"I love you more."

"No, I love you more!"

"I love you the most!"

"Okay, you win," Acton conceded, planting a kiss on Anja's nose. The two were still holed up in their make-shift cave under the rose bushes. They had attempted to build several fires, though only a couple of them managed to burn and only one burned for more than a minute. The exertion of their attempts warmed them up a bit, but they were still, for the most part, freezing to death.

Literally.

Anja gave him a goofy smile, giggling. "I know," she said cutely, pecking him on the lips. She was worse off than Acton, and he suspected she was starting to lose it. He had, however, considered that maybe she was just putting on a show for the sponsors. Or maybe making a joke out of it was her coping method. "I'm sleepy," she decided. She patted his jacket, fluffing it like a pillow, and leaned against it. Her eyes closed and she smiled, snuggling into his arm.

"Maybe you should stay awake," Acton said, a slight edge of worry in his voice. He gently removed his arm from under her and propped her up against the cave wall.

"But I'm tiiired," she whined, looking at him with her eyes that were the color of the ocean before a storm. He gave her a little smile and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm just a little worried about you," he admitted.

"Well don't be, silly," she laughed, sitting up a little straighter. "I'm perfectly dandy. I'm a little hungry, though. Do we have any food left?" Acton shook his head regretfully. "Oh. We should get some. Starvation is a boring way to die."

Again, Acton couldn't tell if Anja was actually losing it or just trying to send a message to their mentor. "Maybe we can go out and find some," he suggested, making a move as though to get up. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he sat back down beside her.

"Not right now," she said, a small smile playing on her lips. "I'm tired."

A small rock landed in the clearing in front of their shelter. Acton sat up, his senses suddenly very alert. "Where did that come from?" he asked warily. As he spoke, a second rock, slightly bigger than the first, fell to the ground with a thump several feet from the first one. "Anja. Get up. We have to move." He looked at her to see that her eyes no longer held a playful light but instead looked serious and worried. I guess she was acting.

He jumped as a massive boulder slammed against the ground, nearly blocking the entrance. "Anja, we have to go!"

"My legs!" she said, tears beginning to spill from her eyes. "I can't move. I can't. I don't. I—"

Acton cut her off by grabbing her wrists and heaving her up to her feet. He began to drag her along after him. She stumbled and fell forward. He hooked an arm around hers and kept her upright, pausing to grab his sword before leaving the thorny cave.

One glance upwards proved that his suspicions were correct. He could see the thick cracks in the rock face. Another chunk of the mountain plummeted to the ground and landed ten meters away. He stared at it, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before continuing to drag Anja along as quickly as possible. His heart was thumping in his chest and he wished he could go faster, but if he picked up the pace Anja would fall flat on her face. She was already dragging a couple feet behind him.

A wave of air knocked him forward with its force. Anja shrieked. He flung his arm away from himself to keep the sword from harming him. He face-planted into the snow and laid there for only a second before he scrambled to his feet. He started forward but was tugged back by a solid weight on his arm. He turned to see that Anja had fallen and had her legs trapped under the rock.

His eyes widened in shock and he began to yank on her arm. "Stop it!" she screeched. "Stop, stop, stop! It hurts! Oh, god." A hiccup of a sob escaped from her mouth as tears made salty trails on her cheeks.

"I'm going to get this off of you. It's going to hurt, but I'm going to." He jumped as another rock tumbled down the cliff face and crashed into the snow. He dropped his sword and let go of Anja's arm, instead beginning to push with all his might against the massive rock that crushed her.

"Don't help me," she said through clenched teeth. "Run!"

Acton continued to push at the boulder. "I'm not going to leave you here," he said evenly.

"Stop trying to be a hero, Acton," Anja gasped, biting her tongue to suppress another scream. "Even if you get me out I'll only be a liability. My legs won't work, Acton. We'll be sitting ducks and I am not going to be the reason that you die."

"I can't let you die, Anja!" Acton shouted, losing control of the tears he'd been trying to hold back. "Who knows how long you'll be stuck here before you finally die? Hours? Days? I'm not going to put you through that pain."

"Listen to me, Acton. In a matter of minutes, the top of the mountain is going to break off entirely and wipe out anything in the area. You need to run, now. If I managed to get out of this, I wouldn't be able to run. I'd slow you down and we'd both die."

"So we die together."

"No. You need to try and win. For me. Please. I know that if you try you can do it. You're not stupid like you think you are, and you're strong. You have the makings of a Victor."

"I'm not going to have you die because I chose to save myself instead."

"I am going to die today no matter what. You have a chance, Acton. Take it."

He took a step back from the rock. He knelt down beside Anja. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was red. He could see blood staining the snow under the rock. His stomach clenched. "I'm so sorry," he breathed, kissing her lightly on her forehead.

"Run, you idiot," she said with a sad smile.

Getting to his feet, Acton grabbed his sword. He paused for a moment, staring into the woods. "I love you," he said aloud. He glanced back at her, but she wasn't listening. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. Run, you idiot. His eyes stung with tears, but he sprinted away. After two minutes of running he heard a colossal crash that seemed to shake the entire Arena. He looked back to see a pile of rubble and snow settling over where he had been sheltering with Anja. He stopped and turned, leaning against a tree because he felt like he might throw up. He had to hear the cannon. He needed closure.

A minute.

Two minutes.

Three.

Maybe she made it out, a voice whispered inside of him. Maybe she's waiting for you to come help her. She's okay. That's why the cannon hasn't fired.

With the faint flame of hope in his chest, he began to jog back towards the avalanche. He swallowed the knot in his throat and focused on breathing. She has to be okay. She has to be. He slowed down as he reached the edge of the heap of snow and rocks. "Anja?" he croaked. Clearing his throat, he called her name again. "Anja?"

No answer.

The thought of her slowly suffocating to death made his heart ache. She was dying a slow, painful death because he hadn't tried hard enough to help her. It was all his fault. She had lied to him. He was an idiot. A complete and utter idiot. He didn't want to win, not without her. Becoming a Victor in her name wasn't enough. It wouldn't, it couldn't replace her. He had to have her back.

"Anja?" Still, there was no answer. With the land buried under the fallen rocks, he couldn't tell where her body would be if she was dying. So he simply stood there, watching, as the seconds ticked by. He hated himself. He hated that he hadn't saved her. He hated that she was dying because of him. Was she dying? Yes, he was sure of it, as much as it pained him. She couldn't have gotten far. She would have heard him and called out to him.

It was almost a relief when the cannon fired.

Acton drew in a deep, shuddering breath and exhaled slowly. That was it. She was gone. He glanced down at the sword that was limp in his left hand. It would be easy to end it now. But he shook his head slightly and turned around, beginning to walk away from the site of her death.

Anja had asked him to win for her.

So he would.