Chapter Two: The Capitol
Peeta
It wasn't until I felt Katniss's warmth on my body, her hand in mine, and her head on my shoulder again, that I realized how much I miss her. It's a selfish thought, but I'm almost looking forward to when we can get the tributes out of our hands and have some alone time. Besides, my time with Rory is next to useless because I have no advice to give him on how to stay alive other than "Find a girl that's willing to pretend to be in love with you, heal you, protect you, shoot game for you, risk her life for you, and then kill all of the other tributes for you." Because as far as I- or anyone else with common sense- is concerned, that's the only reason I made it out of the arena alive. Katniss. And still, she cannot understand how incredibly much I owe her.
It's more than I can bear to see someone she loves get harmed. I want to comfort her... to make her feel better, but nothing I say will change the way she feels. Nothing I do will stop her from shielding her friend Gale, from the pain that lies before him. And nothing that the Capitol says will keep her doing what she feels she needs to do, no matter how many warning they give her. My, what a puzzle it would be to get inside her head! But she tells me she won't do anything wrong. I can see it in her eyes that she intends to keep that promise. But yet, there's a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, a voice in my head, a reminder that someone always seems to get hurt- that keeps me from sleeping at night.
I wake up to the pleasant surprise that Effie has let me sleep in. It was well needed since had far from a good night's sleep last night. I guess since Rory and Emberlyn are with their stylist's all day today, there isn't much point in making the mentors wake up early. Katniss, who is already seated at the breakfast table when I enter the room, seems to be in a very weird mood. She's been laughing and smiling at me although it seems forced. I want to ask her if she's upset about something, but I decide against it since I have already made pretty clear what's going on in her head. I grab a roll and dip it in my hot chocolate. Katniss smiles because she knows I always do this. We spend probably an hour just talking as we take our time eating, glad to have no Effie and her clipboard around for once. When we're finished eating, Katniss suggests that we go up to the roof.
"We have all day," she says "might as well have some fun." I agree because I would have to be mad to turn down a day with the girl I love.
It's a gorgeous day out, and we can see the Capitol people busily making their way down the streets. Of course today is an exciting day for them with the highly anticipated tribute parade only a few hours away. I play with Katniss's hair as she lays her head in my lap, which brings back memories- for both of us I think- of the last Hunger Games. It's a little less stressful this time, since we're not going into the arena. But being responsible for keeping two kids alive is almost worse than keeping yourself alive.
It's not until the setting sun tells us that it's almost time for the tribute parade, that we finally leave the roof. It was so comfortable and relaxing, neither of us wanted the day to end. As we head downstairs, Effie greets us with a:
"Where have you been? The parade is starting in a half an hour!" It's a typical Effie thing to say when we still have yet plenty of time before an event that Katniss and I won't even take part of.
"Sorry Effie, we couldn't find you." I lie and see Katniss grimace out of the corner of my eye.
"Alright, well let's go, we have to get to the chariots to meet the tributes before they go." she says glancing at her clipboard one last time before taking off on her four-inch heels. We follow her to street outside where the district twelve chariot is parked. First we meet the stylists. Katniss and I each give Portia a quick hug, and shake hands with the new stylist, Veronica. I spot the kids on the other side of their chariot, and nudge Katniss to follow me over. I'm surprised to see how similar their costume is to ours. Both of them are wearing black under their capes and Emberlyn is wearing a sparkling black dress under her flame-colored cape. They won't be starting on fire until just before the parade begins. Effie tells us we can go join the crowd of people waiting to get a look at the tributes. We barge through the mob of anxious Capitol people, nodding and smiling when they recognize us and shout out our names. We find a quiet spot toward the end of street. hoping that if we stay here, we won't district the crowd from the chariots. After a few minutes, we can see a glimpse of the district one chariot down the road at the start of the parade.
They have a great representation of luxury- their specialty in district one- with sparkly shades of vibrant red fabric, obnoxiously huge hair pieces, shiny silver tights and slick gold boots bedazzled with real diamonds and rubies. I can't catch the names Claudius Templesmith is reading over the screaming and commotion. The career tributes beam as ecstatic capital fans throw roses and blow kisses upon the two tributes from their favorite district competing.
But not far behind in the line of capital loved tributes is district two, dressed in a replica of the masonry their district is in charge of... only with stunning hair, makeup and accents added on to make them stand out. I can feel tension rising in me as the proud and prepared careers wave and smile at the fans. In both years that Katniss and I were in the games, the district two tributes were by far, the most vicious and experienced.

I see Katniss wince as the district two chariot passes us. I know that she's thinking that the boy is the definition of a career... his bulky, tall body, and a look of fierceness- even while smiling waving- make it clear that he knows exactly what he's doing, going into these games.

The girl sitting on the side of the chariot nearest to us catches my eye and sends a shiver down my spine, because I've seen her face before. Slender with long dark hair and murderous dark eyes... but it's the look on her face- a grimace- that brings back the horror of my first hunger games.

"Clove" whispers Katniss, horror struck, as she too recognizes the girl on the chariot.

"No, it can't be," I say, more arguing with myself rather than Katniss "Clove is dead." After a few moments of confusion, Claudius Templesmith confirms the thought that's been swimming around in my head.

"... That's right folks, this really is Clove's younger sister!" Katniss shrieks and and I squeeze her hand. "She volunteered! Can you believe it? Eve doesn't let her sister's failure get in the way of her dream! Now that's one brave tribute!"

Katniss and I slip out of attention for the rest of the district's chariots, still in shock. It's only when we see a glimpse of fire at the start of the parade and that I perk my head up, eagerly.

The crowd roars as Emberlyn and Rory stand in a ray of scorching flames as their capes are blown by the wind, building up the synthetic fire even more. I can see why the audience is so hectic as their chariot nears us- they look absolutely stunning! It makes me smile as I recall being up on the that chariot in my own flaming costume. To me, it was my one glorious moment from being in the hunger games. And once Emberlyn and Rory get over the nervousness that comes with a capitol crowd, they seem to be enjoying themselves too. They smile, wave, and blow kisses at the screaming fans. When they catch sight of Katniss and I, I give them a thumbs up and clap extra hard, trying to appear excited as I watch two helpless little kids get their hopes up just when they are about to be sentenced to death.

Emberlyn

I'm on fire. This is the moment everyone has been waiting for, and I can't help but be excited too. I look at the giant screen where they are showing the televised event and I see how truly amazing I look. My cape is so full of brilliant red flames that you can't even tell from the audience that it's only the synthetic cloth that's on fire. In fact, as far as they're aware, just the act of two district-twelves moving at high speed on a chariot makes the flames appear. It makes me feel like just the presence of me brings flames to Panem. And I like that feeling. It's not a bad one to go into the arena with.

It's late at night when we finally arrive back at our hotel after the event. I feel like crashing into my bed the second I walk into my room, but I take ten minutes to shower, wash off my ridiculous make-up, and change my clothes before going off to sleep.

I open my eyes to the darkness of the woods. I gasp in shock as I stare at my surroundings, trying to figure out where I am. What has happened to me? I'm starving and cold and I have a huge gash on my leg that's covered in dried up blood. I stumble around on my frozen feet searching for someone. Anyone. It isn't long before I catch sight of a boy, several yards away from me, emerging from where he seems to have been hiding behind a tree. I wave him over, my lips too dry and weak to get any words out. He walks slowly at me, awestruck, and then picks up his pace. He runs toward me until he is only a few feet in front of me. That's when I see his face from underneath the blood and scars. He's the tribute from district two. Just as I'm finally realizing where I am, the boy reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a knife.

I wake up curled in a ball on the ground, screaming. My voice doesn't stop until I notice that the soft ground I'm currently laying on isn't ground at all. It's my bed. I gasp in relief as i touch things around myself to make sure I'm fully awake. I must have been crying in my sleep because my eyes are crusted dry. I go to the bathroom to wash my face and get a drink of water. Then i make my way back my bed, even though there's not a chance of me falling back to sleep after that dream.

Just I'm sitting down on the edge of my bed, I hear a knock on the door. I overgo, a moment of panic. Could I have slept through my alarm? I glance at the clock, and find that I haven't slept in. It's 2:00 in the morning. I groan, as I realize it's probably someone

complaining of the screaming. I stumble over to the door in my pajamas, and open it to see Katniss.

"Can't sleep?" she says, reading the expression on my face. I shake my head. "There's somewhere I want to show you." I follow her down the hall, still shaking from my nightmare. She opens a door that leads to a staircase. I feel a cool breeze coming from up the stairs.

"The roof?" I ask, a little confused. Katniss nods.

"Peeta showed me this place two years ago." she said "It's where I come when I have bad dreams." We walk up the narrow steps until we can see the whole night sky. I peer down to see the city of the Capitol alive with commotion. Lights everywhere and cars driving around despite the fact that it's the middle of the night.

"It's beautiful." I say, amazed by the city nightlife.

"Beautiful," Katniss agrees "but disgusting." She frowns at the excited citizens walking the streets. I know what she means. All of those people are here for the Hunger Games. I turn away from them and look up instead. And for the rest of the night, I admire the starry sky, a view that I took for granted in my 15 years in District Twelve.

I wake up early to get ready for my first day of training. I'm nervous, and it's clear that it shows as I sit at the breakfast table.
"Training is nothing to be worried about," Peeta ensures me "you shouldn't even let the other tributes know what you're good at or they'll feel threatened by you."
"He's right," Katniss says "I recommend trying things you aren't good at first." I'm suddenly taken aback by their advice.
"Hide my talents?" I demand. "How is that supposed to get me allies?" They stare at me for a few moments and then Katniss shakes her head.
"No, no, no. The only alliance that's formed beforehand is the Careers. They can't be trusted." Katniss nearly shouted at me.
"Now, maybe she's right, Katniss" Peeta contemplated "If she wants to have an alliance going into the games, that might help her... confidence."
"Fine!" Katniss snaps. "You want an ally? You can have Rory. He's the only one you can trust."
"What makes you think I can trust him more than any Career tribute?" I rage on, "Besides, just because someone's from one or two doesn't mean they're a Career!"
"Oh yeah, and I'm sure Clove's sister hasn't had any training before this! You think she just volunteered for fun?" Katniss's face was red with anger. I didn't know what to say. Finally, Peeta broke the ice.
"Who knows," he mutters "Maybe she's suicidal." I laughed and Katniss's face softened.
"Emberlyn..." Katniss said, more calm now "I'm sorry I barked at you. I just really don't want to see you end up like... you know, like Peeta after being with the Careers."
"It's true," Peeta said, remembering the event "and you won't have someone there to save your life." He pulls his arm around Katniss and kisses the top of her head.
"I know," I admit "but, you guys had allies last year and that was fine,"
"Yes, well Haymitch told us to make friends, and he was our mentor so he knew what he was talking about, and I'm your mentor!" Katniss said through her teeth. Peeta snorted and then said in a mocking tone that made me laugh
"That's right, sweetheart."