It's the second day of the Games. Hope you like this chapter. BTW, I really like having Finnick in the story now...it's fun to write scenes with him.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of its characters.

Chapter 21

When Katniss woke up, she saw Gale was still keeping watch. Finnick must have gone back to sleep. She walked over to Gale and sat in his lap.

"Good morning." he said with a smile before giving her a kiss.

"How are you feeling today?" she asked.

"Better. And how about you? How are you feeling?" he asked placing his hand over her stomach. She kept on forgetting to sell the whole pregnancy thing. At least Gale remembered to bring it up.

"I'm feeling a little nauseous, but other than that, I'm ok." she said playing along. "I was actually thinking about going to search for some food."

"Not by yourself you're not."

"You need to rest, and besides, we can't have Finnick and Mags think we abandoned them."

"Then take Finnick with you."

"Do I have to?"

"You shouldn't be alone out there. We still don't know what else is roaming this jungle."

"Fine." she gave up. She went over to Finnick and lightly kicked his side.

"Ow!" Finnick exclaimed.

"Get up; we're going hunting." she said to him. He followed orders and gathered his things. They said goodbye to the others and made their way down the hill. Katniss crept quietly through the jungle, searching for any sign of life. Finnick followed. She didn't like the idea of him being out of her sight but she knew he didn't have any experience hunting. Every few steps she'd look back to make sure he wasn't doing anything suspicious.

"Trust, Katniss, remember?" he told her.

"You're not there yet."

"What do I have to do for you? Tell me and I'll do it." he said. "I'm not the enemy."

"Yeah, you've already said that."

"Well it's true."

"Everyone in here is the enemy. Don't you understand that? That's all we can ever be in this stupid competition."

"There is so much you don't understand." he said with a laugh.

"Why, because I haven't been a Victor for as long as you have?"

"If you only knew what's really going on." he said with a sly smile.

"Tell me." she said. She watched as Finnick walk closer to her with a sparkle in his eyes. She didn't like this side to him; it was just like he was on the night of the Opening Ceremony. She felt her back rest against a tree as she tried to back away from him. He had her cornered. Maybe this was a trap, or maybe something else. He leaned closer to her, bringing his mouth to her ear.

"If I'm going to tell you one of my secrets, I'm going to need to hear one of yours." he whispered seductively. What was it with him and secrets? What did they do for him? She had plenty of secrets she could tell him but that would be no good. If something happened to their alliance, it would only screw her over. "I bet you are full of secrets, Katniss Everdeen. I can see it in your eyes." he said now gazing at her. She couldn't believe what Finnick was doing. She wouldn't let it work on her.

"Is this how you always gather your information? Do you seduce it out of people?"

"Only when it's absolutely necessary." he whispered in a low voice.

"And you think that will work on me?"

"It's a lot more fun trying with you. It usually isn't this difficult for me to get what I want." he said playing with the end of her braid. She pulled it away from him and then used all her strength to push him to the ground. She quickly retrieved her bow and loaded it with an arrow.

"Katniss, I'm sorry." he said in a panic. She could see the fear in his eyes. It was definitely genuine. "Please, please don't kill me." As he begged for his life, Katniss realized what she was about to do. She wasn't like everyone else here. She wasn't a killer. She lowered her weapon and helped him up.

"Please don't tell Gale." she said. Great, now he had leverage on her. That could be bad.

"I won't. I promise." he said, his tone more gentle. They started to walk back to their camp. They figured their fighting had scared any game away.

"You know Katniss, there is a lot you don't know about me." he said.

"You've been in the spotlight long enough for me to get a pretty good idea who you really are. It's been 10 years, right?"

"Yes." he said. He grabbed Katniss' hand, stopping her. She quickly pulled her hand away from his. "Katniss there's something you need to know about me."

"What?" she asked. He leaned close to her and covered her ear with his hand. She decided to allow it this time.

"Everything you know about me is a lie." he whispered. She stepped back and gave him a confused look.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Everything." was all he said. This intrigued her. She wanted to know more. Maybe one day he would tell her. They walked back in silence. When they returned, they saw Gale shelling some nuts he found while Mags was weaving some bowls out of the sturdy jungle grasses.

"Where'd you find those?" Katniss asked sitting next to Gale.

In that tree over there." Gale said pointing to the tree to his right.

"You think they are safe?" she asked, holding one in her hand.

"I ate one about a half hour ago and I'm fine." he told her. She gave him a displeased look. The last thing she needed was to have him die in the arena by eating something unfamiliar. "I take it you didn't find any game."

"No." she said with defeat.

"It will be fine. At least we found some sort of food source." Gale said.

"What about water. If we don't find that, we're as good as dead." she said. Then Katniss had an idea. She walked to the tallest tree around and started climbing.

"Katniss, what are you doing?" Gale asked with concern.

"Something I should have done a long time ago." she said. She climbed higher than she probably should have but she needed to reach the top. She needed a bird's eye view of the arena. As she clung to the swaying branch at the top of the tree, she saw the arena before her. It was a complete circle that consisted of nothing but jungle, beach, and saltwater. She made her way down and told the others about his discovery.

"There is no water. At least none that we can drink." As if on cue, a parachute fell from the sky. Maybe Haymitch had finally had some sense to send them some water, even if it was just a little. She ran to the container and opened it. Inside was not water but a metal object with a hole on one end with a tapered lip on the other. She asked if it looked familiar; all three shook their heads. Katniss leaned back on the base of a tree and studied it, turning it in different directions. She knew Haymitch had sent it for a reason…something to do with water. His gifts always seemed to arrive at the right moment. It had to have something to do with water. When she covered a portion on it, she thought it looked vaguely familiar. Suddenly the answer clicked. A spile.

"Finnick, cut into the side of that tree." Katniss said as she walked over to him.

"Why?

"Just do it." she told him. Finnick grabbed a knife and twisted it into the smooth bark. Once he had cut a couple of inches in, Katniss jabbed the spile into the tree with all her might. Finnick helped her screw it into the tree until water started to flow. Gale and Mags joined them as they each took turns taking drinks from the tap. After their thirst had been quenched, they each stood under the tap and rinsed the sweat and dirt that had accumulated on her body over the past day. When they were finished using the spile, Finnick pulled it from the tree and gave it to Katniss to keep safe.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing. They figured they should get as much rest as they could before the Gamemakers started intervening. The four of them switched off on who would guard their camp while the others slept.

Nightfall came and the arena remained silent. No one had perished that day so there was no Anthem or projections in the sky. Katniss took the first watch shift of the night. Several hours into her shift, she started to feel her eyelids gravitating downward. She was made alert when she heard a loud gong resonating throughout the Arena. It repeated eleven more times. She wondered what this could have meant. Maybe the 12 gongs represented the 12 Districts of Panem. Or maybe the Gamemakers wanted them awake. Then, she saw lightning flash in the sky, hitting a tree in the distance causing it to ignite. More lighting followed, lighting up the sky. Katniss watched as the jagged patterns flashed in the dark night. When the lightning storm ended, rain followed. After an hour, the rained ceased without reaching them. It must have been the Gamemakers controlling the weather. Katniss continued to look in the direct of the rainstorm, waiting to see if the rain would start again. Instead, she saw the fog starting to roll in. It slowly crept towards her in a wall that towered high into the trees. There was something not right about the way it was progressing towards her. It was too uniform. This could only mean one thing. The Gamemakers had created this fog.

She thought back to the fog last year that blinded her, causing her to lose Gale in the forest. She didn't want to find out what the fog did this time. She quickly ran to group and violently shook each one to wake them up.

"Get up, we have to run!" she shouted.

"Katniss? What's going on?" Gale asked as he became more alert.

"The fog. It's coming towards us." Gale and Finnick quickly sprung to their feet and Finnick helped Mags up. Finnick lifted Mags and they started to run downhill. The faster they ran, the quicker the fog seemed to travel. Finnick was starting to fall behind.

"Finnick, hurry!" Katniss called to him.

"I'm running as fast as I can." he told her. It must have been difficult for him to run with the weight of another person. Katniss could hear Mags tell Finnick to put her down. Katniss wasn't sure why she had done this. There was no way that Mags could keep up with them. Finnick listened to her, though. Gale and Katniss waited for them. She was surprised when she saw Mags kiss Finnick's cheek before running towards the fog.

"Mags, no!" he shouted as he started to chase after her. Gale caught him and held him back, telling him they had to keep going. Gale pushed him to running start down the hill. They could hear Mags' shrieks as they ran away. A minute later, a cannon fired. Mags was dead. Finnick slowed his pace. He was obviously upset. He then stopped running altogether.

"Finnick, we have to keep going." Katniss said with determination.

"You go without me." he told them.

"We're not leaving without you." Gale said. They each took a hand and led Finnick down the path. They weren't as fast as before and the fog eventually caught up with them. All three of them cried in pain as the fog permeated their skin. It felt as though Katniss was being stabbed and lit on fire, all that the same time. They tried to keep on running but the fog was affecting their muscle control. Katniss could feel her muscles go into spasm before she lost control. She collapsed to the ground, as did Gale and Finnick.

"Gale." she croaked as she crawled closer to him. She didn't stop under she was cuddled next to him.

"Katniss, you have to keep going." he said.

"I'm not leaving you." she told him.

"Then we'll both keep going. Can you walk?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Then we'll roll down the hill. You too, Finnick." he said hitting Finnick's arm. They all started rolling their bodies down the decline. They soon picked up momentum and found themselves being hurled forward, eventually passing the fog. Then, they started to crawl away, not wanting the fog to make contact with them again. Suddenly the fog dissipated into the sky. Katniss wondered why the Gamemakers would make it stop. They should have just finished them off. Maybe they had bigger plans for them down the line. They continued crawling until they found themselves on the white, sandy beach.

Katniss pulled herself closer to the water, looking for relief from her blistering skin. As she her arm made contact with the water, she felt a burning pain hit her. She continued to hold it down, waiting for relief. Eventually, it came, as she watched white wisps flow from her skin into the water. The pain also seemed to disappear. She slowly sat up and scooted herself into the water. She watched as the ocean water drew the poisonous fog from her skin. It was excruciatingly painful, but she started to feel better. She looked to her right and saw that Gale had followed suit. All that she had left to do was to dunk her head under the water. She leaned forward and screamed as her face hit the water. This part hurt most of all. She came back up gasping for breath. She then removed what was left of her jumpsuit to reveal the tank top and shorts she had underneath. She threw the jumpsuit into the water after recovering her Mockingjay pin from it.

Katniss then made her way over to Finnick, who appeared to have lost consciousness. She slowly started to roll his body closer to the water. She had to try to save him. As soon as he made contact with the water, he shouted in pain.

"Make it stop. Please make it stop." he cried.

"It will go away in a few minutes." Katniss said gently. She started to push him further into the water when he grabbed her arm.

"No." he pleaded.

"You have to trust me." she told him. Gale appeared next to her and suggested they inch him into the water, starting with his legs. Slowly, they moved him further into the water. When Finnick was mostly submerged, Gale walked out of the water to watch for any signs of other tributes. Katniss could hear Finnick groan loudly each time the water hit him. She wondered if she had been this loud when she was cleansing herself. When she failed to convince him to submerge his head under the water, she knew she had no choice but to force him. She dunked his head and held it there for 10 seconds. He came up choking on the water.

"What did you do that for?" he asked, his voice still hoarse.

"You'll thank me later." she said. She then used a knife to start cutting away his damaged jumpsuit.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you started ripping my clothes off." he said with a smirk. She shot him a dirty look, letting him know she didn't appreciate the comment. "I was just kidding, Katniss. Gosh."

"This is hardly the time or place for making jokes." she said.

"You don't have to be so serious all the time."

"Of course I do. Look where we are."

"We might as well enjoy ourselves while we can." he said. Katniss jumped when she heard the sound of the cannon fire twice. Finnick stopped making wisecracks. Katniss dragged Finnick back to shore where Gale was waiting for them.

"What do we do now?" Katniss asked.

"Try to get some sleep while we can." Finnick said. No one objected to his suggestion. They went to the outskirts of the jungle, where they could be concealed. Gale volunteered to stay up and keep watch. Katniss laid near him and closed her eyes, hoping that there wouldn't be any more commotions before daylight.

By the time Katniss woke up, Finnick had taken over for Gale and he was sleeping beside her. In the light, she could see the scabs that covered his body. She then examined her own skin and found them there too. The heat made her scabs start to itch. She knew she shouldn't do this, that infection could follow but she needed relief. It didn't really matter. It looked like she had already itched at the scabs in her sleep. She then walked to the water and submerged herself. Maybe it would help disinfect her wounds. When she returned, she saw Finnick rubbing his back against the tree.

"How do we make the itching stop?" Finnick asked her.

"Some medicine would help with that." she said. She then shouted, "Did you hear that Haymitch? Can we get a little help here?" A minute later, a parachute drifted toward them. Katniss quickly retrieved it and opened it. Inside was a foul smelling ointment. Katniss quickly squeezed some onto her fingers and rubbed it into her skin.

"Ah, much better." she said with relief. She extended the ointment towards Finnick but he just stood there. "Come on, take it."

"I think I'm good." he said as he continued to scratch his skin. She knew the smell was off-putting but it was better than the discomfort of itching skin.

"You better put this on. You would want your skin to scar." she said playing to his vanity. He immediately grabbed the tube. She snickered.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"I knew that would work…the thought of you being less attractive."

"I'm sorry if I have a certain standard to upkeep." he said.

"What's the matter…afraid that no one would like you if you weren't beautiful?" she asked. He shot her a look. "You know what, I think that might actually do you some good." she said as she took the tube from him.

"Hey, give that back!" he said as he started to chase her around the beach. Katniss skipped along waving the ointment, singing:

"Girls, beware of Finnick Odair

Whose handsome looks cannot compare

With sea green eyes and with bronze hair

Do not touch or even stare

Or else you'll fall into despair"

She eventually lost her footing from laughing so hard and tumbled to the sand.

"What on Earth was that?" he asked sitting next to her.

"What was what?" she asked him.

"That song you sang." he said, clearly annoyed.

"Oh you like that? Girls like to jump rope to that one on the playground back in District 12."

"There is a jump rope song about me?"

"Yes, we have them for all the Victors." she said.

"And how long did it take you to come up with that one?" he asked her.

"I didn't. It's been around for as long as I can remember." she said.

"Why would they fall into despair?" he asked with curiosity.

"Oh come on, you know why." she teased.

"Obviously, I don't."

"I don't think it's any secret how you operate. You sleep with one girl and then move onto the next." she said. She could see the hurt in his eyes before he grabbed the ointment from her and walked towards Gale. She didn't mean to hurt his feelings. He had to have known that was what people thought.

"I'm sorry Finnick but that's what everyone says." she said following him.

"So just because people say it, then it must be true." he said.

"No." she said quietly.

"Well then maybe you should think before you speak." he said as he sat down and rubbed some more ointment on him.

"You should hear the one about Haymitch…it's even worse." she said, trying to cheer him up. She could tell by his sullen expression that it didn't work. She opted to sit next to Gale, who was still asleep, after she got the vibe that Finnick wanted some space. She didn't think one stupid song could do that much damage. If she had, she never would have sang it.

Sorry to end this chapter on a down note, but it's The Hunger Games...not exactly the happiest place in the world. Also, I know this chapter focused a lot on Finnick and Katniss, but don't worry. They are not going to get together and there will be more Galeniss in the chapters to follow :)

Let me know what you thought about Finnick and Katniss, the fog scene, the song, or whatever else you want to comment about. I love getting feedback from you!