Maysilee Donner was just a girl. A girl with as much of a story as Katniss Everdeen. A girl who's story is riddled with wishes and dreams.

Hold my Hand:

"We'd live longer with two of us." I say, stepping out from behind a honeysuckle bush; or what should be a honeysuckle bush, but is most likely deadly.

"Guess you just proved that," he runs his hand through his hair and rubs his neck casually.

Against my better judgment, I smile slightly. He smiles back. He shoulders his pack and leads the way through the trees.

"I miss home." I half mumble the words, but he hears them.

"At least you had a home to miss. I just lived in a shack."

There really isn't a response to a comment like that, so I let his anger burn out and wait for him to speak next.

"What did your parents do for a living? You had a sister didn't you?"

"Yeah. My parents owned the jewelry shop. Me and Kayla, that's my sister, mainly just helped out at our friend's medicine shop."

I've said too much, but I don't give a damn. I won't make it out of the games, and so who cares what Haymich knows.

"We brought my brother there when the peacekeepers had him whipped. I'm guessing your friend is Iciebell?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"She's a good woman. We're lucky to have her."

"More lucky than we'll ever know." I miss her. The knot of grief in my stomach tightens convulsively.

We walk a while in silence, and then reach a hedge—well, a lot of hedges. Haymitch doesn't break stride, and heads for a small opening.

"Why don't we just go back?"

He doesn't answer, just continues walking. Sighing deeply, I follow. We Wined our way through the maze, until finally I stop moving. We are precisely where we started.

"Haymitch. Why in Panem are you trying to get through that damn hedge?" I stop walking, and after a few more steps, so does he.

"Because it has to end somewhere doesn't it?" His uncertainty makes him look younger than he is.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Can we at least keep trying?"

"Sure. Just use some common sense next time. Here" I hand him a blowtorch off my belt.

The smile he gives me is reward enough in itself.

"Thanks, May."

I watch as he burns the hedges down, and follow as he steps through the ash to the end of the arena. Maybe the end of all I've known.

"This is it, Haymitch." I stand beside him as he stares bleakly at the cliff in front of us. "Let's go back.

"No. I'm staying."

"All right, there are only 5 left. Wouldn't want it to come down to the two of us."

"Okay." His bluntness stings me a little, but I swallow hard and turn away. Part of me wants to run back and hug him. The other, more rational part of me, steers me away from the last friend I will ever have and back towards the woods.

"Good luck." I whisper. He doesn't hear me.

I walk to a cluster of trees and bushes that look slightly shady. I set down my pack and crouch to select a water canteen to drink from.

That's when the birds come. They are pink and purple and orange and red and yellow and green and so many other colors I could never name. Their beaks dart at me from above, darts ten times sharper than my own. Exponentially more deadly than mine.

"Haymitch!" I cry out his name before I can stop myself. "Help!" A sob cracks my voice and as I frantically bat the birds away, my tears run down my face, blinding me from my death. I'm grateful to them for that.

And then he is there. With me. He doesn't speak. He just watches my tears and holds my hand and that's all I've ever wanted from him, and so much more.

Don't own

Author's Note:

Thanks to BreezeXXX for the idea of Maysilee Donner's oneshot. It was really fun to write. Please review. It'd mean so much to me if you did. I am also excepting oneshot requests in pm or reviews.

Thanks and check out my other stories,

Gia