Time stands still as I stand in the large room by myself. I have no family to say goodbye to, no mother or father to hold me in their arms and tell me that they will miss me. No, my only family are Johanna and Jack. My heart breaks for my beloved, who has suffered so very much, lost nearly everyone who has ever meant anything to her. No matter what I do, I can not save her from this pain. Not this time. She will lose one, or both of us. My heart shatters into a million pieces at the thought of her pain. She is everything to me. What are the odds that both Jack and I are thrown into the arena in the same year, me on my last? What is Johanna thinking now? She's with Jack now, in the room across the hall. She has been in there for a long time, and the time for goodbyes is slowly running out. I try not to allow myself to cry, but suddenly the tears are falling. I'm sinking to the floor, wrapping my arms around my legs as I sob, terrified and ashamed of myself for even wishing that Johanna is beside me right now. How selfish can I possibly be? That's her BROTHER in that room, her only living family member, for the Gods' sake! How stupid and worthless am I to think that I, an insignificant girl, daughter of a shavings patrolman and a twig remover, the two lowest positions in all of District Seven EVER in a million years, would deserve even a moment of Johanna's time? I am NOTHING compared to Jack. Yes, I may be, or may have been, as I know the case now is, her girlfriend, but that doesn't mean I deserve her time. I was incredibly lucky to have had a chance with her at all, even though we were friends for the longest time before hand. I can't lose her. Correction. I tell myself. I can't let her lose Jack.

I think of a story I heard in Historical Literature class at school, about a man named Romeo, and a woman named Juliet. They had loved each other so much that they had killed themselves rather than not be together. I close my eyes, resolve filling my heart. I know what I will do. I know the strategy I will take in the games. I will ally with Jack, and make it to the end, and then I will take my own life, so that Johanna can keep her little brother. My heart hardens, and my tears stop, as I hear the squeak of the door hinges.

"Sage.." I look up and see Johanna standing before me. Before I even take another breath, she sits beside me, pulling me into her lap. "Oh Sage..." I bury my face in her chest, feeling so much like a child as I sob in her arms. "Sage...darling...we'll get through this..I promise..oh honey.."

"Jo- there's no way. Not...not...you'll lose at least one of us." My voice is soft, scratchy. My arms wrap around her, and I raise my head to look into her soft, warm eyes. I see fear and grief in them. "Jo, I'm not going to let you lose Jack. He's just a child."

"There's something I have to tell you My Love." Johanna's lips ghost over mine, and her tears fall onto my cheeks. "I...I want to marry you, before the games. Before I lose you, or Jack. Sweetie..I talked to Jack, he..he.."

I hold her as she sobs, both of us rocking back and forth on the floor of the Justice Building. I place a gentle kiss on her head, my fingers running through her long hair. "Jo, shhhh...shhhh...Baby...it will be alright." Even as I say it, I know that it won't. Nothing will make it alright, nothing. Not now, not when all this is over. If I live, Her heart will break for Jack. If He lives, her heart will break for me. Selfishly, I want to be the one in her arms at the end of all of this, but the better part of me wants Jack to be the one to be there for her.

"I can't lose you my Darling." In a show of strength, Johanna lifts her face and catches my mouth in her own. "I can't lose you, and I can't convince Jack to try. He says I can't live without you. It's true but..oh Sage, I can't stand the idea of losing either of you. Just...Darling...keep the ring..I want it to be your token." She pulls me to my feet, kissing my lips as both of our legs shake. I lean against her. I pull her close to me, and I kiss her passionately, my eyes watering again. "Be strong. The cameras are going to be watching us very closely. This is Snow's doing. It has to be. You need to stand strong. I'll be right beside you. I'm your Mentor, and Blight is Jack's Mentor." She nuzzles me. "I won't be very far away, not at any time.

"I love you." My heart pounds. The door opens, and I clutch Johanna's hand tightly. She squeezes back reassuringly her hand moving to the small of my back. The walk to the train is rough, more accurately terrifying. The camera's flash, the reporter's shouting questions at Johanna and at me. I don't even see Jack in the confusion. The lights flash in my eyes, and I begin to feel lightheaded. "Johanna-" I warn. It's too loud on the platform for her to hear me, and to my horror, she moves away from me, yelling at an attendant.

"Where is the bloody train?" I hear her voice, loud above the din in the summer's heat, yelling at a man a bit of a ways away from me. The station begins to sway, and I feel myself sink to the ground, my head slamming against the wooden platform.


"Johanna...calm down. She's alright. She's fine. It was the stress and the heat. You heard the doctors. She should wake up in a few minutes." I hear Blight's voice, like he's calling through a tunnel. The hand on my own is warm, and something soft and gentle touches my face.

"I'm going to KILL those fucking reporters! If they hadn't been shining those lights in her face, she wouldn't have fainted! Blight! I will NOT lose her like this!" Johanna's voice takes on a ferocious tone. "She's not waking up! What do I do?" I hear a sound like someone just punched a table.

"J...Jo..Johanna.."I try to say, but I can't seem to form the words. I don't get more out before her lips crash onto mine.

"Oh my God! Sweetheart! You had us worried sick! What the hell happened? Oh Honey! Here! Drink this! Sit up..come on..come on.." Johanna looks more frazzled and frantic than I have seen her since the time I fell ten feet out of a tree and landed on my back. Her arms are warm around me as she pulls me to a sitting position. "Here baby..it's your favorite. I asked for a pitcher to be brought in. Jack is napping. Here...Blight! Don't just sit there! GET HER SOMETHING TO CHANGE INTO! YOURE USELESS!" I shrink back as I hear Johanna raise her voice.

"Jo-...honey...that may have been my ear drum." I hear her gasp in shock and my orange juice spills to the floor as she wraps her arms tight around me.

"Shit. I'm sorry love. So sorry...Here..." She helps me to raise my arms, and , in the middle of the train car, in front of the attendants and a shocked Precious, she pulls my dress over my head, snatching the simple t shirt and shorts from Blight. "You're fine...oh Darling you scared the shit out of me! I didn't know what to think! One minute, I look back at you and you're fine, though a bit pale, and the next, you're on the ground, I thought you had died!" She pauses, my shirt halfway on, to press a kiss to the middle of my breasts. Precious clears her throat.

"I think it is hardly proper to do that here, in public. Ladies...take it to the sleeping compartments." Johanna only laughs, pulling my shirt down, and helping me to step into my shorts.

"Jo- can we please go and lie down?" I ask softly, as I feel the back of her hand intentionally graze my womanhood. She looks into my eyes, her expression teasing and soft.

"Hmmm...let me see...stay out here with these Capitol lapdogs- No offense Blight- or take my fiancee' to bed? Oh dear.. what a hard choice." She kisses me deeply, and her hand begins to move back and forth, causing me to moan softly, earning us a scandalized yelp from Precious. "Let's go...where I can make you moan without turning on the Capitol."


All too soon, the train ride is over and we reach the Capitol. This time, when we stand on the platform, Johanna walks beside me protectively, shielding me from the flashing lights of the reporters. When I stumble, she wraps her arms around me,her chin on my head, I'm surprised when she lowers me to the ground, "SAGE!" She shakes me frantically, and I realize what she's trying to do. She's using my earlier situation to my advantage. "SAGE! HOLY FUCK. MOVE OUT OF THE WAY YOU INCONSIDERATE VULTERS! GIVE HER SOME SPACE!"

For a few heartbeats I stay there, until Johanna discreetly rubs my shoulder, and I take that as a symbol to open my eyes. "Jo?" I ask softly. I look around, trying my best to be convincing. "Jo..Where the hell are we?"

"Shhh..." Johanna says softly, helping me to my feet. I lean against her, closing my eyes. She lifts me in her arms, carrying me into the remake center.