21

I spew the berries into my hand and drop them on the floor I wipe my tongue with the sleeve of my shirt trying to remove any remaining juice. Cat drags me to the lake where we both rinse out our mouths. We fall into each-other's arms.

"Did you swallow any?" She asks franticly.

I shake my head "No, did you?"

"I would be dead if I had" she says.

I begin to reply, but there is no possible way I can be heard over the sound of the audience they are playing live into the arena. A hovercraft materializes, and a ladder drops. There is no way I am letting go of Cat, nor is she willing to let go of me.

We step onto a rung of the ladder and the electric current freezes us, which I am happy about, I don't know if I could keep myself held up for a long amount of time. My eyes are facing down, and though Cat and I are immobile there is nothing stopping the blood flowing from my leg. The minutes the doors close I slump to the floor, feeling dizzy. Agony rips through my body, and tears begin to form in my eyes.

Cat's hand grips onto me tightly; she falls to the floor next to me, and grabs hold of my hand. The room becomes full of doctors all prepped to operate on me. They lay me on a silver table, and I begin to panic, I can see the same sense of panic spread out through Cat's face. She lunges for me but is stopped by residents of the capitol. They close us off from each other by a glass door. I can hear her screams through the glass, as the doctors begin to slowly inject the sedative into my arm. The last things I can remember are the sounds of Cat screams becoming fainter as a resident of the capitol pulls her away, and then I sink into blackness.

I wake up, and the first person I see is Bernadette. I lay in a bed with crisp white sheets pulled tightly over my body- which I see has been cleaned thoroughly, what appears to be a cage around my legs, holding the cover off of the bottom half of my body. She hands me a drink and I can't resist it. The familiar taste of peach fills my mouth. I drain the glass within seconds, and then she is handing me a spoon.

"I Cat okay?" I ask. My memories are hazy; all I can remember are her screams. Bernadette nods, and smiles

"She's fine" she says "And I'm glad to see you are too"

And there's the pressure or friendship. I guess she did like me more than I had thought. "Why, is there a cage around my legs?" I ask, dread filling my voice.

"You had some surgery on them; the 'cage' as you put it is there to stop the cover pressing on your legs. You had to have some metal plate's inserted the bone was severely damaged" she explains

The news comes as a shock, but it could have been worse, I could have quite easily lost my leg, not only that but I could have lost my life "So my leg is fake?" I ask confused.

"No" she starts "Not entirely, your leg is still real, and you do still have a bone in there but some of it had to be replaced" she sighs "I'll leave you to get some more rest and to eat" her voice grows softer as she speaks "Bye, Jade"

She leaves the room without another word leaving me alone, with the news, running round my head. I look down at my meal; all I have is a bowl of broth and a slice of bread. I probably should be more thankful, it's better than nothing; at least I am still alive.

But I would have thought that my first meal would be better than this, I begin to eat my sparse meal, but I find myself struggling. My stomach seems to have shrunk three sizes since the last morning in the arena.

I sit and think about my life now and how there is usually a lag of a few days from the end of the competition to the presentation, this gives the capitol time to clean up the bloody pulp of the victor. I think of how Harley will be working on something for me to wear and how Euphemia will be doing the same for Cat.

Our mentors will be arranging a huge feast for sponsors, and our home districts will be readying themselves for our arrivals. I think of the chaos that District 12 will be in, the last time we had a winner was almost twenty years ago, maybe more, but District 1 will know exactly what they are doing.

Home I think. Taylor, my mum, our small house, I smile at the littlest thing when thinking about 12. I just want to be home. But more than anything, I want to get out of this bed and see Cat. I want to see Erwin, and Harley. And why shouldn't I, I feel fine.

I make myself stand, but my leg gives way, I am still far too weak to walk on it and then I feel the cold slow trickle of a liquid slithering its way into my veins. I feel dizzy and then I pass out, this seems to keep happening, as I try to move, even if I go from sitting to lying down or vice versa, it always results in me being unconscious. All I know is; I haven't seen anyone since Bernadette was in my room, when I first woke up.

But I can hear voices, mainly male voices, and it's a familiar voice. It gives me hope that someone is looking out for me. And then a time comes where I wake up and there is nothing plugged into me, no liquids are being pumped into me and I can move freely without passing out.

All my scars seemed to have gone, there is no mark on my head, and the burn from my hip has gone too, the only thing left to remind me of my time in the arena is a new scar, one that runs so far down my shin- and even though I have had metal plates put in my leg, the scar could be worse- it's pale, thick and shiny. It's not very noticeable against my skin tone, and to anyone who has only just met me, they will most likely see nothing. But I know it's there, and in a strange way. I kind of like it.

I climb from my bed, steadily not knowing how much wait my legs can take, but once I am stood up, I feel fine, my left leg is still slightly weak, and can't take as much pressure as the right one, I think I can manage. Lying at the foot of my bed is an outfit, one that makes me feel ill. It's the same outfit all the tributes wore in the arena, I want badly to burn it and to never see it again, but then I remember, this is what I will wear to great my team.

I dress in less than a minute and I limp through the well concealed door as it opens. I look around and see the other doors, and I know that Cat is behind one of them, and I know she is okay, Bernadette said she was and why would she lie to me?

"Cat" I call, I want so badly to see her for myself. I hear a voice in return, but it's not her voice, it's a man's voice, one that strikes up happiness inside me. Harley.

I turn and they all wait for me in a huge room at the end of the hall, Erwin, Bernadette and Harley. I run to them as best I can. Maybe a victor should show more strength and reservation, but I can't hold myself back, even if I am on tape.

I run for them, and I am surprised that I jump into Erwin's arms first. And the he whispers in my ear "I am so proud of you, Jade. Good job" and he sounds genuine and more stable than I have ever heard him.

Even though Bernadette saw me just days ago, she has tears in her eyes, and she keeps patting me on the back, and saying how proud she is of me. Harley hugs me, and he like Erwin whispers in my ear, "You truly are amazing Jadelyn West"

I look around, noticing a few faces I don't know; these must be members of Cat's team. There is a woman, with bright green hair, that is now curly, I remember seeing her face on the re-cap of the reaping, and then there is a young woman with blonde hair that comes just below her jaw line, who I would say is no more than twenty five, who sits chewing on her finger nervously, this woman must be Cat's mentor.

"Where's Cat" I say "I need to see her" and it's true, I don't want to see her I need to, because I need to know that she is okay.

"She's fine" says the young woman, her voice is soft, "They just want to do you're reunion live on air at the ceremony" she says. "She's with Euphemia"

"Oh" I say "Yeah, I guess I would want to see that too" I say. We stay in silence for a while, until Erwin's booming voice spreads through the room.

"Go with Harley and get ready" he says.

It feels nice to be alone with Harley, I feel out of everyone he always understood me the most, and it feels nice to have his arm around my shoulder as he leads me away from the cameras. He leads me to a lift that takes us to the training centre. The hospital must be far underground, it goes below where we had our training when we were tying knots, ad throwing knives or shooting arrows.

When the lift doors open, my entire style team engulfs me and takes me away. They place me in a dining room where I finally get my feast, meats, soups, bread rolls topped with cheese, although my portions are still being monitored. When I ask for more, I am refused.

Apparently, they don't want me to throw it all back up while I am on stage, I can't really blame them for that. We leave the dining room and Harley slips away as the rest of my team preps me. "They did a good job on cleaning you up" Says a tall slender woman, with pink hair.

I look at my half naked body in the mirror, pleased that I still have all my limbs- whether they are fully natural or not, to me it's an achievement. I notice though how thin I have grown, I know I will have been thinner when I first left the arena, but still I can see my ribs jutting out of my skin, the same can be said for my collar bone and hips.

They take care of the shower settings for me, and go to work on my hair and make-up. They don't really ask me any questions; they talk freely about the games, meaning I don't have to reply to them, which is good for me. They talk about how they felt, or where they were or what they were doing at certain points of the games, things like "I had just woken up" "I had just had a tattoo done" and "I swear I almost fainted"

I grit my teeth through their conversation; everything is about them, and not the tributes that lost their lives. Though I find it hard, I block out most of their conversation, to save myself from saying anything offensive.

Harley walks into the room with what looks like a yellow dress draped over his arms. I screw my nose up at the colour choice, but when did I ever get my say in what I wore during these games? "No more flames?" I ask with a smirk on my lips.

"What do you think?" he asks in a soft tone. He slips the dress over my head immediately I notice the fitting, the dress has been designed to add more wait to my waist since I lost it all, I look down at myself and I almost look like me again. The dress has been made to give me the figure I had prior to the games.

He smiles at me "Beautiful" he says quietly, I turn to look at myself in the mirror but he stops me "Wait" he says, he hands me a pair of flat black shoes. Another member of my prep team helps me into them. I can see he has kept to the theme of fire.

The fabric of the dress glows softly, and slight movements of the air around me, sends ripples up my body. In comparison, the chariot costume now seems tasteless and the interview dress too contrived. But this dress, gives the illusion that I am burning in a soft candle light. "What do you think?" asks Harley.

"Well" I say "Despite the colour. It's my favourite" When I can pull my eyes away from the dress, I look into the mirror and I am a little surprised. My face has a soft layer of makeup, just to accentuate my features. My hair hangs down in curls, with a head band pulling back some loose strands.

I have a clear nail polish over my nails. The dress comes to just above my knees. Without any heels on you can see my stance and my stature. I look very simple, and very young. Dressed like this I could pass for fourteen, I look sweet and innocent. I find it shocking they have managed to pull this off given I have just won the games. I look at Harley, questioning his motives in dressing me like this.

"I thought I would look more sophisticated" I say with a small shrug, not that I am not happy with what they have done, because I am. I just never pictured myself looking like this.

"Yeah, but we all spoke about it, and people thought Cat would like this better" he says with a smile.

Cat? They had Cat in mind while doing all of this, while I am pleased about this, I can't help but feel unsure. I always thought they would care more about the game makers and the capitol and the audience. The look on his face tells me something.

There is a hint of warning in his eyes, he is hiding something he can't even tell the rest of his team. I know now that this dress is a reminder that the games are not yet over.

We take the lift to the level where we had our training. It is routine for the victor to rise from the ground along with his or hers support team. First the prep team, then the escort, then the mentor, then the stylist and then the victor. Because there are two victors this year, from different districts, everyone will go out in twos.

I stand in a poorly lit room under the stage. A new metal plate has been installed to take me up. I can still smell the sawdust and the paint. My prep team leaves me so they can get ready. To my left there is a make shift wall, and I can only assume that Cat stands behind it, waiting as I am to make our entrance.

The noise from the audience is so loud, I don't notice Erwin until he is stood next to me I jump away startled half of me is still in the arena, I guess. "It's just me" he says in a calming voice "Let's take a look at you"

I turn slowly so he can see every part of the dress. He nods in approval before speaking "Very nice" he says, in the same calming tone as before. He must remember what it's like to be stood here waiting to make your appearance. "How about a hug for luck?" he says.

I shrug, and hug him smiling, but as my arms weave their way around his neck he pulls me into him, locking me against his body in a tight embrace. "Listen, Jade" he begins to talk quietly, the words flowing out of him in a quick pace "You are in big trouble. Rumour has it that the capitol is furious with what you and Cat did. You showed them up in the arena, and the one thing they can't stand is people laughing at them. You have made them the laughing stock of Panem"

I feel panic rush through my body, but all I can do is laugh, as if nothing Erwin said has concerned me "So, what?" I ask with a shrug.

"So they only thing you can say is that you were both so madly in love that you can't be held accountable for your actions, and let's just hope they believe it" he pulls back and straightens out my hair "Do you understand?" he asks.

I nod "Has someone warned Cat?" I ask, because truthfully that's why we did what we did. Neither one of us wanted the other to die, for the sake of them. The best thing I can hope for though is that Cat has been warned just as I have before we enter the snake pit.

"They are doing it now" he says.

"Good" I say as I straighten out a bow tie that must have been forced onto him. He leads me to the metal circle and places a light kiss on my forehead.

"This is your night, Jade. So enjoy it" he walks away into the gloom, leaving me alone once again. I tug on my skirt out of lack of anything else to do; it really is a shame about the colour. I can feel shudders all the way through my body; all I can put it down to is nerves, as Erwin said this is my night.

I can smell the damp earth below me, and dread fills my body as I fear that the boards above my head will collapse and bury me alive. When I won the games, when those trumpets played, I was supposed to be safe. The rest of my life should have been cosy and comfy. But if what Erwin has said is true and he has no reason to lie then I have never been in more danger than I am now.

In the arena the worst that could happen was death, but now. Taylor, my mother, everyone in district 12 everyone I care about could be in danger and the same can be said from Cat's side. A whole world of misery could be thrust onto us if we can't make them believe how much we love each other.

I don't think Cat realised the consequence of her actions, when she got out the berries, and planned the suicide. It wasn't supposed to do anything other than outsmart the game makers, there is no way Cat could have foreseen this. The Hunger Games are the capitols weapon, and Cat and I defeated it. So the capitol only have one choice, to act like they are in control, but that can only happen if Cat and I play along. But right now Cat and I will have to take part in the most dangerous part of the games yet.

The anthem booms out into my ears, and I hear Sinjin Vancleef greet the audience. Surely he knows about this, and surely he will try to help us as he did before. The crowd breaks into applause and whistles as the prep teams walk onto the stage, there will be both mine and Cat's walking around now. I can only imagine how excited they are.

The Bernadette and Cat's escort walk onto the stage. How happy Bernadette must be about my winning, and as clueless as she may seem, she has a very keen instinct and I am sure that she suspects the trouble I am in.

Harley and Euphemia receive a great reception from the crowed for their hard work. It is now that I understand the dress. It is imperative that I look as young, innocent and girly as possible. The mentor's appearance brings a round of stomping and cheers that last around five minutes. It's a great accomplishment for any mentor to have their tribute win, but Erwin, is the only mentor for 12 and is the only other person from our district to have won; I feel that most of the applause goes out to him.

What if Erwin hadn't have warned me? Would I have gone out there with a sarcastic brassy attitude and thrown Cat's idea in their faces? Most likely, but would I have been so keen to talk about mine and Cat's relationship, probably not, they saw what happened. But now, I need to get this dead on, and right now I need to play up to this as much as I can because the plate beneath my feet is moving.

I am blinded by lights, and the sound of the audience's cheers deafens me, and rattles the plate under my feet. And then there's Cat stood just a few meters away from me. She looks, so clean, and beautiful, and pure, it's hard to recognise her without the muck and grime on her face. She like me only has a light amount of make up on, and also wears a dress that hugs her figure.

Whereas I appear to be glowing in a dim candle light, she looks like a small diamond, cleaned and polished to perfection. She smiles at me, and it's the warm smile, that makes me respond with a smile of my own, one that seems to come to my lips only for Cat. I take about three hobbled steps before I drag her into my arms nearly sending us both to the floor. The audience goes mad for this, and we stand kissing each other not being able to stop. Cat pulls her away from me, the huge smile still stamped on her face.

She has been told how much danger we are in that much I know, and though she is smiling something hides in her eyes, and it's the same sense fear that strikes through my body. Sinjin taps my shoulder, to continue with the show.

Cat pushes him to the side and once again she has once again won over the audience. Erwin, interrupts us, giving me a quick shove to the victors chair, he points, silently telling Cat to move to.

Usually there is just one chair that sits alone; this is where the winning tribute watches the highlights of the games. But since there are two of us, the game makers have provided a plush red sofa, it's only small, Cat sit's so close to me, she is practically sat in my lap. But with looks from Erwin, and Cat's mentor it is plain to see that this isn't enough. Cat places her head on my shoulder, and I rest my head on hers, she kicks off her shoes and tucks her legs up beside her. I wrap my arms around her waist; it feels like we are back in the cave, cuddling up to each other for warmth. Sinjin makes a few jokes and then he continues with the show. This interview will last three hours, no more and no less. It is mandatory for everyone in Panem to watch this.

The seal flashes on the screen, and I realise how unprepared I am. I don't want to see the other twenty-two tributes die; I saw enough of them die the first time around. I know that the only thing keeping me here is, Cat.

I don't know how anyone else has managed to face this alone. During the highlights they periodically show the victors reaction on a box in the top corner, I think back to previous years, I have seen people, pumping their fists, triumphantly and beating on their chests, but mainly people just seem stunned.

Of course, the previous victors don't have the capitol watching their every move, looking for a way to destroy them. Diluting weeks-worth of air time into three hours is something of a challenge, especially when you think of all the cameras they had rolling.

Whoever puts together the highlights, has to decide what type of story they want to tell, this year they will tell a love story. I know that Cat and I won but, the ratio is out, a disproportionate amount of time is spent on us. Right from the beginning, I can't complain really, the more time spent on us the less time there is spent on deaths. Not only that, but it does support our crazy-in-love thing.

Roughly the first half an hour is spent on the pre-events such as, the reaping, the chariot ride, the training scores and the interview. They have this happy go lucky, up-beat song playing in the background making it more awful, because more than half of the people on screen are dead.

Once we are in the arena, there is a great amount of detail on the bloodbath. And then the film makers pretty much go from shots of tributes dying to Cat and I. Right from the moment she found me, and fed me, and gave me a drink to stop me from dying, they show us running away from the fire, her patting out the flames on my leg with her bare hands, and then they show our first kiss that we shared in the water.

And from then, they show the pair of us, as a team, as allies. Her pointing out the tracker jacker nest to me, then they show me blowing up the supplies while Cat hunted, they show me finding Robbie, and they play his death in full, the spear piercing his body, my knife flying through the neck of the boy from five, and my song. I sing the full song, every note of it, the only thing they have missed off if the send-off I gave him, and that's only because it can be misconstrued as rebellion.

Things seems to pick up again from there, after they announce that two people can win, they show Cat and I growing stronger and stronger, Cat helping me when my hip got infected, me nursing Cat back to health when she got ill. They show me going down to the feast for her medicine. There is no denying that Cat and I have feelings for each other, just by the kiss we shared the night in the cave, the night when Erwin sent us the ice cubes, they show that in full too, every minute of it, until we settled down to sleep.

Everything I am watching feels like it is happening to other people, even Ryder's death and the mutts I watch them as if I have never met this boy, as if I have never seen any of it before.

And then comes the moment with the berries. I can hear people shushing one and other not wanting to miss anything, a wave of gratitude to the film makers pours over me when I see that they don't stop the film after the announcement of our victory, they stop it after they have seen Cat being dragged away from the glass doors of the hospital kicking and screaming.

In terms of mine and Cat's relationship, I would say that this is one of the most pivotal parts of all. The anthem plays and we rise as President Wood walks onto the stage followed by a small girl carrying a cushion with the crown on it, and there is just the one, you can hear the confusions in the audiences hushed voice as they murmur about who they think it will be given to, that is until President Wood, twists and it halves creating a second crown.

He walks towards us, and he places the first crown on my head, he is smiling but there is a look in his eyes that tells me he isn't happy with anything we have done, he places the second crown on Cat's head and he holds the same look, his face is just inches away from hers. Something triggers inside me, and all I can think is; have we done enough?

Much bowing and cheering follows this, I feel my arm is about to drop off from waving when Sinjin Vancleef bids the audience good night. Cat and I are whisked to the president's mansion. This is where we will have our victory banquet. We have very little if any time at all to eat, as Capitol officials and sponsors are elbowing each other out of the way for pictures. Beaming faces keep passing by; this becomes tedious as the evening wears on. Occasionally, I catch a glimpse of Erwin, this to me is reassuring, but when I catch a glimpse of President Wood, I feel nothing but fear.

But I keep laughing and smiling and thanking people as they come to us for pictures, Cat does the same, though she does it effortlessly, it takes a lot of trying on my part. One thing I make sure I do, is keep hold of Cat's hand.

A/N: I hope you like this chapter, as promised it is posted early, and the next one will be up within the next few days again. Please continue to read and review it means so much to me, thank you if you have already reviewed I really do appreciate it, so keep them coming please I appreciate all comments and opinions (good or bad)