Cold, lonely, heart-broken.
There were people everywhere - that much was certain. I wasn't alone. Alone in having my feelings and emotions squeezed until I wanted to faint, but alone in that square? Alone in mobbing the square? Never. There he was, one of the hunters of District Twelve, being beat within an inch of his life because he cared he loved.
Not me. He doesn't love me. Not me.
Not me. But I'm not the one there for him. And I feel my heart break, my pain multiplied every time the whip comes down on his skin. Whip. And a lash. And a cut, a deep cut, bleeding his defiance onto the snow below him. The sadness in me is overwhelming.
But there's also sadness in that crowd.
Sadness, regret, fear.
Fear because if this is now, what will happen later?
My fear. Fear for him, for for his body, fear for District Twelve.
Regret because we could have stopped this... couldn't we? A bystander's guilt.
But I refuse to regret. I can help this. And so I do.
When I show up at the Everdeens' house, I push the box in Katniss' hands and run off. That's all I can do.
But hopefully it'll be enough.
A/N: My first fanfic! What do you guys think? Many thanks to kattomas for encouraging me. :) She's an amazing Gadge writer! Check her out for me. :D