That night, Silvia prayed for the first time in her life. She prayed for her brother, because now only God could save him.
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Daisy opened her eyes slowly and looked up. Cato's forehead was still on hers and he was asleep, his warm breath falling on Daisy's cheek. She decided to wait until Cato woke up to move. Daisy looked at Cato's face and she smiled. He looked so peaceful, so comfortable. Daisy lifted her hand and touched Cato's cheek. She brushed his hair with her hands and smoothed it back. Finally she turned slightly and lightly kissed Cato's lips. She put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer, kissing him a bit more. She let go and pulled back. Cato opened his eyes and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She turned red.
"Well, I didn't know that you had that in you." Cato said calmly and lifted his head. Daisy turned redder. Cato chuckled. "How are your wounds, tomato?"
Daisy scrunched up her face. "I am not a tomato."
"You sure do look like one." Cato answered. He took his jacket off of Daisy and placed his hand on the neckline of her shirt and pulled her sleeve down.
"W-what are you doing?" Daisy asked.
"Inspecting your wound. Why? What did you expect me to be doing?" Cato raised an eyebrow. Daisy blushed again. "Uh nothing."
Cato smirked, knowing very well what Daisy thought he was doing. He decided to tease her a bit more. Cato bent down and his breath fell on Daisy's bare shoulder.
"Uh what are you d-doing?" Daisy asked again.
"Will you stop asking that? I'm inspecting your wound." Cato smiled to himself. He traced his finger around the wound. Daisy tensed up as Cato lifted the cloth bandage and his fingers touched the skin below her shoulder. His lips lingered just above her skin and she felt his hot breath. Daisy started to fidget. Cato was trying to keep his chuckles under control. Finally he pulled back and smirked. Cato couldn't control his chuckles anymore and he burst into laughter. Daisy turned pink as she realized he was messing with her.
"Cato stop it." She said.
"Oh my God! You should've seen your face. You actually thought I was going to..." Cato's laughter took over. Daisy looked at him laughing and smiled, at least he wasn't being his usual hard hearted self. "Oh God." Cato said holding his stomach. "My stomach is hurting from laughing so hard." Finally Cato stopped laughing and looked at Daisy, who was frowning.
"It's not nice to make fun of someone." Daisy said.
"Whatever." Cato rolled his eyes. He took out some fresh bandages and this time wrapped them around Daisy's chest wound. It was difficult but he managed to do it. He removed the bandages from her cheeks and reapplied them too.
"There, you're as good as new." Cato said. "Well not really. But I'm not a healer and I still did a pretty good job."
Daisy nodded. "Yes, thank you." She started to sit up and Cato supported her back until she was sitting beside him. She looked at Cato. "I'm hungry. Do you have any food?"
"No I don't. Seriously, you think I'd run around without food? You're crazy. But then again, most healers are." Cato grabbed some food and pushed it onto Daisy's lap. She ate slowly.
"Cato aren't you going to eat?" Daisy asked.
"No. I'm not hungry."
"You're pale. How long has it been since you ate?"
"A few days. I'll live." Cato looked away. Daisy frowned. "Cato you need to eat. Starving yourself won't help."
Cato shook his head stubbornly. Daisy groaned. "Stop being a baby. Come on, eat something."
Cato shook his head again. Daisy raised a spoon to his lips but he turned his head away. Daisy bit her lip and then came up with a plan. "Oh my God! It's a mocking jay!" She yelled. Cato turned his head back. "Wh-" Cato began and Daisy pushed the spoon into his mouth. She smiled a victorious smile as Cato swallowed the food. "Ha! I win!" Daisy said. Cato glared at her. "Yeah one spoon, big deal."
A while later Daisy widened her eyes. "Oh no! It's Clove!" She screamed and Cato again began to ask where when Daisy pushed another spoon into his mouth. "I win again!" Daisy grinned.
Cato rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"Oh look Cato! It's Rue!" She said. Cato smirked. "I'm not falling f-" Daisy pushed an entire bun into his mouth. Cato nearly choked. Daisy smiled. "It's not very nice to take food out of your mouth."
Cato glared at her as he chewed on the bread. He swallowed and grabbed a green apple. Daisy looked at him with happiness. "You're going to eat now?"
Cato smiled and then his eyes widened. "It's President Snow!" He exclaimed. Daisy's eyes widened in surprise and she looked around. "Where? Whe-" Cato stuffed the apple into her open mouth. He then looked at her sweetly. "It's not very nice to take food out of your mouth." He said, mocking Daisy's voice. Daisy growled. He was mocking her! She bit into the apple and chewed it slowly while glaring at Cato who was still smirking. They both turned when they heard the rustling of leaves. Rue ran out from behind a bush and into Daisy's arms. She was sobbing softly. Cato took out his sword.
"D-Daisy." Rue said between sobs. Daisy pulled her closer and rubbed her back. "It's okay. It's okay." Cato didn't say anything as he watched Daisy comfort Rue. "Rue are you hurt?" Daisy asked. Rue pulled back and nodded slowly before pushing up her right trouser leg. A deep gash came into view and Daisy's eyes widened in shock.
"Hey baby, it's going to be okay. It didn't get your muscle or your bone." Daisy said and pulled Rue onto her lap. Rue hugged Daisy and Daisy whispered soothing words to her. She looked at Cato who still had his sword out. She shook her head, her eyes pleading him not to kill her. Cato frowned and then put his sword away. He threw some bandages and cream at Daisy before turning away.
"You're leaving?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah. She's here now." Cato left, disappearing into the thick forest before Daisy could stop him. Daisy frowned. Why did she care if he was with her or not? Daisy sighed, she knew the answer. She needed him.
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Daisy carefully tied the bandage around Rue's leg. She had to do it with one hand since her right arm was near the wound and it hurt if she moved it. Rue sat silently and tried not to wince when Daisy applied the cream. After she was done dressing Rue's wound, she sat back and pulled Rue into her arms, cursing President Snow for allowing a 12 year old girl in the games.
"Daisy, why did Cato help you?" Rue asked slowly.
"Because deep inside, Cato is really a good guy." Daisy answered.
"But he's a Career and he's killed a lot of people."
"Yes, he has but he that's because he lets others rule over him and not his own self."
Rue nodded in understanding. Daisy rocked her silently and sang a soft lullaby. Rue fell asleep in her arms.
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No, no, no, he was not thinking of her. Cato shook his head for the five hundredth time in two days. He felt so frustrated. He had no idea why he cared about her health, or if she was safe. At first he told himself it was because she was carrying his baby and it was partially because of that but what was the other part? Cato shook his head again. He felt like screaming out loud. Clove eyed him suspiciously. He kept shaking his head.
"Cato what's wrong?" Clove asked.
"Uh nothing." Cato quickly replied. Marvel looked at him with the same suspicious expression. There was something going on with the leader of the alliance.
"Maybe it's because Glimmer died." The girl from District 4, Maya, said. Cato nearly rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I really miss her." He said in a sarcastic voice. However, the sarcasm was missed.
"Yeah, me too." Marvel agreed. Cato almost groaned.
"She was going to die anyway. She wasn't that good of a fighter." Clove put in.
"Yeah, you guys will just miss her looks." Maya said. Cato frowned. Looks? As if Glimmer had any. She was the most unattractive girl he'd ever seen. Now Daisy on the other han- Cato shook his head again and then kicked a rock with his foot. He was in a bad mood.
"Okay so let's see, we have the two 11s left and that foxy girl. Oh and the healer and that shortie from 12 as well. That means we have only five people left. That's good; I bet the easiest would be the girl from 11 and the two 12s." Clove said.
Maya nodded her head. "Yeah, that shortie from 12 is only good at crying. He'll be easy to kill."
"Do we have to kill the healer?" Marvel asked. Everyone stopped and looked at him. "I mean she's kind of cute." Marvel turned red. Maya rolled her eyes. "For once Marvel, stop going after girls because of their looks."
"Hey, he does have a point." Chase, the boy from District 4, backed Marvel. Clove groaned. "Not you too." Chase shrugged.
"But it's true. Why don't we ask her to join us?" Marvel asked.
"She's a healer not a fighter. She would just get us killed." Maya answered.
"Yeah and she's too friendly with 11 anyway. I really think something's going on between her and that Thresh guy." Clove put in. Cato cringed.
"Nah, she's not the romantic type. She's more the children type." Maya said. "She's the only one who's friendly with the girl from 11 and also that guy from 12. I'm pretty sure he's younger then her, he's like only 14."
Marvel shrugged. "I like children types." Cato nearly killed him.
"Marvel just chill okay. Glimmer's death really did something to you. You need to stop thinking about girls for once in your life." Maya said.
"I only think about attractive girls. Not plain old any girl. Like you would know, you're ugly." Marvel crossed his arms. Maya took her knife out and pointed it at Marvel. "What did you just say?"
"Hey, you two stop fighting. Save your strength for the losers." Clove said. Maya glared at Marvel and then put her knife away. They continued walking. Cato's thoughts kept venturing back to Daisy. They reached the Cornacopia where they had set the bombs. Chase was the one who led them through the trap. They sat down in the shade. Marvel took out his spear and ran his hand over it. He loved spears. Cato rubbed his eyes. They sat there for a long time in silence. Cato was frowning, Clove was playing with her knife, Maya was thinking of a plan, Marvel was looking at his spear and Chase was keeping watch. That was when they saw the smoke.