Author's Note: Shorter chapter this time, but I wanted to end this chapter the way that I did. Well, enjoy!

The Final Goodbyes

While I'm still trying to process how this has happened, I barely have time to glance toward Effie Trinket, who is striding over to the glass ball on the opposite side of the stage to pick the boy tribute. Angry thoughts are pounding through my head, rage coursing through my veins. Why didn't I tell Katniss how I feel about her before she was reaped? This is the question that is relentlessly beating through my thoughts.

Effie is putting her hand into the glass ball now.

I had eleven years to tell her.

She has grasped onto the fate-laden slip.

And now she may not come back here.

She opens the slip, and clears her throat.

I think I'd die for her if I could…

"–Peeta Mellark!" Effie announces to the crowd.

Well, that's convenient. Looks like I'm going to die whether I like it or not.

I make my way toward the stage in a daze. The crowd is silent as I take my place. I don't know whether to cry, or to be happy that Katniss and I get to spend our last moments together.

Conflicted, I decide to express no emotions at all.

"Well, well, let's give a round of applause to our newest tributes: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!" Effie says.

The crowd remains silent, and knowing that the reaping is now over, it begins to file out of the square. I wish I could follow them.

But, I'm immediately shuffled off the stage by two large Peacekeepers. Peacekeepers are the policemen of the districts, per se. They keep things "under control". The two men bring me through the doors of the Justice Building where I'm led to an elevator. I ride up a few floors, and am told to wait in a room across the hall.

The room is very extravagant, with soft, velvety furniture and fine lighting. However, I'm not functioning well enough to appreciate any of this. Why would I be? I was just sentenced to my death.

I know why I'm in this room right now. This is where I will say my last goodbyes to my family and friends. I know I can't cry here, not now – I need to show my loved ones that I'm going to try my hardest in these Games.

The door opens a few moments later, and in walks my father and two brothers. My mother is not present, unsurprisingly. She probably doesn't even care that I'm so close to dying.

My siblings and father sit on chairs near me, and we sit in silence for most of the allotted time. At the end of the time period, my father whispers, "I only wish you and Katniss could both come back here…" his voice trails off.

Does he know I love her? I mean, he was the one that showed her to me, but I didn't realize he might know my feelings. I am about to ask him, but a Peacekeeper alerts us that our time together is up. Suddenly, that question isn't important, and we're all hugging.

They wish me good luck in the arena and tell me to come back, but I take this as a last goodbye. I know I would like to win so I could see them again, but that would mean that Katniss would die, and I don't think I can live with that.

The door shuts behind them, but opens again immediately. Delly Cartwright, my best friend since childhood enters, and embraces me. She babbles on for a few minutes, trying to sound confident and optimistic as she usually does, but I remain silent. My mind is blank, and the only response I can come up with is a nod of the head.

Soon, Delly's gone too. Her visit went by in the blink of an eye; my sleeve is damp, so she must've been crying. Or was I?

So my father is gone. My brothers are gone. And Delly is gone.

And now, I realize how desperately alone I feel.

A Peacekeeper should be coming to retrieve me in a few minutes since there's no one left to visit me. But no one comes.

Many minutes pass, and the door opens. I get up to leave, until I realize there's not a Peacekeeper standing in the doorway, but my mother instead. I don't know whether to be relieved or angry that she showed up, but her countenance certainly suggests the latter.

She strides toward me, pushes me back into my seat, and sizes me up. That is when I decide that I wish she hadn't come.

"Listen, I wasn't planning on coming here," she begins dryly, sounding bored, "but your father said you would appreciate the visit, so here I am." She stares at me again, and I remain silent, at a loss for words. She looks at me a bit longer and finally says, "you know, maybe we will have a winner this year…"

Confused by her faith in me, I must've given away a quizzical expression, because what she says next is, "…because that girl is a real fighter."

Laughing, taking that as her cue to leave, she walks away from me, out of the room, and slams the door behind her.

And I realize that if I do come back, then that is what I will come back to.

Suddenly, not coming back doesn't seem so horrifying.