A/N: Thank you to my reviewers who have their PM feature disabled: once and future, and to my anonymous reviewers: anon, Ugottaluvcato, Jag, silentxangel, saph, Anonymous, Who wants to hear a spoiler, Eyrie, Priscilla X. Silver, TSCxHG, xcitedfan, OneLiner, Mockingjay14, summersunset, alexis v, ke and nevsmile!


And then I hear Rue scream.

My heart freezes, and my eyes widen to the size of saucers.

"Rue!" I scream. Then, yelling at Cato: "Let me go!"

With renewed strength, I thrash at him wildly, my arms and legs flailing. To my surprise, Cato steps back and releases me. He seems to be in shock, just as thrown off as I am by Rue's scream, which tells me that he didn't plan this attack.

It doesn't matter. Maybe he isn't full of lies, but he is the one to blame for this.

"Give me my arrows," I hiss at Cato, grabbing at them as the words spill out of my mouth.

Again, he doesn't resist. Cato lets me slip the sheath off his shoulder and back onto mine. I'm about to turn around when he finally speaks up.

"Someone must have followed me," he says. I detect a note of desperation in his voice. He doesn't know what to do, but he knows he can't stop me, not unless he wants to completely shatter our relationship and undo all his work of convincing me that he cares. "I don't know what's going on, but you're not going to be able to save her in time. Come back with me."

I grit my teeth, angered by his quick dismissal of Rue, as if it's pointless for me to go. He doesn't understand friendship. He doesn't know what it's like to care about someone, and the idea of putting someone else's life before his own is preposterous to him. And yet somehow he has never applied his school of thought to me. At first, I thought he was pretending because he wanted sponsors. Somewhere along the way though, it became real.

So he should understand, but he doesn't. Even if he is right, and I don't get there in time, I have to be there for her. I have to avenge her.

"I'm going to Rue, and you're not stopping me," I say angrily. "She's more than an ally to me. She's my friend. And the only reason she is in trouble is because of you. This is all your fault! You led them here."

For a brief moment, I can see the hurt flicker across his face. Then it's replaced with anger. How he can be mad in this moment is beyond me. He's like a child. When things don't go his way, even if it's his fault, he gets upset.

"If I let you go, you have to promise to come back," he says.

The nerve! Who does he think he is to be commanding me like that?

Well, I'll come back all right.

"I'll come to the Cornucopia today," I say, staring at him with steely eyes, my voice thick as lead. "But you have to leave. Now."

Cato nods. Turning around, he begins running back the way he came from. Not a second later, I'm on my way sprinting towards the river and cursing Cato for keeping me so long.

"Katniss!" Rue cries out for me.

I need her to know that I'm on my way. More importantly, I need to distract her attacker.

"Rue!" I shout back. "I'm coming!"

My heart is thumping a thousand beats a minute now as I run as fast as I can, faster than when I left the Careers. I dive into the river and, holding my bow in my right hand, wade towards Rue's voice.

Cato doesn't realize what he's done – not only to Rue, but to me as well. He doesn't know how livid I am. Just as he lacks courtesy and manners, he is entirely incapable of apologizing, much less seeing his faults. Selfish Cato, come to retrieve the girl on fire as if he would sweep me off my feet. He doesn't know how his actions have consequences.

"Katniss!" Rue screams again.

I scramble out of the water, climbing over the rocks with deftness that parallels Rue's.

Where on earth is Peeta? He should have been with her or at least in the vicinity. He most certainly was closer to Rue than I was. The absence of his voice alarms me. For all I know, he could already be dead.

Though my drenched clothes are heavy and should weigh me down, I push onwards, sprinting even faster than before as I follow Rue's voice.

I hear her cry out my name one more time before I stumble through the branches and find her on the ground. My heart sinks when I see the spear protruding from her body. I look up to see Peeta and Marvel wrestling on the ground. Just like in the bloodbath, I intervene, sending an arrow through Marvel's neck.

I immediately turn around and kneel at Rue's side.

"Is Clove here?" I ask frantically. She's the only other Career now besides Cato.

Rue shakes her head.

I look at her wound, the tears welling in my eyes. I want so badly to help her that my heart aches, but not even the fancy medicine from the Capitol could heal her, for the spear is so far lodged in her stomach that it would kill her just to remove it.

Rue's eyes reach mine, and I see that she knows it. She knows she is dying.

"You came," she whispers.

And though she is the one who should be frightened, the terror seizes me as I grasp her hand tightly. Though she is the one who should be crying, the burning tears stream down my face. Though she is the one who should feel betrayed, my heart breaks.

"I'm so sorry," I sob. "I should have never left you."

A soft smile tugs at the corner of Rue's lips. Her bravery and compassion never ceases to amaze me. She is the real star of the Games, not me.

"This isn't your fault," she says. "I wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for you."

Back in the cave, Peeta said that giving me the burned bread was the best thing he ever did in his life. Well giving Rue those supplies was the best thing I have ever done in mine. It may not have saved her in the end, but it bought me priceless time to get to know her, to become friends.

"You have to blow up the food," Rue says. "You have to finish what we started."

"I will," I promise. "We'll use the Mockingjays, like you said. And I'll win. For both of us."

The cannon goes off for Marvel, but I don't pay it any attention. The entire forest could be on fire, and I wouldn't care. My eyes are only for the fragile girl before me, the one who took me from the Careers and taught me how to smile and laugh again.

Rue asks me to stay. I of course abide. I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else, not even home, and that's what I tell her.

I gently slide her head onto my lap. My fingers begin braiding her hair the way my mother used to braid mine. I haven't sung since my father died, but I feel the sudden urge to sing to Rue. And though my throat is raw, my voice coarse from shouting and crying, I start singing a song that reminds me of Rue, a song of hope.

Her eyes close, and her breathing slows, but she manages to weakly squeeze my hand one more time. It's her way of telling me to continue.

I finish the song long after she's stopped breathing. I kiss her softly on her forehead, my tears raining down on her, and lay her back on the ground.

"That was beautiful," Peeta whispers from behind me. "I haven't heard you sing since your father passed away."

In my last moments with Rue, I completely forgot about Peeta. I turn around to face him, and I see his eyes are glistening, too.

"I tried to save her," he croaks. "I was too late, and I-"

I lean in and kiss him, cutting him off mid-sentence. I know it's the only way to get him to stop talking. Though Rue forgave me, I am consumed with guilt. I can't stand listening to Peeta blame himself, too.

It seems that ever since the Games began, I have only been capable of death and destruction. I've caused so much damage by coming back. I should have never left the Careers. Then Rue would be alive, and she and Peeta would be happy in their cave.

I pull back from the kiss.

"I should have never come back to you two," I say, the never-ending tears streaming down my face. "You and Rue would have been better off without me."

Peeta wraps his arms around me and pulls me back in, my head resting on his chest. My tears soak his jacket, but he doesn't seem to mind.

"I would have died from those berries on the first day if it weren't for you sending Rue to me," Peeta says. "And Rue needed those supplies."

"It didn't matter in the end," I sob. "She died because of me."

"She lived because of you. You were there for her until the end," Peeta says. "I don't think she would have traded the time she spent with you for anything else. I know I wouldn't."

I believe him. Though I should feel otherwise, I don't. Does that make me selfish like Cato? I wanted to be with Peeta and Rue, and as a result, my actions led to drastic consequences.

The cannon goes off for Rue and interrupts my thoughts.

"We can't leave her like that," I say, turning back to Rue's body.

The hovercraft will come as soon as we clear out, but I'm not ready to leave, not yet.

Peeta nods solemnly.

"There were some wildflowers back where I was collecting wood," Peeta says, motioning the way.

I follow him, and the two of us collect blossoms of pink, orange and yellow. Our arms are overflowing with the wildflowers. We take them back to Rue and arrange them in her hair, around her body, and in her hands until the colors blend together to form a dying sunset.

We stand silently for a few minutes, watching her sleep.

"Come on," Peeta murmurs to me.

Before we walk away, Peeta and I give our three-fingered salute and hold it in Rue's direction. Finally I understand Gale's rants and ravings. Except he was only able to blow off steam when we hunted, while I actually get to send a message. We want everyone watching to know that we don't condone this, that it's wrong to kill a little twelve-year-old girl, that it's wrong for all of us to be here.

The nightmares I had the first night were of my family and Gale disapproving of me and my actions in the Games. I was only a killer then, not very different from the Careers. And while I don't think Gale would hold any of my killings against me – after all, he wants me to win – I know that this would make him proud.

Rue came along and taught me a very important lesson: to not let the Games change who I am. I will win for both of us, but as Katniss Everdeen of District 12, nothing more and nothing less.

We start heading back to the cave when I notice blood seeping from Peeta's left leg.

"You're hurt!" I say.

Why didn't Peeta say anything earlier?

Peeta looks down at his leg as if he's seeing it for the first time, too.

"Oh yeah," he says. "I forgot. The District 1 guy had a knife on him and he got me in the leg."

In his rush to save Rue, Peeta didn't even notice he was hurt. Cato, on the other hand, tried to dissuade me from going to help my friend. The two of them are like night and day. I am somewhere in-between, more selfish than Peeta but more compassionate than Cato. However, I don't know to which end I fall closer. I suppose that's the whole point of this love triangle, to find out who I match up better with. Everyone in the Capitol has surely made up their minds. Given that we're fighting in the Games, I don't think I'll have much say.

"Is it deep?" I ask worriedly.

I bend down to examine his wound. The cut isn't as long as what Glimmer gave me, but it's deeper. So long as we clean it soon, it shouldn't become infected. I'm glad I was able to save some of that ointment, but I'm not sure if we'll have anything left after this.

"Let's get to the river quickly so we can wash this," I say. "Did he cut you anywhere else?"

Peeta shakes his head.

Luckily the river is only minutes away. Once we thoroughly clean out the wound – Peeta only grunts in pain a couple of times – I help him back to the cave, where I retrieve the ointment from my backpack.

I dip my fingers into the ointment and gently apply it to Peeta's wound.

"Wow," Peeta says as he watches the medicine do its magic.

The bleeding immediately stops and the wound slowly begins to close.

"It's pretty good stuff," I say.

"You have some nice sponsors," Peeta replies.

All thanks to him. Of course, I don't say that out loud.

"We should pack our stuff," I say.

It's unlikely that anyone knows of our location except Cato, but once I destroy the supplies, Cato will come back to the woods looking for me. I know how tenacious he is; he would eventually find us. It's best if we move, so we pack everything. It's also eerie staying where Rue once slept. This place is full of memories of her.

"So we're proceeding with the plan?" Peeta asks.

He doesn't sound hesitant like when we first came up with the idea. In fact, Peeta sounds determined. We're both committed to fulfilling my promise to Rue. We'll make sure that she did not die in vain.

"We're proceeding," I nod.

After deliberating for a few minutes, I decide not to mention my run-in with Cato. It would needlessly worry Peeta, and there's enough on our minds.

But I do have another promise to fulfill for Cato, though it is one in the same as my promise to Rue. I am going back to the Cornucopia like he demanded. But he doesn't know what he's asked for. Only when he sees the plume of smoke and the ashes that were once the fruits of his success will he know. Only then might he understand the pain that he caused me today, the pain that will live with me for the rest of my life.

As I pack the food, I realize that I never did catch anything this morning.

"I didn't get to hunt," I say.

What I mean to say though is that I don't want to hunt again, not after what happened. I don't think I could find any comfort in hunting or anything else for that matter. My thoughts are all focused on one thing and one thing only: destroying the supplies. Only then will I have any peace of mind.

"We have enough food," Peeta says.

He, too, seems eager to carry out our mission.

Peeta and I split the energy bars and leftover fruit, though I give him considerably more. I also give him the pot and packets of soup and porridge. I take Rue's old sleeping bag. I can picture her cocooned in it. It reminds me of her comment about me sleeping with Peeta, and how hard I blushed. I miss her already.

"We're not going to be apart for that long," Peeta says.

There's always a chance that I won't return, whether it's because I succeed and Cato snaps my neck in anger or because he catches me and doesn't let me go. And I suppose I haven't really chosen between Peeta and Cato yet, even though I am working with Peeta against Cato at the moment, which is more so for Rue than anything. Angry as I am at Cato, he didn't intentionally bring along Marvel. It's why I'm only sabotaging his supplies and not plotting to take his life. So who knows what will happen at the Cornucopia? But I don't say that.

"If it takes a while, we might not be able to meet by nightfall," I say instead, which is also true.

With all of our supplies in my backpack and his duffel bag, Peeta and I leave the now empty cave and go back to the forest. He and Rue already collected most of the wood, so Peeta and I spend the next few hours building the first two campfires.

We're working on the second campfire when Claudius Templesmith's voice booms from above us. I'm surprised to hear him because there has been a lot of bloodshed today, so there is no pressing need to bring us together. Or perhaps Peeta and I are in trouble for our rebellious act, namely decorating Rue's body with flowers. However, I'm not sure what they would do about that with us here in the arena. That in itself is already a punishment.

Claudius first congratulates us seven remaining tributes. When I hear the number seven, I'm startled to realize that there are almost one fourth of us left. Just last night there were nine of us.

"There has been a rule change," Claudius announces to my surprise. I've never heard of such a thing. "Under the new rule, both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive."

Wait, what?

As if Claudius can read our minds, he speaks again.

"I repeat: both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive," Claudius says. "Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Finally his words sink in. There can be two winners this year if they're from the same district. That means both Peeta and I can live if we're the last ones left alive.

Suddenly, I'm not so sure if Cato will be expecting me anymore or if he even wants to be reunited with me. I'm sure Clove is reveling in this new rule change, for she now has a good chance of winning. The Capitol has pitted her and Cato against Peeta and me. What perfect timing, right after Rue's death. The Capitol has escalated our lovers' quarrel into a full blown war. There's still Foxface and Thresh, but the main showdown will be between Districts 2 and 12, which leaves Peeta and me at quite the disadvantage. I don't know if I can do this, if I can bring myself to fight Cato.

As I always thought, this love triangle had to come to an end. I just didn't think it would be so soon.

Cato, do you still not want me dead?