I think we all agree on me not rambling, right? Good, I don't own the story and all that. Let's move on.

Ch. 10- Rue POV

This was really bad. Seeing Katniss, who was such a strong person, not completely break down after what just happened was admirable. And to make matters worse, this was more than likely the last time I would ever see District Twelve or anyone in it that I loved. Since this was so, it only made sense for me to tell Cassius about the secret. But as I'm about to tell him, the worst part came. Effie announced that since Haymitch is too "unstable" to go back into the Games, him being Twelve's only male victor, the male tribute for this year would be selected from the regular reaping bowl. I started praying to any and every being out there listening that the one boy from Twelve that I cared about wouldn't be picked. Effie's hand lingered around the bowl like it does every year, and the suspense built.

"Cassius Baylor," Effie said. My breath instantly caught in my throat. So I would end up telling him sooner. I'd been staying with Thresh the whole time, so he hadn't seen me at all, as far as I know. This day was getting better and better, didn't it? And guess what came next?

"Now it is time for our reaping," said District Eleven's escort named Aquamarine ("Aqua for short," she says). Aquamarine looks surprisingly normal as far as escorts go. She has fair, almost tanned skin with brunette hair thatfalls down to her shoulder blades in natural ringlets. Today she is wearing a turquoise dress that is knee-length. Aqua was never one for wasting time, going on and on about this or that (a quality I respected) and she went straight to the important thing.

"Rue Cliff," she said, and I made the walk up there. Again it looked as if Katniss is pained, but she has managed to hold up a facial mask of impassivity, one I had never been excellent at, but was learning to master. The only way to see how she feels is through her stormy grey eyes, which right now show heartbreak. Luckily for me, Cassius and Prim were both in the Justice Building. Thresh was called up, and all the cameras minus two were on Katniss to watch her expression. The two not on her were on the two of us, so I forced myself to stare straight ahead and keep a blank expression, showing no thoughts at all. The ceremony was finally over (not soon enough) and we were escorted to our Justice Building territory. I found myself sitting next to Primrose Everdeen. We talked for a while, and fifteen minutes later we were so tight you couldn't tell we hadn't been lifelong friends. Gale came in to visit us, and he pretty much told us all of what I'd heard before. Find water, stick to the trees, find a weapon, you can win this."

"And Prim, don't you even tell me you can't use a weapon. Don't think I didn't see you shoot a turkey in the eye," Gale said, and I was only slightly surprised that Gale was out there. The thing I was more surprised about was that I never heard him that whole time. I kept an eye on the door, wondering what chance I might have of sneaking out to go tell Cassius before the train. Prim pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Go see Cassius, I know you want to," she said sort of teasing me. She said she would cover for me, and I snuck out (once again) and made my way to find Cassius and Thresh. I arrived at my destination quickly, and went in, donning a hoodie I found on the way. (Luck just seems to love me sometimes, huh?) I entered in.

"Hey Cass. I need to tell you something important before...before you go," I said and he tuned in. Two things, actually. Now go on, tell him, I thought to myself.

"One, I really, really love you," I said, planting a kiss lightly on his lips.

"And two, you're the third victor of the previous Games, Rue Cliff," Cassius finished for me, and my jaw probably hit the floor the way it dropped.

"Your brother told me," he said in response to my questioning glare. My glare changed mood and target, becoming very annoyed and directing itself at Thresh. The message it sent was, "We will discuss this later." I couldn't stay any longer because the Peacekeeper almost caught me in here, so I left. I got back to Prim, who'd covered for me when a Peacekeeper came to check in on us. Nobody else came, except for a baker who must've been Peeta's father. He gave us cookies- I decided that I like him. We made our way to the train. It was more boring this time around because I'd seen it before, and the train ride consisted of strategy talk and the information that we, as in Districts Eleven and Twelve, would be presented as a team in this Games. We also discussed angles. Prim was supposed to play the innocent little girl who was so weak and shy that she couldn't hurt a fly if she tried. This reminds me of a girl, one year, Johanna Mason, who won her Games by pretending to be all weak and unprepared, then proved to be a ruthless killer when it came down to the final ten. My angle was to be innocent, yet with a dark edge covered in sugar. So basically like last time. Cassius was to be another charmer, yet in a much different light than Peeta. Peeta came off as a good boy- Cassius was supposed to play the "bad boy" angle. Somehow, I just couldn't see him pulling that off. (We're talking Cassius- the one who's SUPER sweet when he's around me? Bad boy, huh? Yeah to the right.) But the thing is, I think to the Capitol, he could. Thresh's angle was to be the same as last time. Stoic, deadly and silent. I am determined, all four of us are coming out. And it looks like Katniss is too.

Thresh POV

After a while we got to the Remake Center, where we'd be until the chariot rides tonight. I really didn't want to be there- not back in the arena. The day went by too quickly, and I found myself in the chariot with Rue. It wasn't half as miserable as last time, because my outfit didn't look hideous or ridiculous. I was wearing a dark blue skin-tight jumpsuit with a black cape flowing behind me. On my head was the same crown I wore last time, but painted pitch black, which made it look singed. Burned. How ironic...

Rue's outfit was adorable, yet almost dark with some hints of glam. Rue had on a black cami under a dark blue cowgirl shirt (that's what I choose to call it) crop-top style with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, black tight overalls that were silky in texture over that. She was also wearing denim black short shorts (no looking, Cassius), fishnet tights and jet black combat boots that came up to her knees. For accessories, she had a black rhinestone-studded choker loosely around her neck, a netted onesie fingerless glove, and her hair was done up in two high puffs, accented by two black sparkly barettes. I noticed that both of us had a dark look about ourselves. I looked powerful (not vicious, do not confuse the two) and Rue was adorable as usual, yet had an eerie sense of being potentially dangerous.

Cassius had on black from head to toe with a black cape on behind him, looking almost charred. His hair was ruffled in a "bad-boy" fashion to support his angle, and that angle looked surprisingly good on him, considering that this was the boy that blushed like a fool everytime he saw my little sister. (Not like I didn't know.)

Primrose, on the other hand, was the complete and total opposite. She had on a pure white pixie dress that came just to her knees, and soft white ballet slippers on her feet. A pair of medium-sized white angel wings graced her back. Her blonde hair cascaded down prettily on her back. The whole outfit screamed angelic innocence. As the time drew nearer to the chariot ride, our chariots were being hitched tightly together. A few minutes later, Cinna came and lit Cassius and Primrose on fire. At first, I wondered why he only lit them. I found out soon enough. We got out there and the Capitolites were already on their feet seeing Prim and Cassius, angel and bad boy, both on fire. But what happened next was what did it.

Rue and Prim caught hands, and I clenched onto Rue's hand. The fire from Prim started spreading to Rue, going down her back all the way down to her boots. The fire from Rue went straight to my cape, which flamed in the wind. All four of us were now on fire. The audience loved the stunt, yet all of the tributes, the Districts, even President Snow- they knew what this meant. We caught the fire. This was so that the Districts could catch the fire and we could rebel against the Capitol. I literally felt President Snow's icy glare as we entered the circle, and I looked him dead in the eye and smirked smugly right in his face. Then I flipped him off. Well, he needed to know that snow has no place around a fire.

"Welcome, tributes. We thank and admire you for your courage and your sacrifice. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor," President Snow said, going through the same spiel he does every year. After that, the chariots begin to pull off into the Training Center. Our fire never stopped.

"What do we do now?" Rue asked me. There was one thing that was guaranteed to be drawn from the audience- that is sympathy. Grabs sponsors like crazy. So I tickled Rue a little, and she released an adorable laugh that made the audience coo sympathetically. Rue and Prim remained inncoent and cute, and I stayed silent while Cassius was signaling for some of the cuter Capitol girls to call him. Apparently, he is now a babe magnet. We entered the training center.

"Good job, kiddos," Katniss said to the three younger ones.

"You did awesome, honey," she said, kissing me lightly on the lips. (Me likey.) I noticed Haymitch and Chaff talking, trying to decide whether to get alcohol or moonshine. To me, either way it's liquor, and it's still nasty as only God knows what. The second they showed any implications of getting drunk, we headed straight to our floors. This year, Eleven and Twelve had four rooms on the same floor. I found my room, opened the door, sleepily changed into some comfortable clothes, and crashed on the bed. I'd need all the sleep I could get.

So, I'm sorry I haven't been a good girl and updated, but I've had my reasons. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.