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Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews! I really appreciate them all! Thank you!

I have so much work to do at Uni, it's crazy! I love it here but the work load is huge. But hopefully I should still be able to update every Saturday as planned :D

Please read on and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 35 – Hatred

Maren – Day 4, Fight 4

"I'll see you soon" Katarina has a fierce smile on her face as she grips my shoulders. Her eyes stare into mine, filled with pride and fierce determination. "Make them pay"

"I will" my voice is filled with confidence. I've faced far more terrifying obstacles in the arena than the two mogs I'm about to meet. I'm not scared about the fight; in a way I'm almost looking forward to it.

As a complete contrast, Sarah is nearby, clinging to John as he strokes her hair. She's shaking, it's clear to see, and I can imagine the terror on her face. She's petrified; she's never had to face a fight without John, but at the same time I can tell she's determined not to die.

"Good luck Maren" Sam appears in front of me. I blush a little, thinking back on my conversation with Katarina yesterday, but I try to push that out of my head. I need to focus on the fight ahead of me and not on my non-existent love life.

"Go kill some mogs for me" Sam grins, despite the nerves in his eyes. I'm about to reply when the doors behind me begin to grind open. I smile at him one last time, clapping him on the shoulder before heading for the door. Later I wish that I had been a bit more affectionate.

Sarah stands next to me, dashing the tears from her eyes. Her lips are trembling but she takes a deep breath, as if preparing herself for the fight ahead. I can't help but pity her a little, feeling bad for my harsh words to her.

"Be brave," I tell her, not unkindly. I feel her look at me but I don't turn to face her; I'm watching the steadily opening doors. The roar of the audience begins to wash over me and despite myself nerves begin to form in my stomach and race around my body.

We walk forwards into the light drizzle of rain, soaking the sand below our feet. The crowd begin to cheer, as they always do, and I adjust my grip on my spear. The rain isn't helping and my hand keeps slipping, but I refuse to let that worry me. I watch as the mogs begin to walk towards us as well, as the doors behind me slam shut.

The mog girl raises her spear at once, too impatient to wait to get any closer. The spear sails harmlessly through the air and lands a few paces in front of me, the point lodged in the sand. Sarah gasps, but she still makes her way forward with me.

"Just don't surrender," I remind her. We wait for the mogs to come to us. I would love to charge them with my sword, but that would leave Sarah vulnerable, and despite my dislike of her weakness, I don't want her to die.

The mogs set off for us, the girl easily racing ahead, the boy left training her. She may be smaller and lighter and faster, but he is huge and bulky. He will be more dangerous in a brute strength fight.

The girl is getting closer, and next to me Sarah is adjusting her grip on her spear, trying to get ready to throw. She lifts her arm and tries to send it racing for the mogs, but her throw is weak and her aim is sloppy. It falls a short distance away, useless.

The mog girl is mere seconds away when I leap forward, raising my sword. She tries to crash into me, but I spin out of the way so she only grazes by me. She stumbles forward, her momentum making her lose balance. I spin on my heel and swing my sword at her back. But the girl is faster than I thought and she spins too, raising her own blade to clash against mine.

We circle each other, our blades meeting each other in a fast dance of death. She's good but I'm better and soon I'm outmanoeuvring her. My sword is moving too fast for hers and then with a flick of my wrist, I've sent it tumbling to the ground. She stands in front of me, gasping, as she realises her weapon is too far away for her to grab.

She leaps towards me with her fists instead and with a grin, I ditch my own sword, aiming a punch for her jaw. She dodges me, her own fist aimed at my stomach. I twist out of the way, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to me. I pull her into a headlock, ignoring her beating fists and grab for my dagger, getting ready to kill her.

That's when I hear the scream. Sarah's scream.

The mog boy had reached her and is standing over her, sword in hand. Her eye is steadily bruising and blood is oozing from her nose. She's clutching it with one hand, another in front of her. She's crying, her eyes desperately watching the mog. He grins, raising the sword, clearly not paying attention to any word she says.

"No!" I shout, trying to wrench the sword away with telekinesis, but then the mog girl makes her move. She wrenches out of my headlock, swiping for my dagger. She swipes it at my face, and I turn back to her, punching her in the stomach. She bends over, winded and gasping for breath, and I'm about to snap her neck with telekinesis, and-

"I yield!" Sarah screams.

The arena, filled with screaming and cheering and shouting just a moment ago, falls silent. I stagger back from the mog girl, my body numb. The dagger slips from the mog girl's grip; even she is shocked.

"No" I whisper. The one thing I didn't want to happen has happened: Sarah has yielded. We are at the mercy of the mogs and guessing by the grin on the mog boy's face, they don't have a lot of mercy. They're going to kill us.

The mog girl bends down for a sword as I fall to my knees, as I know I have no choice now but to die. There's no way the mogs will spare me, not after the other Loric tributes have killed the mogs who yielded. This is it, the moment I die.

"Say your prayers" the mog girl grins, resting the blade against my neck. I stare at her defiantly, not crying like Sarah is. I won't die crying. I'll die fighting.

The mog boy raises his sword, about to strike at Sarah when something really weird happens. The mogs' faces change; they go completely blank and devoid of thought. They stare at the weapons in their hands, almost numbly, and then both simultaneously drop them.

"You can live" both boy and girl say at the same time, as though they're puppets. I gape up at them, watching in delighted confusion as their faces suddenly become clear again and they're filled with anger. But it's too late; they've said the words and Sarah and I are free to go.

The crowd are booing and things are flying down from the stands, eggs and rotten fruit that smack the mogs. They stare blindly at the audience and then at Sarah and I, confused but furious. Someone changed their mind; somebody stopped them from killing Sarah and I.

I stand up hurriedly, dragging Sarah to her feet before the mogs decide to kill us despite the rules. She's shaking, tears streaking down her face. She doesn't understand anything either, but she's grateful, and definitely happy. I drag her away from the furious mogs and away from the missiles the audience are throwing at their tributes, wrapping my arm around her waist to keep her upright.

"Come on Sarah, before they change their mind and kill us" I tell her in a desperate whisper. The doors ahead of me open quickly, and I can see Katarina waiting there, along with the others. John looks desperate as he watches Sarah; we're so close but so far.

"They can't" Sarah whispers, looking as numb as I feel. "It's against the rules"

"Don't put anything past them," I tell her as we stagger into safety. John reaches out and grabs Sarah at once, taking her from me. She begins to sob properly, clutching at him as I stand there, water dripping off my sodden clothes and hair. I've only noticed that now.

The doors close behind, shutting out the booing of the audience. Katarina steps forward, her face filled with shock but there's definitely relief there too. She gathers me in her arms, my own wrapping around her back too.

"What the hell happened?" I ask. Katarina pulls back, a conflicted smile on her face. Her eyes are filled with relief.

"Someone convinced them to let you live" Katarina frowns. "I don't understand though…it can't have been you. You don't have that legacy," she adds in confusion. "And neither do any of the others" she looks around the room.

"Will they still kill me? We yielded, and technically they can claim that it wasn't their decision" I protest, still fearing for my life. I could kill Sarah for yielding; I could have saved us both if she just gave me the chance.

"No" John's mentor shakes his head. He's a reassuring figure, calm despite the controversy of what just happened. "Legacies are allowed in Round 2. It never says when they're not allowed" he grins a little, but it's grim.

"But nobody has that legacy" John says in confusion, still holding Sarah close. Sam is lingering nearby, watching me in concern. I don't have the time to focus on him; I can talk to him later.

"Exactly…who was it?" his mentor frowns. Katarina tucks some lose hair behind my ear, not looking too concerned now that she knows I won't die.

"Does it matter?" Stanley rumbles nearby. "They're alive and that's all that counts," he adds, a frown on his face. Something tells me he knows more than he's letting on. But instead of pushing the subject, I nod, agreeing with him.

"The mogs won't forget this" John's mentor warns all of us. "They're going to take it out on you all in Round 3" he sighs, rubbing his face. "But we can worry about that another day" he smiles grimly.

The other tributes stand up to congratulate us, but all I can think about is Sarah and her stupidity, not the fact that I'm through to Round 3. Now that the relief of being alive and winning has sunk in, my earlier anger starts to raise its ugly head. I find myself marching up to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her from John's arms. He shoots a glare at me, but doesn't stop. He knows she did a foolish thing too and he knows I'm not to be stopped when I'm in this mood.

"Why did you do that?!" I yell at her. She's still shaking, tears slipping down her face. "You could have gotten us killed!" I shout at her. I'm furious; she could have ruined all of my hard work because she was scared and weak. I know I'm being unreasonable; you do silly things when you're scared and Sarah saw no way out of her situation.

But still. I told her so many times not to surrender. And she does it anyway.

"Maren, leave it" I hear someone say, as they grab my arm. "You need to calm down and rest" It's Sam. Anyone else and I would punch them in annoyance, but I don't want to hurt him. Instead I simply back away from Sarah, anger making me shake. Or maybe it's relief that I didn't die.

"I warn you, stay away from me," I warn her. "Or you'll regret it"

Xxx

Marina

"I'm tired though" Ella whines, as we head to the training hall. "I don't want to train"

I look down at her, amused by her behaviour. She's dragging her feet; her shoulders slouched as we near the double doors that lead to the gym. I can't see her face, but I bet she's scowling at the ground. It's amusing, even if it is a little childish.

"Your fight is coming up in two days" I remind her. "And it won't be like training with Stanley. I'm not as hard as him" I gently nudge her. Stanley isn't cruel to Ella, he's too protective over her to hurt her, but he's certainly a taskmaster. Poor Ella is usually exhausted after her training sessions with him.

"Yeah, I know" she sighs, smiling up at me. "But I'd still rather be drawing in my room" she adds. I don't reply, although I know the feeling. There's nothing I'd rather do than just chill with the people I love, although I know I don't have the luxury to do so just yet. Once Round 3 is over and if I'm lucky enough to survive, then I'll have the chance. But for now I don't.

We enter the gym, surprisingly empty for the morning. But then most of the fights have already taken place and two of our tributes are dead. I can see that the only other two tributes in here are Joseph and Nia, his partner. It's not surprising considering their fight is tomorrow. They look like they've been training for a while though and are about done, guessing by their relaxed approach.

"Joseph!" Ella waves eagerly when she sees him. She gets on well with him, seeing him as an older brother figure. I think she also enjoys winding me up over my crush for him.

"Hey kid" he teleports over, his partner following at a more leisurely pace. I tuck some hair behind my ear self-consciously, ignoring Ella's snicker at my behaviour. "Hey Marina" he adds with a grin when he sees me.

"Joseph, we should carry on training" his partner catches up to us, eyeing both Ella and I up. The look in her eyes isn't exactly friendly and I find myself flushing a little, shifting nervously on my feet.

Nia's very pretty with big blue eyes and brown curly hair. She stares at Joseph with big awed eyes; I'm clearly not the only girl to have a crush on him. But she's a few years younger than me and I know Joseph is far too honourable to even see her in an attractive light when she's over a year younger than him. He's going to be 18 in a few months, like me, and Nia is only 15.

"We've been training for hours" he shrugs. "We can have a break for a few moments" he grins at me. "What are you doing here? You're already through to Round 3" he reminds me. A smile makes its way onto my face, despite Nia's scowl.

"Ella isn't though" I reply. "And I thought I'd help out with her training…not that I'll be any more helpful than Stanley" I add. Ella pouts up at Joseph.

"I don't want to train" she sulks. He laughs, ruffling her hair and making her squirm away from him.

"And why not? Training's fun" he says encouragingly. Ella shakes her head at once.

"Not with Marina! She's so serious and she makes me work hard," she grins 'innocently' up at me, as I roll my eyes. Joseph is grinning, amused by Ella's teasing.

"Well then we'll have to make her less serious!" Joseph decides, winking at her. I narrow my eyes at him at once, not liking his mischievous side, as he grins up at me. "What shall we do then Ella? Shall we-"

"This is silly" Nia interrupts him, her face sulky. She's not looking at me with very friendly eyes. "You should be training instead of flirting" she tells Joseph, giving me a dirty look as she says the word 'flirting'. Joseph doesn't seem to notice her frosty attitude towards me, but Ella is watching Nia with narrowed eyes.

"Why don't you train with us then?" Joseph smiles at us, still as bright as ever. Nia hasn't brought him down to my delight. I really don't like her; she's taking an attitude with me for no reason other than talking to her partner. Her partner who she likes but that shouldn't matter. He's not hers but at the same time he's not mine. He can talk to whoever he wants.

"Ok" I agree shyly. "Maybe we should have a mini Capture the Flag game. No legacies" I suggest. I'd seen the kids play it all the time in Santa Teresa but I'd never been allowed to join in. And knowing Joseph's excitement for anything fun, he'll be up for it.

"Yeah!" Joseph beams excited. "So Nia and I against you two!" he grins. I nod in agreement, ignoring Nia's smug smile at being with him. Joseph high-fives Nia and then grips her hand, teleporting her some small distance away so they can plan team tactics. I turn to Ella, an amused smile on my face.

"I'll take on Nia" Ella whispers. Her look is almost protective. "I'll make sure she doesn't look at you in that way again" she says fiercely. I laugh gently and then shake my head.

"I think you should go for the flag and I'll keep the other two away from ours. You're so much faster than you look and I can protect our flag from those two" I whisper. She nods and then we high five, getting ready for the game.

"Prepare to lose!" Joseph whoops, a huge smile on his face. Nia looks a little more menacing and I can't help but notice that she's looking right at me. I don't want to fight her, because she has her fight tomorrow. I don't want to hurt her or knock her confidence, no matter how mean she is to me.

We all set off at once, Joseph and Nia both coming for us at once. They've gone for brute strength, whereas Ella and I have gone for speed. They both run straight for us and then Ella sets off, dodging out of Joseph's way and right into Nia's. But before Nia can grab her, El manages to skip out of the way. The path to the flag is free and she makes a sprint for it.

"Joseph, get Ella!" Nia calls. Joseph spins on his heel, stopping his running for me and instead takes off after Ella. You can tell he'd rather teleport, but he's not allowed. It's against the rules.

Nia comes for me, her pretty face twisted up in a scowl. She swings for me but I duck out of the way, driving my fist into her stomach. She bends over; wheezing, and I take a few steps back, not willing to hit her too hard. I don't want to hurt her, body or confidence. But it seems Nia is under no reservations when it comes to hurting me.

She lashes out with a nasty punch straight for my eye and I dodge, gripping her fist in my hand. She grunts in annoyance, lashing out with her other hand and her nails rake down my face. I cry out, pressing my hand against my torn cheek as I stare at her in shock. She throws herself at me as I'm distracted by my injuries and we fall to the ground, tumbling over each other.

I grip her wrists and slam them to the ground, pinning her with my weight. She struggles under me, her face almost murderous. There's real hate as she stares up at me and my grip loosens a little in shock. I can hear Ella laughing with Joseph as they 'spar' over the flag; neither seems to realise the real fight taking place nearby.

"You bitch" Nia tries to rake my face again but I wince out of the way. "You always have to get involved," she snarls. Her knees come up and one hits me painfully in the small of my back, making me groan. It's so hard it's going to leave a bruise.

"I don't understand what you're talking about" she kicks me again and I roll off, wincing in pain. She comes for me again but I sock her in the cheek, knocking her back on the ground. She falls back with a cry of pain but I don't feel guilty. Not after she scratched my face viciously.

"He doesn't train with me because he spends time with you" she snarls, probably talking about the time he spent with me after my fight. He'd left eventually to train with her, but he'd spent some considerable time with me, and I have no idea how long he waited for me to wake up. But that's not my fault.

"And then you come in here to train and it's like I don't exist" she hisses. "I'm his partner, not you and you're ruining everything!"

She leaps to her feet, and tackles me. I'm so surprised by the ferocity of her attack that I don't manage to dodge in time, and we hit the ground. My head hits the floor with a loud thwacking noise and my vision goes cloudy. I'm barely aware of her pounding her fist into my temple and then she gets off me, running off.

I shakily sit up, my cheek aching and my head pounding. Black spots dance in front of my vision and as I stagger to my knees, I feel horribly dizzy. It takes a few moments for my head to adjust and for the nausea to die down enough that I can move more. Nia is the other end of the game area, laughing as she holds a flag up in the air, celebrating her win. Joseph is swinging Ella around, who's still laughing, even though we lost.

I stare at Nia, stunned by her actions. The hate in her voice and actions has left me confused and shocked. I never thought that she would be so obsessed with Joseph to hurt me like that. Jealousy is normal, I was jealous of Maren and her friendship with Joseph, but I would never hurt her. I feel shaken and not just by my injuries.

"Marina? You all right?" Ella calls as she begins to walk over. I get to my feet, trying to plaster a smile on my face, as I begin to heal myself. I stagger a little from the dizziness and then someone steadies me. Joseph looks at me, concerned, and slightly angry too.

"Nia, you didn't have to hit her so hard" he says, sounding disapproving. "It was only a game," he mutters angrily. There's also definitely concern in his eyes, concern towards me. I press my hands to my cheek and the cuts begin to heal, a bit of blood smudging on my palms. My head begins to clear as well, and I don't feel so horribly dizzy anymore.

"It wasn't her fault" I lie. "I just didn't want to fight back as you're fighting tomorrow…and she's a good fighter," I elaborate. The first part might have been the truth, but I don't tell him about Nia's viciousness. Joseph's face clears and even Nia looks a little shocked. She was probably expecting an accusation from me.

"At least we know we're prepared for tomorrow" Joseph says brightly. His hand that was gripping my arm slips around my back, so he's got his arm around me. I'm shocked but pleased, even when I see Nia's furious glare. I wonder what her upbringing was like to make her so angry, so determined to hurt people.

"You were always prepared," I tell Joseph. He laughs as Ella begins to make her way to another part of the gym, to get a drink of water. I also bet she's trying to get out of 'boring training'. Nia lingers nearby; despite a slightly pointed look that Joseph gives her. I suppress a smile, despite it being mean of me.

"Why don't we train together and see how prepared I am?" he challenges, a competitive glint in his eyes. The same smile makes it's way on my face and I raise an eyebrow.

"Prepare to lose" I quote him. "Remember you're up against the 'mighty mog murderer'" I joke; using the words he once used to describe me. He clasps his chest, looking scared.

"How could I forget?" he gasps. "Please be gentle with me, O terrifying One" he says dramatically. I laugh, shoving him gently. We make our way over to some training mats, Ella sitting on a bench nearby, a smug smile on her face as she watches Joseph and I.

I see Nia storming out of the gym, a huge scowl on her face, and I know it's wrong, but I can't help but be a little pleased.

Xxx

Adam

The roof of the Tributes' tower is more beautiful than I thought it would be. Rows of flowerbeds lie in front of me, and the view of the Capital is stunning. The wind chimes gentle ring in the light breeze, but it's not annoying. It's so peaceful up here, the opposite of my torn up mental state.

I'm confused and torn and lost. I knew my father would make me pay for falling for Hannah and helping the Loric boy who Ivan tried to kill, and he has. It's no coincidence that both Ivan and I happen to be fighting Hannah in Round 2. It's also no surprise that her partner is a weak young boy of only 14. My father isn't subtle in his message to me: Hannah will die.

But I don't want to kill her. The thought of her dying is as painful as the injuries I sustained at the hands of the mutts, and it's as bad as having my heart torn out, as dramatic as that sounds. I've gotten in too deep with her and I'm too attached; the thought of her dying is agony to me. But I can't see any other way out of it. There's simply no way that she'll live, not with my father wanting her dead.

"Mind if I join?" the voice is cold and clearly not asking my permission. I turn; not surprised to see Hannah here.

I came up here for a reason. I was hoping that she might sense me through our mental connection and might come to talk to me, even if she'll only shout at me for betraying her. My plan seems to have worked but I don't feel any joy when I see her cold face. There's a reason she hasn't been talking to me; she hates me.

"Hannah" I get up, annoyed at how light and happy I feel to have her here. Even though she's staring at me as though I'm a piece of shit she stepped on. "I haven't heard from you and-"

"Don't even start" she raises a hand, rage on her face. "There's a reason I haven't contacted you, you bastard" her jaw works in anger. "You think I honestly want to talk to you?"

"But I've missed you" I whisper, pathetically. She sneers in disgust, not looking moved by my words. Not that I expected her to be of course.

"If you really cared so much about me, then you would have let Stanley kill Ivan!" she yells at me. I flinch back, but I know she's right. I did the wrong thing, and she has every reason to be furious with me.

"Hannah-" I begin but she lunges out, grabbing my shirt and dragging me to my feet. Her hand is twisted in my shirt and her face is pressed close to mine. The rage in her eyes shocks me, silencing me. I don't try to push her off, I just let her shout at me, like I deserve.

"Stanley could have ended everything with Ivan's death!" she's screaming at me. "He could have saved Loric that Ivan will go on to kill! You've ruined everything!"

She pushes me away and I sprawl on the ground, my chest heaving. Hannah is pacing in front of me, frustrated tears building up in her eyes. The ground is rumbling a little from her earthquake legacy that she has, but she slowly begins to calm herself down and the trembling stops. My head is pounding, a tension headache building up in my temples. Hannah sits down on the ground, putting her head in her hands and then she begins to sob.

I can tell through our mental connection that she's not really crying about me. She's scared, scared of dying and she's grieving all the Loric that have died, especially her dead boyfriend Wade. She's stressed and seeing me has pushed her to the brink, especially because she's connected to me and she doesn't know how to break that link. I know she hates me, wants me to disappear but I still reach out and put my arm around her shoulder.

She buries her head in my neck, her tears wetting my neck. She doesn't exactly cling to me, but she doesn't push me away either and I feel a small smile appear on my face, despite her pain. I think she's pretending I'm Wade and not Adam.

"I didn't mean to cause so much trouble," I whisper softly. "I just didn't want him to die because he's my brother" Hannah doesn't reply but I can tell she's listening.

"The thought of him dying was as bad as when I thought you had died" I tell her. "I came to find you, you know. In the arena. I heard the mutts and I wanted to come and save you" Hannah is definitely listening now; she's pulled away and her eyes are locked on my face, her own face filled with doubt.

"I knew that mutts hate mogs and if I was there, that might be distraction enough for you to get to safety" I sigh. "And then later on, when Stanley was about to kill Ivan…he begged me for help. You don't know how rare that is Hannah. He's my brother despite everything, despite all the murdering he's done…I couldn't let him die" I sigh, my arm still wrapped around Hannah. Even though I may disgust her, I'm still enjoying the moment.

"I know Adam" she sighs. "It just…I thought I was getting somewhere with you. I thought you saw the injustice of everything"

I look earnestly at her. "I do see it…but what can I do Hannah? There's no war, nothing I can do," I'm almost pleading. "I know what my race is doing is wrong but I can't do anything" I expect her to snap back at me, calling me a coward but she chews on her lip, looking down.

"I know…I know I'm being unreasonable, expecting you to rebel" she sighs. "I should just be happy that I managed to show one mog the truth" she attempts a smile. It's weak and reluctant, but it's a smile nonetheless.

"And now we have to fight in Round 2" she continues, sounding defeated as she rubs her face, her eyes looking exhausted. I want to reach out, stroke her hair, but I know that's just a step too far.

"I won't let you die," I say fiercely. "I won't let Ivan kill you, no matter what my father orders" the words slip out before I can help it, and Hannah turns to me, her face icy.

"You father? What has he ordered?" I don't answer and she grips my shirt again, dragging me towards her threateningly. "What orders?"

I swallow nervously. "He wanted us to kill you. Ivan and me" I look down. "He…he knew that I…was attached" I finally get the words out, embarrassed. My cheeks flame and I look down, not wanting to meet Hannah's eyes. She must be able to read all of my feelings through our link.

She's silent, processing this new bit of information. I wonder if she knew that I liked her a little more than as a friend. I wonder if she knew how unwilling I was to kill her, how desperate I am to save her life. I wonder if she knows what an impact she's made on my life.

"And are you going to kill me?" she finally asks, sounding detached. If I didn't know better I'd say she doesn't care, but I can feel her fear through our link. That and I saw her breakdown earlier.

"Of course not" I say at once. "I'd never kill you Hannah" I sigh, resting my head in my hands. "But be careful. I might not kill you myself, but Ivan is under no such reservations. He wants to kill you. Just don't try and put yourself in danger." I tell her. She's watching me, her eyes serious.

"I'm in danger, no matter what I do," she points out. I chuckle grimly, looking away from her eyes and at the Capital.

"Join the club," I tell her. "My father probably will get me killed if I don't kill you" I joke. "Or hide me somewhere where I will never be seen again"

Hannah laughs, a little grimly. "By the way, you better not kill my partner either. He's nice…doesn't deserve any of this shit" she grumbles. I nod, holding my hand out to shake it. I feel a bit ridiculous when she just stares at me, an eyebrow raised. I start turning red and then she reaches out, shaking it. I breathe a small sigh of relief.

"I won't," I promise. Hannah looks away from me, both of us facing the Capital. We have to go soon, before someone discovers us here together and before we get into any trouble.

"Maybe I wasn't wrong about you," she finally murmurs. "Maybe you are a decent guy after all…despite being a mog" she teases me, a small smile on her face.

"Thanks…I guess" I reply. She stands up, brushing off her trousers; that smile still on her face. I'm pretty sure I'm blushing.

"See you around mog boy" she smirks before turning and leaving me here by myself.

Hope you all enjoyed!

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