Morning comes, and I don't even remember the night. The only thing I know is that Johanna and I were together for hours, and it made all the difference in the world for us. When I wake up, she has left another note for me on the pillow. "You're adorable when you sleep. See you in training brainless. ~J" I can't believe how quickly her name for me stuck and became our little joke, or how much it means to me. Everyone else sees me as the Girl on Fire, and if Snow is to believed there are those that see my stunt with the berries as an act of rebellion and are using my pin as a rallying symbol. They are calling me the Mockingjay, but... I just don't care, not in the face of the fiercest woman I know calling me 'brainless.' I stretch and smile at the memory of her lips, and the movement releases a puff of her scent from my pillow. I can feel her arms again, the closeness making the world recede, and I am sure that I had no nightmares.

I get dressed, finding the greenest clothes I can so that she is still wrapped around me and protecting me for the day. When I walk out of the room, I almost collide with Haymitch. I can see that he is unusually sober this morning, and yet he still grins when he sees me. He just gives me a thumbs up like he did last year and tells me to knock them dead today. I smile at his choice of words and saunter into the dining room for some food, only to see the time and realize that I have ten minutes to make it downstairs.

With a muffin in one hand and an apple in the other, I sprint for the elevators and hit the button for the training floor. When I get there, all of the others have already arrived. At least, it seems that way until I look around, looking for the spiky brown tresses of my lumberjack and don't see them anywhere. My heart plummets and I step out of the elevator, half-heartedly munching on my apple. I don't hear another elevator arrive, I don't hear the door open, I don't hear the sudden silence. I'm caught off guard when familiar arms slide around me, but the scent of pine soothes me almost as much as the tender kiss that touches my neck. Grinning, I hold up the apple and Johanna obliges me by taking a huge bite out of it. "Sweet and juicy," I hear her rasp into my ear from inches away. "I like the apple too, lover." I can only close my eyes and sigh contentedly at her words, a vibrant flame curling in my belly and sending goosebumps down my arms, knowing that she is the strength that I need.

Everyone lets out a collective breath and laughs, and suddenly it's like I've been accepted into the family or something. The others gather around us, and though they all tease us, nothing bothers us now. Not even the look of petulant jealousy on Peeta's face, the expression that says he finally understands why he was never enough for me and never would have been, the seething resentment for Johanna that is born of her ability to visibly calm the volatile Girl on Fire. Nothing bothers us at all, until I see Cashmere looking at us with a grin, her bottom lip curled in between her teeth.

Since I know she can't possibly be looking at me, I can feel the poisoned fire of jealousy and possession flicker to life in my heart again. My scalding glare causes her to giggle, something that confuses and angers me until she looks down, a blush climbing prettily up her neck, leaving me simply confused. Was she really looking at me? The soft hiss in my ear tells me that maybe she was, Johanna's narrowed gaze fixed on the classical beauty confirming that at she thinks she was.

Brutus challenges us to a competition to see who can hit the most targets in thirty seconds. Finnick joins him with a grin, says it wouldn't be fair for him to go up against us two-on-one, and the three of them share a laugh. Right about then, I remember that none of them have actually seen me shoot more than a couple arrows, so I pull my new lover down and whisper in her ear, "I don't think this is going to be fair to them at all." She gives me this look, and I know I'm right. They are all underestimating me, even her. I try not to let it sting too much.

Brutus is up first, and he grabs every spear he can carry. He hits the buttons to start his program, and I have to admit that he impresses me. Every throw hits its mark, and some of them hit two or even three. When his time is up, his total is twenty-six. I can see Johanna's apprehension, so I stop pretending to be a good girl and grab her face, planting a solid and lingering kiss on her lips. I whisper against her mouth, "Win." Her smile is all I need to see, and then the program starts. Her throws are precise, and when she rolls and swings, her axe always hits for a kill. Twenty-three.

She is crestfallen, so I miss Finnick's exhibition because I'm consoling her string of apologies. She already thinks we've lost, and when I look up my stomach drops. Their score is fifty-four. This time, it is her that kisses me, her that tells me to win, and I know that I will somehow just so that I can reward her hope and her faith. There is no doubt, I cannot fail an order given to me by my strong lumberjack. I pick up the bow that feels the best, a golden recurve that feels almost alive in my hands, and two quivers of arrows. With one last look at her, I take a breath and start the program. From that point on, only the glowing targets exist. My hands are blurs as the grab arrow after arrow, and my eyes dart around the room. I duck and roll, shucking an empty quiver, and continue to fire. When a wave of five targets come at the end of the round, my bowstring hums a tune in my head and all five scatter. I didn't miss once, and when I look up at our score, I see a bright fifty-six standing in the air and grin. Then I notice how quiet it is and look behind me to see every tribute and trainer staring at me with awe.

For a moment, Brutus glares at me with something akin to hatred in his eyes, then he grins at Johanna and congratulates her on her team win. Finninck grins at both of us and throws a mock salute, then calls all the others off to training again. My District Seven girl however can't take her eyes off of me. I'm a little unnerved at first, then I don't have the room in my head for concern because her needy kisses are drowning me again and it's all I can do to breathe. When she purrs into my mouth, she raises bumps on my skin with her words. "If you can shoot like that, I can't wait to find out what else those fingers can do."

We agree to train together from now on, though I doubt we would have done otherwise anyway, and in training we work with everyone. The most tense session is at the knives section. Johanna is laughing at how I can only get the blades to stick about half the time, though she isn't doing much better without axes. I'm so concentrated on repeatedly tossing the knives and trying to make the motion the same that I don't notice we have company. Johanna's giggles stop, that exact moment being the one where I can feel soft breasts pressing into my shoulders, slightly larger hands gripping over my fingers.

I don't have to ask who it is, the glare and blatant jealousy on my lumberjack's face tells me all I need to know. For the first time, I hear Cashmere speak, and it sends shivers down my spine. She's so close, too close, and even though I can hear the teasing, I can't help the way my body reacts. She's so warm, almost as flirtatious as Johanna, and every bit as beautiful though in a different way. My defenses are so far gone that I mindlessly do exactly as she tells me, the loud thunk of the blade striking home perfectly shattering the spell.

I look behind me and she must be able to see the swirl of confusing emotions in my eyes because she smirks and looks up at Johanna. "You lucky little bitch, to think you get her all to yourself." she purrs, that tone of voice making my pulse jump just the tiniest bit. "Have fun ladies. Maybe I'll find you in the arena."

In the evening, Johanna promises to come spend the night with me again and gives me one last kiss to hold me over for the next few hours. Even so, I am still unprepared for Haymitch to pounce on me first thing at dinner. "So, at least half the tributes have instructed their mentors to request you as an ally. I know it can't be your sunny personality." Peeta, who seems to have gotten over himself by now, grins and fills him in. "They saw her shoot. Actually, I saw her shoot, for real, for the first time. I'm about to put in a formal request myself." I grin at Haymitch's stunned expression and simply say, "Yeah, I really am that good." We eat in silence for which I am thankful, and when we are done, I turn to Peeta and say, "Request granted. Let's be allies." I smile so he knows it was going to happen anyway, then I go back to my room to wait.

Johanna's POV

I hate to do it without telling Katniss, but she is thinking like a martyr for a war we know is coming and I can't let her die anymore. I don't know that I ever could have, but now when I've actually met her and held her close, I can't even let myself think of her dying and trying to live without her. I know that if she died, I would follow right behind, and somehow I have to keep her and myself alive, because I also know that if I die, she will too. I didn't know how special she was until last night, until I slept without nightmares for the first time is six years. If Katniss is going to be the Mockingjay of the revolution, then I intend to make sure she's a living one. I know she needs me, and I need her more than I will ever admit, so her survival(our survival) is the most important goal in my world now.

I go up to floor twelve a little early, around nine, so I can get a chance to talk to Haymitch. I know he'll agree with me, he and I have always seen eye to eye. He sees me coming and grins knowingly, so I'm sure he knows where I intend to be soon, but I sit down with him and the grin fades. "What brings you my way, Johanna?" he queries. I fidget for a few minutes, suddenly unsure about what I'm asking, unsure if he'll be willing to endanger his own life the way he'll need to, but in the end it doesn't matter. I decide that blunt honesty is the best, so I look him in the eye and ask a question of my own. "How the fuck are you going to keep the Girl on Fire alive? I need her breathing and full of life, so I need you to tell me how to help keep her that way." He appraises me for a moment, then speaks in a tone I've never heard from him before. "You need to stay alive too, you know that as well as I do, because we both know that you are the only person now who can stand beside her and convince her to fight." I know he's right.

Katniss' POV

I watch the minutes crawl by, willing them to move faster though they never do. Ten o'clock inches towards me, bringing with it the promise of strong fingers and soft lips. I know I'm restless, I know I'm acting like a silly girl with a schoolyard crush, but just the thought of having Johanna that close to me makes my entire body sing. Just before the clock strikes the hour, there is a knock at my door and I'm off the bed and opening it so fast that I almost pass out in her arms. She laughs and steadies me, and for all the smiles I get, I still hadn't heard her laugh until just now. If clumsiness is how to get her to do it, then I'll be clumsy whenever it is safe.

My gentle lumberjack sweeps me up in her arms and carries me to my bed whilst kicking the door shut. She twists and tumbles to the mattress with herself on the bottom so that I have no choice but to steady myself over her. Doing so puts my face just over hers, close enough that I can feel her panting against my lips, and we are both flushed. I can't help but wonder how I got so lucky, how I was given this opportunity for bliss, and I decide right then to change our fate and rewrite history again. "Jojo... I'm gonna fight. I don't just mean in the arena, I mean I'm going to fight for us, to get us out of there alive. Help me?" I can see the shock on her face, the surprise that I decided I wasn't going to take this lying down any more than I did last year, and something else that I can't read but I think is pride. "Yes. Yes! Yes of course I'll help! You did it once and gave more than a few of us hope, you can do it again if we make a strong pack. We can do anything, just so long as you stay with me and stay alive!" Then her lips are mashed over mine and all thought stops.

We kiss and cuddle for what seems an eternity, and sometime during the night we fall asleep together. I don't remember my dreams that night, but nothing can compare to having Johanna Mason protecting me through the darkness. I can smell her there, feel her warmth as it comforts me in the wee hours, snuggle into her arms and play the little spoon. I know she sleeps without nightmares again, and waking up next to her in the best part of my day, especially after we have both had a full night of peace.

We prepare for our individual sessions today, trying to decide how we're going to present ourselves. Somehow though, we cannot concentrate on anything and it all blurs together. The tributes do their exhibitions, Peeta and I both make a mess, and Johanna calms me down after. We watch the scores, and when her seven flashes up we crack jokes about how she matched her district. The I fulfill my promise to make history once more when Peeta and I score twelves, but suddenly it's not funny anymore. Jo and I realize that the Gamemakers just painted a target on my back, and that means that our plan to get out alive just became that much more difficult to realize. She soothes my tremors and quiets my screams, then when I've been silent for a few minutes she attempts to switch us back to being happy. She digs her fingers into my ribs, and when my arms snap down to defend against her assault, she switches to just behind my knees and I end up squealing and trying to squirm away, but she won't let me. We laugh and talk all night long, even going up to the roof to watch the sun rise. Then we fall asleep in each other's arms again, at peace and wishing we could freeze this moment and make it last forever. We wake up to eat, then return to the roof to watch the sun set in the west.

She promises to find me tonight before the interviews, then we're off to our stylists again to be prepped to meet Caesar. My prep team gets emotional on me, and it almost breaks my heart. Octavia, with her plump frame and her green skin, cries immediately and has to leave. Flavius almost makes it to the end, but breaks down sobbing and can't keep his bright orange curls out of his face to say anything before he runs too. Venia is the only one still with me when Cinna arrives, and just before she leaves as well, she looks me in the eye and says, "We would all like you to know what a...privilege it has been to make you look your best." Then she is gone.

I look at Cinna, the most amazing and quiet man I have ever met in the Capitol, as he stares at me with a solemn expression. He knows that this will probably be the last time that he ever gets to see me, no matter what happens. This is the worst parting I have to look forward to, but there are no tears from him, just as he promised me. He lays down the garment bag hanging from his arm and pulls me into a warm embrace, and that says everything he cannot. When we pull apart, I ask, "So, what am I wearing tonight?" He smiles a little regretfully and replies, "President Snow put the order for the dress in himself." Then he unzips the bag and reveals one of the many wedding dresses I wore in the photo shoots when Peeta and I still thought we had a chance of stopping what was coming. Heavy silk with a plunging neckline, studded with soft white pearls in rose patterns and a fitted bodice, the one with sleeves that hang almost to the floor. I feel a note of finality in the choice, almost like he is showing me off to the world wearing a reminder of my failure as my death shroud. "Even though they announced the Quarter Quell the night of the photo shoot, people still voted for their favorite and this was the winner. The President says you're to wear it tonight. Our objections were ignored."

I rub the silk between my fingers, dreading walking out on that stage tonight in this dress. I know what everyone in the audience will see, and I'm afraid of what Johanna will see. I can't bear the thought of her being hurt by this, and yet I don't see how anything else could happen now. I suppose it always had to be this way. "It would be a shame to waste such a nice dress." I mumble, dejected and full of sorrow. Cinna carefully helps me into my gown, adjusting it over my frame until it hangs just right, and I am staggered by how much it weighs. "Was it always this heavy?" I ask, and then he smiles that smile that I know means he's up to something. "I had to make some slight alterations because of the lighting," is all he replies, and I have to be satisfied with that.

"You're ravishing," he murmurs. "Now Katniss, because your bodice is so fitted I don't want you raising your arms above your head. Well, not until you twirl, anyway." I look at him and smile, glad to know that I was right and that he has something special planned. "Will I be twirling again tonight?" He nods with a twinkle in his eyes and tells me, "I'm sure Caesar will ask you. If he doesn't, suggest it anyway, but not until the end. It's to be your grand finale." He cups my cheek one last time, then guides me into place at the end of the line. The tributes fall silent for a few minutes, then Finnick speaks up. "I can't believe Cinna put you in that thing." I know what he means, but I want to make sure everyone here knows the real reason. "He didn't have a choice. President Snow made him." Gloss grunts out that I look ridiculous, but it's Johanna's reaction I want. She walks right up to me and takes my hands, a look of fury in her eyes. She stays there for a moment, then very softly hisses, "Make him pay for it."

I nod and smooth my hands over my dress once she lets go, nerves getting the better of me. Cashmere struts over to Johanna and I, for once not a hint of teasing in her face. She grabs our wrists, twining our fingers together with a piercing look at the Victor from District Seven, not saying a word. There seems to be something pass between them, some unspoken agreement in that moment, and it's enough to settle Johanna down.

I have no clue what to say or do tonight. I hear the anthem play and Caesar, friend to us all, laugh and start his interviews. Cashmere starts us off with a speech about how she can't stop crying when she thinks about how the people of the Capitol will feel about losing us, and she punctuates it perfectly with sobs. Her brother Gloss recalls the kindness that was shown to him and his sister here when they arrived, when they won, and every year since that they've been mentors. Beetee very thoughtfully says that the Hunger Games and the Quells were written into law by men, so by men they should be able to be unwritten. Finnick stands before them all and recites a poem about his one true love, and half the audience faints when they believe it is about them, but we know better.

I really focus when Johanna gets up on stage. I hadn't had time to appraise her before, but when I look now I can see the stunning floor-length green dress she wears. It looks like bark and leaves have spontaneously grown all over her body, and somehow she looks even more unearthly and warlike than usual. She starts her interview by saying that she isn't sad when she thinks about this Quell. It doesn't make her want to cry, and it doesn't make her think of kindness shown in the past. No, what she feels about it is anger, this seething rage that festers and boils just beneath her breastbone. Then she looks right at the cameras and says, "You want to know what I really think about this? I think you can all go fuck yourselves! All of you sodomizing, shit-eating, scumbag lowlifes can just take your games, and your stupid platitudes, and cram them up your fucking asses!" Then she throw the middle fingers of both hands up and stomps to her chair, where she flops down with a huff.

Caesar is left standing there flabbergasted, never having had such an angry rant occur on his show, but he quickly gets his flow back. He cracks a couple jokes and the evening is back on track. Chaff and Seeder speak their piece as well, both of them saying that if the President is as powerful as everyone believes, he should be able to change things and make them better. In fact, he must truly have that power, but believe that no one really cares or that it doesn't matter to people. By the time I am called to the stage, the audience is an absolute wreck, there are tears everywhere, and pockets of them are crying out about the injustice of it all. Some are calling out that there must be something that can be done, but no one moves to stop the show or change anything.

When I step onto that stage, my dress shining in the bright lights, a wave of horrified moans sweeps the audience and even Caesar's professionalism shows some cracks. He tries to quiet them so I can speak, but it takes up more of my three minutes than he likes. When we can finally be heard, he gets straight to the point. "So, Katniss, obviously this is a very emotional night for everyone. Is there anything you would like to say?" I don't even have to try to make my voice tremble and crack, because it's all getting the better of me now. "Only that I'm so very sorry that there won't be any wedding... but I'm glad that you at least get this chance to see me in my dress. Isn't it just... the most beautiful thing?" I twirl slowly, raising my arms above my head, and seek out Johanna to have the strength to bear what I know is coming. As I spin, flames lick up my body and consume my dress, pearls falling like white rain upon the stage. When the last of the fire has died away, I am left standing there in a dress the color of coal with my arms spread wide, patches of white just under my arms. My pin glitters in the light and everyone can see... Cinna has made me into a mockingjay.

The audience is stunned, and Caesar himself cannot summon the words in this moment. A tear falls from my eye as I bow, because now I know why Cinna was hugging me like it was the last time. It very well might be the last time I see him, because with this one act he has thrown his own lot against the President, and no one survives that. I smile as best I can, but when I see him in the audience, his face beatific and at peace, I lose it and run crying to my seat. I cannot take this, I cannot bear to see him, this beautiful man, so ready for what he knows must come. Johanna rises from where she is and comes to sit on the arm of my chair, rubbing my back and making soothing noises, and the audience breaks down. In that one moment, there is not a dry eye in the house. To see their beloved tributes, the victors they have come to love, so injured, so angry and sad and hurt that they must turn to each other for solace because now they have no one else, shatters their resolve.

Caesar weeps for several minutes, then summons his strength and courage from I know not where and calls Peeta up on stage. I hear him swear to himself that he will soldier on, for us, for the victors that he must say goodbye to. Peeta steps into the light, and as handsome as he is, as well dressed as Portia could make him, he looks broken. He tugs on even my heartstrings with the look on his face. His eyes show that he is betrayed by what is happening, that he is sorrowful for what he has lost, and that he feels for each and every person in the audience. He cannot get into the easy rapport that he has had with Caesar before, so the announcer gets right to the heart of matters once more.

"So, Peeta, what was it like when, after all you've been through, you found out about the Quell?" Peeta looks at him, a haunted, dead look in his eyes, and whispers just loud enough to be heard through the mic, "I was in shock. I mean, one minute I'm seeing Katniss so full of life, so taken with her personal crusade to make District Twelve a little brighter, and then..." He breaks off, as if he cannot bear to continue, so Caesar speaks for him. "Then you realized there would never be a wedding." The baker's son only nods, then looks up with what seems to be determination. "Do you think you can keep a secret?" The announcer laughs, put at ease once again by the wordsmith that is Peeta, and says that he is sure they can. "There was a wedding after all. Katniss said that she couldn't bear to live what may be the last days she has left without letting the person she loves most know that they hold her heart, that she was theirs completely. When she told me that, I cried because I knew that no amount of time would ever be enough."

Everyone else looks stunned, but Johanna and I hear the subtext. She looks at me, her hazel eyes on fire with her passion, and though we cannot fulfill the promises she is making to me with that look just yet, I know that tonight will be a very good night indeed. The audience only has eyes for Peeta's personal tragedy though, so no one notices the heat rippling between us before he shatters it. "I know exactly what she meant when she said it, and I share her sorrow on one other point too. She said that the only regret she has is that she will never be able to give her love the children they deserve. She had all of that taken from her by the Games." His words nearly cause a riot, and Johanna and I are both crying for the words spoken by him. He has given us the only gift that matters to us, an acknowledgement of the bond she and I have come to share, and though he does not know we will fight to survive, to live past this calamity, he is at peace with the choices we have made. When he joins us, we clasp hands and slowly but surely, all down the line the other victors do the same until we are all presenting a united image. Though we know that soon many of us will die, for tonight we stand together. Peeta's left hand is free, and he uses it to raise the salute of District Twelve. When silence falls, I clear my throat and sing as clearly as I can... the four note trill given to me by Rue. The lights black out a moment later as the Capitol falls into chaos.