AN: A super short oneshot to get ready for the Hunger Games premiere! Gales POV of the reaping. I am not Team Gale, but I think this would be interesting from his point of view and very sad so I wrote it. It popped in my head and wouldn't go away. It's not my best work, but enjoy!

I don't own the Hunger Games.

I am too shocked to even comprehend what just happened. Her name was only in once, just one tiny slip of paper in a bowl of hundreds. The odds were in her favor; Katniss had done everything to keep it that way. Katniss...

I hear her scream cut through the crowd and then... "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" In my heart, I should have known she would do everything she could to protect her sister one more time. That doesn't stop me from letting out a cry of my own. I try to meet her eyes, but she isn't looking at me or anyone else. She is already gone. My Katniss, my Catnip, is lost. I see Prim crying and clinging to her and I know what Katniss would want me to do now. I pick up the little girl in my arms and hold her close. For one horrible moment, I wish I was comforting her sister. Instead I lift my best friend, my everything, up to her death with an "Up you go Catnip." I try to keep calm for her and Prim, but I feel like I am about to fall apart.

The rest of the reaping passes in a blur. The disgustingly joyful woman twitters around the stage like a ridiculous bird. I have never hated anyone more. I forget to even worry when the boy's name is pulled. The baker's son, I note with little interest, the one who stares at Katniss. He is glancing at her now. I know I can't volunteer in his place to die with her. If I did, our families would starve and she would hate me forever.

Mrs. Everdeen takes Prim from my arms as the crowd begins to clear and I am left with nothing. Katniss is gone, taken inside the Justice building. I have to see her one more time. I need to tell her I love her. Good God. I love her. I have known for a while but I have never said anything. Now it will soon be too late.

I run to the Justice Building. I have to see her and tell her how I feel. Maybe if she knows, she will fight even harder to come home to me. There are Peacekeepers on either side of her door holding guns. I have no choice but to wait my turn to see her. Finally, I am allowed in.

In spite of myself, I open my arms wide and she falls into them. She fits so perfectly and I want to hold her right here forever. As long as she is here, I can protect her. I begin to babble all sorts of things. I tell her that she can win. She is a hunter, and she knows how to kill. After all, she kills animals only to survive. Why should the Hunger Games be any different? It is all mostly for my own assurance, but I hope she believes me.

It seems as though barely a moment passes before the Peacekeepers come to take me away. We are out of time. I see Katniss truly panic for the first time. Selfishly, I want it to be for me. I want her to want me to stay. She doesn't ask; she knows better. "Please, Gale," she begins breathlessly as the white-uniformed men begin to drag me out, "Whatever you do, don't let them starve!" That is it, her last words to me. I feel cheated. Did she actually believe I would forget our pact? That is why I love her though. She always thinks of everyone else first.

She still doesn't know how I feel! We are almost to the door now; time is running out. I take one last hard look at her face. I'm not sure whether I regret it. Now the image of her stricken face is all I can see and probably ever will. This may be my last memory of her. "I won't. You know I won't! Remember, Katniss, I-" The door slams in my face. "-Love you." I'm too late. I never told her the truth and now I never will. The odds never were in our favor.

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