DISCLAIMER: As I said before in the previous chapter, I do not own the Hunger Games. It is a world created by Suzanne Collins, not me. Never me!

Chapter Two: Goodbyes

Wolfee's eyes are hard on mine as I sit on the red couch in the Justice Building. "I will do whatever I can to make sure you live. You will live. I don't care about anyone else. I will make sure you live." He says, a single tear slipping down his face. I pull him into a hug just as my mother and Duma burst in. At the sight of them, knowing that more than likely I won't see them again, I burst into tears. I don't care if I look innocent and weak. I love my family and I can't imagine being without them. What is so weak about that?

"I love you. All of you. I will fight to stay alive. I won't give up." I say, pulling them all into the hug. It's like Wolfee's time last year. I bawled like a baby. He promised to come home. "I promise." I say, looking into his eyes. Wolfee looks at me with certainty. "I'll hold you to it." He says, showing me a small smile. This isn't my final farewell to them. It won't be. Ever since Wolfee won, he had trained me hard, just in case I did get picked. And now was my time to use all of what he had taught me. I was pretty versatile, and my speed was one of the things that could lead to my victory. Speed. My small body could take me farther than anyone in the District. That's why I was on the Track team, though there was only 5 people on it.

"Duma, be strong. If I look like I'm in trouble, look away. I don't want you to see it." I whisper. I can't even think of him watching me die. Wolfee watching. My mother watching. I release both Wolfee and Duma to take hold of my mother. I cry, helplessly, on her shoulder. She cries, too, no doubt that she is thinking of loosing me like she lost my father. She had admitted to me after Wolfee left that that's what she was thinking of when he left. He was like a son to her, and when we were to get married he would be even more like one. He had already asked for my hand, hence the gold and diamond band that was on my finger.

Just as I looked down at it, Wolfee came around and kissed it. I smile, tears blurring my eyes and streaming down my delicate face. My beauty would get me pretty far with the Sponsors. I hate how they are, how vain and critical they can be. They only pick the biggest and the most beautiful, which usually come from the higher districts. Most people in District 12 have black hair, gray eyes and olive toned skin. Not me. My pale skin is perfect, along with my deep blue eyes and blonde hair. I wasn't vain, not at all, but I wasn't oblivious to the obvious.

As the people coming to take me and Wolfee away come in, my mother and Duma latch onto me. "Just a minute more! Please!" My mother yells. He shakes his head. He looks sad to do this, but I know that if it doesn't he will be punished. So I kiss both my mother and brother on the cheek before watching them walk away, maybe for the last time.

Lana comes in. I wasn't expecting to see her. She was on the track team, one of the only people in the District who I talked to that I hadn't know from when I was born. She pulls me into a hug. "I'll miss you, even if you do come back. Your my best friend and there is nothing more than that. You are the only person who I have ever been able to feel myself with. Promise me you'll come back." She says, crying like I was. "I promise, Lana. I promise." She says and pulls away. She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. Her gray eyes are now all puffy and red, but it's obvious that she doesn't care. I can see my reflection in them, and I don't look much better. "I love you." She whispers, coming in for one more hug. "I love you too. Thank you for being my friend." I say as she is taken from my arms. Friends never get as long as family does.

All of the people who I have ever talked to, mostly the merchants, come in and give me a final goodbye. The florist comes in and gives me a single rose that will more than likely be dead by the time I get to the actual Games. I smile though. Roses are hard to get in District 12. I look at her in confusion. "Just like this rose, it will be impossible to replace you." She says which gains her another wave of tears from me. "It's in your name, sweetie. You are a rose, beautiful and elegant." She says. I can't recall her name in this moment, but I wish I could.

When everyone is gone, we get pushed out into a car. I have only been in one once, when Wolfee's designers were in District 12 after he won. He wouldn't let go of me, just as he had since he came back. They let me come with him to the Train. I remembered them fondly. They were all very nice, and liked me. They would always joke about how it would be nice to dress me up and make me look even more beautiful. Well, I guess finally they got their chance. I wonder if they regret wishing something like that on me.

Wolfee holds tightly onto me as I see Drake once more. His dark hair flops into his blue eyes, which reveal that he, too, has been crying. I feel bad for him. He was twice the size of me, with a strong build and hard face. Him crying was a sight that I wish I could banish from my memory. But it's there. I can feel it, seeping into my mind. Seeing him cry only brings on the terror, harder than before. If Drake can cry like that, maybe I should be even more scared then I really am.

I shake hands with Drake once more, my eyes sympathetic. He looks away, his face now hard as he wipes his eyes. Maybe he hadn't noticed that he was crying. I wave to the camera, trying to put on my biggest smile I can. It's hard, but I well because I can see my face in the monitor on the wall. My eyes are puffy and red, just as I thought, but I look radiant anyways. Wolfee whispers in my ear. He says that I will get so many sponsors, he won't know what to do with them all. I giggle, trying to cover how scared I really am.

I hop onto the train, watching as the doors close so suddenly after me and Wolfee are on. He ushers me to a seat. "It's fast. You'll get used to in an hour to so." He says, gripping the armrest tightly. I know for a fact he has bad motion sickness. I feel bad for him as I sit closer, my hand rubbing over his. He smiles.

He was right. As the trains starts, it steals my breath away by the sheer speed. For a second, it actually makes me doubt that I will be fast in the arena. Then I shake my head, knowing that no one could go this fast, no matter how the Capitol alters them. 250 miles per hour is just... impossibly fast. It's hard to even wrap my head around that the train can go this fast.

The look on Wolfee's face makes my heart drop. As he looses control, his face turns to one of utter sorrow and hurt. I pull him into a hug as he cried on my shoulder. I cry, too. Drake walks in and smirks. I sneer at him and glare. He walks away. Obviously he, too, hates our signs of love. Not like Duma though. He just does it to make fun of us. The way Drake looked at us... it was like... something I couldn't even comprehend. Like he hated us. What had we ever done? I try to understand his look as Wolfee continues to cry.

Analex comes in to take us to dinner. Her eyes become hard when she sees the ring on my finger and the way I am holding Wolfee so close to me. She walks away, her body swaying, willing Wolfee to look. When he doesn't, she flips her blue hair and walks away. I shake my head. Way too vain for her own good.

"Wolfee, we have to eat. I'll be okay. You were. If I know half as much as you, I will survive." I whisper, bringing his lips to mine. His lips were soft and warm, molding against mine. I pull him close to me, my hands cupped protectively on his cheeks. When I kiss him, it's like nothing else. He was the only man I have ever kissed in my entire life, and I could never ever see myself kissing anyone else. He was all I could want, all I could need. He will protect me in the games, even if he isn't there. He pulls me even closer, his hands resting on my back. The salty tears fall into our kiss, making us pull at each other in the need. I sigh, being the first to pull away. "We need to eat." He nods and pulls me up, wrapping his arm around my small waist as we walk towards the dining room, him guiding me since he is the one who knows where were going.