Note: Another long one…review!

"Make a decision, Ms. Everdeen." President Snow said, a smile spreading across his thin lips. "It's up to you, who lives and who dies. It's your choice, so make one, before its too late." I looked at him with hatred. Another person controlling my life. Another person forcing me to bend to there will. I hated it. I hated him. I had to stand against it. If I didn't now, I never would. I knew it would come to this. A showdown between me and him. Ever since I realized who had captured me, I knew it would end like this, but he was right. I had to choose.

I woke up in a cellar. At first I thought I went blind because the world around me was pitch black, but when I looked to my left I saw a small stream of dim light coming through a slit against the floor. It was freezing cold, and it smelt like death. I realized I was laying on the ground, so I pulled myself into a squatting position. I felt around blindly, trying to see if there was a wall near me. When I finally found it, I sank down into it and sat on the ground.

The stone underneath me was extremely hard. I didn't dare move around the room because I didn't want to lose myself in the darkness. I tried to listen closely to see if anyone or anything was in here with me. I thought about saying something, but if there was someone here and they weren't friendly, I didn't want them to know I was awake. I tried to remember how I got here, but the last thing could think of was being in the woods with Sydney.

Sydney. I thought suddenly. At first I thought maybe I was wrong about her, and she had in fact betrayed me, but I shook that notion when I remembered she was the one who pointed out the noise in the woods. So where was she? Where was I? We were obviously attacked, but for some reason our assailants hadn't killed us, so they knew who we were, or at least who I was. There was only really one option. It had been the Capitol, but why were they by thirteen? My heart filled with dread. They had probably launched an attack on thirteen. They could have bombed it again, and we had no warning. Peeta, Prim, my mother. They were all there. I leaned my head back and tried to calm myself. I could feel my breath coming in brief gasps, and I knew hyperventilating wouldn't help me.

I tried to take slow, deep breaths, and eventually I calmed down and realized that there was nothing I could do about thirteen now. I had to take care of myself, and try to figure out what was happening to me. My head ached and my arm hurt a little, but I moved both of my legs and felt my ribs, and nothing else was broken. I noticed that I was no longer wearing my dress when I felt rough cloth beneath my finger tips. I couldn't check for scrapes and bruises because of the darkness, so I just stayed still and tried to keep myself calm.

I thought about going over to the slit of light and trying to see if I could gain any more information about my whereabouts, but it was so dim that it didn't even light up the space around , and the slit was so small I probably couldn't see anything anyway. So here I was. Alone and helpless in the middle of a dark room, a prisoner of my enemies. I didn't know if they would ever come for me, or if they would just let me die of starvation. For the first time, I realized just how thirsty I was. I swallowed, but that only made my throat more dry. I knew the very scary reality of dehydration from my first day in the arena, so the thought made me panic.

I slammed my hand into the ground and let out a grunt of frustration. I didn't care if anyone heard me now. This was one of the most frustrating situations I had ever been in. I sat there for hours. Time eventually lost its meaning when I realized that I had no way to tell if hours were actually passing or if every second just seemed excruciatingly long. I felt a tear roll down my cheek in frustration, but I wiped it away. I wouldn't let this make me weak.

Eventually I fell asleep. I had nightmares of Coin and the Capitol. I had a very vivid dream of thirteen being bombed, and my sister being shot in the head by a Capitol soldier. I woke with a start, disoriented once again, until I remembered where I was. The thirst was worse, and I could feel the ache in my stomach from not having eaten in a while. It was a good thing I knew how to be hungry. Growing up in district twelve had its advantages.

I wasn't sure exactly how long that went on. I would drift in and out of sleep, switching between dreams and hallucinations. I think I was awake when I saw Peeta standing in front of me. I stood up and walked towards him, trying to talk to him or touch him, but every time I took a step, he got farther away from me. I screamed in frustration and fell to the ground. Then I passed out again. I would never get out of this. I would die here, alone in this damp cell. I didn't want to give up, but there was nothing I could do. The thirst clawed at my throat, and I felt dizzy. I tried to stop myself, but eventually I threw up because of the dehydration. I made it back to my corner and sobbed, trying to be strong, but failing when I thought about how hopeless my situation was.

I heard a latch unlock, and light woke me from whatever half-asleep, half-dead state I was in. I was blinded at first, even though I would come to find the light wasn't very bright. I covered my eyes because they felt like they were on fire. "Get in there." I heard a gruff voice yell. Then I heard what sounded like a body hit the floor. I noticed the guard shuffling around the room, but I didn't dare open my eyes to the burning light.

I felt an arm around my shoulder, and I was lifted to my feet. "Walk." He ordered. I tried to take a step, but I was so weak that I stumbled and fell on my knees. Eventually, he put one of my arms around his shoulders and half-carried me out what I assumed was the door to the cellar. He shut it behind him, and I opened my eyes slightly. They adjusted slowly to the light around me, and I realized that I was in some sort of corridor. We headed up some steps and down another hallway. This one was decorated with cell doors on either side. The guard stopped and opened a shiny silver door at the end of the hallway, and I found myself in an interrogation-style room.

He sat me down in a chair, and I slumped onto the table in front of me. "She's no good like this." I heard him say. "She needs to at least be strong enough to talk."

"Fine. Give her water." I knew that voice. It was sly and manipulative, and it was in a tie for my least favorite in all of Panem. President Snow was here, which could only mean certain death for me. The guard pulled me up from the table and put a glass of water in front of me. I considered refusing it and letting myself die of dehydration, but I knew I couldn't give up without a fight. That would give President Snow way too much satisfaction.

I grabbed the water and gulped it down, feeling relief flood my dry throat and cracked lips. I finished it in a matter of seconds, and another glass was placed in front of me, along with a small piece of bread. I looked at it warily, knowing that it could possibly poisoned, but I realized they wouldn't poison me. That wasn't enough fun for him, so I shoved it down.

I put the second glass down, and suddenly felt sick. I remembered hearing something from Haymitch about not drinking water too quickly when your dehydrated, and I knew I was going to be sick again. The guard must have realized this, because he put a garbage can in front of my face. I threw up for the second time, and I could feel myself shaking. They gave me another glass of water, and I sipped this one slowly.

President Snow circled the table and sat down in front of me. I felt so weak, but I couldn't let him see that. I straightened up. I could see more clearly now, and I felt a little bit better. I crossed my arms and stared at him coldly.

"Hello, Katniss." He said. I could smell the signature blood and roses coming at me from across the table, and I was almost sick again, but I held it in.

"So…where the hell am I? And more importantly, how did I get here?" I asked him bluntly. I didn't have time for games.

"Right to the point I see. Well as a matter of fact, you are in the Capitol. Four stories below the ground in a prison we reserve specially for rebels. You got here in a hovercraft." He smiled.

"You know that's not what I mean, President Snow." I said mockingly. "You captured me, but why were you in thirteen? Did you blow it into oblivion? And if so, why did you save me? There's no point for me to live now."

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, we didn't launch an attack on district thirteen. Our men were there doing some recon. They were just trying to get a little bit of information about future battle plans, but imagine my delight when they brought me the Mockingjay and the President's daughter." He was so smug that I wanted to punch the smile right off of his face, but I contained my anger.

"Where is she?" I had to know if Sydney was alive or dead. I hoped that she was alive. I needed an ally.

"You didn't see her? They dropped her in your cell so you could have a little bit of company. Don't worry, your friend is alive. I don't know if I can say she's well, but she's definitely alive."

"What did you do to her?" He didn't answer. He only kept smirking at me. "What do you want with me Snow? Torture me? If you're going to kill me, just do it. I'm not going to comply with any of your games."

"O, I think you will Ms. Everdeen. Trust me when I say that I have big plans for you. Game changing plans, but for now I think you'll just stay here in your cell for safe keeping. Wouldn't want you to make a harrowing escape would we?" He stood up. "Have a good day. I'll make sure you don't starve again, that would be unfortunate."

"What are you going to do to me!" I yelled after him. I was sick of the ambiguity. I wanted answers. I wouldn't sit in that cell and waste away.

"You're going to help me send a very important message to the people of Panem. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with you, but it's going to be one hell of a show, that's for sure." He opened the door and I felt the guard's arms around me, pulling me out of the chair and towards the opposite door that lead back to the cellar.

"No! I won't be part of your stupid games anymore. You don't control me." I spat at him. "You've never been able to before, what makes you think you can now?" I laughed at him. He thought he was so powerful, but I had outsmarted him twice before. He had no power over me.

The smile faded from his lips, but his eyes sparkled with excitement. There was something evil there, and my stomach churned. Something in his eyes told me that I was very, very wrong. "It's been nice seeing you again Katniss. I certainly have missed you. And I'm sorry about that beautiful gown. I know how much it meant to you. A momento of your first hunger games. I would try to have it replaced, but I'm afraid I'm not quite as good as your lovely stylist…was." With that, he walked through the door and closed it behind him. How dare he talk about Cinna. I felt burning hatred flood every part of my body, and I clenched my fists at my side. I hated that man and everything he stood for. And to mention the first games? He wanted to get inside my head, but I couldn't let him.

I felt the guard lead me towards the door again, but I wrenched free of him. "I can walk myself, thank you." Any small act I could do to show that I wasn't under their control would help. This wasn't like being in thirteen and having to watch out for Coin. I had no one here. There was no Haymitch to look out for me, or Peeta to be by my side. I was alone. At least I knew that my family was safe, for now at least.

We descended back down the steps and to my cellar. I sighed as I stepped back into the dark room. I didn't want to go back to the blackness. I couldn't do that again. To my relief, the guard left an electric torch at the doorway, so the room was flooded with dim light. The door slammed behind me, and I looked around. That's when I saw her.

Sydney was lying on the floor on her side. I couldn't see her face, but she wasn't moving. She was dressed in the same grey prison clothes I was, but hers were ripped and covered in dark spots. At first I thought it was sweat, but I could see the red tinge, and I knew it was blood. I ran over and knelt by her side. I turned her over and gasped at what I saw.

Her face was bruised and bloodied. She had two black eyes, and numerous cuts and bruises covered her neck and the rest of her face. She groaned when I rolled her onto her back, so at least I knew she was alive. I quickly laid her back on her side, and noticed that there was a lot more blood seeping through the back of her shirt than any other part of her. I slid it up above her stomach, and saw that there were thing, but deep, gashes covering her back. I had seen this before. It looked the same as Gale's back had after he had been caught with the turkey. Sydney had been whipped.

So they had tortured her. I gritted my teeth in anger. They were trying to get information out of her, but from what I knew of Sydney, it would take a lot for her to give it up. But this seemed like a lot. She was stubborn, just like I was, but I didn't know if anyone could deal with this. So why hadn't they tortured me? You're going to send a very important message to all of Panem. Snow's words rang through my head. They needed my face intact. They didn't want to seem too cruel when I had to go in front of whatever camera they had set up and proclaim my loyalty to the Capitol. I shook my head and forgot about that. I had to stay in the moment.

I knew I had to do something. When my mother had treated Gale, she had salves and medication to use. I was in the middle of some cell deep behind enemy lines. These people didn't care if Sydney lived or died. Even if we weren't that close, I needed her. She was the only person who could help me.

I put my hand on her forehead. It was burning hot. I couldn't tell if it was pain or infection, but I hoped for both of our sakes that it was the former. I saw that the guard had left some bread and water by the doorway, so I grabbed the pitcher and brought it over to her. I couldn't lay her on her back, so I tilted her head to the side and tried to pour it into her mouth. She coughed it up, and I couldn't force her to swallow any.

I grunted in frustration. It was the same as it had been for Peeta and his leg. I could fight off a hundred Capitol soldiers, but when it came to healing someone, I was useless. Even more so now, because there were no resources for me. I wasn't in a jungle, where plants and herbs were plentiful. I was in a dungeon, where the only supplies were cobwebs and stones.

I rolled Sydney on her right side, and she flailed around in pain. I tried placing her on her stomach, but she whimpered at that too, so I set her how she had been originally, and she calmed down. I looked at her side, and realized it was covered in dark purple bruises and one deep slash. Her ribs were probably broken. Just add it to the list of problems. There was nothing else I could do, so I sat against the wall and just waited. I didn't know if they would come for her again, and I didn't know how to react if they did.

I was alone with my thoughts for a long time. I drew patterns in the dirt with my hand and thought about Peeta. I tried to remember his laugh and his smile. I tried to remember the last kiss we had shared before I had been captured. I wanted it to give me hope, but it just filled me with sadness when I realized that I probably wouldn't see him again. It was going to take a lot of luck for me to get out of this alive.

I kept going back to the Hunger Games. Somehow, no matter how hard I tried, I ended up in the Capitol's clutches. They had forced me to murder innocent people, then turned me into a target for their anger. I had to go back, and when I got out, they captured the person I loved the most and almost turned him against me. Now here I was, back in their clutches. My hatred for Coin had made me forget my real enemy. She was evil, but I could deal with her later. We needed to defeat them now.

The door opened again, and I stood up. A guard walked in, gun in hand. I guess he expected me to attack him or something, but I didn't. I just stood in front of Sydney's lifeless form. "We're done with her, don't worry." He said gruffly. "President Snow has graciously decided to let her live. She won't give us any information, but killing her creates problems that he doesn't want. Besides, he thinks she'll be useful to us later." He took a bag from around his shoulder and threw it to me.

"Make sure she survives." He said as he closed the door. I knelt back down next to Sydney and opened the bag. Inside was a roll of white bandages, a bottle of some sort of oral medication, a can of healing salve, three extra shirts, and a syringe filled with clear liquid.

I stripped Sydney of her dirty grey shirt wiped the salve on the gashes in her back. I could see them start to heal a little, but I still wrapped her in the white bandages. They didn't soak through with blood, so that was a good sign. I figured the syringe was in case any of her wounds got infected, so I saved that for later. I forced the medicine down her throat and slipped one of the extra shirts over her head. I waited anxiously for a long time. I expected her to wake up, and I looked towards the syringe, wondering if I was supposed to use it. Maybe it wasn't for infection. I sighed and laid down on the ground next to her. I stared at the ceiling. I had no idea what I was going to do. I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

I couldn't tell what time it was when I woke up because there was no sunlight, so I kept my eyes closed. If I didn't open them, I could pretend like I was back in my bed with Peeta in district thirteen. I hadn't even got to spend that last night with him. I could pretend this had never happened. I shouldn't have gone into the woods. I should have just stayed inside thirteen and enjoyed the party.

I tried to go back to sleep. Maybe this time I would dream about something nice. But I couldn't fall back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I opened my eyes and I was staring at the grey wall. I had rolled over onto my side, and I was alarmed when I didn't see Sydney laying next to me. They had taken her away. To be tortured some more I was sure. Maybe they would make a cycle of it. They would torture her and then send her back here where I would heal her. Then they would take her again. They would force me to watch her suffer as some sort of cruel mind game.

"Have a nice sleep princess?" I heard a voice from behind me. I sat straight up and whirled around, backing away from the noise. I panicked for a moment, then I realized that it was Sydney sitting against the wall, holding one of her knees to her chest and resting her head on her hands.

"You're…you're…" Her face still had faint yellow outlines from where the bruises had been, but otherwise she just looked exhausted.

"Alive? Healed? All of the above?" She smirked at me and gave me a sarcastic laugh.

I felt tears well up in my eyes and I threw my arms around her. I couldn't help it. It was nice to not be alone anymore, no matter who my new companion was. "I'm glad you're ok."

"Me too. Unfortunately, I feel like I won't be like this for long. What happened to us Katniss?" She asked.

"They didn't tell you?" I knew the Capitol had to have talked to Sydney. They had tortured her like that, so there must have been communication there.

She shook her head. "They didn't tell me anything, and they only hit me or whipped me when I asked questions, so I stopped asking. The only thing they wanted to talk to me about was information regarding thirteen."

"Did you…say anything?" I didn't think Sydney was a traitor, but I didn't really know that much about her. Besides, I would find it hard not to crack after what she had been through.

"Of course not." She looked at me, taken aback. "I would die before I gave up information that could hurt this rebellion. I would never jeopardize us like that." We were silent for a while. I didn't mean to offend her. I nervously played with the hem of my shirt. "So anyway." She said finally. "What happened to us?"

I filled her in on my meeting with President Snow. I told her how they had captured us and how I had just woken up in this cellar. I told her about the dehydration and how they had led me to him. They were planning to use me for something. Then I explained what I knew about what happened to her. How I had tried to help her, but it had been the Capitol guards who had given her medicine because they had a use for her.

"What could that possibly be?" She asked.

"I don't know, but if President Snow is behind it, it's going to be equal parts evil and cruel." I sighed and sat down across from her against the opposite wall. We were silent for a while, both too exhausted to speak. A guard came and brought us soup and water, which we ate gratefully. The food seemed to put her in a better mood, and I instantly felt stronger.

When we were done eating, I laid down on the ground and used one of the extra shirts for a pillow. Sydney sat against the wall and stared at the door, hugging her knees to her chest. "I got us into quite the predicament didn't I?" She half-whispered.

I turned towards her and propped myself up on one elbow. "I know it seems hopeless, but we can't give up, Sydney. We can make it through this. We just have to stick together and maybe come up with a plan. I'm sure the team is already forming a plan to come rescue us, so maybe we just have to wait it out."

She shook her head. "I'm not giving up. The last thing I'll do is go down without a fight." She sighed. I admired her for that. If I was going to have someone on my side, I wanted to make sure they were strong. "The hunger is the worst part." She said finally. "I know it sounds awful, but I've never had to go hungry before. Having one meal a day that consists of soup and a cup of water is driving me crazy. Its like this burning, nawing feeling that's tearing my stomach apart."

I laughed, remembering that Sydney was the daughter of the President, and that she probably never had to want for anything. She didn't come off as stuck up, but she was privileged, so she didn't know what it was like. Fortunately, hunger was my area of expertise. "I've been through much worse. When my father died, my mother..." I stopped for a moment. I never talked about this with anyone. Peeta is the only person who I've discussed these moments with. Even Gale only knew the short version of the hardships I had been through, but when I looked up at Sydney, she was just staring back at me. She honestly looked interested, and for some reason I felt like telling her.

"My mother went into a depression. She didn't move or work or do anything. I had to attempt to provide for my family, but I was only eleven years old. I couldn't sign up for tesserae, so I tried to trade all of our possessions for food. One day, we had been without food for weeks, and I was watching Prim waste away in front of my eyes. I went to the local market to try and trade some of Prim's old clothes for food, but I couldn't. Peeta…Peeta saved me. I stumbled into his yard and he threw me some old bread. I've owed him ever since."

"But I thought you two were the star-crossed lovers of district twelve? You didn't know who he was until the reaping, but he had been in love with you for his whole life." She said dramatically.

"No, he saved my life that day. I didn't know it then, but I think I've always loved him. I know we were meant to be together. He reminds me of my father. They're both great men." There was an awkward silence again, brought on by the fact that I wasn't sure whether I wanted to keep up this conversation. I was never really big on talking, and I was usually uncomfortable discussing my past or my personal life. I don't know what it was about Sydney that made me trust her after I had spent so long being suspicious of her.

"My father was a great man too" She broke the silence. "He was the President of district thirteen before my step-mother. My real mother died giving birth to me, and my father married Coin under the pressure to find a new wife and a new mother for me. He's the person who planted the seeds for this rebellion. He was the one who kept thirteen alive. He didn't just help them survive, he made them thrive, and it's because of him that this rebellion was even possible. I'm proud to be his daughter, but for some reason people forget that he ever existed, and only acknowledge me as being related to President Coin."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"He died when I was five years old. He had a heart attack at the dinner table. I'll never forget it. I didn't know what was happening. One minute we were eating, the next he was convulsing. Finally, he slumped over in his chair and he was just…still. His guards rushed in, and one of them took me out of the room. After a while, a general who I had been close with came in and told me that my father had passed away. Coin didn't have the decency to do it herself."

"That's terrible…" I wasn't surprised that Coin had been as cold and heartless back then as she was now.

"You know what's funny?" She said. She clenched her jaw and stared at the ceiling above her. "Every time I think about that night, I try to remember her panicking. I try to remember her trying to save my father, or reacting to his heart attack, but I can't. When I was younger, I convinced myself that she had. That she was just mad with grief and that was why she hated me so much after my father died, but as I got older, I realized that she didn't try to help him. She didn't even get up from her seat. Sometimes…" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Sometimes I think she did it. That she had a hand in his death. She stepped up as President the next day, claiming that he would want the job to get done. She mourned, but I know now that it was fake. I hate her Katniss, I really do."

I tried to change the subject away from Coin. She somehow managed to make even this situation worse, which I didn't think was possible. "My father died in a mining accident, the same one that Gale's father died in."

At the mention of Gale's name, Sydney looked back at me. "Yeah he mentioned that, but I don't think he mentioned that your father was in the same accident. He said that's what made him become a man." She smiled, and I could tell she was thinking about him.

I laughed. "So what happened? I know he talked to you…"

"We are going to try it out, being together. Or we were. Before I got captured and thrown in this cell to die. It is a dire circumstance. They should write a great love story about us." She said sarcastically. "The couple that almost was. Of course we hold nothing over you and Peeta. You two are the king and queen of tragic love." Sydney had an odd sense of humor, but I liked it. She told things like they were, and she wasn't afraid to make light of our hopeless situation. Somehow she managed to make me laugh when I felt like crying.

"It's odd." I realized. "This is the first time in my entire life that I've sat around and talked about boys and relationships and…girl things, and it just happens to be when I'm a prisoner of war. That's just kind of how my life works." That made her laugh.

"I understand. I've never really had this kind of talk either. I had friends when I was younger, but any time that someone would get too close to me, my step-mother would drive them off. I'm sure that she thought the less people I had to confide in, the more control she had over me, so eventually I just stopped trying to have friends. People talked to me at the academy, but they were overly nice because I was the President's daughter. They were more afraid that friendly. So I kept a lot of acquaintances, but I've never had any true friendships."

"The academy?" Was that some sort of slang for school? I wasn't really sure what she was talking about.

"O right, sometimes I forget that you aren't from district thirteen. Well the academy is a school that all of the children of higher up citizens of thirteen go to. It's basically a military academy. They train you to fight and to survive. That's why I'm so good at hand to hand combat, I've been doing it since I was six. That was what I was best at." It sounded really familiar, then I realized that Sydney had grown up much like the Career tributes in districts one and two, only she was trained for a very different purpose. "When you turn seventeen, you graduate and are sent out into the military. It's a small program. There are only about twenty-five of us per class, and we're spread throughout the army to provide aid wherever it's needed. It's a hard life when you're in the academy, but once you get out you're highly respected, and most of us are put in leadership positions."

"Now I understand why you were so good at the combat simulator. You must have used it before?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I've used something like it, and I've done a lot of tactical training exercises, but the suits and the specialty weapons are technology I've never seen before. Squad 451 is extremely important, so they want to use every piece of equipment they have to keep us alive I guess."

I sighed and laid back down. "If we're so important, why do I feel like everyone is out to get me? I feel like an enemy, not a VIP. I've felt like that ever since I stepped onto the stage to volunteer for my sister. Like I have a huge target across my back that only the most important people in Panem are aiming at."

She was quiet for a second, but I could tell that she wanted to ask me something. I stared at the ceiling, waiting for her to speak. "What was it like?" She asked softly. "The Hunger Games. What was it like to be in the arena?"

I didn't answer her right away. I didn't talk about the games with anyone. It was a dark time that I tried to forget, but somehow it always seemed to come back and haunt me. "You don't have to tell me. I understand that's personal." She said when I didn't respond. "I just…I never had to fear the reaping. I was never oppressed by the Capitol like that. I don't know what it feels like."

"I will never experience something worse than the games." I said finally. "Whatever you imagine it to be like, the fear of being reaped, the realization that you have to fight other children to the death if you are chosen, the reality that you're probably going to die, its much worse than that." I looked at her, unsure if that was a satisfying answer. She just stared back at me, willing me to continue. I hesitated for a second, then I started to talk. "I guess it really started for me the morning of the reaping." And I told her the whole story. I told her about the dread I felt when Prim's name got chosen. I told her about my snap decision to volunteer, and the sinking feeling in my stomach when I stood on the stage next to Effie Trinket.

I talked about being paraded around like some sort of show-dog. I hated the Capitol and everything they were making me do, but I had no choice but to comply with them. I told her about Cinna and his amazing costumes. How much he meant to me and how I still missed him. I even talked about Rue and how that was what really started the rebellion for me. I told her about the moments between Peeta and I in the cave, and the look on Cato's face when he plunged to his death in the pit of dogs.

I just talked and talked for what must have been hours. I didn't stop at the end of the first games. I talked about the Victory Tour and what it was like to realize I was going back into the arena. It felt good to get it all out. I didn't know if I was boring her, but when I checked to see if she was still listening, she just stared back at me, looking genuinely interested, so I kept going. I had never talked about most of this stuff to anyone, so all of the emotions I had been holding back just bubbled over. I was finally vocalizing my rage and hatred of the Capitol, and I even told Sydney about the horrors I had experienced with Coin and district thirteen. When I was finished, my throat was dry and my eyes were brimming with tears, because I had just talked about Craig.

"She sounds like a great woman, Craig. I wish I could have known her. I feel bad taking her place." Sydney said after a short silence. "But I never would have known it was like that. We watched the games every year, but I didn't realize what was happening behind the scenes where no one could see. You've been through more than anyone should have to."

I nodded. "Thank you. For listening to me. I've never told anyone most of that stuff, but it just kind of came out."

"It feels good to talk about it doesn't it?" She smiled at me. Her smile was genuine, and I realized that we were no longer just allies. It was the same feeling I had when I was afraid Peeta was going to die in the cave. I didn't want to lose this girl who was a good listener, and who genuinely seemed to like me. Whatever was going to happen, we were in it together, and we would protect each other.

"Yeah it does." I smiled back at her. "I just want to apologize again for judging you. I guess I was intimidated by you. My whole squad fell in love with you, despite the fact that you were the daughter of my worst enemy."

She scoffed. "You…intimidated by me? You're the girl on fire. The hero of Panem. Why would you be intimidated by me?"

"You're perfect! Can't you see that? Forget the fact that you're stunningly beautiful and that even Peeta was falling over himself when you arrived on our squad. You're strong and you can kick the ass of anyone I know. You're funny and extremely intelligent."

"Well when you describe me like that, what's not to love!" She mocked my tone. "You may think that, but I know I have flaws. I'm stubborn, for one thing, which was definitely a weakness as I was being whipped repeatedly by the Capitol soldiers. I am also extremely judgmental. I had no idea what you went through, and I thought you were just being overly dramatic. I also thought you were kind of weak, but it really hurt when you punched me in the face."

"Yeah…I'm sorry about that too. I guess I have a little bit of a temper." I had forgotten that I attacked her.

"I understand." She said, shaking her head. "So all is forgiven?"

"All is forgiven. Now that we're friends, we can start with a clean slate." She looked a little taken aback, but she smirked back at me.

"Deal." She laid down against the wall. I was tired too, and I could feel my eyes getting heavy.

"So what happens now?" I asked her as I was falling asleep.

"We survive." She said finally, before turning over and facing away from me. I knew she was right. There was nothing we could do now but wait.