Hey everyone!

So here's chapter 2 and I guess you are wondering why I updated it so quickly…

Well, I translated and posted this chapter yesterday on my blog, so…

I HOPE YOU LIKE IT, because it's the English version of my own fanfic! (I even translated it myself)

Ps. The original CH2 is way longer, but I'll split it in the half so it's shorter and you won't get bored so easily.

Ps2. I am posting this fanfic on my tumblr too: .com

Summary: Gale volunteers at the 74th Hunger Games with Katniss. Is she angry with him? Of course, because he broke their pact, but she's worried about something else: a weird dream with a man, calling her to meet at dawn, under a tree…


At dawn

When everything is over

It isn't just a game, it's way more than that

FIRST PART: THE TRIBUTES


Chapter 2: "At dawn, when everything is over"

Haymitch tries to get up but he can't even control his fingers and laughs madly until he falls, unconscious. We take him from his arms and carry him to his room. Gale keeps joking about this, however, I am distant.

"You're too quiet" he says, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know if you remember that I am mad at you because…"

"… I ruined my life. I know, I know…" he interrupts me and laughs.

We put our mentor into the shower and I let the water run. I feel ashamed of having to dirt the whole bathroom with his vomit, but the worst is that he doesn't even know that he's in his compartment. Gale notices the repulsion on my face when he tries to undress Haymitch.

"Don't worry. I got this"

"Thank you" I say in relief. I walk to the door but then I turn around. "Yes, you should become his favorite, because you'll need help in the Arena"

"Why?" he asks, laughing.

"Because if the careers don't kill you… Then I will"

I get out of the room, wide smiling. I lock myself into my room and eat some cookies.

I don't know why I said that to Gale, but I don't care, because I am enjoying the few days of life that I have.

After eating everything, I can't fall sleep. I feel guilty because I am sure I ate all these cookies while my family might have a knot in their stomach. I don't think they would eat the fresh strawberries without me, but I don't want to imagine their suffering, especially Prim's. In this kind of situations is when I thank God that I didn't drown Buttercup, because I am sure he might be on Prim's lap, trying to calm her down.

I roll on the sheets, trying to sleep again, but I can't. I even press my face against the pillow: it's so comfortable and the fabric is so soft… But my brain keeps working. I can't stop thinking that, this same day, I was eating berries with Gale at the Woods, hunting some squirrels… For a few seconds, I can imagine myself back at the Seam, fighting with my sister's cat, who wants to take what I took from the woods. Sleepy, I keep thinking that I am still in this hell until…

I run though the meadow, following my father. We are trying to hunt a wild pig while I am recollecting some small fruits, following our family's book. I realize I am small, younger… I think I am 11, because my hands look fragile as I take some roots from the ground. The winds caresses my face, I close my eyes and laugh. My father sings "The Hanging Tree" song with me. But when I open my eyes again… he's gone.

"Dad? Where are you?"

I run, desperately, looking for him, until chilling blanket of ash falls on me and I can't see anymore. I fall on the ground, covering my head with both hands, when I hear a explosion.

My father, ashes, explosion: all together… father's death.

I open my eyes and there's no trace of the beautiful wood: there's no grass anymore and the ground has a thin layer of ash. The bushes are burn and the trees are still on flames. The fire consumed every single drop of life from this place.

I look at my hands again, and now I am 16: I can say it because my legs are longer and my hands are pure bone.

"Katniss…" whispers a voice, far far away.

"Dad?" I ask back, heading towards they are calling me. I foot something and I look down, finding the old book from my mother's pharmacy among some debris. I took it and clean it's dirt away. "Dad? Is that you?" I ask, again.

"Katniss… Are you, are you coming to the tree…?

Strange things did happened here,

No stranger would it be…

If we meet up at midnight

In the hanging tree…"

Sings the voice, but it's more like a soft whisper.

I follow it, still asking if it's him or not, at the same time that my white dress flies as I run to a distant light, which the fire hasn't attacked yet. Fat away, I can see the figure of a person, pointing at the horizon, where the Sun is raising… and I can hear that beautiful voice again.

"At dawn, when everything is over, you and I…"

"Up, up, up! It's going to be a big, big day!" Effie's irritating voice wakes me up from this… 'dream', I guess we can call it that way. But it's more like a nightmare, and it's even worse than the usual one when the Coal Mine explodes: this time I am shaking and I feel weak and guilty at the same time, because maybe I could have saved him from the explosion. I am sure it was my father: my mother said many times that we couldn't sing that song, and he was the only one who used to sang it all the time. But I'll nerve know what he wanted to tell me: 'when everything is over, you and I…' What will happen to us?

I shake my head and I remember myself that it was just a dream, a stupid dream. I get up and wear the same clothes from last night. I guess today I'll meet my stylists and my preparation team.

I get into the dining-car and Effie brings me a cup of coffee, whispering terrible things (I think she's swearing). Haymitch is laughing and his face is completely red as a tomato. Gale is sitting, in front of him, with a toast on his hand and raising an eyebrow at our mentor.

I sit next to him, and he looks a bit uncomfortable. I guess he remembers what I told him last night, and that I am still mad at him, somehow.

Someone leaves a tray full of food in front of me: eggs, ham, fries and even a glass of orange juice. I take a long shot of the juice and it's delicious: it's a bit bitter, but pretty sweet at the same time. I only tasted orange juice once, for New Year. It was a really special day, because my father brought them.

Gale drinks some kind of hot juice, I can tell because I can see the vapor. I lick my lips and I imagine its taste… Gale looks at me and I swallow.

"Would you like to taste?" he asks, serious. "They call it 'hot chocolate'" He leans his cup next to me and I take it with both hands, looking at him doubtfully. "It tastes good…"

I approach my lips and drink, and it's true: I really like it and it's even better than I imagined. I give him the cup back and smile at him. "Thanks"

Then I eat everything that's on my plate and my stomach it about to explode, but I don't really care. I lean back on my chair and watch how everyone is eating: Gale's eyes show confusion (he doesn't know what else to eat) and Haymitch keeps drinking some kind of red substance mixed with liquor.

I don't wonder about why anybody from out district never wins the Games. I mean, we are too skinny and we don't even have much experience in the mines because we start working there when we are 18, so we aren't trained for anything and we are easy preys. I am shocked that our mentor only cares more about drinking than trying to make all these children win along the years… Maybe he cares about alcohol since he won the Second Quarter Quell.

I lean forward and I stare at the middle aged-man, who doesn't want to leave his crystal glass.

"I guess, as our mentor, you'll give us some kind of advice, huh?" I ask him.

"Stay alive" he replies before laughing.

I turn and look at Gale, who's sitting straight and stares at Haymitch: his eyes show disguise, hate, repulsion… The same expression he has when we talk about the Capitol in the Woods.

"Ha, really funny!" he exclaims, leaning forward the table. He takes Haymitch's glass and throws it away. "Maybe the Capitol citizens would pay for hear all your jokes"

Haymitch gets up and irons his coat as Gale gets up too. Then, Haymitch hits Gale's jaw, but he replies with another punch; and I am so desperate to stop them that I stick a knife in the table, between Haymitch's fingers. They both sit back again.

"I guess I've got a pair of fighters this year…" he whispers, giving me my knife back. Gale takes some ice and puts it on his jaw. Haymitch slaps his hand and takes the ice away. "NO! Let the bruise became part of your face, pretty boy. The crowd will think you've already fought with another tribute, and they'll like that"

"That's against the rules" Gale gives him a challenging look, but I'd like to know since when Gale cares about the rules, because he brake dozen of them every day.

"Just if they catch you" smiles Haymitch.

"Who cares about the rules?" whispers Gale to himself, laughing. They both smile at each other: I think they have started liking each other now.

"What else can you do with knives?" asks me Haymitch when they both stop laughing.

I throw my knife against the wall, perfectly between to wood panels. It makes me look better than I am, because my weapons are usually bow and arrows. I think I impressed him.

"Interesting… Come here, both of you" says Haymitch, pointing at the middle of the room with his head.

We follow him and he turns around us, touching our muscles. Then he touches my face and looks straight into my eyes. He lifts me and makes a gesture with his finger, connecting us. "Are you cousins, siblings…?" We shake our heads. "Well, you look very alike. Anyway, you're in good shape and the stylists will make you look very attractive." Then he lifts Gale's chin and laughs "But you won't need a lot of help, pretty boy"

Gale browns when Haymitch pats his cheeks.

Our mentor invites us to sit again and keeps talking. "Let's make a pact. You look very promising, so let's do this: if you don't interfere with my drinking, then I promise I'll be sober enough to help you, but only if you do everything I tell you"

"Fine" we say at the same time, nodding.

"We'll land at the train stations in a few minutes, and there you'll meet your preparation teams. You will have to do whatever they ask you to. If I find out that you resisted on something, our pact is over" he clears.

"But…" I start but he interrupts me.

"'But' nothing" He takes his bottle and gets out from the car, leaving us alone. Gale leans on one of the elegant couches from the room and laughs.

"What's going on with you?" I cross my arms against my chest and look at him, frowning.

"Are you ready to 'wear' only coal dust in front of all Panem's population?" he asks me back, smiling. My cheeks blush.

"If they don't burn me alive, I'll survive"

I am not going to say that I am not mad at him anymore, but I am getting through it. I sit in the sofa next to him and suddenly the car goes dark. Definitely, we are going through the mountains that protect the Capitol.

My heart melts and I can feel the adrenaline running through my veins, now that I am underground. I remember District 12's coal mine, where my father died… I hate the mine and now I do even more after my nightmare.

I'm cuddling when I feel Gale's arms around me. I guess he noticed my silence and he sat next to me. His father died in the mine too, so I guess he's suffering the same way I am now. But he never shows his feelings about that.

When the train finally leaves the endless tunnel, I breathe deeply and then, together, we jump to the windows to watch the hugeness of the Capitol itself. The buildings are enormous; people wear weird wigs and a lot of make-up. Everything is too colorful for my eyes.

A kid and his father point us and then every single person around them joins them and greets us, wide smiling. They are so excited that I want to vomit, because I know most of them will be betting on us in the Games and, at the end, they'll be happy if we win or lose. I walk away and sit on an armchair.

When I turn back I can see Gale, who deeply hates the Capitol, blowing kisses to the crowd. I throw him a pillow, hitting him straight on the back of his head. Gale turns around, laughing.

"What are you doing?" I yell at him, angry.

"Maybe I could become the next Finnick Odair, you know…" He winks at me and I sigh.

"Forget it, Hawthorne" I elude his imitation of a 'seductive' smile. Then he sits next to me.

"Don't worry, it's just acting" he says, seriously "I hate saying this but… Maybe we should try to win the crowd so we can get sponsors" Then he rounds my shoulders with his arms "Anyway, I'll always have a special place in my heart for the little girl who tried to steal my rabbits in the Woods, you know…"

I reject his arm, feelings how the anger controls me and the hate flows through my whole body. I am about to slap hi face when Haymitch gets into the car and interrupts me.

"Were you going to hit the pretty boy, sweetheart?" he says, joking. I put my hand down and Gale laughs. "I wanted to inform you that your preparation teams are ready and we must move to the Renovation Centre immediately" He gets out from the car, laughing loudly.

Gale looks at me and raises an eyebrow "Are you going to hit me, sweetheart?"

I slap him.

END OF CHAPTER 2


And, as usual

Grammar? Spelling? Something you'd like to say?

XOXOX

Camila