I was knocked off my feet, and Peeta disappeared as my vision was replaced with swirling water. It forced its way through my open mouth and down my throat, choking me as I struggled for any air. I tried to swim up, but I couldn't find up.

Where's Peeta?

My eyes opened, only to have water block my view again. My arms and legs paddled uselessly, trying to find Peeta. The whirlpool seemed to push me the opposite of where I wanted to go. Eventually, I gave up, and I let myself drift to the bottom, not sure of how I still had enough breath to survive. Colors flashed against my closed eyelids. I was wondering if I was dead. If so, I was happy my last real image was of Peeta running towards me.

The water stopped spinning, and I swam upwards, seeing something bright, praying it was sun.

My head broke through the water's surface, and I gasped for breath. I floated towards the nearest stretch of land without looking for enemies first. A hand reached down to pull me out of the water.

My heart pounded. "Peet…"

"No. Sorry, princess. Just me," Johanna sighed, pulling me up. I noticed my hand didn't sting from the boils. Looking back at the water, I saw a murky gray substance in the water. It looked like the fog that had attacked Finnick and me. I didn't care to figure out how the water had fixed my wounds. I was only concerned about where Peeta was.

"Where's Peeta? And Finnick? And Beetee? Where were you guys from the beginning?" I asked desperately. I breathed out, "Where's Peeta?"

"My district partner, Blight and I, led the Threes, Peeta, and Mags around trying to look for you. I lost Blight and Mags somewhere back there," Johanna growled.

"I'm sorry… but at least they aren't dead…"

"Yet," she snapped. "I mean, it's not like either of them were much, but they're all Finn and I've got from our homes. It would've been nice if we would've gotten to keep just that while in here."

"Why didn't you just stick together?"

Johanna rolled her eyes at me, "We couldn't. It crossed the line, and we had to split up."

"What does that…"

Because of me. She's in on Haymitch's deal too, isn't she? I realized something. Why else would she have been so interested in Peeta? Peeta was telling the truth about not having a thing for her. My head drooped; I was such a fool. Johanna recognized my realization.

"Yeah, girly. Now, c'mon. We've gotta get back into the jungle."

"Where is Peeta?"

"I don't know, kid, but we've gotta move."

"My name is Ivy."

"Do I look like I care? Move," Johanna ordered, pushing me forward. I didn't cry as I ran forward with Johanna; in fact, I wasn't even angry. I had been expecting it. I should've guessed that as soon as I had Peeta in my fingertips that the Games would tear him away again. It wouldn't have even surprised me if the Gamemakers had caused the whirlpool on purpose to avoid me getting anything I wanted.

We reached the beach, and Johanna let me take a few moments on the sand to catch my breath. For the baby, she had said.

"IVY!"

My head shot up.

"IVY!"

"Did you hear that?" I screamed.

"Hear what?" Johanna asked from her lying down position on the sand. She sat up rapidly, picking up her battles axes at the same time. She looked deadly. Her jumpsuit was tied around her waist; her hands were holding tightly onto two axes, her face bloodied and angry. I would've been scared of her appearance if the shouting hadn't terrified me even more.

"It's Peeta! He's screaming for me!"

His voice came again, sounding desperate, "IVY!"

"I'm coming, Peeta," I shouted, rushing into the jungle.

"Where are you going?! Stop! Ivy!" Johanna screamed.

"What is she doing?" another voice called from the beach, muffled into obscurity. I almost turned back to see who it was when I heard another voice.

"Ivy!"

I felt my heart sink into my stomach. Rue.

"Rue!" I shouted, ducking under branches as I ran into the trees. "Rue! Where are you?!" I began to charge, ignoring everything in my path, looking for her. I only stopped when a hand grabbed my wrist. I turned to see Finnick.

"Ivy, it's the jabberjays. It's not them," he said sternly. "Come with me no…"

"Finn! Finnick?! Finnick!"

Finnick's face morphed into pain. "Come on, Ivy," he groaned out through clenched teeth.

"IVY!" Peeta's voice shouted.

"Where did they get those screams?" I cried. I tried to tug my wrist out of Finnick's grasp. "Rue and Peeta! They're in there! I need to find them! I need Peeta! He's in the…"

"Ivy!"

My head looked back towards where the beach was. That shout wasn't like the others. It didn't come from Finnick next to me.

"Ivy, come here."

All thoughts of searching through the trees left me, and I slowly walked back where I came from, ignoring Posion's and Madge's shouts of my name. Ignoring Rue's sobbing.

I got back to the beach to see Peeta sitting on the piece of land just between the sand and jungle floor, looking at me. "Ivy, please. Sit here by me."

"Are you here… Are… are you real?" I asked.

"Ivy, please sit by me," he responded.

"You can't…"

Finnick rushed up behind me, covering his ears. "They can't hear us. Look." He slammed his body towards the beach, only to be stopped by some visible wall. "Not a force field, but it's something."

"Peeta," I muttered, touching the wall with my hand. He raised his up next to it, smiling.

"It's going to be alright. Just wait. It'll be alright."

With his voice and presence beside me, I could calm down. Finnick and I plugged our ears to block out as much of the screaming as possible, and together, we struggled through an hour, my thoughts of finally being reconciled with Peeta pushing me through the torture.

I hadn't realized that I was asleep until I opened my eyes and the stars were shining. I sat up, ears sore from my hands blocking sound for so long. My head immediately moved from side to side, desperately looking for Peeta. He was just here. Where was he? He couldn't have left me already.

I heard footsteps behind me. My head turned around to see Peeta standing there, holding a green bowl woven of some sort of leaf.

"H…hey," he choked out.

"Hey," I breathed, not sure whether to cry or smile. My breaths came slower as I slowly lost control of myself, and my stomach began to pinch itself together nervously. My ears burned with the sudden sounds that came from all around me: bugs chirping, my breathing, wind whistling through the trees.

Peeta was standing right in front of me.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine, yourself," I responded, starting to smile.

He took a step closer. "I could be better," he answered with a shrug, looking at me with his blue eyes that I had missed so badly.

I was at a loss for what to say next. All I wanted to do was run up and hug him, hold him tightly. I was still afraid he wasn't real.

He moved closer to me, crouching down so we were close. He let out a breath. "Ivy… I…"

I held my arms out while I cried, and immediately, he knew what I wanted. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly, pulling me as close to him as humanly possible.

"I was so scared," he whispered.

I only nodded, tears hitting his shoulder.

"I was so scared," he repeated.

My breathing was heavy and uneven, "I'm okay. I'm okay."

He pulled away a little, his hands brushing over my cheeks and pushing my hair back behind my ears. "You're okay?"

I laughed and cried, not believing how good I felt. I leaned forward and kissed him gently. Feelings that had been absent for the first part of my second Games reawakened, and I felt alive.