A/N: Okay, sorry it's taken me forever to update but have 5 exams has put me behind. Unfortunately I still have about 11 exams to do so possibly no more updates for another month :( I will write when i get the chance to!

The sun quickly rose soon after the cannon fired, obviously the game makers were satisfied about the night's events. Cato helped me down off the cornucopia and we sat against it, patiently waiting for the hovercraft to pick us up. After a while Cato was starting to get bored.

"Where are they?" he complained "We've won, there's no-one else left."

"I don't know…" I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Stupid Capitol. Probably waiting for some rogue mutation to come and get us before they can make us both victors."

"I don't think that's what the audience would want." I replied. The sound of Claudius Templesmith boomed throughout the arena;

"Greetings final contestants, the last ruling allowing two victors if they are from the same district has been….revoked…after closer inspection of the rulebook. Good luck, and my the odds be ever in your favour."

My blood turned cold. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't happening, I was dreaming, I had to be.

"Those Capitol bastards!" Cato snapped standing up. "You hear me? You are a bunch of cowardly bastards!" he yelled at the sky

"Cato, I don't think-"

"Clove don't you see? They're trying to get us to kill each other!" He was getting angrier, as that was the only emotion he was probably capable of showing right now.

"Of course I see!" I snapped back "It's not exactly rocket science Cato!"

"Well maybe you should think of a solution if you're so smart then!" He hissed, his grip tightening on his sword. He was getting dangerously angry.

"I'm going to go hunting, you stay here and think about how the hell we're going to get out of here." I responded before running across the grassland into the forest. I couldn't believe the way he was acting, sure he was upset but he didn't have to get angry like that, I quietly hoped he would be in a better mood once I got back.

The trees were thick and caused visibility to decrease. I trekked through the woodland though, hoping to come across a defenceless animal that would be an easy kill. Sadly all traces of wildlife had disappeared, leaving me with no hint on where to lay in wait for something to kill. It was hot, my loose hair clung to my forehead annoyingly and my hands were slick with sweat, what I would've given to be in a freezing shower at that moment.

I could hear distant calls of birds from around the cornucopia, I was so thirsty in this heat, concentrating on listening for the familiar sounds of a rabbit or squirrel was becoming more and more difficult. If anything it was near impossible.

Eventually I gave up my hiding place, nothing had passed by in what seemed like hours and dehydration was imminent if I didn't get to the lake soon. As I manoeuvred through the twisted roots of the trees and wilting bushes I became aware of a sound from nearby, like snapping twigs, they kept occurring in quick succession after one another. It also felt as if it couldn't get any warmer in the arena, something was wrong, something was very wrong.

I looked around, there were orange flames dancing in the dried out leaves of a bush, they were spreading, I was taking no chances, even if I was dehydrated and on the verge of heat frustration I had to run or die in the fire. I ran from the flames, my first instinct was to run toward the lake but I soon realised I'd have to run through the flames to get there, the only other place I could think of was the cornucopia so I ran as fast as I could without falling over.

The fire was spreading rapidly now, helped by the wind and dry foliage. Smoke surrounded me, making it harder to know if I was going in the right direction, flames licked at my heels as I shoved more plants aside. I gasped for breath as the black soot clung to my throat and made my eyes water, just a little further I thought to myself as I stumbled out of the trees.

Cato looked up in mild surprise when I came crashing out of the forest, even more so when he noticed the smoke engulfing the woods.

"What happened?" he asked as he flung his sword down and ran to me. I collapsed on the grass gasping for breath.

"…need water…Cato…water..." I panted pointing to our small pile of supplies. He raced back and came back with a full bottle of it. I gulped it down savouring every last drop. I was dripping with sweat as I tore off my waterproof coat, my district shirt stuck to me as I lay panting in the sun.

"The forest is dry as a bone, the fire started because of the dry grass, it spread quickly throughout the woods. The lake is cut off because of it and there are no animals there anymore." I explained to Cato after taking a long gulp of water. I retied my hair back into a ponytail to prevent it sticking to my forehead again. "I can't tell if the Capitol started it or what, but either way we're screwed if there's no rainfall soon."

"Great…" Cato replied quietly. "So we'll die of dehydration before long then."

"Or fire. Starvation too." I continued.

"I couldn't think of any plausible way to get us both out of here."

"Me neither…." I mumbled.

Cato led down on the grass, he closed his eyes and appeared to be asleep. This slightly annoyed me, I had just nearly died and he was taking a nap in the sunshine. Perfect. Then again that was Cato all over wasn't it?

"We could do it you know." He said suddenly without opening his eyes. "We could just die here together and then they'd have no victor."

Why was he suggesting we take the cowards way out? That certainly wasn't Cato's normal attitude, however I didn't know what exactly was Cato's normal attitude now. Not since last night when he kissed me.

"Well?" he asked sitting up.

"I don't know, seems cowardly to me." I replied looking at the smoke still rising from the trees.

"Typical Clove, not wanting to seem weak eh?" he smirked. "Clove let's be honest here, I wouldn't be able to kill you if it came down to it. So either you kill me, or we die together." He looked me straight in the eyes.

"Cato…" I uttered. I wouldn't be able to kill him either, I don't know what it was about him but I can't imagine ending his life, I can't imagine seeing him take his last breath as I stabbed him. I just couldn't.

"So are we in agreement then?"

"..yes.." I answered after a pause.

"Okay. Here's how we do it." He started, a small smile playing on his lips as he took my hands in his.


This was crazy. I knew that we were trying to kill ourselves but this was ridiculous. Cato was obviously deluded if he thought this was going to work.

"Cato, are you sure this is going to work?" I asked as we gathered more dry grass and placed it around the cornucopia in the fading evening light.

"Trust me Clove, you won't feel a thing and it'll be quick as a flash." He replied.

I wasn't exactly over the moon about his plan, especially as it might not actually kill us but just injure us badly. I could think of much better ways to kill us both without effort or pain. However Cato was determined to do it his way and I wasn't going to argue.

We collected as many dried out plants as we could and surrounded the cornucopia before he gave me a boost on top of it. This is where it could go horribly wrong. He ran into the forest which had steadily been succumbed to the flames and picked up a tree branch, lit it before running back with it.

"Ready Clove?" He asked as he bent down to light the heap of grass. "Once it's lit there's no going back."

"I'm ready Cato!" I shouted down to him. The grass was lit, it slowly smoked at first whilst Cato heaved himself on top of the metal structure, the grass then began to catch fire.

The cornucopia was already hot because of the heat, it was going to get a lot hotter because of the fire surrounding it. Cato led down on the surface of it and beckoned me to lie on top of him. "Trust me, it'll burn you if you're sat on it."

"But…you'll burn of I'm led on you." I replied.

"Yes, I know. But I'd rather take the pain whilst you succumb to the smoke." He answered.

He wasn't joking, he was being totally serious. His eyes stared into mine as I reluctantly lowered my small body onto his muscular chest, I could feel the heat radiating off the metal beneath him.

"How long will it take?" I whispered.

"I don't know." Cato replied. "Hopefully not long though." He stroked my hair as the fire spread around us. I felt his chest rising and falling rapidly, my hand slipped off his chest and onto the cornucopia. The few seconds I touched the shiny black metal felt like hell, my hand felt as if it was on fire, I didn't want to imagine how much pain Cato was in.

We stayed like that until we were completely surrounded by tall flames dancing in the fading light of the sun. Smoke billowed into the sky yet we just led there without a care in the world. We were prepared to die together, both of us in pain and at the hands of the Capitol's harsh punishment that was the Hunger Games.

"Cato…." I mumbled as our visibility began dropping due to the smoke.

"Yeah?" he whispered.

"…why didn't you just kill me?" I asked. "You could've gone home a victor and forgotten about all of this."

He breathed heavily for a few moments before replying, "Clove, I couldn't possibly live without you. I'd rather die."

"….I'm nothing special." I uttered quietly. "I'm sure there are plenty of girls back home who would've taken my place."

"Stop." He said sharply. "You are worth dying for."

We went back to lying in silence, the heat was getting unbearable. I wondered what the Capitol were thinking about this, were they really going to let us both die? Did no-one care anymore? Not that it mattered, we were committed to this now and only they could stop it.

"….so are you…" I replied.

"What?"

"…You are worth dying for too…" I repeated.

"Really?" he asked.

I nodded, the smoke was getting to my throat again, it wouldn't be long now until all this was over. I looked at Cato's relaxed face, for someone who probably had third degree burns on his back he was doing a good job at looking like nothing was wrong. However, his forehead kept creasing every few moments, almost certainly because he was in pain. The flames continued to dance as the sun faded over the horizon, almost like there was no end to the fuel – then again there probably wasn't.

"I love you Clove…" Cato muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"I said, I love you." He repeated. "There's not much time left, please Clove…"

"Cato…" I was so confused, what did he want me to do? That question was answered as he gently pulled my face level with his, despite the smoke I could see in his eyes that he wasn't lying.

"Tell me Clove, do you love me?" he asked, his voice was raspy.

"…yes Cato, I love you." I replied after a pause.

He smiled, his eyes then closed. I thought he was just exhausted at first, but then he wasn't breathing. I shook him slightly, no response. The burns must've gotten too much for him, or the smoke. The cannon hadn't gone off so he was still alive at least.

"Cato?" I asked as I shook him again. "Cato wake up." He still didn't respond. "Cato, I swear to God if you don't wake up I'll…I'll..uh.." I started coughing, the smoke was thick and surrounding me. The world was spinning but I had to stay awake, just so I could see his smile again, so I could look into those eyes again, hear his laugh again.

"Cato please wake up." I whimpered near tears. I slid off him and onto the burning metal shell. I found myself crying, he couldn't be dead. The cannon would've gone off, surely he was just unconscious?

"Cato…" I sobbed kneeling down next to his torso. "My blood-thirsty Cato…" My body felt tired, I knew I wouldn't last much longer. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, almost as if it was a parting kiss. In a way it was, but whatever afterlife there was we'd probably find each other again.

The blanket of smoke was drifting closer to me, this was it, this was the end. The Capitol wouldn't have a victor, maybe they'd stop the games taking place. Highly unlikely but possible. Not that it mattered to us, afterall; Cato was unconscious and I was about to die of smoke inhalation.

The memory of when I first met Cato came flooding back to me. It was the day before the reaping and we were both at the training centre until it was quite late at night. He had seen me throwing knives and scoffed everytime I was slightly off the target – which wasn't often – so I challenged him to a sword fight to put him in his place. We ended up staying 'til nearly two in the morning fighting. The trainers weren't too happy when they found out, not that they could do anything about it as we were reaped less than two hours later.

"Clove…" Cato's raspy voice came from next to me in the smoke.

"Cato?"

"We did it, we're going to beat them at their own game." He uttered.

"I know." I replied taking his hand in mine. "I know Cato."

Over the crackling of the fire we heard a low humming quiet at first but it grew louder. It seemed familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until we were both doused in freezing cold water. It was the Capitol's hovercraft come to put out the fire and probably make us fight to the death, however Claudius Templesmith's voice once again boomed throughout the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Cato Hadley and Clove Greenwood, the tributes from district two!"

What? They reinstated the rule? Since when? What was going on? Cato looked just as confused as I was but soon a look of relief spread across his face as the ladder dropped down. We both grabbed on and soared into the hovercraft. Somehow I doubted that the Capitol were happy about this sudden change in the rules and I knew Cato thought the same. So why did they save us?