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Effie Trinket paused, and then said, "Now for the young men." Her hand dove into the bowl of boys' names like a greedy child. She searched and shuffled until she found one she wanted, pulled it out and unfolded it, then announced, "Peeta Mellark."

There was some whispering amongst the people in the crowd, everyone searching for the person in question. Katniss was frozen up on the stage, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes watering. Why Peeta? He deserves least to die. He saved my family. He is better than this. She watched as he was pulled along the people and then pushed into the arms of a Peace Keeper. That's when it hit her.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She slunk to her knees and everyone looked at her in complete shock. Katniss didn't do outbursts, and it was common knowledge that Katniss and Peeta did not associate with one another; she was just a girl from the seam. Peeta's eyes met hers with a questioning glance, but she couldn't read his expression, she couldn't even see fear in his eyes. They stood on the stage staring at one another while Effie talked muffled in the background.

"Well okay!" Effie clapped her hands together as she approached the microphone again and continued, "That's it everyone. Please make sure you stay tuned for this years' Hunger Games. Our brave tributes will be in the Town Hall to see their family members before they leave on their journey, so please do stop by if you'd like to wish them good luck."

The two tributes were escorted off the stage to the hall where Katniss was roughly shoved into a room to wait for her family, Peeta the same opposite her room.

The door abruptly swung open, "Katniss!" Katniss turned to see the face of her younger sister and mother. "Why did you do that? We need you. Oh Katniss I'm so scared," Prim said into the crook of Katniss' neck.

"Look at me little duck. You are so strong and perfectly capable of surviving without me. Gale will help you, use your goat's milk to make cheese and sell it. There are lots of things you can do, so don't you go worrying about me. I will be fine okay?" Katniss told her.

"Promise me," Prim said.

"Promise what?"

"Promise me you will try to win."

"I promise little duck," Katniss kissed her forehead and then turned around to face her mother. "And you. Be a mother to her. I have helped her grow up for all the years you weren't there. But I'm leaving, so you have to support our family. You have to be the one to do this mother. Don't disappear again just because I'm gone. Promise me that will never happen again," Katniss said.

"Oh sweetie, I know that I have made many mistakes since your father died, but I promise I am back for good. I'm just worried about you. Be careful and be smart sweet pea," Katniss' mother told her. Katniss nodded in response. "Oh, and what happened up on the stage today? Do you and Peeta have some kind of relationship?"

"Mother, one day I will explain everything to you, but let's just say that Peeta does not deserve this at all. He's one of the few people in this world that actually cares about helping others, no matter the consequences. I just don't want to see anything bad happen to him," Katniss told her. And then she snorted. "He doesn't even know who I am."

After her mother and Prim left, Gale came to see her. Some words were said, and Katniss could tell Gale was sad, and she felt just awful for leaving him here with their two families.

"Gale, please don't worry about me. I will fight until I don't have any fight left in me. It will be okay."

"Katniss, you don't know that. God Katniss, you don't even realize how in love with you I am do you? Of course I care about families and would do anything to protect them both, but can't you see why I'm upset?" Gale asked her. "If something happened to you, Katniss, I don't think I'd be able to survive it. I know you see me more as a big brother, but I just felt that you should know. You mean everything to me, you're why I keep fighting everyday. I couldn't bear not ever telling you that if something happened to you in there. I'll miss you."

Katniss was dumbstruck. "I'm sorry Gale, this just really threw me off, but I appreciate your honesty. You know how I feel, and I can't say the words back to you in a romantic way, but I do love you and I will miss you like crazy too. I promised Prim I would try to win, and I will try. I will give it my all, okay? Worry about our families and I'll worry about my safety."

They hugged goodbye quickly and the Madge came in to give Katniss her Mocking Jay pin. Katniss put it on her dress, and suddenly felt the nostalgic presence of her father. She began to recall a day when he father was teaching her to hunt and the birds in the trees were mimicking his singing.

She was quickly interrupted by a knock on the door and suddenly Mr. Mellark came in, a paper bag with him.

"Oh, hi Mr. Mellark," Katniss said nervously, still unsure about what he was doing there.

"Hello Katniss. I know this may seem strange to you, but I needed to stop by and say my goodbyes. I sure will miss your squirrels," he said with a laugh. "I just wanted to tell you that I am rooting for both Peeta and you. I don't know if there was something going on, but I don't really care either way. I know that he cares about you. So you two can keep each other safe. Please don't worry about your family either. My wife won't like it if she finds out but I will make sure they are taken care of sweetheart. You need to focus on coming back to us." He gave her a smile, " And I baked these for you, but Peeta decorated them. You'll have all sorts of amazing experiences on your trip, but here's a little something for you to keep and eat from home. We'll be looking for you." He kissed Katniss' forehead and then closed the door softly behind him.

"Okay, Katniss Everdeen? It is time for you to come with us and board the train," the Peace Keepers said. They grabbed her arms on either side as if she was going to try to escape and began to drag her towards the front doors. They got to the road and then shoved Katniss into a car, and she smacked into Peeta who was sitting next to her.

"Hi Katniss."

"Hi Peeta."

His hand brushed over her fingers, and he gave her a tight smile and said, "This will be an adventure, right?"

"Yeah I guess it will be," she replied and gave him a light smile back. She knew that she needed to talk to him before they went into the arena, or she would never work up the courage to again. He needs to know. He needs to hear it. Somehow I just know it's what he's been waiting for.