A/N: Features lyrics from 'Down In The Willow Garden' by the Everly Brothers.

KATNISS POV

It was the night of the interviews now, and Lucy and Odysseus were already a hot topic. Evidently, District Two mentors were the ones that had started talking to the Capitol about Odysseus's noticing of Lucy and, well, now everyone knew, and it was likely going to be brought up for both of their interviews tonight by Caesar. Peeta was helping Lucas with his interview, although we both knew that Lucas really didn't have much going for him - truth to be told, most District Twelve tributes really didn't. I, on the other hand, was waiting for Cinna to finish up with Lucy's dress for the interviews. The interviews would start earlier than usual tonight - at six in the evening, so the tributes and the mentors could attend the Presidents' Celebratory Hunger Games Party at eight, although the tributes would be wearing the clothes they wore to their interviews.

"Whoa," I said when I saw the dress that Cinna had created for Lucy. "That is... beautiful..." At the very top of the dress, it was white, with an off-the-shoulder collar that sort of draped down, almost like drapes, but the white then faded into a beautiful pale yellow, and then a golden yellow, and then a bright sunset orange, and then a rich shade of red, and then a brilliant magenta, and then a vivacious violet, a royal blue and a very stunning earthy green. The beautiful kaleidoscope of a dress swooped across the floor as she walked, and her rich dark Seam hair was curled in a half up, half down hairstyle. She looked like a prism with a bright ray of sun shining through her crystal form, splitting into all the beautiful colours of the rainbow. "Cinna, you have outdone yourself! What led to this beautiful creation?"

"Something in the back of my mind said this dress just had to be made, and it fits the beautiful Lucy Greyson very well," Cinna told me.

"Well, it most certainly is very beautiful... Lucy, how do you feel?" I asked Lucy.

"Like home," she replied. "My grandmother had a dress like this one, only it was tattered and old, and not quite as nice as this. I suppose the only thing it had in common with this dress is the fact that it was rainbow. She said she got it from a relative who died."

"Well, it most certainly looks stunning on you. You're going to absolutely blow away the audience tonight," I told her. When the tributes were lining up, I made my way to the mentors' lounge, where we would all go to watch the interviews of our tributes. Peeta was there, and he smiled sadly at me - he'd gotten his fertility treatment at the Capitol hospital earlier, so this was the first I'd seen of him since earlier that morning.

"Hey," he said when I approached him, bending down to give my cheek a kiss. "I got a glimpse of Lucy's dress. It's absolutely stunning, all those colours. What made Cinna do that?"

"I don't know, he said he just sort of... felt the urge to make that dress for Lucy," I told him, hooking my hand into the crook of his arm. "How was... you know..."

"Unpleasant, to say the least," he replied quietly, then lowered his voice even more. "They poked and prodded me and inserted needles in places that probably shouldn't have needles in them. But... everything's all good. They said my count is very high and there should be significantly more male than female sperm."

"Well isn't that just wonderful," I scoffed. My fertility treatment had been the day before and it had been absolutely awful. I had all sorts of instruments in me that were checking my womb and my Fallopian tubes and making sure everything was functioning perfectly. They were able to progress my egg to be fully prepared to receive sperm and there should be no problem with fertilisation - the thought made me sick. They performed some sort of quick surgery, too, something about lesions on parts of my reproductive organs that may affect fertility, but the medicines they gave me allowed me to recover quickly. Originally, we were supposed to get the treatments done during the Games, but it seemed like Snow wanted to keep us distracted from our tributes.

"Tonight's the night, isn't it?" Peeta asked me, breaking my train of thought.

"They're bringing us to some special place for this, in Snow's mansion," I told him. "Effie told me this morning when my prep team was prepping me." Peeta let out a sigh, conveying his thoughts through his eyes. I could see them very clearly - I don't want to do this . Through my own eyes, I told him, Neither do I, but we have to. For them. He glanced away, then shifted one hand to rest over mine and gave it a firm squeeze, conveying that no matter how distressed we were, we were still in all of this together.

"Interviews are starting," he told me. Sure enough, up on the screen, Caesar appeared with his hair and lips bright orange this year - unnaturally orange. The interview started with the District One girl, Peridot, who giggled her way into the hearts of the Capitol citizens in a way that reminded me a lot of Glimmer during our Games - I found out why very quickly.

"My sister was Glimmer, she competed in the 74th Hunger Games," Peridot told Caesar, who gasped; he knew that I had been the one responsible for Glimmer's death, and likely, so did Peridot. It certainly wasn't uncommon for siblings from the Career districts to volunteer and compete, especially as another chance for the family to get glory if their older sibling had failed. After Peridot came the District One boy, Chrome, who honestly was kind of dumb-looking and didn't seem to understand a lot of serious questions put to him. After Chrome was Freya from District Two, and she was a fierce-looking girl of seventeen who was certainly all business and no games. She appeared to have the strength and the ambition to be a winner of the Games, which made me fear for Lucy and Lucas. And then came Odysseus's interview, which everyone had been waiting for.

"So, Odysseus... are you ready to win the Hunger Games?" Caesar asked the boy, who had wild fair hair and a broad frame.

"If the odds are in my favour, Caesar, then yes, I certainly am," Odysseus replied casually, although clearly uncomfortably. I tried to read his eyes - they were not in the Games, not like Freya's.

"Now, of course I have to ask the question that has been driving us all mad here in the Capitol. What is with you and the girl from District Twelve?" Caesar asked him.

"Lucy?" Odysseus asked, although of course, he knew who Caesar was talking about. "We just got to talking, that's all. She's very good with a knife and she's a great singer. My mom used to sing, too, before she died."

"Oh, that's a real shame," said Caesar with sympathy. "Well, she's a very pretty girl, isn't she? It's a real shame, your circumstances."

"We're just talking. Of course there's nothing between us. We're no 'star-crossed lovers'," Odysseus replied a bit more firmly.

"Will you ally with her in the arena?" Caesar asked.

"Oh, come on, Caesar, I don't want to spoil anything for the Games! But I'm from District Two, you know who our allies usually are," Odysseus replied with charm. He'd managed to dodge questions about Lucy pretty well, but perhaps something could still be done for them in the arena. After Odysseus was finished, the two District Three tributes, Geometra and Cellyk, who were... interesting... to say the least, had their interviews. Cellyk explained how he would try to find a way to harness energy from electricity like his mentor, Beetee, did in his Games - rookie mistake. Cellyk was likely going to be targeted quickly now that he'd revealed his plan to shock other tributes to death.

After District Three came the District Four tributes, Cordelia and Cassius, both of whom confirmed that they were strong swimmers and weren't concerned at all if the arena had water. They scared me a little, and I still didn't really trust Finnick Odair much either. After Four came Five, and their tributes, Iness and Neuro, were both very young and very naive, and unlikely to survive the arena. District Six's tributes, Juness and Plug, were children and they were both childishly goofy, which made the Capitol and Caesar laugh, but unfortunately, that wouldn't win them any sponsors. District Seven's tributes, Jereka and Rowan, posed another threat to my tributes. Both were strong, children of lumberjacks, and could climb like monkeys and swing an axe like a miner does a pick. District Eight's tributes, Mystere and Hollick, didn't worry me, but Lucy had mentioned that Mystere was quite sweet and reminded Lucy a lot of her little sister, so they may ally like Rue and I had. District Nine's tributes, Lebellum and Quest, were uninteresting to everyone, both of them sitting onstage with blank expressions on their faces and giving Caesar one or two-word answers. District Ten's tributes, Ostriny and Venom, didn't concern me, although Venom seemed like he could really pack a punch if he wanted to. District Eleven's tributes, Penance and Rig, were strong, tall and broad-shouldered from years of harvesting produce, and if they wouldn't ally with Lucy, I certainly had a reason to be concerned about them in the arena.

And then came Lucy's interview. As she walked out onstage, there were many oohs and ahs from the audience at her beautiful rainbow dress, and even Caesar was struck speechless by her appearance. "My, my, Miss Lucy Greyson, you are stunning ! Hats off to your stylist, Lucy, dear! You look incredible!"

"Thank you, Caesar," she said with a charming smile, taking his offered hand, which he kissed, and then the two of them sat down.

"So, Lucy, what is your favourite hobby?" Caesar asked her, holding off on the questions about Odysseus for later.

"I like to sing. My family sings a lot," Lucy replied.

"Oh, really? Would you mind singing us a little song now?" Caesar asked her, and she smiled.

"Sure, Caesar, I'd love to. This one was one of my grandmother's favourites and it's called 'Down In The Willow Garden'," Lucy replied, and she stood and cleared her throat.

'Down in the willow garden,

Where me and my love did meet.

As we sat a-courtin',

My love fell off to sleep.

I had a bottle of Burgundy wine,

My love she did not know.

So I poisoned that dear little girl

On the banks below.'

She finished her song and she smiled, and the Capitol cheered for her beautiful singing voice, which was quite exceptional.

"By God, she's got it all!" Caesar exclaimed as Lucy sat back down. "Now, I have to ask, because we are all very curious here... What's going on between you and Odysseus?"

"Talking, as he said," Lucy replied. "We won't talk in the arena, if that's what you're thinking. He'll ally with the other Careers and hunt me down along with every other tribute until one of them wins. Quite predictable, don't you think?" That girl was so lucky she was going into the arena because a statement like that was what had gotten Peeta and I into the mess we were in with fertility treatments and having to have sex in front of Capitol patrons.

"Oh... Well, yes, I suppose that is..." Caesar said, unsure of what to say. "But does the boy make those pretty cheeks flush pink and put butterflies in your tummy?"

"What would be the point in answering that?" Lucy asked him. "Either way, one of us will die. The friendship we formed in training was very nice while it lasted, but tomorrow, that friendship will end." Damn, that girl packed a lot of venom. Thankfully for Caesar, who seemed a little panicked, the timer went off and Lucy's interview time was over.

"Well, all that was just wonderful! Ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful Lucy Greyson!" Caesar exclaimed, standing and holding Lucy's hand over his head. With one final interview, Lucas's (which, I'm ashamed to admit, we hardly paid attention to), people we're getting antsy and eager to get to the party after the interviews. We had about an hour to prepare, so when Lucas's interview was finished and we congratulated our tributes on their performances, Peeta and I made our way back to our room, where we were greeted by our prep team. Mags, who wasn't interested in the party, agreed to babysit Lark and Maevis for us while Peeta and I went to the party, which for us, was required. I was dressed in a floor-length midnight blue off-the-shoulder dress with a draped sleeve that flowed about six inches down my shoulder and a slit in the dress up to my thigh, and Peeta was dressed in a beautiful silvery suit with a midnight blue tie and waistcoat to match.

"You look nice," I told him, linking my arm with his as we made our way down to the lobby.

"You look very beautiful," he told me, giving me a smile. I couldn't resist stopping him in the elevator and pulling him closer to me, beckoning his lips in for a deep and passionate kiss.

"I wanted to steal that before tonight..." I told him, not wanting to think about the fact that we were going to have to perform for Capitol patrons tonight.

"I'm glad you did," Peeta replied cheekily, kissing me again before the elevator stopped on the ground floor to let us out. We were led to a long black car, which brought us, Haymitch, Cashmere and Gloss Horne and Glitter Pash to the Presidents' Mansion, and it was evident that the Hornes weren't overly thrilled to be sharing a car with us, but Glitter didn't mind. Her dress was very pretty, too - rose gold with a sleeveless jeweled bodice and a fluffy, but not ridiculously wide, tulle skirt.

"You both look incredible tonight, and your tribute looked so beautiful. I wish I had your stylist!" Glitter told us as we exited the car together.

"But your dress is so beautiful," I told her in response, clinging to Peeta's arm.

"But very expected for District One, isn't it? Peridot's is salmon pink and sparkling more than the champagne. Your clothes are always stunning and unexpected," Glitter told me. She found company in Prodigy Prelius and left Peeta and I to sample the food, which we did, refusing to take one look at the drinks that made you vomit. We danced a little, first together and then with some other victors, before we were greeted by President Snow himself, who, instead of hovering over us watchfully in his balcony, actually mingled among us. It was very strange, and incredibly unsettling. Peeta and I found ourselves clinging to Lucy, who had just reappeared out of nowhere with a pink tinge to her cheeks - she was easy to find in that rainbow dress, but for the last twenty minutes, I hadn't seen it at all - and then we were joined by President Snow himself.

"Mr. and Mrs. Mellark, good evening to you," Snow said to us, clued into the effect he had on us, and then he looked at Lucy. "Miss Greyson, was it?"

"Yes, sir," said Lucy, giving him a bit of a curtsy.

"Your dress is very beautiful. Very... sentimental, I hear," Snow replied. "Best of luck in the Games."

"Thank you, sir," said Lucy as he left us alone.

"Wow, what an honour, District Twelve," came the smug voice of Johanna Mason, dressed in a tan-coloured floor-length tulle dress with an intricate leafy pattern up the bodice and down the loose elbow-length sleeves. "President Snow, wishing the District Twelve tribute 'good luck'."

"I'm sure if your tribute had a stunning rainbow dress that was the talk of the Capitol, President Snow would talk to her, too," Peeta told her, teasing her.

"In a dress that looks like a Capitol Yule tree? I think not," Johanna hissed. "You all do look amazing. I wish my stylist wasn't such an idiot. Trees and leaves in everything - makes me sick." Johanna raised an eyebrow at me next. "Bread boy certainly looks fantastic. Bet you can't wait to rip that suit off of him later."

"Most definitely can't. He's not himself in it," I replied, keeping up with her banter, although I was certainly more venomous in mine. Johanna smirked.

"Just don't have too much fun. I hear the District Eleven mentors had to move their rooms to get any sleep," Johanna replied, and just like that, she was off, my face red and steam likely coming out of my ears, but a cool kiss on my cheek from Peeta's lips brought me back down.

"She's just teasing you, honey. Let's go get something to drink," he told me, and I complied without a word.

It wasn't the best idea (at least, not the next morning) but Peeta and I wordlessly decided to get pissed drunk to make the night we were about to have completely forgettable. We'd probably be messy and not very beautiful in bed, but we'd still have sex, and we'd still very likely conceive a child. At least we wouldn't consciously be aware of the fact that our bodies would be exposed to the citizens of the Capitol. I don't remember much, but from what I do remember, Peeta seemed to have a vague idea of what was expected of us, and despite how drunk we were, he made sure to still put on a show for our viewers. I was so out of it that I had forgotten there even were viewers until we woke up the next morning, our heads pounding and our mouths feeling as if they were full of cotton. I rolled over onto my back with a groan and out of the corner of my eye, spotted a silver tray with a notecard, two cups of water and two little white pills on it. Picking up the card, it read:

Excellent work last night. Your viewers were very satisfied. You will be brought to the hospital in three days' time to check for conception. Take this pill to feel better.

Happy Hunger Games.

- C. S.

The note made me sick, and I scoffed and tossed it aside, then remembered that I was in a ridiculously large and ridiculously ornate bedroom somewhere in President Snow's mansion. The Games were about to begin, and Peeta and I were hungover as hell from the previous night. I passed him one of the pills and a glass of water and we got dressed, not looking at one another, and made our way back to the Hotel to change.

THIRD PERSON POV: THE FORBIDDEN LOVERS

He'd always been told he could have the pick of any girl he'd wanted, but the one girl he did want was a girl he couldn't have. All their lives, he'd never known she existed, he on one side of the country and her on the other, and now, they were to face each other in a match to the death, in which it was either kill or be killed. He wouldn't kill her, though. He couldn't ruin that beautiful face, carved from the clouds of heaven themselves, or take the beautiful life of that beautiful girl. He longed to feel his lips on hers, but would it be in vain? What if he died tomorrow - or worse, what if she did?

"You just have to seize every moment you're given. We won't have many left," her words from earlier, at the knot-tying station, echoed in his mind. Well, seize the moment he must do. He spied the prismatic colours of her dress and asked for a dance, which she willingly gave him.

"We're the talk of the town," he told her, his hazel eyes on her grey ones.

"So we are," she replied. "It won't matter tomorrow. I'll likely be dead."

"No you won't," he told her. "I won't let that happen."

"You'll defy expectations for a girl from the absolute poorest part of the country with no survival skills whatsoever?" she asked him, and he smiled.

"Somebody once told me to seize every moment I'm given, and I won't be given very many more. Why don't we seize this one?" She let him lead her from the dance floor to the gardens, the pair of them walking hand in hand beneath the moonlight.

"Don't let your heart get yourself killed," she warned him.

"My heart knows what it's destined to do," he replied.

"You could win this. You have the strength... We can't... be anything, anyway, and I've nothing waiting for me at home," she told him, stopping him. He opened his mouth to reply, but her grey eyes stopped him. Their eyes grew in size as their faces drew nearer, and soon, her soft, warm lips were pressed against his.

This moment was theirs and theirs alone, because tomorrow, there may not be any left.

A/N: What will the story of the forbidden lovers tell in arena? Do you think Snow is getting scared?

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