CHAPTER 21

CORNUCOPIA

I look dumbly at the berries that Katniss held out to me. Is she implying that I killed Foxface with those berries? But I never gave any to her...

"Katniss, I swear, I didn't see her."

"I know, Peeta. I believe you." Katniss responds. Her anger seemed to ebb now, and she's speaking to me calmly, just like before. "Foxface stole it from the pile."

"What? How do you know?"

She sighs, and a strange look - disbelief? Annoyance? - crossed her eyes. "When I went to the Cornucopia to blow out the Careers' supply pile, I was waiting in my hiding place to look for clues on what's going in there. All the Careers including the boy for District 3 left, making me even more puzzled. After a while, I saw her. She did that strange hopping dance as if she was trying to avoid something, then she went to the pile and stole from the food. She was very smart. Foxface made sure to take only a small portion for every food so that the Careers won't notice that someone stole from them. That's what I'm guessing happened here. You were gathering those food for us to eat, so she wouldn't question the safety of the berries because we ourselves are planning to eat it."

I nodded as she finished her story, understanding everything now. "I wonder how she found us. My fault, I guess, if I'm as loud as you say." I'm a bit ashamed at myself that she was able to sneak up on me; to think that I have been alert and watchful of my surroundings. Apparently, I was not alert enough.

"And she's very clever, Peeta. Well, she was. Until you outfoxed her."

She's right, but I slowly feel the guilt creeping up on me. She's my first kill, and as unintentional as it may be, it's still a life taken away. It's a good thing for us, of course. But still...

"Not on purpose. Doesn't seem fair somehow. I mean, we would have both been dead too, if she hadn't eaten the berries first."

I recalled our conversation, suddenly realizing that I was wrong on one point. Katniss knew that the berries were poisonous. If she hadn't known, she would have climbed up the tree as I told her too.

"No, of course we wouldn't. You recognized them, didn't you?"

She nods. "We call them nightlock."

"Even the name sounds deadly." I muse. "I'm sorry, Katniss. I really thought they were the same ones you'd gathered." My stupidity could have gotten us killed if Katniss didn't know about those berries! I heaved a sigh of relief when I remembered wanting to taste it, but holding back because I wanted to eat at the same time with her.

"Don't apologize. It just means we're one step closer to home, right?"

Yes. Another enemy down. Now, there's only Cato left. We can do it, can't we?

"I'll get rid of the rest." I tell her, not wanting to see the berries anymore. I pick up a sheet of blue plastic, carefully placing all the berries inside. I was about to toss the plastic in the woods when I hear Katniss shout.

"Wait!"

I turned to her, curious why she stopped me. She brought out a leather pouch and took the plastic from me, grabbing a handful of berries and transferring them to her pouch. "If they fooled Foxface, maybe they can fool Cato as well. If he's chasing us or something, we can act like we accidentally drop the pouch and if he eats them -"

"Then hello District 12." I finish for her. The thought of going back home with Katniss is much too enticing.

"That's it." She agrees, securing the pouch in her belt.

"He'll know where we are now." I say urgently. "If he was anywhere nearby and saw that hovercraft, he'll know we killed her and come after us."

Maybe that's what Cato had been doing after all. Maybe he was waiting for us to find and kill Foxface, so that he will know where we are.

"Let's make a fire. Right now." Katniss says, gathering branches and brush and tossing them together in one pile.

Does she want Cato to find us now?

"Are you ready to face him?" I ask.

"I'm ready to eat. Better cook our food while we have the chance. If he knows we're here, he knows. But he also knows there's two of us and probably assumes we were hunting Foxface. That means you're recovered. And the fire means we're not hiding, we're inviting him here. Would you show up?"

It is a smart plan. Cato will most likely not fall into a trap. "Maybe not." I admit, answering her question.

I begin picking up the damp wood she collected. "I'll start the fire while you prepare the meat."

I arranged the branches as base, then proceeded to make a teepee on top of it using the small twigs and brush. I took a piece of stick, spinning it between my palms on a flat wood. Fire blazed out almost immediately. I turn to look at Katniss to get the meat, and I see her eyeing me with a slight smile on her face.

"You're good with that." She notes.

"Yeah, well, my dad taught me that." I answer, recalling the times we spent in the backyard trying to light a fire. "And I learned quite a few things in training."

She laughs, sticking out a rabbit on the fire. She offered to cook while I look around to watch out for Cato.

"Maybe we can gather some more greens?" I offer.

"That's a nice idea. But let's just stick to those nearby. We wouldn't want to be separated in case Cato comes."

I nod, because I have no intent to leave her alone again. Especially not now.

We take turns gathering, cooking, and watching out. As expected, Cato was nowhere in sight. We finish cooking the two rabbits and squirrel as well as the roots after a few hours. I keep a careful watch as she packed up the food, preparing for our descent.

"Here." Katniss said, standing beside me and handing me a rabbit's leg. "We can eat this while we walk."

"Where are we going?" As always, I still leave the decision up to her.

"Maybe we can move higher in the woods and settle on a good tree for the night."

I gaped at her openly. "Katniss, are you serious?"

Confusion twisted her features as she considered my expression. "Why?"

"I can't climb like you, Katniss, especially with my leg, and I don't think I could ever fall asleep fifty feet above the ground."

My qualms may sound childish or whiny to her, but I have to tell her. I will never be able to make it up. Did she really have that much fate in my capabilities?

"It's not safe to stay in the open, Peeta." She counters.

"Can't we go back to the cave?" I ask her pleadingly. I'm desperate now. "It's near water and easy to defend."

She sighs loudly and I can see the exasperated look on her face, but she considered my words for a moment. I watch her nervously, prepared to provide counter-arguments again in case she rejects my suggestion.

Surprisingly, Katniss came close to me and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. "Sure. Let's go back to the cave."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Katniss is rarely this considerate. "Well, that was easy."

She punched me lightly in the arm, laughing at my obvious relief. "Come on, let's start trekking so that we can be back before the sun is out."

We threw a bit more wood on the fire so that it will light up for a few more hours before we began walking back to our cave.

"Let's walk in the stream. Are you okay with that?"

I eyed the stream, remembering how it hurt my leg earlier. But I saw that the water level has dropped considerably and the current is back to its leisurely pace again. This couldn't hurt, and it will help us to cover our tracks. "Sure."

We walk silently in the water, eating our rabbit legs as we go. Today's trek is taking its toll on me, but I persevere because I'm actually excited to get back to our cave. I watch the sky as it slowly changed colors, indicating that night is about to fall. I stay quiet, marveling in its beauty and of the girl before me. Katniss. What I wouldn't give to have a life with her. I'm even willing to change myself - to kill - just to get her out of here alive. These thoughts brought me back to Foxface, and I felt sorrow in my chest again. It may have been accidental, but the thought that I've ended someone's life with my actions... it's still too much to take in for my conscience.

I know that we're near our cave when the stream begins to slope upwards and the terrain becomes rocky.

"We're here." I say happily.

Katniss looks back to smile at me. "We did it!"

"Thank you Katniss. For agreeing to get back here."

She stops in her tracks and walks closer to me. "Anything for you. It's the least I can do."

I shake my head, surprised by the tenderness in her voice. "You've already done so much."

Katniss laughs again at my remark, planting a soft kiss on my cheek. "Come on, let's fill our water bottles and head back to our cave."

I know that the Games is about to end. Maybe tonight or tomorrow, who knows? I breathed heavily and quickly thought back to my time in the arena. I hate the Games, the circumstances that make us all victims, the necessity it brings to make us reveal the monsters in us. But I can't hate it enough. How can I? The Games have been a curse, but it brought me the best days of life. It made me closer to her, and if I live through this, we'll have this common experience to keep us close together. The thought itself makes me smile. There could be better days if we make it out alive.

Sleep came to me almost as soon as we got back to our cave, so when Katniss woke me and I see that it's almost daylight now, I know that I've cost her her rest yet again. I didn't even realize how long I've been sleeping, so when I first felt her hand shaking me awake, I panicked.

"I slept the whole night. That's not fair, Katniss, you should have woken me."

"I'll sleep now. Wake me if anything interesting happens."

I nodded and settled to sit beside her. After a full night's sleep, my mind has become increasingly alert. I want to leave this arena now, but I know that we have to face one last challenge before that.

How bad will it be? I wondered. The fight of the last remaining tributes are almost always brutal and bloody at the very least. The Gamemakers always try to make it dramatic. What do they have in store for us? I find myself growing anxious every minute, waiting for Cato or for a force of nature that will threaten our lives.

I hate to think what the next minutes or hours will be like, but I'm glad that I got the extra time to rest to refuel myself. Yesterday's trek and my tiredness shows how I'm still in a very bad shape, but at least I know that if I try hard enough, I can still fight. My drive to survive is fiercer now.

"Any sign of our friend?" Katniss silently asks beside me, signifying that she's awake now. It's afternoon already.

"No, he's keeping a disturbingly low profile." I answer, shaking my head. Oddly, I wish Cato will just come and find us. I think it's better and a lot easier for us to deal with him than with a force propelled by the Gamemakers. They tend to have too much fun watching the tributes suffer in those final minutes.

"How long do you think we'll have before the Gamemakers drive us together?"

"Well..." I begin assessing the situation carefully. How long do we have before the Capitol gets bored? "Foxface died almost a day ago, so there's been plenty of time for the audience to place bets and get bored. I guess it could happen at any moment."

"Yeah, I have a feeling today's the day." She says calmly as she sits up. "I wonder how they'll do it."

I try to come up with a good answer, but ended up saying nothing. All I can think of is blood and gore - and I'll do my best to keep Katniss unscathed.

"Well, until they do, no sense in wasting a hunting day. But we should probably eat as much as we can hold just in case we run into trouble."

"Agreed."

My heart is hammering wildly in my chest - an attack could come at any moment. I forced myself to focus on packing our things, making sure that I don't forget to put anything. Katniss is spreading yesterday's meat on our plates; we will be eating the rest of the rabbits, roots, rolls, and cheese today. The sense of finality is creeping up on us.

We eat the food together in silence, both of us apparently deep in thought about the next few hours.

"Augh," Katniss groaned. "Are we ready to leave?"

"Yes, we're set to go."

"Let's wash our hands first. I hate the grease."

I follow her outside without another word, instantly feeling anxious as we left the sanctity of our cave. Katniss's fingers lightly touch the rocks we pass through. I'm actually eager to get to the stream to wash off all this dirt.

We freeze in our tracks when we get there, both of us looking incredulously at the scene before us. This is it, I thought. The Gamemakers are starting their plan.

"Not even a little damp." Katniss says as her fingers touch what used to be the stream. "They must have drained it while we slept."

This is not a good start, and we both know it. The temperature in the arena has risen significantly today; the sun too hot for comfort. Surely, this move tells us something about the Gamemakers' plan.

"The lake. That's where they want us to go." I state matter-of-factly.

"Maybe the ponds still have some." Katniss says desperately.

"We can check..." I begin. Anything to avoid the lake. We both know that the ponds are most likely drained too.

We make the route anyway, slowly walking through the trees and rocks so as to not drain our energy and to prevent our throats from drying out. When we reach the pond, we see the evidence right before our eyes.

"You're right. They're driving us to the lake." Katniss mutters. "Do you want to go straightaway or wait until the water's tapped out?"

What could be there at the lake? I can't think of anything else apart from the Cornucopia and a vast space.

"Let's go now, while we've had food and rest. Let's just go end this thing."

Katniss nodded but made no move to walk away. She looked deep in thought. Is she scared of what's waiting for us at the lake?

I wrap my arms around her still figure, wanting her to feel protected. "Two against one. Should be a piece of cake." I whisper. Which could be true - except that there will be an intervention. Not to mention the fact that Cato has something with him from the feast, and we still don't know what it is.

"Next time we eat, it will be in the Capitol." Katniss replies.

"You bet it will." I agree. Every fiber in my being wills it to be true. I want to go home with the girl I love.

We stay locked in our embrace for a long time, and I embed this moment in my mind for as long as I breath. When we finally break apart, I stare deeply into her eyes and clearly see my reason for living.

I will not let them break us apart now.

On our way back, we pass through other areas of the arena that is in a way memorable to us, like the tracker jacker tree. We rest from time to time, not wanting to exhaust all our strength in preparation for our battle with Cato. I know it won't be easy, but hey, as the cliche goes, nothing good ever comes easy, right?

Darkness is starting to creep in the skies, giving the arena a more scary vibe. I can see the Cornucopia now, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of life in here. My eyes scanned all around to make sure that Cato is not hiding anywhere. Where is he?

"He's not here. Let's just refill our bottles, in case we need to camp out." I say.

"That's a good idea."

"We don't want to fight him after dark. There's only one pair of glasses." Katniss tells me. I've been squeezing drops of iodine into our water to purify it.

"Maybe that's what he's waiting for." I answer. Cato is a fighter, he will not go down without trying. Either he's waiting for the perfect time or he's waiting for the Gamemakers' intervention. "What do you want to do? Go back to the cave?"

"Either that or find a tree. But let's give him another half hour or so. Then we'll take cover."

I don't argue when she mentioned the tree, we both know it's the only option we have. I really doubt that I'll make it up there, but I can always try, right? And if I fail, then I'll find another place to hide.

We sit side by side in the lake, not even making an attempt to stay hidden. Katniss begins to hum, and I am once again drawn to the beautiful sound of her voice. As expected, the mockingjays around us paused singing when Katniss began hers, and after a polite pause, they all imitate her note.

"Just like your father." I noted.

"That's Rue's song. I think they remember it." Katniss whispers, clutching the pin on her shirt. Sadness fills her eyes again.

We listen quietly at the peaceful singing of the mockingjays. Katniss closed her eyes - basking in the beautiful notes - but I refuse to do the same for fear that Cato will sneak up on us. Instead, I focus my eyes on her face and take in her beauty.

I was content at our peaceful moment when her eyes flew wide and I detected the rapid change in the mockingjay's tone. Their music grew shrill, piercing.

The time has come.

We're on our feet at once - my knife at the ready, and Katniss poised to shoot. Our feet stayed firmly planted on the ground. We're not going to run away from this. We're going to face Cato head-on.