Authors note: To say that I was disappointed… is an understatement. When I saw how many reviews I got when I had the chance to check my yahoo… well I was sad, guess my stories aren't that good for all of you guys. Oh well, I always knew my stories were weird. So with a heavy heart, I'll do my best to make my stories review worthy…

He's right. I have nothing tying me down… maybe I should go into the games.

I pulled at my hair. "But the games are all about killing. I don't want that to haunt me." I whispered to myself as I banged my head back against the bark of the tree.

With a sigh, I stood up and let my legs walk, just roaming the forest. I glanced down at my watch and bit my lip, two hours and thirty minutes left.

"What do I do?" I whispered to myself as I took in a deep breath trying to weigh the options.

On one hand, there is the district… I don't have a family that is worth suffering for… that will be there for me, I lived in a terrible home.

On the other hand, the games is survival of the fittest… a light bulb went off in my head.

I straitened. "The games is all about survival of the fittest… and whoever wins gets respect and honor… and wealth." I whispered to myself as I started to paint out a yellow brick road, a small smile forming. "Maybe… If I win the games… I might get the respect I deserve from my father… maybe he will finally be proud of me… maybe he'll love me again. I'll get to go home, sleep in a comfortable bed, and move on with life, start a family… start over." I whispered to myself as I froze closed my eyes as I imagined what would happen.

Daydream-

I stood up, my legs barely able to hold me up as I looked down at the player I just killed. I can't believe it… I won…

Out of nowhere Zim ran up to me and grabbed a hold of my hand lifting it in the air. "The winner of the Games!" he shouted and then I heard a roar of cheers.

I looked up at Zim. "Take me home." I whispered as I blacked out.

I woke up to someone shaking me. "Gaz! You're awake!" my dad cried out hugging me to him. "I thought I lost you." He whispered as tears ran down his face.

-End Daydream

I snapped back to reality and found myself hugging my torso. "I'm going to the games." I said as I ran in the direction where I came from.

By the time I was close to the sound of rushing water I was starting to see stars from running so much. I looked down at the watch to see that it was seven.

Leaning over and putting my hands on my knees I took in deep shallow breaths and let them out noisily. When I felt in complete control of my body again, I got up and walked over to the rushing water and knelled down next to it reaching down and cupping my hands in it, splashing my face with the water.

I dried my face with the end of my dress and let it fall again as I looked down at my reflection with disgust. "Am I really going to do this?" I whispered to myself. "Am I really that desperate to feel appreciated?"

Zim appeared next to my reflection. "It's not healthy to talk to yourself the way you are doing it." He murmured.

I rolled my eyes, but stayed quiet not taking my eyes away from my reflection.

"I know how you feel, Gaz. I hope you know that you aren't the only one that feels the way you do." He whispered looking at my reflection.

I shook my head. "You have no idea how conflicted I feel right now." I murmured looking down at my hands.

He sighed. "What I'm about to tell you… you better keep quiet about this." He growled sending a glare in my direction but then looked back down at his hands. "Because of me, my mother died." He whispered.

I froze and then turned to look at him.

He looked at me and then back down at his hands. "I have an older sister, a dad and an uncle. They all look down at me. They look down at me with such hatred." He whispered shaking his head as he fingered the grass.

"Why?" I whispered, what has he done to be hated by his family?

"I killed my mother when I was born… the medical drone had to choose between me and my mother… they chose me, and well, my family didn't take it that well." He whispered. "I have never felt loved, and I desperately want to know what that feels like… I want to know what it's like for someone to feel proud of you… I want to know what it's like to be appreciated just as much as you do." He whispered, his voice quivering at the end as he shut his eyes tightly and bit his lip.

I looked up at him and then at his reflection to see that a tear had escaped him and rolled down his cheek.

I blinked in shock. "Who's your family?" I asked him.

He quickly wiped away the tear and looked in the other direction. "The tallest… Tallest Purple was my mother's brother… and Tallest Red is my father… and the beloved Tak is my sister." He growled. "She's the one that I'm up against." He growled his voice growing dark with hatred.

I looked at him and frowned. "Zim… I'll play in the games." I whispered.

His eyes shot open in shock. "Why?" he asked.

"This is the one way I'll get my father be proud of me…" I told him standing up and looking down at him offering my hand to help him up.

He looked at my hand and then up at me as he took it.

I pulled him up. "Lead the way Zim. We better get to training." I told him as I walked in the direction of the ship.

"Gaz. Just because I told you the sob story that is my life, doesn't mean that in any way we are going to be friends. If you get killed out there, I will not want to feel the same way that I felt when your mother died." He growled walking ahead of me with a stiff back.

I glared at him but the shook it off. "Alright then, it's settled. We keep it professional." I said as I walked ahead of him.

I could feel his glare as he skipped a step to get ahead of me. "And don't you forget your place Gaz. From now on I am your master." He said, not looking back at me.

I huffed. "Don't worry, I won't forget." I said chuckling as I ran past him.

"Gaz, you just forgot it!" he exclaimed as he ran after me.

"No I haven't! I just don't want to be in that position." I said laughing not looking back.

I heard a growl behind me but I ignored it. Next thing I know I was on my back laying on the ground a furious Zim on top of me.

I glared at him. "Get off." I growled pushing at his chest.

"Don't ever respond to me the way you did. You will show me respect." He hissed glaring back at me.

"And what if I don't." I asked him, pushing his buttons.

"You won't get far in the games then. I'll make sure of that." He growled.

"Why would you want your player to get hurt?"

"You don't know how the games work; do you?" he questioned.

"It's all about killing Zim. I know how it works." I growled at him as I rolled him off me and got up, dusting myself off.

"That's only half of it Gaz." He said as he got up and walked ahead of me as he dusted himself off.

"Oh really? And what's the other half?" I asked him as I walked beside him.

He looked down at me. "Image." He said as we walked up to the ship.

I looked up at the ship and there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. Did I really want to do this?

"What do you mean image?" I asked him as he opened the ship.

He held out his hand for me to take. "The kind of image that you have to have in your district in order to have connections. If you get hurt in the arena, let's say you are being supported by the medical drones, you get medical help. If you get hungry, and you are supported by foodcortia then you get to eat. It's all about your image and the connections that you get because of it." He said as I took his hand.

He helped me up into the ship and jumped in after me.

"Gazzy!" I heard Gir exclaim and attach himself to my leg.

Author note: Well, I guess the only reason to keep going with this story is on how many reviews/views this chapter gets. I'll keep writing… I just won't post anything…