss. She’s taken care of me and my mother for years, and she’s the strongest person I know. She makes sure we have enough food and keeps us clothed, even though I know it’s really hard for her, and sometimes she goes without so my mother and I can have something. She even tried to volunteer to take my place here. I want to win and make her proud of me so she knows I’m strong, too, and so I can take care of her for a little while.”

Caesar looks like he might be genuinely moved and asks the audience, “Isn’t Primrose the most admirable little girl you’ve ever seen?” Then he turns back to Prim. “I hope you can do just that.”

Then Prim’s time is up and Peeta’s on and he’s joking with Ceasar as they smell each other. Of course Peeta’s charming and has no problems winning over the audience, and Katniss has to wonder if he knows how charismatic he actually is or if he doesn’t have the slightest clue.

But then Ceasar asks Peeta if he has a girlfriend back home and his reaction is rather strange. Caesar is saying something about how he’ll have to win so that he can go home and win her over, but then Peeta says winning won’t help him. The audience and Caesar are clearly confused.

“Why not?” Caesar asks.

“Well... winning won’t help because... because her sister came with me,” he says and looks so sad and sullen. The audience seems to gasp as one, and they get even more vocal as more and more people figure out that he means Katniss, the brave and strong sister Prim just finished talking all about moments before.

All Katniss can do is gape at the television screen, so many thoughts running through her mind. He can’t possibly mean her. They’ve hardly spoken and only ever had one real, meaningful interaction. He has to be lying. He’s using Prim, and therefore herself, to win sponsors and won’t help Prim at all. He only cares about himself. But he actually looks sad. Maybe he’s just a good actor.

“Oh. That is terrible luck,” Caesar is saying.

“It’s not good,” Peeta agrees.

“Primrose made her sound like quite the girl,” Caesar says, and he looks like he’s really torn for Peeta and Prim; both of them want to go back home to the same person, but the rules say only one of them can.

Peeta’s nodding and gives the audience a slight smile. “Prim’s right.”

The cameras have switched over to a shot of Prim looking shocked and wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open. Then Caesar says something about his heart going with both of them and the interviews are over. Katniss stops paying attention after that and turns off the television when it starts getting ready to show a repeat of the interviews, shoving herself up off of the couch to stomp furiously around the living room.

“He has no right!” she shouts at the empty room. Her mother got called away for an emergency and couldn’t be there for the interviews, but Katniss is glad she watched it alone. “No right to say that!”

She lets out a frustrated shriek and flops onto the couch and thinks about what she just saw, replaying it over and over. He had to be lying, right? There’s no way he could have been telling the truth, that he could actually like her. He is just trying to earn himself sponsors who fall for his stupid lies about having a thing for his fellow tribute’s sister. Even so, maybe his story will help Prim, too, in a way. Playing up the idea that they both want to come home to the same person might get the more sponsors.

She wants to be mad at him for this, but deep down, she knows that he was a good person before he left. He saved her and her family once, out of kindness in the form of burnt bread, and he paid for it in bruises on his face the next day. She never saw him hurt anyone and he was always surrounded by friends and seemed so kind. Suddenly picturing him as a liar, as someone who would let a little twelve-year-old girl die to save himself, seems wrong; she’s seen his real, genuine self. Thinking of him as a monster is a disservice to him, no matter how much she wants Prim back.

Katniss suddenly wishes she could fully convince herself that he was lying, because the alternative is too hard to accept, to understand, and it was easier spending the vast majority of her worry and hope over Prim. Now she’s suddenly giving him just a little bit more. She’s never disliked him. In fact, she’s kept track of him over the last few years more than she realized, so she does hope he can come home.

Just not at the cost of Prim.

And she feels like she’ll never stop owing him if he meant it when he said he liked her, because maybe that means he was serious about looking out for Prim.

Which would cost him his life.

* * *

Katniss hates the first fight at the Cornucopia. It’s always a bloodbath, a waste of young life, and brutal, but she watches because she has to know that Prim makes it out, and that Peeta does, too.  The gong goes off and then everyone on the screen dashes off in different directions. Most of them run for the Cornucopia, but Peeta grabs a nearby orange backpack, and then she sees a girl throwing knives in Prim’s direction, but her sister is surprisingly agile and dodges them. That doesn’t stop Katniss from shrieking for her and holding her breath. A couple of seconds pass and Peeta reaches Prim, grabs her hand tight, and hauls her into the woods, away from the fighting, though Prim makes him pause so that she can grab a small knife and hands him a larger dagger, then they’re running again and disappear into the trees.

Judging by all the whispers and news coverage leading up to the Games, it seems that Peeta might be a favorite to win, and surprisingly people are pulling for Prim. The Capitol (and maybe everyone else, but she has no way of knowing about the other districts) are completely taken with the story of the two tributes from District 12, of the little girl who idolizes her older sister for taking care of her, and the young man in love with that very same girl. The crowds seem completely heart-broken over the fact that some girl they’ve only seen brief glimpses of from the footage of the Reapings won’t be seeing one of these tributes again, that one of them won’t be going home to her.

Not that Katniss herself had actually been waiting eagerly for Peeta, but her opinion of him has certainly changed and grown and gone through a lot of phases in the short time since the interview and the gong signalling the start of the Games. She always felt at least sad about the idea of his death, and now that he might possibly have a crush or something on her, she feels incredibly guilty for thinking that maybe Prim’s safety and life will benefit from those feelings, that he’ll protect Prim out of his possible affection for Katniss.

The screen splits; the left half continues to show live coverage of the fight at the Cornucopia, the Careers banding together to gather weapons and fight off some of the other tributes who try to get close to it, while the right side shows the progress of the others who’ve run away from the action. Most of the others are going alone, like a little girl no bigger than Prim with dark skin and hair, and another whom Katniss thinks sort of resembles a fox, but Peeta and Prim are still together when the screen goes back to their progress through the woods.

“Haymitch said to look for water first,” Prim reminds him as he pulls her quickly along, breathless from all the running.

“I know. That’s what we’re looking for,” Peeta replies, panting heavily.

Katniss thinks at first it’s a trick of the light. Something glints on his shirt and reflects a quick flash of gold, but then when the camera gets a decent angle on him she sees that he’s wearing a pin with a bird. A mockingjay, specifically, and Katniss wonders if that’s his token and who gave it to him. A parent, or family member, probably. She still wishes she could have given Prim something even though Prim said she was glad not to have anything.

Katniss remains glued to the floor in front of the television for hours and hours, just waiting for the moments when the cameras go back to following Prim and Peeta. So far all they’ve done is run, walk, and sit to rest for a short while. No one’s caught up to them yet or run into them, which simultaneously makes Katniss feel a little better and even more nervous because she knows that won’t last forever.

When things really start getting intense at the Cornucopia the scene takes up the whole screen. Her mother comes in and sits with her as the fighting continues.

“How’s Prim?” asks her mother.

“Fine so far. They’re in the woods looking for water,” Katniss replies. “They got away from the fighting right away.”

“They?” her mother asks.

“Prim and Peeta. It looks like they’re allies for now,” Katniss says.

Her mother nods and they sit quietly together as the fighting rages on until finally, hours later, the survivors from the bloodbath leave and the cannons go off. Eleven died on the first day; none of the dead are Prim or Peeta. Her mother goes to bed without saying anything, but Katniss sits up for a while longer until the cameras show Prim and Peeta finding a place to sleep for the night. He offers to sit up and keep watch. At first Prim protests, but gives in quickly and they find a little place at the base of a tree near some bushes and Prim settles beside him as he digs a thin sleeping bag out of the orange backpack. Soon Prim falls asleep and Peeta keeps looking around the area with his dagger ready in one hand and his other arm around her protectively.

Watching this is what proves to Katniss that he meant he’d look out for Prim, and for right now she trusts him enough to keep his word throughout the night that she leaves the television on but mutes it and curls up on the couch to sleep.

* * *

The next few days Katniss is restless and pays hardly any attention during school. Even though they get to watch updates on the games every so often, it’s not the same as the live coverage she craves. Thankfully nothing happens to Prim or Peeta for those few days. They find a pond and stock up on water, and Prim shows him how to find the soft bark of pine trees to munch on until they can find good roots and some edible flowers.

At home she turns on the live show and waits a while until the cameras go back to Prim teaching Peeta which berries to stay away from.

“This is Nightlock, and it’ll kill you nearly instantly,” Prim warns as she points at a berry bush.

Peeta nods and inches away from them.

Prim sighs. “Katniss would have been more help to you.”

Katniss is relieved that Peeta is smart enough and obviously a quick enough thinker to cast Prim a very subtle warning look; his father had traded enough with her that she knows Peeta’s aware that she poaches, and could very well get arrested or killed for it. “Why?” he asks as the look very quickly disappears, and he’s kind enough to even give Prim an easy out. “How well does she know her plants?”

Prim, thank goodness, picks up on it. “Really well. Our father taught her a lot before he died, but I was too little. Our mother’s a healer and I love learning all about that, but Katniss is the survivor. She would have you both really well-fed if she were here.” A short silence passes between them until Prim says, “I’m glad she’s not here.”

Oh, Prim, please don’t, Katniss begs silently. It’s so close to treasonous that a knot of anxiety starts tangling its way deep in her stomach.

“You’re going to get back home to her,” Peeta says quickly and rests his hand on Prim’s shoulder. “I promised her I’d look out for you, and I’m going to keep that promise. You’ll see Katniss again.”

“And what about you?” Prim challenges.

“What about me?” he asks.

Prim huffs. “Your family, your friends. The people you care about and who care about you, too. What about them?”

There’s something heart-breaking about the way Peeta says nothing at all and looks straight ahead through the trees. Prim accepts his silence and responds with her own as they gather berries that are safe to eat and roll them up in leaves and flower petals.

It’s the next day that leaves Katniss feeling furious, because she missed it as it aired and has to watch the replay when she gets home from school. Gale catches up with her and they flop in front of the television and wait for it.

Their tributes are drinking water and digging for roots when first Peeta stands and sniffs the air and Prim does the same seconds later, and both turn at the same time and their faces have matching, terrified expressions.

“Run!” Peeta shouts and grabs their bag, hauling it over his shoulder as he grabs Prim’s hand and doesn’t wait for her to answer as he pulls her along. Seconds later, Katniss sees why; first the smoke catches up with them, then she shrieks at the huge wall of fire that chases after them.  Prim struggles to keep up with him, so he stops just long enough to tell her “hold this” and puts the backpack on her, then lifts her up for a piggyback ride to get them far away from the fire faster.

Katniss grabs Gale’s hand and squeezes it so hard.

“If she didn’t make it, we would’ve heard from someone by now,” Gale says. Just because what he says is rational doesn’t mean it eases her fears at all.

Especially because of what happens next.

As Peeta runs, a little girl with dark skin and dark hair drops from a tree just a few yards beside them and falls into step with him. He looks curious and wary, but the girl doesn’t have any visible weapons on her and only has a water skin with her. They run and are soon joined by a few of the Career tributes.

“I think the fire’s meant to drive them all together,” Katniss says and holds her breath as she watches them all run for their lives, the flames catching up and licking at their heels and starting to catch on some of their clothes.

When the fire dies down, the few who’ve been caught all dive to the ground and roll in the dirt to put out the flames. Prim and Peeta are fine for the most part; singed, but any flames that caught on them had already gone out and have left burns across the back of Peeta’s calves and some of Prim’s hair is visibly

burnt off at the ends of her braids, but otherwise she made it out safe.

“Come on, you two. Keep going, don’t stick around,” Katniss begs the screen, but both Peeta and Prim are on their knees as they catch their breath and cough from all the smoke.

One of the Careers, a girl, gets to her feet and has a terrible, wicked smile on her face. “Come on, Cato. We’ve got some easy prey,” she says.

“Run, you idiots, get up!” Katniss says.

“They can’t hear you,” Gale points out to her which only earns him her nails digging into his palm.

“Shut up,” she snaps at him.

On the screen, Peeta’s pushing himself to his feet and grips his dagger, pushing Prim behind him. The other girl’s eyes are wide and she seems frozen in place, but she’s standing raised slightly on her toes like she’s ready to start sprinting again.

The boy who must be Cato stands by the other girl’s side and has a sword drawn, his eyes fixed on Peeta. “You going after her, Clove?”

Clove nods and her eyes dart over to the little girl. At the same time, both Cato and Clove spring in opposite directions.  The little girl lets out a shrill shriek as Clove darts for her and pushes off on the tips of her toes, launching into a sprint and Clove gives chase, laughing wildly. Cato, on the other hand, lunges at Peeta and swings his sword. Prim pulls Peeta back right as the sword swipes the air where he’d just been standing.

“Run, Prim!” Peeta shouts, but she stays where she is until he repeats himself. “Run! Go!” Then Prim nods weakly and screams when the sword just misses her as she moves around Peeta. There’s a sharp hiss and a small spray of blood, but Prim doesn’t look back to see what causes it as she secures the backpack and runs off into the woods.  The screen divides itself into three for a moment as the middle one follows Prim, the right one Clove and the other little girl, and shows Peeta and Cato fighting on the left. When it’s clear that Prim isn’t running into trouble her screen drops out.

Katniss doesn’t loosen her grip, though. Her eyes are frozen on Peeta and Cato even though in the other frame Clove is throwing her knives at the little girl as though she were a moving target, but the girl is quick and fast and seemingly flies as she jumps up and nimbly hauls herself up into a tree like it doesn’t take any effort. Clove spends some time trying to climb up after her and failing, so she shouts threats up into the tree and soon their screen drops out, too. Nothing must have come from that, Katniss assumes, or else that frame would have stayed up to show the girl’s demise.

When Cato pulls back to raise his sword, Peeta sees an opportunity and dives forward, and it’s clear that he didn’t come in second place in that wrestling match by luck; he’s strong, and good at it. Both boys fall to the ground. Even though Cato’s bigger, Peeta clearly knows exactly what he’s doing and they roll around a little until Peeta has him pinned down under him and his fist slams into Cato’s nose. Cato shouts and tries to roll them over, but they stay in the same spot at first. Peeta hits him again, in the jaw, and after a few more punches Katniss figures out something at the same time as Cato; Peeta’s putting off having to kill him. Despite having the upper-hand and having Cato pinned well and despite having a good opportunity to make a kill, he’s putting it off.

Cato’s a Career, and Careers are raised to kill.

His hand reaches for his sword, and Peeta notices that it’s not quite out of reach if Cato were to put just a little more effort into it. When Peeta leans forward to cut Cato’s arm, the other boy uses the leverage to throw Peeta off of him and grabs the sword. Peeta doesn’t have quite enough time to get out of the way and the blade drives deep into his leg, high up on his thigh. He shouts and doubles over at first.

“Peeta, get up, come on, get up, get up,” Katniss says, like a chant, like if she says it enough he’ll get up even though this is a replay and not live. “Get up, get up, God damn it, Peeta, get up. Gale, tell him to get up-”

“Katniss, he can’t hear you,” Gale says, his voice calm but firm.

She ignores him and says it over and over under her breath.

Peeta’s on his feet finally and throws himself on Cato with a furious growl that Katniss never would have guessed him capable of and then, just like that, his dagger drives deep into Cato’s side. Cato drops his sword in shock, and Peeta withdraws the blade and goes in for a second wound, just below the first, then pulls himself away and stumbles backward a few steps.

“I’m sorry,” Peeta says, gasping, and watches as Cato falls to his knees, then tumbles backward, panting. Eventually his chest stops rising and falling and a cannon goes off.

He shakes his head as his face screws up into a terrible expression, and it’s so clear to Katniss how he’s feeling; disgusted with himself, furious, like something inside him was just broken. The sun glints off of his Mockingjay pin as he stumbles off into the woods before the scene changes.

* * *

After school a few days later, Katniss overhears someone on the street saying that Prim has just blown something up, so she runs home as fast as she can and turns on the television. They were right. The camera is zoomed in on Prim who’s still alive but laying on her back with a stunned look on her face.

In the days since the fire wall, Katniss has learned that the other little girl’s name is Rue, from District 11. The cameras haven’t shown much of Rue’s district partner, since he seems to be keeping to himself somewhere, but the footage has kept up with Prim and Rue. Both girls are twelve years old and get along nicely, joking as much as they can while making plans, which makes for great television. Rue tells Prim that she loves to sing, and Prim tells her all about how her sister can sing, too, so Rue teaches Prim a little four-note tune that she says maybe Katniss can try if she’s watching, and both girls sing the little song

Katniss is pretty sure her heart breaks for that little girl, because despite never meeting each other the girl is somehow reaching out to her anyway, and it’s so interesting and strange to her.

From there Rue and Prim swaps stories and information about plants and praise the uses for some of the things they’ve found in the arena. They go out and gather some plants together to stock up just in case, and Rue teaches Prim how to climb a tree. Since Prim gets the hang of it they spend their nights huddled together in the sleeping bag up in trees and by day they gather more plants for food and healing and make their plans to destroy the food supply of the remaining Careers. One night they even manage to drop a tracker-jacker hive onto the Careers as they pass under the tree where the girls are camping and two of their targets die, a girl from four and a boy from 7, and somehow Rue manages to cut it down without getting stung or getting Prim hurt, too, and once it’s dropped they travel to a new tree, leaping from one branch to the next.

Even though Katniss missed the main event and getting to watch them actually blow up the food, it’s clear that the plan succeeded. Now Prim and Rue just have to make a run for it and get out of there, but Prim’s obviously stunned.

“Prim!” Rue is hissing from somewhere nearby. “Prim! We have to go!”

Prim pushes herself up slowly with a low groan, but suddenly her eyes widen in fear. Katniss can hear the footsteps of the Careers running back. A dark hand reaches into the frame and wraps around Prim’s, yanking her up.  The two girls run for it until suddenly Rue stumbles, drops Prim’s hand, and topples forward. Prim skids to a halt and shrieks at the spear protruding from Rue’s stomach; there’s nothing Prim could do that would save the girl.

“Go,” Rue gasps.

“But-“

“Go! Or they’ll get you, too,” Rue insists and lets out a low groan.

Prim bites her lip and drops off a small little pouch beside Rue. Rue looks at the bag, then a smirks just a little bit and closes her eyes. Prim runs off and Clove and another boy with a limp appear on screen. Clove withdraws her knife and wipes it clean while the boy stoops for the bag of berries.

“The blonde girl dropped this,” he says and holds up the bag for Clove to inspect.

“Well hand them over,” Clove demands. He does, and she smiles when the cannon goes off.

A few hours later, at nightfall, the cameras show the boy sneaking the bag of berries away from a sleeping Clove, and minutes later he falls over. A cannon goes off.

* * *

“I can’t believe it,” Katniss is saying over and over to Gale while they walk home. Some people are supposed to be over to interview her and her mother later since Prim made it to the top eight, and there had just been an announcement that two people can live if they’re from the same district.  District 1’s tributes are still alive and running around somewhere, and there are still Prim and Peeta. Otherwise the remaining tributes are solo; the boy from 11 is still alive, and Clove, a boy from 4, and a girl from 5.

When she gets home there are already people there to interview her. She’s shuffled along by a group of people who give her a speedy make-over. “Just enough to make you look less like you grew up under a rock!” according to one lady with green-tinted skin. “I wish we had more time with you. You’re not half-bad looking and would clean up nice!”

A man with dark skin and short, dark hair sits silently by while the team pluck and wax and moisturize her. When they finish he dismisses them and looks her over, then hands her a knee-length, blood-red dress. “My name is Cinna,” he finally says as she accepts the dress.

“I’m Katniss Everdeen,” she replies and takes the flat black shoes he gives her. “Are you just here to make me look pretty?”

He gives the slightest of smiles. “More like I’m here to help you make an impression.”

Katniss raises an eyebrow. “It’s just an interview.”

Cinna looks around before replying. “But what you say can either help or hinder your tributes,” he says and gestures to the dress. “So can the way you look. People don’t know you, and they’ve only caught a glimpse of you from the Reaping footage, but you’re the girl Primrose and Peeta are both so determined to come home to.”

She looks over the dress and listens to him. Like it or not, she’s part of this game somehow.

Cinna gives her a slight smile. “You’re something of an enigma to the rest of the country, and I admit I was incredibly curious to meet you myself. Who’s this girl that’s worth changing the rules over?”

She blushes a little. “What do you mean about being an enigma?”

“I can’t speak for anywhere else, but in the Capitol nearly everyone is talking about how sad it is that those poor tributes from District 12 both want to get home to the same person, and how tragic it is that the boy is in love with the girl’s sister, and how terribly sad it will be for that girl back in 12 when only one comes back. They’ve hardly seen your face, but they seem to love you based on what they’ve heard from Peeta and Primrose,” Cinna says, his smile growing just a little. “It’s almost like you’re a third tribute, in a way. People aren’t just rooting for the two in the arena, but they’re rooting for you, too, and they haven’t even met you yet. Now they are, and you need to make an incredible impression.”

“What are they expecting from me?” Katniss asks.

Cinna’s smile suddenly looks mischievous. “Don’t worry about that. They’re not getting what they expect.”

Hours later, Katniss has her hair up in a simple yet elegant style; it’s still a braid, but it’s more intricate and has a red ribbon woven in that matches her dress. “We want people to be able to recognize you. If your district wins they’ll be seeing more of you on television,” is Cinna’s reasoning for this. Her make-up is light and subtle, but even the very little she’s wearing feels like a lot.

“What kind of questions are they going to ask me?” Katniss asks as Cinna touches up her powder while the team is doing the same to the person about to interview her.

“I don’t know what they’ll be exactly. Are you nervous?” he says and leans back to double-check his work.

“Yeah, a little,” she confesses. “I’ve never done anything like this.”

“Do you think it would help if you look at me when you answer? Instead of telling the whole country, could you think of me like a new friend and pretend it’s just me you’re sharing with?” he asks.

Katniss thinks it over and finally nods.

“Just be yourself. Remember, they’re going to edit this before it airs later. Look at me when you answer if it gets too hard. I’ll be right over here,” Cinna says and points to a chair.

Eventually the interview begins. The man interviewing her looks like he might be in his thirties and his hair is bright purple, his suit dark green with a lavender button-up underneath, and his lips and eye make-up are the same shade of emerald as his suit.

Katniss thinks he looks ridiculous and is glad that she had a chance to meet Cinna, someone who looked so normal.

The interview takes place in her living room, and the crew has set a large cream-colored cloth as the backdrop with a little stool with a potted plant on it in between her chair and the interviewer’s.

“Thank you for joining us this evening, Panem! This is Cloud Jones, reporting to you from District 12. I’m joined by Katniss Everdeen today, sister of our female District 12 tribute Primrose, and also just happens to be the subject of love from the male District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark,” says the man, then turns to face Katniss. “So, Katniss. Is it okay if I call you Katniss or is Miss Everdeen more comfortable?”

She glances over at Cinna and nods. “Katniss, please.”

“So, Katniss, it must be exciting for you that 12 has not only one, but two tributes left in the final eight. It’s been a long time since your district has even had one make it this far, hasn’t it?” asks Cloud.

She nods. “I don’t remember seeing anyone from 12 make it this far in the years I’ve watched the games, no,” she agrees, “but it’s definitely exciting, of course, and I stay up as late as I can each night to watch in case anything happens. It’s my sister in there, and I love her more than anything in the whole world, and- I’ve always thought well of Peeta Mellark, too.”

“Apparently he thinks well of you, too,” Cloud says with a sly grin. “Enough to announce on live television that he has a crush on you and to take your sister under his protection before that thing with the fire split them up.”

Katniss isn’t sure what to say to that, or if she’s supposed to say something, so she looks over to Cinna. “Apparently he does, yeah,” she says for a lack of anything else.

“They’ve both spoken very highly of you, but I’m sure you know that already since you’ve been watching so much,” he says and laughs. Katniss isn’t sure what’s funny about that but manages to force a smile. “We all saw the Reaping here. What was going through your mind when you volunteered for Primrose?”

She stiffens and looks over to Cinna. “That I love her, and she’s so young and so small. My name was in there so many times, and hers was only in it once, so I should’ve been drawn, not her. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. I’ve spent years taking care of our family and trying so hard to keep her clothed and fed and it felt like all of the tesserae I took out didn’t mean anything because her name was drawn anyway. It should be me in the Games, not her.”

Cinna raises his eyebrows in warning; she’s saying too much and getting so close to saying something negative. She has to make an impression, but keep it light.

Cloud manipulates her answer. “So you wanted to be in the spotlight, right?” he says and laughs again.

Katniss starts to scowl, then shakes her head. “No. I wanted to keep her safe, just like I’ve been trying to for the last five years.”

Cloud waves his hand dismissively; that part will probably get edited out since she obviously didn’t give him the sort of answer he wanted. “Prim’s told us all about why she loves you so much. Care to tell us some things about her that she hasn’t shared?”

Katniss wants to say no, but she looks at Cinna. “She’s so smart. I know she said that she wants to be a healer, but I want you to know that she is really smart. My mother grew up in an Apothecary and she’s our local healer. Prim always helps her whenever someone brings their sick or wounded here, and she’s so quick about it and doesn’t get squeamish at all. When she was sharing tips with that girl from 11 that was just a tiny bit of what she knows. Prim knows she’s smart, but I don’t think she realizes how smart she is, or how brave. She’s a sweet girl and so funny. Everyone around here just loves her,” she says and leaves it at that because if she told them just how sweet her sister was, if she told them that Prim was gentle and kind and cried over a scraggly flea-ridden cat they’d think she was weak and might not want to sponsor her anymore.

“Well, Primrose is definitely showing us how clever she is. That trick with the berries! Do you think she left them on purpose and hoped those other tributes would eat them?” asks Cloud.

“I do. Prim knew what it is, remember? She told Peeta not to eat it,” Katniss says.

“She did, indeed. What do you think she’s doing right now since they announced the change in the rules?” Cloud says.

Katniss looks over to the television; it’s muted, but still showing the current coverage, though Prim isn’t on. She glances at Cinna. “Looking for Peeta. Last I saw of him he was stumbling from his wound. Prim will be looking for him to help him.”

Cloud nods and gets that devious smile again. “Speaking of Peeta, we’re all just dying to know. Does he have a chance if he makes it back here?”

She blushes and glances between Cloud and Cinna. With as much time as she’s spent trying to figure out if Peeta was serious or not, she never considered what to actually do about that. “I’ve never had a boyfriend,” she admits slowly while thinking about her answer. Telling them her real thoughts about marriage and romance won’t help Peeta, and in turn won’t help Prim. “I’ve never kissed a boy or been on a date, but if he makes it back here alive I would agree to a date. He’s strong and brave and smart. Plus I know he’s good in a kitchen,” she adds and laughs a little, trying to distract from her non-romantic answer by adding some humor. “My favorite thing they sell at the bakery are cheese buns. But really, any girl would be lucky to have him, and I’m very flattered that he has his eye on me.”

“Any girl would be lucky,” Cloud agrees. “Plus he’s rather cute, isn’t he?”

Katniss blushes. “He’s handsome.”

“Katniss, you’re blushing! You have to tell us what you’re thinking!” Cloud says and reaches over to playfully squeeze her hand.

Her instinct is to pull her hand away, but a glance at Cinna is enough to tell her to leave it. “I’ve always thought he has really nice eyes,” she admits reluctantly, but knows that she’s not saying enough. If she wants Prim and Peeta to have a chance, she needs to put on a better show. “They’re so blue. Every time I happened to see him I noticed them right away and always think they’re the perfect shade and so easy to stare at. Plus he’s so strong. Did you know he came in second place in our local wrestling tournament? And I’m pretty sure he decorates the cakes at the bakery. He’s an incredible artist,” she says, blushing more at the end.

“Look at you, getting so flustered over him!” Cloud says and squeezes her hand again, then leans away. He looks to the camera. “Is it just me, or does it look like our dear Katniss reciprocates Peeta’s infatuation?” he says, followed by excited laughter.

Katniss feels like she’s burning up from all the blushing.

“Before we go, we have to talk about this dress. You look stunning! Doesn’t she look stunning?” Cloud says.

She looks over at Cinna, completely at a loss for what to say. He’s holding up a finger and moving it in a circle. His meaning is clear to her; twirl for me. Katniss stands and smooths out the dress. “I do love it,” she agrees and spins in a little circle, then spins a few more times, and doesn’t notice anything until Cloud gasps loudly.

She stops spinning and actually giggles softly. “Sorry, I’m dizzy!” she says and looks down at her dress. What was once deep red is now transitioning into something almost magical; the fabric is shifting from the red into waves of gold and orange and shades and colors that she can’t think of words for, but the image is clear. Her dress is now a flickering flame, shifting and swaying with her movements, and she has no idea how Cinna managed that, whether it’s a trick of the lighting or if the material is some sort of projection, but the effect is stunning. She isn’t wearing a red dress anymore; she’s wearing fire. The symbolism couldn’t be more obvious, either. It’s a sign of solidarity between her and 12’s tributes struggling for their lives.

“Well, Katniss,” Cloud begins and clears his throat as his eyes travel up and down her body a few more times with new-found interest as he adjusts himself in the chair, and it’s apparent that he’s having difficulty hiding how flustered he’s getting. If it’s because he just now notices how pretty Katniss is, or from the impact of suddenly seeing a girl with flames licking up her dress, Katniss isn’t sure, but Cinna is openly smug in his corner. “That is quite the dress.”

“It is,” she agrees humbly, smiling, and sits back down.

Cloud looks at his watch. “I think that’s all we have time for-”

“Prim!” Katniss suddenly shouts, leaning forward in her chair to see the television.

Everyone’s attention turns toward it, even Cloud who looks between the camera and television a few times before he says, “Turn up the volume, we can edit this out.”

Cinna grabs the remote and removes the mute. “Peeta!” Prim is hissing as she walks along the edge of a stream. “Peeta? Are you here?” she keeps whispering, quietly stepping on stones when she can to avoid the noisy sticks and mud.

“Well, don’t step on me,” comes a lower voice, causing Prim to startle as she’s about to step off of a rock and into the mud bank.

“She found him!” Katniss squeals and dives out of her chair to plop in front of the screen. Cloud looks like he’s about to protest, but stops as he smirks at her reaction, raising an eyebrow at the camera. Showing her reaction, a genuine reaction, to Prim and Peeta is going to make excellent entertainment.

The crew are happy to wait and film her gasping and smiling and clapping and stressing over Prim taking care of Peeta on the screen. She laughs and shakes her head as Prim rolls him to the water and closes her eyes when Prim strips him bare. “Katniss, are you really hiding your eyes?” teases Cloud. “You’re missing the best part of the show! That young man has some muscle.” She waits until they tell her Prim’s given him back his underwear to open her eyes and watch Prim take care of him some more.

“Prim, I know what blood poisoning is,” Peeta tells her as she finishes draining the puss out of his leg.

It’s all Katniss can do not to throw up, but she keeps it together. Barely.

“I know,” Prim replies calmly and applies some leaves to his leg wound and goes back to cleaning the cut on his arm, the one Cato gave him as Prim was trying to escape at first. “The leaves and other plants I’m applying will slow it significantly, and they’ll fight off the infection and bring your fever down. You’re dehydrated, too, so we need to get some food and water in you as soon as possible.”

“But I’m not hungry,” Peeta protests. “You should eat to keep up your strength. I can’t fight like this.”

“Nonsense. We’re a team, aren’t we? We didn’t stop working together just because we got separated, and in case you missed the announcement, we both have the chance to go home,” Prim says.

Peeta and Prim go back and forth until she finally helps him get dressed once he’s cleaned and bandaged and they find a cave to sleep in. He lets her give him some water and he eats some leaves. Even though they’ve stayed way past the time they meant to, the crew stops filming when Cloud says, “There you have it, Panem! Katniss Everdeen from District 12! Thank you for letting us visit your home today, Katniss.”

The cameras stop and people scramble to take down their backdrop and then suddenly people are crowded around laptops and computers in her living room because, “We wasted so much time watching you watch them and we have to have this sent to the Capitol in a few hours!” someone says and gestures to a middle-aged man in glasses. “Beetee, get over here and cut all this footage down!”

Very little of her answers about Prim make it to the final cut, and all they show of her watching the games is the parts where she’s bashful about Peeta being nude on screen; in fact, nearly everything about Peeta is aired. She gets a surprise phone call from Cinna and she’s told that it’s a huge hit at the Capitol with ratings going through the roof.

Katniss just feels anxious about it all and throws up after she hangs up with him.

* * *

“They used you, Katniss,” Gale says. The interview was days ago, but he won’t let it go.

“I told you, I don’t care. It helped Prim and Peeta. If I can’t be there, then I’ll give an interview every day if I need to if it means they’ll get more sponsors,” she snaps at him while they trudge through the woods. She hates taking this much time away from watching the games, but she needs to make some trades and being outside surrounded by nature eases her nerves. At least, it usually does. Right now with Gale harping on her she’s just more frustrated.

“You’ll do what? Tell them all about how great and handsome Peeta Mellark is? About how you can’t wait for him to return and sweep you off your feet for the most romantic date in history? Come on, Katniss, you and I both know that’s a load of bullshit, and you’re just playing right into their hands,” he says and stops walking to face her.

She stops, too, and scowls up at him. “Why does it bother you so much?” she asks. “I would’ve gone if they’d let me, but they didn’t, and that interview got sponsors to send them a parachute with a needle of medicine. Do you have any idea how much money that probably cost?” she says and narrows her eyes more. “I helped them get that, because people want them both to come home. If a little white lie or exaggeration is what I have to do, then so be it.”

Gale glares back at her and looks like he’s about to say something, then changes his mind and starts walking again. “I don’t like it,” he says after a minute of silence passes between them. “And we’re scaring everything away with all this arguing.”

“Then maybe you should drop it and mind your own business,” Katniss says in a harsh whisper.

They don’t talk for a long stretch of time; they spot a deer and track it until they finally take it down, then catch some squirrels and rabbits for their game bags.

“I just didn’t like seeing you act like you were so giddy over the idea of him asking you out and taking you on a date,” Gale says when they’re close to the fence.

“Why?” she asks, furrowing her eyebrows.

A few seconds pass before he replies, “It just wasn’t like you is all.”

“Considering what we do to feed our families?” Katniss says and adjusts the bag. “Lying to the country about wanting a date with a tribute is tame.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Gale says. He looks over at her, sets down the deer, and takes a deep breath. “It’s not just that, actually.” He pauses and takes another deep breath. “I know the timing of this is all wrong and couldn’t be worse, but I have to get it out now or I might never do it.’

“Now what did I do that’s so wrong and offensive?” she says, frowning, and sets the bag down to fold her arms.

He stares at her, and for a moment they just look one another in the eye. “It’s making me jealous, Katniss. Thinking about that interview, over and over, about how you could talk like that about someone and that person isn’t me? It’s been bothering the hell out of me.”

She gapes. “What? You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not joking,” he says and steps closer to her. His voice gets quieter as he stops in front of her and adds, “I’ve been jealous since he first said how he feels in his interview.”

“And what if he’s lying? What if it was just something he came up with to survive? He’s charming, and people believe him,” she says.

“Do you believe him?” Gale asks.

She blushes. “I don’t know. And so what if I do? That’s none of your business.”

“I’m your best friend, Katniss. It’s my business,” he says, “and since I love you, it’s really my business.”

“You what?” she sputters.

“I love you,” he says again and dips his head down.

His lips nearly brush against hers as his hands reach out and rest lightly on her hips, but she ducks her head just in time and he ends up kissing her forehead instead. “What are you doing?” she says shrilly and shoves him.

Gale pulls his hands back and holds them out to his sides. “Sorry. I- I just- I have to know, Katniss, but I can’t stand it and have to know. Do I have a chance? Even the smallest one, or should I stop hoping and thinking that maybe one day you’ll look at me like I’m not just your best friend?”

She groans and hides her face in her hands. “I can’t believe you’re doing this right now,” she says and sighs.

“I’m sorry,” Gale says again and runs a hand through his hair, looking over to the fence. “You don’t have to say anything right now. We should get back. Just- think about it, okay?”

She squeezes her eyes shut, takes a steadying breath, and picks up her bag to head back through the fence with him.

* * *

There’s a fight that breaks out as Clove, the boy from 11, and the girl from 5 run into each other, each of them fleeing from a separate horror and driven together because too many days have passed without a death. Clove has the fox-faced girl pinned under her and takes her time cutting the girl’s face, and doesn’t seem too bothered by all the struggling going on. The boy-- Thresh, Katniss finds out-- shows up and yells at Clove for killing Rue.

Clove glances over at him, then down at the girl. “I was hoping we’d have more fun, girly. Sorry to cut our quality time short,” she says and slits the girl’s throat, then rolls off of her and pushes herself to her feet while the girl sputters and chokes on the ground, twitching and writhing.

She’s too slow, though; Thresh grabs her by the front of her shirt. “No! No! Let’s be allies!” she shrieks.

“You killed that little girl!” he shouts and raises the hand holding a giant rock. “I know you did!”

“How could you possibly know?” Clove says. The choking sounds from below them get quieter.

“That girl you just killed told me. We made a trade and she mentioned she saw you kill that little girl,” Thresh says.

Clove stares at the big rock, her feet dangling off of the ground. “We can still be allies!”

“No, we can’t,” says Thresh and crashes the rock against Clove’s temple, leaving a huge dent. He drops her carelessly and stoops down by her body, smashing her skull a second time. When he stands and backs away, Clove eventually stops breathing.

Two canons go off.

* * *

The next day the District 1 tributes turn on the boy from 4 whom they’d been allied with and kill him in his sleep, and then they run into Thresh. He puts up a big fight but they overwhelm him; a cannon goes off, but both tributes from 1 walk away from the fight alive, though both are severely wounded.

“He broke my fucking arm,” the girl wails and shoves her partner.

“Yeah, well arms can be fixed. You’re alive. It’s just us now and the two from 12,” says the boy. “And he cut me, right here.”

“Let me see,” says the girl and the boy lifts his shirt to show a nasty, deep cut in his left side below his ribs. “Let’s patch you up, and find the ones from 12 and get rid of them quickly. The girl is tiny and the boy’s wounded, I know that much.”

“Yeah, well, in case you forgot, Tiny wanted to be a healer. She could’ve nursed him back to health by now,” the boy says.

Katniss, meanwhile, rocks back and forth on the floor as she watches the exchange. As hopeful as she is, both of those tributes are right. Prim has been nursing Peeta back to health and he’s doing well, though he can’t put too much weight on his leg. Prim has him up and moving around, but he can’t run or stand on it for long periods of time. If they were ambushed Prim probably wouldn’t last long, and neither would Peeta. She kept hoping that Clove or Thresh would get one or both of the District 1 tributes, but no such luck. The odds are still not in her favor.

The District 1 tributes walk and that night the screen goes back to Prim and Peeta in the cave. “We need to get moving,” Peeta says after watching the sky. “Thresh is dead. It’s just us and both of the tributes from 1.”

Prim whimpers but nods. “I- I have an idea.”

“Which is?” Peeta says and sits down to listen to her.

She explains and he nods along, but his face his doubtful. “I don’t know about that, Prim. There’s such a small chance they’ll fall for it.”

“I know, but I can’t do hand-to-hand combat, and you can’t stand up for long. If nothing else it will buy us time. Maybe we can find a weapon someone’s left behind,” she says.

So that night the pair leave the cave and set up a fire, far from their cave. They have to stop for a few breaks to check Peeta’s bandage. Then they spread out a blanket and set out food like they’re planning to have a meal, complete with some crackers and dried fruit, a lump of cheese, a skin of water and berries.

Sure enough, the tributes from 1 are lured by the smoke and bright fire. Prim hides in a tree and Peeta has himself camouflaged with mud and leaves behind a bush yards away.

“Do we wait for them to come back?” says the girl.

“Do you want to, or would you rather keep walking and find them?” says the boy.

Glimmer shrugs. “It’d be a shame to waste their lovely meal before we do anything.”

So the pair sit down and eat the crackers and cheese. The screen splits and one camera stays on the pair as they eat while another zooms in on Prim holding her breath with wide eyes. Her muscles tense even more when the girl reaches for the berries and eats a handful, chews, and swallows. The boy is about to do the same when his hands freeze over them and watch as his partner suddenly tips over. Marvel stumbles to his feet and reaches over to check her pulse.

“Glimmer?” he says and shakes her. “Glimmer? Glimmer! Come on, wake up, Glim, come on. We’re so close, Glim. Glimmer, wake the fuck up, damn it!” He gives up and kicks her body as he stands, then looks around the area like he’s finally picked up on something he should have much sooner. He draws a long knife from its holster and treads carefully.

Katniss scoots so close to the screen that she’s nearly pressed up against it. “Please be careful, you two, please please please,” she murmurs over and over. “Be careful, be careful, please, be careful-”

Then Prim drops down from her tree and lands on Marvel, tackling him to the ground. He swings with his knife and misses her the first time, but then cuts her leg. She yells and Peeta jumps out from his bush. He looks like a swamp creature, covered in mud and plants and has a few worms crawling over him, and it would be absolutely hilarious to Katniss if she weren’t currently terrified for their lives.

“Peeta!” Prim yells and then he’s on top of Marvel, too, trading places with Prim to pin him down. Marvel manages to get another swipe of his knife in and cuts Peeta’s right side, but then his arm goes still, limp, and drops. The cameras zoom in on Prim plunging the a needle into Marvel’s neck, with purple residue inside.

Peeta pushes himself off of Marvel and takes a few deep breaths. “I can’t believe it worked.”

Prim looks down at the boy. Her other kills had been so passive, with the tracker-jackers and berries, but this one is slowly bothering her as she starts trembling.

Peeta pulls her to him. “It’s okay, it’s over now,” he says and hugs her tight.

Prim pulls away and looks up at him, confused. “But... but why aren’t the cannons going off?” she says quietly.

Katniss feels like her heart is going to stop when a voice announces that unfortunately their earlier rule change actually cannot remain in place as the rules clearly state that only one tribute can win.

Prim and Peeta stare at each other.

“Prim,” Peeta begins and looks down at the berries. “Prim, you have to win.”

“But- but Peeta, your family-” she begins as tears start welling up in her eyes.

“No buts, Prim. My family will mourn me, but they don’t need me. Yours needs you,” he says. “Katniss needs you. It has to be you.”

Prim is shaking her head. “No. No, I can’t let you- Peeta, I can’t, we’ve come too far-”

Peeta grabs her shoulders and smiles sadly at her, then kisses her forehead. “Prim, you’ve been so brave and strong. It’s so amazing that we both made it this far at all, and I’m so proud that a twelve-year-old girl from District 12 is going to be the victor and that I got to help her get there. I’m even more proud that the girl is you. Hug Katniss for me, will you?”

“Stop, just stop,” Prim says between sobs. “I won’t let you, I won’t, so stop it.”

“Prim, I promise, I’m not scared. I want to do this for you. I promised Katniss that I’d look out for you, and I meant to keep that promise as long as I could. Now we’re at the very end together and I’m glad that I could send you back home to her,” he says and stops when a low growl echos from the distance.

“Oh no,” Prim whispers. “Peeta-”

“I know,” he says, and they stare at each other with wide eyes.

Neither of them say anything, so Katniss fills in the blank for herself. “Mutts,” she whispers. Damn her mother for hiding like a coward in the bedroom during this. Sure, Katniss understands that her mother isn’t strong enough, but she should be there.

Prim scoops up the bag of berries and puts her needle in the safety pouch, pockets it, and points to the tree. “We have to climb,” she says as barking starts to grow louder and louder.

“Don’t you get it, Prim?” Peeta says and helps her up into the tree, then drops his arms when she’s on the first branch. “We can’t make up our minds, so they’re doing it for us. I told you, you have to win. Let me have the berries, please. It will be easier that way. I don’t want to be torn to shreds.”

“How can you be so calm?” Katniss screams at the television. She wants to smack it, but that’d break it and she has to know, has to see who will be coming back.

Prim looks over as the rustling in the trees gets louder and the growls and barks sound closer and closer.

“We both do it,” Prim says. “I’ll give you the berries, but you have to do it at the same time I stab myself.”

“Prim, no,” he says.

“It’s the only way I’ll agree to anything, Peeta,” she says and dangles the bag of berries above him.

The mutts sound so close and he’s losing his cool in the face of the inevitable, so he nods frantically. “Yes, yes, I’ll do it, please, Prim-”

Prim drops the bag down to him and digs out her needle.

The pack of canine muttations burst through the trees as Peeta lifts the berries to his mouth, the firelight glinting off of his mockingjay pin, and Prim aims her needle for her neck.

“No!” Katniss screams at the television and shakes it between her hands.

Two cannons go off over the howls of the mutts.

* * *

The closing interview is weeks later. The victors need time to heal and recuperate. Apparently during the last few minutes of the Games, not only were the Gamemakers terrified of ending them without a winner at all but they were getting completely slammed with phone calls protesting the reversal of the rule change. A few people even stood outside of the main broadcast building and shouted protests from the street.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was the tiniest rebellion in history,” Gale says when word spreads about the incident. They don’t know how the news leaked out about the calls and the protest, but someone from the Capitol had to have passed it along. Even though it isn’t much, anything that questions the Capitol’s law can’t be a good sign.

The interview begins and Mrs. Everdeen joins them for this, looking a little better than she has since the Reaping.

Prim looks sweet and adorable in a plain white dress, and Peeta joins her on stage in tan khakis and a white button-up shirt and a cane in his left hand to support his weight. They smile at each other and sit for their interview, joking with Caesar Flickerman and then reliving all of the highlights from the Games. Katniss hardly pays attention, to be honest, but needs to see for herself that they’re both still alive. Caesar congratulates them both on winning and celebrates the fact that they’ll both be going home. Soon the interview ends and then a repeat comes on, so they turn off the television.

Katniss gets up and shows Gale out. He looks down at her in that serious way he had that time in the woods over a week ago.

“I thought about it,” she admits and closes the front door behind them with a sigh. “And... I need you, Gale-”

He starts to grin, but she holds up her hand.

“I need you, because you’re my best friend, and that’s all I need or want from you. I tried thinking about it, but every time I tried- my thoughts just went to them,” she says, “and I think that if there were feelings for you, the kind you want- if they were there, then I would’ve found them, but I didn’t find anything like that.”

“You were thinking about them?” Gale asks.

“Don’t say it like that. I’ve been terrified for weeks, and you can’t hold it against me that I was worried for him, too,” she says, frowning. “He’s a good person and deserves to come home. His father would barely look at me when I tried to trade with him, and the second time I came by his mother actually told me that my trades and money weren’t good there anymore.”

“Well, your sister was her son’s competition,” Gale says.

“That’s just it. She never said anything like that. The only thing she said was that she’s tired of us Seam people always getting hand-outs from her husband and that she expects payment for some cookies that he gave Prim. I don’t remember ever getting free cookies from Peeta’s father for Prim, but I think I remember seeing a bag in her compartment when I saw her off on the train,” she says and frowns. “The woman was more upset that her husband gave something away than she was worried about her youngest son.”

“So, what? You worried about him out of some weird obligation to be nice since his mother’s a bitch?” Gale says.

Katniss punches his arm. “Stop. He’s a good person, and he kept his word. He looked after Prim.”

“You’re not going to pity date him, are you? Is that why you’re turning me down?” he asks.

“Stop making this all about you and your wounded ego, okay? You and I are hunting partners and best friends, and that’s the only way I love you,” she says firmly.

Gale looks like he’s going to protest but stops and sighs, looking away. “So you’re not going to give the guy who saved your sister’s life a pity date?” he says, though there’s the tiniest hint of playfulness in his tone. He’s not going to get over it right away, but she hopes his teasing means he’s accepting her answer. “Damn, catnip, you’re harsh.”

She rolls her eyes and shoves him on his way down the sidewalk.

* * *

The train arrives on time. Katniss and her mother don’t have to wait long for Prim to step carefully off of the train followed by Haymitch Abernathy, then Peeta. Haymitch regards Katniss and her mother, then nods to Katniss in greeting. “Nice interview,” he tells her. “I was worried you wouldn’t do well.”

“I had some help,” she says and raises an eyebrow at him curiously. “Most of it wasn’t even aired anyway.”

Haymitch seems to catch her meaning and nods again. “I guess I’ll be seeing more of you since we’ll be neighbors, won’t I?”

She nods and can’t help feeling like there was more to the conversation. He didn’t ask her to elaborate on what she meant, and he was more polite to her than she’d seen him treat anyone else. Though she supposes that with being a victor himself and having just brought both tributes home as the third and fourth victors 12 has, that maybe he’s feeling somber and tired.

And probably in need of a few strong drinks.

“Prim!” Katniss says and topples backward as her sister launches herself onto her. Katniss wraps her arms tightly around her sister in a hug that she’s reluctant to ever end.

“I missed you,” Prim mumbles against her neck.

Katniss notices Peeta hovering awkwardly, alone, like he’s uncertain what to do with himself or where he should be walking. Mrs. Everdeen gestures for him to come over, so he shuffles over, still using his cane, and when he reaches them she hugs him.

Katniss blinks at the sight and says, “Thank you for bringing her home to us.”

“I promised I’d take care of her,” Peeta says and blushes slightly.

Prim gets up and helps Katniss to her feet, then goes to cling to their mother. “Still, thank you,” Katniss says and hesitates, then hugs him as well. A moment later his arms very lightly slide around her to return the gesture. She raises up on the tips of her toes and kisses his cheek, then pulls away just as he’s about to really hug her back. “I hear that we’re all going to be neighbors,” she says to change the subject, especially because she doesn’t want to make it awkward that she wouldn’t let him really return the hug.

“Yeah. You three, me, and Haymitch. I don’t doubt it will be interesting out there,” he says and laughs lightly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Just you?” she asks, glancing over to see that Prim and their mother are still hugging and whispering to each other. You better be apologizing to her, Katniss thinks with a very brief scowl at the woman. Prim deserved better than what you gave her.

“Yeah, just me,” Peeta says lightly and looks around the station; still no sign of his family.

“Well, if you need some help moving and getting settled- you can ask me.”

Peeta raises his eyebrows at her. “Are you sure? I don’t have much, I doubt I’ll even need a second trip.”

“Then I’ll help you with something else, if you order furniture or need help with the lawn,” she says firmly.

He tilts his head slightly. “Really, it’s fine, you don’t have to do anything like that.”

“I owe you, so let me!” Katniss snaps and folds her arms, glaring.

This only makes him look more confused. “Owe me? For what? For Prim? You don’t owe me anything. I’d do it all over again if I had to, even if I didn’t survive this time.”

“Shut up, don’t say that,” she says, “and of course for Prim. For her, and the bread.”

“The bread?” Peeta says with furrowed eyebrows. “You mean-”

“Yes, that bread. We would’ve died of starvation any day if it wasn’t for that,” she says.

“But you already thanked me for it on the train,” he says.

She shrugs and looks away. “Still, first you saved us with the bread, and now you’ve helped Prim.”

“Actually, she helped me a lot more than I helped her,” he says quietly.

Prim and Mrs. Everdeen are pulling apart, but Prim takes hold of their mother’s hand. “Can we go home now, Katniss?” Prim asks.

She nods and looks up at Peeta. “I guess I’ll see you on moving day,” she says.

He nods and touches his cheek, smiling slightly. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

Katniss gives him a weak, tiny smile of her own. “I’ll try not to,” she says and follows behind Prim and her mother, making sure they’re safe the whole way home.