Annie and I walk hand in hand to the ceremony, but when we get to the doors I make a stupid excuse about having to talk to Haymitch, and how I will be right back. Really, I know that the last thing Snow will want is me sitting with Annie in public. He wouldn't be above executing her for that alone. So, I do find Haymitch and exchange a few words, just for conscience sake, so that I honestly was not lying, and then I attempt to find Mags. I am sure the President would prefer me sitting in amongst a large crowd of Capitol women, but I am certain he will not critique me for sitting with Mags, as long as I play the part. And my outfit and behaviour from this moment on will fit perfectly. I will not let him down.

As I walk through the flocks of people in an attempt to find Mags, I am flooded with compliments, fluttering eyelashes, and women attempting to approach and talk to me. I am a celebrity amongst them. Snow could never afford to kill me, at least not now, while I am still a hero in the eyes of the people. But the Games next year will be the perfect way to get rid of me. I wonder if I am under a delusion that there is any chance of my survival. Perhaps Snow has already ordered the Gamemakers to make sure I die in the Cornucopia bloodbath. But then again, probably not. For the Capitol's sake he will let their hero live as long as possible, which may be his downfall. Because by the time he is ready to kill me off, I will hopefully have escaped along with the others.

I am pulled from my thoughts by the President himself suddenly standing in front of me, and I realize that while lost in thought, I have accidentally wandered into the balcony for the President alone. I wish I could make some excuse and slip out, but he sees me, and gestures for me to sit with him.

I take a seat beside him, and put on my most winning smile. "Great night, isn't it?"

He nods, and then surveys me up and down,"I like the outfit," he says. And there is no sarcasm or hint of anger in his voice. I calm down for a moment. Perhaps he is please.

"Where's Annie?" He asks, and I cringe at the sound of her name on his tongue, even though there was not threat behind it.

"I'm not sure." I respond," Sitting somewhere, waiting for the ceremony, most likely."

"Good." Is his only response.

I hope he will dismiss me, because the last place I want to spend the evening is here, with him.

"You may go, Odair." He tells me, as though both reading my thoughts and for some reason deciding to allow my desires to be reality.

"Thank you." I respond, and as quickly as I can stand and make an exit.

But, of course, Snow would not allow me the satisfaction of leaving like this. Almost in peace, really. Instead, he holds up a hand and speaks again:

"Oh, and Finnick?"

I stop, paralyzed by the tone of his voice. Deadly.

"I know about the kiss. Or should I say, kisses."

He means today. The few moments of peace I shared with Annie. How could he know? And why should he care?

"I-I'm sorry. It won't happen again." I respond.

His face is stony and cold.

"It had better not, Finnick. I am beginning to get the feeling that you like toying with me. That these so called accidents of yours are actually you going behind my back and flaunting you ability to do so. Well, know this, you can not go behind my back. Nothing goes unnoticed here, Odair. And nothing goes unpunished."

I am shaking again, but force myself to calm down. When I leave this room my composure must once again be perfect.

"I know, I do. Really. And I'm not. I mean, I don't mean to be. Flaunting you I mean. I promise. Please. Don't hurt her. Please." My voice is shaky and my words are strung together in an almost incoherent breath. But it gets the point across. I didn't mean it. Don't hurt Annie.

He doesn't say anything, but rather turns around once again and faces the stage, which is still empty. It is my cue to leave, but I have trouble doing so, no knowing what his silence means. Is he giving me another chance, or will I be punished for my foolishness? I hope for the former, but am somehow expecting the latter. I wonder how this will all play out. But, wanting to be as obedient as possible, I force my feet to leave the room and I don't look back.

I plaster a smile on my face and wink at the women around me, but my mind is a million miles away. What will he do? Something to hurt Annie, because he knows that is what will get to me the worst. But he doesn't know. That is the only thing that consoles me now. He doesn't know the truth. He doesn't know about the spark.

Or does he?

And then I see her. Wearing a top that sparkles purple and red together, and a pair of black pants, she still looks like she is on fire. Her hair is down, though, not back in a braid as seems to be her usual style. She is with Haymitch, and they are hurrying toward the elevator, probably to get her ready for her big entrance in half an hour or so. She is scanning the crowd, as though looking for something, and for a split second our eyes meet. I can tell that she doesn't notice me, and that it was just a coincidence that her eyes landed on mine, but for me it was so much more. Her eyes are not anything spectacular, only the grey color that so many from District Twelve wear. But in them is a fire. A fire of anger and rebellion long kept hidden. A fire that is ready to ignite, and that will provide the spark that we need. In her eyes I find hope, and I realize that I will fight for her. That if need be, I will give my life for this rebellion. That I will give my life for this girl, this Katniss Everdeen.

And in the time that these thoughts pass through my head, she is gone. Vanished with Haymitch. And I am thankful that I have seen her now, up close. Because when she is on the stage, she will be acting, and I would have been unable to recognize the fire that she has. Cinna, her stylist, was prophetic in his wardrobe choice for her after all.

Katniss, the girl who was on fire, burns still.

And she will be just what is needed to ignite the fires of rebellion in a suffering world that has given up hope, because she herself is one of them. She has known suffering and survived. I think that perhaps we could be friends, if I am able to survive my encounters with her. It's a strange thought, as this is the first time I have seen her. Really seen her, I mean.

And my heart breaks for her. Because I realize that inside of her is just another girl. Another girl who longs to be free, and now she will never have that chance. She will be a hero, the one who lit the fires of rebellion and hopefully brings down the Capitol. I should be happy for this, and happy for her. But the truth is, I can't be. I can't because I know the truth. I know what it means to be named a hero.

And, after all, what hero was ever really happy.

And I promise myself now that I will do everything that I can to protect her and to help her.

And that means playing the role that Snow has given me. It means being the Finnick Odair the Capitol wants to see.

So, instead of heading for where I know Mags will be seated, instead of trying to find Johanna or Annie, or someone I know, I seat myself in the middle of a group of Capitol women who have been obviously swooning over me since I appeared in their field of view. One of them actually faints when I sit down. And suddenly, a smile crosses my face, because I know what I am going to do for my interview next year. Something to both make the Capitol very happy, and yet throw the whole thing into Snow's face, because he, of all people will understand. I laugh under my breath just thinking about it.

After all, if he does understand, he will be powerless to do anything. And the thought of Snow being powerless has the opposite effect on me. It empowers me.

No one talks to me, either out of fear of rejection, or just the thought of speaking to someone like myself is to much for most of them. I don't mind, of course. I prefer it this way.

Ceasar Flickerman enters the stage soon enough, and begins with some introductory phrases and jokes, and then Katniss and Peeta join him on stage. A love seat has been positioned next to Ceasar, rather than the customary chair, and the pair positions themselves on it, Katniss snuggling up closely to Peeta. Good. No one would guess that they were anything other than a pair of lovebirds, meaning no defiance against the Capitol. Of course, most of the Capitol people wouldn't recognize outright defiance if there was any.

They begin the replay of the Games. Everything revolves around Katniss and Peeta. The Star Crossed Lovers of District Twelve are truly the stars of the show. And they should be, of course.

My thoughts and focus are torn away, though, by a small tug on my sleeve. I turn around and find a young girl, twelve at the oldest, staring up at me. Well, I guess I shouldn't say young. I look at the screens to where Rue's death is now being featured. The children in the Districts are thrown into the arena at that age.

Nonetheless, I incline my head back to the girl, and ask,"Yes? What is it?"

She doesn't speak, and instead gestures to the door. I consider following, but realize that the Capitol audience is almost in tears, as Katniss is now on screen, singing Rue to sleep. To death. You could hear a pin drop in the room. So I shake my head at the girl, and point to the screen. She seems to understand, and gestures with her hand for me to follow, and then taps her wrist twice, as though saying to come when this scene is over. I nod, confused as to what she wants.

I can't focus on anything for the next few minutes, except what the child's strange visit could mean. When the scene with Rue is over, it switches to the announcement that two tributes can now win the Games, if they are from the same district, and everyone in the Capitol audience gets to their feet and begins to applaud. They have to pause the tape to settle everyone down. I seize this moment and opportunity, and slip out to follow the girl.

The hallway outside the auditorium is completely empty, except for the child, who is waiting just outside. She places a finger to her lips, and makes a small shushing sound. I am completely confused, but follow her instructions.

She leads me to a small stairwell, and ducks underneath. We are almost entirely concealed from any direction, though I don't know that it matters, since the halls are empty anyway.

It is only now that she speaks. Her voice is quiet, almost shy, and completely unlike her extraverted appearance.

"I'm Mia." She tells me.

I smile at her,"I'm Finnick." I respond.

She laughs, as though that is such an obvious fact that I need not have mentioned it. I realize that probably everyone in the Capitol capable of speech probably knows my name.

But she says, simply,"Nice to meet you, Finnick."

I shake my head,"Well, what did you bring me here, for?"

She takes a deep breath. "I don't know if it matters. See, I'm kind of able to move around without being seen. Like Rue. You know, the girl in the Games? She was twelve, just like me. I wanted her to win. Well, I wanted everyone to win. Aren't these Games just stupid?" Her voice is raised now, and she is almost in tears as she says the words.

I nod, agreeing with her, but am very surprised to hear such coming from a girl who has lived in the Capitol her entire life.

"My father let me sponsor Rue. He is very rich and powerful, you know. Not as powerful as grandfather, of course..." her voice trails off. Of course, I have no idea who she is speaking of, but I nod anyways.

"But, see, my mother told me to sit with the other children while she found a good seat for the presentation tonight. But I don't like sitting with the other children, and we were here so early that I got bored. I decided to see if I could sneak up on father and hear what he was talking about, because it seemed important. He was talking to some guy named...Plutarch, I think. He's the head gamemaker, you know, because they killed the other one." She says this very matter of factly, as though she is quite above it all.

The girl continues,"Well, anyways, they were talking, and Plutarch said he would tell the President, and get his opinion on the matter. Father interrupted and said that of course he had already spoken with him, himself, seeing their relationship, of course." She eyes me, like I should understand this, and I don't, but I continue to nod, and she goes on.

"He said that Finnick Odair might be a Capitol favourite, but he needed to die. He said that they had discussed his possible uses, but they felt it best if he were to be killed in the arena. Not right away, of course, but perhaps a few days in. A week at most. Plutarch nodded, said 'of course' and left. His face was very urgent looking. I only thought it was fair to tell you, because I don't want you to die." She says.

I shake my head to clear it of the confusion this has brought on. She can't be telling the truth, can see. No, of course not. She is just making it up. There are so many reasons why this is the case. I mean, a little girl would not be privy to such information, even in secret. And if they were, they wouldn't have the forethought to actually come and warn me. It's probably just a game she is playing, in order to tell her friends later that she actually had a conversation with the infamous Finnick Odair. Of course. That is all it is. It couldn't be anymore. But one look at her face seems to say differently. She is very somber. Not childish at all.

A cannon goes off in the background, and I realize that the film is coming to an end. Mia looks a little frantic and exclaims:"Oh, I have to go now." She makes to leave, and then seems to remember something, and reaches into her pocket, bringing out a handful of white cubes.

Sugar cubes.

"Want a sugar cube?" she asks me," I always take them from grandfather's office when he isn't looking. I mean, I could get candy or something, but these have always been my favourite."

I smile at her, but inside this confirms my suspicions that she may have been correct. That she is telling the truth. Because why else would such a coincidence occur? But I take a sugar cube from the pile in her palm, and wave to her as she scurries away, grinning from ear to ear, like she just accomplished the most heroic deed in the world.

I am about to slip the cube in my mouth, when I notice something. Engraved in the side of the cube. And then her words come back to me, and I realize without a shadow of a doubt that what she was saying was the truth after all. She told me that she took cubes from her grandfathers office, and engraved in this cube is the symbol of Panem. The symbol that would only be engraved on one person's sugar cubes, in one person's office.

Snow.

She is the granddaughter of President Snow.

A/N Thanks so much for sticking with the story thus far! You guys are amazing! :) Please review!