Hello, all! I've gotten a lot of reviews in the past few days asking for an update. Well, ask and you shall receive!

The reason I haven't updated in a month is that I work at Disney World now! I absolutely love it, but the hours are long and I only get a couple of days off. So now thatI've taken a month off to get adjusted, I can return to more regular updates for you guys!

Okay, today I'll upload two chapters just to say thanks for letting me know how much you love the story.

Hercules was trying to soldier on, even though Meg could tell that his shoulder was causing him a lot of pain. She had done what she could, but the medicine only helped so much. It would take a long time to heal. They continued for two days, tracking their progress with notches on trees. They couldn't afford to go in circles. Meg was almost positive that there was someone following them, but as long as they didn't put a sword in their backs, Meg couldn't bring herself to care.

They were now foraging for something to eat. Meg had set traps and Hercules was out looking for fruits and nuts. Meg looked down at Herc's jacket and saw dozens of dark berries. Her plant identification knew exactly what they were. Night lock. "Herc," she called frantically. "Did you eat any of these berries?"

"Not yet!" he called back cheerily. Meg breathed a sigh of relief and was about to throw them away when she heard a bow being drawn right behind her.

She turned slowly. Merida was standing there, with an arrow trained right at her eyes. Meg slowly lifted her arms up to show she wasn't a threat. "Give me yer food nice and slow-like, and ah won't shoot yoo yet," the girl snarled. Meg turned her head slowly and looked at Herc's jacket, full of berries. She carefully walked over and lifted the corners of Herc's jacket, handing it to the girl. "Here, take it," she said carefully. "Just...don't shoot." Merida lowered her bow just enough to take the food and sprint back into the red and orange trees as quickly as she'd appeared.

Meg breathed a sigh of relief. Hercules came over and noticed his jacket was gone. "What happened?" he asked confusedly. Meg couldn't keep the little smile off of her face. "We were just robbed," she said, picking up her things and walking away. "By a redheaded thief." Hercules followed her quickly, still confused. "Why didn't you stop her?" he asked. Meg smirked at her husband and pointed one finger into the air.

A cannon sounded just as she did it. "Because those berries you were collecting are poisonous," she explained, moving through the trees. "Little Miss sharpshooter didn't spend enough time on poisons during training." Herc's eyes widened as he understood what she'd done. "So you let her think they were safe to eat," he guessed. Meg shrugged. "All I did was what she told me to do," she said with a knowing smile. That served her right, for hurting Tiana.

They finally broke camp for the night. They'd heard snarls and screams earlier in the day, followed by a cannon, but they had no idea who had died. They would have to wait until they announced it later on in the day. There were only four days left until the end of the games and things would probably start to happen even faster now. Hercules grunted with pain as he unwrapped the cloth around his wound. "Let me look at it," Meg said, going over to examine it.

It looked better, but not by much. Meg sighed and put more medicine on it. "You're going to be fine," she told him softly. He smiled at her as she wrapped up his wound. Suddenly a parachute descended from the sky. Another sponsor gift. Meg got up and walked over to it. "Bandages," she called as she opened it. There was another note from Phil. REMEMBER THE PLAN AND STAY ALIVE-PHIL. She sighed and began to wrap Hercules' wound with the wraps.

He smiled at her. "Does it feel any better?" she asked. He nodded. "Much," he said, touching it gently. She kissed him and went off to go find food.

The Disney anthem came up and showed the dead. The first face was that of Mulan. Meg was surprised and a little saddened by that one. The career had been so nice to her and Hercules in the arena. She must have been the one those snarling things got earlier today. The next face was Merida-hardly a surprise to them.

"Four of us left," Hercules said happily. "Honey, I think you're really going to do it. You're going to make it." Meg couldn't bring herself to smile. She knew what was coming quickly, and she didn't want it to. She didn't want to think about it at all. "Eat," she said instead, handing him food to distract him. She brought the embers down to a warm glow while they ate.

When they had finished, Hercules rested his head in Meg's lap. She stroked his hair absentmindedly, the two of them simply taking in each other. They were completely silent for almost an hour, sitting. Meg couldn't stop staring at his face. She wanted to remember absolutely everything about it, every laugh line, wrinkle and smile that had ever been there.

"Will you tell Hebe about me?" Hercules asked, his eyes looking pained as he looked up at her. Meg's eyes filled with tears at the thought of going home without him. "Of course I will," she said, her hand on his cheek. "I'll tell her everything about you. About how your hair looks like it's on fire when the sun hits it, about how you saved my life when I was dying of hunger, about how you volunteered to save me." Her voice was thick as she continued, but she saw Hercules' face and knew he needed to hear this.

"I'll tell her about the way you used to sing her to sleep, and how you cried the day she was born," she continued, smiling at the memories. "I'll tell her that she got her beautiful eyes from you, and her laugh, and how I miss hearing that laugh everyday. And I'll tell her about how you fought for us, and how before the revolution you wanted to work at Mudka's Meat Hut-"

"No, not Mudka's!" Hercules groaned. Meg laughed, a tear running down her face. "Yes, Mudka's," she said with a little smile. "I'll tell her everything about you, everyday, for as long as I live. She'll hear your name so much she'll be tired of it, but I'll never stop." She was crying now, the tears running down her face freely. "I'll never stop saying your name."

He kissed her gently, making her forget all of her sadness. She wrapped her arms around him. She needed to touch him, to feel him, to make sure that he was still there with her and that she hadn't imagined him this whole time. They kissed with such passion that for a moment Meg forgot where they were. When they broke apart, Hercules was flushed and he could only say one thing. "Thank you."

Her response was to kiss him again.

••••

The sun rose that morning while Meg was keeping watch. She was pretty tired, since the days before had been so emotional. She felt emotionally, physically and mentally worn out from these games. All she wanted was to hide in a hole and cry until they were over and everyone was gone except for her and her Hercules.

A rustle in the branches made her turn. It was only Pocahontas, and she was carrying something. Meg looked closer and saw that it was Herc's jacket, the one Merida had taken yesterday. She wondered what the other girl wanted to do with it. Pocahontas handed it to Meg, again without a word. Meg was shocked at the gesture of kindness. "Thank you," she said, holding the jacket close to her. Pocahontas smiled sadly at her. They both heard the howling of wolves in the distance and turned towards the sound. "That does not sound fun," Meg muttered. Pocahontas seemed to agree with her, shuddering. She opened her hand and for the first time Meg could see what was in it.

Nightlock.

"Oh, don't eat those!" Meg said quickly. "They're poisonous." Pocahontas fixed her with a curious look, and Meg got the haunting suspicion that the girl had known that already. The wolves howled again, closer this time. Pocahontas smiled and waved her arm. Meg didn't know much about Nine, but she felt like she'd learned in school they had a lot of hand gestures. That one meant hello, or goodbye-she couldn't remember nearly as well as she should.

Pocahontas lifted the berries to her lips deliberately. "No, don't!" Meg yelled, running to bridge the gap between them. But it was too late. The girl collapsed to the ground almost instantly, her eyes closed peacefully. Meg ran to the girl's body and checked for a heartbeat. "What happened?" Hercules asked, running up to her. "She ate nightlock," Meg explained sadly. She lowered the girl to the ground as the cannon boomed.

"She knew it was poisonous, and she ate it anyways." Hercules looked confused. "Why?" he asked. Meg shrugged, looking into the girl's face. "She saved my life and I never even said a word to her," she said, thinking about all of their encounters in the arena. No one had been able to find her. She could have won. Why did she take her own life, then? Meg couldn't wrap her head around it, but she felt grateful for all of the help the girl gave her.

The howling started again. Meg stood. "Some animals are on the move, so we should be too," she said, strapping things on her back. Hercules nodded, and they walked off with the girl's body behind them.