A/N: I hope that you enjoyed my first chapter! I want to thank you all for reading and some of you who favorite my story. When I see that I get all happy in my belly! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much. Love!

The Opening Ceremony was for lack of a better word, tense. Clove still refused to talk to me and she stood rigidly at my side. Then everyone was fawning over the District 12 losers who would probably die at the Cornucopia, who cares if they are on fire? Coming back to the Training Center Clove immediately shut herself away in her room. I stripped the costume off and got into the shower to wash all the oil and body glitter that I was forced to wear for the Ceremony.

The next morning we began our training, I was drawn to weight lifting and spear throwing but I also got to try out swordsmanship and I was good at it. I probably should have spread myself over more centers but I wanted to intimidate this bunch of scared kids as much as possible. Today was also the day to start forming alliances with other Districts.

At lunch I pulled Clove aside to talk to her about possible allies.

"The tributes from District 1, District 4, the large tribute from 11 all look promising, anyone else?" I whispered in her ear, I didn't want any other tributes to know about the possible allegiance.

"That sounds good," she said looking up at me. When we stood next to each other it was evident how small she really was, I probably towered a good ten or eleven inches over her. She was slightly muscled but not hugely built I could wrap one of my arms all the way around her. We sat down and started talking with our prospective allies; immediately we knew the tribute from District 11 was out because he wouldn't talk to us. The tribute from Districts 1 and 4 did warm up to the idea of an alliance however and made our group fairly sized.

I tried as hard as I could to impress the Game Makers; I wanted to put fear into all of the other tributes minds. I wanted them to know who they were dealing with. I showed off my skills with the sword, and my strength. I wished I could have known my score right then but at least I would find out later tonight. Instead of just going back down to the District 2 floor I stood outside the door waiting for Clove to be done. I had to wait nearly a half an hour.

"Jeez Clove, were you showing them how slowly you could walk across a room?"

"Ha-ha, you're a comedic genius. I threw a lot of stuff and hit all my targets dead center, rocks, knives, spears, you know the usual stuff. Why are you waiting for me? Shouldn't you be downstairs?"

"I just wanted to see how you did, I stayed out here because you wouldn't be able to ignore me," I said stepping into the elevator.

"I don't want to ignore you; I just don't want to make this whole process more difficult on us. In two days we will be fighting to the death and only one of us can survive. I don't want to make this harder than it has to be. Come on, we need to go now."

Later that evening we were sitting around waiting for the scores to be broadcasted.

"Yes!" I pumped my fist in the air when I saw that I got a 10.

"Congratulations Cato," Clove received a 9 which was still pretty wonderful but I could see she was hoping for more. The rest of the scores were fairly standard except for the fact that the girl from District 12 received an 11. I could not fathom how that happened, she must have tied some impressive knots. This put a target on her back because whoever would take down the girl who got an 11 would be very powerful.

The next morning was all about preparing for our interviews, deciding on what we would say and how we would say it. The most obvious approach for me was to act like a brute, someone who enjoyed killing and couldn't wait to get into the arena. I played the part well and no one could tell that I knew I would be dead before the Games were over. Clove played the part of a fierce girl; she let the entire crowd know through her body language that she was not one to be taken lightly. She was a force to be reckoned with. The rest of the interviews were enjoyable to watch, except the girl with the 11 acted like a giddy schoolgirl. Then the boy confessed his love for her, I couldn't tell if it was a ploy or real but it was a good strategy.

"I told you we should have played the happily in love card, the more people that want us to win the better," I said after the interviews when we were all cleaned up and ready for bed. It would be our last night here together, the last night that I would be able to spend comfortably with the woman I loved.

"I don't care. It doesn't matter now any way," she was sitting with her knees against her chest, her head on her knees, and her arms wrapped around herself, "I'm going to bed." I got up to go to bed myself, but I couldn't sleep. I wandered around for a bit before I found myself outside of Clove's room. I tried her door handle and it was unlocked so I let myself in.

"Clove," I whispered, "Are you awake?"

"I am now," she said groggily, sitting up in her bed, "What are you doing in here?"

"I came to see you, this will be the last time will be able to sleep peacefully. If this is going to be the last night we have without the threat of death looming over us, I want to spend it with you." I heard her audibly sigh.

"Fine, just don't hog the covers. I don't want to be cold," she said scooting over on the bed to make room for me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me; it felt so good to have her in my arms again. We talked shortly about the Capitol and what we liked about it and how much fun it was to tease the people that had surgically implanted cat whiskers. We completely ignored the fact that in less than 24 hours we would be fighting 22 other people and each other to the death.

"Clove, promise me that in the arena you'll remember."

"Remember what Cato?"

"Remember that I love you."

"Yes Cato, I will remember that. Will you remember that you love me? As you willingly walk to your death will you remember what you're doing to me? Will you remember what the price of this is?" Clove sounded so hurt and angry, I felt so bad about doing this to her but it was the only way.

"What happens if we make it to the final two?" Clove asked burying her face in my neck.

"We both know you can beat me in a fight."

"But I won't."

"Then I will have some sort of accident, but if I have a chance you will be the victor." We spent the rest of the night in silence with my lips pressed against one of her temples, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.