Chapter Three: Saying Goodbye

"Marvel!" Em cries, rushing into the room immediately. I'd thought I'd prepared myself, but I had been expecting yelling, anger, maybe even violence – but I'm completely caught off guard by my sister's tears.

I wrap my arms around her and she buries her face in my shoulder. "Hey," I whisper. "It's okay. I promise, it's okay."

"No, it's not," she wails. "I don't want you to go!"

"I know," I say quietly. "I know, Em. But I have to – it's too late to change my mind even if I wanted to. And besides, I'll be back in a couple of weeks."

Em sniffs and looks up at me, her eyes bloodshot. "But what if you don't come back?" she whispers, her voice barely audible.

A lump has formed in my throat, and I swallow hard before responding. "I will come back. I promise."

She nods tearfully, and I force myself to look away from her and meet Diamond's eyes. She hasn't said anything so far, which worries me – she always has something to say. I only have an hour left with my two favorite people in the world before I leave for the Capitol, and I don't want to waste a single second.

"Di?" I ask cautiously.

She barely glances at me, but it's enough to show me that her eyes, like my sister's, are filled with tears.

"Em," I say softly. "Why don't you go wait in the hall for a couple of minutes? I'll tell the Peacekeeper to send you back in soon."

She nods. "Okay," she mumbles. I gently lead her outside.

"Can you have her wait out here for about five minutes, and then send her back in?" I ask the Peacekeeper. He nods, not saying a word.

"Thanks," I mutter, turning around and closing the door behind me.

Di hasn't moved a muscle.

"Hey," I say quietly.

She turns around slowly, blinking. Her arms are wrapped around her torso, as if she's trying to hold herself together.

Without thinking, I stride over to her and engulf her in a huge bear hug. "I'm sorry," I whisper as she finally breaks down and starts sobbing.

"How could you?" she whispers brokenly. I feel a little piece of myself shatter.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I repeat the words over and over again, hoping that maybe if I say it enough then it will make everything okay.

She sniffs, trying to pull herself together. I know she hates to appear weak. "You're an idiot," she tells me, her voice breaking. "I can't believe you're doing this."

"I'm sorry," I say again. "It's for you, you know," I say softly. "You and Em."

Her eyes turn to slits. "You're. Risking. Your. Life. For. Me?" Her voice is almost a shriek now. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

My eyes widen. "Diamond! Calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she shouts furiously. "Why did you think you needed to volunteer for me, Marvel? I know I don't have a lot going for me, but I'm not starving, I'm not completely poor, I'm not alone! Or at least I wasn't – now I will be!"

"But it could be better," I remind her. "And when I come home – I will come home, I promise you – everything will be different. The three of us will move into Victor's Village. We'll have everything we need. We don't have anyone to support us but ourselves, and don't you see? This is going to take care of everything for the rest of our lives!"

I can see that Di's eyes are flooding with tears again as she reaches a trembling hand into her pocket and takes something else. Silently, she takes my wrist and ties a short brown band around it. "My mom gave it to me. Before she died, I mean. Will you wear it? In the arena?" She looks up at me.

I smile. "Of course." Then I hug her and try to tell her without words again how sorry I am, and that nothing will keep me from coming back home.

The Peacekeeper opens the door and Em walks back into the room, heading straight back for my arms. For about five minutes we all just stand there, and I find myself almost wishing I hadn't volunteered, just so I would never have to let go.

Eventually, I pull away and lead them both to the couch. We sit, for the remainder of the hour we've been allotted, and I remind them that I'll come home. That I won't break my promise. That I love them both. And they pretend to be strong, holding in their tears, because they know it'll just make it harder for me to leave if they don't. there will be time for grieving later.

The Peacekeepers know we're on a schedule, though, and it seems as though it's only been seconds before they come to escort Em and Di from the room. I hug them each one more time, tell them goodbye.

Em clings to me desperately up until the last second, and Diamond holds firmly onto my hand until the Peacekeepers have to drag them both away. Em can't resist, she's so little, but Di is stronger and manages to fling her arms around my neck, kiss my cheek, and whisper goodbye before she's overpowered.

"I love you!" I call out to them, and I know they hear me because they send the message back one more time before the door slams.

Before I know what's happened, I've been escorted to the train that will take me and Glimmer from District One to the Capitol. I'm shown to my room by Juna Gyde, and she tells me that lunch will be in two hours and I should meet my mentors in the dining car on time. There's a clock next to my bed, so I have no excuse to be late. Until then, I'm free to do as I wish.

That's good, because I really need a nap. This morning – the tears, the shouting, the reassurances, the regret – its' been exhausting. Might as well sleep now, while I can, instead of losing consciousness of at the table in front of Glimmer and the mentors. That would be a bad first impression.

I mess with the alarm clock until I figure out how to set a time limit, and then I pass out without another thought. Sadly, it feels like I've only been asleep for a couple of seconds before the alarm goes off and I have to drag myself out of the bed and into the dining car.

I'm the last one there. Star and Jasper sit side by side, talking quietly. Glimmer is seated across from them, next to an empty seat that I suppose has been reserved for me. Suddenly it occurs to me that I'm a mess – and I'm the only one still wearing the same clothes. I try to remember if Juna Gyde had maybe told me to change, but I don't recall that happening, so I shrug it off.

"So, what's the plan for today?" I ask, taking a seat.

"Nothing much," Star replies. I narrow my eyes. I know I can't trust this one – she'll be Glimmer's mentor, not mine. It's not her job to keep me alive. I turn to Jasper instead.

He chuckles. "She's right, Marvel. The opening ceremonies will be tomorrow, of course, and we'll arrive sometime in the middle of the night today, or tomorrow morning, as it may be. So you're free to do whatever you want… although I would highly recommend getting started on your strategy."

Sounds legit. "Okay. They won't be around for that, right?" I ask, nodding towards Star and Glimmer, who both look slightly offended.

Jasper laughs again. "Of course not – if they're smart, they'll be figuring out Glimmer's strategy. They won't want you around any more than you want them here."

I hear Glimmer huff. "That's nice," she mutters.

I smirk. "Thanks," I say, because I know it'll annoy her.

Star shoots an irritated look at me. "Just eat, you guys, and then we can all get out of here and start with the strategies."

I fill up a plate with food, and even though I think I've found a hobby in annoying Star and Glimmer, I can't make myself eat slowly to piss them off. The food – there's so much and it's so good and it's nothing like the stuff I have to eat back in District One. I stuff myself until I'm about to burst.

Turns out I haven't completely failed in driving the girls crazy – they're both staring at me, looking completely disgusted.

"What?" I ask with my mouth full of potatoes.

Star wrinkles her nose. "Let's go, Glimmer," she says haughtily. "Before that thing makes me puke."

"Yes, because that's my life's goal," I say loudly and sarcastically as the two of them nearly sprint from the room. I turn back around to find Jasper snickering.

"This is going to be an interesting week," he says. "At the rate you're going, already, I'm not sure you'll even make it into the arena before Star decides to kill you herself. Look out, kid – she's absolutely wicked with a machete."

"I'm not worried," I say airily. "I can take care of myself."

"Against a couple of kids, sure," Jasper agrees. "Not against an experienced killer. What's your weapon?"

"A spear," I say, making sure to sound careless. "But I'm decent with knives, too."

He nods thoughtfully. "Okay. I can work with that." He doesn't speak for a couple of minutes before continuing.

"Tomorrow, you'll make your debut at the opening ceremonies, yes? Being from District One, you're pretty much guaranteed to have a good stylist. You'll be wearing the same outfit as Glimmer, more or less – don't whine, you can suck it up for an hour or two. And then training starts the next day."

I nod. "I know." I've been watching the Games since I was a kid, it's required for every citizen of Panem, both in the Capitol and the districts. I know how it works.

"We need to figure out the best way for you to appear to your allies – and your opponents," Jasper tells me. "As you know, tributes have presented themselves in every way imaginable over the years." I nod again. "Some play the part of a weakling, some act arrogant and tough, others still choose to just blend in. The smart tributes, the ones who come up with a personality that can win them rich sponsors, fool the other tributes, and get the audience to root for them – those are the tributes that usually wind up as the victors."

I nod again slowly – what he's saying makes sense. "So… what angle to you think we should go with, then?"

He frowns. "I'm not completely sure yet. I don't think the overly tough ploy is going to work – you look strong, don't get me wrong, but no offense, kid… you're just not quite up to that yet. And you'll never pull off trying to act like a weakling – usually it's only the girls that can manage that one, anyway."

I scowl – the comment about not being tough enough has gotten to me. "What's your brilliant idea, then?" I ask irritably.

Jasper looks thoughtful again. "Do you have any siblings, Marvel?" he asks abruptly.

Startled, I say, "Yeah, I have a sister, but what does that have to do with what my angle's going to be?"

"We could always go with the protective older brother," he says slowly. "It could work."

I consider it. "Maybe. Will it be enough on it's own, though?" I ask.

"Maybe we should mix in a little more," Jasper says in a low voice. "Have you taken any classes with Glimmer before? Any at all?"

I raise my eyebrows. "No. I'm a year ahead of her in school."

"Have you ever spoken to her before today?"

"No… I barely recognized her when he volunteered."

"Good," he says quietly. "And with everything you've said today… yes, this could work perfectly." Jasper sits straight up in his chair with gleaming eyes, looking mischievous. "Marvel Hawkwood, from this moment on until you win the Games, I officially declare you to be the biggest idiot in Panem."

So, this is my favorite chapter I've written so far... I'm excited about the next one too though. Marvel's such an interesting character... I have a lot of plans for this story. :)

Guys, please, please review this time? The last chapter only got one review. :( That's the reason I write this stuff, so I can get feedback. Not reviewing is like telling me I shouldn't bother posting. :( So please, let me know what you thought... otherwise I'm going to have no motivation to write and updates won't come as often as they are now.

On a happier note, I'll be really excited to post the next chapter, because it shows Marvel's thoughts on his new allies... it's fun to write everyone from a different perspective than Winning is Everything. And I can clear a lot up from the other fic, it's so hard for me to go back and read parts of it when I need it as a reference... ugh! It's literally painful. My writing has changed so much since then.

So yeah, please review, and I'll update again next week! :) And everyone enjoy their holiday tomorrow. Don't you love not having school? (Too bad it's replaced with practice at 6:00 in the morning for some of us... cough, my coach is mental, cough.) ;)

~What the Quell :)