A/N: First off, sorry I took so long to update! I hope you guys enjoy your new chapter, but I want to get 20 reviews before I add more so read, review, and recommend this to others! Enjoy!
P.S.-I do not own The Hunger Games or any of the characters!
Rue's POV
I stand there, coughing, choking. My chest hurts, my head hurts, everything hurts. There's smoke, lots of smoke, all over. Stinging my eyes, choking me. And fire, with heat radiating from it, burning my skin. All the other kids made it outside, but I tried to save the class pet, a bird named Azalea. Somehow they forgot about me when they were doing checks and headcounts. Woozy, I manage to stumble over to the window. I see all of the kids outside, and a group of people watching the fire. I see my Mother, yelling, screaming for me. I see people running. I see black as I pass out and hit the ground.
Katniss' POV
I scream her name again, "RUE!" I see her fall, disappear from view, making me scream louder. I start to run, as fast as I can in my pregnant state towards the building. Haymitch grabs me, drunk but still sensible enough to realize a pregnant woman running into a burning building isn't a good idea, even if it is me. "Are you crazy? You can't go in there! You'll hurt the baby, and yourself!" "I don't see anyone else volunteering, so I have to do it myself," I growl back at him, pulling free and running closer to the building. Before I get close, a young man stops me. It takes me a minute but I recognize him as the young man from the square earlier in the day, the one who can't breathe in the mines. "Where is she?" he asks. "On the second floor, by that window," I respond, "But-" before I can tell him not to go in there because he'll have a harder time breathing than in the mines, he dashes off into the burning building.
After minutes there is no sign of the man or Rue, and I worry that I not only lost my daughter, but also a man brave enough to put a little girl's life before his own. Just as I begin to lose hope, an ash-covered figure stumbles out of the burning building with a lump over his shoulder, and collapses a few feet away from the building. A few men run over to pull the man far enough away from the building and I run over to the lump, my sweet little lump! My Mother rushes over carrying many of her medical supplies which she puts to use on Rue, who is breathing but unconscious. Another medical expert, Gelda, begins to help the man who saved my daughter, a man who I owe everything to, yet I know nothing about, not even his name.
I wait, holding my breath, to see how Rue is, and also the man. My mother manages to resuscitate Rue, who begins crying. I hold her close to me and let her cry, my beautiful baby who is smart but yet still innocent, still a child. I notice she is clutching a beautiful red bird, and even when unconscious she was still able to hold on to her, their class pet. She opens her hands and lets the bird go. He flies up and lands on a tree branch, then chirps happily, which makes her smile. Since she is awake and well, I leave her and go to check on the man who saved her life. He is awake but gasping and coughing, clearly having trouble breathing. I kneel down next to him and hug him so tightly that I'm afraid I'll impair his breathing even more. "What's your name?" I ask him. He coughs again, then manages to sputter out, "Jackson. Jackson Whitfield". I look at him solemnly. "Jackson Whitfield, I will never be able to repay you for what you did for me today. Never." He coughs a bit more then looks at me, admiration in his eyes. "I would do anything to repay the woman who set us all free." I blush, uncomfortable at the praise. "I was just the face. There were a lot of people who did a lot more than I did. All I did was cause a lot of trouble." He looks like he doesn't really believe this but nods anyway, and continues to let Gelda tend to him. I walk back over to Rue, and notice Haymitch watching me. Ever since I told him about the baby, right after I told Rue, he seems to have been watching me more closely. Maybe because he doesn't want me to do anything stupid and accidentally hurt myself or the baby, and since there's no Peeta to watch me any longer, he has to. I march over to Haymitch, who seems to be only mildly drunk for once. "Why are you staring at me?" I ask, expecting him to smirk and shoot a cocky answer back at me, but for once he looks serious. "Why are you talking to him?" he asks. "He saved Rue's life!" I shout, angry at his ungratefulness. "Stay away from that man," he replies forebodingly, then walks away leaving me angry and stunned that he thinks he can forbid me from doing anything. I'll show him!
A/N:So, what did you guys think?Review! What do you think should happen between Jackson and Katniss? Let me know if you have ideas, and remember, 20 reviews before the next chapter!