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Septa:

I place my last outfit into my bag and close it with a snap. It's time to go. The Capitol can't hold the bodies of Cain and Cynthia any longer. I've already asked Lin to go to the banquet in my place. I can't do it this time. Not when Cain is dead. How can I mask my pain when it is someone I've known all his life? No mask can hide it now. Maybe in the future, at the next Reaping and the next tribute's death, the mask will hide it. But not right now. Right now, I need to be able to mourn and comfort Hima. She raised Cain from a young boy to the sixteen year old who was chosen for the Games. I have to tell her that he tried to give his life so that Cynthia could come back and be with Isaac. That the hand she extended to him, no matter what the Capitol thinks, was one of thanks for trying. I know the moment I step out of this building, the reporters are going to be trying to ask me my opinion on the matter. I will tell them the truth. My male tribute tried to get the female tribute back to District Twelve because his brother loved her, not him. I sigh and sling my bag over my shoulder and pull my eagle medallion out from beneath my shirt. Cain's token is in my bag. Cynthia's is with her in her pine wood box. Her parents have the choice whether or not to bury it with her. I know Hima will want Cain's back so she could have a piece of him. Cain had become good at carving, which is how he acquired accurate hands with knives. His token had been a pin I made with help from Ed. Ed had made the design. I had cast it in gold and some of the silver I had bought to incorporate into my sculptures. The pin had been a wolf, his favorite animal.

I wipe the tears from my eyes and hurry out of my room. The train will be leaving soon with Cain and Cynthia. I need to be on it. I bump into someone as I step off the elevator. "Sorry," I mumble and move to go around. They don't let me. "I have a train to catch."

"So you were just going to leave without saying good-bye." Evan says. I look up at him. At eighteen, Evan stands taller than me by a good five inches. I don't know if it is a growth spurt, or if his parents lied about his age so he had a better chance in the Games. He was supposedly thirteen when he was chosen, but sometimes I wonder. Especially at times like now, when I have to look up at him.

"Yes, that is the plan. Shouldn't you be waiting for Eva to wake up?"

"She's still out cold in the hospital. I came up to see how you were doing. You're tributes did die at the same time, almost."

"As you can see, I am fine." A total lie, but I don't care.

"Then why won't you stay for the banquet?"

"Because I am very close to the family of my male tribute. They will want to know the truth about their son's death. The Capitol is saying that Cain and Cynthia were star-crossed lovers, like Katniss and Peeta."

"And that is a lie?"

"Yes," I say and sidestep around him. I stop a few feet away and look over my shoulder. "Give Eva my congratulations. If Cain or Cynthia couldn't win, I am glad District Eleven did." I smile and then walk away. I barely get half way through the City Circle before I am trapped by the cameras.

"Septa, you saw the holding hands at the death of your female tribute. Everyone is saying that they were secret lovers. Did you know about this?"

"I did not know about this because it is not true. Cain Greenman was trying to save Cynthia Sallis for someone they both cared deeply about. Her holding his hand was nothing more than a thank you for being there at the end with her. And for trying to make sure she was the one who got home to the one she loved." I push my way past the cameras and get into the car which speeds me to the train station where I barely catch the train. I sit down in my compartment and close the shades on the windows, making it dark so I can be alone.

It's darks outside when I finally emerge from my compartment. I turn on the television and find that Eva has woken up. They are replaying her crowning. They flash to her mentor, Evan, and then the rest of the mentors. I am noticeably absent. This will cause gossip for sure in the Capitol. Lin will be swamped with letters asking for the reason I left early. I sigh and turn it off just as the President is walking on stage to crown her. Eva looked good. Evan must have let her be surgically altered. Something I would never allow happen. I look for food, but they've already put it away. I go back to my room and order some. It arrives minutes later. They must have been waiting for me to emerge. As I eat, I look at Cain's pin. I don't even know for sure if Hima wants it back. If she doesn't, I will take it and give it to Isaac if he ever enters the Games.

I clench my fist around the pin and throw the bowl of soup against the wall. It's not fair! Why do we have to suffer for the crimes of generations long dead?! I throw the class of water next. I slump against the wall beneath a window and cry. It's not fair and there is nothing I can do about it. I hear the door open and ignore whoever comes in to clean my mess. I'm surprised when I feel an arm around me. I know Lin isn't on this train. I look up and see Katniss.

"What are you doing here?" I try to sound mean, but all that comes out is a harsh whisper.

"Septa, you are not alone. Lin doesn't know what it is like to put all you have in training a tribute and then watch them be killed."

"This is different."

"No, Septa. It's not. It only feels this way because Cain was closer to you. When I lost my first tribute, I wanted to break. She was the little sister of a dear friend of mine. She knew me the moment she saw me. I tried my best to get her home only to fail. She died in the final eight. No one knew, and I wasn't allowed to go back to the District with her like you are now. I had to put on a mask and hide in the shadows as another tribute was crowned victor." I look at the pin in my hand.

"It's not fair. We are paying for the crimes of people who are long dead. You tried to do something about it and look what happened. You have to call the Capitol home and act like you are dead to the Districts." I catch her looking at the pin. "What are the chances of Isaac going into the Games next year?"

"It's hard to say. He could get lucky and get passed up, but his chances get worse from there. As long as you haven't done anything to upset the Capitol, he should be safe."

"But the stunt Cain pulled. And then Cynthia holding his hand as she died. I may have doomed him with my words as I left."

"Then you get him to the end, Septa." I clench my fist around the pin again.

"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't allowed to leave the Capitol."

"I'm not. But I had to see how you were doing. Lin wouldn't have told me. You can talk to me, Septa. I know what you are going through." I look at her. She is sincere. Can I really talk to her?

Hima:

She stood by herself, looking at the marker that marked the place of her brother's grave. "Septa promised she would bring you home to us. I guess she has. But I know she promised to bring you home alive. So what happened, Cain?"

"Hima," she didn't turn around. She knew that it was Septa. She had been avoiding her for the past week, ever since they had buried the children. Isaac and the twins and Ed still found it in their hearts to be near her. But she had half a mind to move back to her old home.

"How did you find me?"

"I knew where you would be." Septa walked up to stand next to her. "Hima,"

"No, don't!" Hima rounded on Septa. "Don't you dare say you tried! If you had, Cain would have come home alive like you promised you would get him! You promised me, Septa Águila! So what happened? Why is Cain dead?" Septa's sapphire eyes met her brown ones. "What happened?"

"Cain happened. You've been avoiding me so I couldn't tell you the truth. I know that the reporters keep saying that Cain and Cynthia were star-crossed lovers doomed to die. But you and I both know that is not true. Do you want to know the truth?" Hima nodded. "The truth is, the morning after the Opening Ceremonies, after they had decided to train separately, Cain told me that I wouldn't be able to save him. Even if I had tried, he would have made sure Cynthia won in the end. So I agreed to help him. He even made himself a bigger target in the arena than her."

"Why? Why didn't he want to come back?"

"He wanted Isaac to be happy." Septa replied, breaking eye contact to look at the grave. "I wanted to get him to the end and crowned the victor so he could come home. I wanted him to come home. It's not the same without him." Hima looked and saw the tears running down Septa's face. She had never known her best friend and sister to cry. Ever since she had gotten back from the Capitol with the bodies, she had been in the forge unless she was looking for her. "Here, he would have wanted you to have this." Septa placed something in her hand and then walked away. Hima opened her hand and saw a wolf made of gold with lines and twists of silver. She had seen it pinned to his shirt when she had watched the Games.

"Cain always did take care of everyone else first, just like the alpha of a wolf pack. I love you, Little Brother." Hima kissed her finger tips and placed them on the marker a moment before following Septa back to the house in Victor's Village. She knew Cain would not want her to wallow in her misery. She had Isaac, a husband, and two children to take care of. She was ready to take care of the ones who needed her, including Septa. Septa had made sure she came back with him and was here to comfort her best friend. "I have been selfish. Septa needs me more than I need her. She is still suffering from nightmares and these are going to be the worst ones yet because Cain will be in them."

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