A/N- Hello readers! Just thought to upload this one shot I wrote today. I've just had my drama practical exam mock and it went well, so I'm in a good mood, so expect some updates on my other stories too! Hope you enjoy this, I've never done a one-shot before so let me know what you think please :) -

I stumble through the woods, my feet catching on stumps, tripping over tiny fragments of rock littering the floor. "Cato!" I hear Clove's shrill screaming again. Willing my legs to go faster, I pump my arms, hoping I can get there in time. Tree trunks appear from no where, and I crash through the undergrowth, blatantly visible. Any tribute could take me out now with a knife or a spear. But would they dare? I'm the fiercest competitor in the games this year. If they miss and I see the weapon, they know they'll be dead, watching my laughing face as I drain the life out of them. They know I'll taunt them, play with their last moments, make them beg for mercy, only to snatch their life away and crush it, and slice them open with my sharp blade sword.

"Clove!" I call out, letting her know I'm coming. Maybe that'll scare the other person off. Or maybe it's mutts. But at such a pivotal point in the games, would they set the mutts on us? There are only six of us left; myself and Clove, the sneaky girl from five, the monster of a boy from eleven, and the two lovers from district twelve. They make me want to puke. And the girl on fire- that bitch! I still can't believe she set those tracker jackers on us whilst we slept. She'll pay. Pay for everything, getting a higher training score than me, killing off Glimmer and Flo from four. Though I expect her boyfriend will be gone in a couple of hours. That cut is fatal, and he'll die slowly, not even his lover will be able to help him…

Bursting through the trees, slashing my sword wildly, I find myself in the clearing, the bright sun glinting off the golden tip of the cornucopia.

"Cato!" she screams again. I can't see her, but she's here in the clearing. A huge crash echoes out, from the cornucopia I presume. I pass the table with the three packs on as I see her dark hair against the gold, a towering boy standing over her, clenching a scythe so tight his hand is going pale. The scum from twelve lies on the floor, trying to gather her bearings, a bead of blood running along her lip. I debate whether to fight her now, however, I focus my eyes on Clove, the girl who's only fifteen, who I met back in district two in the training center. The girl who became the one I love. I raise my sword, coming into the monster's view. His eyes flicker to me, just for a split second, before a shadow of, what I think may be fear, takes over his face. Everyone freezes. The boy squints and us both, his dark eyes dart around. He's trying to work out his next move. I'm trying to work out mine. If I swing my sword he could kill Clove, but also get injured. If I wait for him to attack he may injure me and kill Clove. Either way, I would have to react fast to not get hurt. My sword wavers in the air, before I bring it down sharply onto his shoulder. He dodges, and kicks me in the stomach, still holding tiny Clove way off the ground.

I am on the ground, my sword out of my reach. I look up, helplessly, only being able to look on, as an identical crash I heard less than a minute ago rings out. He bangs Clove's back against the golden horn, hitting her hard, her head taking most of the impact. I struggle to get my sword, and am just finger tips from it when he drops her. Clove's gorgeous brown eyes roll back, and she moans slightly.

"Cato." She murmurs quietly, before forcing herself to close her eyes.

"Clove." I say, not noticing the dark skinned, giant running into the field and the girl on fire taking to the forest. Their bodies merge with the plants and greenery, and they vanish in an instant.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there. I truly am. Please forgive me." I grip her hands and feel her squeeze back slightly. A tear escapes my eye and trails down from my lashes to my cheek, and then to my chin, off it and falling to splash on hers below me. "I love you, Clove." I plant a kiss on her forehead. Her hands go limp and her eyes flutter below the lids. The cannon sounds.

I leap up, kicking up dirt and grass, screaming over and over until my throat feels raw. How dare he? How dare he take her from me! We were going to win and go home to two and live in victor's village together. I suddenly feel like one of the outlying districts tribute, maybe a friend of one of the tributes I killed in the bloodbath. Is this how loss feels? The hovercraft materializes above her. No. They can't take her from me. They won't. I strip her of her weapons, piling them up beside her. She wanted to participate in the games, but she wasn't ready. Back in two she wouldn't take pleasure in killing anything. The games changed her. She was too young.

"Hey, Cato, the scores of our sessions are going up on the board today, who do you think is top scorers?" she asks, sitting herself down on a bench next to me at the training center. We're having our ten minute break. I've just been at the sword section of the center, working up quite a sweat. Spraying myself with some deodorant, not wanting to be all foul and smelly like some poor person from an outlying scum district.

"Well, me obviously." I smile and wrap an arm around her.

"But some of your friends aren't bad. Some of them are even quite fit." She winks at me and sticks her tongue out playfully. I frown in mock anger, before we both burst out laughing, and I hug her close.

"Promise me you won't volunteer if I get the top score for the guys?"

"I won't." she looks up at me with her wide, cute, brown eyes. She grips at my hand. "And you can't volunteer if I get top score, right? Deal?" her eyes suddenly glint deviously.

"Fine." I sigh heavily, and turn the hand hold into a shake. I want to be able to protect her. I doubt she'll get a top score anyway. She's small for fifteen, and although she's good with knives and hand to hand combat, there are other girls, seventeen and eighteen who are so much stronger.

When the break ends, the scores are put up. We are the first ones there. I read up the list, searching for my name. I want to volunteer this year, next year I won't be eligible. I want to feel the rush of being in the arena. I want to be known over Panem as the greatest tribute ever to live. At the top of the list is Cato Matthias with three-hundred and seventy eight out of four hundred. I wince at the sight of my surname. But then it dawns on me. I'm volunteering this year for the games! I smile brightly and turn to Clove, who's looking back at me.

"Well?" I ask her.

"I'm top! I got the top mark!" she screamed, looping her arms round my neck and hugging me. My mouth drops. The smile slides straight off my face. "Isn't that great, Cato, isn't it great!"

"I'm the male volunteer." I say hoarsely. She stiffens around my neck before pulling away.

"Oh." She says. "I won't volunteer then." She says, obviously upset. "I can just get the score again next year. You go this year and win for us." She smiles bravely. She may never get the chance to volunteer again.

"There's just one problem with that." I say. Clove looks at me expectantly. "Do you remember how much the last volunteer who was supposed to volunteer but didn't was hurt and punished for that. I couldn't bear the happening to you." I say, pulling her into a hug. "We'll just have to work something out, okay, Clove?"

She nods, burying her head in my chest.

The pile of knives next to her body has a good twenty in there. It's almost as big as her small structure. I retie her hair the way she liked it back in two, and zip up her jacket after smoothing down her clothes. She just looks like she's sleeping now. She looks so peaceful, so tranquil. There's not even any blood, though I know the eternal damage is so great it killed her. I have to win it for her now. I turn away from her body, scooping up my sword.

If only I'd ran a bit faster. If only I'd not left her to take care of the twelve scum. If only I'd stayed with her when she asked me to. If only I'd kept my promise and been able to protect her.

"I love you, Clove." I say above the roar of the hovercraft.

If only.