Katniss' POV:

"Tonight is the opening ceremony, make sure you are all ready on time!" Effie instructs.

Right after breakfast the prep teams come in and whisk them away. I follow Poppy in to offer what little moral support I am capable of, but mostly to talk to Cinna about a few thing I was wondering about.

"Just do what ever they tell you. You probably won't like any of it, and some of it will hurt, but just go along with it," I tell her.

This gets a few quizzical looks from the prep team, as if wondering why on earth anyone wouldn't do exactly what they said for fashion.

I rock back and forth on the balls of my feet for a few seconds, but when they start to take her clothes, I excuse myself and go into the back door where I'm pretty sure Cinna will be.

"Cinna? Cinna?" I call through the hallway. I poke my head into a few rooms of mannequins and fabric before I find his office.

"Oh, Katniss, what are you doing here?" He asks, as he gets up to shake my hand.

"Um, well, I was wondering what I'm supposed to do at the ceremony, I just like sit there right?"

"You will be back stage with all the tributes, watching them on a screen, you don't have to worry about seeing any people or cameras.

I let out a little breath I had been holding and grin. No people. That's good, because I was going to be a wreck tonight.

On my way out, I noticed that Poppy had been put in that bubbly bath that scrubs off several layers of skin, she was biting her lip and glimpsed up at me with a What The Heck is Wrong With These People look. I mouth sorry back to her, but quickly make my way out, not wanting to see her once they drag her out of the tub.

The thing I didn't know: I was next. Apparently the mentors have to get dressed up for the walk from the car to the chariots. That's the capitol for you. After Poppy was done with the prep team, and Cinna had come to see her, I had been told to go to the prep center. I had first peeked through, just to make sure that they were done with Poppy. She was sitting on a couch in a cotton robe, snacking on a plate of chicken and and exotic seasonings with Cinna.

"You're right through that door, Katniss," He smiled and pointed towards a door that I hadn't noticed before.

I pulled it open and stepped into a room almost identical to Poppy's, only this one had several photographs of the different victors around it. Since I was the only girl from 12 to ever win the Hunger Games, I was surrounding with pictures of myself. There were photographs from the chariots, in the arena, during interviews, tours, and even a few of me on trains.

My prep team made their way in, with loud exclamations about everything from the latest hair color, to dinner parties, to Poppy. I completely zoned out for the better part of this, but still caught some bits of the conversation while they were busy scrubbing the top few layers of my skin off, or filling nails, or doing my hair. When they were finally done, I was guided to a dressing room where I met Cinna.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Yeah, I guess," I sigh.

I would never get used to the constant dress up game that is life in the Capitol.

He pulled the black cover off the garment bag he had carried in to reveal a shimmering blouse and tan leather pants. Functional, yet girly. Worked pretty well for my character. The pants looked tight, but must have had some type of elastic in them because they were still fairly comfortable. The shirt looked like it was made of similar material as the dress I wore to the victor's dinner last year, only it was a striking maroon. Dark, like he heart of a fire. The shoes were heels, to my dismay, but they weren't a spike heel, so I could still walk without tripping over every last thing possible. They were the same tan leather as the pants, with the straps criss-crossing back and forth up to my ankle. At each spot where two straps crossed, a tiny red gem held them in place. My hair would be left down in my signature braid, with no emblishments, and the makeup was light, to Capitol standards at least, with a black eyeliner and maroon lipstick. Considering this was he first time I had been granted my wish for pants, I was able to work with the heels.

-0-

After we arrived at the square, I realized that the heels were a much bigger compromise than I had thought. I spent most of the time clinging despratly to either Peeta or some type of railing. It had recently rained and the cobblestone was slippery, and the shoes her almost no traction. Once int the stable, I realized that Poppy and Gale were going to have a much different effect than Peeta and I had. For starters, the horses were still coal black, but their harnesses were studded with diamonds. I understood why when Poppy stepped out. Her dress was beautiful. It was a black, skintight, knee length slip, covered with a mesh made of diamonds. And, just along the hem, there were a few little red, gold and orange gems. Like I had rubbed off a bit of my success on her.

Gale's was very different. His was more of a warrior outfit. It was solid black, with large plates over his shoulders, elbows, and knees. He had the occasional diamond stud, but his were more like spines of the rock, instead of gemstones. Cinna and Portia helped them up and positioned them so that his arms were wrapped protectively over her shoulders. She was told to wave and look hospitable, while he was told to look protective and hostile. It was like their outfits, similar in the theme, but completely different routs of getting there.

As the chariots filled out, I gave them a final wave before they exited the doors, then I turned to the screens. There was one for each chariot, one showing the crowd, and one showing whatever the main screens around the square were showing. At first, the main screens skipped back and forth between the different chariots as usual, until Cinna started the light show. Poppy's dress came to life as the tiny fiber optic threads lit up the diamonds. They started at the hem, first in the subtlest gold, then moves up, in darker and darker colors, until it looked like the whole dress was a smoldering ember. Once her dress was engulfed in the fake flames, the diamond sent little bits off light dancing across the ground near the chariot, and a few little electronic embers lit the bottom half of Gale's sleeves, shimmering and flickering. Just as the cameras were about to turn away, the gems on the horses' bridle lit. The further away they got from the chariot, the dimmer they got. Now, she wasn't on fire, but more so, radiating. I would always be the one and only girl on fire, but she was a flickering ember, ready to step up when needed. Gale was guarding her, making sure that that little flicker of hope didn't go out. I knew he would never leave her until she was dead. In that arena, anything goes. Packs come and go, very few stay until death. Very few defend each other with their life. He would. He would never leave Prim, or Posy... or Poppy.

It is going to be impossible to let this girl die. But if she lives, Gale won't. And Gale is here because of me, so I have a debt to repay. Poppy just had bad luck, Gale got his death sentence through my doings, not his own. I have to save Gale. I have to save Gale. I have to save Gale. I repeat the mantra to myself. I do. It has to be Gale. He has to win.

-0-

After the opening ceremony, Gale, Poppy, Effie, Peeta, and I went back to the tower for dinner. We ate, and went to bed. The conversation over dinner was sparse once I had finished going over a few tactics. I had the usual nightmares that night, and Peeta came in once I started screaming and stayed with me 'till I went back to sleep.