hope you enjoy this, its only a one shot so there won't be a follow up chapter. I don't own anything, all rights to Suzanne Collins.

The arena is burning around me, red flames against the twilight. The capital is angry, very angry. Flames engulf everything and I can hear people screaming, but I stay put in my tree, ignoring the guilt that tries to take its hold. They hate me. They all do. After I had refused to play out their stupid star crossed lovers story, they had started to burn us. Peeta may have admitted to loving me, but that didn't mean I had to love him. Ever since I had entered the arena, I have left him to his own business, not even making an effort to find him.

That's not why the arena is burning.

One night, after Rue had died, the Capitol had announced that two people could live. I knew what game they were playing, they wanted me to run to Peeta. Well, the jokes on them. I found traces of him, things that pointed to where he would be, but I ignored them, running in the opposite direction. Now the arena is burning, and there's nothing I can do.

There aren't many people left. Peeta and I. Fox face. Cato. Clove. Thresh. That's it now, and the end is to close. I could really go home. Not that it's likely. Now I've shown the Capitol up, I'm probably going to die. I hear a snap, and I look down at Clove, who stumbles through a thin cloud of smoke, coughing. I load my bow, pointing it at her. Come on, just a step or two closer...

She leans against my tree, and I move into position. She looks up in shock, and when she sees me, and scrambles to grab a knife. I let my arrow fly, and look away, hearing her shriek in pain, then cut of abruptly. I risk a look at her, and regret it. I may not have know her, she may have been trying to kill me, but she didn't deserve to die. Now she lays with an arrow in her chest at the bottom of my tree, dead. Her poor family.

I jump out of the tree and take her knives. It's not like she'll need them now. I start to run in the direction she had come from, and it could already feel the heat from the flames. Smoke wound around me, pressing the air from my lungs, and distantly I can hear the crackling of trees as they burn. My eyes water as the smoke gets thicker, and I cough, loading my bow as I delve deeper into the woods. I can see the flames now, like a wall of red and orange, not moving but still burning. The capitol must not want anyone to go past that point. The smoke is almost no existing here, and I breath heavily, coughing up the smoke, before looking at the wall. I wonder what's behind it. I start to walk parallel to the wall, looking for a gap or a break.

Suddenly, a portion of the wall surges forward, coming dangerously close, and I jump back, slamming into a tree. The wall retreats, and I frown, looking at it. They were warning me. Warning me to walk away while I still could. I grit my teeth and keep walking along the wall, a little distance away now. The fire keeps surging towards me, getting closer and closer every time, and when my jacket sleeve sets fire, I know I'm getting close to what they don't want me to see. I drop to the floor, rolling quickly to extinguish the flames, but I feel no fear. Only anticipation. I'm about to find what they don't want anyone to find.

I get to my feel, smiling deviously at the wall. There are sure to be cameras on me now, they want to show me abiding to their rules, turning away. I look at the sky, and bring my hand to my lips. I raise my hand in the salute, before running forward, looking at the wall closely, for whatever I'm looking for. The fire rises higher, engulfing the tree tops, and flaming branches fall in my path. I jump over them, running until my lungs ache. The smoke increases suddenly, so think I can hardly see. Keep going, I tell myself, running closer and closer to the fire.

My muscles ache, and I can feel myself slowing down, the lack of oxygen finally getting to me. I stumble, falling to the ground, and I look around, blinking slowly. All I can see is fire. Fire and smoke. I drop my head down, trying to breath, knowing I should have turned around. Then, I hear it. The sweat sound of the mockingjays. They tweet despite the smoke, and I feel hope rise inside me. They are fighters, and so am I.

I get up and follow the sound, looking for the birds. I see one soar over head, disappearing into the flames, and then I realise. The temperature had dropped. The smoke didn't smell like real smoke. With only my assumptions to go on, I brace myself, making a quick prayer, before launching myself into the flames.

I came running out the other side, stumbling, before falling, rolling down a steep hill. While I fall down the hill, I laugh to myself. I had outsmarted the holographic flames. I had outsmarted the Capitol. I crashing into a tree stump, and hissed in pain, curling up to protect myself from nothing. I let a tear or two slip down my cheeks as the pain subsides, then get to my feet. I look around for something the Capitol would want to hide, but there is nothing. I'm in a valley, a narrow stream runs through the middle, and trees untouched by the flames loom high above my head. The mockingjays that had guided me soared over my head, tweeting musically before retreating into their nests.

I looked up into the nearest tree, where a mockingjay sat staring at me, cocking it's head to the side. I looked up at the sky first, wondering if the cameras would be on me. Either way, President Snow would see this. I opened my mouth, took a deep breath, before singing the song 'Hanging tree'

I smiled as I imagined President Snow watching in fury, shouting for someone to do something. I finished, and the birds were silent, like they used to be when my dad sung. Then, something magical happened. They took up my tune. They repeated me perfectly, the song echoing around the woods. I laughed slightly, then stopped as I heard the unmistakable musical notes of a sponsors gift near by. I looked up as the container dropped into the tree with the mockingjays, and I desperately scrambled up into the tree, cracking it open. There wasn't any food, no medicine or even a weapon. Instead, there was a fragile, yellowing envelope with my name written on top. The note by the side of it said:

'I'm angry at you, but he loves you -H'

I looked in confusion at the note from Haymitch, before pulling the envelope out of the slot and opening it. Inside was a letter. I recognised the writing instantly. Gale.

'Katniss,

At first, I though you were going to fake it all. I thought I didn't know you at all. Then, when you ran away from him, when you defied the Capitol of its sick game, I knew that the girl I fell in love with was still there. I had to send this now, just in case you don't make it. Just know that I have faith in you, and that Prim and your mother are okay. They miss you, and they want you to come home. They need you. I need you. When you get back, I know things will be different. I know they will use you, but I swear on my life, that I will protect you.

Keep singing, my little song bird. -Gale'

I held the paper against my chest, my hear beating fast. He loves me. He loves me! I... I love him, because Gale is mine and I am his. Anything else is unthinkable.

I look up at the sky, and know what I'm about to do will probably anger the Capitol more than anything else I have done. I simply don't care. I have to win for them. For Gale. For all those who starve, for all those who've had enough of the Capitol. I am a mockingjay, I am a surviver.

"Gale Hawethorne, I love you." I whisper at first, a little scared, but then something builds inside me, a force stronger than their fire. Stronger than their armies. Stronger than it all.

"I love you Gale Hawethorne! I love you!" I shout, repeating it until my voice hurts. There's a rumble, and I jump down from the tree as I witness the scariest thing in my life. A canon goes off as the ground splits in two, revealing a swirling, black mist. I run towards the cornucopia, where I can see Cato and another guy fighting. The sky darkens rapidly, and I know they are desperate to end it all. As I draw closer, I see it's Peeta. They fight like animals, snarling and grunting, until Cato throws Peeta to the floor. I load my bow, but before I can let it fly, I heard a sickening crack, and Peeta goes limp.

Cato turns to look at me, and I let the arrow go. I watch it embed itself inside his head, and he falls like a stone to the ground. They are both dead. Two canons go off, and hen the victors music blares. I won. Oh god, I won.

*Gales POV*

I wait at the train station eagerly, knowing in a matter of minutes I will see her. She won. She won and she said she loved me. My hear beats faster at the thought of her, and I can't help smiling. I was so worried when Peeta announced he loved her, I could sense a scam coming along. But she was having none of it. That just made me love her more. Prim and her mother stood next to me, and I could see Prim's hand shaking. I put my arm around her reassuringly, and she hugged me tightly.

"When she comes, you go and see her first. She won for you." Prim whispers, and I gave her a squeeze, before letting her go. I could see the train in the distance, and my heart rose into my throat. Soon. Soon I'd be able to hold her, to feel her skin against mine again, the smell of her hair, the beat of her heart. So familiar, yet this time, it would be different. I'd be allowed to think of her in that way now, when before I wasn't aloud to voice my thoughts. I'd lost count of how many times I'd wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, or how many times I'd wanted to kiss her.

The train slowed, and a surge of camera men and reporters swarmed around the train. I grabbed Prim's hand and pushed through the crowds to get to the front. The doors opened, and there stood Katniss, dressed in a beige dress, her hair down and curly. For a moment or two, she looked around, taking it all in, then she spotted me, and her eyes filled with tears. She ran at me, and I let go of Prim. She ran into my arms, and I held her as tightly as I dared, her nails digging into my shoulder, not that I cared. I dropped my head into her neck and started to whisper a string of comforting words, trying to sooth her.

"Gale. Thank you lord, thank you." She repeated over and over, thanking no one in particular after a while, just thanking the universe for letting us be together. I let my hands wind into her hair, stroking and tugging softly, and she pulled back to look into my face. Her cheeks were damp, and her eyes were shining, but she was smiling in pure joy. She moved forward again, but this time not for a hug. She kissed me, and I felt my heart explode inside my chest. It was everything I had ever dreamt it would be, and more. It exceeded my expectations. Her lips were soft, warm, and her kiss was caring, as if she couldn't believe this was happening. I pulled her against me, the feeling of her skin igniting fire over my body, and I kissed her harder, all my pent up longing, all the sorrow and worry that had built up over the hunger games unleashing itself in the form of this kiss. Distantly, the flash of cameras against my closed eyelids registered in my brain, but I didn't care.

She pulled back, smiling gratefully, and I brushed a strand of hair from her face. Her cheeks were slightly red, and her lips were swollen. I ignored the voices around us, channeling it all out, my only focus was her. She could have died. I could be mourning her right now. I have to make the most of her.

"Keep singing, my little song bird." She whispered, and I smiled, thinking of the mockingjays I had seen in the woods that day when I wrote it. I remembered watching her follow the mockingjays, and I realised that all this time, they had been looking after her, that it was fate that I had seen the mockingjays in the woods outside of district twelve the day before.

"I love you." Watching her read the letter, hearing her shout out that she loved me, I hadn't expected that reaction. Now, looking into her eyes, watching the delight spread across her face, I realised that we had loved each other for a long time.

"I love you Gale Hawthorne." She replied, before kissing me again.

was it okay? Did you like how I portrayed Katniss. I wasn't too sure about this, but it didn't see the harm in uploading it. I really hope you enjoyed it, tell me what you thought xx