Okay, folks... this is the last chapter inside the arena (not overall, there will be more on Tuesday - pls. come back!). But the Games are over. You know what this means - it's going to hurt.

Thanks for the lovely reviews I got for the last chapter! Honestly, guys, I'm in disbelief about the compliments! I love you all so much! Since this one is the last chapter in the arena, I'd appreciate it a lot if some of you could take the time and review again!

Day 16 - The End of the Line

Rex sees me at about the same time as I see him. He's standing near the mouth of the Cornucopia, ax in hand. My heart sinks and I immediately turn back to Cyo. He has seen him too and he whispers, "I guess there's no chance of running now, is there?"

I swallow and shake my head. The moment I have dreaded for so long has now arrived. Rex is the last of them, he's the last to overcome.

He now leaves the spot he has been standing at and walks toward us. I take a shaky breath and with one of my hands, I take Cyo's hand. "Come on... we can do this."

He holds onto my hand tightly as an answer and we start walking, too, until we stand on opposite sides of the river. Rex must have been through a lot since I last saw him. His jet-black hair elf lock - leaves and dust all over it, he has a gash on his forehead which is mostly healed. His pants are ripped at places and he isn't wearing a jacket anymore, only the shirt.

He is eyeing us up before he focuses on our hands. "How convenient... The bossy bitch is with the coal miner boy now..."

I narrow my eyes. "Alright, if it bothers you that much... come and get us then!"

That makes him laugh. "Do you think I'm fucking stupid? I'm not walking into the water so I'm easy to kill."

I share a look with Cyo. Obviously we won't do that and looks like he won't, too. But we need to fight it out now - or the Gamemakers will make us.

Cyo looks away from me again and turns his attention towards Rex. "Okay then... let's make a deal! You walk back over to the Cornucopia and we will meet you there."

Rex turns the ax in his hand, looking down. Then he nods and says, "Alright, miner boy! But no tricks! I will find you anywhere in the arena."

Cyo nods and says, "No tricks..."

Rex turns around and starts walking to the Cornucopia again. I swallow and look at Cyo. "I'm afraid we are out of tricks for real..."

He sighs. "Unfortunately... but we need to go or they will send another bear after us or some shit like that."

I nod and hesitantly give him a quick kiss. "He's far enough away... let's go."

I let go of Cyo's hand reluctantly before we wade through the water of the river. It's knee-deep at most and we quickly reach the other side. Rex is waiting next to the Cornucopia. I resist the urge to run away and instead force my feet in the very same direction that seems dangerous.

We close in on him when, with one quick movement, Rex draws a knife and throws it at Cyo. Luckily he manages to duck right before it hits his head.

Without even thinking, I reach for a knife myself and throw it at him - only for him to shut it down with the ax. From there it all goes fast. I continue attacking with the throwing knives, picking them up again, as I come closer.

Cyo uses the distraction to attack with the spear, but unfortunately, Rex is a really good fighter and manages to dodge all of it. As I throw another knife, he swings the ax at Cyo, and, although he tries to dodge the blow, the blade still cuts him across the chest.

I use the lack of attention toward me and throw another knife, aiming for the neck. Mere moments before it hits the mark, Rex moves and it only hits his shoulder which makes him flinch, but he doesn't turn.

Instead, he swings at Cyo again who is not that quick anymore and I hear him scream as the ax hits his already injured shoulder.

That's it... I can't keep my distance any longer! As fast as I can, I run over to where they are fighting, knife in hand. Just as Rex brings the ax down again, creating another gash across Cyo's chest, I drive the knife into Rex's back.

He screams, kicking Cyo in the stomach, effectively getting him away and turns around. The knife in my hand is now bloody and Rex is breathing heavier. I must have hit something there. Quickly I bring up the knife again and swing at his throat, about to slash it open.

Unfortunately, he is quick to see what I'm doing and grabs my wrist with his free hand, pulling the knife away when I only barely managed to break the skin. He is much stronger than I am, so he squeezes until I'm forced to drop the knife.

My wrist hurts, I'm almost waiting for something to snap.

Shit!

In the blink of an eye, Rex lets go of my wrist again, but before I can even pull away I feel his massive hand on my throat. I gasp. No air is coming. Shakily I raise my hands up and try to free myself, but it doesn't work.

My legs... I can still use those! Quickly I bring up my foot and kick Rex's crotch-area in a panic. He lets go of me suddenly, cursing under his breath as I stumble backward.

I reach for a knife again, but he is already recovering and pushes me backward. "You stupid bitch! How dare you!" I manage to hold my balance and try to get away when he pushes me again.

This time, I suddenly don't have solid ground under my feet. A hole. He has pushed me into it. The sensation of falling hits me, but it's not much higher than my fall from the cliff. The ground, however, is harder, rocky.

I feel dizzy as my head hits the stones, the light from above barely helpful. I need to get back up there, but I can barely sit up. I try, but the next thing I see is boots next to me.

A heavy weight on top of me and my efforts to sit up collapse in themselves. I try hard to focus and train my eyes on Rex, who is sitting on my stomach, holding me down. I swallow, that's it... I'm practically dead.

Rex grins, maybe because he can read how much fear he has ignited in me. He pulls out one of his knives and looks me in the eye. "I could make this quick, Valeria... but you don't deserve that. You shouldn't be called a career. It's pathetic."

I try to hold it together, but as I open my mouth I wince. My voice comes out broken, "You know you have won... why... why make me suffer?"

Rex smirks and cuts my jacket open all the way down. I feel a sharp pain where my collarbone is. He's dragging the blade of the knife along. I press my lips together, I refuse to scream, refuse to give him what he wants.

Displeased with that, Rex increases the pressure on the blade, cutting deeper. It hurts, it burns, it feels like he's slowly ripping me apart. I feel hot tears in my eyes, trying to hold them back, but they still fall.

The blade is pulled away for a second. It gives me a false sense of security as if he hadn't promised to make me suffer. Then I feel it again. Rex starts on the other shoulder, this time cutting deeper right away, twisting the knife.

I can't hold it back any longer - the scream. It comes out desperate but brief. I don't want to die in such a pathetic way.

Rex, however, seems to enjoy my reaction. "Yes... scream for me, bitch! Show them what a sissy you are!"

I swallow hard, take a shaky breath, trying to ignore the pain. I stay quiet, maybe he'll end it quicker if I don't react.

When I feel the blade on my shoulder again, I close my eyes. He's dragging it along my arm. "When I'm done with you, bitch, I'll go back up and finish off your little friend."

My eyes snap open. Cyo. He's up there, injured and alone. Automatically I struggle under Rex's weight, trying to break free.

"Stay down!", he shouts and the blade hits my left shoulder full force. I scream, without a chance to do anything about it. With my right hand, I try to reach for the knife in my shoulder, but Rex pulls it out before I get it.

I swallow, then struggle again. I need to get ahold of a weapon, of anything! My breath gets stuck in my throat when Rex starts strangling me again with one hand.

He looks at me, cocking his head before he brings the knife close to my eye. In an instant, I freeze and he gins again. "Let's see if you can still fight without your pretty face..."

A cold shiver runs down my spine and I prepare for the pain when the weight is suddenly lifted off of me, the knife only brushing my cheek. Confused I sit up like a dart, my vision swimming in front of me.

It soon clears a bit and I see two men wrestling on the ground. Cyo has come back for me.

I hear muffled screams as I crawl toward them on all fours. Then a cannon - and once again I freeze.

Tears well up in my eyes again, making it hard to see. My voice trembling, I ask, "Cyo...?"

An agonizing pause fills the air. He can't be dead now! He can't have died because he saved me... no, please, no! It should have been me... but then I hear his familiar voice, "Val... you alive?"

I release a breath and as quickly as I can, I crawl over the rest. Cyo is lying on his back, no longer wearing his jacket. His shoulder looks messy, still bleeding, red trails down his chest and stomach.

Two gashes form an X on his chest, moving up and down with his breathing. Rex's knife, the one he used to torture me, is buried in his shoulder, half of the blade still showing. I sob; I can't help but start crying. "My God..."

It looks like he attempts a smile, but he only grimaces, his voice husky, "Val... he's dead."

Only now I slightly turn to where Rex is on the ground. His huge form slumped over sideways, his eyes wide open. The spear is still sticking out of his throat, open and bloody. He's dead.

A groan from Cyo brings me back to him. His eyes meeting mine, he says, "You got to go... home now. You should end it."

The pain that stings my heart almost resembles the one from the cuts. He wants me to kill him. I shake my head, feel another tear falling down. "No... I could never kill you. We'll find a way, okay? You are not going to die!"

Now he musters a weak smile. "That's... a lie."

Desperately I try to stop crying, stop shaking. I take one of his hands in both of mine. "I don't want to go home without you."

"Remember our pact? ...You take good care of my family." He tries to not show how painful it is, tries to talk in a strong voice. It breaks my heart even more. I can't let him go.

I press my lips together, then look up at the hole in the ground. "Someone help! Please help! Katniss help!"

I ignore Cyo's comments to calm me down. This can't be it... there must be a way. They must allow sponsorship, they need to let us both win! But deep down I know they won't. I know they will gladly watch him bleed out on the ground.

I swallow and whisper, "Help... Help us..."

A sudden touch on my chin makes me look back down. Cyo drops his hand again as I do. "Val... please..."

I swallow and shake my head again. "Don't make me kill you..."

There's a pause and he sighs. "Then... tell me another story."

I sob again. There's only the two of us left... I need to find a way to save him, to bring him back to his family, all his siblings... What if I die? If I die, they will save him, he will go home. I swallow and softly ask, "How about a fairytale?"

As a response, he just nods. I pull away one of my hands from his hand and squeeze it. "Once upon a time there were two rivaling kingdoms... there was a war between them because the prince of the black kingdom was cursed by a witch, but they were blaming the red kingdom."

Cyo closes his eyes, I take a shaky breath and let my free hand wander down to my belt. I have one knife left. "The prince was cursed to suffer pain for all eternity and they hadn't yet found a way to break the terrible curse.

"One day, a young princess from the red kingdom was captured by the black kingdom and when she saw the poor prince, she immediately fell in love with him. She pleaded with the queen to let her try and cure him. Desperate for her son to stop suffering, the queen agreed."

Cyo's eyes flicker open again and I squeeze his hand once more. I have reached my knife with the other hand. I remember Clove teaching me where to stab a woman to never miss the heart, to kill instantly. She was always the better fighter when it came to the both of us.

I swallow and continue the fairytale in a shaky voice.

"The princess held the young prince's hand for days, trying to ease the pain, but she did not succeed. Her heart was full of sadness, for he still had three siblings to look after while she did not."

Cyo trains his eyes on me, confused, probably finding himself in the fairytale - finally. I swallow, holding the knife a bit more steady now, but still behind my back.

"And so she decided to try and kiss him. With her magical kiss, the princess broke the curse and the prince was well again. But there was a price she had to pay..."

I carefully lean down and press my lips on Cyo's, whispering, "I love you...", before sitting up again.

Then I look up at the hole one last time. I try not to sound broken, but to no avail, "I love you, mom. But he is needed more."

I bring the knife up with as much force as I can gather and without hesitation, I stab myself in the chest. There's a flood of pain, everything becomes pain and I feel my body falling forward. The tunnel is gone, the hole is gone - there is only white light. I hear a scream and then nothing.

Nothing at all, no pain, no noise. Ease - the feeling of falling, but reversed.

And then there is a single voice, a familiar voice, a voice that no longer screams in my head, but is now happy again, soft again, "I missed you, stupid sister... welcome home."