Daphne and Niles walked for hours, seeing new parts of the snowy arena. They rested often, because the snow that now met the bottom of their shins was difficult to walk through. "I hope it doesn't get any deeper," Daphne said. Niles nodded.

To him, walking with Daphne was very pleasurable, and as usual she did most of the talking. She told Niles about how beautiful the snow and even the frozen water was, and what kinds of trees were the best to climb. She even described a strange dream she had had the night before in which she lived in one room and tended to a cranky old man with a cane. "It was funny, the man sort of looked like your father. Strange."

He would never dare tell her about the dream that he had had, at least not until he had told her about his feelings.

That reminded him that that still needed to be done.

"Daphne," he said. "Here, come sit with me. I have to talk to you."

"Alright."

They sat down on a log that had fallen. Niles would have wiped it off for them, but he had no handkerchief.

"I've been wanting to tell you this for so long, but the words haven't sounded right or I haven't had the courage."

He paused, and Daphne looked at him curiously.

Niles took a deep breath, then shoved the words out of his mouth. "I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too, Niles."

Niles was beside himself with happiness until he realized that she had misunderstood him. "Daphne, what I mean is I'm in love with you."

Her face suddenly turned white and she whispered, "Oh."

"I've felt that way ever since I first saw you. You're beautiful. You're more than beautiful, and I can't stop thinking about you."

Her eyes were glued to the ground, as if she were afraid to look Niles in the eye.

"I…I volunteered to protect you. I couldn't bear the thought of you being killed like all those other people that get pulled into these games."

Daphne's eyes pulled up and met Niles' for a moment. "That's…lovely," she whispered, so soft Niles barely heard it.

Nothing happened for a whole minute, until with a sudden burst Daphne stood up. "We should get moving," she told Niles.

"Daphne?"

"Just give me some time to think about it, alright?" She said, smiling subtlety to show him she was not upset.

"Of course."

They grabbed their bags and began walking.

Their trip was a lot quieter this time. Daphne talked, but not as often, and there was something different about her tone of voice. She did not mention what Niles had just told her, though he would have liked nothing more than to talk to her about it.

Both were surprised with how peaceful the day was going. Around what they guessed to be four o' clock, Daphne announced, "I think it's time for us to be looking for that goose!"

Niles smiled, having never personally tried goose before.

"They'll probably be around the creek, which is silly seeming as how the water's frozen," she said. "But, they are just geese, I suppose."

Daphne led both of them to the creek, and they stayed inside the shelter of the trees to look for a fat goose.

"That one'll do," she whispered, pointing to a tall, male bird with darker feathers.

Slowly, she took the bow and one arrow from her back and drew it carefully, then let it go so fast Niles barely saw a thing. The goose collapsed, and the rest of the flock flew away.

She smiled at Niles excitedly, then ran to the bird and pulled out the arrow in its side. Taking it by the neck, she told him that they probably would need to melt some more ice for drinking, and took out the small pots and filled them with chunks of frozen water.

They found a good spot for stopping, and Daphne started the fire. As she did, Niles stared at the limp bird. "Have you ever cleaned a goose before, Daphne?" he asked her.

"No, actually, but I've seen my brothers do it so many times it feels like I have." When she was done with the fire, she sat next to Niles. "Now, the first thing we need to do is pull out all of his feathers." She began doing so, but Niles only looked at it, afraid to touch it knowing how dirty it was.

Daphne noticed this, and she reached in her bag and pulled out the one pair of gloves they had, then handed them to him. He smiled gratefully and began to help her.

Soon, the poor bird was pink and featherless. Daphne turned to her companion and said, "Can you hand me the extra knife?" He did as she asked, then waited for instruction.

Softly, she put her hand on his shoulder, and Niles' heart beat in his ears as she did. "You may not want to watch this part, it gets sort of messy," she warned.

"Thank you. Oh, here, take the gloves," he said, taking them off of his hands and trying not to touch the outside any more than he had to.

Grinning, she put them on and Niles turned his back to her.

He heard her humming while she worked, and he smiled at this lovingly.

"Alright, I'm going to throw what's left into the trees now."

Niles nodded and heard it whizzing through greenery.

"Would you like me to cook it with your back still turned?" she asked.

"Do you need help?"

"I'll be alright."

"Then yes, please."

If it had been any other situation, Niles would have helped her anyways.