Wayland Hightower, Head Gamemaker

"Sir, we have two tributes stationed on one of the islands. They've been stationary for two days." Wayland turned to see where Garius was pointing to on the holographic map in front of him. Two dots, symbolizing two tributes, were indeed on one of the alcove islands. None of the others were in the area. He'd have to get them back in the games.

"Garius, prepare the rain. Zarah," he called for one of the people in charge of organizing the footage. "Zarah, pull up the footage of…"

"Amell and Willam, District Eight," interjected Garius. The woman named Zarah pulled all of the recordings of these two tributes, and transferred it directly to Wayland's tablet. He watched, at high speed, their time in the arena.

"Let me know when to cue the rain, sir." Wayland continued to watch. He saw one thing that caught his attention. The way they slept, interlocked in a hammock strung between two trees. They were a couple.

"Stop." He said. "No rain. We can use these two tonight." He sent the live feed to the main screen, for every gamemaker to see. The two of them were just sitting there, eating, but they could tell by the body language that this was going to lead somewhere. Wayland had an idea that he knew would keep the audience entertained.

"I need everyone on this. Search the footage for tributes that are in couples. There are over fifty left, these two can't be the only ones. Go, go, go!" After an hour of searching, the rest of the gamemakers came up with five couples. The cameras would be on them and them alone this night.

Ronan Sonaville, D4

"Where are you going?" He asked, as Thalassa turned to walk away. He knew where she was going. He just didn't want her to go. She slid through the last row of trees and into the Career camp. Disappointed, he followed her.

She'd been pulling away all day while they were hunting, saying she hated the secrets. Panem would already know, and the others were beginning to speculate, so what was the point. He'd tried hard to convince her, but in the end, she was stubborn on not hiding anymore.

Ronan gave up on keeping up the façade. Back at camp, he slid down into the grass beside her, and pulled her close. He could feel the eyes of Ember and Ruben on him, wondering what was going on. He watched Thalassa wave angelically in their direction, and Ronan watched as they walked away. The tributes from the other districts didn't seem to care as much. Maybe they could get away with being together at the base.

"What happened today?" asked Ruben. Thalassa was asleep, her head in his lap as he stroked her red hair. Ruben had brought back some sort of animal to eat, and they didn't have to worry about the smoke from the three fires going around camp. It wasn't like anyone was dumb enough to attack the careers. Ronan laughed.

"It's actually been like this since before the Reaping. We, or…I, was worried about how all of you would take it, y'know, seeing as how only two can win. I was worried about losing you guys as allies."

"When the time comes, the alliance always breaks. It's the same as when only one could win. We're still good, Sonaville, but don't think I won't give you a run for your money in the end." Ruben laughed, easing Ronan's mind a little. It was good to still have a friend. Then he thought of something.

"If, when the time comes, we are the only ones left from Four, can I ask that you leave her and take me out? Give her the chance to go home?" The air was quiet for a moment. Ronan was glad they were far enough from any other tributes to be overheard.

"If that's what you want. I'll do it. Just know that I won't hesitate to fight you, Ronan. And I hope you wouldn't, either. It would look bad for Four." Ronan laughed again. Wouldn't want to make Four look bad. Ronan shifted gently, trying not to wake Thalassa, before settling in for the night. He kissed her on the forehead once, and closed his eyes.

Guerard Willam, D8

"It's been quiet for hours. I think we can take a break for now," called Carsander. The island was just small enough that he could hear him from the other side. He was glad to be able to get up out of the dirt, as he'd been keeping watch on the shoreline for most of the day, since the incident with District Three.

"I've already put the food and water in the hammock for the night. No need to check on anything." Guerard looked back to see Sander making his way up the tree to our hammock, the bag holding our water and food in his hand. Such a gentleman, Guerard laughed to himself, brushing off his shirt and climbing the tree after him.

After taking a little while to steady the hammock with extra bits of rope and vine, they pulled the food from the bag. A whole, smoked fish, with berries and leaves from around the island. The water was warm, but it had been sitting in the shade all day, in order to keep it as cool as possible. Guerard took a sip from the canteen, wondering how just days ago he'd been gorging himself on Capitol food. The fish didn't taste too great, but they weren't about to risk a fire out here. Plus, the trees were all too healthy to provide any good firewood.

"Come here," said Guerard, carefully pulling Carsander over to his side of the hammock. They were close enough to the ground where a fall wouldn't hurt too much, but instead Carsander fell on top of him. They both laughed. Carsander pulled closer and kissed Guerard on the lips, and Guerard smiled and then laughed again.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Sander, faking sadness and teasing him. It only made Guerard laugh more.

"This is just so new to me."

"Not me. I've had years of practice." They both laughed. Guerard hadn't expected to have a moment like this in the arena, when they were supposed to be fighting for their lives. He wondered if the gamemakers had he cameras on them right now, or if, somewhere else in the arena, something more interesting was going on.

He didn't care. He curled up into Carsander, resting his head on the boy's chest. They could at least have tonight. He allowed Sander to pull his head up, so that they were face to face, and kiss him again. This time, Guerard didn't laugh or pull away. He wanted this moment to last.

Shantelle 'Elle' Lester, D2

Elle took Paxton's hand as he helped her up the base of the tree, to the first branch. She'd be able to climb the rest of the way from that point. She looked up. High in the branches was Paxton's makeshift platform, made from branches and vines. She's kept watch on the ground and searched for more branches while he worked, laying them in the fork between two sturdy-looking branches, and tying them down with the vines. It was surprisingly flat and well made. She helped him lay out the sleeping bag that they'd gotten as a gift from the sponsors, and, following his lead, proceeded to stuff their jackets with leaves before tying them off into pillows.

"This is wonderful," she said, laying her bow and her bag of food down in the corner. Paxton smiled. She liked when he did that. It softened his face so much.

"I thought you'd like it. As close to a actual bed as you can find in the arena." She laughed, but stopped suddenly when she saw him turn and begin to slide off the platform, onto one of the lower branches.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"It's fine. I'll be right down here, keeping watch. Enjoy your bed and try to get some sleep."

"No." She pulled at the collar of his shirt, stopping him ad probably surprising him. "It's your bed, too." Even though he was facing away, Elle knew that he was smiling again. He stood up on his branch, and turned and pulled her close, holding her face o his own. He kissed her, not on the hand this time, but right on her lips, where she wanted.

Not breaking away, he pulled himself back up onto the platform with her. She wrapped her hands around the back of his head, entangling them in his hair. With her background, of all possible outcomes, she'd ended up here, in the arena, kissing one of the other tributes. And a Career at that. Elle knew her father back home would be going out of his mind right now. She didn't care. As odd as it sounded, this was probably the most perfect night she'd ever had.

An hour later, they were under the cover of the sleeping bag, o longer chilled by the cool winds that were blowing through their tree. She wondered if the gamemakers sent those winds so that they'd have to get into the sleeping bag together. For once, she didn't hate them. She was curled up into Paxton's chest. He'd taken his shirt off to warm her more, as she'd been shivering like crazy outside the bag. He'd been asleep for about an hour now, and she'd spent the time running her fingers along the lies of his stomach.

"Having fun?" he whispered, causing Elle to jump. She saw that he was smiling again.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine," he laughed. "I couldn't sleep anyway. Kept thinking about something." He'd been letting me rub his stomach for over an hour and he was awake? Elle could feel her face go red, and she was glad it was dark.

"What were you thinking about?"

"What did my cousin say to you? I know she spoke with you after the reaping." Elle hadn't expected that.

"Well, she basically told me to be nice to you. I don't know, really. She had my arm twisted behind my back for most of the time."

"She what?"

"It was my fault. I tried attacking her." He laughed again, and she jokingly shoved him in the shoulder.

"At first, I was so angry with her for backing out of her spot. But now, I'm not sure how I feel. I mean, I'm glad that I get to spend this time with you, Elle. But at the same time, I wish were back in Two, safe."

"If she hadn't backed out, you wouldn't even know who I am, so you wouldn't feel happier if I was back in Two." She hated admitting it, that in order for her to have been safe from the Reaping, she'd have never gotten to know this boy.

"I guess that's true. But when we get home, Lorena had better have some serious apologizing to do. She owes you big time."

"No she doesn't. You've made up for it by being here." Elle pushed herself up to reach his lips, and kissed him again.

So, what do you think? It's a little difficult for me, writing a developing romace, because I try to make it sound believable. That's why it took so long getting to this chapter. Also, we have a cameo from the Gamemakers. Woohoo, shout out to them Gamemakers. Which POV, and which couple, was your favorite from this chapter? I took the top three couples from the poll and used them, so please don't get mad if your tribute didn't end up here.

What do you think about Wayland calling 'cue the rain'. What would rain have anything to do with re-engaging the tributes in the games? Hmmm, surious. As always, please review. I love reviews, and if you ask questios or request a 'spoiler answer' I usually respond to the reviews.

I go back to college a week from today. I promise not to put the story on hiatus, but things may slow down a bit when it comes to updates.

Thanks for reading, please review. (I'm still taking fan art requests. Read previous chapter for the form. It will come down tomorrow.)

- Sarah.