A/N: Okay, so I know I said I'd only update a couple of times a week, but I love this chapter. So yeah, basically just read. The end is my favorite part. Let me know what you guys think!

The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins.

"Someday we're gonna see that everybody wants the same thing
Well, I just thought you should know that only you amaze me"

- Running Wild, Jules Larson

The blonde head continues to swivel every which way until it stops and stares directly at the area where we had just been sitting. He crouches, and I am cursing my own stupidity. The ring of fiery red hair still lays in the spot it fell to. He dares to a few pieces, and then looks around carefully.

"I don't know who you are, but maybe I could help you..." He speaks softly.

I turn to Tacey with pleading eyes, I want to call out to him. But her gaze doesn't meet my own, and she simply continues to stare down at Peeta with an amused expression. He looks around a couple of more times before exhaling an exhausted sigh. He grabs more hair, and piles it together. Then, he picks up a large wad of leaves and dirt. Carefully, he covers the red pile to where it's no longer visible.

"For someone so sneaky, next time you should cover up something so obvious," Peeta calls softly while getting to his feet.

Then, he begins to walk off. I watch him, and then turn to Tacey. Her eyes are wide and alert.

"Let's follow him," she finally says.

I don't disagree, and hop down out of the tree silently. Tacey walks in front of me, heading in his direction. We don't talk for a while, but we also don't find her savior, as that's basically what he is considering he's spared her twice now. He seems to have disappeared. Soon, Tacey lets out a yawn. It takes one glance at her face, and I can tell she needs to sleep as soon as possible.

I speak up for the first time in a couple of hours, "Tacey, when's the last time you slept?" I ask her.

She continues walking, and I'm about to ask again when she finally answers. "I haven't. I've not fully slept since the reaping."

I grab her arm to stop her from moving anymore. She tries to turn around and face me, but her feet get tangled up some how. I catch her by the shoulders before she completely falls. I lead her to a tree nearby, and then hoist myself up to the bottom branch. I help her climb like I did earlier that day, but much more slowly now. We reach a sturdy top branch, and I strap her in by her belt. It's still afternoon, so it's not quite chilly yet. Still, I take off my own jacket and give it to her as a blanket. I need her to be well rested. She's my guide around the arena, as I still don't know my way around quite yet.

Once she's asleep, which didn't take long, I climb over to another branch beside her. I decide to strap myself in also, and sit watching the unmoving ground below us. Night falls quickly, even though it feels like it should only be midday still. Soon, the Capitol seal appears above us to recap the deaths of day two. I tap Tacey beside me and she groggily watches the sky. The first to appear is the District 3 male. It's not very significant I suppose. Then, the District 4 Male appears. That's it. Beside me Tacey sighs slowly.

"I wonder who killed the career?" she asks, seeming to be awake now.

I shrug, and then think of Peeta. He was alone with the District 4 tributes, then appeared below us in the tree. He very well could've killed the Career boy.

"Katniss," Tacey interrupts my thoughts. "Tell me about District 12."

I'm caught off guard for a moment. It's such a random but simple question. I can't quite think of what to tell her, so I start with the basics.

"Well, it's pretty simple. The children are in school, once your old enough, you work in the mines. The only way to avoid the mines is to be a townsfolk, that or to of course win these games. But a victor is pretty uncommon in our District, we've only had two." I stop to catch her eyes, she's staring in space, but looks at me to let me know she's listening.

"You probably know about Prim, she's my sister. She and my mother look alike, with their light colored hair. It stands out in the Seam, that's where the poorest of the district live, like us. My mother isn't from the Seam. My father gave me my Seam coloring. He died in a mining accident when I was younger. My friend Gale's dad died in the same accident. Gale and I look alike because all of us look alike in the Seam. We all have the brown hair and grey eyes, it's common for people to think we're all related. But we're not, I'm not related to Gale or any of the others as far as I know. That's basically it though, we do what we can to get by. Just like everyone else." I say concluding, I don't want to talk about the woods or get anyone in trouble.

She nods slowly, and I decide to continue on the same topic. "What about you Tacita?" I say her name jokingly.

She scowls slowly, but then starts to talk. "District 5 is simple too I guess. My parents are better off than some, maybe what you'd call in the middle. My dad is an equipment manager, my mom works for the butcher in town as his assistant. I have two brothers, Archard and Ryce. Archard, he's 17, graduated early. He's really smart, works in the offices at the local solar plant and develops all kinds of methods or something. Ryce is 11, not old enough for the reapings. He's so smart too. Me, well I'm the different one. Both of my brothers have black hair and green eyes. I look like my aunt on my dads side. I'm an average smart, but not like them. They were the one that got the notice taken to them, until I was reaped of course. Now I've got all the spotlight I never wanted. Maybe I liked being in the spotlight of my brothers." She comments the last part bitterly.

"But yeah, District 5, you don't think about it much, it's just home. I couldn't imagine any different before I came to the Capitol. It just was the normal. Now I'm basking in the possibility of never having another normal because of the fact of death or life. Sure, if I come home I'll be home and alive. But it'll never be the same you know? I'll be paraded around as a victor until I die. If I die in here, I never have that fame. I mean I wanted the average life, and I thought I was going to have it. I never thought I'd be here. I didn't want the attention."

She leans back and closes her eyes, lost in thought. I'd never thought of it like that, I mean but she doesn't have the benefits of being a victor. Her life was something I'd never had, an average, easy life. We'd struggled and worried, while her family had no need. They didn't need her riches if she won, they probably could function without her from what it sounded like. Prim and my mom, they wouldn't have much if I didn't come back.

"I don't want to get out of here Katniss," she says finally.

I stare at her face with a foreign expression. She sleepily opens her eyes and squints at me. I'm about to tell her that was something crazy, she loved her family. She'd want to get back to them. But instead, I close my mouth and sit back staring into the night sky. Tacey unclips her belt and I glance over at her. She hands me her backpack willingly, and I take it stupidly. She begins to climb down, and I then start to unclip myself. But by the time I have everything gathered she's at the bottom of the tree.

"Don't follow me Girl On Fire, you can win this. You don't need me." And then she turns and strides away. I blink slowly, and I think I've heard the last of Tacey when she turns back around and simply looks at me again even though I can barely see her anymore.

"Bye Katniss, I'll see you again!" She calls, and I wonder if she really meant it.