The Final Night:

You realize now

You should have tried now

The music's gone now

You'll find out,

You lost it somehow

Hey you

"Oh, excellent interviews everyone! I am so proud!" Rhiannon claps her hands together. "Now you should get to bed. You're gonna need all the sleep you can for tomorrow."
"But I'm not tired," Micah insists. They clumsily fold their arms, too exhausted to pursue a tantrum any further.

Sara lets out a big yawn. "I am."
"I'm tired too," Cheyenne sighs. "Nobody disturb me for the rest of the night."
"Goodnight my dears," Rhiannon says politely.

I go change into a pair of normal pants and a hoodie; I'll shower later tonight. Out in the hall, I swear I can hear a faint crying coming from somewhere on the floor. I put my ear against the door to Sara's room. Is she alright?

"Sara? You in there?"
The only response I get is a loud sniff.
"Can I come in?"

Sara makes a soft wailing sound as I open the door. "What's wrong? You can't sleep?"
"No. I can't. I'm scared!"
"About tomorrow?"
"Yeah!"

Sara wraps herself up in her blanket, to the point where only her face is visible. I just sit down on the end of the bed. "Sara, it's alright to be nervous."
"But I don't wanna die!"

"I know, girl. I know. And remember, we've spent the last few days working on this. We have a whole strategy planned out just for you. I trust you to follow it, right? I will get you all the sponsors I can and we're gonna work together. And one last thing..."

This bombshell is gonna be hard. The truth is never an easy one.

"I know your allies are great people and you feel comfortable around them. But you being the saint that you are...there's no room for saints in there. Eventually, you'll have to start being selfish. I care about getting you and only you out of there alive. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is."

Sara coughs. "I...I don't think I can...I don't want to..."

"I know. It's tough and I might be asking you a bit too much. Maybe you'll get lucky and someone else will take your allies out before you have to. Luck is pretty much the only reason anyone wins anyways. That, and being in the right place at the right time."
"What is the right time?"

I shrug. "Hell if I know, it's not really something you can teach, like survival skills. But all I do know is that it when I needed it the most, saved my life. It's why I'm here today. So Sara...please. Let me save you."

"Okay," Sara whispers. Tears continue to stroll down her cheeks. She curls up in the blanket and squirms around a bit before sighing. "I still can't sleep."
"What do you do when you can't sleep?"

"Um, I like to name flowers. But I can't think of any flowers to name right now. Sometimes, my dad sings to me." Sara looks up with those big brown eyes of hers.

"You want me to sing."
"Can you sing? Please?"

I haven't really tried singing for somebody else before and I have no clue whether or not I'd be good at it. But it's for Sara and who am I to deny her of one little last request. She needs it more than I do. "I can try. Any particular song you want to hear? I might not know it, but-"

"No. It's okay."

I rack my brain, trying to think of a good song. There used to be one my dad would always sing for me when I was little, but right now, I can't remember how it goes. Another tune pops into my brain, from back when I was a teenage fangirl listening to a band whose drummer would eventually become my district partner in the 20th Hunger Games...

How it brings back bittersweet memories.

"I got one. Sorry if you don't know it."
Sara leans back in her bed, head sinking into her pillow as I begin.

"If never I met you, I'd never have seen you cry. If not for our first hello, we'd never have to say goodbye."

Maybe this isn't a song you should be singing to little kids the night before their Games. But the tension in Sara's face slowly melts away. I reach out my hand to her and she grabs on, gently squeezing it. Her warm fingers tickle mine; good thing I gave her my good hand. The human one. To give her that connection she so desperately wants and I desperately need.

"If I never held you, my feelings wouldn't show. It's time I start walking, but there's so much you'll never know."

My voice takes on a slightly jazzy tone, although quietly as to not disturb anyone else. Sara's grip loosens a bit. Her tears have stopped, at least.

"I keep telling you, hard luck woman. You ain't a hard luck woman."

The tiniest of smiles plays onto Sara's lips. Her eyes flutter open, then shut...then open again.

"Before I go, let me kiss you. And wipe the tears from your eyes. I don't wanna hurt you, girl. You know I could never lie."

I'm practically whispering the lyrics now, gone from a smooth rock song to a slow ballad in the dark. Sara lets go of my hand I gently brush her palm with my fingers. Her eyes are closed again, her chest slowly rising and falling. She relaxes, swallowed up by the blankets and pillow surrounding her.

"I keep telling you, hard luck woman. You ain't a hard luck woman...you'll be a hard luck woman..."

I slowly stand up and tiptoe backwards, carefully opening the door as to not make any noise. Troy's standing on the other side, flashing me a quick thumbs-up. I wonder how long he has been standing there, perhaps waiting for me to notice him.

"Goodnight, Sara. I'll see you tomorrow."

It's cold up on the rooftop.

I find myself staring off at the Capitol skyline, oblivious to the rest of my surroundings. Until Ace places his arm down on my shoulder and almost knocks the both of us over.

"Watch it."
"Sorry. What are you looking at that could possibly be more interesting than me? A bunch of boring glass buildings?"

I just shrug. "Nothing. Just thinking."
"About tomorrow, huh? Don't worry your cute little face about me. I'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about you," I admit. "But...I'd hate myself if I let another girl down. And it sucks that my past has caught up with me. Because now I gotta deal with Troy's sister!"
"If you just say the word, I'll serve her own ass to her tomorrow. She won't even see me coming."
"No, don't. Enemies are never a good idea."
"I didn't say they were."

Ace is smirking again, that stupid goofy smirk I want to slap off his face but I can't bring myself to. Instead, I just throw my hands up. "How are you not at least unnerved? This could be your last night alive, and look at how you're spending it."

"Doing the things I want to do? Without regrets?"
"Um..."

"Meh, it's fine. As long as my sister's alright. I'd like her to be the one to get out of here alive."
"Why are you so insistent on that?"

"Because I'm fucking blind."

I don't say anything. I'm waiting for the punchline to drop, or for Ace to burst out into laughter like it's a dumb joke. Maybe it's a metaphor of some sorts, because of course he can't mean it like that. There's just no way...

"It's called juvenile glaucoma, whatever the fuck that means. The doctors said I don't have that long. Until I'm nineteen or so, according to them. By then, I'll be completely blind, as in I won't ever be able to see again. It's already started now, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"Oh..."

Ace sighs loudly. "Thea, well...I always knew all those cigarettes would catch up to us eventually. But like, you can cure asthma? I think?"
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Well she can get an inhaler or something. Doesn't matter, she'll be okay. Life will go on. You can't do that for me. Once I lose my sight, my career's pretty much over. Things will never be the same."

"Are you sure?" I ask him. "There's still gotta be a way to make it as a blind musician."
"Do you know any blind musicians? No? Yeah, you see my point now? So I thought, fuck it. Why not volunteer? If I'm gonna crash and burn and lose everything, then I'm doing it on my own terms. That way, everybody knows my name. I'll be remembered for something."

I've never seen anything like it before. People who have decided the Hunger Games are their last resort. The Hunger Games, the freaking Games, the one thing that changed me, for better or for worse, took away things I loved, people I loved...

"Ace, do you know what the arena's like?"
"Depends. Which arena do you think I'm getting?"

"That's not my point! You're gambling with your life and...think about it. In an instant, you could lose everything."
"Yeah, I know."

I wipe some stray tears off my face; I'm not crying, I swear. "Do you? Do you really?"

"I'm not gonna try regretting this, Kingsley. I live on the edge. You should know that by now. And I think you kinda like it. You're into bad boys, like me!"
"Well, I...I mean...okay, yes, sort of...but-"
"I heard this saying once from a song. I hope I die before I get old. Maybe that's me and that's my fate. I don't fucking know. But the half-blind kid who's got his own sister to beat as well is probably a dead man walking. So why not give them hell? Why not throw one last show before I go up in smoke?"

"Does your sister know this? What would she think?"
"I haven't told her," Ace sighs. "I don't want her to feel...feel...this isn't her fault, okay? She doesn't need that to drag her down. She can get out of here. She's a tough cookie and all the sponsors love her."

I find myself staring out at the skyline again. What do I do? How do you respond to a situation like this? I feel so jumbled. Like, I don't know how I should feel right now. For me, it was always a choice of survival, no questions asked. I'm too selfish to make this kind of decision, to potentially sink my own chances in hopes I help someone else.

Ace just bumps my arm. "Well...that's what I thought anyways. But I realize there's a couple of people I'd be letting down."
"Who are they?"
"Myself. And you."

I can't look Ace in the eye anymore. "Oh. Sorry. I've only known you for a few days and it feels like I'm replacing your loved ones. God, that is so selfish of me."
"Whaaaaaaat? You mad that I got my eyes on you? I swear, Kingsley. You're tough. Most girls either ignore me completely or melt in my hands but you're a stubborn one."

"Is that so?"
"Mmmm. It's a fun challenge."
"Got a type, Frehley?"
"Perhaps..."

I give Ace a gentle push. "But you've got to earn me, alright? I'm a Victor. We don't come easy. We fucking fought for our right to be here."
"Wouldn't you say I've earned you enough?"
"I barely know you. Except the fact that you play an instrument, you refuse to go by Daniel, you flirt with literally every straight female who spares a look in your direction and you're crushing on the 17 year-old District 10 mentor. You have a younger sister named Thea and you're fucking blind."
"Not yet. Like...half fucking blind."

"Okay, whatever. But...I don't know, I'm not the sappy sentimental kind. I literally suck with this."
Ace wiggles his eyebrows and I resist the urge to shove him off the roof. "Suck...you say?"
"Shut up."

Ace stretches his arms over his head. "You're funny. Thanks for making these past few days actually pretty interesting."
"Can I cut you a deal?"
"Perhaps."

I lace my fingers together. "Do what you want in the arena. I'm not your mentor and I don't wanna be your mentor. So I'm not gonna tell you what to do. But if you win, we can go on a date. To any restaurant you want, and I'll pay."

"Oh please! I can be a gentleman when I want to, Kingsley! It's not right for a lady to pay on the first date."
"Hey, what did I just say?"
"After I told you I'm going out on my terms?"

"Maybe I don't want to see you carelessly throw your life away."

Fuck. I might as well just scream "I LOVE YOU" at the top of my lungs at this point so everybody in Panem can hear what a complete dumbass I am. Any confidence I had instantly melts away. I grab the railing of the balcony hanging over the building, staring up at the stars. I wonder if each little twinkling light represents a life cut tragically short. And how many more stars will dot the sky in the next few days.

"I'm sorry," I finally admit.
"It's okay. You care."
"I'm trying not to."

Ace just sticks his tongue out. "I knew I'd wear you down eventually. Good luck, Kingsley. And may the odds be ever in my favour."

Finally, the last pre-Bloodbath chapter is done!

Unfortunately, I have some bad news. But I don't have an actual date for the Bloodbath. I've been experiencing huge bouts of writer's block lately; I accidentally wrote myself into a corner in both this chapter and the one I was working on for TMH and I wasn't sure how to proceed. My motivation has also been very drained, so I stepped back from Fanfiction to give myself time to figure things out and take a break.

Anyways, the Bloodbath won't be coming out until the new year, just so people reading this story have enough time to catch up without immediately getting spoiled. If you have any outstanding check-ins, this is your last chance to get them in.

If you'd like to go make Bloodbath or arena predictions, have fun! I really like reading them and seeing what everyone thinks :3

See you all next chapter and have a happy holidays and a wonderful new year,

-Vr