"Primrose Everdeen!" Effie Trinket called out over the speaker.

Oh god. I looked over to try to get Katniss's attention. But she wasn't paying attention to anything other than the woman in pink.

I saw people moving over in the girl's section of the square to let Prim through while Effie kept calling for her. Katniss's little sister began to walk up the path to the stage. I could see Katniss's eyes tearing up, she was being restless. Please just stay there Katniss. I thought. I knew she wouldn't, but I could hope.

I was right. She pushed her way out of the crowd, some of the PeaceKeepers began to pull her back.

"I volunteer!" Her voice yelled. The PeaceKeepers stopped pushing. "I volunteer as tribute." She said, speaking instead of yelling. Katniss, No!

Prim runs and holds onto her back, screaming. "NO!" I wanted to do the same, but I had to stay strong and help her.

I walked up as Katniss was telling Prim to get off of her and pulled Prim off. "Up you go, Catnip." I whispered to Katniss, trying to keep my voice calm.

Effie calls her up. "Well, Bravo! That's the spirits of the Games! What's your name?" She says excitedly as she pulls Katniss up onto the stage. She looked so pretty in her blue dress, her hair braided differently than usual. It fit her well. Suddenly, one person put their three center fingers to their lips and put them out in a salute. Then another person did it, then suddenly everyone did. I was the last, and the slowest, but it meant so much.

Then I couldn't listen anymore. I tuned out Effie and Katniss. I felt myself fill with rage. I clenched my fists and held on tighter to Prim, who was still struggling and crying. Why couldn't it have been someone else? If it had been someone else, I would have been able to tell Katniss everything.

"Now for the boys!" I heard Effie's perky voice fade back into my thoughts. I bit my lip, my name was in 42 times this year. With all of the tesseracts I had to take out, it added up quickly. Her hand went into the bowl and hovered above the papers. Then, using her polished nails, dug into the pile and picked a name. I felt my breath catch.

"Peeta Mellark!" She called out.

I let my breath escape, but I didn't recognize the name.

I looked around to see who it was, a shorter blonde boy walked up onto the stage. I recognized him from around the town sometimes. He didn't live in the Seam with the rest of us. He was the baker's son, the one I had traded a squirrel to just that day.

He looked frightened, but he stood tall.

"Now shake." Effie said happily, as if they weren't going to be killing each other in a week.

Katniss and the boy shook hands, cautiously. They knew that they would have to face one another.

They were surrounded by PeaceKeepers and taken into the Justice Building.

I let Prim go when we found her mother. They were both holding each other, crying. In a few hours, we would all have a chance to say goodbye to the tributes.

-

At first, I wasn't going to go and say goodbye. I was going to just go and hunt and try to ignore the fact that my Catnip was being put in the Hunger Games. But it might have been the last time I ever saw her, until the Games started and I had to watch her fight for her life. So I went to see her one last time.

I went and waited for everyone else to go. I watched Prim and her mother enter and leave, still in tears the entire time. Again, I wished I could have done the same. There was the baker I sold the squirrel to this morning, Peeta's father went in to see Katniss. How odd is that? We sold a squirrel to him every now and then, but wouldn't he want to spend his time visiting with his son? I also saw the mayor's daughter, Madge, go in in her white dress. Everyone dressed up for the Reaping every year, I'm not sure why. You want to look nice when kids are hauled off to kill each other I guess?

Once Madge came out, it was my turn. I saw the door creak open before I got there, then close again a few seconds before I reached it. I turned the knob and went into the room.

Katniss was pacing, she saw me and ran into my arms. I held her close to me for a second, I wished we could just stay there, that she didn't have to go, that I could just hold her for a long time. But I knew I couldn't.

I kissed her forehead gently, then I took her shoulders and brought my face down to hers.

"Look at me." I said, I could hear my voice waver. "Look Katniss, when you get in there, get your hands on a bow. Your chances are so much better if you have a bow."

She looks into my eyes, gosh it feels terrible. "What if there isn't any?" She asks.

"Then make one. An okay bow is better than none at all." I said, I was gripping her shoulders tightly now.

A PeaceKeeper came in to tell me my time was up, he began to pull me out of the room, away from Katniss.

"Gale!" She cried out. "Take care of them! Please!" Her mother and sister.

"I will! I promise." I managed to say before the door was slammed shut between us.

That was the last time I saw her in person. She was taken away on a train to the Capitol after that.

I couldn't stand to watch her leave. I went into the woods and set up snares, I could hear the train pulling away, the people calling out their goodbyes. I felt myself yet again, boiling over with rage. I threw the pebble I had been holding at a tree. I hated the Capitol, if I could kill them all, I would. I've always despised them for making us live like this, for killing innocent children year after year. But this was different. This was Catnip. They had gone too far, they had hit home.