Author's note: I'd like to take the time to thank my guest reviewers. I appreciate all of you as much as I appreciate all of the other reviewers, but obviously I can't thank you through pm because you either don't have an account or you choose not to log in, so I'll do so here: THANK YOU! And to all my other reviewers as well. :)

Now, this chapter was hard to write. Very hard to write. Read on to find out why…

Warning: This chapter contains a slightly bloody scene. It is the Hunger Games, after all. I bet you're worried now…

Edited on 7/23/14.

Chapter 10: Even the Strong Fall Down

Day 4

Day 3 for us is uneventful. There are two faces in the sky that night, the girl from 1 and the boy from 5. There's thirteen of us left, and it's not going to get any easier. Day 4 comes, and I have a feeling today won't be as peaceful as yesterday. It's not.

Ester, Caspian, and I have discovered that the water gate opens twice a day, once at noon and once at what we believe to be midnight. We stay by the cliff as long as we can, but apparently, the Capitol doesn't like this.

I am attempting to hunt on the morning of the fourth day when a cloud of black smoke suddenly engulfs me, and all at once I see my mother on her death bed. "Don't die! Please don't die!" I scream, but it isn't working. Someone pulls me out of the smoke, but I feel as though I will never be happy again. Soon I am able to comprehend things again, and I notice we are running somewhere, with Ester dragging Caspian and I along. Finally, it begins to rain, and we all fall to the ground. "What happened?" I ask when I catch my breath.

"Well, judging by the way you and Caspian were screaming, I'd say that smoke made you visualize either your worst memories or your greatest fears," Ester replies.

"I think it's your worst memories," I say. "Because I just saw my mother die all over again."

"And I saw my father sail away on his boat for the last time," Caspian says softly. "I told him not to go."

Suddenly I think of something. "Why weren't you affected by the smoke?" I ask Ester.

"I saw what happened to you, so I cover my nose with my jacket so I wouldn't inhale the smoke. That's how I got you out of there."

We decide to stay in this spot until we run out of water. Ester sets up camp while Caspian and I look for food. Suddenly, I realize Ester has probably saved me from losing my mind, and I now owe her.

Caspian and I are attempting to hunt the birds that fly between the trees a few hundred yards away from camp when we hear a terrifying scream. Worried it's Ester, we dash back to the camp as quickly as we possibly can to find Ester with a spear sticking out of her stomach. Her blue eyes are full of shock and pain, and she seems terrified, but she tries not to show her fear. At the end of the spear is Emerald, the lunatic boy from 1. He doesn't notice us, so he must have very poor hearing. Caspian is frozen in place with shock, so I do the only thing I can. I take a knife that hangs from my belt and throw it at Emerald as hard as I am able to. It hits him right in the back, and his cannon goes off immediately.

As soon as I get over my shock, I run to Ester's side. "Ester, I'm so sorry!" I cry, and move to remove the spear. As soon as I do, blood comes gushing out of the now open wound.

"Oh no," I gasp in horror. "I've killed you! Actually, I've killed two people! What have I done?" I'm hysterical now and crying harder that I've ever cried before. Caspian is still frozen and stares at us helplessly, not sure what to do.

"Shh, Annie, it's okay. I wouldn't have survived this injury anyway."

"No!" I scream. "You have to be positive, Ester!"

Caspian nods quickly in agreement, his green eyes wide.

Ester sighs. "Yes, well, sometimes you have to face the facts, even if they are negative. You never could have healed me, Annie, and I would have been in a lot of pain. Now I can have a much quicker death than I would have otherwise, so thank you."

I want to protest, but deep down, I know she's right. "You've been a great ally, Ester." I say softly through my tears. "You've helped Caspian and me so much."

"As you have helped me," Ester replies weakly. "Listen to me, Annie. You and Caspian need to get out of here as soon as possible. Where there's one career there's sure to be more. And take the spear with you. You don't have to use it, but you don't want the Careers getting a hold of it. If you don't use it, you can burn it before it gets dark." By the time Ester finishes, she is exhausted and out of breath from losing so much blood. I also notice she is struggling not to cry. I knew that if it were me who was about to die, I would have lost it long ago, just as I'm bawling now. I suppose Ester's just stronger than I am. "They'd be proud," I find myself saying. "Your district, I mean. Maybe not in the way you wanted, but they're still proud because you never gave up and stayed strong until the end."

Ester smiles weakly. "I'd like to think they would." She says and then pauses before adding, "Either you or Caspian have to win. Make your district proud." With that, Ester suddenly goes limp, and her cannon goes off shortly afterwards. Sobbing uncontrollably, I take Ester's backpack off of her shoulders and walk back to where Caspian is standing. "We have to get out of here before the other careers show up." I say. I hand him Ester's backpack but carry the spear myself. Without another word, we begin to run.

At first I'm not sure where we're running to, but then I realize we are headed back to our water source. In the distance I can hear the sound of the hovercraft, which is undoubtedly bringing Ester's body back to District 8. This makes tears flow from my eyes again. It's strange how even though I've known Ester for not even two weeks yet I still cry for her. After a while we stop and burn the spear, and then put out the fire before moving on.

Finally, we reach the water gate. It is after noon, and before midnight, so there is no water to be seen. Together, Caspian and I once again begin to set up camp. Caspian is silent, even more so than he had been since the Games first started. After camp is set up, we sit underneath the trees, not saying anything. I find myself wishing I could talk to Finnick. He'd certainly know what to do. It's strange, I've been thinking about him every day. I miss him terribly, as much as I miss my family and Superior, and I've known them all of my life. I miss his playfulness and his teasing and I miss his bronze colored hair and his bright green eyes. Really, I miss everything about him. But, why? I hadn't spoken to him in five years until a week and a half ago, and I never missed him then. So why now?

"I miss Ester," Caspian says suddenly just as the sun is going down. "I know we didn't know her that long, but she already seems like a friend I've known forever.

"I know what you mean," I say softly. "It's amazing how close you can get to someone in such a short time."

"You mean like your love interest," he asks.

I stare at him. "What love interest?"

"Oh you know," Caspian says, looking at me with mischievous eyes. "Finnick Odair."

Annie's had a rough day, to say the least. First, she and her allies are chased by a cloud of black smoke that forces them to remember their worst memories. Meanwhile, the boy from 1 and the girl from 2 tell Emerald to stay at the camp while they look for other tributes. Of course, he doesn't listen to them and goes off on his own search. While Orion and Sapphire search for tributes to no avail, Emerald finds, sneaks up on, and stabs Ester with his spear while Annie and Caspian are searching for food. To my surprise, Annie then kills Emerald with a knife. After Ester's death, Annie and Caspian go back to their camp near the cliff, where they have an interesting conversation.

"You mean like your love interest?"

Love interest? I didn't know Annie had a love interest. Apparently, Annie is just as confused as I am. "What love interest?"

"Oh, you know," Caspian replies mischievously. "Finnick Odair."

Annie's eyes widen around the same time my jaw drops. My face appears in the corner of the screen, showing my reaction. Usually, mentors aren't shown unless their tribute is saying something nasty about them. This is clearly an exception. Looking around the room, I can see other mentors staring at me in shock. Mags, however, is smiling widely at me. I merely shrug my shoulders to say that I don't know anything about this.

"W-where did you get that idea." Annie stutters.

Caspian smirks at her. "I saw you and Finnick dancing in your room. Mags saw it too."

I look at Mags, who smiles at me again, and then turn my attention back to the screen. "That doesn't mean anything, Caspian!" Annie exclaims. "We're just friends!"

"It seems to me like you liked him," Caspian says. "You almost kissed him!"

Did she really? I was so wrapped up in the moment that I hadn't noticed. But like Annie said, the dancing didn't mean anything. I was just trying to make her feel better. I hadn't even meant it to be anything more than a friendly gesture. But… what if it was something more?

Annie blushes slightly and hesitates before responding. "I don't even know what I feel."

They both are silent for a moment before Caspian speaks again. "I just don't understand why she had to die so soon," he says with a sigh, going back to the topic of Ester.

Annie sighs. "Maybe it's because even the strong fall down sometimes."

They both fall silent again, and the camera on the main screen switches to someone else. "Back to work!" Charlus commands, leaving me to turn to my own monitor, deep in thought.

As I continue to watch Annie, I drift in and out of my thoughts. I subconsciously watch as the faces of Emerald and Ester appear in the sky and as Annie and Caspian climb into their sleeping bags. Annie has trouble sleeping during the night. She just stares up at the sky and appears to be deep in thought. At ten, Mags goes to bed, and I continue to watch Annie. She finally manages to fall asleep, and yet, I can't take my eyes off of her as I think about the earlier conversation. At two in the morning, Mags comes back for her night shift, and I tear myself away from my monitor and to my room. But even there my thoughts are with Annie. Could it be possible that my tribute has feelings for me? It's not a good thing when a tribute has feelings for their mentor and vice versa. But the biggest question do I really want her not to?

Author's note: So… did anybody cry? I know a lot of Ester fans are going to be mad at me, but it had to happen, as you can hopefully see. What did you think about all this? Quite emotional, huh? Please review and let me know your thoughts. :)

Next chapter: Annie does a lot of thinking, and things get a little… crazy. (Any idea what's going to happen?)