Gale and I were the last ones to arrive in front of the huge stage and when the anthem ended, President Snow walked to the speaking platform to give a speech. He greeted the audience and as always he ended his talk with the words "Happy Hunger Games and…" He looked at the crowd, "…may the odds be ever in your favour." After the big applause the chariots started moving again. Then we were escorted into a separate room. One tribute after the other had to enter the stage for his interview with Caesar Flickerman. Finally Gale and I were the only ones left.

"Katniss Everdeen?" A worker of the Capitol looked at me quizzically. "It's your turn soon, get ready."

I stood up and faced Gale. He had stood up as well and gave me a soft kiss on my lips. I really hoped it was over soon, so I could be alone with him. I was already longing for his kisses as soon as our lips broke apart. We had known each other for years, had become best friends and suddenly I couldn't get enough of him. It was crazy. What was wrong with me?

"Good luck, honey. I'll see you later."

I nodded. "I'll be waiting at the other side of the stage."

He smiled at me encouragingly, then my name was called and I had to leave.

On stage I was greeted by a enormous applause and Caesar Flickerman took my hand to lead me to my place. I stared at the crowd, my heart nearly jumping out of my chest. I had everyone's attention. Inside me my stomack rebelled and I wanted nothing more than to leave. I didn't gave way to the dominant urge to leave the stage and throw up. Flickerman awaited the end of the applause, smiling all the time, then he started talking. "Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary Katniss Everdeen." Me and legendary? These were two words that didn't belong together in one sentence. "Katniss, to be honest, when you were standing there, volunteering for your sister, that really touched my heart. She is really important to you, isn't she?"

I nodded. "Yes. Prim is everything to me. Well, she and my mum are everything to me."

"Your father died a couple of years ago, right?"

"That's right. So we women have to stick together." I smiled a bit unsecure. God, what was I saying? So we women have to stick together? Couldn't be any more stupid, could it? Well, at least I did my work, now everyone was going to think I was naive, for sure. To my surprise Caesar took my hand and squeezed it.

"Katniss, you're not only a really brave girl, but also absolutely beautiful. What you did with these flames tonight was simply breathtaking." The moderator didn't stop fawning.

...

"Oh, thank you. You liked it?"

This question made him smile. "Of course I liked it. It was amazing."

Suddenly I saw Cinna who was sitting in the first row. Our eyes met and he mad a twirling move with his finger. Shit, time for my show. My voice was slightly shaking while I was talking to Flickerman. "There are other surprises in my dress. Do you want to see them?"

His grin grew bigger and bigger. "Sure. What do you think, folks?" He looked at the crowd and waited for their reaction. They got really excited and started clapping their hands loudly. Caesar motioned me to stand up and show them. I walked a few steps and started twirling.

The faster I twirled the more flames came out of my dress and the audience got wild. They were gasping, shouting my name or simply applauding. Cinna gave me a thumb-up and I knew I had done my job. After this encouragement I started feeling much more confident on stage and chatted with Caesar about the Capitol and the Hunger Games. I had no idea why I felt so save, but after Cinna's gesture it was much easier to talk to Flickerman.

...

After the last question Caesar stood up, took my hand and pulled me on my feet. "Ladies and gentlemen: Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire."

At the end of the stage I turned round and waved to the audience, then I disappeared out of their sight. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. I got it, it was over. The chilly air felt really good and helped me to stay calm. Effie, Haymitch and Cinna were already waiting for me.

"You did great", Haymitch praised me.

Cinna was smiling as well. "You were brilliant."

I grinned at him. "Thank you. But your dress was really stunning."

In this moment Gale appeared on the screen right in front of me. He was also greeted by a huge applause.

"Tell me, Gale. How do you like the Capitol?" Flickerman tried some small-talk at the beginning.

"It's…really different. Nothing you could compare to Twelve. Everything is so big and colourful." Gale smiled at the camera self-confidently.

"Seriously? What do you like the most?"

"Well, your showers are great." With this comment Gale earned a lot of laughing from the audience, of course. As he mentioned the shower I found myself blushing and my heart did a small jump. Yeah, the showers here were really…special. Even on the screen you could see that Gales face got slightly red. Obviously I wasn't the only one thinking of that.

"Have you heard that, folks? He likes our…showers.", Caesar commented, still laughing.

"The boy is hilarious", said Haymitch, but Effie made him shut up in an instance.

...

"Gale, you volunteered at the side of Katniss Everdeen at the Reaping. Is there any special reason for that?" Flickerman looked at Gale with big eyes and the audience got silent. Literally everyone wanted to hear his answer. I stared at the screen, watching him. Everytime I was thinking of Gale my heart started racing and I felt like fainting. What would he say?

"I…I wanted to protect her." That was so cute of him, but when would he finally get the fact that I didn't need protection?

"So Katniss is someone special to you?", Caesar asked with this sugar-sweet smile.

"Yeah, she is." Gale was smiling, too and looked in my direction. I wanted to run back on the stage so badly, just to tell him that he was special to me as well. I had to force myself to stay where I was.

"It must have been really hard to see her volunteering, hm?" Flickerman looked thrilled, first eyeing the crowd and then Gale. You couldn't hear a single sound in the whole area. I smiled at Gale, then I realized that he couldn't see me and continued paying attention to his interview. Couldn't this damn event be over right now?

Gale looked at the camera, suddenly sad and disappointed. He sighed. "That's right. It's really hard to cope with the fact that you could lose the woman you have loved for more than five years."