Heather barely slept. Her body demanded sleep but her mind said otherwise as it would keep her awake. Even with Haymitch spooning her from behind, the number of sleep hours she got was equal to the number of her limbs. Finally, at 8 in the morning, she decided to give up on falling asleep. She never felt this anxious before and she hated it. Not being able to control herself, she exhaled in a loud exaggerated way.

"Do you mind?" Haymitch mumbled groggily.

"I can't sleep," Heather told him.

Haymitch slid his hand under her shirt and massaged her stomach. Heather hummed in content, "Obviously, you're so tense."

Heather turned around and faced him. His eyes were still closed and his face was the epitome of tranquillity. "You look so calm," she poked his cheek. "I hate it."

"Hmmm," he took her hand and kissed it. He opened his eyes and saw Heather's tired face. Her blue eyes were dull, missing the luminosity in them.

He sat up and glanced down at her. Her strawberry-blonde hair was spread around her pillow in messy waves. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt that did nothing to hide her large bosom and a pair of shorts that revealed her porcelain legs. Despite her exhausted face, her beauty didn't diminish a bit.

Unfortunately, Haymitch had been staring at her for a long time and she seemed to notice that. A teasing smile blossomed onto her face.

"Seeing something you liked?" She asked playfully. Heather didn't really care about her looks but an opportunity to tease Haymitch was hard to come by and she wasn't going to miss it.

"Yes, a crazy woman whom I'm unfortunately in love with," Haymitch said.

"Hmph. Is it that hard to say that you find me attractive?" Heather complained. While she knew that he thought she was beautiful by his actions, Haymitch never said it out loud to her.

"No, but you already have enough people telling you that," he said.

Heather put her hands on her cheeks and pouted. "But you think I'm cute, right?"

He chuckled and caressed her cheek. "Yes, I'll give you that."

Heather beamed at him and sat up. She shifted near to him and hugged him, putting her head on his shoulder, "How are you so composed?"

"You're forgetting that I've done this more than you, honeybee," he stroked her hair.

Heather frowned, tightening his hold on her. "Well, you're not alone. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."

He buried his head in her hair and breathed her scent. He was grateful that she was by his side every day. Life with Heather was easier and much tolerable. Not just because she took care of him and loved him. People in his life came and went, but not Heather. She was a constant in his life, and that was all he needed. He was lucky enough that she ended up feeling the same way about him.

Later, after breakfast, Effie, Haymitch and Heather all sat down to watch the beginning of the 74th Hunger Games. Heather held Haymitch's hand tightly, not caring that Effie was in the same room. Thankfully, she paid no mind to them and focused on the screen instead.

Finally, the screen displayed the arena. Each tribute was in the middle of being lifted by their pedestal. The voice of Claudius Templesmith, the announcer of the Hunger Games, boomed over the speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"

Katniss and Peeta were five tributes apart. This year, the Cornucopia was coloured in gold, the mouth was spilling over with the things that will give them life in the arena. Food, containers of water, weapons, medicine, garments, fire starters. Laying around the Cornucopia were other supplies, their value decreasing the farther they were from the horn.

The ground they were on was flat and opened stretch. From one side was either a steep downward slope or cliff. There was a lake and piney woods, as opposed to each other's side.

Heather was then reminded of her own arena. A desert. Her cornucopia was bright pink, filled with stuff that Heather was going to need if she was going to survive in the desert of an arena. But she didn't want to risk it and ran away as soon as the gong sounded.

Katniss was looking intensely at the cornucopia, and Heather wondered why. She got her answer when the camera changed its angle to reveal the bow and arrow in the midst of blanket rolls. Immediately, Heather knew that these were especially put for Katniss. A bait for her to come running to the cornucopia instead of running away to the forest.

Heather hoped that Katniss wouldn't fall for this trap but she knew that this was unlikely to happen. While it was true that Katniss was a fast runner, the odds of her getting away unscratched were slim. There were just too many Careers who would be targeting her because of her high score.

The gong rang.

Peeta quickly ran back to the woods while Katniss stood on the metal pedal, confused over what to do. She decided to lunge forward, scoop up the sheet of plastic and a loaf of bread. She then picked up a bright orange backpack.

A boy reached for the pack at the same time Katniss did and, for a brief time, they grappled for it. Then a knife was thrown into the back of the boy. He coughed, splattering Katniss' face with blood. Effie gasped in shock.

Katniss staggered back and the boy fell to the ground. Already the other tributes have reached the Cornucopia and were spreading out to attack. It was the girl from District 2, Clove, who attacked and Heather vaguely remembered Katniss telling her about how the girl never misses.

This realization did nothing but increase Heather's anxiety and uneasiness.

Katniss had the same realization and she started to run full-speed for the woods. The blade whistled toward her and hit her pack, making Heather's blood run cold from the shock. Thankfully, Katniss made it to the woods. From beside her, Haymitch also exhaled in relief.

Heather laid back on the sofa. She placed her head on her chest and breathed a few times, trying to calm her beating heart. Katniss was okay. Peeta was okay. Everything was going to be okay.

For now.

Haymitch turned to her and said, "They're okay."

Heather sniffed and nodded, wiping away some tears that she didn't know were there. She could tell by his eyes that he was glad. Like her, Effie was wiping tears of joy.

Heather pushed her hair out of her face and focused on the screen once again. The bloodbath was still going but wanted to get to the other channels. The Hunger Games itself had 25 channels. One for each tribute and the highlights.

"Let's check on Peeta, first," Heather said, taking the remote and changing the channel.

Peeta had stopped running and hid behind a tree, not too far away from the Cornucopia. On the other hand, Katniss kept going deep into the woods. She freed the knife, it was a fine one with a long sharp blade which would make it handy for sawing through things and for defending herself and slid it into her belt.

Sometime during her path, she heard a noise and pulled her knife in defence, only to come face to face with an adorable rabbit. She smiled, realizing that if there was one rabbit there must be others she could hunt later.

Seeing that Katniss was fine for the moment, they switched over to Peeta, who was still hiding in the same spot. She exchanged a puzzled look with Haymitch, they were both confused as to what Peeta's plan was.

They got their answer afterwards when Peeta got out of his hiding spot and approached the Careers, who were cleaning out their bloodied weapons.

Before they got a chance to throw out their weapons, Peeta raised his hands, a sign of surrender. "I came here with an offer."

The boy from District 2, Cato, raised his sword towards Peeta. Not in a threatening way but more like a warning, "And why should we listen to you, lover boy?"

The others surrounded him from all sides but Peeta didn't appear to be intimidated. Good boy, Heather praised him mentally in her mind. She didn't know what his plan was but showing his fear of them would decrease the chances of them agreeing to cooperate with him.

"You're looking for Katniss, aren't you?" Peeta asked.

While Effie gasped once again in shock, Heather and Haymitch both leaned in and started to theorize why Peeta was doing this as they both knew that the boy would rather die than hurt the girl he had a crush on.

"He's trying to protect her, isn't he?" Haymitch guessed, unimpressed.

"E-yup," Heather replied, drawing her lips into a thin line. Effie tried to get them to explain to her what was happening and how Peeta was protecting Katniss but they both ignored her in favour of watching Peeta charm the Careers into making him part of their group.

Finally, after some persuading words, they accepted but they were still wary of him and not so welcoming.

"Well, I have to admit, the boy has a way with words," Haymitch said as they got up to eat lunch. Effie had to leave to have lunch outside with some of her friends and they would see her later at tonight's ball in the Hunger Games Headquarters. Generally, mentors didn't go to the headquarters unless their tributes survived the Cornucopia bloodbath and the first night.

"He does," Heather agreed. "I never knew that."

Haymitch smirked, "Sad to not know something for the first time, honeybee?"

Before Heather could retort back, the sound of cannons cut her off. She stayed silent along with Haymitch, both counting the number of times the cannon went. How many tributes died in the bloodbath. The cannon went on and on until it reached the number eleven. Eleven dead. Thirteen left.

Heather wondered how many of these tributes belonged to her victor friends. Normally, she would go visit them and mourn alongside them but things were different this time. For the first time, both her tributes survived the bloodbath. Not just one, but both.

Nothing interesting seemed to be happening at the moment in the arena. Any other day, Heather would've been suspicious but it was the first day. Gamemakers liked to give the surviving tributes a chance to explore the arena on the first day. Also, they didn't want to interrupt the annual ball in the headquarters so that mentors and sponsors could have a chance in signing a deal.

After eating lunch, Heather checked on how Katniss and Peeta were doing. When she made sure everything was alright, she kissed Haymitch and made him promise her that he'll tell her if something happened later tonight.

Sometime in the morning, following the bloodbath, Zedoary contacted her and told her to meet her in the main lobby of the Training Centre so he could help her get ready. Unfortunately, Heather couldn't go to Azalea and Sorrel since they were busy with their own salon and they couldn't cancel their schedule on short notice.

Zedoary managed to pull some strings though and got Clove's prep team to prepare her. It took a long time to get her ready but that was mostly since Zedoary had a specific vision in mind for Heather and, as usual, the prep team spent some time changing her makeup until they were able to conduct a style that Zedoary approved of. Heather didn't complain as she was used to it. As much as she liked him, sometimes, Zedoary was insufferable and downright annoying.

While they were working on her, Heather kept an eye out on Katniss and Peeta. Luckily, nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Peeta was getting acquainted with the Careers while Katniss was still exploring the woods

Tonight, Heather was going for elegance and classiness. Her makeup consisted of smokey dark purple eyes, her cheeks highlighted in a way that made them look like they had high cheekbone, and her lips painted in a blood-red colour. Her hair was put up into a fancy updo, decorated by a bunch of silver hair accessories.

The black dress she wore weighed a bit on her. It was kind of similar to the one Katniss wore to her interview as there were silver gems engraved onto the fabric and they glimmered brightly under the light. Still, even though it was heavy on her, the dress was soft as it was made out of velvet. It was also beautiful as the silver gems were made to be arranged in the shape of a bird in the skirt.

As a final touch, she put on long black gloves since the dress was sleeveless.

When Heather looked at the mirror, she was shocked a bit. She always tried to avoid putting on heavy makeup and depended on her natural beauty but she had to admit that she looked amazing. This didn't look like her and wasn't her style but it somewhat worked.

Heather looked up and smiled at Zedoary. "Thank you, Zed. And I've got to admit, this time you really outdid yourself."

He huffed his chest in pride. "Nothing I couldn't have done where it was not for you."

Heather rolled her eyes and giggled.

Since it was already late enough, Heather met up with Haymitch in front of the ballroom's doors. It seemed that his stylist got a hold of him and dressed him in a sharp tuxedo. He looked handsome but he was visibly uncomfortable in his attire.

Heather smiled and silently stood next to his side, "You ready?"

"Yea," Haymitch glanced at her and frowned at her. "You look different."

"You don't like it?" Heather asked with a sad tone.

"Well, it's not usually your style and you don't look like yourself. But it should work out in attracting other people's attention," he held his hand out for her to take.

Heather took it and together, they entered the ballroom. Heather had only been here once during the 71st Hunger Games. The decor was the same as back then. Low music was playing in the background and a bunch of huge screens adorned one of the walls, showing shots of various tributes. A dinner buffet was set aside in the corner. Several tall chairless tables were spread around. The air of the room gave out the feeling of business and formality with a hint of classiness.

In less than 5 seconds, they were surrounded by people. Some were asking them about what happened in the arena as if they were there themselves. Some congratulated them on the fact that both their tributes were still alive. Some demanded answers as to why Peeta would betray Katniss.

In conclusion, things were chaotic. Heather had to look back at Haymitch several times to make sure he wasn't scoffing or glaring at the people. Heather tried to calm everyone down and explained that she couldn't understand anything they were saying since they were speaking all at the same time.

Finally, they all seemed to get it in their minds that Heather couldn't interrupt their words. As if they rehearsed this, the people divided into groups with similar inquiries and took turns to talk to Heather and Haymitch.

Heather mostly answered their questions and the Capitol citizens were okay since they weren't expecting much from Haymitch. Not to mean that they were slightly intimidated by him. He stood behind Heather as if he was her bodyguard. It didn't help that he was looking at them as if he was saying 'behave'.

Although Heather answered their question, she only responded with half-truths to keep the excitement and anticipation going.

Feeling eyes on the back of his head, Haymitch turned and crossed his eyes with Cashmere. She wasn't glaring at him but she was giving him a heated stare. He knew that Cashmere didn't like him but it didn't explain what was up with her behaviour. After failing to come up with a proper reason for this, Haymitch shook his head and re-focused on Heather.

At some point, Heather and Haymitch split up since many wanted to sponsor Katniss and Peeta. Heather was advocating for Peeta while Haymitch was for Katniss.

While Heather was talking to some women about Zedoary, she suddenly felt a hand on her bareback. She stiffened and when she realized who it was, a shiver of fear went to her spine. The women, recognizing who it was, went away after making up some half-cooked excuses.

Heather took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Darius," Heather greeted him. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"How can I not when I knew you'd be attending?" He smiled ostentatiously and continued to caress her bareback. His eyes were drawn to her cleavage which was exposed because of her long v neckline. "And I'd rather say that you look ravishing tonight."

"Thank you," Heather mentally cringed. She glanced behind him, praying that Aulus, his twin brother, was not behind him. It was bad enough that she was dealing with one, she didn't want to deal with both of them.

Darius seemed to note who she was looking out for and said, "Unfortunately, Aulus is held back at work. Hopefully, he'll be able to make it though."

"Of course," Heather said.

"Oh, I nearly forgot!"Darius pulled a sleek tablet from inside his jacket. "I would like to sponsor your tribute, Peeta Mellark."

"That's nice of you," Heather said as she took the tablet for him and began filling out the form. Although it would make more sense for the mentor to be carrying electronic devices, it was the sponsor who did and if they wanted to support a tribute, they would seek out the mentor and offer to sponsor on a limited budget. The mentor was the one who filled the form while the sponsor merely signed their name and the amount of money they're investing. "How much?"

Darius told her and her eyes almost budgeted out of her eye socks.

"Wow, that's… a lot," Heather commented.

"Nothing when compared to love," Darius waved it off. He reached his hand and brushed her cheek. Heather forced herself to look into his eyes as he stared at her. He was her first, or maybe he was. Heather wasn't sure whether it was him or Aulus who entered first.

"Ahem," a voice interrupted them.

Mags approached them and grabbed Heather's arm. She smiled up at Darius and asked, "Would it be alright if I stole her for a bit?"

Her voice was gentler because of the stroke she had two years ago. Darius seemed hesitant but refusing the old woman would make him look like a jerk. "Sure, no problem," he forced the words out.

Mags and Heather walked away from him and Heather had to hold back a sigh of relief. There were still some people around. "Thank you, Mags," Heather said.

"You shouldn't be forced to interact with them more than you need to," Mags told her quietly.

Heather looked down, "I'm stupid for being scared of them. I mean, you don't see Finnick and Cashmere acting that way."

Mags smiled softly and placed her hand on Heather's cheek. "You're different. You're stronger than them in other ways."

Heather nodded, slightly unconvinced, "Where's Finnick?"

"He didn't want to come," Mags said. Heather was confused before she realized that the boy tribute from District 4 died in the bloodbath.

"And he was okay with you coming here alone?" Heather asked suspiciously, knowing that there was no chance that Finnick would let Mags attend the ball without someone looking after her.

"I forced him to stay," Mags said. Heather merely raised her eyebrows and didn't continue with her questions. Finnick was stubborn and something told Heather that she didn't want to know what method Mags used to make him listen to her, though it would be useful to her in the future.

Unfortunately, Heather had to meet two others of her… pursuers but she didn't react badly to them as she did to Darius. But then again, Darius and Aulus were different cases as they were first and the ones to introduce her to the way things were going to be if she wanted to protect Luke. Not to mention, Dr. Julius Gaul who had it in his mind that he loved her.

Getting tired of speaking to people from the Capitol, Heather searched for a victor to talk to but they were all busy. Then she caught sight of Parry, a District 11 victor, standing alone beside a table and went to approach.

"Hi," Heather smiled at him.

He gave her a weak smile. "Hello."

"Are you here for Thresh or little Rue?" she asked.

"Rue," he answered. "You?"

"Peeta," she said. "How's Chaff? Not causing any trouble I hope."

Parry chuckled. "No, he's okay."

Heather suddenly frowned, noting the dark marks under his eyes which were noticeable due to the natural colour of his skin. She instinctively reached out her hand and brushed gently his cheek. "What's wrong?"

He winced and removed her hand from his face. "It's nothing. I just haven't been getting enough sleep."

"Have you tried taking some sleeping pills?" Heather asked.

Parry sighed, "No, I don't want to get addicted."

"It should be fine if you just take one and don't use it extensively. If you can't trust yourself, you can always tell Seeder so she could keep you in check."

Parry simply nodded. Heather still felt bad and continued to persuade Parry to leave early as he was feeling tired. He finally obliged but only after Heather threatened to call Seeder over.

"How many did you get?" Haymitch asked as they met up later to leave the ball.

"Seven," Heather answered. "You?"

"Ten," Haymitch told her. "Sweetheart got a lot of fans."

She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. She was thankful that they got many sponsors for both Katniss and Peeta.

Their apartment in the Games headquarters was similar to that in their apartment in the training center except that it was smaller with 4 rooms. The sitting room was bigger though with three screens, one for each Katniss and Peeta and the third for the highlights.

Later that night, Heather slept for a little bit in her headquarters apartment before she got up again to check up on her tributes. She checked on Katniss first who was tied up to a tree, asleep. She watched her for one minute and as she was about to go on to Peeta, Katniss woke up from the sound of a branch.

Katniss was startled at first, looking around and wondering what had happened. Heather giggled at the scene, finding it adorable. A few minutes passed and Heather saw a bright spark and a small fire began to bloom. A pair of hands warmed-over flames on the highlights' screen.

Heather was surprised. Who was ignorant enough to start a fire? Didn't they know that they could potentially be attracting the others to kill them? Especially the Careers?

Heather had a feeling that things were going to get heated so she hurried back into the bedroom to wake Haymitch up. She couldn't shake him, knowing from past experiences that he might attack her. So, she sat by his side and gently stroked his face. When he still didn't wake up, she leaned down and kissed him. She moved her lips softly against his and after a while, he sleepily responded.

Heather pulled away and looked at him anxiously. "Come. You have to see this."

As he was just woken up, Haymitch didn't immediately get up and join her in the sitting room. By the time, he arrived, the action was already happening.

The Careers ran towards the fire starter. Heather recognized her as the girl from District 8 and she was reminded of her friend, Cecelia. The girl was dozed off and when she woke up, it was too late to escape. She pleaded with them but, of course, they wouldn't listen. The agonized scream that followed broke Heather's heart and she wondered how the family of the poor girl would be handling this.

The Careers laughed and congratulations rose from several of them. The boy from District 1, Marvel, cried out, "Twelve down and eleven to go!" which received a round of appreciative hoots.

"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking," Cato said. There were murmurs of agreement.

Heather froze when she saw the pack of Careers unknowingly heading towards where Katniss was. She prayed that they'll pass her by and not notice her. However, they stopped in the clearing about ten yards from her tree.

Have they seen her? Heather wondered. No, they couldn't have, Katniss was concealed up there in the trees and none of them were glancing up. It must be something else.

"Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?"

"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately."

"Unless she isn't dead."

"She's dead. I stuck her myself."

"Then where's the cannon?"

"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done."

"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice."

"I said she's dead!"

An argument broke out until Peeta silenced them. "We're wasting time! I'll go finish her and let's move on!"

Heather couldn't make out Katniss's reaction as she was high up in the tree. Still, she could see her roll sideways off the fork and face the ground. Katniss held in place by the belt, one hand, and her feet straddling the pack inside her sleeping bag, braced against the trunk. Luckily, the Careers didn't hear her.

"Go on, then, lover boy," Cato said. "See for yourself."

The Career tributes stayed silent until he got out of earshot, then they began to speak in hushed voices.

"Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?"

"Let him tag along. What's the harm? And he's handy with that knife."

"Besides, he's our best chance of finding her."

'Her' obviously meant Katniss.

"Why? You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?"

"She might have. Seemed pretty simple-minded to me. Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I want to puke."

"Wish we knew how she got that eleven."

"Bet you Lover Boy knows."

Switching over to the highlights screen, Heather and Haymitch watched Peeta head over to the girl. Peeta kneeled beside the girl and checked her pulse. Judging by his hesitancy, it appeared that she was still alive. He didn't want to kill the girl, Heather could tell. Then, carefully, he cut the spinal cord above the scapula and sliced the inside of her knees to cut the femoral artery. Heather remembered telling him about this method when he asked her about how to kill someone painlessly with a knife. She was happy that he remembered and followed her instructions.

"Was she dead?" Cato asked when Peeta returned.

"No. But she is now," Peeta said. Just then, the cannon fired. "Ready to move on?"

The Career pack went off as dawn began to break and birdsong filled the air. Katniss remained in her awkward position, then hoisted herself back onto the branch. For a moment, she seemed to be contemplating what just happened, her mind processing recent events.

Heather wished that she could know what was Katniss thinking so hard about. The only thing she was sure about is that Katniss was pondering over Peeta.

Suddenly, the birds fell silent. Then one gave a high-pitched warning call about a hovercraft approaching. True to the call, a hovercraft appeared above where the District 8 girl laid. A set of huge metal teeth dropped down and, slowly and gently, lifted the dead tribute girl into the hovercraft. In a blink of an eye, it vanished. The birds resumed their song.

On her channel, Katniss got out of her sleeping bag, rolled it up, and placed it in the pack. The camera closed on Katniss when she hit the ground. For a moment, she stayed still without any expression. Then, she cocked her head slightly to the side and gave a knowing smile.

Heather frowned, confused by Katniss's reaction as she didn't expect this reaction. Could it be possible that Katniss and Peeta cooked up this plan together to trick the Careers and get rid of them? But there was a low chance of that since Katniss couldn't stand Peeta after what he said in the interview. And, no offence to them, they lacked the intelligence and cunningness to come up with such a plot.

As always when she was in doubt, Heather turned to Haymitch and asked, "What do you think?"

He was thoughtful for a second, "Either she has gone crazy or she is trying to fool the audience."

"The latter makes more sense," Heather said, annoyed at him for even assuming his first prediction.

Katniss went to check on the snares she set yesterday and found a rabbit stuck in one of them. She cleaned and gutted the animal, leaving the head, feet, tail, skin, and innards under a pile of leaves. She then went to the camp of the dead tribute. She checked the coals of the dying fire and cooked the rabbit meat when she saw that it was still hot.

She ate half the meat as she walked along the woods and wrapped the rest in plastic for later. It was clear that Katniss was thirsty and Heather had a huge urge to send her water. They had enough money to do so.

"Can't we send her water?" she asked.

"No," Haymitch quickly answered. "The people need to know that she's a survivor. They need to see her survive without our help."

Heather frowned but understood what Haymitch meant. If they wanted to save her, they needed to increase her popularity.

It was then that they noticed their current position. Because of her anxiousness, while watching what was happening earlier, Heather unconsciously moved closer to him and was practically sitting in his lap. It wasn't the embarrassing part since Heather had sat in his lap before voluntarily. No, it was the fact that she was wearing a revealing nightgown. Her breasts were practically disclosed, the fabric only covering her nipples. The skirt had risen to her hips, exposing her underwear. Haymitch had seen her chest bare before but he didn't see her groin.

Slightly blushing, Heather got up and smoothed her nightgown. She didn't look at Haymitch for the fear of what his reaction would be, "I'm going to change."

After showering and refreshing herself, Heather wore a soft yellow dress and put her hair up in a ponytail. When she entered the dining room, breakfast was already laid on the table. They ate in silence.

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. Heather and Haymitch exchanged a puzzling look. The Avox opened the door to reveal Johanna, who was standing on the other side.

Heather's eyes brightened and she let out a big smile. She quickly got up from her seat and dashed over to her friend. Johanna had already prepared herself for what was about to happen so she wasn't surprised when Heather got a hold of her and gave her a big squeeze.

"Hey," Johanna hugged her back and spoke in a soft voice. Ever since they had been acquainted, Heather was the one who always comforted Johanna but now it was her turn to do the deed. Especially, since Heather was personally close with one of her tributes, "Since I'm out of the job, I thought I might come and join you."

"Oh, Johanna," Heather began to sob. Both Haymitch and Johanna froze, not expecting this reaction.

"Uhhh, is everything okay?" Johanna stupidly asked and hesitantly patted Heather on the head. It was clear that she didn't know how to comfort a crying person. Think, Johanna. What did Heather do when she was crying?

Then, Johanna remembered that she never cried in front of Heather.

"No, Johanna, everything's not okay. Peeta could get killed any moment and Katniss got nearly killed and now she might d-die from dehydration," Heather said other stuff but neither Johanna nor Haymitch could figure it out since her voice was muffled and she was crying more profoundly.

Johanna continued to console Heather while Haymitch watched from the side. He too was confused by Heather's sudden burst. However, he soon remembered that Heather usually had late emotional reactions. For instance, it took her a year before she finally cried about the death of her brother and sister-in-law.

When Heather pulled away and excused herself to freshen up, Johanna turned to the other person in the room. "Is she on her period?"

"No, she gets violent on her time of the month, not emotional," Haymitch said. "She just has late emotional reactions. Seeing you must've triggered her to cry."

"But why?" She asked and picked a roll of cheese to eat. On her quest to visit Heather, she forgot to have breakfast.

Haymitch stayed quiet and thought about it. Heather cried for her brother when she saw Luke walk by himself for the first time and realized that her brother wouldn't be here for the big moments in Luke's life. Finally, he spoke, "Heather regards both you and Katniss as her little sisters so she got reminded of Katniss when she saw you," Johanna lowered her head bashfully at the fact. "Not to mention, you both have a similar attitude."

"What attitude?" Johanna snapped.

"That attitude," Haymitch pointed.

Upon her return, Heather slid into the seat next to Johanna. "Sorry about the way I behaved before," she said to her.

"It's alright," Johanna smiled softly, something that she rarely did.

"How are Eero and Blight?" Heather asked.

"They're okay. They send their greetings," Johanna told her. "Also, Eero said he'll be building a chair for you in his workshop where you'll be well safe."

Heather huffed in annoyance. During her visits to District 7, Heather would try and help Eero around in his woodshop because she was worried for him regarding his old age. However, her plans would backfire since it was Eero taking care of her as she would have some accidents and end up injuring herself in some kind of way.

"I'm not that bad," Heather protested.

"You nearly lost your toe from simply standing next to the table of instruments," Johanna said. Haymitch stifled a laugh, this was the first time he was hearing about this.

Heather groaned and slowly slumped down her chair. After breakfast, they all sat down on the couch to follow how things were going in the arena. This time, Heather cuddled up with Johanna.

Thankfully, nothing important seemed to be happening for the rest of the day besides Katniss finding out about the poisonous berries. So the three of them opted for different activities while keeping an eye out for the TV. Haymitch was reading a book, Heather was knitting a cardigan and Johanna was carving a piece of wood.

When the afternoon came, Katniss was still walking and looking for water. Suddenly, she stopped and said in a throaty voice, "Water."

Instinctively, Heather reached out for the computer to send her some but Haymitch stopped her. Before she could argue with him, he said, "Look."

Puzzled, Heather inspected the area that Katniss was in and noticed a pond of water nearby. Katniss, on the other hand, didn't have the same realization and seemed to be angry. It took a few minutes before she calmed herself and continued to drag her feet.

Finally, she found the pond of water. Heather let out a sigh of relief and watched Katniss take out her flask and fill it with water. She dropped some drops of iodine to purify it and waited for a half-hour

"What do you know? She actually didn't gulp it at once," Johanna commented, regarding Katniss with an ounce of respect.

"Yes, Katniss is a strong girl," Heather said.

Over the next couple of hours, nothing interesting happened. All the tributes were adjusting to life in the arena except for the Career pack who were still hunting for human prey with no vain. When the anthem played, there were no faces in the sky. No one died today.

It might've been a good sign for those who weren't familiar with the games but it wasn't. If nothing happened that demanded the viewers' attention then the Gamemaker would do something and that was the worst. Especially since it was unpredictable as to what they were going to do.

Because of that, Heather and Haymitch stayed put in the sitting room while Johanna retired into one of the empty rooms.

A few hours later, their prediction proved to be correct as a wall of fire suddenly descended on Katniss.

What do you think? What do you think? Heather and Haymitch? Mags protecting Heather? Parry? Johanna caring for Heather's feelings? Everything that happened in this chapter in general?! Let me know in the reviews!

Pheww, I didn't realize how long this chapter was when I wrote in NaNo until I was editing it. I hope you enjoy it!