My head whips round to see who it is. All I see is Gale. No, why did he do this, fighting Gale is no better than fighting Peeta.
"Oh my!" Is all she says, I a district as far out as we are, one volunteer is rare, two is unheard of. Peeta stands there not knowing what to do. But Gale strides forward onto the stage locks his hand with mine and we just stand there. "Well here we have it, the tributes from district twelve. And remember May the odds be ever in your favour." Of course the famous motto that just rubs in the fact that the odds are never in our favour.

We are now hustled off inside the Justice Building where we will spend an hour saying goodbye to our families, we only get three minutes with each person though so I will have to be quick. First in are my mother and sister. Prim runs straight into my arms and my mother later join us. Prim makes me promise I will try to win. Then I speak to my mother.
"You can't leave her," I am looking straight into her eye, if you leave her so help me I will never forgive you. Then the peacekeepers told us our time was up, I kissed my mother goodbye, hugged my sister like I would never let her go and then I have to watch them leave knowing I would never see them again.

Seconds later Peeta burst through the door, I fell into his arms, weeping heavily making the collar off his shirt saturated. Slowly I pull away realising crying and making myself look weak and an easy target was really not my best option. Slowly he took my face into his hands, his forehead pressed against mine and said:
"You have to win, Katniss. Not for me, you have to win for Prim and for your mum." He looks at me with tears starting to well up in his eyes.
"But what if it comes down to me and Gale, I can't kill him Peeta I just can't."
"I know, but we need they to survive, and so do I. Katniss I love you so much." I manage a smile before saying.
"I love you more." I see him smile and I realise this could be the last of his smile I see. I kiss him goodbye knowing I will probably never see him again and break apart as the peacekeepers drag him from my room, but they are not so fast that they stop him pressing something in my hand.
"I will always love you." But before I can say anything in reply, the door is slammed between us so I whisper
"I love you too." I whisper this so quietly that
I barely hear it myself.
I open up my hand to see what he has left me and there facing me is a beautiful gold mockingjay pin. I recognise it as the pin he once showed me that belonged to his grandmother who died in the games. I try to compose myself more tears will not help. No one else comes in, at first I think this is strange, I always assumed that tributes would get scores of visitors. But then I remember that I don't really have many friends I only ever speak to my sister, my mum, Gale and Peeta.

Then the peacekeepers come in and order me to go with them, still clutching at the gold pin in my palm I leave and can only imagine how terrifying the next few weeks will be. I see Gale coming out of his room and he looks as though he has seen a hundred ghosts. I can't believe how self centred I have been, whilst I have been worrying about how hurt I will be I forgot about all Gales brothers and sisters. They have just had to say goodbye to the only real make figure in their lives and it is because of me.
"Gale, why did you..." I am about to ask him why he volunteered but he interrupts me.
"If Peeta had gone in with you, can you honestly tell me that you would have been able to kill him?"
"No but I can't" he cuts me off again.
"You have to come back Catnip, I know you can win but I know I am not coming home because I know I have to protect you. I always have." All my grief leaves me and I am suddenly angry. When I was out hunting to get food after my father had died I didn't know him then. He hasn't always protected me I used to manage on my own, how dare he say that he always protected me. He would never have protected me had I not traded archery lessons with him for him teaching me to make snares. Had we not done that he would never have bothered being my friend.

Before I can retaliate I am whisked off to a black car that is parked behind the justice building. In the car I steady my breathing and compose myself knowing my picture will be taken by thousands of reporters within the next two minutes when we arrive at the train station. The car stops and as soon as I get at I am bombarded with people taking my picture. Effie Trinket carefully steers me through the crowd and pushes me onto the gleaming silver train, Gale is already on board so as soon as the door is shut behind me the train pulls away leaving all the flashing cameras behind us.

Gale looks over to me, as he does so something snaps inside me. "Don't you ever tell me you have always protected me, when my dad died for three years you didn't protect me you didn't know me. Even after you met me the only reason you were friends with me was because you got some archery lessons out of it so never ever say you have always protected me because you haven't." I had totally forgotten by the end that on the train with us was Effie and Haymitch.
"You're a feisty one aren't you?" A slurred voice comes from behind me. Haymitch. I give him one of my signature scowls before turning back to Gale.
"Catnip, you know I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I really care about you. That's all but maybe if you are that angry then I should regret volunteering to die so you could come home to your boyfriend. I guess I am just a horrible, selfish inconsiderate waste of a human being. God forbid I do something nice. Let's pick at the way he phrased the fact that always protecting you meant... meant.…" He stops and headed off down the corridor. He goes into his room and I can hear the full force that he slammed the door with from here.

I can see Haymitch laughing behind me without realising what I was doing until I had done it I picked up a knife from the dining table, threw him against the wall and pressed the knife to his neck. "What is so funny to you about both of us being shipped off to the Capitol to die?" He carries on laughing so I apply more pressure with my knife. This man is more repulsing than I could imagine and standing so close to him meant I kept being repulsed by him breathing liquor fumes into my face.
"Sweetheart, you have to know what is so funny. It is obvious."
"What, what is so obvious that it is hilarious and I can't see."
"You will have to ask the boy it isn't my place to say, would you mind removing that knife from my neck so I can get a drink." I slowly move the knife and then stalk off to my room. Today really isn't going to be my day so I may as well go to bed now to cut it short.