Flash woke up with the sunlight streaming in between his lids. He listened for a moment for intruders, but heard nothing but birdsong, so he opened his eyes. They'd fallen asleep in the middle of a beautiful meadow, the place they'd been talking about flowers before. He tried to get up, but found there was a weight on his chest. Sierra was using him as an impromptu pillow, smiling a little in her sleep.

He reached down and gently brushed her hair away from her face. She had such beautiful hair. The action woke her up and she just laid there for a moment, before slowly getting off him and smiling. "I didn't know I fell asleep. Thank you for protecting me." She stood up lithely, and started walking towards the entry to the caves, but fell to the ground, an arrow deep in her back.

Snow was getting very desperate after yesterday's events, so he decided to take more drastic measures. Dipping into his own extensive savings, Snow sent a message to the Career still on his own and told the simple minded child what was going on and where to find the two inept Tributes. He also specified to kill the girl first and have a long and dramatic fight with the girl, and he would have life better than any of the previous victors.

Like a good little Tribute, the boy followed his instructions exactly. The clearing was easy to find, and the two of them were just…lying there, completely unprotected. He could easily have shot them both, but he had orders not to kill the boy like a coward. Snow wanted a fight. So, as soon as the girl was far enough from Flash to prevent harm befalling him, the Career sent an arrow though her heart.

But Snow didn't get his glorious battle. The minute Flash looked at the arrow, he calculated the angle by which it had entered her body, found the Tribute and sent one of the rocks from the meadow through his skull. A cannon sounded seconds after impact. Flash ran over to Sierra.

As gently as he could, Flash snapped off the length of shaft sticking out of her back and turned her over so he could see her face. She was still conscious. "Come on. We've got to get you to the cave. I can fix you."

She coughed, a trickle of blood falling from her lips, before consoling Flash. "The wound went right through my heart. I won't last. But you need to get away." She attempted to turn her head to get a better look around. "He could still be…"

The ex-Career laid a hand on her forehead, halting the movement. "Don't worry. I killed him. I won."

Then, she smiled, even though the pain and blood loss was draining all the color from her face. "I'm glad. This way, neither of us had to kill each other. I'm glad you won." Then her eyes went out of focus.

Flash, not wanting to believe it, grabbed her wrist. No pulse flickered there. He tested for her breath. There was none. The girl who had taught him that the world was beautiful was dead.

After that, life seemed to blur around him. He was whisked from the aircraft to his rooms from training, to medical white and luxury blue. When he finally came to his senses, his mentor was sitting in front of him, trying to talk to him about the victor interview. "I want you to play this as a great accomplishment. Just go with whatever clip they're showing, alright?" he nodded numbly and was ushered off for the stylists to play with.

When he came out on the stage with Caesar, he was dressed in a black tux with a laurel crown in his hair. There was nothing overly personal about it, something he was grateful for. A smile somehow got onto his face as he greeted the man and sat down for the audience. The first clip started playing, the bloodbath at the very beginning of the Games. They showed each of his kills in detail before the screen went dark and Caesar turned back to Flash. "So tell me, how did it feel to kill those other Tributes?"

He looked at the interviewer with a somewhat quizzical expression. "At the time, I didn't feel anything. Careers are trained not to think of other Tributes as people. Although, after getting to know Sierra, I regret my actions. They were just like her, and I killed them."

Caesar didn't know what to do with an answer like that, so he signaled for the next clip. It was that scene at the cliff, the scene where half the audience became convinced that Sierra had died. They watched it together, Caesar with mild appreciation for Sierra's sense of dramatics, and Flash with mourning for the girl he'd seen struck down. After the clip ended, the man again turned to Flash and inquired, "What went through your head when you saw her jump?"

"I don't know. So many things happened to me, I wouldn't know where to start, Caesar. I guess I was shocked that she wouldn't fight, and also sort of happy that I didn't have to kill her. I mean, who likes killing songbirds. All they want to do is live and sing. I was much happier after I found out she was alive, even if I did get hurt finding that out."

Ah, here was something Caesar could work with. Scenes of the two Tributes together started running behind them as Caesar asked, "Why do you think you were happy with her?"

"Because she was…so gentle. I'd never experienced anything like that before. I liked it, the way she cared for my wounds and showed me the flowers. I don't think I'll ever forget her." Then, in a small stroke of genius, he lifted up his hand, the three middle fingers extended. Turning to the screen, fixed on a shot of Sierra's beautiful face, he said, "Thank you, Sierra, for teaching me there was more to life than fighting and winning. And I'm sorry I didn't get to say that to you."

To Caesar's great relief, the interview ended shortly afterwards and Flash was taken back to his quarters while he and Snow were left to clean the footage to craft a less rebellious interview. They had little luck, but enough so that Flash wasn't a threat. After all, who would stand behind a Career?

Half a year later, one the second stop of the victory tour, Flash stepped out onto the stage in District Eleven and faced Sierra's family. The two little girls were weeping, the two older ones stood expressionless. The solitary brother stared at him with an indistinct expression, but the parents were easy to read. There was gratitude in both their faces. At least they seemed to understand.

The young man walked up to the podium and spoke into the microphone. "I am sorry about Cougal. I do not know who killed him, but I know he did not deserve to die like that. No one does. I learned that from Sierra."

He took a deep breath and looked in the faces of her family. "Sierra was the only one who ever treated me like a human being instead of a killing machine. And until I met her, that's all I was. I owe my humanity to your daughter. Thank you for letting her volunteer so I could meet her. Thank you for letting her be who she was, because no one else could have taught me as much. And I am so sorry I could not protect her."

Then, as one, the family raised their hands, with the three middle fingers extended.

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