Note: This story is set after The first Hunger Games book, and takes the sport of Catching Fire.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger games trilogy or any of it's characters.

Chapter One:

"Katniss! Katniss!" My body stiffens; there is only one tribute in the whole arena who would call my name with such fear.

"Rue!" I scream, rushing towards where her cries came from. Prickle bushes cut my legs but I ignore the pain and keep running. I can see the clearing, and hear her scream again.

"I'm coming Rue!" I yell, pushing myself to the limit. I finally reach her, tangled in a dirty net. I quickly pull out my knife and start cutting.

"It will be ok…" I say half to myself as I eventually get her free. I pull the net off her with shaking hands and ask "Who did this to you?" Under her fear I can see another type of sadness.

"It was-" She is cut short by an enormous rock being thrust into her.

My eyes open wide.

"Rue?" I whimper but I know it is no use. That rock pierced her skin from the back, all the way through to the other side.

"No…" I whisper. As her eyes start to close, she grasps my hand.

"You have to win Katniss…" She whispers and I nod, tears falling.

"I promise Rue, I'll win for both of us" She smiles in a sad way.

"Thank you" she says before closing her eyes forever.

I look at her body, my face feels numb. I use some of the water in my pack to clean the blood from her chest. I stand up, and walk to a nearby patch of wild flowers. I pick a generously large bunch and return to her lifeless body. I carefully place some through her dark hair, and cover her hideous wound and around her body. When I am finished I stand and press my three middle fingers on my left hand to my lips and hold them out in her direction.

"I promise I'll win Rue… I promise…" and I walk away, not looking back.

I walk until my feet go numb, and I keep walking. Eventually night falls and I find a tree to climb. I climb until I reach the highest branch that will support me and keep me shrouded, then the tear start to fall. I cry and cry for what feels like hours, until I have no tears left. Slowly my sadness turns to anger and hatred.

"Whoever did that to Rue will pay" I mutter under my breath. I spend the next hour eating and drinking. Whoever did that to Rue must have been strong. I consider Cato, but if he had done it I'm sure he would have stayed to finish me off too. My eyes start to droop, falling into a thoughtless trance-like state.

I wake up out of my daze to the sound of footsteps, and look up to see night has almost fallen. I look down to the ground to see Clove and Cato talking to someone. I can't see who that person is from my angle, but decide it is too risky to move to have a look.

"Is she dead?" Clove asks. Instantly I know they are talking about Rue.

"Didn't you hear the cannon? I stabbed the rock right through her, and Katniss was there too." Says a mysterious voice. I'm too tired to think clearly, but I know I have heard this person's voice before.

"Did she see you?" Cato asks.

"Nah, she was too busy sulking about the death of her little ally, I decided that if I killed her then, it would have taken away all the fun."

All three of them laugh, and I realise who is talking. The words coming out of his mouth make no sense, but I can't deny it. He moves slightly, and my thoughts are confirmed. The savage who killed my ally is Peeta Mellark.

I wake up gasping for breath, thankfully from experience I have taught myself not to scream so I don't worry or annoy anyone. My eyes dart around the room and I remember that I have long left the arena. I am in my cabin on the train that is taking me home from my victory tour. I sit up and wipe the sweat from my face, the memories from the arena burning in my mind. My nightmares have gotten worse since I ran out of the medicine my mother had packed for me.

I remember the interviews before the games, and Peeta saying he loved me. I never at first believed him, and it turns out I was right all along. He was a traitor. A heartless liar. He used my trust to get in with the careers so he could have a better chance of survival, and obviously didn't mind doing their dirty work.

I get out of bed and walk to the shower, turning it on. I undress and step inside, trying to let my troubles wash away with the layer of sweat that coats my body, letting them go slowly down the drain, but I can't. I feel the anger and loss build up inside me, and I let out an ear-spitting scream. No one comes to see what is wrong, which is what I asked yesterday when it happened. Their sympathy makes me feel less angry.

Tributes from the same district usually help each other, or at least don't plot against their district partner like Peeta did, so my prep team and everyone else from the Capitol I came in touch with tried to comfort me. But my retaliation was much worse, and I fear that I am not alone in thinking I am mentally unstable.

I step out of the shower and turn it off. I walk back to my room pull some fresh clothes out of the cupboard. A simple lemon t-shirt and blue pants, accompanied by a pair of sandals I hadn't noticed until now. I put them on and see my mockingjay pin on the desk. I pick it up and hold it between my middle finger and thumb, before putting it on. A gift from my friend Madge, if I could call her that, back home in District 12. The thought of returning to District 12 makes me feel strange. Hunting with Gale, seeing my sister Prim and my Mother again, the last time I saw them was after the Hunger Games had ended, and I had spent most of my time in the woods alone until the victory tour.

Being on tour was strange for me, but I think it went pretty well. It could have gone a lot worse than it did, but Effie gave me some cards to read out, which I was thankful for. Visiting District 11 was painful for me, and obviously Rue's family as well. The night we left District 11 I had terrible nightmares about the games, and woke up much like I did today.

I softly bite my lower lip. Soon the 75th Hunger games will begin, and I will have to coach a girl tribute, like Haymitch had to do with us. It is nice to know that Haymitch will only have to coach one tribute this year, rather than two like he has done in previous years. I will have to give them advice, and once the games have really begun, get them sponsors. The thought of it makes me twitch. I wonder how Haymitch did it for all those years. I immedietly answer my own question. Alcohol.

I leave the room and head to the dining hall to find Haymitch, Cinna, Effie and my prep team all sitting enjoying breakfast. They all look up when I arrive.

"Good morning Katniss!" Effie says beaming. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes, thank you" I lie, knowing they can all see right through me.

I take a seat and load up my plate with eggs, sausages and small bread rolls that resemble a flower that I have seen in the capitol on one occasion.

After a while of small talk over breakfast I look out the window and notice that we are close to District 12, Effie sees where I am looking and says "We will be back in District 12 in a couple of hours Katniss" and I nod, smiling gratefully at her, then excuse myself and return to my room before anyone else can talk to me. I have some straightening out to do before I can bear to face my family again.