It was raining the whole day and so we used the opportunity to think about a strategy.

"You know, I still go with the lazy-pig-strategy", Gale suggested and grinned.

"Lazy what?" Rue wrinkled her forehead and looked at me, but I had no idea what he meant.

"And how does this strategy work in your opinion?"

"Waiting in the cave until the biggest fights are over and getting into action when most of the work is done. At least the best fights are always at the end. I just hope that Cato is looking forward to this exactly as much as I am." Gale rubbed his hands in excitement and I couldn't help but scowl at him.

"You are not going to fight with Cato!"

"Oh, come on honey, why don't you let me have some fun?"

I rolled my eyes, but Rue was absolutely thrilled. Well, since she had met Gale, he was her hero, but I couldn't really blame her for thinking this way.

...

"So you guys really want to sit around in this cave, doing nothing?", I asked.

Gale and Rue nodded. Great, now even the two of them have allied against me, this would definitely be fun.

I sighed, but then an idea popped up in my mind and I smiled.

Gale looked at me suspiciously. "Oh boy, I know this smile. That always means trouble", he sighed, causing Rue to start chuckling.

"There is one thing we could do", I said, a devilish grin on my face. "What's our biggest advantage?"

Gale shrugged, "Arrows, snares and the cave?"

I nodded. "That too, but in contrast to the careers we all know what it means to be hungry."

Gale's face lit up at once. "I see where this is leading. Not bad, Catnip."

"What are you talking about?", Rue asked, a confused look on her face.

"Usually the careers collect all the supplies, right?"

Rue nodded.

"So we just have to find their camp and destroy them."

"Well, the first part is already done. They put up their camp right down by the river."

Gale and I looked at Rue perplexed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I saw it on the first day. But we have to be really careful, there are booby traps everywhere."

How in hell could she know that? She was amazing…

...

Together we started planning our big attack. Rue came up with the fabulous idea of distracting them with a fire so we would have time to destroy their supplies. Unfortunately we had to wait for two more days because the wood was still too wet.

"Are you ready?", Gale wanted to know as we were standing in front of the cave. After Rue and I had agreed he continued, "Well, then I will see you in a couple of hours, 'kay?" He hugged Rue tightly, kissed me and ran away to lit the fires we had prepared on the previous day. I looked after him worriedly. I really didn't like the idea of him being on his own. What if something went wrong? What if something happened to him?...Damn, I should have gone with him!

Rue and I tiptoed closer to the career's camp and waited. We were too far away to understand their conversation, but all of a sudden Marvel, the male tribute of District 1 pointed at the sky. They all stared in this direction and started to discuss.

"This has to be the first fire", Rue whispered.

After a while the careers left the camp, leaving just a small boy to protect their stuff. I waited for another couple of minutes.

"Showtime." I took my bow and tried to find an ideal target.

"There!" Rue pointed at a small bag full of apples that was hanging on the large pyramid of supplies.

I grinned. I knew that every single camera was on Rue and me now. The girl on fire was about to cause an explosion by shooting on an apple. That would definitely keep everyone entertained for a while. At least the Gamemakers were going to love this. I aimed at the bag and released the arrow. One apple after the other rolled on the ground, but the boy didn't seem to notice. Rue and I stared at the pyramid, but after a couple of seconds the silence of the woods was destroyed by a big bang.

...

The small boy was standing there, frozen and stared at the big fire. The flames quickly started spreading and when the tribute realized what just had happened, he started running as fast as he could.

"Wow, that was cool.", Rue commented fascinated as she was watching the fire, her eyes wide open.

"Indeed," I agreed and took her hand. "Come on, we should leave now."

We tiptoed back through the bushes, but soon before we reached the cave, we heard the canon. Rue and I exchanged a terrified look and I had just one thought: Gale! Fear was rushing through my body, causing me to run twice as fast as before. I looked at the sky, but there was no portrait to be seen. Within a single second I felt hot and then cold. "Please, let him be okay", I prayed, took Rue's hand again and continued running, my heart hammering in my chest. A second canon was shot, but still no pictures. Damn, what was wrong? I had to know if Gale was alright!

...

In the meantime we had caught sight of the cave and when I saw the dark-haired boy who was standing in front of it, staring at the sky, relief filled my body. Gale! He looked in our direction and sighed in relief as well. I let go of Rue's hand and flinged myself in his arms. Gale pulled me tight.

"Thank god, you are here. I was so worried about you!", he whispered and ran his hand over my hair.

"I thought you were…", I started. "But who…?"

He pointed at the sky. In the meantime the pictures had appeared and showed the boy from the camp and the District 4 girl.

Gale looked at her portrait. "Pretty strong, that girl. Was really not easy to keep her from killing me."

For a moment I was speechless. "You…?" Then I realized the lacerations on his cheek and arms.

Gale nodded. "I was just about to light the last fire when she was jumping on me, right out of the bushes." He grinned at me. "And I always thought that everything they say about déjà vu was just rubbish." Only someone who really knew him could tell that there was a lot more behind this joke than he wanted to admit.

...

We entered the cave together, but all of a sudden Gale started moving his shoulders nervously.

"Everything alright?", I asked him, still worried.

"Sure. Probably just a mosquito sting", he answered and sat down on the floor, leaning on the wall.

"Let me have a look."

Gale shook his head. "Rubbish. It's okay."

For some reason the whole situation made me feel uncomfortable.

Gale noticed my look. "Seriously, honey, I'm fine."

"I am gonna do the first watch tonight!", Rue interrupted us. "You should go to bed, we have to be fit soon."

Technically it was too soon to go to sleep, but I had to admit that I could need some rest. I hadn't slept to well in the past nights.

...

"Fine.", I said, smiled at Rue and sat down right next to Gale. "Just wake me up if you want to switch," I told her.

Gale covered us with the blanket and I cuddled up next to him. It was pretty cold in the cave, so I really enjoyed his warmth.

...

Something icy touched my body and I woke up. I tried to find out the source for the cold, but the only thing that could have touched me was Gale's hand. When I took it the cold was such a big shock for my skin that I nearly dropped his hand again. His forehead was covered with sweat. I checked his temperature and froze. In contrast to his icy hand his forehead was far too hot. That was bad. Really bad. I already had an idea what was wrong with him, but I deeply hoped that I was mistaken…