I'm sitting alone in the couch, waiting for my family to come say goodbye. I'm nervous, Catnip. But I'm not afraid. No. I know Prim will be fine. At least, for one more year. The door opens, and my family comes in. Posy hugs me tight, scared.
"You have to win." She whispers. "You have to get back home, Gale, you do. If you lose that big machine is going to take you away."
"I'm going back home, I promise you."
Rory is away from me, looking kinda hurt.
"I told you. I didn't need you to volunteer for me." I opened my mouth to talk back, but he just hugged me. "Please take care. Don't do anything stupid. Just… Just please, get back home." I nodded.
"You have to be strong, Rory. I'm trusting you to take care of your family, ok? I know you can do this. You're an amazing boy; you're capable of taking care of all of them. You know how to hunt, right? I'm sure they'll turn off the fence sooner or later. Just take care of them if…"
"There's no if! You're coming back, Gale, I know you are." I just nod. I know that's what he wants to hear. That in a few weeks I'll be safe and sound at home. But that was a lie. I wasn't really looking forward to staying alive. I mean Rory really can hunt, and my mom even got a job. They don't need me anymore. But I couldn't leave Prim alone. Vick hugged me too. I looked at my mom. She was at the corner, hugging herself, looking quite pale.
"Mum…" I say.
"Just don't let your heroisms be stronger than your will to live ok?" when I was about to answer, the peacekeepers walked in, the one who whipped me giving me a sadistic smile, and took my family out of the room. And then, Prim got in the room, and hugged me. She was trembling slightly.
"Please come back home." She says, between tears.
"Prim, I can't promis…"
"Please, you have to. I can't lose you too."
"I promise I'll do everything to get home, ok?"
She nods, and puts her hand on her pocket, taking out a photography from there. I raise my eyebrows, confused.
"It's… I thought you'd like to have this." She says handing me. It's was you, Catnip. You were in the woods. Probably the day that you tried to take Prim there. You were lovely. The sun was touching your face and you were smiling awkwardly, and your eyes were so full of life. You were so full of life, with your hair in a braid, sitting next to the lake where we used to spend lazy Sundays.
"Thank you, Prim." I say. "It means a lot to me." She nods again. "I think you should go, before the peace…" she hugs me again, but she doesn't say anything this time. The peacekeepers once again pull her out, and she doesn't have the strength to fight. I know how she must feel. She lost you, and now that she's healing, she can lose me. I'm not such a big part of her life, but I know that I was helping her almost as much as she was helping me. I leave the room, knowing there it wasn't anyone that was going to visit me. I walked to the train, and Madge and the two other kids were already there, sitting each one in a chair, looking extremely nervous. I sit down.
"Look, Gale." Madge starts to say, looking really determined. "You can say whatever you want, but I don't want your help in the arena." I open my mouth, just ready to argue with her. "No. You keep your mouth shut. All I'm saying is I was thinking about volunteering for Prim before you even talked to me. I mean, Katniss died to keep Prim alive, and I'm not letting Katniss die for nothing. Even though you don't believe it, Gale, Katniss was my best friend too, and I'm not letting her die in vain. And we all know that Prim needs you alive to heal from her sister's death, so you're going back home, you're going to worry about yourself, and yourself only in that freaking arena, and if you ever try to help me, I'll quick you in the balls."
I close my mouth, and I hear a little giggle come out of that girl, Emma, mouth.
"What are you laughing at?" I ask rudely.
"Nothing." She says. "You are that girl, Katniss' cousin, right?" I look at her. Cousins? And then I remember. Yes. Cousin. I don't think you know Catnip, but we were cousins. The capitol couldn't think that we were close to be a couple. So we were cousins.
"Yes." I reply her.
"You must miss her. My cousin also died in the Hunger Games you know, it was two years ago." I nodded, not really listening to her. I take your picture out of my pocket and look at it. It's unthinkable that you, the girl in this picture, my Catnip, isn't in this world anymore. It isn't fair, is it? We should be at home right now, in the woods, cheering that once again, both of us were safe and sound. But instead, you're six feet under the ground and I'm going to the arena.