Chapter Eight – Haymitch POV

I knew the girl was determined right from the beginning. I thought she would make it far. But she's shown me how smart she is. This is the first district twelve tribute of mine who was been a Career. I must've done something right. There's only one thing setting her back – the relationship with the boy from Two. He's a nice boy, and if things were different I would say they were perfect for each other. But this is the Hunger Games, and there's no room for love, because in the end only one comes out. I have no doubt in my mind that it will be Katniss – but she'll have to let him go. She may even have to be the one to end his life. If it comes to that, she'll have to live with the constant guilt of killing the one she loved. I can't bear to see her go through that. But there's really not much I can do. I just hope she's prepared for what's coming next.


Katniss POV

Cato and I spent the morning mostly in silence, but somehow, it wasn't awkward. I rested my head on his shoulder and stared at the sky for what felt like forever. I'd never really thought about love. But with him, it was different. I was unsure of a lot, but not this. I didn't want to think about it, but I knew that in a week's time, maybe less, I'd have to say goodbye. After all, this is a game. There's only one way to win. But what if there wasn't? Maybe I could think of a loophole.

A loud voice echoing through the arena interrupted my thoughts. It was Cladius Templesmith. "Attention tributes. We've going to have a…gathering of sorts in the arena. All of you miss someone from back home, and I'm sure a few encouraging words could go a long way. Meet in the centre of the arena tomorrow at noon to claim your letter. I must warn you, you'll have to put up a fight to get it. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor." That meant one thing. Prim.


I felt my smile widen on my face as the realization sunk in. I'm sure I looked the same as Cato right now. He looked into my eyes before hugging me, and kissing me on the forehead. He did that a lot, and I can't say I didn't like it. It was sweet. I wondered what Cladius meant by "putting up a fight to get it". Whatever it was, it couldn't be that bad. Instead of going hunting tonight, we decided to save our energy for tomorrow. We all sat in a circle, talking until the Capitol seal appeared. Three tributes had died today. I didn't know the first two, until the third appeared. I gasped, and felt tears well up in my eyes. It was Peeta.


I guess I didn't hear the canon, caught up with the excitement of hearing from Prim. Peeta and I were never close – but I could never forget the time he saved my life. He was the boy with the bread...it would be impossible to repay him for what he did for my family and I. I brought my three fingers to my lips, and held them high, honoring him with the gesture. I wiped the tears from my eyes and willed myself to be strong.

Like last night, Cato and I took first watch. "Were you ever…close to Peeta?" Cato asks after a few minutes of silence. "Not romantically. But he saved my life, once," I start, "It was after my Dad died. Prim, My Mum and I hadn't eaten for weeks. We were surviving off of mint leaves and water, but it wasn't enough. I tried selling Prim's old baby clothes, but there were no buyers. After that, I came to accept that I would soon die. I sat outside the Mellark home, with rain beating down on my head. Peeta came out of the bakery with some bread that he burnt, and began feeding it to some animals. But then he saw me. Without even thinking, he tossed me the two loaves of bread. That fed my family for weeks, and it was enough to get us back on our feet. I could never repay him for that." I sigh, relieved that I finally have told somebody. He looks at me, and smiles. "He was a good guy." "I know."

We finally drift off to sleep, with Marvel taking over the watch shift. I woke up with a nightmare, but with Cato's arms around me, I quickly went back to sleep. The next morning we woke bright and early, eating a full breakfast, preparing for the worst. Minutes seemed to go by longer than usual, because of the anticipation.

A gong went off, signaling 11:30, so we set off to the Gathering. We inched closer and closer, until I could see 9 figures in the distance, each holding a white envelope. I gripped Cato's hand as they came closer into view. When I finally realized who it was, holding my envelope, I couldn't believe it. Peeta.


I turned around to see other tributes appearing into view, until all nine tributes were here, standing in front of their person. For Cato, it was Glimmer. "Attention tributes!" we hear Cladius say before we can do anything. "Do not harm any other tributes. There will be plenty of time for that." He chuckles. "Now, you'll have to face something worse…the dead. We have picked each past tribute for you for a reason. You will have two options – talk your tribute into giving you the envelope, or fight them for it. Go."

Most of the tributes begin to fight. But I knew I couldn't do that. "Peeta," I whisper, my voice barely audible. I raise my hand to stoke his cheek, but his face remains emotionless. "How are you alive?" "I'm not. I'm dead. My memories were put into a…mutt." He answers coldly. "Oh. I just..I just wanted to thank you. I never got the chance to. I could never repay you for what you did for my family and I. You truly were a good person. Better than I'll ever be…and I'm so sorry things turned out like this. I will always consider you my friend…you were my hero, Peeta." I barely choke out the words.

"Don't lie to me." He stares blankly into my eyes. Tears are running down my cheeks now. Be strong, Katniss, be strong. I take a deep breath. "It's not a lie, Peeta. You didn't deserve to die like this.. You can give me the envelope, or not. It's your choice. I know you probably can never forgive me for not being with you in the games. So I'm not going to force it. But believe me when I say, I did care. I always will." "I believe you, Katniss." Peeta replies quietly, before continuing. "And if I had to die…I'm glad it was so that you could live." He hands me the envelope before disappearing into thin air.


This was crazy. How could they have raised the dead? But they didn't. It wasn't real. They just took his memories. And right now, they were probably taking them right out of the mutt. I shook out all these thoughts and focused on the game. I looked left and right, to find most of the tributes had already fled, leaving pools of blood as the only reminder of what happened. Cato was waiting patiently, after killing Glimmer a second time with no trouble. Clove had to reason with little Rue, from District Eleven for her letter. Somehow, the Gamemakers knew she had a weakness for children. I wasn't sure where Marvel was.


I held in tears and ran over to Cato. He held me into a tight hug, and put his arm around me as we walked back to camp. It wasn't until I sat down that I opened my envelope, and read Prim's words to myself:

Dear Katniss,

I am so proud of you. You're doing so good, and I can hardly wait for you to be back home. I know you can do this. You're the strongest person I've ever met, Kat. I don't want you to worry about a single thing, just focus on you, and coming home. Mom's doing good. She's working a lot, but she's been here with me every night to watch you on the television. She's trying her best, and I know it's hard for you, but try to believe her. She says she loves you. I love you, Katniss. Don't lose hope, ever. Everything is going to be okay. Everyone is so proud of how far you've come. Hold on to that, and every time you look at that MockingJay pin, I want you to remember Dad, Mom, Me, Gale, Sae…everyone you love, all the people you're fighting for…all the people who are proud of you. Even Cato. I'll see you soon. I love you so much.

Lots of love, Prim

P.S. Quack quack!

I smile at Prim's letter, and feel tears slide down my cheeks. I look straight at the cameras, and say as audible as I can manage, "I love you too, little duck. I'll see you very soon."


Well, there's your twist! It took me a while to think of, but I wanted Katniss to know how Prim felt, so I had to come up with some sort of way for her to get a letter. I have been wanting to add Peeta in there for a while, but I didn't want him to get in the way of the Katniss/Cato relationship, so I put him in as only a friend of Katniss'.

As for the Clove "children weakness" thing, I wanted to get across that there's more to Clove than just a brutal killer, although that's how she was portrayed in the actual Hunger Games book.

Thank you for all the reviews! Next chapter will be posted, revealing what was said in Cato's letter, once I hit 15 reviews. :)

Thanks to my new reader: xPurpleChameleonx! Hope you guys like Chapter Eight! :)