a/n: hello and merry christmas! this is a clato fic for the christmas fic exchange in the coppertone wars forum. this is for you, jo; i hope you like it :)
prompts: snowball fights, wishing stars, hot chocolate, and strawberry candy canes
shout out to clara [lydiamartins] for beta reading this!
"True love doesn't have a happy ending. True love has no ending."
::
They were eight when they first met. It was a cold December day; everyone in the district was bundled up in warm clothing, as a thick blanket of snow covered the ground. It was a snow day, a rarity, as the children of District Two refused to pause their training for the annual Hunger Games. The trainers watched as their trainees pelted each other with snowballs in an intense fight, pleased by the fact that all of them were playing in an aggressive manner, as if they were aiming to kill their opponents with snowballs.
All of District Two's children took part in the activity, except for a young boy with sandy blond hair. He was hidden off to the sides, observing the snowball fight. Unlike the people from his district, he wasn't the aggressive type of person. He'd rather let his words do the actions.
"What are you doing here, sitting here alone?" a girl asked, which surprised him. She looked around his age, and by the looks of it, wasn't participating either. "I'm surprised that you aren't out there, pelting everyone with snowballs."
"I could ask the same for you," he said, "After all, you aren't participating either."
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not into that kind of stuff," she said, "I don't even understand why everyone here are fanatics of the Hunger Games; it's like they are scheduling their appointment with death."
He nodded in agreement and held out his arm. "I'm Cato, by the way."
"Clove," she said, shaking his arm, "Nice to meet you."
::
The next time they see each other is at the local bakery, three weeks later. Cato saw her sitting at an empty table by the window, aimlessly drinking hot chocolate and smirked. He, along with all the boys in his district were into the pranking craze, so he picked Clove as his next victim. Since they attended the same school, he learnt from his friends, who were classmates with Clove, that Clove was deathly afraid of bugs. So, he crept up to where she was sitting, placed a realistic, plastic bug on her table, and ran off, laughing as he heard the high-pitched scream coming out of the brunette's mouth.
She must of pieced the pieces together, realizing that it was a plastic bug and it was a prank done by Cato, because one minute later, Cato was being chased by an angry Clove.
::
They were in the same class in fifth grade, when they were ten. Coincidentally, they were assigned to sit right next to each other on the same table. By this time, they were in that faze where there were "cooties," so Cato and Clove tried to sit as far away from each other by sitting by the corner of the table.
But of course, the faze quickly demolished for Cato and Clove once they were assigned to work on a project together.
At first, they argued against the teacher, begging the teacher to have them switch partners, but the teacher's word was final, so they were stuck working with one another. The first few days working with each other consisted of constant fighting and pranks, calling one another "disgusting" or "stupid." But after a week, both of them seemed to get tired of the constant fighting on which gender was more superior.
"I'm getting sick of this fighting," Cato said, after arguing for an hour with Clove on which gender were stronger, "Can we call this a truce?" He held up his hands to say that he surrendered, which was rare, since he was stubborn.
Clove hesitated for a moment. Cato knew that Clove was as equally as stubborn as him and he knew that Clove hated backing down from a fight. Their stubbornness was what escalated the arguing. Finally, Clove sighed. "Truce," She said, holding up her hands, "Friends?"
Cato smiled and said, "Friends."
Little did they know that this was the start of a beautiful friendship.
::
Although there was constant teasing about opposite genders being friends, Cato and Clove soon became close friends. They were inseparable, it was always "CatoandClove," or "CloveandCato", as if one couldn't be without the other.
It was around Christmas time when they hung out at the bakery, each ordering hot chocolate. They sat there for a while not speaking to each other, aimlessly watching the snowflakes hit the ground while sipping their hot concoction. Christmas carols blasted from the speakers in the bakery, and the smell of pine trees scented the building.
Finally, Cato broke the silence and asked, "So, what are you doing for Christmas?"
"Probably just sit around and watch reruns of the Hunger Games with my family," Clove shrugged.
"Watching Hunger Games on Christmas? Aren't you going to open presents under the Christmas tree, listening to Christmas carols next to the fireplace?" Cato questioned, shocked that Clove wasn't celebrating Christmas.
Clove sighed. "My family doesn't celebrate Christmas. We never even had a Christmas tree," she said, looking at the pine tree adorned with ornaments, strawberry candy canes, and lights in the center of the bakery. For a while, Cato was lost on finding a Christmas present for Clove, but now he knew what to give her.
When Christmas finally came, Clove woke up with the surprise of her life. When she walked downstairs to her living room, she was shocked when her living room turned into a Christmas wonderland. The room was adorned with red and green Christmas lights with Christmas carols playing from a cassette player. In the center of the room was a small, Charlie Brown styled Christmas tree with a paper drawing of a star taped on top. A note with a drawing of a strawberry candy cane was tied on one of the tree's branches.
"Merry Christmas Clove," the note said, "Love, Cato."
::
When they were sixteen, the infamous prom was coming up and both Cato and Clove still didn't have a date. Cato wanted to ask Clove to prom, but he had no clue how to ask her out. Whenever he walked up to her, ready to ask her the important question, Cato wimped out every time and asked Clove a random question. For some odd reason, he couldn't bring himself to asking Clove out.
So, he decided and tried a different tactic; if he couldn't man up and ask Clove to the dance, why not just write out his question to Clove?
So the next day, when Clove went to her locker, she was shocked to find her locker covered with multi-colored post-it notes, with each note labeled with different, yet cheesy pick-up lines; "I must be a snowflake, because I've fallen for you," "I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated by you" were just two of the hundreds of notes taped on her locker.
Chuckling, Clove turned the dial of her lock and opened her locker to discover that the contents in her locker have been removed. The only thing inside her locker was a notecard with a drawing of a cluster of wishing stars and a red rose.
"If I had a star for every time you brightened my day and if I had a star for every time I see a wishing star racing among the sky, wishing for you to be with me forever, I'd have a galaxy in my hand. Clove, do you want to go to prom with me?" the note read.
Clove smiled. Of course she would go with him, but she had no clue who he was. Luckily, he was ahead of the game, because when Clove closed her locker with the note and red rose in hand, she was immediately greeted by him.
"Hey Clove," Cato greeted, "What do you have there?"
"Just a note," Clove said, fiddling the red rose in her hands.
"What does the note say?" he asked with a small smirk splayed across his face.
"It's nothing really," Clove said, "It's just some guy asking me to prom."
"So, do you accept?" Cato questioned, trying his best not to blurt out who asked Clove to prom.
"Of course I do!" Clove exclaimed, "But I don't know who sent that note to me."
Cato smiled and handed Clove another note. "Okay, so I'll pick you up at six," he said before walking away. Once he was out of Clove's sight, he screamed as loud as he could and punched up in the air. He finally asked her out.
At first, Clove was confused. She had no idea what Cato was talking about, but she opened the note he gave her. Once she read the note, the confusion quickly turned into happiness.
"I know somebody who likes you and asked you to prom. And that someone is me."
::
Three weeks later, they both went to prom, their hands refusing to let go of each other. Upbeat music from the past, when Panem was America, was blasting from the nearby speakers, and everyone seems to be having the time of their lives in the gymnasium where the prom was held.
Instead of being with the crowd and staying in the gymnasium, Cato and Clove snuck outside, where no one could find them. They were laying on the freshly mowed grass, their hands entwined, looking at the sky, which were littered with stars.
"Look," Clove said, pointing to a star racing across the sky. "A shooting star. Make a wish."
Cato thought for a while before mouthing his wish. He looked a Clove, who was doing the same.
"What did you wish for?" Cato asked, nudging Clove.
"I can't tell you or else my wish won't come true," Clove said, smirking.
"Please? I'll tell you mine."
Clove hesitated for a bit. "Fine. I wished that you and I won't get reaped for any Hunger Games and that we'd be together forever," she said, her eyes looking at Cato's eyes, "How about you?"
"Same here," Cato said. They didn't speak for a while; instead, they were just staring at the stars in the sky. Cato's mind was running with thoughts. What if one of them gets reaped, what will happen?
Clove must of thought the same thing, because a few minutes later, she asked, "Cato, what if one of us gets reaped? We both have our names in the reapings; what if the escort picks one of us and nobody volunteers?"
Cato thought for a while. He really haven't considered the fact that someone may not volunteer, as there was someone who was always arrogant enough to volunteer. It was an unspoken thing.
"Then we'll try out best to get out there alive, but it won't happen; someone will volunteer," Cato said. He slowly pulled out a heart shaped necklace out of his pockets and handed it to her. "We'll be together, side by side, for as long as we live. I promise."
He then slowly pressed his lips against Clove's, probably shocking her before she slowly kissed back. When he kissed her, he felt as if he was flying away to paradise.
He finally got his first kiss, but it would be the only kiss where both of them felt as if they were invincible. Little did they know that promises were never to be kept and the promise Cato made was just the same.
::
When they were eighteen, they were in the Hunger Games together.
It was never supposed to happen; none of them wanted to be in the games, but when District Two's escort pulled out the girl's name out of the glass jar, everything seemed to be coming to a close.
"Clove Sertori," the escort called out into her microphone. Cato felt his heart drop and was waiting for another tribute to volunteer in Clove's place. But after a few seconds, Cato realized that nobody was planning to volunteer this year. Clove was going to participate in the games.
He watched as Clove walked up on stage, her feet shuffling, the atmosphere thick with tension. She glanced at Cato with mixed expressions, but it mainly showed fear.
"Well, now for the boys," the escort announced with her trademark Capitol accent. She made her way to the glass jar with male's names labeled on folded paper and pulled one out of the jar. She slowly opened the paper, as if she wanted the reapings to be more dramatic and more agonizing.
"Mason Stone," the escort said, once she finally opened the paper. Slowly, a twelve year old boy made his way towards the stage, with fear in his eyes.
Cato knew that the twelve year old wouldn't make it back home alive and without hesitation, he yelled out, "I volunteer as tribute."
Clove's eyes widened with surprise as Cato joined her on stage. They knew what each other were thinking. Only one may come back home and the other's life would end.
But what would happen to their promise, they would be together forever? The odds were definitely not in their favor.
::
It was when the first canon rang in the arena, the reality sunk into Cato. He was in denial; everything was just a dream. But once he realized what he has done, the blood staining his hands and sword, the dream faded away. He was actually in the Hunger Games, and he ended the life of an innocent kid, who had a whole life ahead of him.
He swore when he was younger, that he wasn't going to be the monster under the bed that scares kids in their sleep. But now in the Hunger Games and after years attending school where they forced kids to kill others, it turned him into that monster. He was a killer.
He looked over to Clove, who hesitated for a second before ruthlessly stabbing the tribute from District Ten. By the looks of it, she didn't want to kill her victim either. But it was the Hunger Games and tributes would do anything to survive. That's how messed up the games were. It was another unspoken thing.
Just like any Hunger Games, Cato and Clove decided to form an alliance with District One and District Four's tributes. Their alliances have been training since they were younger and their trust gave Cato and Clove's chances of winning greater. It gave them the hope that they could actually come home.
But unwillingly, District One's tributes convinced the couple to ally with the lover boy from District Twelve. Although he claimed that he and his partner are the "star-crossed lovers," both Cato and Clove knew that it was an act to save their skin. Both of them didn't display the love Cato and Clove displayed. It caused the two Careers to envy the tributes from Twelve, for them to display their so called love while Cato and Clove couldn't even show a hint of love to one another, as it brought weakness to their District. According to their District, it was always brawn before love.
He looked around to see if there was any lingering tributes near the Cornucopia. He saw the girl from District Eight, but decided to let her go, in hopes of her having a fair chance at winning. Cato didn't want to be known as the heartless killer from District Two. It was a shame that he already claimed that reputation from the bloodbath.
When the night fell upon the remaining tributes, Cato and Clove wandered around, scrounging for any threats nearby. Then when their alliance caught up with Cato and Clove, a source of light lit up the darkness. When Cato made his way toward the light source, he realized that it was the girl from District Eight, the girl Cato spared during the bloodbath.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" the male tribute from District One whispered, "Kill her."
Clove must of knew that Cato's guilt was stopping him from killing the poor girl, so she crept up to her instead and tackled her, cringing when the girl's scream escape her lips.
"I'm sorry," Clove whisper in the girl's ear once she pinned her down. And one second later, Clove's knife hit its target, stabbing the girl in the stomach. She pulled out the knife with a look of sadness and walked back to Cato and their alliances. She didn't die though, so Cato sent the boy from Twelve to end her misery, as Cato and Clove didn't have the heart to.
That night, when the fallen tributes were mentioned in the sky, tears flooded Clove's eyes as she realized what she has become. The other Careers smiled with happiness, knowing that their are steps closer to glory.
"I killed them," she stuttered, her hands clamping the ground, "I'm a monster."
"You're not a monster," Cato said, pulling Clove in for a hug, "We'll make it through this."
He wanted to desperately just wanted to be alone with Clove at home, where they would sit in the bakery, drinking hot chocolate, without a care in the world. Heck, he would even stay in the arena if he and Clove were alone together. As long as he was alone with Clove he would be the happiest person on earth.
::
A day later, the girls from District One and Four died. Three days later, the boys from District Three and Ten died. And a day after that, the boy from District One died along with the girl from District Eleven. Only six tributes remained. The games were ending to a close and Cato could imagine Clove going back home to her family.
But once the announcement came, stating that two people from the same district could win, Cato felt as if his wish could come true. Both of them could come back home and live the life they deserved. The victory is closer to their fingertips.
"We could win and go home," he said to Clove that night, "We could be together longer."
The next day, Cato's dream crumpled once the gamemakers created the plan of the buffet. It had the only thing both Cato and Clove needed. They had plenty of food from sponsors and their weapons weren't running on a short supply. They needed armor, in case of the girl from District Twelve's arrows hit one of them.
Cato at first was hesitant of their plan, but eventually, he let Clove go alone to grab the bag and come back to their designated area. But once he heard the familiar screams, the scream that haunted his mind at night, hoping that those screams were just a nightmare and not a reality, he knew that the plan had a flaw and Clove was in danger.
He sprinted as fast as he could, weaving through the trees, to reach Clove. But once he saw Clove and the damage, he knew that his wish wouldn't come true. Her head was bashed in from another tribute; an unfixable injury.
"Clove, stay with me," Cato begged sitting next to Clove, tears streaking down his face, shaking her as if she was just in a deep slumber, "Please, please don't leave me."
Clove didn't answer. She just lay there, staring into the sky. "I love you, Cato. I'll be waiting for you," she said, barely audible. She closed her eyes and the canon sounded. She was gone for good.
::
He later learnt that it was the remaining tribute from District Eleven who stole Clove's life. So, the next day, he hiked his way toward where the boy from Eleven was hiding, satisfied once he heard the canon sound. The next day, the girl from District Five passed away; perhaps someone else did the dirty job and killed her.
It was eighteen days since the games started; it seemed to be longer than eighteen days, but Cato knew for sure that the games would soon come to a close. The only tributes left were the tributes for Twelve, and he knew that the odds were in their favor. Somehow, the two other tributes from Twelve made him angrier since Clove was gone while they still had each other, yet they never felt the same feelings Cato and Clove felt for each other.
When the mutts came, Cato knew that the mutts marked the finale of the games. He sprinted to the Cornucopia, where he ran into the other tributes. He made it to the top of the Cornucopia, where they fought ruthlessly for survival. Cato knew that he was outnumbered but he soon got a hold of the lover boy, who was struggling in his grasp. The boy's partner, the so called "girl on fire" had her arrow pointed at Cato, prepared to shoot.
"Go ahead. Shoot me now," Cato said, looking down at the mutts. There was one mutt that caught his eyes. It was one of the smallest one in the pack, with the familiar silky brown hair and matching beautiful brown eyes. A number two was labeled on his collar, along with a necklace with a heart shaped necklace. The same necklace he gave her the night of prom. It was her district token, a reminder of home. "There is nothing for me left now. Just kill me."
Once he said that, her arrow flied, hitting Cato in the hand. He let go of the boy from Twelve and was soon pushed off the Cornucopia into the mutts. Pain flared from his body, as all but one mutts attacked. The only mutt that wasn't attacking him was the one that caught his eye. The mutt that shared the same resemblance as Clove.
In the last seconds of his life, he could see Clove, holding up her hand as if wanting Cato to hold her hand and join her into the underworld; his fingers writing "I love you" on the grass. With no hesitation, he held her hand and descended into darkness, where they were together again, just like he had promised.
a/n: Thank you for reading!