A/N: Hello All, I'm sorry that this is so late, so much has happened lately in my personal life and I just needed some time to breath and deal with all the happenings in my life. I want to thank everyone for their lovely reviews in my mini hiatus and I hope that everyone is doing well. I assure you I plan to continue with this story and am determined to finish it through, anyways happy reading. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 9

Darya was nervous, and she was absolutely exhausted, today would be the day that the games officially would start. The whole morning had been a frenzy, Darya who hadn't even stepped into her assigned room yet, had spent the whole night on the couch, watching and rewatching Mag's games in a haze, until she had heard cheering. It was only then that she had realized that the sun had come up, making her way to the large windows she peeked out and saw the colorful wigged crowd below, cheering as the remaining districts had arrived. She stood there watching, unmoving, until a hand landed on her waist and a chin placed itself on her shoulder.

"How long have you been up for," Finnick asked quietly, watching the scene below them, over her shoulder.

"Awhile," Darya responded, still watching the crowd.

"Did you even sleep Dar," Finnick asked in his familiar fond tone, the one that told Darya he already knew the answer to his question.

"No," Darya said softly, finally turning to look at him, "it's too noisy."

"Hmmm," Finnick hummed in agreement, smiling at her, his ocean eyes meeting her hazel.

They both simultaneously realized how close their faces were, their soft smiles slowly waning and replaced by fascinated eyes, the both of them greedily exploring each other' faces like if they had never seen each other before. And when his eyes landed on her lips, Darya felt that pull again, the one she had felt all those days ago in the laundry room and she felt herself leaning in, she could feel his hand tightening on her waist as he leaned his head closer, touching his forehead to hers, his sharp exhale intermingling with her short catching breaths.

"Dar," Finnick whispered, his breath caressing her lips, his tone almost pleading.

There was something so enticing and distracting about Finnick saying her name like that, that the only way she could think to answer instinctively was by touching her nose to his. They were so close now and Darya felt herself growing faint with anticipation when suddenly Pumpernickel's high pitch squabble broke through their silent haze causing the both of them to step away from each other reluctantly before she stepped into the room.

"Good morning you two," Pumpernickel greeted obliviously, "today is the day, oooh, isn't it exciting, I just know you'll do well Darya darling!"

Darya and Finnick offered her strained smiles in turn but didn't say anything and they wouldn't have had time to answer anyway because it wasn't long before Ron and Gillian appeared too.

"Well, let's get a move on darlings," Pumpernickel chirped motioning for Darya and Gillian to follow her to the elevator, "we have to look our best and be ready to go in only a couple of hours."

Sighing, Darya made her way to the open lift in her graceful manner, she could feel Finnick's stare on her person and was tempted to look back but she forced herself to keep walking. If she was honest with herself she would admit that the only reason she never looked back was because she knew that if she did she could never walk away and that wasn't something she could afford to do, at least not now, especially when she very well could walk away from Finnick forever. No, it was easier this way, it was better to focus on getting through all of the things she had to do now and then maybe just maybe she'd have a better chance of having a later.

Darya was so deep in thought she hadn't noticed that that the doors had opened again and that almost everyone else had stepped out until she felt Ron subtly nudge her hand with his, breaking her from her stupor.

"You look dead on your feet Princess," Ron muttered to her quietly.

"I know." Darya sighed.

"Well cut it out, or all of them will be able to see." Ron whispered firmly.

Ron quickly stepped out but not before squeezing her fingers fleetingly. Darya took only a second to school her face into a more passive one and followed after him to catch up with the rest of the group.

As soon as Pumpernickel spotted her she was pulled forward to stand next to Gillian who was being briefed by Tenebris and Aurelius about their styling. Because their outfits coincided with each other the debate was whether they should each have a separate piece to differentiate themselves or if they should stick with the cohesion.

Darya found herself not listening, choosing instead to focus her attention on some of the other people coming in. She spotted Blight and Johanna coming through with their two tributes, the both of them sturdy and muscular, the male tribute especially, Darya figured that just like 4 their district taught the trade to the children early. She caught Blight's eye who offered her a kind smile when he caught her looking over, she responded in kind and decided to turn back and focus on the conversation at hand when she heard someone call her.

"Darya, darling, what do you think?" Pumpernickel asked.

Cursing herself silently, she quickly deliberated what to answer as Pumpernickel, Aurelius and Tenebris looked at her expectantly.

"I think what Tenebris said makes the most sense, given the circumstances." Darya answered carefully.

Darya figured she had answered well enough when Tenebris directed his blinding smile at her and Aurelius and Pumpernickel gave her conceding ones, who knows what revealing or shortened outfit she had been saved from wearing.

The whole process had been such a whirlwind and Darya was so overwhelmed with the whole situation and the desperate need to scream or cry that she hardly said a word. She stayed as quiet and as still as she possibly could and even though she should have felt nervous or anything really, she found herself going completely blank and imagined she probably looked as stoic as Ron. She felt nothing and thought of nothing, occasionally she heard some words here or there, Aurelius had said something about her eyes, Tenebris had asked her to twirl and occasionally she felt someone press her fingers, but she remained unfazed throughout the whole process. It wasn't until she felt someone gripping at her arm unnecessarily firmly that she once again became aware of her surroundings and realized she was being led to a horse drawn carriage.

"Good, you're back," Ron said quietly, "you had Odair worried, I practically had to glue his ass to a chair to keep him from trying to hold your hand."

"What, why?" Darya asked confused.

"Because you disappeared in your head, can't really blame him, you have some creepy blank eyes princess," Ron explained, his grip loosening slightly, "anyways I had to sit him out, I don't know who he's fooling, but he won't be doing you any favors if everyone sees he can't keep his hands to himself."

"What, we're just friends," Darya said unsurely, "surely a comforting gesture couldn't be so misconstrued."

But even as she said it she knew it wasn't true and one glance at Ron's stoic face showed her that he knew it too.

"Princess, you've got that idiot wrapped around your pretty little siren finger," Ron scoffed, "and you know you do and he knows it too, and that's the damn problem."

"Nothing has happened," Darya said defensively, "and nothing can happen."

"Yeah, no shit," Ron huffed out, his voice lowering as they passed some other tributes, "and we all know that, he knows that, but he-."

"He's worried." Darya sighed.

"No, well yeah, but he just," Ron sighed, "he's just thinking ahead."

"I keep telling him not to," Darya said quietly, "there are twenty-four of us."

Ron didn't say anything, but she felt his analytical eyes, his gaze only breaking contact when they got to the carriage and he helped her up. He didn't look at her again but he looked pensive and was only broken from his reverie when Gillian greeted them followed by Pumpernickel.

Darya braced herself, her hands holding on firmly to the carriage, she refused to fall at the very least and it helped to control her raging nerves a bit. She saw Gillian shuffling his feet and drumming his fingers, at any rate she wasn't the only one, she offered her hand to him and he took it gladly, his hand clammy in hers, they looked at each other and shared grim smiles as they waited. After what felt like forever the carriages in front them finally started to move, theirs would be next, and just as they started to, she felt a hand over her own, it was Ron's.

"He's not wrong," Ron said quickly, "to think ahead, just keep your head up Princess."

Darya didn't know what to say as she and Gillian were pulled away, but she did as she was told and kept her head up, she could feel Gillian tighten his hold on her hand, which was for the best because as soon as the light hit them she felt her legs slightly buckle at the sound of the roaring crowd and their thunderous applause. She felt Gillian slip his arm around her waist holding some of her weight, this centered her and she smiled out at the crowd who were excited to see her again because she could hear them shouting her name. She caught sight of herself on one of the screens and gasped, she had seen her dress before and Gillian's suit, but in the sunlight, and next to each other they looked like the glittering kaleidoscope colors that rippled and beckoned on the surface when you were underwater. She saw the audience being positively affected by the effect and heard them cheering in approval, Darya made sure to keep smiling and waving until they finally came to a stop in front of President Snow.

Darya saw him perusing the tributes as if to determine who he thought could win as he gave his annual opening speech and as he finished with the ever-repeated phrase of their favoring odds she felt his cool beady gaze land on her. She felt her stomach flip and the back of her neck tingle with fear as he offered her an empty grin, and as her carriage started to move again Darya made sure to answer in kind, except she made sure hers reached her eyes making sure she evoked everything through them, especially her anger, so that he could read them. And she figured he did because she saw his lips turn down and settle into the beginning of a scowl, the end of which she didn't see because she turned her back to him and didn't turn around.

She knew it was prideful and as the carriage pulled her inside and she was once more in the dark she felt the repercussions of what she had just done. It wasn't just foolish it was downright suicidal. She felt the bile run up her throat, the acerbic taste of acid coating her tongue as she swallowed back her nausea. She felt cold and the fingers on her hands felt numb as she robotically got off the carriage and ignored the chirpy lilt of Pumpernickel's voice and the chorusing voices of Tenebris and Aurelius's congratulations. She was afraid to breath and unleash a mirage of pent up feelings and suppressed rage. She wanted nothing more than to go home, she wanted to swim in the sea, she wanted Mags and Annie, she wanted everything to just be normal. But she knew that it couldn't, and she knew that it wasn't, and that it would never be, at least not with the ways things were now. Ron had told her that Finnick was thinking ahead, to the way that things could be, between them, if and only if she survived, but Darya knew she had to think farther and she was reminded of the conversation she had with Finnick on the train, the vow they had made to each other to not just survive but to live. But at what cost she thought, as she met Ron's stoic face and Finnick's worried eyes, how much would the sacrifice be.

"Dar?" Finnick inquired gently when she reached them by the elevators.

"Darya?" Ron said her name clearly but with his brow furrowed when she stopped moving.

"I still want to be me." Darya whispered quietly.

She saw Finnick reach his arms out toward her and Ron inhaling sharply as he grabbed at Finnick's wrist.

Sighing tiredly, she side stepped both of them and walked inside the lift, closing her eyes as she waited for the others to come inside.

Think ahead, she repeated in her head, just think ahead.

Well there you go, Chapter 9, I know it ended a little bit more somber but such is the situation that poor Darya finds herself in. The next chapter we'll see our tributes training and then it's off to the arena. Don't forget to leave a REVIEW and I'll see you lot next chapter.