A/N:

Scumble : I know! A lot of my favourites are left at a cliffhanger and it's just so bloody annoying. And sad. Because, well, like I said, you never know. And judging by the reviews you got, I know you're a brilliant writer too. :)
itsbeenasecret: The rest of the Seven are still in the past, on board of Argo II. If I feel like I want them in my story, I'll put them. If not, no.
Xenomorphhuntr65 : You have an account on fanfiction right? I think like I've seen you before. Oh, well. Yeah, I know. At that time the schedule wasn't out yet so I estimated the exam to start really early like eight but then we were told it'd start at 11:30am and end at 1pm. You're in California. Okay. And yes, all my favourite stories are way better than mine. Trust me.
Ronnie07: More percy/katniss confrontation? O.o nice advice from Eminem, though..
ArianaandXaia : and I imagine you must've felt like I'm gonna kill this jerk or something like that…lol..
Guest : thanks…your review really did cheer me up…like a lot..:)
The Reader of Doom : long time no see, buddy! Actually, it wasn't a review since I read it off of their profile and it pretty much stung. But then, I read your review and a couple of others and they definitely cheered me up. And about reading other people stories : can't do that because they're defo better than mine. :P I think I'm going to cast a Katcy spell, you know, since it's easier to do that spell.
English guy : yeaah…thing is, they probably were being cruel to be kind but to actually say that would like, put someone really, really down. And yeah, I'm not stopping because I made an oath to finish the series.
HuntressDC : sorry, love. You're outnumbered. A lot of people want a Percy/Katniss pairing and to be honest, I'm with them because writing Percy and Annabeth is pure torture because I can't actually capture Annabeth's character.

Anecdote: I've watched Frozen and I really love the soundtrack. So, it's safe to say that you guys will be having a lot of feels (hopefully..) somewhere in the series. Not sure when, though.

Disclaimer : I don't know how to write a decent story. So, yeah.

Katniss' POV

" No!" I instinctively cry and spring forward. It's too late to stop the arm from descending, and I instinctively know I won't have the power to block it. Instead, I throw myself directly between the whip and Gale, my arms out to protect as much of his broken body as possible, so there's nothing to protect my face. I close my eyes, knowing fully well the pain the lash is going to bring.

But none came.

Instead, there was an 'Oof!' and a thud. I open my eyes and see a boy lying on the stones, soaking in Gale's blood. The man with the whip growls in anger, his arm rose yet again, this time the lash is aimed at the person lying in front of me.

" No!" I yell yet again and tried to stop the lash but everything moved too fast. The person on the ground arches his back when the whip hits his body. " You're going to hurt him!"

" No, Katniss," the boy says, looking up at me. " Don't."

The man with the whip looks straight at me in the eye. And that's when I get my first glimpse of his face. Hard, with deep lines, a cruel mouth. Gray hair shaved to almost nonexistence, eyes so black they seem all pupils, a long straight nose, reddened slightly by the cold. The powerful arm lifts once again, this time his cold eyes are set on me.

" Hold it!" a voice barks. Haymitch appears and trips over a Peacekeeper lying on the ground. I stare at him, trying to get a look at him and then realized its Darius. A huge purple welt pushes through the red hair on his forehead. He's knocked out but still breathing. What happened, though? Did he try to help Gale before I got here?

Haymitch ignores him and pulls me to my feet roughly. " Are you alright?" he asks me. I nod, staring at the man with the whip. Haymitch examines my face for a while before turning to face the man with the whip. " You do realize this is the victor of the 74th Hunger Games, right?"

I see a flicker of recognition in the cold eyes of the man. Bundled against the cold, my face free of make-up, my braid tucked carelessly under my coat, it wouldn't be easy to identify me as the victor of the last Games. But Haymitch has been showing up on television for years, and he'd be difficult to forget.

The man rests the whip on his hip. " She interrupted the punishment of a criminal."

Everything about this man, his commanding voice, his odd accent, screams danger . Where has he come from? District 11? 3? The Capitol itself?

The boy on the ground rose to his feet unsteadily and faces the man. " Actually," he says, wincing a bit as he straighten up, " I interrupted the punishment of a criminal. She was just standing there."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Haymitch and Peeta (and I think from the crowd, too) as he takes in the boy's face.

" Is there something wrong?" Percy asks Haymitch, who of course, is probably having a coronary right now.

" You're alive."

Percy sighs, wincing again as Prim rubs some ointment to his back, where the whip hit him. " Yes, Haymitch. I'm alive."

" You're not dead," Haymitch says.

" That's the general definition – ouch!," he exhales sharply as Annabeth pokes the wound a bit. " That's the general definition of being alive, Haymitch."

" You can't be alive. I took you away from her," Haymitch says, gesturing at me. " You were dead."

" But apparently I'm not, since I'm sitting here. Right in front of you. Talking to you." Percy takes the cup of tea Prim hands to him. " Thanks," he says to her.

" But…but…"

" I'll explain everything to you later, Haymitch," I tell him, seeing the extremely annoyed look on Percy's face. " That was really stupid thing to do, Percy," I turn to face him. " The lashing was probably broadcasted to the whole of Panem and now everyone's going to know you're alive. You are definitely going to be on Snow's hit-list."

" It was spontaneous," he replies. " I couldn't stand by and watch you take the lash."

" What were you doing outside anyway?" I ask him. " You were supposed to stay hidden!"

" He said he got bored," Annabeth chimes in. " We tried to stop him but then we heard the lashing and there's no stopping him."

" Why weren't you in disguise?"

" Wouldn't make any difference. Greasy Sae almost identified me the first time we got here," he shrugs. " Are there any leftovers? I'm pretty hungry."

" Are you serious?" I say to him. " You just flaunted your existence to the whole of Panem and all you can say is you're hungry?"

" You're unbelievable," Annabeth says, shaking her head. " What?" she asks, when she notices Haymitch staring at her.

" I must be drunk because if I'm not mistaken, you're the girl from District 6 who died in the bloodbath the first day," he says, rubbing his temples. " Prim, do you have something stronger than liquor?" he asks my sister. " I'm having a bit of a rough day today."

" Are you trying to get yourself killed?" I ask Percy.

" I can always come back," he smirks.

" You're impossible," I get up and went into the kitchen, where my mother is tending to Gale, with Peeta standing in front of her. The shock of seeing Percy alive was just too much for him to handle so he resorted to helping my mother out while Prim tends to Percy.

" Hey, Katniss," Peeta says, smiling slightly at me. His face is a bit pale and the shock still haven't left. " Your mother said Gale's gonna be okay." At the same time, Gale groans, regaining consciousness. My eyes fell on his back. As my mother applies some salve on it and a light bandage, I can see where every stroke of the lash landed and wince as I try to imagine how much pain Gale is in.

There's a slight movement in my periphery and I turn, finally noticing Hazelle sitting on a chair next to Gale, with his hand pressed against her lips.

" I'm sorry, Hazelle. If I had been there to stop him, he – " I say but Hazelle waves me off.

" It's okay," she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. " It's okay, Katniss. You wouldn't have known. None of us could. It's good enough that you arrived there on time and stopped him from getting even more lashes."

" Technically, I stopped him from getting more lashes," Percy walks into the kitchen, wincing slightly as he tries to bend over Gale. " How's he doing?"

" He'll live," my mother replies. " How's your back?"

" I'll live," he shrugs. Then he notices Peeta. " Hey there, buddy. Long time no see. How're you?" Peeta stares at him, unable to say anything. " I'll explain everything to you and Haymitch later, okay?" Then he turns to Hazelle. " How're you, Hazelle?"

" Shocked?" she replies, staring at him. " Is that really you?"

" You can try and poke my eye and see if your hand goes through it," he suggests. Hazelle cracks a small smile, humor dances in her eyes.

" Well, no one can be that funny except you," she says. " You look good. Like you've been alive all this time."

Percy didn't say anything. He just smiled. Then he turns to Peeta. " Alright. Let's go up to my bedroom and I'll explain everything to you." Peeta nods slightly before following Percy upstairs. " Haymitch!"I hear him yell. " Come on!"

I hear Haymitch mutters something unintelligibly deciphered before lumbering off after Peeta and Percy, with Annabeth behind him. I turn back to Hazelle, who has turned her attention back to Gale. " You're not shocked? To see him alive?"

Hazelle smiles at me softly. " No," she says. " I'm glad because I can see the light back in your eyes."

The doorbell suddenly rings, echoing all around the house. Fear shoots through me. Who could it be at this time? Are they coming for me? Or worse, for Percy? Have news about his existence spread? I hope not. I hope they came up with some logical explanation. Like maybe a look-alike? Sheesh…talk about desperate. I look to my mother and Hazelle, both of them had the same grave look on their faces.

" I'll get it," says my mother quietly. I go with her, though, following her down the hallway to the insistent ring of the bell. Well this is it, I thought to myself, we're doomed. When she opens it, there's not a squad of Peacekeeper but a single, snow-caked figure. Madge. She holds out a small, damp cardboard box to me.

" Use these for your friend," she tells me. I take off the lid of the box, revealing at least half a dozen vials of clear liquid. " They're my mother's. She said I could take them. Use them, please." She runs back into the storm before we can stop her.

" Who was that?" Peeta's voice comes from above us. I look up and see him leaning against the railing, looking down at us curiously. " We thought it was the Peacekeeper and…um.. 'Percy' was ready to slit his throat." I nearly drop the vials. " Don't worry, he only nick his hand."

" It was Madge," I tell him as he jogs down the stairs. We both walk back into the kitchen, joining my mother and Hazelle at the table, where Gale had break in sweats, his teeth gritted in pain. I lay a hand on his shoulder, and even that light touch made him wince. " What's that?" I ask my mother as I watch her pull the liquid with a syringe.

She didn't answer at first. She just concentrated on Gale alone and shoots the clear liquid into his arm. Immediately, he begins to relax. " It's from the Capitol. It's called 'morphling'," she says, an unmistakable sadness lace her voice as she sets the empty vial down. " It's a stronger painkiller."

I nod, feeling glad that Madge brought the medicine. At least he won't be in too much of a pain.

" I didn't know Madge knew Gale," Peeta suddenly comments.

My head whip at that. I'm not sure why I'm suddenly feeling jealous but I am right now and it bothers me. " We used to sell her strawberries," I tell him, the anger seeping into my voice.

" She must have quite a taste for them," Peeta says, an amused smile slowly forming on his face.

Anger rears up inside of me and I realized, it's because of the implication that there is something going on between Gale and Madge and the fact that I don't like it. Not one bit of it.

" She's my friend," is all I can say.

Now that Gale has drifted away on painkiller, there's not much to do but wait until he wakes up. Prim (who didn't join Percy) made us eat some stew and bread. A room is offered to Hazelle but she has to go home to the other kids. Haymitch ( who stomps down after hearing Percy's explanation and still couldn't accept the fact that his other mentee is still alive) and Peeta (who is trying to reason with the fact that Percy is still alive) are willing to stay, but my mother sends them both home as well. But I refuse to leave Gale's side so she leaves me to tend to him while she and Prim go and rest.

I take Hazelle's stool and sit close to him, his hand in mine. After a while, my fingers find his face. I touch parts of him that I have never had any cause to do so before. His heavy, dark eyebrows, the curve of his cheek, the line of his nose, the hollow at the base of his neck. I trace the outline of stubble on his jaw and finally work my way to his lips. Soft and full, slightly chapped. His breath warms my chilled skin.

" You know, they would call that sexual harassment."

I jump out of my stool when I hear his voice. Turning around, I see Percy leaning against the kitchen's doorframe, observing me silently. " What are you doing here?"

" Thought I'd keep you company but I suppose you don't need it," he shrugs, fixing his mesmerizing eyes on me.

I return his stare for a moment before breaking the eye contact, unable to utter a single word. My feelings are mixed up. Yes…they are mixed up and I'm not doing anything to help separate it. Instead, I'm urging it to grow. My feelings for Percy and my feelings for Gale are unknown. Why? Because now, for the first time ever, I reversed our positions.

For Gale, I imagined him volunteering for Rory for the Games, having him torn away from my life, becoming some strange girl's love just to stay alive, and then when the girl died, he's a mess because he had really fallen for her. Watch him make a vow to love her for the rest of his life, not giving me the chance to enter his life as someone more than a friend.

For Percy, I imagined myself as him. How I would have felt waking up, suddenly not dead (even though his explanation that he is from the past is still somewhat doubtful). How I would have felt seeing that I already have a girlfriend but that my feelings for her have probably changed. How I would have tried to get back to me, to help me. And how I would feel, right now, watching me next to Gale. Caressing him as if I love him. All those thoughts gave me a headache but most of all, an aching pain in my heart.

Why did this have to happen first for me to realize? Why did Gale have to get whipped until an inch of his life hung in the balance for me to snap out of it? Why? Because I'm selfish. I'm a coward. I'm the kind of girl who, when she could actually be of use, would run to stay alive and leave those who can't follow to suffer and die. This is the girl Gale met in the woods when she was eleven.

No wonder I won the Games. No decent person ever would.

I rest my forehead on the edge of the table, overcame with self-loathing. Wishing I had died in the arena. Wishing Seneca Crane had blown me to bits the way President Snow had said when I resisted. I hear Percy sighing, before slinking out of the kitchen. A moment later, I could hear his footfalls on the stairs, the creaking opening of a door and finally, the slamming of it.

I sigh. I am really in deep shit. My act of defiance, I suppose, is the answer to who I am. I mean, if I did it because I actually did love Percy, I am a self-centered person, although forgivable. But if I did to actually defy the Capitol, then I am someone of worth. The trouble is, I don't exactly know what is going on inside of me at the moment.

Could it be that the people of the districts are right? That it was an act of rebellion, even though it was an unconscious one? Because deep down, I must know it isn't enough to keep myself, my family, my friends alive by running away. Even if I could, it wouldn't fix anything. It wouldn't stop people from getting hurt like Gale did.

Life in District 12 isn't really so different from life in the arena. At some point, you just have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead. The hard thing is to find the courage to do it. Well, it's not hard for Gale. He was born a rebel. I'm the one making the escape plan.

" I'm so sorry," I whisper. I don't know what I am sorry for. Maybe for making it confusing for him. Maybe for making it confusing for me. I lean forward and kiss him.

His eyelashes flutter and he looks at me through hazes of opiate. " Hey, Catnip."

" Hey, Gale," I say.

" Thought you'd be gone by now," he mumbles.

My choices are simple : I can die like a quarry in the woods or I can die here, beside Gale. " Nope. I'm staying. I'm going to cause all kinds of trouble."

" Me, too," he mumbles, managing a grin at me before the drugs pull him back under.

Special note : I'm really sorry to say that the author of this fanfic, Bautista Jades has passed on. He/She had been diagnosed recently with leukaemia. He/She passed out during writing this chapter and while in the hospital had asked me to tell you that he/she is sorry.