I woke Clove about an hour before dawn. We ate quietly, stretched, and sat down to wait.

As it got lighter, I watched Clove's face grow in detail. Soon I could see the freckles that were sprinkled across her cheekbones.

I was distracted from my study when she whispered, "How do you think it'll happen?"

"I don't know. Parachutes? For all I know they could materialize out of thin air."

"They could probably make that happen. Lord knows what they concoct in their research departments."

I snorted.

"So we wait for someone to make the first move, then all hell breaks loose." She recounted the plan we had come up with last night.

"It'll probably be the redhead, since she'll want to get hers before anyone else moves. I'll run after her, and you stay behind and deal with Firegirl. And by dealing I don't mean killing. That's my job."

She rolled her eyes and continued. "Then we go find Thresh while Loverboy slowly dies from gangrene."

I grinned. "It's foolproof." I started to stuff all our belongings into our backpacks, getting ready to move.

"Cato?"

I looked at her. She seemed apprehensive. "Yeah?"

She debated saying something, but changed her mind. "Nevermind. Let's go kick some District ass."

She started to move off, but I grabbed her arm. She looked up at me, annoyed. "What? We need to move soon!"

I drew her closer. "There's something I need to do. Just in case."

She looked puzzled. "What do you need to do?"

I took her face in my hands and drew her slowly towards me. I smiled as her eyes went wide with realization. She didn't move as I caressed her cheek with my thumb and drew her closer until we were touching. I bent my head until our noses were touching, inhaling her scent.

"Something right," I whispered.

The voices inside my head screamed for me to stop, but I didn't listen.

"Cato," she breathed.

I drew her chin up with my fingers and brushed my lips against hers. When she didn't pull away I pressed my lips against hers gently. After a few moments, she kissed me back.

Her arms made their way to my neck as mine settled on her waist. The kiss grew deeper as we drew closer until she was flush up against my chest. Her hands knotted in my hair, drawing a silent groan from me.

This was what I was born for.

We finally drew away, panting for breath. My forehead rested on hers as we smiled stupidly at each other.

"Now you can go," I murmured

"I don't really want to," she whispered back. I grinned.

"Neither do I. But we have to. Then we can go home and continue… this."

She smiled. "Whatever 'this' is, I think I like it." And with that, she kissed me fiercely. God, she could kiss. I drew her closer to me, wanting this moment to never end.

Unfortunately it had to. Clove pulled away and stepped back. I did so too, holding back a smile as I tilted my head, studying her. She was beautiful.

She saw me looking at her and shook her head, laughing. "Stop it. We have to get ready. It could happen any second; the sun is almost up."

"I'm ready," I said as I walked over and got my sword. Clove readied her knives, making sure each one was sharp and ready for the sixth time.

I rolled my eyes. "You know, if you sharpen them anymore they're going to cut through their sheaths."

Her retort was drowned out by a noise coming from the Cornucopia. We stopped what we were doing and ran to the edge to see what was happening. The ground in front of the horn was opening, and a metal table was rising. On the table were four bags of various sizes; it was too far away to see which one was ours.

Clove and I looked at each other. We readied our weapons.

"Wait," Clove said quietly.

"What?"

"Take this. You might need it." She handed me a beautiful knife, a stainless steel number with serrated edges near the ivory handle. "She's my favorite," Clove smiled affectionately at the weapon.

I was touched. Clove never gave away any of her knives. Ever. That she just gave me her favorite was really big.

I looked at the knife, and looked at her. "I'll take good care of her." I didn't mean just the knife.

I put the knife in one of the sheaths attached to the inside of my jacket. I patted the jacket. "Right next to my heart."

She snickered. "If you had one."

I was distracted by a flash of red hair. Redhead was ahead of the game, as we suspected. She ran to the table, grabbed a medium-sized backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Then she ran.

"Showtime," I said excitedly as I hefted my sword. I kissed Clove roughly and whispered, "See you later, shorty."

I didn't wait for her reply. All thoughts of Clove were erased from my mind as I ran off in the direction Redhead had gone. Her trail was hard to follow; I only had a few broken twigs and displaced leaves to go by.

I was getting closer, though. I ran faster when I saw a footprint in the mud by a stream. I was gaining on her.

After a few minutes her trail became sloppier; she was tiring. I smirked inwardly. Redhead wasn't used to pressure. As I ran I noticed that she was just skirting the Cornucopia clearing; we were only a couple hundred yards away from the edge.

A minute later I saw a flash of red ahead of me. I grinned wolfishly. "I'm coming for you," I whispered to myself.

Thirty yards. Fifteen. Ten. Five. Two. I grabbed the collar of her jacket and yanked her back, eliciting a squeal from the redheaded pixie.

"Hello, darling. Care to dance?" I snarled viciously as she tried to elude my grasp.

"Please, let me go!" She pleaded pathetically.

I smiled. "Haven't heard that one before."

"I have information about Peeta and Katniss!" That caught my attention. I didn't really need it, but one couldn't be too careful.

"Tell me and I might consider letting you go."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "They're stationed two miles downstream from the Cornucopia lake. They're in a cave camouflaged to look like a big rock, but there's a large willow by it. It's easy to spot if you know what to look for. Peeta's leg is infected, so I suspect that Katniss is getting a medicine for him."

I smiled genteelly. "Thank you…"

"Marissa."

"Marissa. It suits you." And with that I slit her throat before she had time to scream. I watched as the blood spilled onto her crimson hair. It was a beautiful clash of reds, almost surreal in the dawning light.

"Cato! Cato!" Clove's screams cut into the air like knives.

I ran.

"Clove! I'm coming Clove!" Something had gone wrong. I couldn't lose her. I wouldn't lose her.

I ran as fast as I could, reaching the clearing of the Cornucopia in the span of a minute. Just in time to see Thresh bash Clove's head against the Cornucopia again and again.

An inhuman scream erupted from my mouth. I ran towards him, but he was already halfway across the clearing with both his bag and mine from the table. I vaguely remembered seeing Firegirl run off.

I ran to Clove's side. Her eyes were open and unseeing.

"Clove, stay with me, please, stay with me," I pleaded. I grabbed her hand and kissed it, begging her to stay alive. I couldn't lose her. She was mine. She couldn't leave me like this.

"Clove, dammit! Don't do this to me. Don't leave me, please." She didn't move. I could see the dent in her head where Thresh had rammed her into the wall of the Cornucopia. I touched it with shaky fingers.

"Clove…"

I was alone. Clove wasn't there. She was gone. Thresh had taken Clove from me.

Don't cry.

I sniffed and wiped a tear from my eye. Thresh had to pay. He was going to die for what he had done. Clove was gone. Clove was gone, and I was alone.

I closed Clove's eyes and kissed her goodbye. "We could have made it, you know." I whispered to her shakily. "We could have won, and lived happily ever after."

I laughed softly at that. "Happily ever after. I knew it was too good to be true."

I looked at the sky, knowing the Game Makers were watching. "Is this what you wanted?" I screamed. "Clove is dead! Is this what you wanted? What kind of sick game is this? She didn't deserve to die."

A tear escaped my eye. I watched as it fell to the ground, wetting a blade of grass. "She didn't deserve to die," I whispered.

And with that I ran in the direction Thresh had fled. He was going to die. I would avenge Clove, and I would win the Games, bringing honor and glory to my District.

Alone.