Thanks for reading up to this chapter everyone! Believe it or not, my summer has been sort of busy now, but it will lighten up a lot! Once we get out of Grad Party season and get into July, I'll be able to update a little more if you guys want that!

Thanks to clohedames for reviewing (again!) Your review made me smile! Thanks for the continual support! You win a virtual cookie ;)

Chapter 11:
Ready for War

I had a screaming headache! Ouch... I picked my head out of my arm and yawned. I looked around groggy and took a sip of water.

"Hey." Finnick said, cautiously entering.

He handed me a cold cup of water.

"Hi." I said as he sat down.

"So what happened? Maple didn't go into details." Finnick asked.

"Someone tried to kill you." I answered as Finnick frowned, "Not directly, but through me. They took over my mind and tried to make me do things. But I didn't. It was a headache and it was exhausting!"

"When you went to the bathroom, you were trying to get away from me?" Finnick asked.

"It was the best option." I said.

"You said it was cramps!" Finnick said.

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. By then, Finnick had his hands around my neck and tried to choke me.

"MAPLE!" I screamed.

Finnick's normally green and sparkly eyes turned red. As red as Allie's eyes were. Mine was probably that shade of red too.

Maple had to pull Finnick off me, and by then I was struggling to catch my breath.

"Someone abducted him?" Maple asked.

"It isn't a 'someone'. It's the same person." I answered.

Finnick struggled. He was aiming to kill me. Someone in his head was making him kill me, but he didn't want to.

I stared into Finnick's eyes and welcomed whoever was abducting people to stay with me for a while.

And his eyes turned green again.

But she came back to me. Whoever this was, they were jumping around in everyone's minds and they were trying to control them.

My head throbbed again and I sat down on my bed.

"You okay?" Maple asked.

"She came back to me." I answered.

"Is she telling you anything?" Maple asked.

"No, I'm fine for now." I answered.

"Luna, you're the only one strong enough to handle her. We can't risk her going to anyone else. For now, you need to keep her." Maple said as I nodded. The commands started again, but I blocked them out by mentally singing. I hummed along and Maple waited.

"Luna?" Finnick asked.

I nodded and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." Finnick said.

"I'm fine. It's okay. I forgive you." I answered.

"What happened to the fog?" Finnick asked.

"Luna pulled it out of you." Maple answered.

"How?" Finnick asked.

"She looked into your red eyes and sucked it into her. I don't know how her brain is strong enough for this." Maple answered.

"Maybe I'm a freak." I suggested.

"We know you're a freak." Finnick said as I rolled my eyes.

"Kids, we've hit a stop." Haymitch said.

"Where?" I asked.

"We're at some warehouse in the Capitol. But it's abandoned. This is our new home." Haymitch answered.

"What about my parents? And Annie?" Maple asked.

"They'll be meeting us soon." Haymitch said getting us out of the train without being seen or heard.

"I can't stand being cooped up like this." Finnick said.

"You think any of us like it?" I asked.

"As soon as we're at the center of this, I'm fighting. And no one is going to stop me." Finnick said, very determined.

I saw Finnick in a new light, now. He wasn't the ditzy, little 12-year old I remember. He was officially a man now. He was brave and noble. But being brave and noble could make you very ignorant and stupid as well.

"Finnick-." Maple said slowly.

"No, Maple. I have to fight. I know Luna isn't one for fighting, but will do it if it comes down to it. But it already has! And if we get to the heart, I'm fighting for all three of us!" Finnick said.

"Finnick let me finish." Maple said.

"No, Maple. I already know what you're going to say: I'm an idiot for wanting to fight. And this is the stupidest thing I will ever do. But it's my decision." Finnick said.

"Finnick, I respect your decision. And on the contrary, you're not an idiot. There are a lot of things to fight for and I find your decision noble and brave." I said interrupting their argument.

"Well, Odair. Looks like we've manned up. Don't worry. Peeta and I will have you trained like a pro. We have an old friend coming in with his son. I think Luna will recognize them once she sees them." Haymitch said.

"I want to train, too. Just for when it is needed." I said.

"I know you do, squirt. But this sort of fighting is men's work. We can't have a fragile, little girl in it." Haymitch said.

"I'm not fragile, and I'm 16. I'm old enough and this is my decision, not yours. I will train with Devin and Finnick." I said as Grandpa nodded.

"Me too." Maple said.

"I will train, but I think I'll be a Nurse's aid." Allie said.

"Listen here, kids. War is nothing to joke about. You have to be serious. And if there is a need that calls for sacrifices, you have to grow up and make them." Haymitch said.

"Sure." Maple said.

"Well Luna?" Haymitch asked.

"Who is the friend coming to train us?" I asked.

Dad wasn't very pleased about our situation. Both his kids were training for war and there was nothing he could say or do to stop me.

He started with us lifting weights. Finnick was really strong, so was Maple. But I was puny. I couldn't lift so much. Devin couldn't either, but lifted more than I could. Overall, Allie was the weakest.

I could only bench like 50 lbs.

"Alright, kids, do ten laps around the building." Dad said as we went off. I had the best stamina out of all of us. Only because I ran everyday back when District 12 wasn't a bomb site.

"Very good, Luna." Dad said as I finished my laps first. I easily got a few laps ahead of everyone. I took a water break while I waited for them to catch up. And then we got to work. We worked with guns.

It was loud, smelly, and scary. I had great aim on moving targets, which was good. But the sound always made me jump out of my skin.

"Calm down, Luna." Dad said.

I nodded and tried not to have a heart attack every time I shot. I got a bulls-eye and we determined that guns were too easy for me. Finnick moved on to tridents and he worked on making us nets.

"Naturally, you're good at archery." Haymitch mused coming around.

I nodded and went out to work with a sword.

"The idea of Luna with a sword is kind of scary." Devin said grinning. I practiced on a hay bale and everything froze. Hay flew in the fan's wind and Finnick stood in the middle of the warehouse, grinning.

"Nice shot, Finnick!" Dad said as Finnick beamed.

After 17 years of not having a dad, a comment from my dad must've been huge for Finnick. He seemed so proud of blowing up a hay bale that it made me smile. Finnick seemed ageless, despite being 17-years old. His bronze hair blew in the wind and his eyes sparkled.

I realized that Finnick aimed to please. And for the longest time, without our quest, Finnick had no one to please. Except for Annie, who loved him despite who he really was. Maybe the quest, and now war, was good for Finnick. He had more goals now and more people to please.

Maple and I shared a look that seemed to say the same thing. This quest had given Finnick something to work for. It gave all of us something, but it showed in Finnick the most.

"Finn?" Annie asked in the doorway. She looked heartbroken.

"Mom!" Finnick said running off to hug her. She started bawling and I looked at my feet. Seeing someone so innocent crying was not something I thrived for.

"Should we save Finnick?" Maple asked.

"No, let him catch up with Annie. I don't know if you realized this, but it's been a few weeks since you've seen your parents." I said as dad ended training to try and calm Annie down.

"What's the date today?" I asked.

"Well, dear. The Capitol is sunny all the time, so it could be December or it could be August." Mom answered.

Johanna and Ash appeared. Maple ran off to them and I was alone. My family sat in silence and we just worked on the technical parts of war. I was working on strategies and places where we would most likely fight.

"Hey." Finnick said sitting next to me.

"Hi." I answered looking up from my work.

"What're you doing?" Finnick asked, bumping me as he sat next to me. Our arms grazed and I looked down at my plans. We would most likely fight in the President's castle, the main roads, and other common buildings. But if we didn't fight there, where would we?

"Just nothing." I answered shaking my head.

"What?" Finnick asked, grinning.

"Nothing." I answered.

"Tell me?" Finnick asked.

"Nope, you'll find out someday. It's only a strategy." I answered as he smiled. I showed him some blueprints of places and our routes.

"Thanks for giving me time with my mom." Finnick answered.

"I'm glad they got here alright." I answered.

"Are your parents honestly okay with you fighting?" Finnick asked.

"I think my mom is, but my dad isn't. He is reluctant. I think he wants to water it down a bit. But he can't." I said looking up from my work again, to think.

"I mean, are they okay with you, me, and Maple forming a team?" Finnick asked.

"They knew we would. It's not that part that bothers them, its other stuff. Like the idea of any of us getting killed." I answered.

"Finnick, Luna, can you two work on making nets?" Dad asked interrupting our little chat.

"I don't know how to." I answered as my face got red.

"It's really easy. I'll teach you." Finnick said grabbing some rope. He smiled easily and we walked to the middle of the warehouse. He plopped down on a hay bale.

"Come on, young Grasshopper." He said smiling and patting the other of the hay bale for me to sit on.

Thanks for reading everyone! I have a question:

Do you guys like the center-spaced text or do you like it to the left? If you like the center-spaced text, I will make it like that from now on. But review me or PM me what your preference is...

So I am sooo excited for Chapter 12, so I think I'll be nice and give everyone a little spoiler: (don't read the italicized stuff if you want to wait for the next update)

The sun was going down and Finnick and I took a lap outside. I don't know what we were looking for, but we were just wandering around.

"Finnick?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He responded. I took a deep breath and tried to contain my thoughts.

"What happens if we lose?" I asked.

"We lose everything." Finnick answered, "But there's one thing I won't lose. Even if we won't lose the war, I refuse to let this go."

"And what is that?" I asked Finnick. If he had something worth living for- even if we lost - I wanted a piece of it.

Finnick smirked and pinned me against the wall of the warehouse.

"You." He muttered as I stepped forward a bit. I inched closer, he inched closer, and our noses were almost touching. A few more inches, centimeters even.

And... BAAM! There you go! A little spoiler (tehe) of what's going down in Chapter 12! Thanks for reading! :)

-GirlonFire