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This Is Where We Say Goodbye
Hunger Games - Cato/OC Did you ever wonder why Cato wanted to get home so badly? Why he was so upset when Clove died? Did he have someone back home in District 2? The answer to all these questions is simple, one universal answer. Ellianna Martinez; the first person to see Cato as more than just a heartless killer, the first person to love him.
Chapter One: Watching your worst nightmare
My life was ruined by the Hunger Games, by the Capitol. I wasn't a tribute, I wasn't thrown into the arena, and I didn't have to kill or be killed. None the less, my life is now empty, because of them. My name is Ellianna Martinez and this is my story…
Looking up at the Justice Building, my navy blue dress moving in the breeze, I had to repress a laugh when I saw our ridiculously dressed escort: Antoinette, her purple wig, sorry hair, was pulled into an extravagant up do, and I think her orange dress was wider than she was tall (which wasn't saying much considering she was really short).
Suddenly, her shrill voice rang out, "Happy Hunger Games District 2! May the odds be ever in your favour! Let's start with the girls, shall we?" What disturbed me the most was the amount of glee that she spoke with, when sending children to their deaths.
She reached her hand into the crystal bowl containing the name of every girl in District 2 aged 12 to 18. She pulled a single piece of paper out with a flourish of her hand.
Opening the paper, she announced, loud and clear, one name, "Clove Martinez"
In that moment, my world changed forever. My sister, my baby sister had been reaped. I watched Clove make the short trip from the 15 year-old section to the stage, to be greeted by Antoinette as she put on a stone-cold, expressionless face.
"Are there any volunteers?" Antoinette questioned.
I was ready to volunteer myself, when I caught Clove's eye and she shook her head, knowing what I was planning to do.
"No? Okay then. Now, onto the lovely young men," She said, her voice still too gleeful, though I was unable to fully concentrate as I was still frozen with fear for my baby sister.
Well, that was until I heard a voice come from the 18 year-olds, "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"
It took me a moment to fully register it, but it was Cato, my Cato. In that moment, I realised that I was going to lose one or both of them, whatever the outcome. I saw Antoinette beckon him up onto the stage and Cato put on a persona, a mask, that, to be honest, frightened me.
"And what's your name young man?" Antoinette questioned.
"Cato Ludwig" Cato replied shortly.
"Happy Hunger Games everyone!" Was the last thing Antoinette said before the two people who meant the most to me, were ushered into the Justice Building.
When they were out of sight and the doors were closed behind them, I turned to scan the gathered crowd, my brunette hair flowing like a curtain in the wind. Spotting the familiar dark hair of my family, I ran through the crowd towards them, throwing myself into my brother's arms, burying my head in the crook of his neck. He held up my 5'1" body with ease as he was a good foot taller than me. The four of us made our way to the Justice Building together with me still wrapped up in my brother, Dane's, arms.
I, along with my family, went to see Clove first. As soon as I saw her sitting on the plush, velvet sofa, I launched myself at her, and in that moment in time, I felt more like the youngest, the baby, than the eldest girl. The whole time we were in there, I didn't say a word just sat there with my head in Clove's lap, listening to my parents and brother talking to her. When the peacekeeper came to kick us out, the tears started, I held my sister as tightly as my small form could manage.
I alone was then permitted to visit Cato. The room that he was in was identical to the one I had just been in with Clove. As I entered the room, Cato looked up towards me. He took one look at my tearstained face before he was on his feet and holding me in his arms. He moved us to the sofa where he sat me on his lap, my face still buried in his shirt.
"I'm so sorry Elli," He whispered, kissing me lightly on the lips, "I'm so sorry."
As I looked up at him, I said, "I love you Cato and you have nothing to be sorry for, you hear me?"
"But…" He tries to reason with me before I cut him off.
"Nothing, Cato, Nothing," My voice was hard, like ice.
"I love you too," he said, his face defeated.
"Try to come back, please," I pleaded with him
"I promise you Elli, I will fight for you until the moment my heart stops beating." His tone of voice signified to me that this promise was final.
"Times up" The Peacekeeper's harsh voice echoed through the large room.
Cato stood up with me and kissed me for what would be the final time. It was a kiss full of passion and longing but most of all, love.
Pulling away from the love of my life, I murmured, "This is where we say goodbye."
On the night of the opening ceremony, no-matter how good the District 12 tributes, Katniss and Peeta, looked (which was very), my eyes were focused on Cato and Clove. On the TV screen, my sister looked so small and fragile but the way she held herself emitted a feeling of confidence and authority, Cato, on the other hand, looked almost twisted and evil and the way he also held himself, like Clove, gave off a sense of confidence and authority. However, no-matter how thick their ice-cold masks were, I could see right through them. I could see it in their eyes; they were just as scared as every other kid there.
The next time we saw the tributes, it was the interviews, as well as finding out the training scores. Cato got a 10 and Clove got a 9. They're both really good scores but Katniss, from 12, got an 11, practically unheard of.
Cato and Clove kept up the façade they had been playing the whole time, heartless careers. Now, anyone who knew them, really knew them, would now that this wasn't the real Cato and Clove but they were playing their parts so well that even I was starting to believe them. Cato came across as cocking and arrogant, confident that he would win. Clove was similar, but she did it in a more feminine way, like a cat getting ready to pounce on its prey. What surprised me the most, though was Katniss, who was a bit of a ditz, going on and on about her jewel encrusted dress and how amazing it was. As much as it made me sick, the dress was beautiful…
To me, the interviews were just taking me one step closer to losing the most important things in the world to me.
Most of the games passed in a bit of a blur for me. On the first day, I only really registered that both Cato and Clove had made it out of the Bloodbath at the Cornucopia alive, both with the weapons they desperately needed. When they were in that arena, I watched Cato and Clove lose themselves completely.
I watched Cato kill the District 3 boy, with his bare hands in a matter of seconds by breaking his neck. As well as Thresh, I think, the huge boy from 11, and four others. His crystal clear blue eyes were becoming icier as I watched him lose his sanity day by day.
I witnessed Clove kill about three tributes in the initial bloodbath. I also saw her attempt to mutilate Katniss with her knives. Her once sparkling green eyes that shone with happiness now shone with something else. Something dark and twisted, something driven by insanity.
It was when Clove was attempting to kill Katniss that she met her own end. Thresh, the man mountain from 11, hit her over the head with a rock, her scream ricocheting throughout the arena. From the woods surrounding the clearing, you could hear Cato's voice calling out, "Clove! Clove! Clove,"
The cameras focused on my sister's face, as the light faded from her emerald green eyes and she muttered something incoherent, over and over. At a closer look, it almost seemed as if she was saying 'I'm sorry'. If she was, in fact, saying sorry, what for, none of the previous events were of her making. Just before her eyes went dull, I caught a glimpse of the girl she used to be, before the Hunger Games, the innocent, care-free child. The moment her eyes turned lifeless, I became the baby of the family, but I was far from innocent and my life was far from serene.
The final three. Cato, Katniss and Peeta. Cato was going to come home, or they were. While they were 'refreshing' themselves at the lake, Cato was getting chased by mutations, now, what's fair in that? He hurtled himself out of the woods, Katniss shooting an arrow at his chest. A fatal shot, had it not been for the impenetrable body armour. He sprinted past the pair who were currently oblivious to the mutts that were hot on Cato's heels. That was until they emerged from the tree line, which sent them running after Cato towards the golden horn of the Cornucopia.
When they were on the 'safety' of Cornucopia, Cato collapsed in exhaustion. However he wasn't out just yet and he certainly wasn't down for long as within moments he was holding Peeta over the edge as the mutts attempted to get onto the golden horn. He stood there, at the edge, all sanity gone, and he taunted Katniss, saying that if she were to shoot him, Peeta would go down with him. I watched as Peeta brought his blood soaked hand up from his leg, which had gotten caught in the jaws of one of the mutts, and drew a bright red 'x' on the back of the hand which Cato used to hold him in place. Realisation crossed across Cato's face, but he was too late, Katniss realised just a second before he did. She shot an arrow at his hand, hitting precisely in the middle of the blood 'x', causing Cato to release Peeta. He then lost his balance, falling over the side of the Cornucopia and into the jaws of the mutts.
He fought them off with his sword for at least an hour or two, I lost track of time when I was minutes away from losing the love of my life. They won, eventually, overpowering him and pulling him into the mouth of the Cornucopia. In the hours that followed, the mutts tore him apart piece by piece. In that time, I was unable to open by eyes, afraid of what I would be greeted by, and threw up multiple times at the sound of Cato's groans of pain. In the early hours of the morning, I heard Katniss and Peeta's voice from the TV screen, then I heard the sound of an arrow whizzing through the air and a canon-fire. Cato was dead and through the pain and the emptiness, I was grateful that Katniss had ended his suffering, that he was now able to rest in peace.
When Cato's body was delivered back to District 2, it almost looked as if he hadn't been attacked by those mutts and almost as if he was just asleep, the 'magic' of the Capitol. He was buried, next to Clove in the District's cemetery within two days. They say funerals bring you closure, for me they made me feel numb, because I had attended 2 funerals in a matter of weeks. I'd lost my sister and my boyfriend in a matter of weeks.
After Cato's funeral, I stayed, sitting in between Cato and Clove, not talking just sitting. When it began to get dark, I stood, dusting of my simple black dress. I walked about a metre or two and taking one last look at the people who meant the most to me, who were now six feet under, I said, "This is where we say goodbye" resting a hand on my still flat stomach, before I walked away, without looking back.