Two chapters in two days? Wow. I'm actually being productive. :D Thanks to Estrunk for pointing our the loophole!

Damn the Capitol.

Damn them all.

Why was Annie, out hundreds of girls, picked? This is too coincidental. There must be a reason behind it. I must speak with President Snow. If he'll let me.

I didn't pay attention to who else was called, despite the fact that I would be mentoring them. I was too absorbed in my own thoughts to give a damn. It doesn't matter to me whether or not he was the most likable person on the face of the planet. I owe Annie too much to let her die. Like I let her sister.

The reaping ended without much tension except for those who remember her sister. I attempted to hide my emotions until I was able to get back home. The moment I stepped inside, there was something very, very wrong.

Everything seemed a bit too clean and it smelled a bit too much like roses for my tastes. I preferred the smell of the sea.

I treaded lightly, preparing for whoever was waiting for my on the other side of the wall that separated the living room and the grand foyer. With each step I took, the smell grew stronger and stronger until I was practically gagging on the stench. Why would anyone want to use such a horrible perfume?

My question was quickly answered when I swiftly turned around to see the face of President Snow. I could almost see the stench of roses emitting from his very being. This is the man who rigged it so Annie would be chosen. At least, I believe he did it. It was too strange to be coincidental.

"I'm sure you probably realized this, but I had rigged it. There was no other name in there except for Annie Cresta." He told me this incredibly calmly. He focused on twirling a pure, white rose in between his fingers. Each twirl was perfectly calculated, probably after much experience of twisting the fate of many underserving people. "It was becoming troublesome. You with her, her as the sister of your fellow tribute, the thousands of girls in the capitol left heartbroken. They would pay good money for you. You're a sex symbol, you know."

"I've been told," I mustered the harshest glare I could. It wasn't hard.

"I figured it would be best if you had no connections left. That way it would be easier for you to let yourself be taken by the Capitol. Those vain, stupid people, they'll give all of their life savings for you. Too bad we had to wait so long until we could start selling your body. You'll still be you, of course. It's not like we'll be ridding you of your mind, but your body will no longer be yours. It'll belong to whoever is willing to pay the price." I'm sure he has been thinking about this for years. Ever since I was lifted from that horrible arena and the doctors decided my body was still intact, along with all of my facial features.

I want him to take it back. Undo it. Force someone else to be the tribute. Never let Annie be forced into the games. But it's too late. She's in for good.

"At least make sure that I'm sold for a high price. I'd rather not be some cheap slut," I didn't expect to say this to the president of Panem, but I don't regret it.

"We didn't plan to," for some reason, the mischievous smirk that seems to be endearing on Annie feels creepy when plastered on Snow's face. I can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that I will be a bought and paid for sex doll. What could cause these people to be ok with buying people to fill themselves up with good feelings? Oh, well, this comes from the same people that enjoy watching small children slaughter each other for entertainment.

I leave quickly from my own house to avoid smelling more of the dreaded rose perfume. Before, the smell of roses reminded me of Annie, but now it will just remind me of this dreadful day and the person who is behind the ruining of mine and Annie's life.

I walked briskly to the Justice Building to speak to Annie, but a rather buff peacekeeper attempted to keep me from speaking to her. His efforts were futile.

After punching the lights out of the guard, I cautiously step into Annie's room. Her room is in shambles. It's only been about an hour, what could she have done in that time? These thoughts leave as quickly as they come and I notice that Annie is lying unconscious on the floor with blood seeping from a cut on her wrist. I panic, of course, and pick her up in my arms and set her on the bed, and then I go outside to find a bandage or something. By the time I come back with a bandage, she's conscious but deathly pale. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes and I just silently cover her cut. I don't want to ask why she did this. I think I already know.

"I know I'm going to die in there. At least like this I can choose when I die," she says this quietly while I'm looking away. I'm determined to not let her die, whether it is by someone else in the arena or by her own hands.

"You're not going to die. I'll make sure of it," I try to sound reassuring, but I think I'm just making her panic more.

"Finnick. Look at me," despite her loss of blood, she was able to sound as assertive as she usually does. "I'm going to die. I'm going to die in the arena. There's no helping it. If you need my will, it's scrawled on the wall of my home."

So that's what that was. Though I wonder why she wrote my name so much.

"There's not even anyone to send me off. If I die, no one will care. It's better for the other tribute to win. He actually has family. He has friends. If he cries, people will cry. If I die, I'll just be that nameless tribute in the 70th Hunger Games." She says this so calmly and coldly that it makes me scared to death. I don't care what she says. I will not let her die. Of course, if I tell her this, she will resist my help. Why can't she just want to live like a normal person?

"I will care. I will cry. I will miss you every second you are gone. Who are you to say that I won't?" This is only a fraction of what I want to say, but it's the most that I can get out for now. I don't want her to go. I don't want her to leave. I don't want her to die.

It's time for me to leave. To let the next person in. I hold her face in my hands are try to absorb as much of those sea-green eyes as I possibly can. I try to kiss her on the nose but at the same time she attempts to kiss me on the nose, too. Somewhere, as we try to kiss each other on the nose, we end up kissing on the lips. I immediately pull away, but I see that she looks disappointed.

Of course, I blush and kiss her on the forehead. Then, I dash as fast as I can away from her room, noticing on my way out that the next person to speak to her has a bouquet of roses and is blushing furiously. The first thing that pops into my head is the grotesque image of President Snow. The second is the thought that the boy might be confessing his love for Annie. Oh lovely. I have known competition now.

I decided to go to the train before the tributes came. They'll be fewer cameras then. They won't see my desperation. They won't see my horror at the thought that I'm being sold as soon as I step into the Capitol. Half-way there, I realize my virginity is going to be stolen by a complete stranger. Damn them. They can have my body, but not my virginity.

I run back to Annie's room in the Justice Building and tell the kid in there to scram. From the look on his face, I could tell that he had been rejected anyway.

Annie was shocked by my sudden entering her room, but I didn't care. They wouldn't let any cameras in the tribute rooms. The goodbyes were personal, not to be seen by others. Perfect. Without saying anything, I slammed the door behind me and quickly walked to Annie.

I looked down at her. She was thoroughly scared. But I calmed my fierce gaze a bit before grabbing her and passionately kissing her. I'd rather not indulge the next part.

-Time Passes-

We're on the train and Annie can't even look at me but I don't care. It needed to be done. I'm ready to go to the Capitol and become their pawn. Their sex doll. Their dirty prostitute.

I'm lying. I'll never be ready.

Every year, I love the food but hate watching the kids die. Most of the time I just hide in my room and ask for updates every so often. But this year I need to focus my full attention on the Games and try my best to keep her alive. I wish I could sponser her myself, but that is considered cheating. And if I did, then the gamemakers would probably try their best to kill Annie.

The train ride is long and unnerving. I exchange awkward glances with Annie every so often and attempt to make nice with the other tribute, even though I will be trying my best to make sure he dies so Annie will live.

By the time we reach the Capitol, all conversation between any of us is lost. Our dinners are silent and awkward. We leave almost immediately after we each finish our meals, attempting to stagger our time so none of us have to walk together to our rooms. On the last day of our train ride I'm forced by Mags and our escort to ask how they would like to be trained.

I don't understand why I must ask them. It would be just the same if Mags asked them, although they might not be able to understand what she is saying.

I gather everyone into the dining room and force out a few words as an attempt as a conversation starter and get to the real point. I manage to ask without meeting Annie's intense stare. The people watching through the cameras would just interpret it as her trying her best to survive. If I stared back, that would just be strange, and might cause Snow to want Annie to die so much more.

To my surprise, Annie asked for separate training immediately.