By compassion we make others' misery our own, and so, by relieving them, we relieve ourselves also
-Thomas Browne, Sr
Katniss and Peeta embraced each other in a hug. She couldn't believe it. They won. They were both going back home to District 12. She fulfilled her promise to Prim, and her own personal goal of trying to keep Peeta alive. She truly felt elated and accomplished.
"We won, Katniss. We did it." Peeta flashed a warm smile at her. The Boy with the Bread was alive. This warm and kind-hearted person was bruised, beaten, and bloodied; but, alive nonetheless.
Katniss gave him a small smile. "We certainly did, Peeta."
Their moment was cut short by a pained cry coming from below the Cornucopia. Katniss peeked her head over the top of the structure. She saw Cato surrounded by the vicious Mutts, tearing him limb from limb. It was weird. Looking at Cato, made Katniss feel a twinge of pity and sorrow. She remembered seeing him in the recording of the Reapings, lunging forward to volunteer. She also remembered him from their encounter when she was trapped in a tree, and when he killed the boy from Three just after she blew up the Careers' supplies. These memories didn't make her think fondly of the monster from Two. But, they made her realize what the Games and the Capitol could do to you. Cato was a very strong tribute. He would probably have been the Victor if Prim hadn't been reaped (which made Katniss volunteer). Now, he was being torn apart by wild curs. Now, he was nothing.
Katniss let a tear roll down her cheek, she doesn't know why. She didn't like Cato, and he most certainly did not like her. She knew this was wrong though, it was wrong that he had to die because of the Capitol and their games. He died as a pawn, when he had the potential to be much more. She felt sad that she and Peeta had to go through this as well. But with them, they were going home alive and not in a wooden box.
Cato was still human- as monstrous as he may seem- and a human being did not deserve a death that was as treacherous as his. So, when he finally mouthed "Please." to her, she was more than happy to let that arrow fly.
AN: So, I had this story just stored on my laptop for a while now, and was having an internal debate on if I should upload it or not. I finally gave in and uploaded it. Hooray! Anywho, I feel this story was a bit rushed and it probably is since it was 2 AM on the morning I wrote it. Fun fact! the image I used for this story is the Chinese character for compassion...just in case you were wondering...Anyways...next fic might be finnickXkatniss idk...Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review!