That night, they ate quietly in the district 12 apartment. Haymitch had tried to talk to Peeta about strategy, pleased that he potentially, for once, had a child fit enough and strong enough to win this thing. But Peeta didn't have the fight. He "wanted to stay who he was". Haymitch was fuming. It was arrogance, pure arrogance, to say you wouldn't kill if the time came to it. Who wouldn't? Faced with fear, hunger, and deprivation. Everyone did, every last person. It's why the hunger games worked. For it to fail, every single person must refuse to kill. Otherwise, it worked, every time. It always worked.

Haymitch didn't make eye contact with Prim, not even once. Effie tried to involve Prim in conversation, but Prim made no effort to respond. Simple, polite, yes or no answers. She just tried to eat as much food as possible. She was trying everything, as plain as possible (so it stayed down), as high calorie as possible, and as much as possible. It was the same one floor below, in the District 11 suite. Rue ate in silence, a lot of food in silence, and then, she disappeared.

Prim had overheard about the garden area from some Capitols who'd been helping clear away the costumes after the parade. She hadn't been brave enough to explore it that night, but she'd told Rue about it that day and they immediately decided that they would continue their plotting there.

Prim quietly excused herself from dinner, and no one even noticed. Not even the Avox. She turned the corner to the top level of their apartment, where her bedroom was, and went straight on from there to the fire escape which she was sure would lead to the roof. When she emerged into the air, Rue was already there.

On the rooftop garden.

It was utterly surreal, Prim thought, to find something so beautiful in this land of brick. This land of brick bathed in blood. The blood of 1679 children. Prim wandered around the garden, feeling leaves and flowers, trying to make sure they were real. Everything else was so plastic, she didn't even think they knew what a real plant was. Real beauty.

Little Rue was stood on a bench, further back on the rooftop garden, trying to see over the edge of the wall which surrounded it.

Prim went up to her.

"It's a wonder no one jumps,"

"They can't…" Rue responded. She turned around. Prim was staring at her in shock, and then Rue burst out laughing.

"I haven't tried silly! But if you try, you'll just bounce back. They only make a mistake once here it seems. That mistake happened on the 64th Games. Weren't you watching earlier? They had to do it with one less tribute. I did some reading before dinner tonight and figured out why. The girl from 9, she jumped, about an hour before the games is supposed to start. I heard the boy from 3 explaining about his mentors' work on the Force-fields in the games, and how after that they added them to lots of bits of the tribute centre."

Prim walked to the wall surrounding the garden, and picked up a twig. Sure enough, it bounced back.

She turned around to where Rue was sat on the bench.

"So… the only thing we know, is tribute set up. If we're going to use the bombs, then we'll need to think fast about what we use." Prim said.

"Do we know exactly how they are set up? We won't just trigger a chain reaction. No one has used them before."

"Kind of… I think. If you think about the one where the boy committed suicide, the 71st, it was just him that dies. It has to be. Some games it is if someone decides to off themselves in the first 60 seconds and it kills everyone in the process. They have to have their winner that's how it works."

"Only because we let it." Rue muttered.

Prim stared. Rue drew her knees to her chest.

"Oh give over Prim, it's so windy up here… No one is going to hear a thing, and if they do. So what? We're dead anyway."

Prim sat down, and gave her friend a hug.

"We have family Rue, Family to live for."

"We're dead anyway Prim. We might as well die well… They're going to die anyway, my family anyway. The next eldest is 7, there is no way they will survive without my tesserae. I don't want them to starve Prim. I don't want them to starve"

Rue burst into tears. Prim gave her a hug.

"You listen to me Rue, and you listen well. We aren't giving up. You and me, everyone's written us off. But it's at their peril right. Sure we don't have the training, or the strength. But it's about strength of mind this. You and me… we're going to cause all kinds of trouble, right?"

Rue smiled thinly at Prim.

"All Kinds of trouble."

"Right… bombs. You need to go for 1, and I need to go for 2. They're the ones we need to slow down. They're also going to be far enough away that it isn't going to hurt us. Can you throw?" Prim asked.

"Can I ever." Rue smiled.

"I think it's actually all we can do, all we can plan… I've been thinking, the only variable is Shoes. Unless its frozen, which it hasn't been since that one where virtually everyone died of exposure on the first night, then the shoes are likely to be those Capitol running shoes… we'd both be able to throw those really far. If it's cold, we'll have to re-think. Just run away straight up. But any other temperature… I've never really had shoes in the summer in 12, we need to save them for winter when it's cold"

Rue laughed, she looked down.

"This is my first pair of shoes!"

They fell silent.

"I hope its woods," said Prim. "Woods and a Meadow. At least it will be like home when I die."

"Me too."

"I tend to think, I should be dead already. I've been lucky to live this long. Maybe… maybe we should all be so lucky to die twice Rue, you know. We nearly died when my Pa died. I was 7, my sister was ended up hunting in the end. Peeta saved our lives actually, we'll never be able to repay him now. He gave us bread the night I think we would have died. Ma checked out, she had the depression. We nearly starved. I think without that, we'd have been close to our hearts giving out. The odds haven't been in my favour for a long time."

"Is your sister old enough to get reaped?" Rue asked, "You didn't say her age, just she was older."

Prim looked at her sharply. "She didn't chicken out of volunteering for me, if that's what you mean. She got a sick exemption. She has West Nile, she could be dead by now. I suppose it's one motivation for me to live, if I talk about her in my interview, they have to treat her."

"I didn't mean she was a chicken for not volunteering… I mean when have you ever heard of a sibling volunteering for another?"

"Katniss would have."

"I would have. For any of my siblings I'd have volunteered."

Prim smiled.

"I know, that's why we're allies."

They sat in silence.

"Can we even plan anything else?" Rue asked.

"I don't think so. We have to try and blow up the bombs so we can get to the Cornucopia. Then we run. If we separate, we'll just have to figure out where to meet. I think it will be obvious. Like, uphill, into the trees, find water and figure it out. If we survive the Cornucopia, we've got over the worst hour. Everything else, well. We'll figure it out. Brains not brawn and a whole lot of trouble… right?" said Prim, looking for reassurance.

"Right." Rue smiled back, and put her head in her friends lap, looking up at the stars.

That is why the partnership got off to such a flying start. It was such a hugely intense situation, heading into a fight for the death with such long odds of survival. For some, heading in with friends was a bad idea. For others it was all they need.

"What does your district partner think?" Prim asked Rue.

"He's playing his own game. The boy from 1 asked him whether he wanted to join the careers tonight before dinner. Came and knocked on the door and everything. Thresh put him on his arse. He's going solo I think. Survive as long as he can without killing and then do what he needs if necessary. He won't take the fight to anyone, but he wants to go home. He's hoping the careers will pick out…" Rue paused.

"Pick out the little people? Yes, I think that's what Peeta thinks too. He told me he would sacrifice himself for me but I told him he was being selfish. I mean, Imagine… Imagine if we made it through and went home and I had to live with that. I told him to look out for himself. We'll be fine together." Prim said determinedly.

"I love that you told him that, but yet you think he thinks that." Rue commented wryly, sending a small smile at Prim.

"We should try sleep,"

"We should, but we won't be able to. I hate these rooms too. The bed. We didn't have a bed at home. I can't sleep, I feel like it's… suffocating me. I want to breathe air."

"I know. Me too." Prim said.

"Want to camp out? If we sleep at all, I'll wake early, I'm used to getting up early to go plant. There's flowers up here, and air. No one will notice us if we're down by breakfast. Even then. It's like Chaff and Seeder can't bear to look at me."

Prim grinned. "Stay here, I'll get some blankets."

Prim shifted Rue's head off her lap, and disappeared. Shortly, she returned, dragging her duvet from her bed.

They settled down to sleep, under the stars, much the same as that first night in the games.

/

The first night in the games, as much as they both settled down to sleep, sleep fitful, and eventually it was clear they may as well give up. Logically, they both knew sleep was important, but they were too afraid, still on a huge come-down from the adrenaline of the fight at the cornucopia.

"You awake" Rue whispered.

"Mmm." Prim nodded back, sleepily.

"Pass the goggles?" Rue asked. Prim turned around to where their rucksack was secured to the tree.

She was just getting them out, when she nearly dropped them in shock.

"What?"

"Shhhhh". Prim turned around and looked at her friend urgently, putting the strap of the googles around her neck. It was immediately clear why, when Rue shifted her head.

Fire. How could anyone be so stupid? Prim fumed. It wasn't even that cold. Her and Rue were there without shoes, they hadn't even got the sleeping bag out yet.

Prim and Rue just sat there, holding hands. It was close, it was so damn close. There were so many risks for them now. Not only careers, but if someone was dumb enough to light a fire *that* visible, perhaps they'd also cause a forest fire, and burn them down.

Before long, the inevitable happened. Careers stomping through. Laughing.

"I wonder which of the little mice have lit a fire in the night…" Cato mused, laughing.

They stumbled through the clearing, deafeningly loud. Behind them trailed one, a blonde boy, perhaps slow, perhaps tired, and perhaps sceptical. It was difficult to tell.

Prim had to bite her tongue to stop her crying out loud when she realised who it was. The boy trailing behind, was the boy who saved her life. The sweet boy, who always beat up the bullies at school, who helped the little kids. The boy who swore that he wouldn't let the games change him.

The boy trailing behind…

"Come on 12, anyone wouldn't think you were a bit of a pansy. What's the problem? Faint at the sight of blood," the boy from 1 gibed. The girl from 2 rolled her eyes but carried on. The boy from 2 was miles ahead with the girl from four.

The boy trailing behind, was Peeta. Poor, sweet, dear Peeta.

Tears washed down Prims face like a waterfall.