A/N: This was written for the Caesar's Palace Forum, Colour Prompt Challenge. Come visit us there, we don't bite! This prompt is blue. I hope that you enjoy reading and come see us over at Caesar's palace! Warning: There's sadness in this. It's the Hunger Games for a REASON.
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This wasn't meant to happen. None of this was. The Capitol said this was just a game. This arena, this blood, it's real. No matter how much we wanted it to be fake. They said the first Hunger Games were to be a celebration. But they lied. No one told us of death, they said we would be safe.
(because that's what they had planned all along)
As creamy golden light appears on the horizon, it's almost possible to believe that nothing bad has ever happened.
(almost)
He holds the broken body of his District partner in his arms. Her dark blue eyes, once so vibrant and full of life, stare blankly as the sky fills with light, chasing the darkness back once again. He said he would bring her home, promised everyone that he would.
(but no one, not even a District 1 boy, can keep all of their promises)
Copper Mayfield had never wronged anybody. So why was he sitting on a scarlet covered ground in a freezing arena, holding a dead girl in his arms? Because the Capitol never cared who they hurt. As long as they triumphed, they would scar as many lives as they had too.
(killing people never phased them)
How could anyone understand what he was going through? They were watching a screen, holding their breath as they seen him look at the hovercraft above his head. But he was there holding a dead body, the body of the girl he had never told he loved. Memories flit through his brain, only there for seconds before being replaced with a new one. Her eyes, so blue, so happy, sparkling as they looked at him on the Chariot ride. His breath, taken away as he seen her on the stage for her Interview, spinning in her glimmering blue dress. He said he would never let this happen to her.
(but he lied, did he not?)
Copper was the victor, not her. He defended her, put his life on the line for her, said he would always protect her. But he had failed. Copper wasn't quite as noble a person as before. Staring into the dead blue eyes of his partner, he can't help but know that he failed.
(I'm sorry, Sapphire. I never meant for this to happen)
Every person in Panem can hear him say it. But he's talking to a dead body. Copper isn't talking to his partner anymore, because she's gone. But everyone knows that he'll never accept that fact, because he loved that girl, that girl with the sapphire-blue eyes, much more than anyone thought he was capable of.
(Does the Capitol feel anything? In their twinkling city, full of rainbow-clad people, do they not feel an ounce of remorse for this broken boy?)
The Capitol and it's viewers watch on in almost silence. Silence for the girl they all thought would win. But then the cheers erupt. Copper Mayfield has won. And they don't care that listless blue eyes will haunt him every waking moment for the rest of his life.
(no, they do not)
As the sun rises and the sky turns blue once again, the boy finally drops his partner to the ground. He stands up and turns his face to the hovercraft, only glancing for a second at the colour of blue beyond it.
(because that blue was the same colour as her eyes)