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Day 10 - Reunited

Tonight one nightmare was followed by the next. I haven't had those dreams in a long time but now they are back. Why does it have to be now?!

When I jerk awake again I already see the dawn approaching on the horizon. I sigh deeply. Time to start the day then. I get out of the sleeping bag hesitantly and roll it up, putting it back into my backpack. Only the net, the towel, and the sleeping bag are now left in there.

Ah, wait! No! There's still the little first-aid-kit in the front pocket. A gauze bandage, plasters, and compresses. Maybe I should have used that for my foot... but that got better without it. I'll probably need it later anyway.

When the first rays of sun hit the trees I stand up. Time to go, I guess. Even if I'm not sure where and what to do.

I start walking into the direction of the small lake. Maybe I should try if I'm any good at fishing so I'll have something to eat for tonight. Who knows how long it's going to take me to catch something.

I turn to the direction where I know the river must be. If I follow that, I'll eventually end up at the lake. I know for sure I'm on the right side because I've switched sides when I saw the entrance to the cave-system yesterday.

Soon I reach the treeline and I follow it until I see the smaller lake. It's more of a pond really, on one side the water disappears into the ground as the other river does, but much slower.

I look around carefully before I leave the sense of safety the trees give me. There's no one around on my side so I guess I'll have to risk it.

I check if my knives are still tied to my belt, then I step out into the open. I take my first steps towards the lake when I hear something. Immediately I turn towards the noise and I see a person come out between the trees.

I instantly reach for one of my knives and point it towards him. Dark green eyes stare at me, he's standing like a deer in the headlights. He hesitates a moment longer but then drops the metal spear in his hand. "Can we talk?"

I sigh and hold the knife upward while looking around, scanning the trees for his accomplice who is for sure trying to kill me the moment I say yes to this 'talk'. "Nice try... but I know this is a trick to get rid of me."

He shakes his head immediately and says, "Val... I really want to talk. I broke the alliance with Ayla."

It takes a moment for my brain to process that. He broke the alliance? Or is this part of their trick to make me let my guard down? I swallow and carefully take a step towards him, knife still up. "I don't believe you... prove it!"

Cypress buries his fingers in his hair and keeps standing there. "How the fuck does one prove that?"

I try to think of something and bite down on my bottom lip. He's right. How can he prove he's alone? I look at the trees behind him briefly then return my attention to him. "Yes, that's right... sorry."

By now the attack should have taken place if there was one in the first place so I slowly lower the knife. Cypress now looks a bit less tense and says, "I was... kind of hoping to meet you somewhere."

I look at him confused. What is he saying? Quietly I say, "Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to apologize for... Ayla. I shouldn't have trusted her to leave you alone during that one night", he says.

I put the knife back, finally sure that he is in fact alone and say, "It's alright... taught me a lesson. Do not sleep at night when you don't know who is going to come for you."

He sighs. "I'm really sorry... I left right after the situation calmed down. I confronted Ayla but she still didn't see why it was wrong. She said I should thank her for eliminating the competition."

I look down. This whole thing makes me think about Marlon again. "The competition, hm? We really would have helped you with killing Rex."

Cypress hesitates but then he says, "So, allies?"

I stare at him perplexed. We are down to six tributes. Why would he make an alliance at this stage of the Games? I shake my head and say, "No... why would I do that? We are almost top 5 now. It's too late for an alliance."

Cypress crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Look... I get that it's not the best situation but I think we'll survive easier as a team, especially if we somehow run into Rex. If it comes down to the both of us eventually we can figure it out for sure."

I hesitate. I see how this could be beneficial but there is so much that could go wrong. Especially if we really manage to survive the others. I don't like the thought of us two being left.

Finally, I decide against what I know to be the best and nod. "Okay... allies then..."

Cypress smiles and picks his spear back up. I roll my eyes. Great... he's happy about this. He closes the gap between us and asks, "What are you doing here?"

I point at the pond. "I wanted to try my luck with fishing. I have no food left. Do you still have something to eat?"

Cypress shakes his head. "No, sorry... Ayla got Marlon's backpack. I got his weapon."

My eyes wander over to the spear in his hand. "Okay. At least it'll be easier to catch fish with that thing."

Then I unpack the net from my backpack. Cypress watches me as I put the bag down and carefully pull it out. "Did you make it?"

I shake my head and smile. "No... I don't have a clue about that. I took it from a trap we made on the third day. Do you know anything about fishing?"

He shakes his head. "Not really... I've never tried it in my life, to be honest."

"Great... that makes two of us then. But I've seen others do it, so technically I know how it works."

Cypress nods. "Okay, tell me then."

I leave my backpack on the ground and remove my jacket. Enobaria's advice to keep it dry is stuck in my head. "You step into the water and stand very still. When fish are near, you throw the net on top of them and kill them with a spear."

He nods. "Sounds logical to me. Let's try then..."

We both wade into the water carefully. Cypress has taken off his backpack too. I have thought about one of us staying out of the water but if we are attacked we have our weapons with us so it doesn't really matter.

We keep standing there for a while, me with the net in my hands and him with the spear. But there is not a single fish in the pond. Am I mistaken? Were there never any fish here in the first place. Hesitantly I ask, "Did you ever see fish in the rivers before?"

To my relief, he nods. "Yes... but I can't be sure I've seen any after Day 6 or 7. The water is probably dead now too. There's no food left."

I sigh and let my arms dangle, the net touching the water. "Then we'll probably freeze in this damn pond before ever seeing a single fish."

Cypress grins - it's that stupid boyish grin of his again. "Don't be so dramatic, Val. It's not that cold."

I pout. "I think it is cold... let's get out of here."

He sighs and nods. "Okay, you're right..."

We throw the spear and net over so they land on dry land.

I start wading back to shore again when one of my feet sinks into the muddy river bed. I curse and start pulling with force. It comes out easier than I expected and I can't keep my balance. Oh shit! This can't be real!

I find myself falling back into the water. Cypress bursts out in laughter next to me. I look up at him and try to make an angry face, but instead, I start grinning. "It's not funny!"

He keeps chuckling. "Then... why are you grinning?"

I try again to stop grinning but instead, my grin only gets wider. "Stop already and help me up!"

Slowly he is recovering from his fit of laughter and stretches his hand out in my direction. "Alright... come on."

I look at his hand before taking it and pulling with all of my weight to bring him down with me. He probably wasn't expecting this and it's easy to bring him down. Now it's me who is laughing.

Cypress starts laughing again too and quickly runs a hand through his hair. I grin. "Bad hair day?"

He pouts and splashes water into my face. "I don't like it when it's in my face, okay?"

Without thinking about it I splash back at him, "Like that?"

He fixes it again and pushes me. I can't keep my balance so fast and fall back into the water again. He grins and says, "Yeah... more like that."

Even though I'm soaked and it's kind of cold, this is the most fun I've had in a long time. And considering that this is the Hunger Games and it's not supposed to be any fun that says a lot. I roll my eyes and start grinning again too. "Okay... now help me up for real. I want to get out of here."

Cypress acts like he is considering but then stretches out his hand again. This time I let him pull me up so I'm standing next to him again. The water is about as high as my waist.

I carefully reach for the river bank and pull myself over and out of the water. I look back at Cypress and say, "Come on... I have a towel. I'll let you use it too. As a peace-offering."

I watch him climb out of the water too and grab the towel. I offer it to him first but he shakes his head. "No... you should use it first. Otherwise, it'll be all wet already."

I shake my head and wring my braid. "It's alright... it's a sunny day. I'll be okay."

He looks at the towel briefly then takes it. I watch him as he dries his skin and hair, avoiding his clothes. Quickly I look away and try to wring out my shirt a bit. Why is he so good-looking? Why is he so funny? All of this would be so much better if he were some douche like Arius or Rex and if I hated him. But no! He has to be fucking perfect.

Frustrated I move on to my leggings when I catch him looking at me. I stop and look at him too. "Is something wrong?"

He shakes his head. "N... no. Nothing."

I shrug before I look back at the pond. "Okay..."

Cypress lets himself fall back into the grass and looks up at the sky. I think about it for a second before asking, "What happened after you left Ayla?"

He turns his head slightly so he can look at me. I swallow as his eyes meet mine again. "Not that much... I walked around a lot. Ah yes... then there were those birds."

I bite my lip. Jabberjays - they came for him too. "Birds? Black with white feathers on their wings?", I say.

He nods. "Yeah... why do you know?"

"They came for me too...", I whisper. The memories of Cato's screams are flooding back into my head.

He seems to notice and sits up again. "What did they tell you?"

I try not to show my emotions and look at him. "My... my family. They told me I wasn't good enough as my parents... they... they screamed - like Cato screamed when the mutts ripped him apart."

Hesitantly Cypress puts his hand on my back. "I'm so sorry..."

I quickly shake my head. "No... it's been a while. What did they do to you?"

He looks down again and mutters, "That's not important..."

"You don't have to tell me... but maybe you would feel better."

He hesitates. Then he looks up again. "Those birds... do you know anything about them?"

I nod. "It's jabberjays. They were spies during the rebellion since they can repeat what they heard word by word and in the voice they heard it. They eventually became extinct because there are only males."

I see him swallow. Carefully I add, "They are made for these Games..."

He sighs, he looks hurt. Whatever the jabberjays told him - it must have been something really mean.

We sit in silence for about a minute before he speaks up again, "One of them... my little brother asked 'Mommy... when is Cyo coming back home?' and... she said, I'd never come back."

My heart breaks for him when I hear that. His family has given up on him. I pull him into a hug and slowly he hugs back.

I say, "Don't think about it too much... they collect things that will hurt you. She didn't mean that."

I hear his voice answering, "She did... She saw her sister come really far 25 years ago and she still lost her. She has given up hope the moment she heard my name at the reaping. She's trying to not give my siblings hope."

I try a smile and slowly we part again. "You can still prove her wrong and win."

He smiles sadly. "Thanks... but you know that's not true."

There's a pause between us. I know I have to change the subject so I say, "Tell me about your siblings."

The smile on his face is now softer, genuine. "I have three... my two brothers are only four and five. They have so much energy... run around the whole day. They are happy children. Technically they are my half-brothers but it doesn't make a difference to me. My sister is a year older than me. She survived her last reaping this year. So... congrats to you Mace..."

"Her name is Maysilee?" I want to take it back immediately because it brings us back to a sad topic but it's too late.

He nods. "Yeah. Mom named her after her sister. It would have broken her heart if she were reaped."

I am sure it equally broke her heart when Cypress was reaped but I don't say anything. I just nod. Cypress looks around briefly then he returns his attention back to me and says, "Do you have siblings?"

I hesitate but then I shake my head. "No, not anymore."

He nods and looks down. Now he is the one avoiding the sad topics. Before I can think of something else to ask him a small parachute lands in front of us.

First, we only stare at it, then Cypress picks it up. It has the number 12 written on the top. The gift is a small loaf of bread, the way they make it in District 12. Cypress turns the bread in his hand once then he looks at me.

I smile and say, "Good, at least that's something for dinner for you."

He shakes his head. "You can have half of it, of course."

I sigh and shake my head. "No, please keep it. It's not enough for both of us and it's for you."

I see him smile softly. "Come on... I'm not going to sit here eating while you have nothing for today."

I shrug. "It's my first full day without food. You should have it."

Cypress ignores that and breaks the bread in half, offering me one of the pieces. I don't take it. Maybe he'll reconsider. The last thing I want to do is eat his food and be seen as an opportunist, just like I said before the Games.

He looks at me expectantly. "Take it already... or I'll throw it away."

I shake my head. "You won't... keep it for tomorrow. I'm not using you for food sources."

Cypress raises his hand where he is holding the bread up. "Take it or it will sink down to the ground of the lake."

Now I'm no longer sure if he really considers throwing it. Reluctantly I reach for the bread. "Fine... you won. I'll eat it."

Satisfied with that answer he gives me the bread and starts eating his own half. Hesitantly I put a piece in my mouth too. This feels wrong but I'm glad we have at least something to eat.

After a while, I look from my half-eaten bread back to Cypress who is already done. Now that we are allies I might as well ask, "What are they like? - Katniss and Peeta, I mean."

He shrugs. "I only know them better since I've been reaped for the Games... but they are nice. Don't talk a lot, but gave us lots of advice about this."

I nod and stuff another piece of bread in my mouth. Cypress watches me before saying, "Why do you want to know?"

I sigh and try to pick the right words. "It's kind of complicated..."

Cypress smiles. "We kind of have time."

I chew on my bottom lip briefly. He's probably going to hate me if I tell him the whole thing but I feel like he should know.

I look down on the bread and start. "I only met Katniss once... it was about six months ago, at the Victory Tour. I wanted to tell her that I hated her and that I blame her for Cato's death. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the only one to blame for Cato's death was Cato. But I still kind of hated her."

I pause, but I don't look up. I don't really want to see his reaction. Then I continue in a low voice, "When we came face to face I wanted to run away, but unfortunately I stayed. And I told Katniss that I would volunteer for these Games and that... I would kill the tributes from 12 - just to make her watch."

Now I look up to face him. I can't really read his expression. Maybe it's anger, maybe he's hurt by what I'm telling him. Then he asks, "And... did you? Did you kill Kalina?"

I knew this was coming so I briefly nod. "Yes... but if I hadn't done it, one of the others would have. And they wouldn't have made it quick. She came to the Cornucopia at night to steal from us - just like you."

Cypress runs a hand through his hair and stares at the lake. Then finally he looks back at me. "Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? If that is why you're here."

Now I can't contain the hint of despair in my voice. "No... I mean yes... I mean..." I sigh deeply. Why is this so hard?

"I couldn't kill you because I adore you..."

I immediately bite down on my bottom lip after saying it. I'm way too embarrassed to say anything else so I let myself fall back into the grass.

There's only silence for what must be minutes but maybe it only feels like that. Then I hear his voice, "Really?"

I keep staring at the sky. This way it's easier to muster the courage to speak. "Yes... the moment I saw your stupid ass on TV I had that feeling... maybe it would be easier if I had never met you on the roof before the Games."

Cypress hesitates but then he blocks my sight of the sky so he can face me. "Maybe that would have been easier for me too... Maybe then I wouldn't have searched the whole arena for you for the past two days, afraid that Ayla managed to hurt you."

I feel like my heart skips a beat when he tells me that and I turn my head to look at him. "You... you did?"

He nods. "I did..."

I don't know what to say. This is everything and nothing. It's horrible and the best thing ever - at the same time. Carefully I sit up again. But is he serious?

Hesitantly I ask, "But... if you do like me... why would you defend Ayla?"

He sighs. "Look... I'm really sorry about that. I was overwhelmed and she has been my ally since the first night. It felt wrong to watch her die without at least trying to protect her. I regretted this the moment you were gone."

I slowly nod and try to smile. "I understand..."

Before I know it, and without being sure who started it, our lips meet in a kiss. Warmth rises up, spreading through my whole body. My stomach jumps and now I know why people say they get butterflies in the stomach.

Slowly we part again and now I'm sure - we are absolutely doomed.