So I finished this chapter and finally realised 'ah that's where I'm going with this' so yeah that's where I'm going with this... enjoy

The next time I saw or heard from Katniss she was plastered on every screen in the Capitol challenging President Snow to face her and the rest of the rebels head on in a battle to the death. As I watched her give a speech that was, no doubt, a great inspiration to those living in the Districts my heart sank as I knew that she was signing her own death warrant. If she was ever captured and brought before Snow then he wouldn't hesitate to kill her – she would have to be made an example of. Then everything would just get worse.

Despite everything else I felt when I saw her make that televised challenge it did give me a tiny bit of relief. At least I knew that she was alive. If nothing else seeing her face let me know that she was still alive and she hadn't already been captured by Peace Keepers. Having said that if she had I would have known about it – Snow would have made sure that it was on every single screen in Panam. He would want everyone to see when the face of the rebellion was removed.

Snow was ruthless and he was beginning to get desperate. This much I could tell from the speech he gave in response to Katniss' challenge and from the fact that a few days later I was summoned to his office by Snow himself.

"Miss Everdeen," he said evenly, surveying me over clasped hands and leaning forward on his desk. "I assume you know why I have asked you to speak with me today."

"I assume it has something to do with my sister." I replied. Snow let out a soft snort of humourless laughter.

"Well it would hardly be anything else." he replied. I waited for him to continue, breathing through my mouth in an attempt to lessen the pungent, sickening smell of roses that radiated off him. "You have seen the challenge that she has issued to me, have you not?"

"I have." I replied. I felt it would be best if I just said as little as possible. That way he wouldn't be able to use any of what I said against me if everything went to hell.

"I am not planning to rise to her challenge." Snow stated. "Not yet anyway." he added after a pause. I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible, not wanting to give anything away. If there were any way that I possibly could I would try to prevent the conflict and resulting massacre. It wouldn't do any good for anybody even if I seemed to be the only one who could see that.

"How are you planning to proceed?" I asked when he didn't make any other comment.

"I have sent a message that I would like to send a spokesperson to meet with her and discuss terms before we resort to a war." he said. That was a surprise to me; maybe there was a spark of humanity in him after all, despite what Katniss said. He couldn't honestly want to see the people of this country locked in a civil war so he must have been formulating a plan to prevent that. What he said next took me completely by surprise though. "I would like you to be that spokesperson Miss Everdeen."

I stared at him in surprise for as long as seemed appropriate, trying to process what he had just said to me. He wanted me – who had no experience of anything of this nature before – to meet with my stubborn older sister, who never took no for an answer when she had set her mind to something, and talk her down from starting a war against the people who had kept us downtrodden and in poverty our entire lives. I could see this going a number of ways and none of them ended particularly well.

"Me?" was all I could ask when I finally found my voice.

"I believe that you will be the best person to diffuse the situation, yes." Snow said after a pause.

"But…" I began, struggling to find the right words. "I've never done anything like this before. How could I possibly help in any way?"

"You know you sister better than anyone." Snow stated. "She is more likely to listen to reason if it coming from you rather than myself and a group of armed Peace Keepers." He wasn't wrong but that didn't necessarily mean that Katniss was going to actually listen to what I had to say to her. On the other hand she was less likely to get violent if it was me she was talking to.

"So what will I have to do?" I asked not wanting to commit to an answer just yet in case he was going to reveal an elaborate plan that would end with Katniss being arrested and brought to the Capitol for trial.

"You will go and meet with her, discuss terms with her and hopefully we can all come to an arrangement that will be beneficial for all involved." he stated. That was a very vague response. Had he worked out that I was being non-committal because I didn't trust him? Or was he not going to tell me his plan (if he had a more sinister one) because he didn't trust me?

"How will I know what to say though?" I asked. If I'm supposed to be discussing terms I'd actually like to know what it is I'm supposed to be discussing.

"Everything will be pre-written and discussed with you beforehand." he told me. "Much the same as when you went on your tour of the Districts."

"And if things don't go the way that you plan them too?" I asked. There was every chance that even though I would be the one doing the negotiating that this plan of Snow's was just not going to work and there would be a war anyway.

"I believe they will Miss Everdeen." he said softly, a strange smile curling about his lips. "I truly believe that they will." That smile made me uneasy but against my better judgement I made my decision.

"I'll do it."


As Snow had said this meeting with Katniss and some of the other rebels was very much like when I did my tour of the Districts (both after my victory in the arena and when I was trying to calm down the rising rebellion) I had speeches, terms and conditions written out for me that I had to memorise this time. I decided to also put my own spin on what they were telling me to say as if I read then exactly as they were written I knew that Katniss would see right through me and that would be the end of it.

On the way to the rendezvous point I was nervous. No I was more than nervous I was downright petrified. It felt as if the entire future of Panam was resting on my shoulders. If I screwed this up and the rebels went to war with the Capitol then I was going to have to live with the knowledge that I had caused the deaths of any number of innocent people. That thought alone was too much for me never mind seeing the look on Katniss' face when she realised that the representative for the Capitol was her own sister.

When I did finally come face to face with her it wasn't as bad as I had feared it was going to be. She came up to me and hugged me tightly, just like she had done when I came home from the arena, and the both of us were nearly crying saying how much we had missed each other. It was the best reunion we could possibly have had under the circumstances.

We then sat and talked for a while – mostly about what had been happening to each of us since we had last seen each other – and then we began discussing this potential war. I could understand where she was coming from: they all wanted Snow to pay for his crimes but didn't want to lose any more innocent lives. I laid out the terms that Snow had told me too and we discussed things leading to a way that everyone could be happy. It was all going well.

Or so I thought…

It wasn't until we were about to make an agreement and go to tell our respective groups of this conclusion when a strange shadow began to fall over us. Both Katniss and I looked up to see a number Capitol helicopters flying overhead carrying what looked like a small (well small in comparison to the arena) dome. We realised what was actually happening a second too late to make any kind of escape and before we knew it we were trapped inside this dome, completely at the mercy of our captors. The situation seemed bleak and then we heard a message over some sort of loudspeaker inside the dome.

"Everdeen sisters," said Snow's voice. "I am proposing a test to you. You can either pass or fail there is no option to leave. Only one of you will come out of this dome and you will only do so once you have killed the other."

Next chapter will probably be the last as deadline season is upon me