Without further suspense or cliffhangers, I present to you chapter 26:
Rain. I've always loved the sound of rain. And the smell. It reminds me of gloomy days in District 2. Sitting in my room just listening to the soothing sound. A specific memory always comes to mind when it rains. It was about a year ago and Cato and I had gotten into some stupid fight about nothing. We were in the training gym when it happened and I had stormed home as soon as my practice was over. The weather was threatening and I had just made it inside before the sky opened and the rain started to pour. I went to my room and threw knives at a target on my wall to blow off some steam. Once I had calmed down, I went to take a shower to wash off the swear from training. When I got out of the shower I was startled by the noise of something hitting my window. I threw a dress on quickly and ran over to investigate the noise, knife in hand. As I opened the window to look outside, a pebble appeared out of no where and hit my head.
"Shit!" I yelled as I raised my hand up to my eye. The spot where I was hit felt tender and I knew I would have a black eye later. Again I stuck my head out the window. More carefully this time, to see what on earth was happening. There was Cato picking up small stones from my garden to throw at my window.
"Are you fucking crazy?" I yelled down at him, "You hit me in the eye! I'm going to have a black eye because of you- jerk!" I threw my knife down so it barely missed him while I screamed out the final word. I slammed the window closed, completely done with Cato for the day. Later that night I went upstairs for bed and examined my eye in the bathroom mirror. Even after icing it I had a black and blue bruised eye. Typical. Before I got into bed I went to the window to close the curtains. There was Cato, still sitting out in the rain. I had assumed that he had headed home hours ago. I felt bad. He hadn't meant to hurt my eye and we got into fights all the time. I rushed downstairs, grabbed a towel and opened the front door.
"Cato!" I shouted over the rain, "Get in here- you're soaked to death." Cato stood up but remained where he was.
"Not until you accept my apology."
"Cato, stop being stupid. Just come here, I have a towel." Oh Cato, he looked so pathetic out there in the rain. I could tell he was trying not to shiver from the cold as he spoke to me.
"No Clove. Listen to me. I'm so sorry. I don't even remember why I got so mad at you at training. I'm sorry I yelled at you there and I'm sorry I threw a rock at your face. I was just trying to get your attention so you would go to the window. You can come give me a black eye if you want." I dropped the towel on my porch and walked over to him in the rain. Cato clenched his jaw, readying himself for me to punch him. Instead, I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him. I could tell he was surprised but he kissed me back, relieved I wasn't still mad at him. Now both wet and shaking from the cold, I pulled him into my house where we ran straight to my parents bathroom and into the massive tub. We took a hot bath then stayed up the whole night talking on the couch under a fuzzy blanket as the rain continued to pound on the roof.
Rain. I vaguely wonder where I am. I feel warm despite the weather and wonder if by some miracle I am in heaven. The idea is crazy really. I had killed so many people, surely there was no way I had been forgiven for all my sins. But no, I can't be in heaven because everything is perfect there and I can feel pain in my head. Cautiously, I open my eyes. I'm not in heaven. In fact, I'm not dead. By some twist of fate, I'm still alive. I'm in the tent, still in the hunger games. God, my head hurts so bad. I don't feel all that great anywhere else either. I crawl to the opening of the tent and vomit onto the grass outside. I take note of how blurred my vision is. I re-enter the tent and try to evaluate my situation. The pain is less then what it had been before I passed out. Had I just been knocked unconscious? Had I been in a coma? Did I have a concussion? I try to remember what happened, but my brain is a little foggy on the details. I remember being at the feast, minutes away from killing District 12 before being thrown off of her by Thresh. I remember him hitting my head with a rock but I must have moved far enough to the side to avoid the worst of the hit. I think Cato had been in there somewhere too, but I am unable to fit together more pieces.
I'm extremely thirsty and wonder how long I've been out. It seems to be late-morning or early-afternoon. I reach out to grab my canteen and my eyes fall on my ring finger. I'm wearing an exquisite diamond ring. A large diamond is centered in the middle with different colored stones set around it. The band is silver and ribbed. I suddenly remember Cato putting it on my finger seconds before I blacked out. It was an engagement ring. it had to be. I wonder where on earth he could have gotten it. Even if he bought it back home, how would he have brought it into the arena? He already had a token. I look at it closer and deduct from it's strange patterns and unnatural shine that it must be from the capitol. I put two and two together and realize that it must have been what he pocketed just after the rule change. Our sponsors had sent it to him after they found out we could both live. Had Cato thought I was dying when he gave it to me? Had he really meant it as a proposal?
My left arm has been bandaged up where I had been hit with District 12's arrow. Cato's doing for sure. But where was Cato now? After emptying my canteen, I look around the tent for a clue of his whereabouts and find Odessaly's notebook on his sleeping bag. I grab it and open the book to a page that was dog-eared. My vision is still blurred and through the pain I try to squint to make out the words Cato had surely written. I have to concentrate on each word and take breaks between each sentence because of my head wound, but eventually I manage to read the whole page.
Clove, it starts, I am going to kill Thresh. He has our bag and I need to kill him so he can't hurt you again. He will pay dearly for the pain he caused you, mark my words. I'm hoping that if I can kill him our mentors will get us enough sponsors to buy you medicine. Stay in the tent and wait for me to come back. If I die there are two letters under my sleeping bag I want you to have. Hang in there. Love, Cato.
The effort of reading was too much and I throw up outside of the tent again. Well, now I know where he is. If I could walk I would certainly go into the void where Thresh was to help Cato, but given my circumstances, I have no choice but to do as Cato says for once. I consider looking at the two letters since I am sure they are the ones he wrote when we separated but first of all, I don't think I could handle reading again and second, he had meant for me to have them if he died and I did not want to jinx anything. I decide I have nothing better to do and go back to sleep.
I wake up to the sound of the anthem and make my way to the exit of the tent and look up at the sky. The rain and thunder was loud enough that I could have missed a canon or someone could have died before I came to. The Capitol seal fades and an image of Thresh appears. Cato was still alive. I let out a breath I hadn't noticed that I had been holding. Cato had come through. He was probably on his way back to me know. I wait in the tent as the night darkens, anxious for his return. The rain continues to pour and I keep my eyes fixed on the downward slope of the arena, hoping for Cato to appear. And then I see him. His large body appears in the darkness. I can tell his is injured as he staggers towards the tent and I find the strength to stand up and hobble out into the rain.
"Cato!" I call out, my voice sounding weak and unfamiliar.
"Clove!" I hear his response, voice filled with joy that I'm alive and conscious. As we make our way towards each other, I find myself gaining strength with each step. We meet in the middle and grip onto each other tightly. The moment we make contact, the rain stops all at once and a full, clear moon emerges. Cato pulls out from his pack a parachute with a syringe in it.
"We got it." he says. I look him over and can tell he's not in good shape. Thresh had not gone down without a fight. His face is bruised and bloody and his knee seems to be angled a little off. There's a scary cut on his right arm that will need stitches. But Cato is only concerned with me and leads me back to the tent. He has me lay down on the blankets, then sticks the needle into my arm. He tenderly brushes my hair out of my eyes as whatever medicine was in the parachute puts me to sleep.
I am so sorry that I left everyone hanging with the last chapter. I was feeling a little devious and decided to make everyone sit in suspense. So now that you know Clove is alive, tell me what you think. I hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter. Thank you all so much for reading. I do not deserve the number of readers or reviews I get, so thank you all so much. As always, reviews would be fantastic and you do not need a fanfiction account to send me one. :)