Burn

by awalkerlifeforme

Aspen Antaeus and Cato Hadley won the 74th Hunger Games. The two haven't seen each other in months, but with the Victory Tour around the corner they will be reunited. But with plots for Aspen's death are being thrown around and the third Quarter Quell only months away, Aspen will be forced to make a decision she hoped to never have to. One way or another, the Capitol will burn.

14. Chapter 14

Effie's horrifically startling voice called through the walls in the morning. "Aspen! Cato! Are you two asleep?" she shouted.

Both Cato and I gave a small jump. We had been dead asleep and I'd been having the beginnings of a nasty nightmare that Cato would have been forced to pull me out of. We had been back in the Games and I had been trying so hard to keep Cato safe. But a bunch of flying mutts had swooped down and ripped him limb from limb. I groaned as Cato accidentally knocked my head off of his chest. I drove my head under the pillows and let out a little moan. Cato laughed and grabbed my pillow, tossing it across the room.

"Well, I was," I mumbled into the mattress.

Cato's rumbling laughter shook the bed. "You couldn't have thought that you'd actually get a nice night's sleep," Cato teased.

"Silly me for thinking that I would," I shot back. "I had my last good night's sleep a long time ago."

"Me too," Cato admitted.

"When was it?"

"The night before the first Reaping."

"You mean you didn't get a good night's sleep before going into the Games? I would have thought that you were sleeping like a baby," I teased.

"No. I did sleep a little bit. But I was always thinking about what was happening with the Games and, as time started to progress, I had things to keep me awake," Cato said.

"And that is?" I asked.

"I started to fall in love with the female Tribute from District 12," Cato admitted.

"I kept you awake?" I asked.

"The thought of you. The knowledge that someone would have to kill you. And, since I knew that you were strong, I knew that it would be me. You were the first person that really bothered me. Thinking about your death."

No part of me had known that I was what kept him awake. But I was glad to hear that. "You never told me that," I said softly.

"Didn't know how."

"I used to dream about you before the Games," I admitted.

Instead of giving me a teasing look like I had expected, he was scowling. "You dreamed that I was hurting you, didn't you?" Cato asked.

For a moment I hesitated. Because he was right. "Yes. For a while. Until that night in the cave. The first night after the attack from the wolf mutt. That was the first time that I had a different dream about you. And every night after that. My dreams turned from you killing me, to you just being with me. And they never went back. Dreams of you kept me from having nightmares," I admitted.

"What about now?" Cato asked.

"The nightmares are worse when you're not around. I even have them when you're around. But they're better. They're always better when you're here," I said.

"I'll always be here," Cato said softly.

It was enough to make me smile. He would always be here. Because I was going to let him live and he would always be around. Cato pulled me into him and exchanged a long and lingering kiss. Just a few minutes later Effie came back to shout at us to get ready. As we pulled away I realized that Cato was on his side, staring at me. The sheets were pulled around us and I blushed softly. It didn't matter how many mornings or night we spent together. I would always be embarrassed when he saw me like this.

"Good morning, by the way," Cato said.

He pushed the ruffled hair back from my eyes and kissed me softly. "Good morning, husband."

It was the first time that I had ever been able to say something like that. Something that I had never thought that I would get to say to him. Or to anyone. But here we were. Husband and wife. Not for long, but for a while. Cato grinned sidelong at me and twisted the ring on my finger - the only clothing on my body - around. After a moment I glanced up at him. His eyes were locked onto the ring with a strange emotion flitting through them.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Just starting to count down the days until the Games. In the meantime, I'll enjoy being in bed with my wife," Cato teased.

"Do you ever wonder how many more times we'll be able to say things like that to each other?" I asked.

Cato's hands tensed against mine and he stopped twirling the ring around. Cato's eyes had hardened. "Don't say that," Cato snapped.

Glancing up at him I leaned over to press a kiss to the bottom of his chin. He turned into me and pressed us into the bed, myself on the bottom. "I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"I know. I didn't mean to snap."

"I know. But it's the truth, Cato. We're running out of time."

"We're not out of time yet."

"I know, but it's running short. The Games start two mornings from now. You and I both know that Snow wants them over with as fast as he can. He wants to be rid of me first," I said honestly.

And it was the truth. The one person that President Snow wanted dead more than anything else was me. He would have rather let anyone else live, as long as it meant that I was gone. I was the one that had made his Games look like a joke, I was the one who was the reason for these Games, and I was the reason that people wanted these Games cancelled. Everything that Snow had worked so hard for, for nearly eighty years, was coming apart at the seams. Just because I had handed Cato a knife.

Cato grabbed my hand and rolled so that I was now lying slightly on top of him. "I don't care what he wants," Cato snarled.

I smiled and pushed his long hair back behind his ears. "I know. I don't care either," I whispered.

"I want you to make it out of the Games."

"And I want you to make it out."

"I want you to have a real life after this. You deserve it," Cato said.

My eyes narrowed at him and I shook my head. "Does that mean that you don't?" I asked.

Cato stared at me for a moment before shaking his head. "It means that I don't care what you do, I don't care what President Snow does, I don't care what anyone does. You're the one that's making it out of there," Cato said determinedly.

I wanted to scream at him and tell him that I was already doing so much to ensure that he was the one that lived. But I should have known. He was just as determined as me to make it out of there. "Why? Why are you so determined that it should be me?" I asked harshly.

"Because it should be, Aspen. I need you alive. I love you."

"And I don't love you any less. Cato... I can't live knowing that you're dead."

"You'll manage," Cato said.

"I can't."

"You will. I know that you can. You have people that will help you move on."

"So do you," I snapped. "Julie and Skye. They love you. They'll be good for you. A life with them would be good."

"You're telling me that you want me to marry them?" Cato asked.

"Yes."

"Aspen -"

"It's not an option, Cato. I want you to be with them one day. They're so good for you. They've never hurt you. They never will. You think that you've been so awful to me. Look at how awful I've been to you. You were falling in love with me and I hurt you over and over again. I slapped you more than once, dropped a nest of Tracker Jackers on you, and thought about killing you - how easy it would be," I admitted.

"So what? You wanted to live. Being in love with me meant that you couldn't live. I did some horrible things to you, too, Aspen. We've done horrible things to each other. But we've also done more for each other than anyone else," Cato said.

"Yeah. I suppose that's true."

"I don't want to have to live without you," Cato added softly.

It was meant as a bit of honesty. But that didn't change the fact that it sounded selfish. "What about me? Do you think that I want to live without you?" I asked.

"No."

The two of us stared at each other for a while. We couldn't figure out what else we were supposed to say. I knew that neither one of us wanted to admit that we were both trying to save the other. Finally Cato pushed himself towards me. Whether it was from anger, heartbreak, or maybe genuine love, Cato grabbed my hips and pinned me underneath him. I wanted to say something to him but he never gave me the chance. He pressed his lips roughly against mine and locked me in his grip.

There was no way that we were planning on separating ourselves from each other at any point soon. Cato's arms wound underneath me and started to dig into my back. The only time that pain didn't scare me - remind me of my time in the arena - was when I was with him. When he showed me that he was still the strong Career. When he showed me just how strong he was and just how tiny I was. But I liked it. I liked that for, just a while, I was feeling like I could be weak with him.

We ended up staying together for a long time. From time to time Cato would break the kiss and lean forward into my ear to whisper something. Something that was either a proclamation of his love or something that would make my face burn with embarrassment. But I liked it. For today, I liked it. Our legs locked together as Cato slowly kissed down my throat, making my legs shake with anticipation. Unfortunately Effie's voice startled us both, forcing us to break apart.

"Aspen! Cato!" Effie shouted. We both jumped but didn't bother looking away from each other. "We need to get you two downstairs to get to work for the Interviews tomorrow!"

I rolled my eyes. That was the last thing that I wanted to do today. "We're coming!" I shouted.

"Hurry now! Breakfast is on the table," Effie shouted back.

Her heels began to click against the floor as she walked away. "I'm sorry," I muttered to Cato.

He was still leaning over me. "About what?" Cato asked, pushing my hair off of my face.

"I guess I always wanted to imagine that I was the only one who was actually going to do something to try to save the other," I admitted.

His eyes hardened as he stared at me. Something akin to hurt or disbelief flashed through them. "You don't think that I would try to save you?" he asked.

Immediately I knew that I had said the wrong thing. I hadn't meant to insult him. I knew that he would try to save me. "No. No. I know you would. That's why I didn't want to think about it. It would be so much easier if only one of us was willing to save the other," I said.

"If that was the case only one of us would have walked out of the arena last year," Cato said.

A lump formed in my throat as I stared up at him. He was right. I knew that without a doubt Cato could have beaten me. He had even saved me in the beginning. I couldn't have gotten through the Games without him. I was a good fighter but he was the best. Even with my knives I wouldn't have been able to win. With the bow and arrow I might have stood a chance, but I didn't have those right off of the bat. Cato noticed that I was getting uncomfortable with the thought of him killing me. He grabbed my hand and nudged me.

"Even after everything that's happened, even being back here, I'm glad that I got to spend the last year with you," I said.

"Me too. I wouldn't change a thing. I'm glad that I got to marry you. Even if it was kind of a sham."

"That's okay. I had a good time at the wedding. Sort of."

We both laughed. "You looked thrilled," Cato teased.

"I was thrilled whenever I saw you."

"And last night?"

"That was the best part," I teased, running my bare foot along his bare leg.

I could feel the muscles on his leg twitching under the sheets. "Come on, the last thing we need is Effie physically dragging us out of bed," Cato said.

A small smile crossed my face as I stared at him. "Well the Interviews would pale in comparison to that," I said, with a little wink.

Cato stood up and I watched as the sheets fell from his body. He laughed deep in his throat and turned back to me. He knew that I was watching him. He knew that I liked watching him. I liked watching the muscles on his back contorting with his movements. After a moment of watching him and daydreaming I groaned and stood with him. The sheets fell from around me and I shivered at the blast of cold air. I tossed the sheets back on the bed and walked over to the dresser.

"Do you think that there's a cave that might not have a camera?" Cato called out.

Snorting, I pulled open the drawer and turned back to him. He was staring at me as he pulled his pants over his hips. "After last year? I think that they'll have a camera that can capture every possible angle," I said.

Cato wore a small smirk as he looked at me. "You might like that," he teased.

"Shut up!" I shouted, tossing the pillow that Cato had thrown to the floor at him.

He caught it and placed it back onto the bed as I went back to the dresser. So I rolled my eyes and went back to getting my things together. Cato was grabbing his clothes from the day before - not that it made any matter. We didn't have to be anywhere today. We would just be preparing for the Interviews. I wasn't nervous this year. Maybe it was just because I knew that it didn't matter. I already had their hearts and they knew that I was angry about the Quell. Plus I wasn't planning on living this time.

All of that was why I grabbed the first things that I could. I realized that this time there were less sparkly and pink things in the dressers. Cinna's doing, I assumed. That didn't mean that Effie didn't try to slip in some extremely fluffy and feather-ridden things. I grabbed a pair of black pants that went down to just below my knee with a white tank top and threw them on. I didn't even bother to brush out my hair. I simply grabbed a hair tie and threw my hair into a bun. Effie could yell at me as much as she wanted. I wasn't getting dressed today. One last day in comfort.

Once we were both changed Cato grabbed my arm and gently pushed me towards the door. I walked out with him, hand-in-hand. In the living room there was a fair amount of chatter. I could tell that others were probably here. Effie's voice was rather loud, along with my Prep Team. They were still very depressed about everything that was happening, but perhaps they were managing to push everything off for the next day. They were probably just here to see us. Cinna and Cato's Styling Team were also there. I didn't know any of their names.

Cinna was speaking with Cato's Head Stylist. Probably trying to match us. Haymitch had a drink in hand - I wasn't sure if it was water or some type of liquor - and he was speaking with Brutus. Enobaria was nowhere to be found. As we walked up I took a spot beside Haymitch. Cato had the spot beside me and Effie next to him. Cinna and Brutus were across from me. The Prep Teams were all standing in the living room, watching the television.

"Have a good first night as husband and wife?" Haymitch asked, as I leaned over and grabbed a muffin.

I turned to him as I popped a piece of muffin into my mouth. "If you make one comment about the thin walls..." I growled.

Haymitch glanced over at me and grinned. "Do I look like Brutus?" he asked.

Smiling, I tossed a roll at him. It missed and I snorted as it went across the room and into Flavius' lap. We both turned back and went to our meals, hoping that they wouldn't realize that it was us. "Believe it or not, I think you're a little bit better," I told Haymitch under my breath.

His eyebrows raised as he stared at me. He had some look of either concern or admiration on his face. "My God..." Haymitch said.

"What?" I asked.

I stared at him and smiled. I liked Haymitch more than I let on. "You're hungover," Haymitch said, reaching for me.

Smacking his hands away from me I laughed under my breath. "You're an idiot," I barked.

"I've never heard you say anything like that."

"And I shouldn't have. The one time that I actually bothered to try and give you a compliment," I snarled.

Haymitch laughed and went back to his meal. "Here," Cato said, handing me some hot chocolate.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"Pass it over," Brutus snapped.

We were sitting together and eating in silence when I glanced up. I had finally realized that my family and Cato's were nowhere to be found. "Where are our families?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Cato glanced up and looked around the table before turning back to Haymitch and Brutus with a deep glare. And a slightly guilty face. I understood. The two of us had almost forgotten about our families. "They're in their rooms until it's time to get them ready for the Interviews tomorrow," Haymitch said.

"They're just sitting there?" I asked.

"They'll be taken on a tour of the Capitol today and have their preparations for the Interviews tomorrow," Haymitch said.

"So they will be there?" I asked tensely.

"Don't worry, they'll be there to watch you. And they'll be back home before the commencement of the Games to see that too," Haymitch said.

My eyebrows knitted together. They were here. Why weren't they allowed to have breakfast with us? I wanted to see them again. "Why aren't they here now?" I asked Haymitch.

He turned to me with a small sigh. He looked extremely guilty. "In the words of President Snow, 'fairness.'"

"You're joking?" I snapped.

"Nope. Sorry, kid," Haymitch said.

That had to be a joke. I couldn't believe that they were here, literally on the other side of the very building that we were sitting in, and we couldn't even see them. I had been ripped away from them without warning and now they were here and I still wasn't allowed to speak to them. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Of course it was President Snow's idea. He gave me the gift of having my family here with the condition of not being able to see them.

"It would only be fair to everyone else that if you got to have breakfast with your families they should get to be with theirs too," Haymitch continued.

"Asshole," I muttered.

But I really didn't want to admit that Snow was sort-of right. That really was fair. Effie sensed the awkward air in the room. "Would you all care to see what they're talking about on the television?" Effie asked.

"No," I muttered.

"We can see all about what they thought of the wedding!" Effie chirped.

Turning to face her I stared darkly. "Why would we want to see what they thought about the wedding? They're the ones that planned it," I said, referring to the Capitol officials.

"Manners," Effie snapped irritably.

"Am I wrong?" I whispered under my breath to Cato.

He snorted at me but before he got a chance to say anything else, Brutus spoke up. "Hey, Girl on Fire, pass the damn bacon," Brutus snapped.

Turning to him I glared deeply. Cato grabbed the plate of bacon before I could chuck it at Brutus' fat head and I stomped on his foot in retaliation. "Ow," Cato hissed.

"Still glad that you're going to die for her?" Brutus asked teasingly.

"You know what -" I started.

"Zip it!" Effie snapped.

At the same time the Capitol seal shone on the television. They were here and talking about something that they had planned themselves. How did that make any sense at all? It didn't. But that was how things in the Capitol tended to go. The screen faded back in to show Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith. As usual they were both smiling brightly at the camera. A still frame of Cato and me locked in our kiss at the altar was directly behind them.

"Good morning! Good morning! Today we are talking about everything that we have seen over the past few days as we prepare for the third Quarter Quell," Caesar greeted.

"It's been quite the exciting past few days!" Claudius cheered.

"Before we get to one of our favorite parts of the show, let's talk about the event that everyone is talking about," Caesar said.

"And how could you not be talking about it?" Claudius asked, chuckling.

"It's certainly all that we'll be talking about for a long while! All that I'll want to talk about, anyways. The wedding between Aspen Antaeus and Cato Hadley," Caesar chirped brightly.

He looked like a little girl that had just been told that she was getting a pony for her birthday. I scoffed and looked down at the table. "Attitude," Effie snapped.

"Oh, it was just beautiful!" Claudius cheered.

"That it was. We've never seen anything like it!"

"And there will never be anything like it! Their wedding will go down in history as one of the best!"

"Certainly the best!"

"And the words exchanged between the pair - perfect," Claudius said happily.

"I wasn't even sure that people could be that in love," Caesar said, smiling at the camera.

"Shocking," I growled.

"Manners," Effie snapped.

"Can you believe that President Snow was so generous to give Aspen and Cato their dream wedding?" Claudius asked.

I was glad that it wasn't just me that laughed. Cato and Haymitch did, too. "Quiet!" Effie barked.

"Oh, I can! It really was lovely and I was honored to be the one to officiate. They both were wonderful. The words that were exchanged broke my heart. I just can't believe that our time with them is coming to an end," Caesar said sadly, wiping a tear away.

My fork was in my hands and I growled, accidentally bending it. If we had it our way we would have lived together happily. "It is difficult to comprehend. We have been loving having them as a part of our lives for the past year," Claudius said.

"And it seems so much longer," Caesar added.

That makes one of us that feels that way. "When we met them they were just children competing in the Games. They barely even seemed like the same people," Claudius said.

"They have grown up quite a bit," Caesar said. "And it's been an honor to watch them grow up in front of us."

"Hasn't it been an honor to watch them develop in front of us?" Claudius asked.

"Absolutely! Now they're a married couple! Married, after having competed against each other in the Games. We could barely believe that it's come this far. Now they have shown us what real love is."

Well, yeah. "I don't think I've ever seen a couple more in love," Claudius said.

"Not at all. Now I know that this isn't a gossip show," Caesar started. Cato and I straightened up. "But something that we've all heard are demands that the two should either be excused from the Games or that the Games themselves should be cancelled. The people love this pair so much that it's nearly impossible to think of our lives without them," Caesar said.

No part of me could believe that he was allowed to say something like that on national television. I wouldn't think that Caesar could say that. But, of course, in the Capitol there was nothing to do with rebellion. All of this was just because of two kids who were so desperate to be together. Obviously it was nothing more, seeing the hint of depression in Caesar's eyes, who was looking directly into the camera. My heart was pounding in my chest. Were they really going to let us out of the Games?

Cato's hand found its way over to my knee and he squeezed it gently. "Maybe they will," Cato whispered.

"They won't," I said grouchily.

"Now, unfortunately, the Games cannot be called off; Aspen is the only female District 12 Victor and Cato was the volunteer for District 2. But we have utterly enjoyed having them in our lives," Claudius said, with a bitter smile.

Cato's hand dropped off of my knee as we both turned to gaze into our half-eaten meals. "That we have! They have provided more joy to us over the past year than ever before," Caesar said.

"It's turned the Games from something intense and exciting to something heartbreaking and romantic," Claudius said happily.

"They were always heartbreaking," I muttered.

No one snapped at me for my comment. "And, not to worry, we will still have another night to watch them. Tomorrow night is the Interviews!" Caesar cheered.

"And we are always excited for that!" Claudius said.

"Now, while we wait to see our favorite Tributes tomorrow night, let's talk about the ones that we have to look at," Caesar said.

I wondered how many people were upset that Cato and I had been deemed the favorite Tributes. In the meantime a still photo of Cashmere and Gloss filled the side of the screen. "From District 1 we have Gloss and Cashmere. Siblings that won in back to back Games a few years ago. What do you think that we can expect to see from them?" Claudius asked Caesar.

"Gloss and Cashmere were both dominant in their respective Games. Gloss excelled with both throwing knives and daggers so we can expect to see both him and Aspen fighting over control of the knives." Cato twitched at my side and I ran my fingers over his thigh. "Cashmere, like her brother, is very talented with knives," Caesar said.

"Do you think that we should be expecting to see a fight between Aspen and these two?" Claudius asked.

Cato stiffened again. I wanted to punch Claudius for bringing me into it. These Tributes wanted to kill me as is. No need to give them ideas. "I think it's definitely a possibility. Although Mr. Hadley may have something to say about that!" Caesar yelled.

He isn't wrong. "I'll kill them if they get anywhere near you," Cato snarled.

"Not if I beat you to it," I said seriously.

"Speaking of, for District 2 we have Cato and Enobaria. Cato is a master swordsman and has proved himself time and time again with hand-to-hand combat. Being with Aspen for as long as he has, he's also become slightly more adept at survival skills. As for Enobaria, she relies mostly on a smaller sword. However it is her teeth that we mostly know her from. Perhaps we will get another show from her!" Caesar cheered.

I shivered slightly. Enobaria was nice enough but I wanted nothing to do with her teeth. "Watch out for her," Cato warned.

"Is she on our side?" I asked.

"She's on her side," Cato explained.

"Last year we saw no real weaknesses from Cato. Do you think that this year having Aspen in the arena could be a problem for him?" Claudius asked.

"Of course it's a problem, idiot," I snapped.

"Hush," Effie chided.

I rolled my eyes at my plate. It was a problem at the end of the last Games. "It definitely poses a threat. We know that he will be willing to look away and fight to make sure that his beloved wife makes it out alive," Caesar said.

"That will definitely be an issue. We saw it at the end of last year's Games. Neither one can live without the other. So where does it leave them?" Claudius asked.

"It leaves them in a situation that will be very difficult at the end. So Cato could definitely be in some danger for these Games," Caesar said.

They both looked heartbroken as Caesar launched into a discussion with Claudius about both Beetee and Wiress. Probably to keep from crying. Even thought the whole thing made me roll my eyes. We watched the rest of the Tributes in silence. I wanted to make some snide comments every time that they brought my name into it - which they did somewhat regularly - but I managed to keep quiet through the rest of the program. They went pretty fast with the occasional comment about Cato or myself.

With Beetee and Wiress, Caesar and Claudius made a few good mentions of their achievements in their Games and afterwards. They didn't seem to believe that they were much of a threat. I disagreed. In District 4 they commented briefly on what Mags had been like way back in the Eleventh Hunger Games. She had apparently won because there was a reasonable amount of water in that arena. She had been a volunteer back in the day. Finnick was clearly beloved by the way that they were talking about him. This time he wasn't an underdog, he had a good chance to win.

In District 5 you could tell that Caesar and Claudius were just about counting them out. District 6 went very much the same way. The Morphlings were so high on their pain medication that it would be damn near impossible for them to do anything other than hide. Blight seemed to be a reasonable chance as a Victor. He was only in his thirties so he was still strong. Johanna - being unable to utilize her earlier strategy of being weak in her first Games - had her high training score and plenty of Sponsors.

District 8 went by in similar fashion. Woof had little to no chance to win. Not that I was surprised. He kept trying to eat the poisonous bugs while he was at the edible plant station. He was very old and very weak. Perhaps he would make it for a little while, but not for that long. Cecilia had somewhat of a chance to win. She was at least younger and had been a good fighter in her own day. It was her kids that could drive her to win... But... I would kill her for Cato. I would.

In District 9 and 10 I didn't know the Tributes. The two from Nine had almost no chance to win. They were simply unknown and disliked and on the older spectrum. The male from District 10 had a pretty good shot. He was young, strong, and good with weapons. Not to mention that he was nice-looking. His female counterpart had a similar chance, but a little lower; she was older. In District 11 neither Chaff - who was missing a hand - nor Seeder - who was older - had a good chance to win.

And finally we arrived at District 12. "Now, of course, we have two of our most interesting Tributes. Haymitch Abernathy - who notably competed in the second Quarter Quell - was talented with knives, a sword, and mostly the force field. There could be a chance that he attempts to use it again this year," Cesar said.

Now I was definitely surprised that they mentioned that. He'd made them look like an idiot. Maybe they had only said it because people would have been confused - those that could remember it - if they hadn't mentioned his ability to win with it. I risked a quick glance over to Haymitch. He wasn't saying anything, he was merely downing a mug of what I now knew was liquor. I could smell it. He was extremely tense as he stared down at the plate, refusing to look at the screen.

"His use of the force field was strange. We've never seen someone compete using it before. Not before his Games and not even after the," Claudius said.

"It was interesting, indeed! A strange choice of weapons, but obviously a good one."

"Having him back in the arena could make for some good throwbacks for those of us old enough to remember it!" Claudius chuckled.

Caesar looked slightly horrified as he pretended to hide his wrinkles. Not that he had any. The Capitol was sure to make him far younger than I was sure that he was. "So true that is!" Caesar cheered.

"And last but certainly not least..." Claudius cheered, looking thrilled.

"Of course, Aspen Hadley, the Girl on Fire! Wow! Now here is a girl that made waves through her entire Games career. She was the first volunteer from District 12, she was the first Tribute to score a twelve, she was one half of the first romantic duo in the Games, and she was also one half of the first pair to ever make it out of the Games. This is one girl that just can't stop!" Caesar grinned.

My eyebrows knitted together as I glanced over at Cato, who was staring at me. He gave me a brief smile before glancing back at the screen. "And now we're going to see if she can be the first person to make it out of the Games twice," Claudius said.

He was smiling. "She's definitely got the potential. Her skills with the bow and arrow and knives. She's very intelligent, well-liked, and knows her way around survival skills. She's got the means to be a Victor for the second year in a row," Caesar said.

"Her chances of victory are much higher this time around. But there is something that will hurt her," Claudius said.

"Definitely. Now Aspen faces some problems in these Games. There are many Tributes against both her and her husband. She has him to think about when they go into the Games. It could be a problem," Caesar said.

"It will definitely be a problem," Claudius said. "For both of them."

"But I somehow doubt that the Girl on Fire is out of tricks," Caesar said, giving the camera a brief wink.

If I had been there I could have kissed Caesar. He was always good to make sure that you didn't look like a fool. "I agree completely, Caesar!" Claudius yelled with a grin. "And there you have it, the Tributes that we know and loved as Victors, coming back to play."

A picture of all twenty-four of us cut together appeared. Caesar gave another grin as the camera began to fade away. "Join us tomorrow night for the Interviews where we will say goodbye to all but one of them!" Caesar called out.

Goodbye to all but one of them... Cato. It had to be Cato. As much as I wanted to live, I couldn't stand the thought of him possibly dying. I needed him to live. Because he meant the entire world to me and so much more. I noticed that Cato was giving me a sad stare. The pair said their goodbyes and the television stayed on long enough for the next program to start. It was a program that was going over our performances in our original Games. As expected, Cato and I were the stars of the show.

But Haymitch turned off the television and looked over at us. "All right, so how did your private sessions go?" Haymitch asked.

Of course he had asked that. I'd almost forgotten that we were going to have to talk about what we'd done. The only reason that we hadn't talked about it before was because at the time we were getting ready for our wedding. They were only going to annoy us so much on that night. I exchanged a nervous look with Cato. Somehow I wasn't that eager to put what I did into words. In the calmness of the dining room, it suddenly seemed very extreme. Haymitch would be pissed.

"You first," I told Cato. "It must have been really special. Enobaria had to wait for forty minutes to go in."

He hadn't officially told me what he had done, but I had managed to figure it out myself. Cato seemed to be struck with the same reluctance I was experiencing. "Well, I - I did the camouflage thing, like you suggested, Aspen." He hesitated. "Not exactly camouflage. I mean, I used the dyes."

"To do what?" Portia asked.

No one looked happy about this. They knew that, since we were being so quiet, and with my known hatred and bad habit of being not so level-headed, I had done something stupid. Which was a very good guess. But Cato... They probably thought that he hadn't done anything stupid. I thought of how ruffled the Gamemakers were when I entered the gym for my session. The smell of cleaners. The mat pulled over that spot in the center of the gym. It had to have been to conceal something they were unable to wash away.

"Did you paint something else? A picture?" I asked.

"Did you see it?" Cato asked.

"What the hell did you do?" Brutus snarled.

"No. I saw part of it. The dummies that they couldn't completely wash off. But they made a real point of covering up whatever you did on the floor," I said.

"Well, that would be standard. They can't let one Tribute know what another did," Effie said, unconcerned. "What did you paint, Cato?" She looked a little misty. "Was it a picture of Aspen?"

"He's not that good of an artist. Why would he paint a picture of me, Effie?" I asked, somehow annoyed.

"To show he's going to do everything he can to defend you. That's what everyone in the Capitol's expecting, anyway. Didn't he volunteer to go in with you?" Effie asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Actually, I used all of the dummies to simulate the Tributes from last year. I painted each one to resemble something about them. The flowers for Rue. How she looked after Aspen had covered her in flowers. The golden glow of the bakery for Peeta. Glimmer's hair. Clove's weapons. On the floor I drew out all of their names, how they died, and made a little memorial," Cato said.

There was a long pause at the table while everyone absorbed that. Some of it I was able to see. I hadn't even noticed Glimmer's dummy. He might not have always liked her, but they were alliance members. And he really did love Clove. I just remembered seeing Rue's and Peeta's, and how much it broke my heart. But the mats... That was what was underneath them. He had described just how much he hated the Capitol for killing all of those kids. Even the ones whose name he hadn't known. Even the ones that he had killed himself.

"Are you joking?" Brutus asked slowly.

"No."

"And what exactly were you trying to accomplish?" Haymitch asked in a very measured voice.

"I'm not sure. I just wanted to hold them accountable, if only for a moment. For killing that little girl. For killing all of those kids," Cato said.

"You've already managed to damn yourself," Brutus snarled, looking angrier and angrier by the second.

"This is dreadful." Effie sounded like she was about to cry. "That sort of thinking... it's forbidden, Cato. Absolutely. You'll only bring down more trouble on yourself and Aspen," Effie said sharply.

"I have to agree with Effie on this one," Haymitch said.

That was when I knew that it was serious. Things were definitely bad if Haymitch and Effie - who were always violent with each other - were actually getting along. Portia and Cinna and all of Cato's team remained silent, but their faces were very serious. It made me grit my teeth. Because if they were angry with him over what he did, what were the Gamemakers thinking? That they would kill him off first... Of course, they were right. But even though it worried me, I thought that what he did was amazing.

And I wanted the fire of this to fall back on me, not him. "I guess this is a bad time to mention I hung a dummy and painted Seneca Crane's and President Snow's name on it," I said blandly.

Every head in the room whipped towards me. Brutus, who normally loved calling me an idiot and telling me that I had done something stupid, was staring at me in disbelief. Even Cato was giving me a stunned glance. It wouldn't go over well for me, what I had done, but it had the desired effect. No one looked happy and what Cato had done had been all but forgotten. Good. After a moment of disbelief, all the disapproval in the room hit me like a ton of bricks.

"You... hung... Seneca Crane?" Brutus asked.

"And President Snow?" Effie asked, sounding on the verge of killing me.

"Yes. I was showing off my new knot-tying skills, and they somehow ended up at the end of the noose. The Gamemakers were on it, too," I said. "I shot an arrow through its throat."

There was a sudden muttering. Brutus even looked livid. "Oh, Aspen," Effie said in a hushed voice. "How do you even know about that?"

"Are you joking? Is it a secret? President Snow didn't act like it was. In fact, he seemed eager for me to know. Remember that meeting that they called after the end of the last Games? What do you think that Seneca Crane wanted to say to me? That he was congratulating me for winning? Of course not. He wanted me to know what my actions had caused," I said.

Now everyone was looking at me again. That was when I remembered that I'd never really explained what had happened back on that morning. I had just said that I wasn't really sure what had happened. Of course, they had all wanted to know. Haymitch knew the truth, but he didn't say anything. I had a feeling that Brutus might have known, too, but he still looked hung up over what Cato and I had done. Effie left the table with her napkin pressed to her face.

"Now I've upset Effie. I should have lied and said I shot some arrows," I mumbled.

"You'd have thought we planned it," Cato said, giving me just the hint of a smile.

"Didn't you?" Brutus asked.

His fingers were pressing his eyelids closed as if he was warding off a very bright light. "No," I said, looking at Cato with a new sense of appreciation. He was turning into me after being the strong Career for so long. "Neither of us even knew what we were going to do before we went in."

"And, Haymitch, Brutus?" Cato asked.

"What?" Haymitch asked through gritted teeth.

"We decided we don't want any other allies in the arena."

"Good. Then I won't be responsible for you killing off any of my friends with your stupidity," Haymitch said.

"That's just what we were thinking," I said.

It was a little nastier than I had meant for it to come out. But it was the truth. I just wanted to be with them. Actually, I didn't want to be there at all. But I had already lost this fight. I was going to win the one on allies. We finished the meal in silence, but when we rose to go into the sitting room, Cinna put his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. He was always the only person to be there for me, no matter what I did. Haymitch wasn't pleased when the television repeated our impressive twelves from yesterday. It had made Hunger Games history. No one felt like celebrating, though.

"So why did they give us all twelves?" I asked.

"So that the others will have no choice but to target you. Go get ready for the day. I can't stand to look at either one of you," Haymitch said flatly.

There were a number of times that Haymitch hadn't looked thrilled with me. But right now he looked like he was going to rip my spine out with his bare hands. Not that I said anything. I merely stood from the table with Cato and headed towards my room. Cato walked with me down to my room in silence, but before he could tell me that he was going to go downstairs and get ready, I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest. His hands slid up my back and his cheek leaned against my hair.

"I'm sorry if I made things worse," I said.

"No worse than I did. Why did you do it, anyway?" he asked.

No way was I going to tell him that I was trying to draw the heat to myself and away from him. "I don't know. To show them that I'm more than just a piece in their Games?" I offered.

My own way of remembering Peeta. It was something that I had told Cato once when we were on the Victory Tour. I had told him all about what Peeta had once said to me. Before the Games and in the moments leading up to his death. Cato laughed a little, no doubt remembering the day of the Death Match in the Games last year. When Peeta had died, he had said something of the sort, but I hadn't understood what he meant. Now I did.

"Me, too. And I'm not saying I'm not going to try. To get you home, I mean," Cato said.

"Of course. We might be each other's worst enemies in the arena," I said.

"Most likely. But if I'm perfectly honest about it..." Cato trailed off.

"If you're perfectly honest about it, you think President Snow has probably given them direct orders to make sure we die in the arena anyway," I said flatly.

"It's crossed my mind."

It had crossed my mind, too. Repeatedly. So many times. Each time I was more sure of it than the last. But President Snow had nothing to worry about. While I knew that I would never leave that arena alive, I was still holding on to the hope that Cato would. After all, he didn't pull out those knives, I did. No one had ever doubted that Cato's defiance was motivated by love. So maybe President Snow would prefer keeping him alive, crushed and heartbroken, as a living warning to others. Because he was still a Career and they were Capitol favorites.

"But even if that happens, everyone will know we've gone out fighting, right?" Cato asked.

"Everyone will," I confirmed.

"Maybe we can be together in the afterlife, huh?"

"Sounds peaceful."

And it did sound peaceful. It sounded so peaceful to be with Cato somewhere that I didn't have to worry about keeping myself and Cato and our families alive. Just the two of us. Happy and alone together. For the first time, I distanced myself from the personal tragedy that had consumed me since they announced the Quell. I remembered the old man they shot in District 11, and the one that they shot in District 9, all of the people in the audience during the Victory Tour, and Bonnie and Twill, and the rumored uprisings.

Everything that had haunted my nightmares for months. For the past year. Even since I'd heard Prim's name get pulled at the Reaping. Yes, everyone in the Districts would be watching me to see how I would handle this death sentence, this final act of President Snow's dominance. They would be looking for some sign that their battles had not been in vain. And they wouldn't be. I was going to be sure of that. If I could make it clear that I was still defying the Capitol right up to the end, the Capitol would have killed me... but not my spirit. What better way to give hope to the rebels?

The beauty of that idea was that my decision to keep Cato alive at the expense of my own life was itself an act of defiance. Not just because I loved him and because I couldn't manage to go on without him. It was also for something much more than that. Much more than just showing how much I really loved him. It was a refusal to play the Hunger Games by the Capitol's rules. I would never play by their rules. Not in the first Games and not now.

My private agenda dovetailed completely with my public one. And if I really could save Cato... in terms of a revolution, that would be ideal. Because I would be more valuable dead. I knew that much. They could turn me into some kind of martyr for the cause and paint my face on banners, and it would do more to rally people than anything I could do if I was living. Because they loved me and our story and didn't want to see it end in tragedy. But Cato would be more valuable alive, and tragic, because he would be able to turn his pain into words that would transform people. He was good with words.

Cato would lose it if he knew that I was thinking any of that, so I only said, "So what should we do with our last few days?"

"I just want to spend every possible minute of the rest of my life with you," Cato said.

"Come on, then," I said, pulling him into my room.

There was a good chance that Haymitch would want us to hurry up with getting ready so that we could start figuring out our Interview angles, what we wanted to say, and how we wanted to play it, but I didn't care. It was still early in the morning and we had time. So I grabbed Cato and immediately pulled him into the shower. We both stripped off our clothing and stepped under the warm stream of water. The two of us spent a long time helping the other run the soap over ourselves and through our hair.

When we finally managed to get out of the shower Cato grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up against him. He jumped over the drying plate and led me back out to the bed, dropping our very wet forms over the bed. The two of us spent the day just like we had spent the night before, wrapped around each other, enjoying some of the last few days we had together. Finally we managed to pull ourselves apart, almost an hour after we'd been kicked out of breakfast, and I fell asleep on Cato's bare chest.

It felt like such a luxury, being able to at least spend my last few nights sleeping with Cato. My husband... It might have been a sham, but I loved being with him. Having him near me. I didn't realize in the months after the Games how starved I had been for human closeness. For the feel of him beside me in the darkness. Now that we were back together, I wished that we could have lived in the same District, just so I could have spent the last year with him. Sleeping with him. I sank down into sleep, enveloped in his warmth, and when I opened my eyes again, daylight was streaming through the windows.

We had likely been asleep for a few hours. It was nice. One of the last chances that we could get to sleep together. Cato was already awake. His hands were slowly running up and down my bare arms, sides, and legs. His heart was beating steadily under his skin. And it always would... He gently twisted his fingers through my hair and I smiled, looking up and exchanging a long kiss with him. He gently brushed his thumb over my chin and I smiled again.

"No nightmares," Cato said.

"No nightmares," I confirmed. "You?"

"None. I'd forgotten what a real night's sleep feels like," Cato said.

"I'm oddly calm."

"Even with the Games so close?"

"Yes. I was terrified last year. For the Interviews, for getting prepared, and for the Games. I'm not afraid of anything this year. Just not being with you."

"I'm here. For as long as I can be, I'm here," Cato promised.

"Should we get up?"

"No. I like us like this."

"Naked?" I teased.

His lips tilted upwards. "Well, yes. But just being together. In bed. Having you with me. Next to me. Not being with you after the Games and the Victory Tour, it was awful. Every morning and in the middle of the night I would wake up in a panic, desperately trying to find you," Cato admitted.

"Really?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes. My family would have to come in, reassure me that it was a nightmare, and promise me that you were safe in District 12. They just got used to it. It was normally Carrie or Dean. That was when Carrie pulled some strings and got a picture of you. Kept it at the table across from my bed. Just so you were close."

"Which one?"

"Us. In the cave."

My blush was burning. "Are you kidding?" I snapped.

"Not that one. After the fire. When I slid back in and kissed you. The moment that I knew how much I loved you. That kiss dazed me," Cato admitted.

"Me too," I whispered.

We laid there for a while, neither one of us in any rush to begin the day. Tomorrow night would be the televised Interviews, so today Effie and Haymitch would be coaching me while Brutus and Cato's Escort would be coaching him. More high heels and sarcastic comments. But then Lavinia came in with a note from Effie saying that, given our recent tour, she and Haymitch and Brutus had agreed that we could handle ourselves adequately in public. The coaching sessions had been canceled.

"Really?" Cato asked, taking the note from my hand and examining it.

"Apparently they're that mad at us," I said.

"Do you know what this means? We'll have the whole day to ourselves."

"I wish we could see our families," I muttered.

"I know. But we'll get to see them tomorrow before they go back home."

"It's too bad we can't go somewhere," I said wistfully.

"Who says we can't?" Cato asked.

The roof. Of course. We ordered a bunch of food, grabbed some blankets, and headed up to the roof for a picnic. A daylong picnic in the flower garden that tinkled with wind chimes. We ate. We laid in the sun. I snapped off hanging vines and used my newfound knowledge from training to practice knots and weave nets. Cato tried to sketch me. It turned out that he'd taken on drawing as a way to get over what happened in the Games. His drawing wasn't anything like one that Peeta could do, and had once done, but it was definitely good and I could tell that it was me.

All day we enjoyed our time together. Despite knowing that there were cameras up on the roof, as I really didn't care anymore, Cato and I wound up entangled with the blankets with our clothes misplaced numerous times. We had almost ten hours to do anything that we wanted. And we did everything that we wanted. We made up a game with the force field that surrounded the roof - one of us would throw an apple into it and the other person had to catch it. Cato was very good at catching, but my aim with throwing the apples was perfect. We were a good team.

At one point I started to sing at Cato's request. Every song that I knew. He told me stories about his days back in the Academy. I explained all about school back in District 12. We teased each other and walked through the gardens. Cato picked a few flowers and gave them to me like a bouquet. Like the one I'd carried at our wedding. I taught Cato the survival skills that I could think of while Cato showed me how to properly swing a sword. Which mostly entailed of him wrapping himself around me and ended up with us back in the blankets.

No one bothered us all day. By late afternoon, I laid with my head on Cato's lap, making a crown of flowers while he fiddled with my hair, claiming that he was practicing his knots. Which I knew that he wasn't. He just wanted to touch me for as long as he could. My hands slowly went back to his bare thighs and I started to trace patterns in his skin. He shivered under my touch. His hands gently stroked over my bare arms as I pulled the blanket a little higher on my bare chest. After a while, his hands went still.

"What?" I asked.

"I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever," he said.

Usually that sort of comment, the kind that hinted of his undying love for me, the fact that he wanted to let me live and take his own life, let me live with Gale happily, made me feel guilty and awful. I hated thinking that he was going to die for me to have a life with someone that I still felt some love for. But today... Just for today it didn't bother me. I felt so warm and relaxed and beyond worrying about a future that I would never have, because of my death in the Games, I just let the word slip out.

"Okay."

I could hear the smile in his voice. "Then you'll allow it?"

"I'll allow it," I said.

"I love you, Aspen," Cato whispered.

"I love you, too, Cato," I whispered back.

"Doesn't feel like the Games are in a few days."

"I know. It feels like we could be out here for the rest of our lives. In love. Actually married. Have a chance at having..." My voice caught when I realized that I was about to mention children. Something that I never thought that I wanted.

"Having?" Cato prompted.

"Nothing," I muttered. "Just a real life."

"We have a life. It's a crazy one, but it's ours," Cato said.

Ours. Not his. Not mine. Ours. It was something that I actually liked hearing. I liked knowing that he would have a life with me. Would he have really wanted a life with me? Without the Capitol? I had to believe that he did. The way that he loved me. The way that I knew that he did... There was no way that any part of his feelings for me were faked. He would never love anyone else... He never could... Suddenly the guilt was back. Because I feared that one day I might be able to move on. With Gale. His fingers went back to my hair and I dozed off, but he roused me to see the sunset.

It was a spectacular yellow and orange blaze behind the skyline of the Capitol. "I didn't think you'd want to miss it," Cato said.

"Thanks. It might be the last one I see," I said.

"For a while," Cato immediately stepped in.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Would you ever have kids?" Obviously my question surprised him. "The morning before the Reaping that sent me into the Games Katniss and I told Gale that we would never have kids. He said that he might, if he didn't live in District 12. Would you?" I asked.

"Now? Now I don't have time," Cato said.

"That's not true," I said, faster than I had thought.

"There's only one person that I would want to have kids with." Me. "And you?" Cato asked.

"I don't know. Maybe one day. Not anymore," I muttered.

Because the only person that I could think about having kids with, at least for right now, was sitting right here. Cato was the only person that I could think about having kids with. So I sighed and glanced back out over the horizon. Just watching the sun. Just enjoying it. Because I could count on my fingers the number of sunsets I had left, and I didn't want to miss any of them. Not the real ones and not the artificial ones in the Games. We didn't go and join the others for dinner, and no one summoned us.

"I'm glad. I'm tired of making everyone around me so miserable. Everybody crying. Brutus shouting at me for everything. Or Haymitch..." Cato trailed off.

He didn't need to go on. I knew what he meant. The two of us stayed lying over each other and exchanging long kisses. We chatted back and forth about our families, about the food that we loved here, and about the things that we loved most about our homes. We never mentioned the Games or our impending deaths. We stayed on the roof until bedtime and then quietly slipped down to my room without encountering anyone. We didn't clean up from the roof and we didn't even bother putting our clothes back on. I just wrapped us in the blankets that we'd taken and fell back into bed with him.

The next morning, we were roused by my Prep Team. At first I was mortified. The sheets had been jumbled both by us when we got back to my room and just from sleeping. Normally I would have been extraordinarily embarrassed because I wasn't wearing any clothes and neither was Cato. But he blearily opened his eyes and pushed a gentle kiss on my temple, not even caring that the Prep Team was there. I'd almost forgotten that I was wearing my ring, but I was immediately reminded when their eyes caught sight of it and they fell apart. The sight of Cato and me sleeping together was too much for Octavia, because she burst into tears right away.

"You remember what Cinna told us," Venia said fiercely. Octavia nodded and went out sobbing.

The Prep Team gave us a little while to start getting ready for the day. We didn't have to do much, but I did need to get changed and actually wear clothes today. Cato looked over at me and sighed. We didn't say anything today. Just because my Prep Team had reminded us of the problem at hand. In twenty-four hours we would be back in the arena. So we quietly changed and headed out to breakfast to eat. Everyone was there and, while it was tense, no one looked as angry as they had yesterday.

Effie clapped her hands together and we all turned to her. "Are we all done with breakfast?" she asked. Everyone continued to stare at her but no one bothered to speak. She stood from her chair irritably. "Does no one have manners anymore?" Again no one answered. She then turned to Cato and me. "Aspen and Cato, get ready and head downstairs. The Interviews are only a few hours away!"

"The Interviews are almost eight hours away," I mumbled.

"Manners," she snapped.

It looked like she might say something else to berate me about my manners, but before she could Cinna stood and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, my dear. Shall we get you ready?" Cinna asked.

"Sure," I said, pushing out my chair so that I could stand.

On the other side of the room Cato's Head Stylist stood too. She motioned for him to go with her. "I'll see you at the Interviews," Cato said, placing a small kiss on my forehead.

"See you tonight," I said.

"You okay?" Cato asked.

I grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the elevator. Haymitch, Portia, Cinna, and Cato's Head Stylist followed. "Trust me, I'd be trying to get out of it if I could. The last thing that I want to do is spend the last few days of my life performing for them like a monkey," I said, under my breath.

He snorted and I saw Cinna smile as Portia pulled Haymitch from the elevator. Cato pushed a strand of fallen hair behind my ear. "You won't be. Because these are not the last few days of your life," Cato said.

I wanted to argue and tell him that it would be him to get out of the Games, but I didn't. I merely smiled and placed a small kiss on his lips. "Okay," I whispered.

"I'll see you tonight," Cato.

"See you."

His Stylist beckoned him out of the hallway and I waved goodbye. A moment later Cinna motioned for me to follow him into the office that I had become somewhat accustomed to. The Prep Team would be in to help me out in just a few minutes. Which would be fine. They seemed to be a little nicer and less chatty today.

"That's very sweet of the two of you," Cinna said.

"I try. Don't always succeed but I try," I told Cinna.

He smiled and sat me down at the chair. "Take a seat. The Prep Team will be in shortly. I'll return in a few hours," Cinna said.

"Okay."

Cato and Haymitch had to go to their own rooms for prep, so I was left alone with Venia and Flavius. The usual chatter had been suspended. In fact, there was little talk at all, other than to have me raise my chin or comment on a makeup technique. It was nearly lunch when I felt something dripping on my shoulder and turned to find Flavius, who was snipping away at my hair with silent tears running down his face. Venia gave him a look, and he gently set the scissors on the table and left.

Then it was just Venia, whose skin was so pale that her tattoos appeared to be leaping off it. Almost rigid with determination, she did my hair and nails and makeup, fingers flying swiftly to compensate for her absent teammates. I was almost impressed with her, if I hadn't been thinking about how close to death I was. The whole time, she avoided my gaze. I was looking at her, wondering what was happening, but she didn't speak. Something very strange was happening.

It was only when Cinna showed up to approve me and dismiss her that she took my hands, looked me straight in the eye, and said, "We would all like you to know what a... privilege it has been to make you look your best." Then she hastened from the room.

My Prep Team. My foolish, shallow, affectionate pets, with their obsessions with feathers and parties, nearly broke my heart with their goodbye. My entire frame was shaking. I wanted to say something to her but I couldn't force my lips to work. And she was gone by now anyways. My final goodbye to them. It was certain from Venia's last words that we all knew that I wouldn't be returning. Did the whole world know it? I looked at Cinna. He knew, certainly. But as he promised, there was no danger of tears from him.

"Tell them I said thank you," I whispered.

"Of course."

"Why do you still have the wedding dress?" I asked Cinna.

"For the reason I told you last night."

"I really thought that you were joking," I muttered.

He frowned at me before taking my hair down from the hold that it was in and running a brush through it. "My apologies. President Snow ignored our protests. Unfortunately it was not a choice of mine. He believes that you should have the opportunity to look like a bride - and enjoy another night with your husband - for one last time before going into the Games. Plus the people like to look at it," Cinna explained.

"He just wants to make me look like a jackass and try to get the other Tributes to hate me even more than the already do," I grumbled as I leaned back in the chair.

"That, too," Cinna added.

I snorted under my breath and sank into the chair, kicking one of my feet over my knee. "Thanks for not sugarcoating it," I said.

"Of course. Don't worry, I've made a few alterations to the dress," Cinna said with a small smile.

The one that was on my face mirrored his. "I like the sound of that," I told him.

He got to work on my hair, snipping away the dead ends that Flavius hadn't managed to finish before he had started crying left the room. Most of me was only half-finished since the Prep Team had left so early. But Cinna was good enough to finish up what they hadn't. In the meantime, as I thought about yesterday with Cato, Cinna was washing my hair out with a powerful chemical. As he scrubbed at the roots and began to pull out the remaining tangles, I glanced up at Cinna.

"Cinna?"

"Yes?"

"If you could change one thing about your life, what would you change?" I asked.

He pulled me up and began to run a heated object over my hair. Partially to dry and partially to curl it. We had been sitting in silence for a while and I could tell that Cinna was slightly surprised that I had spoken. He probably thought that my mind was on the Interviews. But it really wasn't. I didn't care enough to think about the Interviews. Not this year. I was planning on winging it and seeing how things went from there.

"Nothing," Cinna finally said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?" I asked.

"Nothing," he repeated. We sat in silence for a while as Cinna continued to snip away at the little dead ends. I watched as the bits of hair fluttered to the floor. "Would you change something in your life?"

My answer was immediate. "Yes."

There were plenty of things that I wished that I could change. Even from the beginning of my life. Even from things that were out of my control. Things that had happened before I was even born. That was just the kind of person that I was. There was always something that I wanted to change. I wanted to change the fact that Prim had ever been Reaped. Things would be so much different today. Everything would be right. I wanted to change coming into the Games in the first place.

As much as I loved him, I wanted to change ever looking at Cato. I wanted to change the Games themselves. I wanted Rue to have lived. I wanted Peeta to have lived. I wanted to have never killed someone. I wanted to take back ever handing Cato the knife at the end of the last Games. I wanted the innocent men and women that had been killed on the Victory Tour to still be alive. I wanted to be anywhere but here, back in the Games. I wanted there to be no rebellion being made in my name.

After a little while Cinna spoke up again. "What would you change?" he asked.

Everything. But they were things I wouldn't be able to change. Maybe it wasn't worth it to pretend that I could change anything. It might just make everything even harder. "I don't know. Lots of things," I mumbled.

"Things that you have control of, correct?" Cinna asked.

In the meantime he was pulling my hair up into a complicated twist. It was different than last night. I glanced at him in the mirror. "Of course. There's no point in trying to change something that I have no control of," I said.

"That is true."

"I could want to change something until I turned blue in the face but it wouldn't change anything. It would just hurt to think about. Like my parents dying."

Cinna nodded at me again. He was going to try and teach me a lesson. I could see it in his face. "Tell me what you would change. Volunteering for Primrose and ensuring that Katniss didn't go into the Games?" Cinna asked.

My heart skipped a beat. I would never want either of them to go into the Games. Katniss could have died. Cato might have killed her. And I knew for a fact Prim would have been killed. By anyone. "No," I said immediately.

"Oh?"

"I would live through the Games a million times to make sure that neither one of them ever had to deal with it. Especially considering something even worse could have happened to them."

Although on one hand they might not have started a war. But maybe the war was a good thing. Just not for me. Or for any of the Victors. "Would you change ever speaking to Cato? Ever bothering to play into his traps?" Cinna asked.

"Ye - Yes," I answered, a painful twisting in my chest. Maybe that wasn't the truth. I loved Cato. I couldn't imagine having never met him. I didn't want to live in a world without him. Even if it meant that I had to meet him through the Games, I would always want to know him. "No. I don't know."

And it was the truth. I would always want to meet him. I just wished that I didn't have to go through the Games to do that. "I don't think that you would," Cinna said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Because even though you have had all of these things happen to you, it's all been worth it to meet him. It's been worth it to meet him and get to fall in love with him. I don't think that you would have changed how the Games ended. I don't think that you would have changed any of those things. I don't think that you want any of those things to happen."

As per usual, Cinna was correct. "But I don't want to be the Mockingjay," I said.

"Is that so?"

"It's very sweet that they all love me so much. It's very sweet that they all think that I'm someone to follow. But I'm not. I'm just a kid. I'm just someone that trying to get by. I didn't want to become the symbol of a rebellion."

The last thing that I wanted to do was be the Mockingjay. I wasn't. I wasn't as brave or smart as I wanted to pretend to be. "I know that. Many people know that. But you have become all of those things. The people trust you. They've found someone to follow. I've found someone to follow," Cinna said with a smile, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"You have?" I asked.

"You are my Mockingjay."

"Why is that? What have I done that makes me a good person to follow?" I asked.

I couldn't figure out why I was any better than Haymitch, or Finnick, or Cato. Cinna gave me a small smile. "It isn't because you're a good fighter," Cinna said.

"Thanks," I teased.

"It isn't because you have shown everyone something to fight for."

"I don't get it."

"It's because you are just like them. You have a family that you want to protect. You have things to fight for. And you've shown that one person can change anything," Cinna said.

Maybe it was the truth. I had changed things, despite the fact that I hadn't meant to change anything. But it would never matter. Once these Games were dead and the Mockingjay was dead, the rebellion would be too. "It doesn't matter. Only one person is going to make it out of the Games this time," I said.

"Maybe."

"Nearly a third of the Victors will be dead after this. And the Mockingjay will be gone. Cato will live," I said softly.

Cinna didn't bother glancing up at me as he nodded. "Perhaps. But I think that Caesar was correct in one thing that he said earlier," Cinna said.

I glanced up at him curiously. I was shocked that he even thought that one thing that he had said were correct. "And that is?" I asked.

This time he did look up at me and smile. "I'm not sure that the Mockingjay is out of tricks," he said.

That was the last thing that he said before glancing back down at my hair. I smiled back at him and knitted my hands together in my lap. Cinna went back to work as we sat in silence. The entire time I couldn't stop thinking about the Games. What were they going to be like? I knew that in the last Quarter Quell - with Haymitch - the arena had been larger. It had been nearly twice the size of the arena last year. But that made sense, there had been twice the amount of Tributes. They needed more places to hide.

But that arena was the real threat that year. If I was correct in thinking that Snow wanted the Victors dead as fast as possible I would be correct in thinking that Snow would make the arena smaller this year so that he could push us together. There would also probably be sections of the arena where it would be almost impossible to go. And if Seneca was telling me the truth, there would be mutts for me to avoid. But he had told me to just stay alive until the third day. What did that mean?

It seemed like everyone knew about the arena except for me. Cinna probably knew something about it. He seemed to know everything about everyone. He was certainly one of the most intelligent and informed people that I knew. He was like my guardian angel. His costumes were half of the reason that I'd even known what to say whenever I'd had to speak to Capitol officials. Thankfully they wanted to talk about the clothes and that meant that I didn't have to talk about myself. Cinna was certainly the reason that I was so well liked. At least by the Capitol people.

But by the other Victors - that was another thing. They hated me. I was no fool. I knew that they all wanted me dead. The only people that might have liked me in the slightest were Beetee, Wiress, Mags, Finnick, Haymitch, and Cato. But they weren't enough. A good portion of the rest of the Victors were not fond of me because of what I'd done. Even despite the fact that I had bonded with some of them during training. They were still angry with me.

There were still plenty of others that wanted me dead. Dangerous ones, too. It seemed like Johanna wanted me dead and she was definitely a dangerous player in the Games. Enobaria, too. But I wasn't sure what she thought about me. And as for the ones that liked me - Mags, Wiress, and Beetee - they weren't strong enough to help keep me alive. And more painful than anything else, there were the Victors that had left their families. The ones that had been snatched from their lives because of my mistake.

It didn't matter what anyone else said. The end of the Games were no one else's fault. It wasn't the Capitol's, it wasn't Snow, and it wasn't Cato. It was me. Cato... He had just wanted to come in there and win the Games. Perhaps I should have thought about that in the beginning. He could have killed me and won and things would be normal. He would still be with his family. He would have been having a much easier life without me. I knew that it was the truth.

He would never have had to deal with the Quarter Quell. It would have been the original twist. He would have just been a Mentor for the first time. Marley would have her uncle that she loved so much. Aiden would have a training partner. Dean would have someone to laugh with. Carrie would have the one other Hadley she was close to. Leah would have her big brother. And Damien and Alana would still have their son. Cato would have been happy with either Skye or Julie.

But it wasn't just Cato that had been taken from something. It wasn't even all of the other Tributes. I was never selfish about anything having to do with the Games. Everything that I had done with the Games had been for someone else. It had never been anything that I'd done for myself, with the exception of the very beginning of the Games. The first week or so. I supposed that now would be my one chance to be selfish. I still had my family out there. People that I had to defend.

I had Katniss - who was my best friend - who I needed to get back to. She didn't need the guilt. I knew that beside myself, Katniss felt the guiltiest for everything. She thought that if she had been in the Games she could have changed something. And maybe she could have. Or maybe we would still be right here. I had to get back for Prim. I knew how guilty she felt for what had happened to me. And I needed to get back to Ms. Everdeen. She had promised my parents that she would keep me safe. She deserved to keep that promise. And Gale... I had no good reason. I just knew that I had to come back to him.

And then there was the one thing that made me not selfish. The rebellion. It was the one thing that made everything that I had been through worth it. Part of me genuinely desired to be part of the rebellion. If it wanted any chance to succeed I knew that I would have to be the face. I was the one that had started everything. Perhaps I would need to end things. I had been the fool to start this. I had to be the one to end it. I deserved to be the one to put an arrow through Snow's eyes. It would all depend on what happened over the next few days. It would determine whether the rebellion would live on or fizzle out.

"You're done," Cinna called, startling me from my thoughts.

I glanced up and looked into the mirror. Nothing seemed different. The more I looked the more I realized that nothing was different. I was dressed the exact same. The makeup was the same; just a little bit darker. So was the dress. Cinna said that he had made some alterations to the costume but so far I couldn't see anything. The only thing that was different was that my hair was done up this time. Instead of a few pieces pulled up, it all was. The nails and shoes were exactly the same.

I even gave a small spin to see if anything on the back was different. "I don't see anything different," I said after a moment.

He was grinning down at me. "Not yet. But you will. Come on. We can do the finishing touches behind the stage. That way you'll be able to see what's happening with the other Tributes' Interviews," Cinna said.

"Okay."

We walked out of the hallway. I had to awkwardly shimmy through. I could have sworn that the dress had gotten bigger since the night before. And heavier. As we walked through the halls I saw a few of the other Tributes. They were all glaring at me and my nerves started to fray. They hated me. Seeing me here in the wedding dress for a second time was making it even worse. Cinna dragged me behind the stage and pushed me into a small area that was designated for District 12. It was different than last year.

Instead of having the Tributes line up we were in individual finishing areas that were open to see everyone else. Haymitch and Portia had yet to arrive. Up on the stage, Caesar was in the front. He was about to welcome the crowd. There were no chair for us to sit in this year. Instead he would stand and speak to the Tributes. Afterwards they would be ushered to stand on one of two raised platforms behind him where they would watch the other Interviews. The only one that I would watch from up there would be Haymitch's. I was extremely curious to hear what he was going to say.

The crowd went up into a loud roar as the Panem anthem began to play. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for being here tonight on the eve of the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games!" Caesar yelled. The crowd finally began to quiet. "We have never seen anything like this. And we will never see anything like it again. Because tonight, on this stage, twenty-four of Panem's brightest stars will vie for the ultimate crown. Tonight will be their final opportunity to express their thoughts. Our final opportunity to express our love." There were sounds of pity. "And heartbreakingly, to say goodbye to all but one. What a night. Let's hear it. It's so exciting!"

Caesar then went over the Tributes for tonight. Cinna was currently stitching on a diamond that must have been knocked loose last night. I rubbed a bit of the silk between my fingers, trying to figure out President Snow's reasoning. I supposed that since I was the greatest offender, my pain, loss, and humiliation should be in the brightest spotlight. This, he thought, would make that clear. It was so barbaric, Snow turning my bridal gown into my shroud, that the blow struck home, leaving me with a dull ache inside.

"Oh I am so glad to be back in the wedding dress," I teased.

He glanced up at me and smiled. "Sorry, darling. President Snow insisted. I think you'll be very fond of the alterations though," Cinna said.

Then it dawned on me. This was going to be like the first Tribute Parade. There was something else underneath. That was why it was so heavy. "Don't worry, Cinna. I'm still not afraid of fire," I said.

He glanced up at me and smiled. "You're a brave girl," Cinna said.

"Stupid, more like it."

"That is not true. You're my Mockingjay. You always will be."

"I hope that I don't disappoint you."

For the most part I couldn't care less about what people thought of me. But Cinna mattered. I didn't want to disappoint him. Cinna kissed my cheek gently. "I don't think that you can," Cinna said fondly.

Caesar's voice called out from the stage and Cinna and I both turned to see that he was speaking to Gloss and Cashmere. They were together. That didn't make much sense to me. Were we supposed to speak with our District partner? It was the first time that I had seen two people speaking together in the Interviews. Maybe it was just because the two of them were related.

"You two made the Games a family affair. You became everyone's brother and sister. I don't know how we're going to let you go," Caesar told them.

Cashmere was crying softly into her brother's shoulder. It wasn't real. She was standing strong a moment before. "We're not going by choice." The audience sobbed. "You are our family. And I don't see how anyone can love us better," Gloss said.

"Bullshit," I snarled.

The Capitol loved them so much, yet they were the ones that were still rooting for Cato and I to win. "Of course it is. But you're going to get up there and do the same thing," Cinna said.

"Stop being right," I snapped.

"Not because you want to, but because you have to," Cinna added.

Cato needed Sponsors. We would get them. I knew that I couldn't rely on Haymitch. People still weren't that fond of him. I had to be charming tonight. "I still wish that you could be up there with me," I said, as he came to stand again.

Cinna brought a hand down and smiled at me. "I will be," he said, placing a hand on my chest, over my heart.

A little bit of noise from the stage drew me back to the screen. "So sweet. So sweet." Caesar then turned to Cashmere, who was crying even harder now. "Are you all right, dear?" Caesar asked.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly, brushing the tears from her eyes.

"That's all right."

"I just can't stop crying," she said with a small laugh.

Snorting loudly, I turned away from the stage, where Caesar continued to speak to the siblings. They probably had twice the amount of time with the both of them up there together. "God. Does anybody actually believe this?" I asked Cinna.

"Apparently, everybody," Haymitch said.

He was in a white suit with a black shirt on underneath. I assumed that they were attempting to match the two of us together. He was motioning to my Prep Team, who had returned, but were still sobbing. All of my team were sitting behind the stage and crying. Effie was watching them with sad eyes.

"She is very good," Effie commented.

"These Victors are angry, Aspen. They'll say anything to try and stop the Games. I suggest you do the same," Haymitch said.

"And what exactly do I say?" I asked. There was nothing that anyone could do to stop them. They were tradition. A few crying Tributes wouldn't stop anything. "Haymitch, it doesn't matter how much people want the Games to stop. They won't."

For the first time in a long time I saw a small smile settle over Haymitch's face. It was the same smile I had given to Katniss a million times before when Gale and I were about to do something stupid. "Don't worry about it. I've got it planned," Haymitch said.

"I don't like the sound of that," I told him.

He grinned and walked over to Portia again. The two of us were using the same area. I assumed that the other partners had gotten the same areas too. Because we were all friends... We knew each other... We would be comfortable around each other. Enobaria had just walked up to take her place on the staircase beside Gloss. From the stage I heard Cato's name being called. I turned back to see him walk out onto the stage and shake hands with Caesar. He - like me - was dressed in his wedding costume.

"Cato... You had the most beautiful ceremony yesterday. You got to marry the most beautiful District 12 resident that you could find. Excuse me! The most beautiful girl. Can you forgive me, Aspen?" Caesar asked, turning to backstage.

A camera came to position itself directly in front of me and Cinna stepped out of the way. My face quickly fell into a bright smile. "There's nothing to forgive, Caesar! You know how much I love you," I said, with a sickly sweet chirp in my voice.

Caesar laughed and Cato gave a big smile. "That I do!" Caesar called back before turning away. The moment that the cameras were taken away from me my blank face returned. "What a charming wife you have."

Cato gave a sly grin. "Yes, she is. It's how she caught me eye in the first Games," Cato told Caesar.

I blushed slightly. I didn't even want to think about our first meeting. It had been embarrassing enough the first time. "I don't believe that we've ever heard this story before. How, exactly, you found yourself attracted to Aspen in the first place," Caesar said.

I made a curious noise at the same time as the audience. I knew why Cato liked me and I knew why he hadn't stopped messing with me. But I never knew why he had been attracted to me. "I'd be more than happy to go over it. On our way on the train I saw her Reaping tape. I was astounded," Cato said.

A few female in the audience made noises of affection. I rolled my eyes. "Not to fear. He likes you much more," Cinna said.

"A fault on his part," I teased.

"I'd never seen someone as brave as her. And I couldn't deny that she was something to look at," Cato said, with a small laugh. The audience laughed with him. "It really did start innocently. I just wanted to mess with her. But that wasn't what happened."

Caesar looked like he might jump on Cato for the answer. The rest of the audience were on the edges of their seats. "What did happen?" Caesar prodded.

"She started to mess with me," Cato said. A few members of the audience laughed - so did I - as Cato continued to speak. "Time flew by and I began to realize that she was always in my mind. One way or another."

It made me feel slightly better that while I had been constantly thinking about Cato during the last Games, he had been thinking about me, too. "When did you know that you couldn't live without her?" Caesar asked.

I raised my eyebrows. Sometimes I really did love him. Cato seemed to think for a moment before looking at the ground. "When I saw her out in the field. With Rue," Cato admitted.

I twitched slightly at the reminder of the late little girl. "That was a very moving moment," Caesar said softly.

"She was so in love with the little girl, with the idea of saving her, that watching her lose her friend... It reminded me that this competition wasn't some thing that I should have been looking forward to for all my life. It reminded me that for people like her, for people like Rue, it was a nightmare. She gave me something that night," Cato said softly.

You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Even Cinna had stopped moving around to allow me to listen to him speak. "What was that?" Caesar asked.

He had calmed down but still looked like he might pass out from a heart attack at any moment. "The realization that there were things that I lacked. I wasn't the perfect Tribute. I lacked humanity." My heart gave a painful twinge. He had always had humanity. It had just been beaten down during his time in the Academy. "I lacked something to fight for," Cato added lowly.

Behind him, Gloss, Cashmere, and Enobaria were all watching closely. "And tell us, Cato, have you found something to fight for?" Caesar asked.

"Yes," Cato said, taking a deep breath and looking directly at Caesar. "I don't care if it's one hour, one day, or one week that we have left. I'll fight for her for every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day."

There was an almost dangerous hiss to his voice. A moment after he had said it I realized that my eyes were watering with tears that I didn't want to fall. It would have been so much easier if he wasn't willing to fight for me. Cinna wipe my eyes and gave me a small smile. We both looked out to the audience to see that they were all crying. Some were giving rather loud sobs as others cried softly into their own hands. But they were all crying. Even Caesar was on the verge of tears. He grabbed his purple handkerchief and wiped his eyes.

He tucked it back into his pocket and sighed, looking back at Cato. "Oh, excuse me. I don't think I've ever heard something so sweet. I think that we can all say that the hardest part of all of this - the entire Quarter Quell - is your story. The fact that your time together was cut so painfully short," Caesar told Cato.

No fucking kidding. I wanted years with Cato. I wanted to be able to know everything about him and vice versa. But we would never get that. The Capitol didn't want us to have that. "That's the whole thing, Caesar. Aspen and I - we've never had time," Cato said.

He was completely right. We never had time. That was why everything had happened between us was so fast. Because we had never had time. "Explain a bit, Cato," Caesar prompted.

"When we first met we had seven days to get to know each other. In those seven days I knew that I had feelings for her." A small smile crossed my lips. "And then we had those seventeen days in the Games. And in those seventeen days I realized that I was in love with her. I knew that I couldn't kill her." He wasn't the only one. I couldn't kill him either. "Three days after that, we got to sit down and talk about us. We were barely able to speak to each other until the Victory Tour. Sixteen days that we got to spend together. One day for the wedding photo shoot. And then the announcement of the Quarter Quell. And now we're here. Seven more days. And the Games... However long those will be. Do you know what that means?" Cato asked Caesar.

It was one of the rare times when a Tribute turned the table on Caesar and asked him a question. Caesar handled it well, though. "It means that we've seen far too little then what we deserve to see," Caesar answered.

Or I've gotten to experience far too little! My nails bit into my skin and Cinna uncurled them for me. I smiled weakly. "Yes. But to me it means that time is... irrelevant. In a year, Aspen and I have only spent fifty-two days together. But we've been through more than what most people will go through in a lifetime together," Cato said.

"That's very true. I think that the entire Capitol - all of Panem really - has just been enamored watching the two of you. It has been an honor," Caesar said, reaching out for Cato's hand.

Cato grabbed Caesar's hand and shook it. "Thank you, Caesar," Cato said softly.

There was a sudden eruption of noise as Cato went to stand with the other Tributes. Most of the people in the audience were clapping and cheering for Cato, many were still crying, but a good portion of them also looked angry. It was enough to surprise me. They were all on their feet and shouting loudly, each trying to speak over the next.

"Let them win!" a man in the middle of the audience yelled.

"Let them out of the Games!" a woman yelled.

My heart jumped into my throat as I turned to look at Cinna, completely shocked. Were we really making this work? Were they going to let us out of the Games? What would President Snow think? "Cancel the Games!" another woman yelled.

"Find new Tributes!" a man - not the same one that had yelled out earlier - added.

It was a long time that the screaming lasted. Cato was glancing back at the crowd as a stage director helped him to his spot. It was rougher than needed. For a moment I thought that the Games might start early. Cato did not look happy to have the man's hands on him. The stagehand ran off as Caesar tried to calm the audience down. More people had joined in on the screaming to stop the Games or let us go. Many were still crying. Enobaria patted him on the back and Gloss and Cashmere both nodded.

Haymitch walked back into my loading bay. We were both thrown by the reaction to Cato's interview. Even Cinna had stopped working to watch the reaction. "One thing that you can never fault Cato for is that the boy knows how to work a crowd," Haymitch said.

"That he does. He always had," I said.

It took Caesar almost ten full minutes to calm the crowd down enough to speak over them. For a moment I thought that they were just going to stop the Interviews. It was almost impossible for any of them to stop making noise. They were furious about what was happening to Cato and me. It took another two minutes and a promise from one of the directors that they would cancel the Interviews if the crowd couldn't stop. Which would have been a complete travesty, of course.

That was the only reason that they managed to silence themselves. After that Wiress had come onto the stage. Good for the Capitol, her interview was rather demure. She seemed to be a tiny bit on the senile side as she mostly talked about her children - of which I was pretty sure that she had none. I could tell that Caesar was trying to ensure that she didn't get too far off the rails. Caesar then welcomed Beetee onto the stage. He took his place with a polite round of applause. He wasn't that well-loved.

"Beetee... You have contributed so much to Panem over the years. I don't know who we will miss more. You or your brain," Caesar joked.

Or at least I was pretty sure that it was a joke. My brow furrowed at the comment. "That's a nice thing to say to someone that you've essentially sentenced to death," I snarled.

"They don't think beyond the end of their nose," Cinna said.

"I hope they realize that they're the ones that did this to us. We don't want this. I didn't want this," I snarled, mostly to myself as Cinna was at his desk working.

"Might I suggest that you not say something like that when we go into the Games? You won't last more than two minutes," Haymitch said.

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt they'd want me to last two minutes anyways," I said.

"Well considering I'll be right there with you I'd really appreciate that you didn't get us both blown up!" Haymitch snapped.

He didn't hang around. Haymitch stomped out of the room, leaving Portia to roll her eyes and follow. She must have been used to his attitude by now. Cinna placed down his pad and walked over to me. "He's just nervous. He hasn't done this in a long time. He's not a people person," Cinna said.

"And I am?" I asked.

Cinna nodded as he added a little dash of blush on my face. "I think so. You've certainly made Cato fall under your spell. Myself too," Cinna said.

"You both have terrible taste," I teased.

Cinna was the one person that could always manage to make me feel better. We both turned back to watch Caesar continue the interview. "If the Quarter Quell were written into law by men, certainly, it can be unwritten," Beetee said.

A small smile came over my face as we watched. Beetee wasn't the strongest person up there, he wasn't the most attractive of us, and he certainly wasn't the fastest. But that didn't mean that he wasn't one of the best. "He's smarter than anyone else standing up there," I told Cinna.

Cinna glanced up at me. "Are you including yourself?"

"Yes," I immediately said.

I was no fool but I was nothing compared to Beetee. Even Wiress was nothing compared to Beetee. Caesar seemed more than a little uncomfortable at Beetee's answer. "Yes. Interesting concept," he said, leading the conversation in a different direction.

As I listened to their conversation I was sure that it was shorter than any of the other Interviews. The Capitol had probably gotten a little nervous that Beetee was going to say something else that made them sound like fools. He was ushered off of the stage and back to the stairs quickly. I noticed that, with each additional answer that was given, the audience was becoming more and more restless. They were as unhappy with this as I was. He took his place and I saw that Wiress was giving him a quick nod.

Cato, Enobaria, Gloss, and Cashmere all seemed to be rather pleased with Beetee's uncomfortable interview. The crowd didn't cheer for him. Mags didn't say much in her Interview but she nodded vigorously and gave a friendly smile. She did get a good round of applause. I figured that it was partially out of pity and partially because they liked her demeanor. Then it was Finnick's turn. He received the loudest cheer - other than maybe Cato. When the crowd calmed down Caesar turned to Finnick with a smile.

"Finnick... I understand that you have a message for somebody out there. A special somebody." Caesar started chuckling as the women in the audience continued to shout. "Can we hear it?" Caesar asked.

My heart skipped a beat. Was he ready for people to know about Annie? They thought that their relationship was like brother and sister. Like our own. Finnick turned to the camera. "My love, you have my heart for all eternity and if I die in that arena, my last thought will be of your lips," Finnick said wistfully.

He actually looked like he might have been on the verge of tears. I couldn't tell whether or not he was acting or he genuinely was that upset that he was about to leave Annie for good. This time my heart gave a painful twist. I wasn't the only person out here that had someone that they were fighting for. And I was planning on slaughtering Finnick - if it came down to it - to keep Cato alive. Even though Finnick was only back here because of me. The women in the audience went insane at the sweet poem.

"Poor Annie," I mumbled.

"What was that?" Cinna asked with a raised brow.

I didn't know whether or not Cinna knew about Finnick and Annie but the cameras were still watching us. I trusted Cinna, not them. So I shook my head. "Nothing. I just think that some people forget that Cato and I aren't the only ones up here that have someone that we love. Some of them are married with kids. They have whole lives that they had to give up because of something stupid that I did," I said slowly.

Cinna turned me to face him and grabbed my hands. "Never think that anything that you did was stupid. It was brave. Everything that you've done over the last year was brave," Cinna said.

I would always think that it was stupid and foolish. "Maybe. But look at everything that I've mucked up," I said, motioning around.

The entire Games this year had been to undo all of the hope that I had accidentally given the Districts when Cato and I had won the Games last year. All of this was done to make me public enemy number one and eliminate all hope of a rebellion. I could only hope that my death would make me the martyr. Keep the rebellion going. Have Cato be the Mockingjay. He could do it. He was much better than I was.

"Look at everything that you've created," Cinna said.

"These Games?" I questioned.

"No. You've created a love story that can power generations. That could power a rebellion. Not just that. You've created a leader that someone could really follow."

Was I really someone that could power a rebellion? I wasn't so sure. It seemed like everyone had faith in me, except for me. They all seemed to think that I really was the Mockingjay. I wanted to be the Mockingjay. Just admitting it was enough for me to let out a soft sigh. I did want to do this... But I couldn't, could I? No. Probably not. As much as I wanted to do it, I just wasn't sure that I had it in me. In fact I was sure that I didn't have what it took to watch hundreds or thousands of people die in a rebellion that I had accidentally started. That, until recently, I hadn't wanted.

No matter that they were fighting for something that they believed in too, I would never be able to get over the fact that it was me that had started this. All of the deaths that had already been caused - and would be caused - were on me. I tried to get those thoughts out of my mind and watch the other Interviews. The female from District 5 had a rather lackluster Interview. The male from District 5 seemed like he was a little drunk. I wasn't surprised. He had vomited wine on the floor during the training sessions.

Caesar had seemed to want to usher him off of the stage as quickly as possible. The female Morphling barely spoke during her Interview. She was badly shaking. I could only remember her painting on Cato's arm during training and him smiling at her, describing District 2. It was what she had been painting. The male Morphling went the same way. During his I could only remember the light in his eyes that I had ever seen was while he was painting yellow flowers on my cheeks.

It was the only time that I'd really seen light in his eyes. It had been enough to get Cato and me to smile. We had let them paint of us for hours. I had laughed about the feeling of the brushes on my cheeks while his District partner had been painting Cato's arm. When he was allowed to shakily leave the stage he took a place next to his District partner. They both looked on the verge of falling over. Johanna was called out onto the stage and she stomped out angrily. She looked pissed.

"Oh, look, it's my number one fan," I joked with Cinna, who laughed.

Caesar smiled at her but she didn't bother to return the gesture. "We have seen a lot of tears here tonight. But I see no tears in Johanna's eyes. Johanna, you are angry." Johanna let out a humorless laugh. "Tell me why," Caesar said.

He was going to regret asking her that. "Well, yes, I'm angry. You know, I'm getting totally screwed over here," Johanna said, still laughing as she shook her head.

"Uh-huh," Caesar prompted.

"The deal was that if I win the Hunger Games, I get to live the rest of my life in peace." Caesar nodded again as Johanna looked straight in the camera. "But now you want to kill me again. Well, you know what?" She gave Caesar no chance to answer. "Fuck that! And fuck everybody that had anything to do with it!" she shouted.

The crowd was jeering, probably trying to get her to leave. "Go Johanna," I mumbled.

She was pushed off of the stage. I could hear her heels clomping against the floor as she stomped away. I couldn't help that the edges of my lips were turning up slightly. I didn't like Johanna one bit, but I had to say that she had some major guts for doing and saying that. She wasn't sent to the stairs. Rather she was led backstage to cool down for a little while. The rest of the Tributes were all grinning and laughing under their breath.

"She reminds me a tiny bit of you," Cinna said, startling me slightly.

I turned to him with narrowed eyes. "I don't know if that's a good thing or not," I told Cinna, who smiled back at me.

"Trust me, it's a very good thing."

The crowd outside were still jeering at Johanna and interrupting the calm that Caesar was trying to create. "All right then. One woman's opinion. Who's next?" Caesar asked, turning awkwardly back to the stage.

"All right, turn around," Cinna instructed.

I did so as Caesar continued to try and calm down the shouting crowd. "I know it's a bad break for everyone involved," Caesar called out.

The crowd finally calmed down enough for him to be able to speak again. But even now they were still shouting back and forth with each other. The Interviews were very tense. Far more than they had been before. Woof was then invited out onto the stage. The crowd only quieted because he was so quiet. Blight's Interview was reasonably uneventful. Caesar must have been grateful for it after what had happened with Johanna. He was an extremely friendly man that was friends with many of the other Victors. I had seen him drinking and laughing with Haymitch before.

It hurt to know that it was my fault that he was back here. He was one of the few Tributes that had smiled at me and introduced himself rather than insult me, glare at me, or try to recruit me. Cecelia was rather demure during her Interview. I could only see the shadows of three children, clinging onto her and refusing to let go. I had wanted to ask her about the uprising in District 8. I supposed that it was too late now. Woof was clearly completely out of it. He was old and senile. But he always had a smile on.

The District 9 female was older and quieter. She was smiling rather politely and I found myself impressed with her. She clearly hated being here but she was putting on a brave face. I kept seeing the horrified face of the girl that I had stabbed last year. Had she trained her? Her District partner seemed much less friendly. I had a bad feeling that I would need to avoid him. The District 10 female seemed extremely nervous. She stuttered a fair bit and nearly fell a few times. I felt horrible for thinking that she would be no problem to deal with. Her District partner wasn't much older than me. He would be a problem. He didn't seem overly friendly.

District 11 was still a sore spot with me. Chaff was another version of Thresh. Seeder was the type of woman that I thought that Rue could have grown up to be. Her Interview was fast. She reminded me of a Seam resident. She was clearly strong. She must have kept up her strength even after the Games that she won. Chaff was a little more nutty. In his Interview he was, too. I was brought back to the kiss that we had shared and nearly smiled. He was simply a happy - drunk, but less so than Haymitch - man.

They were in the middle of Chaff's Interview when Cinna spoke for the first time in nearly an hour. "I think I'm done," he said.

He was giving me a long look. Despite the fact that he had been working on the dress for nearly two hours there still seemed to be no differences in the dress. He must have done something. Cinna didn't like to leave things be. "Will I be twirling tonight?" I asked.

I figured that I would be but I wanted to ask anyways. "Save it for the end," Cinna said.

"Okay."

Just as I opened my mouth to thank him for always being there Effie rounded the corner. "One minute. Is she ready?" Effie asked.

"Yes," Cinna told Effie, who nodded and disappeared back around the corner. If all went according to plan, this would be the last time that I would speak to Caesar Flickerman. "Aspen. You were the most beautiful bride. I was so proud to walk with you last night. I'm proud to even be the tiniest bit a part of your family."

I smiled and grabbed his hands. "Thank you. And you are my family, Cinna. I never knew my parents. I never got to see them. But that doesn't matter. Because I have you. You aren't my father but you're better than anything that I ever deserved. Thank you for being here for me," I said softly.

I would always love my parents, despite the fact that I had never known them. But that wasn't to say that I didn't have other family. Haymitch, Cato, Finnick, Cinna, Effie, Gale, Katniss, Prim, Ms. Everdeen, and even the Hadley's. They were all my family. In fact, I was lucky enough to have more family than most people did. It was just something that had taken me a little too long to realize. They were the ones that I was doing this for.

"I always will be. I'll always be with you right here. Remember that," Cinna said.

"I know."

"Let's go show them what real beauty looks like," Effie said.

I whipped back to see that she was watching with a smile. I gave her a weak one in return. She gasped softly. "Oh... Aspen." She grabbed my hands and I smiled at her. "You were the most beautiful bride," Effie said, her voice cracking pitifully.

"Thank you, Effie," I said, smiling.

The three of us headed towards the loading bay. "It has to go higher," I heard Johanna snap at her Stylist.

"Pretty, pretty, Aspen, they're going to adore you. And there are a lot of Sponsors in the audience, so of course, just be your usual self," Effie said. I nodded with a bored stare. "Actually, be your happier self."

Snorting under my breath, I turned back to Effie. She hadn't meant it as an insult. She had really meant it. "I'll miss you saying things like that, Effie," I told her with a smile.

A small scoff came from behind me and I turned back to see that two workers were bringing Johanna back to the stage. "Really? We have to see you in the wedding dress again?" Johanna sneered.

A nasty glare settled on my face. I had just about had it with Johanna - and everyone else - giving me those scathing comments. "Snow made me wear it. You know, Johanna, I'm no happier about being here than you are. Maybe I feel even worse. Because yeah, you're back here. I get that you feel like fucking shit for being here. Guess what? I do, too! Because everyone out here blames me for something that I didn't mean to do. Because everyone out there had to walk away from their families, their lives, things that they've fought for. Things that they all earned. Things that I took from them on accident," I sneered.

Cinna, Haymitch, and Effie were watching me closely. "All I wanted was to get out of there alive and show Snow that he doesn't rule everything. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry for standing up to him. I'm sorry for trying to change things. And most of all, I'm so sorry that I screwed up your plans. But remember that I wasn't the person who fucked up your life in the first place. So next time, just think, you aren't the only one who got their lives torn out from under them. I've got all of this on my shoulders and I do not need you making it worse," I said darkly.

Johanna hadn't once turned away from my dark glare. She merely watched with an amused face. She nodded at me slowly. "And she finally grows a backbone," Johanna said with a light lilt to her voice.

Caesar's voice brought me out of my staring contest with her. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome... You know her..." Caesar began to introduce me.

Johanna crossed in front of me and fixed my pearl necklace. "Make him pay for it," Johanna said.

I nodded, giving her a small smile, as Caesar continued. "...as the Girl on Fire!" Caesar yelled. Johanna was dragged away back to the stairs as Cinna nudged me forward. "The Victor of last year's Hunger Games. Aspen An -! Excuse me! Aspen Hadley!" The doors open and I walked out onto the stage. I smiled and waved to the crowd, who were in an absolute uproar. "Aspen Hadley, you look fabulous. Doesn't she?"

Suddenly I understood what Johanna meant about making him pay for it. Up on the stage was the first time that I realized the depth of betrayal felt among the Victors and the rage that accompanied it. But they were so smart, so wonderfully smart about how they played it, because it all came back to reflect on the government and President Snow in particular. Not everyone. There were the old throwbacks, like Enobaria, who was just here for another Games, and those too baffled or drugged or lost to join in on the attack. But there were enough Victors who still had the wits and the nerve to come out fighting.

Once more the audience cheered. It was much louder than anyone else had gotten. I figured that it was just because they were excited to hear what kind of sweet words I would give for Cato. But the wedding dress had the opposite effect. Everyone was crying and shrieking that at least a minute of my Interview was eaten up, just waiting for them to quiet down. In the meantime, I laughed and swatted playfully at Caesar. Right in the front row - as promised - were both my family and Cato's.

Katniss was in a pretty red dress that looked like one of Cinna's designs. I wondered if he was trying to have her support the Girl on Fire thing. Prim was in a little pink dress and I gave her a small wink. She waved back to me. Ms. Everdeen was in a nice blue dress and she gave me a small smile. Gale was in a white suit and looked anything but happy about it. He was staring darkly but his lips gave a small twitch as I laughed softly at the look on his face.

Damien and Alana were complimenting each other in a black dress and suit. They both gave small smiles that I returned. Marley was bouncing happily on her mother's lap, who was wearing a dress like Katniss's. She gave me a small wave. Dean - who was in a blue suit - gave me a small smile. I nodded back. Aiden was staring at me and I rolled my eyes, looking past him. Perhaps he'd be nice at my funeral. Leah was laughing as she waved at me. Skye and Julie both gave loud cheers and I waved at them.

Caesar's call brought me back over to him and I smiled brightly. Even from here I could feel the hate and disgust rolling off of Gale. "My, my! Now, Aspen, this is a very big and very emotional night for all of us. Wouldn't you say?" Caesar asked.

The audience was still roaring and we had to speak loudly just to be heard. Don't say anything stupid. "Don't go crying on me now, Caesar," I teased gently, unable to find anything else to say that wasn't either rude or unintelligent.

Caesar turned and grinned at me. "I can't make any promises. You know me," he said.

We were still joining hands as I laughed. "You know I wouldn't believe you, even if you did," I teased.

The audience joined in our laughter. Unlike last year, I wasn't nervous at all. Caesar laughed and clapped his hands together. "I love her! The Girl on Fire is so cheeky," he said. He laughed again before turning back to me with a slightly more serious face. "But, Aspen, on a more serious note. How are you handling things?"

You still need Sponsors for Cato. "I think I'm handling things about as well as I possibly can. Quite a few things have not worked out the way that I thought that they would," I said softly.

"Would you care to explain?" Caesar asked.

No. "Of course. Over the past year so many things have happened to me that I never expected to happen. Prim was Reaped with her name in the ball only once." People probably saw the small cringe I made at the memory. Prim cringed too and I wanted to call out an apology. "I became a Tribute in the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. I was a Victor of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. I became a favorite of the Capitol. Now I'm back for the third Quarter Quell. It's all so incredible," I said, gritting my teeth. Gale looked like he might light himself on fire. "But there's one thing that means so much more to me than the rest combined."

Haymitch would kill me himself if I didn't at least try and do something to stop the Games. Play into their weak spot. "And what is that?" Caesar asked.

"I met the man that I didn't think was possible for me to meet. I met Cato. And I fell in love with him," I said brightly, turning back to Cato. He gave me a small wink. I turned back to Caesar and smiled. "I even got to marry him. I think that I loved him from the first moment that I spoke to him. I just tried to deny it."

Part of it was the truth, and I hated admitting it, but I knew that I had to. Even from here I could feel Cato smirking at me. As much as we really did love each other we also liked to bust each other's' asses. "And it is just so heartbreaking that we have to watch your story come to an end like this," Caesar said, sobbing softly.

The rest of the audience started to weep. I smiled at him and shook my head. "Who's to say that it's ending?" I asked Caesar, who gave me an interested grin. "I don't think that this is going to end our story. They say that true love is eternal. That it never dies. I don't think that we can ever die. I never thought that I would fall in love with someone. But then I met him. And I just knew... that no one would ever mean what he meant to me."

My body gave a slightly painful twinge because it wasn't completely true. Gale still meant the world to me and somewhere in the back of my mind I still had some feelings for him. I hated having to say that with him sitting not even twenty feet from me. "And what does he mean to you?" Caesar asked.

"Everything," I answered immediately. "I can have a hard time showing people - saying - what I mean. I'm not overly emotional. But he deserves to know what he means to me. He means everything. He means more to me then my own life does. I don't think I could stand to be without him. I never knew what it meant to be in love, to love someone more than life itself. I never knew what that meant until I met him."

"Oh Aspen..." Caesar muttered as he trailed off. He placed a hand on my shoulder before giving me a bitter smile. There were tears in the corner of his eyes. "You are a well-spoken girl. And a beautiful one at that."

"Thank you," I said softly.

Caesar turned back to Cato briefly. "You are an extraordinarily lucky man, Cato."

Cato was watching the Interview with a small smile. His hands were clasped in front of him. "Yes I am," he responded, giving me a little wink.

I smiled back at him and gave the automatic response that I knew that everyone would want to hear. "He's not the only lucky one," I said softly.

The audience all cheered and Caesar made a noise that sounded somewhere in between a cheer and a choke. He had his finger in his mouth as he seemed to be resisting crying. "Cancel the Games!" a man in the audience shouted.

It was just audible over the cheers of the audience. I smirked down at the floor. Maybe it was working. "Let them out!" a woman yelled after him.

Caesar was smart enough to ignore them both. "Well you two are absolutely perfect together!" Caesar chirped. The rest of the audience cheered happily with him. The crowd quieted and Caesar turned back to me once more. "Now, Aspen, that's the dress that you wore last night, correct?"

"Yes."

"And why have we decided to see you in it again?" Caesar asked curiously.

I smiled and nodded, letting the dress fluff out. "President Snow thought that since my time with Cato is being cut short I should be in the dress once more. He thought that it might remind me of the best time of my life while I prepare for the worst," I said.

Caesar smiled and clapped his hands together. "Well, President Snow, as usual, was right. Was he not, folks?" Caesar asked the crowd, who cheered loudly. "I love it! I love it! Don't you love it, folks? It's incredible. It's so gorgeous." I looked like a damn peacock. "Will you do us the honor? Please? Please? Please?"

Cinna was right about wanting me to spin. I should have known that Caesar would ask. And this was where I got to find out exactly what it was that Cinna had done to the dress. Just in case the flames were a little higher than I had been expecting - like during my first Tribute Parade when they had acted as a quick change screen - I stepped closer towards the edge of the stage. At least if I fell off I could trust Gale to catch me. Cinna was now in the audience and he nodded. It was time.

So I began to spin slowly and watch as flames licked at the edge of the dress. I smirked and continued to spin. The flames slowly rose up the dress and I watched as they began to dissolve the dress. The audience was shouting and yelling at the theatricality. The dress continued to dissolve and I watched as a grey pattern appeared underneath it. I continued to spin until the dress had completely melted off of my body and left a grey and white slightly-fitted dress that also had somewhat of a blue tinge.

"Oh, my God!" Caesar yelled.

At least I still wasn't dusted in coal powder. No. I was not naked. I was in a dress that was just slightly tighter of a design than my wedding dress. The main difference was that this was the color of coal and made of tiny feathers. Wonderingly, I lifted my long, flowing sleeves into the air, and that was when I saw myself on the television screen. Clothed in black except for the white patches on my sleeves. Or should I say my wings. A Mockingjay.

"Oh, my! It's a bird. It's got feathers. It's like a bird. It's like a..." Caesar trailed off.

"Like a Mockingjay," I was barely ale to breathe out.

The audience were all laughing and cheering and I smirked as I looked over at Cinna. They didn't quite understand the hidden message to the Districts, but I did. I was the Mockingjay and I always would be. Cinna believed in me. And that was good enough for me. Although suddenly I realized the horror. While everyone else was shouting and cheering with glee, even my friends and family and Cato and the other Victors, I knew what Cinna had just done.

A shadow of recognition flickered across Caesar's face. Did he know? I had always thought that he was so clueless about the real problem. But right now I knew that he knew more than he was letting on. I could tell that he knew that the Mockingjay wasn't just my token. That it had come to symbolize so much more. That what will be seen as a flashy costume change in the Capitol is resonating in an entirely different way throughout the Districts. But he made the best of it.

"Your stylist certainly has outdone himself this time, hasn't he? What theatricality! Cinna! Take a bow," Caesar called.

The cameras turned to Cinna, who gave a slight bow. Suddenly I was so afraid for him. What had he done? Something terribly dangerous. An act of rebellion in itself. And he'd done it for me. I remembered his words... Don't worry. I always channel my emotions into my work. That way I don't hurt anyone but myself. I was afraid he had hurt himself beyond repair. The significance of my fiery transformation would not be lost on President Snow. The audience, who had been stunned into silence, broke into wild applause. I could barely hear the buzzer that indicated that my three minutes were up.

Caesar thanked me but no one could hear it. So I turned, walking across the stage. I could hear Prim cheering loudly and I smiled at her. Katniss and Ms. Everdeen were clapping happily and smiling up at me. Gale was not cheering but he did send me a little wink. I shook my head and smiled. As I walked to take my spot, Cato gave me a small smile. I nodded at him and took my place next to Chaff. There was only one spot next to me that would be for Haymitch. Caesar had just called him out.

It took a very long time for the audience to quiet down. Haymitch walked out onto the stage and shook hands with Caesar. His hair had not been cut - I assumed that he had refused - but it had been brushed and slicked back. "Haymitch. Welcome back. It's certainly been a long time," Caesar chirped.

Haymitch laughed and shook his head. "Oh not quite long enough," he said.

A few people laughed in the audience with him - mainly my family and Cato's. Most of the Victors laughed, too. Caesar laughed loudly to encourage more of the audience to join him. "You were a funny man back then and you're a funny man today! The last time that you competed in the Games was a Quarter Quell. What do you think that this Quarter Quell will be like? Do you think that you have an advantage?" Caesar asked.

Haymitch scowled and shook his head. "No," he immediately answered.

Caesar motioned for Haymitch to continue. "Really?" Caesar asked, looking surprised.

Haymitch had yelled at me a million times that I wasn't friendly enough during my Interviews. He was much less friendly than I was. "I don't think that anyone other than the Capitol has an advantage. I just know that this one will be even worse than the last one," Haymitch said.

How would it be worse? Haymitch had lost his friends, his girlfriend, and his family the last time that he had been in the Games. "And why is that?" Caesar asked.

Haymitch turned and motioned to the Victors that were all standing behind him. "Because of all of these people standing behind us," Haymitch said. "Because of those two standing right there."

He motioned to both Cato and myself. I gave a soft smile as the crowd went into an uproar. Caesar smiled awkwardly and nodded at Haymitch. "And you must be proud of those two," Caesar added.

Haymitch nodded. I was curious to hear just how proud of me he was. "I am. Both of them. I'm so proud of Aspen. She's done so much more than I ever thought that she could. She's just like her parents, strong and brave, but more importantly, she loves just like them too. Not just her husband, I've seen how many others she loves. Including myself. She's half of the reason that I'm even still alive. I probably would have drank myself into oblivion some time ago. She keeps me on my toes," Haymitch said softly.

Tears rose to my eyes and I blinked them back. Haymitch had no clue what he meant to me. As much as I liked to snap and argue with him, he was still one of the most important things in the world to me. Caesar smiled at my District partner. "You sound very proud of her. Almost like a father would be," Caesar gently prodded.

"She's like a daughter to me," Haymitch added softly. I smiled and nodded down at him. He was a pain in my ass but he - like Cinna - was like a father to me.

"Very sweet. I'm sure that she feels the same. Thank you, Haymitch. We look forward to seeing you in the Games," Caesar said.

Haymitch's buzzer went off and he shook Caesar's hand again, coming back up the stairs to take his place next to me. I leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. The crowd cheered loudly and many began to cry. I heard more people shouting for the Games to be called off. Because I had a husband, because my new father was up here and shouldn't have been taken away from me, and so many other things. But it was all because of me. All of the shouts were for me.

"Now! We - What - What is this?" Caesar asked, as a screen dropped. He looked extremely confused, as did everyone else. Even me. "What's happening? It's... Can someone turn this off?"

People from backstage were running back and forth to try and raise the screen again. It was the same screen that had featured Cato and I's kiss at President Snow's party during his interview last year. It was also the same one that had showed the highlight reel during our Crowning Ceremony. There was a photo on the screen this year. It was all black and white. Actually it was mostly black. There was a tiny black dot in the center of the image. What the hell was that?

"Is that an ultrasound?" Finnick asked curiously.

The more that I stared at it the more that I realized that it was an ultrasound. I had seen photos of Prim's before. But why the hell was it up here? "Why is an ultrasound up on the screen?" Caesar asked.

People from the Capitol were running back and forth to solve it. The audience was about whose it was. "How did that get up there? How did someone get their hands on this?" Cato asked out loud.

My head snapped back to him. Did he know what this was? Caesar turned back to him, just as surprised. The audience had now gone silent. "Do you know what this is?" Caesar asked Cato.

Cato's head dropped in something akin to shame before looking back up. "Yes." Even my eyebrows raised. "We didn't mean to tell anyone about it. Not this way. We didn't want it to get in the way of the Games. We've caused enough trouble," Cato said softly.

My stomach dropped and my knees buckled slightly as I nearly collapsed. People were shouting back and forth as were the Victors. No one knew whether to look at Cato of myself. I felt like I was about to empty my stomach onto the floor and it was not because of an unborn baby. Haymitch wrapped his hand around my own. Probably for the audience and to keep me from falling over. He must have known how stunned I was. Haymitch turned back and gave Cato and impressed smirk.

"D-D-D-Do you mean to tell us that t-this is Aspen and your..." Caesar trailed off weakly.

This was what Haymitch had meant about having a plan. This was their plan. And I felt like I was about to keel over and die. Out in the audience both Cato and my families were snapping back and forth with each other. Gale looked like he might come up on the stage and strangle either Cato or myself. I wanted to shake my head and tell him that it wasn't true but I knew that I couldn't. I had to play this one out. The audience was in a complete frenzy.

"Child. Yes. We just found out yesterday," Cato said, looking over at me and giving me a small smile. The crowd was shouting loudly as I turned back and gave him a small smile. "Someone must have gotten hold of the picture."

My knees were still shaking as the audience went from confused to angry. They were clearly buying into the blatant lie. Everyone was shouting. People were on their feet and louder than I had ever heard them before. The Interviews had already been hanging on by a thread but now it was a nightmare. There was no going back from this. Caesar began to walk around the stage and motion downwards to try and calm the audience down. But it wasn't going to work.

If things were less serious I would have laughed. He had done it again. Dropped a bomb that wiped out the efforts of every Tribute who came before him. Well, maybe not. Maybe this year he had only lit the fuse on a bomb that the Victors themselves had been building. Hoping someone would be able to detonate it. Perhaps thinking it would be me in my bridal gown. Not knowing how much I relied on Cinna's talents, whereas Cato needed nothing more than his wits. The way we had always been. He was the talker.

"All right. This is news! Let's find out more," Caesar said, turning back to Cato and I. The crowd wasn't being quite enough to be able to speak. "Calm down. This is news to all of us."

"Call off the Games!" a man yelled out.

More joined in after him. Caesar continued to attempt to hush the crowd but nothing was working. "All right. Let's..." Caesar trailed off, unable to speak over the shouts.

"Stop the Games!" a woman yelled.

"Everybody, calm down. It's a great night. A great night," Caesar was trying to solve the uproar desperately. "This is news to all of us. All right, all right, all right. We're going to find out what we do about this."

"Cancel the Games!"

"Stop the Games!"

As the bomb exploded, it sent accusations of injustice and barbarism and cruelty flying out in every direction. I thought that the roof was going to explode from all of the noise. Even the most Capitol-loving, Games-hungry, bloodthirsty person out there couldn't ignore, at least for a moment, how horrific the whole thing was. I was pregnant.

The audience couldn't absorb the news right away. It had to strike them and sink in and be confirmed by other voices before they began to sound like a herd of wounded animals, moaning, shrieking, calling for help. And me? I knew that my face was projected in a tight close-up on the screen, but I didn't make any effort to hide it. Because for a moment, even I was working through what Cato has said. It was something that I had vaguely mentioned last night.

Had I tipped him off about it on the roof? Wasn't it that thing I dreaded most about the wedding, about the future - the loss of my children to the Games? And it could be true now, couldn't it? If I hadn't spent my life building up layers of defenses until I recoiled at even the suggestion of marriage or a family? Caesar couldn't rein in the crowd again, not even when the last buzzer sounded to signal the end of the Interviews. I could see Caesar's lips moving, but the place was in total chaos and I couldn't hear a word.

Only the blast of the anthem, cranked up so loud that I could feel it vibrating through my bones, letting us know where we stood in the program. As I turned back I saw Cato. Whether or not he was acting was another question. Tears were slowly running down his face as Enobaria took his hand. How real were the tears? Was that an acknowledgment that he had been stalked by the same fears that I had? That every Victor had? Every parent in every District in Panem?

Was that how everyone felt? Was that just to show exactly how everyone in the Districts felt? That fear... The fear after having lived through the Games themselves. Knowing how horrible the Games were. I looked back to the crowd, but the faces of Rue's mother and father swam before my eyes. Their sorrow. Their loss. I turned spontaneously to Chaff and offered my hand. One last rebellion. I felt my fingers close around the stump that now completed his arm and held fast.

And then it happened. Up and down the row, the Victors began to join hands. Some right away, like the Morphlings, or Wiress and Beetee. Others unsure but caught up in the demands of those around them, like Enobaria with Gloss. By the time the anthem played its final strains, all twenty-four of us stood in the two unbroken lines in what must have been the first public show of unity among the Districts since the Dark Days. You could see the realization of that as the screens began to pop into blackness. It was too late, though. In the confusion they didn't cut us off in time. Everyone had seen.

The audience began to boo at us and I watched as they all stood and began to shout wickedly. They seemed in between cancelling the Games and wanting us all to start fighting. I stared at the audience and realized that my family - despite still looking shocked - also looked proud of me. The lights were turned out and the audience began to scream at the sudden darkness. I felt a hand wrap around my arm and I stumbled as I was lead off of the stage and thrown into the somewhat lit backstage.

I was quickly joined by Finnick. Haymitch was speaking with Cato, Brutus, Cinna, and Effie. "You two work fast, huh?" Finnick asked. I nudged him roughly. He wrapped an arm over my shoulder and leaned into me. "Good work up there."

"I didn't know," I said softly.

Finnick nodded and walked me towards the others. "I know. You don't think that he managed that by himself?" Finnick asked.

More than one person had known about this. "You helped?" I whispered.

"Haymitch, your husband, and myself. We all might talk a little more than you think that we do," Finnick teased.

"You did that?" I asked.

I wasn't shocked to know that Haymitch had helped but I was a little surprised to know that Finnick had had a hand in it. Finnick shook his head. "I helped. The idea was Cato's though," Finnick said.

We all had done our part to try and end the Games. Whether or not it would work remained to be seen. "Thanks. It might not work but at least we tried," I said softly.

Finnick placed a hand on my shoulder. "Tell you what. You can name them Finnick Junior," he teased.

I laughed and shoved him roughly. "Shut up."

Finnick smiled at me for a moment before walking me over to the others. "I'll see you tomorrow morning," Finnick said.

I wrapped him in a hug as he pressed a small kiss to the side of my cheek. "Good luck out there. Be careful," I told him softly.

"You too, mommy dearest," Finnick teased.

Suddenly everything was thrown into motion again. The Capitol was not happy. For a while the Victors came back and looped their hands again, everyone talking. There was just as much disorder backstage now. The lights went out and we were left to stumble back into the Training Center. I eventually lost hold of Chaff, but Cato guided me into an elevator with Haymitch. Finnick and Johanna tried to join us, but a harried Peacekeeper blocked their way and we shot upward alone.

Maybe I would see them tomorrow. Maybe they actually could be on my side. Allies... We would have to see. Laughing under my breath at everything that happened, I turned back to where Cato was. He looked a little awkward. Maybe he felt guilty. As we shot up I noticed that many of the other Victors and cameras were watching us. Cato smiled down at me and placed a small kiss on my lips. About halfway up to the twelfth floor I realized something. I was supposed to have been able to see my family one last time.

"What about our families?" I asked Haymitch.

Haymitch glanced over at me and sighed sadly. "What happened out there - it ended things earlier then we were planning. And after that you won't be allowed to see them again. Don't worry, they're safe. They're on hovercrafts back to District 2 and District 12. To get them there quicker. They'll be there in time to watch the Games tomorrow," Haymitch said.

"Okay," I muttered. At least they were safe.

The elevator finally dinged back on the twelfth floor. I realized that people were already there and waiting for us. Those few that were able to rush out and beat us here, likely before Peacekeepers were able to stop them. We would have to be very careful with what was going to happen in the next day. They were definitely not happy with what we had done. Joining hands or the baby bomb. We would have to figure something out. Brutus and Cinna were upstairs with us. The Prep Team was absent and I found myself a little nervous for what had happened to them. Had we accidentally gotten them hurt?

Once we had finished saying goodbye to Brutus - who I wasn't sure knew about the lie or not - and Cinna - who had work to do before the Games tomorrow - we went to the table. Dinner was set out but no one seemed very interested in eating. Instead we all went to get changed. Cato pulled on a pair of black track pants and a white shirt while I found a pair of black running shorts and a blue shirt. We both walked out to sit in the living room again. I grabbed a glass of water as I sat next to Cato on the couch.

The moment we sat down on the couch, Cato gripped my shoulders. "There isn't much time, so tell me. Is there anything I have to apologize for?" Cato asked.

"Nothing," I said.

And it was the truth. I wasn't angry with what he had done. I was stunned. Of course, the reaction was genuine. I was shocked, just for a different reason that anyone else was. I hadn't been expecting him to do that. It was a big leap to take without my okay, but I was just as glad that I didn't know, didn't have time to second-guess him, or to let any guilt over Gale detract from how I really felt about what Cato did. Which was empowered.

It was a good thing, because I didn't like the looks on their faces in the crowd. Ms. Everdeen, my sisters, and Cato's family and our friends would have to deal with the fallout from the night. Just a brief hovercraft ride away was an arena where, tomorrow, Cato and I and the other Tributes would face our own form of punishment. But even if all of us met terrible ends, something happened on that stage tonight that couldn't be undone. We Victors staged our own uprising, and maybe, just maybe, the Capitol wouldn't be able to contain this one.

We waited for the others to return, but when the elevator opened again, only Haymitch and Effie appeared. Darella - Cato's Escort - his Prep Team, my own, Cinna, his Stylist, Portia, and Haymitch's Prep Team were nowhere to be found. Even Brutus was nowhere to be found. Where the hell was everyone? Had we done something even more dangerous than I had thought? What we had done was something that had never been seen before.

"It's madness out there. Everyone's been sent home and they've canceled the recap of the Interviews on television," Haymitch said.

Cato and I hurried to the window and tried to make sense of the commotion far below us on the streets. "What are they saying? Are they asking the president to stop the Games?" Cato asked.

"I don't think they know themselves what to ask. The whole situation is unprecedented. Even the idea of opposing the Capitol's agenda is a source of confusion for the people here. But there's no way Snow would cancel the Games. They can't. Baby bomb was a stroke of genius," Haymitch said, turning to Cato. He nodded. "Unfortunately, Games are still on. You know that, right?"

I do. Of course, he could never back down now. The only option left to him is to strike back, and strike back hard. "The others went home?" I asked.

"They were ordered to. I don't know how much luck they're having getting through the mob," Haymitch said.

"What about Effie?" I asked.

"She has to stay. We have no other Mentor for District 12 so Effie will serve as the acting Mentor. She's the only one who has been allowed to stay. But she'll be essentially confined to the Games Center and heavily guarded," Haymitch said.

"Okay," I muttered.

In the meantime, Haymitch was pacing back and forth. "This is goodbye, for now. But I'll see the both of you in the morning," Haymitch said.

We all nodded and turned to stand. But before we did, Effie stepped forward. "Presents for the boys," she said.

She was holding two small boxes in her hands. "What is this?" I asked.

"Your token. Remember?" I nodded. I already had my pin. I almost forgot about the others. "Hair for me. Pin for Aspen. Gold bangle for you," Effie said, handing Haymitch a small golden bangle. She then turned to Cato. "And for Cato, the medallion that we talked about."

I stared at it curiously. I hadn't even known that Cato had ever bothered speaking to Effie. "Thank you, Effie," he said, grabbing the medallion from her.

"We're a team. Aren't we? And I'm so proud of my Victors. Even you, Cato. You aren't my Victor, but I am so proud of you. So proud," Effie said. Tears were building in her eyes and I sighed. We weren't the only ones that were hurting. "You're so... Well, you all deserved so much better."

I walked over to Effie, wrapping her in a hug. "Thank you, Effie," I said softly.

"I am truly sorry," she added.

And I was sorry too. I hadn't really helped her with what I had done out there. What any of us had done. Particularly Cato. I smiled at her and watched as both Haymitch and Cato gave her a small hug goodnight. The two turned away and I watched as Cato walked out of the room. I could hear the door to the roof shut and I sighed, knowing that I would go there afterwards. He would want to talk away from the cameras. Once I was sure that they were both gone I turned to Haymitch.

"Thank you, Haymitch. For everything. I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"You will."

"Any last advice?"

"Stay alive." I snorted and nodded my head at him. That's almost an old joke with us now. He gave me a quick embrace, and I could tell it was all that he could stand. "Go to bed. You need your rest," Haymitch said.

"Okay."

"And when you throw or shoot out there remember, we're on the same team," Haymitch said.

I laughed again and nudged him gently. "Better watch making me mad the next few days," I teased.

Haymitch snorted and I waited for him to turn and walk away from me. But before he could I stepped forward. "Go to bed, kid," Haymitch said.

"Haymitch, wait. Remember our deal. Do whatever it takes to keep him alive. Promise me," I said.

He stared at me with a pained face for a moment before nodded. "Okay," he said. I turned to walk away but before I could he called me back. "Aspen, when you're in the arena..."

Then he paused. He was scowling in a way that made me sure that I had already disappointed him. "What?" I asked defensively.

"You just remember who the enemy is. That's all. Now go on. Get out of here," Haymitch said.

The enemy... It was Snow. I knew that. It was the Capitol. I wouldn't soon forget that. I had nothing to say to him but I nodded anyways. Haymitch turned and walked away as I made my way out to the roof. Cato was sitting on the edge of the roof and I smiled, walking over to him. He reached a hand backwards and grabbed my thighs, pulling me directly behind him. I leaned over and placed my hands over his shoulder, pressing them against his chest.

"I don't want to be with anyone else in there. Just you and Haymitch. Maybe Finnick too," I said softly.

Cato turned back towards me and nodded. He turned back so that he was facing me. "If that's what you want," he said softly.

As much as I liked some of the other Tributes I knew that it wasn't safe. My priority was Cato. That meant that I needed as few people out there as possible. "That's what I want," I said.

My hand tightened around his and I pulled him with me. I wanted to be in bed with him one last time. So I leaned up from Cato and brought him back inside. He grabbed me as we walked and pulled me into him. We walked down the hallway. Cato wanted to stop by his room to shower off the makeup and meet me in a few minutes, but I wouldn't let him. I was certain that if a door shut between us, it would lock and I would have to spend the night without him. Besides, I have a shower in my room. And he didn't need pajamas. We wouldn't use them. In the meantime, I refused to let go of his hand.

After we had showered and laid ourselves underneath the blankets I spoke again. "Where did you get that ultrasound?" I asked.

"My mother," Cato said.

"How?"

"I told her the plan ahead of time - when Haymitch and I first figured it out. Finnick had some client help slip it to one of the men that work in the media rooms."

I cringed at the thought of Finnick's clients. "That's lucky," I muttered.

"Yeah. It is. They're the only ones that know that it wasn't the truth. They'll tell your family when they get the chance."

"That's good. I'd imagine that they're besides themselves right now."

"So is the rest of my family. My mother is the only one that knows. We needed as few people as possible knowing."

"It was a good idea not to tell anyone. It could have made things even more dangerous."

"It was her when she was carrying Leah."

It was a good plan. I was glad that my family would know that it wasn't the truth. I had always sworn that I would never have kids. Not while the world was like this. "Tell her thank you when you get the chance," I told Cato.

He pressed a small kiss to my head. "You can tell her yourself when you win the Games," he told me softly.

"Cato..." I trailed off.

"Yeah?" he asked, as I grabbed his hands tightly.

"I don't want to be without you."

"You'll be okay. I swear."

"I don't want to live without you."

"I can't live without you."

"Don't leave me," I muttered, my voice cracking painfully.

"Never," Cato whispered, gently running a finger over my collarbone.

"Cato... I love you. No matter what happens. Especially no matter what happens tomorrow," I told him softly.

He looked at me and pushed the hair back off of my face. "I love you too. Always," he said softly.

My heart was thumping softly in my chest. I wanted to be with him forever. I didn't want this to be happening. I wanted my husband and I wanted to be with him until we died from old age and natural causes. Cato stared at me for a moment before reaching over and grabbing me in a tight hug. Our lips met together as we both leaned into each other. His hands tangled in my hair as mine gripped at his shirt tightly. As we moved together I wondered just how many more times I would be able to kiss him.

By the time that we finished one of our last chances to actually be together, I laid half on top of Cato, our legs tangling together. We didn't speak. Nothing could shatter the tense silence between us. Did we sleep? I didn't know. We spent the night holding each other, in some halfway land between dreams and waking. Never speaking. Both afraid to disturb the other in the hope that we would be able to store up a few precious minutes of rest. But I never did. Instead I focused on Cato's hands, gently trailing over my bare skin. Touching me for what would likely be one of the final times.

A/N: Here's another fully edited chapter. Let me know what you think! Until next time -A

Guest: Sorry this one took so long! I'm determined to make these next few updates faster! I am at college once more so they do take time but I'm hoping for one every three or so weeks :)