A/N:Here we go again. Day two of training. Many of you will notice new POV markings in the beginning of every section. A few people had asked if I could do that because they were having a hard time keeping track at times. I think it's funny that it happen to come up right before this chapter where we're going into an unknown POV. One I hope you'll all enjoy because I couldn't figure out exactly how I wanted to write it, but once i did I thought it came out great. Feel free to take guesses as to who it is.

Oh and the 100th review flame was actually me. Well technically a friend of mine writing from my computer. I was at 99 and I couldn't help it sorry. Though if you haven't read it I highly recommend it for a laugh. It's in the chapter 8 reviews.

On to my anon responses.

Elizabeth: Happy Birthday I'm glad even if my wishes are late my present was on time :) And I fear that this fix is going to do little but make you jones twice as hard for the next one. But I'm happy I am keeping you on the edge of your seat so, enjoy!

Paul: No worries my friend and thank you.

I think that's it for now, on to the show.

Chapter 10

(PRIM)

After the first night of training I spent a while talking with Katniss and Gale about everything that had happened during the day and about some of the stuff I'd learned. Dinner was pretty quiet. Since we aren't all on the same team, Gale told me we couldn't talk about the Games in front of everyone and I think they must have thought the same thing because they weren't talking either. I didn't like it. I can feel the tension building in the air as we get closer to the Games. The less time we have the more real it becomes. It's all I can do to stay focused now. We're in the training center for day two and it feels different in here too. Yesterday most of the tributes seemed nervous, today everyone seems desperate. A lot of people are moving from station to station, trying to learn as much as possible at the last minute.

Me, I'm doing exactly what Gale told me to do: Camouflage. It's a fancy word for making yourself blend in. Gale actually asked Peeta to give me a couple of beginners' pointers last night after dinner. I was surprised, not by Peeta agreeing but by Gale asking. But I guess he saw how good Peeta was at it last year and figured it would help me. It's rare to see Gale swallow his pride, and knowing he did it because he really wants me to learn this has made me not want to waste a minute of the training time. When lunch comes, Gale has to physically pick me up after I tell him 'one more minute' for the tenth time. Apparently, food is important too. I had forgotten about that.

It happens to me and mom sometimes at home. We'll be so busy with the patients we'll realize we haven't eaten all day. Mom... I shake the thought away as quickly as it comes. NO Prim! Only see what's in front of you. It's been getting harder and harder but I promised Gale I would be strong and I'm not going to let him down.

He doesn't say much during lunch, just makes funny faces at me every time I take a drink, trying to make me laugh. He does lean towards me at one point, though. "Some of them are watching me. I haven't done anything up till now but they're probably watching you too. So don't be too good at the camouflage." I give him a puzzled look, so he adds, "If they think you aren't that good, they'll think they'll be able to spot you even if you're hidden. If you're really good they'll know that they have to check everything. Learn all the tricks but don't use them here. You can practice them with me when we're in the arena." He leans back like he's done but then he jumps back up a second later and motions me closer. "Play up the cute little girl angle, put a huge flower on all of them. Especially ones that shouldn't have a flower. Like, make a rock on with a big pink flower. If they think you can't help it, they'll be looking for the flowers in the arena too. Then you can practice the better techniques without being too good at them."

When we split up again after lunch, I see Sera, who also makes her way over to the camouflage station. I know I'm not supposed to be making friends but it's not as easy with someone as sweet as Sera. I find it strange that she's not actually practicing the camouflage but making a decorative flower. It's beautiful. She uses petals from several different flowers and somehow turns them into a single flower with all the colors of the sunset in it. She puts it in my hair and brings me over to the mirror to see how beautiful it looks on me. Her smile is sad when I look at it in the mirror. I want to ask her about what's wrong with her but I can't, not here.

I can't take it anymore, I spin around and hug her so fast it takes her a second to react, but she does. She slowly brings her arms around me. "It's gonna be okay." I squeeze her tighter because I know that tone of voice. I've used it before, it's the voice I use to tell patients they're going to be fine, when I know they're not.

Yet she's the one it's not going to be alright for and she's comforting me. I straighten myself out, ignoring the eyes on us from around the room. I don't care if it looks like weakness, Gale's supposed to be the strong one anyway. I hope he didn't see that, he'll want me to explain and I can't.

We go back to the training table and spend the rest of the day getting to know each other. And by the end of the day I consider her my friend. Gale's gonna yell at me.

(?)

I really don't know why I'm supposed to be watching these two. The little one is cute and the big one is downright edible, but I've been watching them this whole time and I really don't understand what the big deal is.

I do.

Really? What?

I can see it in the way he moves, he's like me. And she's a pretty bird, we like pretty birds.

That's right, we sure do. The pretty birds, with pretty wings, with the pretty girls, doing pretty things.

You can have the bird, I want him.

Why? There's only one man for us, you know that.

Yeah, but I bet he tastes like honey. Sticky hot metallic honey. I can't wait. I wanna do it now.

We can't, remember? You remember what he said. We can't hurt any of them until the fun starts.

But there are so many down there. I could take a bath in them.

You're weird.

That's not what you said last time.

Do you remember how long it took us to get it outta our hair?

Who knew blood was so hard to wash out?

Umm... hello? We do.

Sorry... it won't happen again?

Liar! You're thinkin' about it right now.

Get out of my head.

You get out of mine.

I wish...

Oh look. He's doing somethin'!

You're right, we need to get closer. I can't hear what the other one is saying.

Good. Be quiet then, I want to sing.

Sneakin' closer, sneakin' up. Listen closer, listen up... Flippin' twistin', never fall. Smashin' slashin', kill 'em all... Tell me tell me, what you say. So I can tell the boss today...

"Why don't you quit watching everyone and show us what you can do, 12?" One of the guys that the boss told me was on our side says to the hot one. He hands him a sword. Yummy looks at it like it's a toy and then goes to the rack where the rest of the swords are without saying a word. He takes a much bigger one - it's almost the same size as me, and easily swings it around a few times.

See? Look at the way he swings that, the look on his face when he's lookin' at the blade. He sees blood on it.

I think you're just talkin' about yourself.

Well yeah, but he sees it too.

He walks up to the dummy and looks at it, then in one fluid motion brings the sword completely around from behind his back over his shoulder and through the entire dummy, splittin' it right in half. He tosses it on the floor and walks back to the post he'd been leaning against, with most of the room watching him now. We both tremble.

That was really...

Sexy.

Scary.

Same thing. But do you see what I mean...

Yeah, he's gonna to be sooo much fun to play with.

The rest of the time he's pretty borin'. He goes over to his partner once or twice and spends a lot of time watching everyone like I am.

Ya know, I think you're right.

I'm always right. But what am I right about now?

He's like you. I know that look.

Me too, he's watchin' 'em die in his head. Plannin' how he's gonna kill each and every one.

Uh huh. And see that little smirk on his face. I think he likes it.

I think I'm in love. Can I keep him?

Which piece?

I haven't decided yet...

Well, I like ears...

(Gale)

"Remembering everything I learned in the past two days is not gonna be easy. I've been ignoring most of their names and just remembering their faces and matching 'em with what they can do. Strengths, weaknesses, everything I thought would help. It got tough when I had to put pairs together because their strengths' list got bigger, and the weaknesses got fewer. But no matter how many ways I look at it, my abilities stay the same. I paid special attention to the Careers. After last year with the career pack being greatly weakened by Katniss destroying their supplies, they're paying a lot more attention to basic survival skills. They're amateurs but by sheer odds one of them will pick it up eventually. I doubt it would be enough to support much of a group, though. I'm a lot more worried about how well they handle those weapons. I think pretty highly of myself and there's still more than a few I'm sure I wouldn't survive a fair fight with. Which suits me just fine, I never planned on fighting fair in the first place."

Haymitch gives me a devious grin, "Atta Boy." For the first time since we left 12 he's noticeably trashed. It's a good thing he's a functioning alcoholic. "Ya gotta remember... it's always gonna be two on one..." He takes a large swig from his bottle.

"No shit. That's why I gave a little demonstration today on how easily I can turn one of them into two." I'm almost tempted to take a swig of my own. The overwhelming stress of having to deal with this drunken ass is starting to get to me. "But I doubt any of the real threats will let that stop them from coming after us."

"Soo whaddya gonna do, Lover Boy?" he says with a smug arch of his brow.

"You better be really fucking drunk if you're confusing me with him." My tone says, Tread carefully.

"No, just callin' 'em like I see 'em." His tone says, Try it. "If you ask me..."

"It's a good thing I'm not, then," I cut him off. The last thing I want to hear right now is what he thinks. Mostly because he's always right and in that particular situation I'm trying very hard not to think about the truth. Well, really, I'm ignoring a whole list of things that are probably true, but most of them have to do with me being dead and if I find out I'm wrong about that one, at least I won't have to listen to anyone say 'I told you so'.

"Okay, so answer my... thing, then, whaddya gonna do?" He's loving my aggravation.

Well then, I'm not making things easy for him either. I lean forward and motion him close. It takes him some effort to prop himself up enough so that he can sit forward. Then I spell it out. "S... E... C... R... E... T."

He starts to wag a finger at me and opens his mouth like he's about to say something, but then closes it and gives me a puzzled look. "What's that spell again?"

"Secret, it spells secret, you dumb ass." He shrugs and sits back. "Damn, you really are drunk. Didn't you tell me you had too much to do to be drinking? Not that I ever see you doing anything, but hey, I try not to look at you unless I absolutely have to."

"Mirrors are a bitch." Even piss-drunk, his wit never dulls. Spelling skills - no, smartass remarks - no problem.

"I'd never let that happen to me." I sit back, crossing my arms across my chest.

The drunken fog leaves his eyes, replaced by a chilling fire. "Boy, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, and you wouldn't be so high and mighty if you knew the reason for this particular celebration."

His voice tells me this isn't just him running his mouth."Does it have something to do with why you were so busy?"

"It might..." He pours another glass and stares at it for a minute. "You remember that little walk we took when the train refueled?"

I sit back up and my whole body tenses, "Don't tell me..." The sentence dies in my mouth as shock and panic fight for control of my reaction.

"Not completely... But things have changed, and not for the better." He sobered up in about thirty seconds.

I've never hated having to watch my words more than in this moment. "Anything I should know?" I don't know if he's sober enough to pick up on my body language, so I don't bother with double talk.

"You have to survive to the end." He says it like I don't know.

"No shit, living is kinda the point." I shake my head at him.

"Yeah well... we have to... we have to wait... wait until a winner is named... Then we'll see what happens." It takes him a long time to get it all out and it's because no matter how drunk, he knows exactly what he's telling me and so do I.

I lean back and the room melts away as I stare at my reflection in the side of the bottle. I look like I'm taking it pretty well. That's good. It's important to keep up appearances after all.

"So you're saying..." He doesn't make me finish.

"Yeah kid... I am sayin'." He puts down his drink and pushes it away, apparently it's lost its taste.

Well at least now I know... I'm more relieved than scared. Now that it's a certainty, I find all the fear and anxiety lifting from my shoulders. With it gone, my mind clears and begins racing in a million directions at once, and I can see it all. I've had so many ideas and plans, but it was mostly me pulling things out of my ass and remembering everything I've learned up till now. Granted, I made a great show of knowing what I was doing but a lot of it was luck. Add in a couple of strokes of genius and a little help from Cinna and here we are.

But now all the pieces of my brain that have been thinking about what's going to happen and been afraid finally joined the party. I guess this is what they mean by a moment of clarity... I have only one last concern. "You'll take care of them right? All of them. They'll need… him too."

"Well I can't do any worse than I've been..." This is not the time for him to be a smartass with me and I think he realizes it just as I begin shifting my weight to stand up. "...I promise kid. You deserve at least that much."

I stand up anyway, there's nothing else I need to know. "Well, I gotta get some sleep. Scoring is tomorrow and I'm going to show them something they've never seen before."

Haymitch looks up at me like he's trying to figure me out, which I figured he had a long time ago. Then he cracks a smile. "Why do I believe that?"

(Katniss)

Usually the warmth and comfort of the warm body next to me is all I need to sleep peacefully. Nightmares hold no threat to me with these comforting arms around me. But it's not bad dreams that are keeping me awake now. I can't stop thinking about Gale. About the kisses we shared, about what those kisses did to me. About the want... no, need that I feel getting stronger every second I'm near him. And about how every minute that passes brings me closer to the last time I'll ever see him. I won't see him the morning of the Games. And the night before... the night before is my... my wedding night.

I never liked the idea of being forced to marry Peeta. How could I? It wasn't my choice, he wasn't my choice. But I had come to terms with it, and made a kind of peace with myself. I could do much worse, he's a great guy and he has proven that he truly loves me. That's all most girls have ever wanted. So I accepted it as the way it had to be. I'd even told myself that I was going to be happy just to spite Snow. But now I have my heart set on someone, and it's not my groom.

The worst part is, there's nothing that I can do about it. It is going to happen, and there's nothing short of killing myself that I can do to stop it. But that would be an unforgivable betrayal. Gale is only here because of me, so I can't give up and take the easy way out. Not when he's walking through hell for me. So instead, here I am, failing to find any kind of peace...

When it comes right down to it, it's anger... I'm angry. Angry at Snow, angry at the Capitol and their stupid games, angry at Gale for always having to be so good to me. And most of all angry at myself for not seeing what's been right in front of my face all this time. Not until now, when the whole world is pitted against us being together, and the sands of time have all but run out on the possibility of us. How could I have been so blind? Why did I take him for granted?

Oddly enough, the answer still isn't on the ceiling and I would know since I've been staring at it for more than two hours now. Well, I did share a little of that time with the wall, and I can tell you the answer isn't there either. Probably because there is no answer... but I have one more place I have to look before I give up. The only problem now is how to get up without disturbing the figure sleeping next to me. It's a time-honored art that I've developed over the years of getting up before dawn to hunt. I use my free hand to push my pinned arm deeper into the mattress, which allows me to slip it out with ease. I slowly slide to the edge of the bed, making sure to tuck the blanket in where I was to hold the warmth there. I'm wearing a simple long t-shirt and I add to it a pair of the Capitol's loose pajama pants because I'm not about to start walking around the halls half-naked.

I don't bother with shoes or socks. Even if there was anything on the floor that could hurt me, it would have been cleaned up by an Avox within moments. I regret the choice, though, when I get off the small rug near the bed and my feet touch the cold marble floor. I actually let out a surprised gasp before I can clasp my hand over my mouth. I freeze in place to see if I'm caught, but no sounds come from behind me. I exhale and take the last few steps to the door. My hand touches the handle and... "Katniss, where ya goin'?" The voice comes from the bed.

Damn it, so close... "Just to get some air. Go back to sleep," I say, soft and easy, hoping it doesn't sound like the lie it is.

"Sooo... you're not going to his room?" the voice accuses.

"No... I mean, whose room?" Busted.

The covers fly through the air and the figure crosses the room in a blur and is on me in a second. "I knew it. I saw you earlier, you tried to hide it but I saw you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say, trying to grab the door handle again.

My hand is quickly pulled away, "Oh no, you do! Explain yourself."

"I don't have to explain what I'm doing to you." I speak before I think, which never goes well.

"Ah! So you admit it, you are doing something!" I'm folding fast.

"I'm not doing anything wrong." I say that but I find myself shrinking away,

"But you are going to see Gale?" It's not really a question and there's no point in lying.

I brace myself for the repercussions, "Yeah."

Our bodies collide with surprising forceand I'm knocked onto my back. I look up into crystal blue eyes. "Yes! Yes-yes-yes-yes! Finally!"

"Prim get off of me!"

"Why? So you can go to Gale's room? You're gonna leave me all alone and go sleep in his bed? What a horrible sister you are." I know she's kidding but my shoulders still sink with guilt. I can't believe I was going to leave her.

"Prim, I'm..." She scoffs before I can finish my apology.

"Get out right now. Leave! I don't want you here." She gets up and with a little bit of struggle pulls me up too. She starts pushing me towards the door, ignoring my stuttered protests. She grabs me by the arm, opens the door, and is half way through pushing me out of it when she suddenly jerks me back into the room and pushes me flat against the door. She's surprisingly strong, not that I'm putting up much of a fight, but I still hit the door with a thud.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Make up your mind."

"Oh you're still going, but not looking like that." She waves her hand at me with disdain. Apparently, my t-shirt and pajama pants don't impress her. "Kat... I know you're really terrible at being a girl, but really? You were going to go to Gale's room looking like that? I'm embarrassed for you. Did it occur to you that we're in the Capitol now? Did you see all the clothes in the drawers?" She walks over to one of the dressers and pulls out a black bra made of some material that I can see right through. "Don't you think Gale would like this better?"

I wish I had one of those cameras they have here, because no one would believe the evil look that's on my sister's angelic face. "Prim! Are you serious? I am not wearing that." I rip it out of her hands and hastily shove it back in the drawer and slam it shut, standing in front of it.

She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. "You're no fun..." She looks around the room and then opens a closet. She pulls out a short satin night gown. I'd seen them when I was here last time. This one's gray with spaghetti straps and it would cover me, but only just. "Put this on." It's not a question, not the way she says it, with her arms crossed and her foot stamping. So I do it, quickly disrobing and putting on my sister's choice for me. I must admit I like the way it feels against my skin and smile secretly when I think Gale probably will too.

Prim looks me over. My hair is in a braid and I'm glad when her eyes scan past it. She seems generally satisfied with the result. She starts pushing me towards the door again but before we get there, she peels off as an afterthought and grabs me a long robe to wear over it. "Okay, what you're gonna do is, walk in, wait by the door until he's looking at you and then drop the robe slowly..."

She's got me to the door again and is pushing me out when I push my way back in for a second and ask, "Then what?

She gives me a look that tells me that I'm the dumbest person in the world. "Are you serious? Past that you're on your own. Hello... I'm only 13, how would I know?"

"I don't know. How do you know all this other stuff?" But I'm saying it to the outside of her door. I sigh and then try to re-muster the courage I had built up a minute ago. I was much more comfortable in the clothes I had on. I could've just walked in and talked to him, with those on. I'm not saying that's the only thing I had on my mind, but it was the first thing on my mind. But now? With this on, even I can barely think of anything besides how easily he could take it off.

I know him. He'll see me dressed like this and think it's my unspoken surrender. If it'd been my choice to dress this way he'd be right to, and he's not all wrong now. I want to be with him, maybe even tonight, but I want to talk to him first. I want him to know it's not just because of what he's doing for me, or that I might lose him. I love him and he needs to know it's for everything he is, not just for what he gives to me.

Maybe if I just keep the robe on...

A/N: So who wants to know what happens next? lol. Like I said this was a bit shorter than my other chapters. But if was either a little short and a quicker update or really long and slower update. Not to mention this way was a much better cliffhanger. :P

And I hope my mystery POV came out good. I was going for pretty much batshit insane and I think I succeeded. Any guesses? And while a correct answer, "A serious problem" is not their name.

Author Request: I'm wondering if there are any artists out there that would like to help me out with something. Here's the deal; I have an idea for the most amazing movie poster-ish picture for this story in my head. The problem is, I lack the artistic ability to make the image in my head a reality. So I'm wondering if someone will help me. It's not overly complicated, and I don't have a preference as to how it's done. It could be a basic sketch or painted, in any art style.

Now seeing as we can't make money off any of this stuff (the whole illegal bit) so I can't offer genuine payment. What I can offer is; praise before all as I will sing your praises in my A/Ns. Insider info, for example I could send the rest of the scene that just finished or early access to my chapters days before they're posted. Unfortunately that's all I can think of as bribery. If you're willing to help please PM me. I'll explain the idea for the poster and you can decide if you want to help. Thanks a lot.

As always please review!