Thanks to Foxface'sSpecialPie and Aliyaahhhh for reading and reviewing! I noticed that the first Chapter got a whopping 28 views, but only two reviews! Come on, people! I mean, when I am a mega famous singer/actress/author, don't you want the bragging rights that come with that? You can tell your friends that you complemented the famous _ _ ( That's my name. You don't need to know it.)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. I don't feel like coming up with a joke as to why I don't.
I wonder how many tears were shed on this couch in the minutes it takes for my family gets up here. Azula comes in first, alone. She walks over and kneels in front of me as she looks up at me. I put my hands on her cheeks as the words I knew she would say come out of her mouth. I pull her to her feet and hug her.
"I thought you were mad at me," she says. "I was." "Then why are you hugging me?" she asks. "I didn't say that I didn't love you, I said I was mad at you," I reply. "But you… you were going to get married. Why did they have to pick you? You had an entire plan for your future laid out in front of you," she whispers. "I had? I had? What, you don't think I can win? I am going to get married. I will have a future with Marlin. I'll just be putting it off for a month or so, until I come home," I say.
"Promise you'll come back, ViVi," she cries. "I promise. Promise me that you'll be nice to the twins." She nods. I hug her, and then the door opens. A peacekeeper tells her that her time is up and orders her to leave the room. She latches onto my stomach with her arms. The peacekeeper comes into the room and pulls her away. As she is dragged out, she starts screaming hysterically.
The twins and my father come in next. They're so young, they don't know what's happening, but they know enough to know that I'm in some kind of danger. They sit on either side of me, whispering for me to be safe. I hug them back while I tell my father that he needs to take care of them. My father and I don't agree on anything, except maybe Marlin. He thinks Marlin is the only boy in the entire country who is polite and respectful of his girlfriend's father. I always preferred my mother more.
They walk out when the peacekeeper tells them this time. Pearl starts crying. A minute or two goes by, and I start to worry. What if Marlin doesn't visit me? I have my answer to his question ready. Is he afraid he'll love me too much to watch me die? The door opens, and I sigh with relief, but it's not Marlin. It's Remora. She sits down next to me. Her mutilated stump of an arm hands in the air awkwardly.
"I'm so sorry, ViVi. I shouldn't have gone swimming last night. Marlin told me his plan, and I agreed to help him. We used to train together, and we were good friends. He's had a rough time since his games, and I know that better than anyone. In fact, he told me once that you were the only good thing that has happened to him since he won. If you die now, he'll be crushed," she says.
"I doubt it. He hasn't even come to visit me yet!" I grab a pillow from the couch and start sobbing into it. Remora pats me on the back."He probably doesn't want to get too attached to you just in case you don't win. He's in the victor's conference room downstairs. I'll tell him to come and talk to you," she says, trying to soothe me.
"And what if he doesn't visit me, and then I win? He'll be awfully sorry he didn't visit me when I dump him," I say angrily, my right hand curling into a fist and punching the pillow.. "I'll tell him that. It would kill him if the girl he loves survives against the odds, and then comes home and dumps him. He'll haul butt up here if I tell him that," she says. "Tell him I have to tell him something," I say. She nods and runs out of the room.
A few minutes later, I hear loud footsteps running down the hall. I stand up, close my eyes, wipe the tears on my cheek away with my hand. I hear glass break, the peacekeeper yells, glass breaks again, and the man falls silent. The door opens and then slams closed.
Suddenly I am enveloped in a warm body. I lay my head Marlin's shoulder and hug him tightly. I can feel his warm tears falling onto my shoulder. I pick my head up and untangle myself from his arms, Sitting back down on the couch. His icy blue eyes are wet with tears. "Why are you crying, Marlin?" I ask him softly. "You're going to die. I can't lose you when I just found you. You're the only person who really loves me for me, not just because I'm a victor." His whole family is dead, so technically that's true.
"The twins love you," I says. He smiles weakly. "You know what I mean, ViVi." "Yes, I know what you mean, and I hope you know what I mean when I say I that want at least five children and a beautiful July wedding in the sunset."
He stops moving completely, stunned by what I just said. Then he wraps his arms around me again, but this time it's me who crying, but now they're tears of joy. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me," he says. "Actually, I think I do."
"It needs to be official," he says under his breath. He gets down on one knee and opens the small box he has pulled from his pocket. "Victoria Rose Marino, will you marry me?" he asks. I nod, and then I gasp, because in the box is a necklace made of sea-green pearls, almost the exact color of my eyes. He unclips the latch and clips it back around my neck.
"I know you wouldn't remember to put a ring on every morning, so I got you a necklace instead. You can use it as your token," he whispers as he pulls me in for a hug. I kiss him and thank him, and then I realize what he just said. I make a disapproving face, but he just grins and wiggles his eyebrows.
"Oh, I talked to River. He says he wants to win to help his family escape poverty. So I told him that if he protected you in the arena, I would help his family even if he dies. He agreed. And Finnick is your mentor, so he's going to get you sponsors," he says. "Thank you," I whisper.
We stand there, my head on chest, until our time is up. I don't want to think about it, but this may be the last time I ever see him. The peacekeeper calls him. "Do the survival skills. There's always a chance that the cornucopia will only have weapons inside. I don't want you to die of starvation." He hugs me tightly and presses his lips to my forehead. "I'll be waiting for you here," he whispers in my ear before walking out the door.
A few minutes later I am called out as well. River is coming out of his room, too, so I walk out of the building with him. "Thanks, River," I say. He just looks at me and nods. I put on a winning smile for the cameras, because I know it won't hurt my chances to have sponsors.
We walk across the street to the train station. As soon as we get on the train, it starts moving. I run over the window of the dining car. I stare out the window at the quickly fading District 4, trying to take the sight of it into my brain and commit it to memory, aware that this day may have been the last time I ever see my home, my family, and Marlin ever again.
So this is being added in from the original chapter due to an amazing thing called editing. I just want to ask... What are you guys being for Halloween? I'm gonna be Isabelle Lightwood. R&R, please!