A/N: Just a short intermission chapter to keep you guys going! Sorry for the long wait, I just got back from Spring Break so I haven't had time to work on anything (no computer). The poll is officially closed and the winner by an overwhelming majority: A flashback scene from Katniss' reaping! I'll let you know when it's up and ready (not sure who's POV it'll be in just yet). Also, my beta has been under the weather of life stuff, so offer her your umbrella! She's back now though, so no worries! Um, I think that's all.

Oh! And I'm super excited to see the movie! I posted a short video clip of getting ready by dressing up as Katniss on my LJ, so you guys can take a look at that if you want. (Be gentle, I'm really self-conscious about the way I look. xP)

Reviews:
I promise there is a reason why Spencer died and Peeta did not (and not just because there would basically be no story left to tell if Peeta had died...) You guys will find out later on, and if not, I'll give you the gist. x)

INTERMISSION: katCAM

"He needs something to keep him going," Haymitch muttered. "He's not like you and me."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. Not like you and me. No, I decided. Peeta wasn't like us. Peeta was different and it wasn't just about being Merchant or Seam. There was something fundamentally different about Peeta and I couldn't put my finger on it.

Haymitch must have figured I was struggling with this, because he barked a short laugh.

"Good people don't win the Games, sweetheart," Haymitch told me, not to be spiteful but to remind me the cost of Peeta's victory would likely be Peeta. And that was a problem, because I remembered that boy on the rooftop wanting nothing more than to keep that which made him him. He would never forgive me for sacrificing that, but it had been my plan from the beginning.

I didn't know how else to save him.

"There's a first time for everything," I mumbled.

"Not for this."

I frowned. Looking around at the other victors, mentors now leading children through their deaths. Were they all bad people, too? Was Finnick a bad person? I didn't think so, despite his reputation. I understood what that reputation was really about now and I knew how he felt about Annie, even if I didn't necessarily understand it. But he had won his Games, cleverly, too. Was Johanna a bad person? I had always thought so, but the last year or so I found myself wondering if things were that simple.

Since becoming a mentor I had learned pretty early on that things were never as simple as black and white. Unfortunately, those were the colors I saw the clearest. The shades of gray all looked the same to me.

"Give him something to remind him that he's gotta make it home."

And with that, Haymitch left me to figure things out on my own. I knew he was right, whatever it was he was dancing around. I knew that Peeta needed something and as his mentor it was my job to give it to him. Unfortunately, I didn't know what that was and Haymitch probably couldn't tell me. He didn't know Peeta like I did.

Tugging at the end of my braid, I considered that. I did know Peeta, didn't I? Better than I initially thought. I knew that he was a good person, that he was more sensitive and sentimental than I. That home meant something more to him than just a single person or survival. I knew that he was afraid of losing himself...

When the idea finally hit me, I thought it was ridiculous. Somehow I had managed to earn Peeta a couple of sponsors and now I was considering wasting their generous donations on something as simple and ultimately frivolous as a loaf of bread?

It didn't make any sense to me.

Maybe that was why I did it.