~Katniss~
I made it to the clearing before dawn, now all I had to to was wait. To keep myself safe I climbed up into a tree for the night. I only got a few minutes of sleep, I didn't want to miss anything. It was too important. A few minutes later a hover craft dropped down and a Peacekeeper came and set the bags down on a big table. 1, 2, 5, 11, and 12, a bag for everybody that is left. I was about to jump out but somebody beat me to it, Foxface sprinted out, grabbed her bag, and ran away. So I took this as my chance.
I ran as fast as I could to the table, grasped my bag and turned to run, but there was Marvel running towards me with a spear in hand, ready to be thrown. He threw it with deadly accuracy and I dodge it but I nicked my forehead. As I was disoriented he tackled me to the ground. He kicked and I tried to punch but he always dodged my attempts. I clawed at his face and he screamed in pain as my fingers drew bloody lines down his face. He grabbed my hands in his wrists and held them above my head as he straddled my waist. He transferred my hands into one of his while he took a rather long and ragged knife from his belt, how did I miss that?
"Well Girl on Fire. Where are your boyfriends?" he taunted, lightly maneuvering the tip of the knife around my face, not piercing the skin. "Well Peeta is probably dead, I know where I stuck him. And Cato he's probably given up on you after what you did to the supplies." he said and I spit in his face, Cato would never give up. "You're going to pay for that Fire Bitch." he sneered as he drew the knife back above him the slam into my heart. This is it, I'm going to die, and now so is Peeta. I waited for the pain, for the darkness, but it never came. I opened my eyes and saw Marvel get pulled off of me, I didn't see who it was, I didn't have time to. My fight or flight senses were high and right now they were on flight. I was almost to the tree line when I heard a cannon, and I hoped it was Marvel. I had to get back to Peeta, he needs the medicine. I ran through the forest, not caring when the low branches of a tree whipped me in the face, I didn't care, none of it matter as long as I was able to help my best friend. I finally made it back to the cave when I saw Peeta, laying there barely breathing.
"Peeta!" I said rushing to him. "I got it, I got the medicine." I said taking it out of the bag and opening it up.
"Too late." he choked out.
"No Peeta! Don't leave me please!" I shouted, not caring if another Tribute heard me. Tears were streaming down my face as I pleaded to him. I attempted to put some of the cream on his leg but it didn't matter.
"I love you." he breathed out before he stopped breathing entirely.
"No Peeta!" I shrieked. "Peeta!" I said sobbing. I pressed my head to his chest, trying to hear a heartbeat, but it was silent, he was silent. "No!" I shouted. I sobbed into his chest, crying my eyes out. My best friend, I lost my best friend. He died because I left, to try and save him. If I had found him earlier, he might've survived. All I could do was cry, my body felt numb, I didn't know what to do now. I didn't want to leave. The Games, they took another person I cared about from me, and there was nothing I could do about it. If his cannon went off, I didn't hear it because I was sobbing too loudly.
"Katniss?" a male voice asked behind me, I didn't have to look to know that it was Cato. But I couldn't move, I just kept crying. He came over and tried to pull me away, to get me to stop looking at Peeta.
"No!" I shouted pulling away from him. I still cried.
"Katniss, come on. He's gone, it's too late." he said sympathetically, but I still couldn't move, I was just numb.
"I can't move." I sobbed as he pulled me to his chest.
"You have too."
"I'm just numb." I whimpered. Clove took my bow, quiver, and back pack from me and as Cato carried me bridal style out of the cave as best as he could without falling over from the rocks. When we were out of the cave the sun was high in the sky. He continued to carry me as I cried into his chest, whispering soothing words to me to try to calm to me. They brought me to a small clearing in the woods, surrounded by willow trees. Cato set me down so that I could lean against one of them and started to apply the medicine from the feast to my cuts, Peeta's medicine. Clove started to build a small fire after she tended to a wound on her leg. I didn't notice that she was limping, because I was too busy crying into Cato's chest. When he was done applying the cream to my body I asked a question that had been on my mind.
"How did you find me?" I whispered.
"We followed you after we killed Marvel. We almost lost sight of you but then we heard you crying and found you. I'm so sorry about Peeta. I know how much he meant to you." Cato said, but all I could do is nod in response. Cato looked down at the ground before looking back at me. "Please Katniss, don't shut me out." he pleaded. A few more tears fell from my eyes and he came close to wipe them away, I cuddled into his chest. Not sure of what else to do right now.
"I'm going to go find something to eat." Clove said feeling slightly awkward, Cato nodded her to go and she left, leaving the two of us by the crackling fire.
"Katniss please talk to me."
"I was too late. I tried to get the medicine to save him but I was too late." I whimpered. His arms tightened around me and I nuzzled my face into his chest even more. His hand came up and caressed my hair that was pulled out of it's braid by the trees when I was running. We just sat there, him holding me, until my tears were all dried up.
"Everything will be okay. I'm here, I've got you. Nothing else can hurt you." he said and I just nodded, not knowing what else to say. His hand ran up and down my back and I shivered remembering my scars are still there. "Sorry." he apologized for making me shiver.
"It's okay I just remember my scars." I said.
"Why did you get them?" he asked softly and I shifted slightly. I remembered giving him a brief explanation of my scars on the roof of the Training Center, but I didn't give a lot of detail.
"I was in the woods of Twelve and I was hunting for food. When I went back into town to trade it, a new Peacekeeper caught me with it. He had no idea who I was or knew what the pain of starving was like yet. So he turned me in. I got ten whips for being outside the fence, and ten for hunting illegally." I whispered softly to him. If the cameras heard it they would punish my family for being apart of it and I couldn't let that happen. His grip on me tightened and he pulled me tighter to his chest.
"I'm so sorry." he whispered into my hair. "I won't let anything like that happen to you ever again." he promised an I nodded.
"Thank you." I said with full gratitude. A few minutes later Clove came back with some grouslings and a rabbit.
"This is the best I could do." she said holding them up when she came back. I looked at it and jumped at the chance to get everything off my mind, I needed a distraction.
"Give them here, I'll skin them." I said holding my hand out.
"Kat are you sure? Do you know how to do this?" Cato asked me.
"I know how to hunt Cato, I can do this." I told him softly. I pulled out the knife that Clove threw to me during the Bloodbath and began to skin the dead animals, she hit them in the head, which is perfect because she didn't ruin any of the meat on them. Once I had them all cleaned I stuck them on a stick to cook over the fire. Clove stared at me in surprise while Cato just looked at me in awe. When it came to this stuff, I worked on autopilot, I didn't need to think, I just had to do.
"How do you know how to do this?" Clove asked me.
"I told you, I know how to hunt." I said as I rotated the rabbit again.
"And this is how you survived back home?" Cato asked me and I just nodded.
"We all had to if we wanted to live." I said in a monotone voice. They were quiet after that, we just sat there and ate the meat that we had. It took them a bit to get used to.
"You survived off of this?" Clove asked me surprised again.
"Yeah, I know it's an acquired taste but back home we had spices and stuff to give it some flavor."
"It isn't too bad, if I was stuck here for a few more days I'd be good with this." she said as she took a big bite of grousling.
"The food back at the Academy probably seemed like Capitol food." Cato said with a chuckle and I smiled a little, thinking back to my first meal there. For the rest of the night we just told stories trying to remember happier times before this, and wondered what life was like before there were Districts. That night after Clove had fallen asleep in her sleeping bag, Cato pulled himself up next to me.
"You okay?" he asked wrapping an arm around me.
"Yeah, I just wish none of us were here." I said looking at Clove.
"When I saw Rue's face in the sky that night, I thought of you. I know you two teamed up for a bit, when you blew up our supplies." he said.
"I've tried my best to ignore the anthem and the faces in the sky at night." I said.
"How did she die?" he finished.
"She got caught in a net trap that was set up. I cut her out but Glimmer found us, she threw a spear she had with her and I moved Rue out of the way but with Glimmer bad aim I guess I moved her into the right spot. I shot Glimmer and killed her on instinct. When I turned back to Rue, she was pulling the spear out of her stomach and she made me promise to win for her. And she asked me to sing for her." I explained, a tear fell from my eye. This is the most I've cried on one day than I have in a long long time.
"I'm sorry you lost her." he whispered to me as he put his forehead to my temple.
"I'm sorry I blew up your stuff." I said looking down at my hands.
"Hey I probably would've done the same thing if I was in your position." he said cracking a tiny smile.
"She was so small, so innocent." I said looking back at Clove, remembering how young she still is, only fourteen. "Rue probably never did anything wrong in her life. Peeta, we weren't always the best behaved kids but he was still good at heart. And Clove, she just wanted to prove herself good enough, and she already had." I choked out, more tears forming in my eyes.
"Hey, none of us should be here. When I met you, you changed me. Made me realize that emotions, they don't make a person weak, they make you stronger. They give you something to fight for. What we feel for others is something worth fighting for. Katniss, you are what I'm fighting for." he said deep kindheartedly. I looked up at him and saw the genuine truth in his eyes. I reached up, cupped his cheek, and pulled him down to me. He kissed me back sweetly and lovingly. His hand held my face to his while his arm remained around my waste. After a few minutes we had to pull away, this wasn't the place or time for all of that. I fell asleep in his arms while he stayed awake to keep watch. I told him that when he got tired to wake me up so I could take watch, he just nodded, not promising anything.
~Cato~
After Katniss fell asleep I did more watching her than watching our surroundings. When we were on the Victory Tour, she had nightmares after being whipped, now after losing Rue and Peeta, who knows what could happen with her nightmares. I wasn't going to wake her up when I got tired, she's exhausted herself today and I don't know how much sleep she's gotten the past few days. When I got tired I nudged Clove's foot with mine to wake her up. She awoke with a start and grabbed a knife from her belt and held up up, but when she saw it was just me she relaxed.
"Need me to take next watch?" she whispered to me and I nodded.
"Kat wanted me to wake her up so she could take watch but..." I trailed off looking down at the sleeping beauty in my arms.
"She's had a rough day and she needs her rest." Clove said with a nod of understanding. She set herself up so she could take watch and when I was sure that she was good and ready I wrapped my arms tighter around Katniss and rested my head against her's that was laying between my neck and shoulder, right in the crook.
All that night I thought about all that Katniss and I have been through. First back at the Academy and all that I had done and said to her. Clove was right, when she came to my house and told me that I would feel really guilty for degrading Katniss's District. All those times I called her scum and filth I hope she never took it to heart, because that's what most people call the citizens from District Twelve. After thinking about all that I did, including kissing her that one night at the track I finally fell asleep.
I was walking, through an open field with wild flowers blowing in the breeze. There is only one or maybe two places that I've seen this before. On the Victory Tour when Katniss and I explored District One and walked to the fence. One in District Twelve when Clove and I slipped through the fence. Clove, I had lost her to the Games, she sacrificed herself so Katniss and I could win. But now there were no more Games, the Rebellion had been won by the Rebels, with Katniss and I leading them.
Katniss. Where is she? I circled around to look for her and then I saw her, standing there with a swelling stomach and holding the hand of our first born child. She looked just like her mother, the same nose, hair, shape of her face, but she had my eyes. It was rare to have blue eyes and dark brown hair, but the two of us falling in love and being together is rare itself, being from practically different worlds. The two of them smiled at me and I smiled back walking to them. My button up shirt blowing the breeze since the top three buttons were undone. That is when I found out that I was barefoot when I looked down at my khaki covered legs. Katniss walked towards me in her long flowing dress, a cream type color that stood out against her tan skin. I reached out to take her hand, her diamond ring glistening on her hand and my gold band shined in the sun as well.
"Hey baby." I said to her, then bending down to bring her growing stomach at eye level. "Hey baby." I whispered before giving it a soft kiss. Katniss giggled then I knelt down in front of our daughter. "Hey Clover." I said calling her by her nickname.
"It's Clove Daddy!" she squealed as I picked her up and held her. We named her after Clove, she was both of our friends and the three of us had been through so much together.
"Happy 3rd birthday baby girl." I said to her and she wrapped her tiny arms around my neck. Katniss smiled at the two of us and I reached out and took her hand once again. I set our laughing girl down and leaned in to give my wife a kiss, I felt the baby kick in her stomach and I pulled away laughing.
"He's says hi." Katniss said, her voice was like music to my ears.
"How do you know its a boy?" I asked her with a smile.
"I just kno- ow." she said holding her stomach.
"Whoa are you okay?" I asked her and she shook her head.
"No, the baby is coming." she said as she clutched her stomach again and screamed out in pain. I helped her lay down to get her more comfortable. She was bleeding, that can't be good.
"Daddy what wrong with mommy?" Clove shrilled sounding frightened.
"It's gonna be okay." I said out loud, not sure to who but it didn't matter, I just needed to help Katniss. After what seemed like hours of pushing and screams, our new child was here. "You were right Katniss, it's a boy." I said taking a ripped piece of cloth I tore from her dress and wrapping it around the baby. I still had to cut the umbilical cord but I didn't have anything with me. "Katniss?" I asked looking at her. Her head was tilted to the side and her eyes will closed. "Katniss!" I said scaring the new baby boy. I set him down gently and rushed to Katniss. She wasn't moving or saying anything.
"Katniss!" I shouted.
"Cato!" somebody said around me, it didn't come from Katniss, so who did it come from?
"Cato!" I opened my eyes and saw a worried Katniss in front of my eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked sounding concerned.
"Yeah you were saying her name over and over and was squirming a bit." Clove said as she covered the last of the remaining fire with dirt. I looked up at the sky before rubbing my hand over my eyes, trying to get them to adjust.
"Yeah I'm fine, just a nightmare." I said to them.
"Anything you'd want to talk about?" Katniss asked in a caring voice. I smiled softly at her and shook my head.
"Not right now. Too many prying ears." I said looking around me at the trees where the cameras were.
"Hey!" Clove said thinking I was talking about her.
"Not you." I said to her rolling my eyes. She threw a twig at me and I caught it just in time before it hit my face. I looked back at Katniss and saw that her cuts were cleared up. "Your cuts are all gone."
"Thanks to Haymitch."
"Glimmer and Marvel told us that there was a fire when you and Rue dropped the nest on them." Clove said. "Did you get burned?" she asked.
"Yeah it seemed like a wall of fire. And I did but Rue helped me until Haymitch and Brutus sent me some burn cream." she said as she showed us the part of her pants that was burned through. I rested my hand on her's and sighed.
"I'm sorry you got burned."
"It's okay, I'm all good now." she said giving me a reassuring smile and I just nodded. "So what are we going to do today?" she asked to Clove and I.
"Stay alive." Clove said sarcastically and I chuckled.
"No seriously." Katniss said.
"I don't know. All that's left is Thresh, Foxface and us three." I explained and Katniss sighed.
"I wonder what they'll have in store for the finale." Clove thought aloud.
"Who knows." Katniss said looking down at her hands. We stood up and started walking, trying to find something to eat Clove was walking in front of us while I walked next to Katniss. I wanted to know that she was alright. As we walked I held her hand, rubbing circles on the back of her hand with my thumb.
"What happened in your nightmare?" she asked me out of nowhere.
"Are you sure you want to hear it now?" I asked her and she nodded. "It was the two of us, well three actually. We were together, married with a kid. It was her third birthday and we named her Clove." I whispered to her, I didn't want the cameras to hear it. "And you were pregnant with another. You went into labor but then something happened, you died giving birth and there was nothing I could to about it. All I had left of you was our three year old and the new baby boy." I said, looking down at the ground as I walked, trying to hide the tear that threatened to spill over. She tightened her grip on my hand and I looked at her. I guess she didn't know what to say because she leaned her head on my shoulder. I let go of her hand and wrapped my arm around her.
"Do you remember the nightmare you told me about on the train?" I asked her.
"Yeah." she said.
"From what I remember you said that I came to save you and some other stuff happened. What kind of other stuff?" I asked her and she blushed.
"Later." she said looking ahead at Clove. I just nodded, I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer until we are alone. A few minutes later we made it to a river where Katniss offered to wash our clothes off to get rid of the blood. I turned my back so Clove could take off her shirt to leave her in her jacket, and while I was waiting I took off my shirt but didn't put my jacket back on, it was hot out and I needed to cool off.
~Katniss~
I was scared to think of what was going to happen in the finale. What if something happened to Cato? I don't know what I would do. And if something happened to Clove, one of my best friends Cato and I will be devastated. But something is going to have to happen. Clove wants Cato and I to win, that much she has told me. But can Cato and I kill her? Not a chance. If she does die, I don't want it to be by our hands. All whose left is Thresh and Foxface besides us three. We haven't seen any sign of either of them. So we decided to spend part of the day at the river, doing through our supplies and what we have left. I have half a book of matches, my chain links, a now full water bottle, a sleeping bag, some rope, and the knife I've had since the beginning of the Games. Cato had night vision goggles, some dried fruit, a sleeping bag for himself, and a water bottle. Clove had just about the same thing, but a bag of nuts instead of fruit. Sitting at the river I was able to fashion out a fishing pole for Cato to use while I sat there and tried to wash some of the blood off of their clothing.
"Thanks for washing our clothes Katniss." Clove said wearing her jacket completely zipped up while I washed out her shirt the best that I could.
"No problem." I replied.
"Yeah they were starting to smell." Cato said pulling on the pole a bit. When I was done beating the shirt with a rock I rung it out before tossing it to Clove to let it dry over the fire she built. Cato's shirt was next, although he didn't wear his jacket.
"Cato will you put on your coat?" Clove begged.
"What you don't like it?" he teased, flexing his arms.
"I don't like seeing one of my best friends half naked." she sneered trying to dry her shirt.
"Katniss does." he said looking at me. I looked away from him blushing, it's no lie that he does look good shirtless. But did I really want to talk about this in front of the entire country? No not really. "Her blush says it all." he said and I didn't have to see his face to tell that he was smiling, you could hear it in his voice.
"Well duh, you're more than a friend to her. Katniss will you hurry up with his shirt."
"Well if he wasn't such a good fighter he wouldn't have this much blood on his clothing." I complained, I don't want to even think about what Marvel looked like when they were done with him.
"Marvel put up a good fight." he defended as I was finishing with his shirt.
"I'm sure he did." I said as I tossed his shirt to Clove.
"You'd think that if he was a good fighter there wouldn't be so much blood." She teased as she slipped her shirt on after getting it mostly dry so I helped her try to dry Cato's. When it was dry I walked back to Cato and handed it to him. While he put it on I took the make-shift fishing pole from his and sat on a big rock, waiting to catch something.
"Here Kat I can take it back." Cato said and I handed it to him when he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Clove sat down on a rock next to us and pulled some of the bandages away from her cut on her leg.
"You okay Clove?" I asked her and she hissed when the air hit it.
"Yeah I just got cut when we were fighting Marvel." she said. I shifted closer to her to get a better look at it.
"Let me see." I said and she leaned back to see her leg. "Looks like it tore the Rectus Femoris muscle." I told her before grabbing the container of cream I got from the Feast, it was just about gone, enough to cover the tip of my thumb. I covered her cut in it hoping it would help a little.
"Is that bad?" she asked nervously and I shook my head.
"Just barely missed the Femoral and Popliteal Arteries. You got really lucky." I told her wrapping a fresh bandage on her leg the best that I could.
"How do you know about this kind of stuff?" Cato asked.
"My mom is the town healer back home. We don't have all of the medication you guys have so we have to rely on herbs, but other than that its all the same." I told them. They just nodded and we went back to fishing. We spent most of the day there at the river, but around the time it should have been six in the afternoon it started to get dark and cold.
"What's going on?" Clove asked giving the sky a curious glare.
"They must be in a rush to end it." I said looking around for anything that might just out from the bushes. There was a sudden shrill scream from a ways away then a cannon. The face of Foxface lit up the sky and a growling came from my right.
"Look out!" I shouted, throwing myself at Clove to save her from a Mutt that jumped out of the bushes. It rolled and tumbled a few feet away before getting back up and launching itself at us.
"RUN!"