Hello everyone! We just got back from Florida like 4 hours ago, but my mind was bursting I wanted to write so badly! Vacation was fun though, I had a blast writing Finnick and Annie's names in the sand over and over again lol! ;) I did not plan this chapter at all, it just popped into my head and I decided to keep it! I really hope you like it...I'm sure all the Clato fans out there will! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, I really wouldn't keep writing without them! Please keep it up! Oh and thank you bunches to everyone who is following this story or has is as a favorite! :P I'm sorry this author's note is so long. I hate them as much as anybody, so I'll let you get to reading! Enjoy! :D
Clove's POV
I wake to find my head in Cato's lap. His head is leaned back against the horn's golden surface and his eyes are squeezed tight in sleep. He must've fallen asleep during his watch. I told him to wake me if he got tired!
"Caaattoo," I say gently, he turns his head to the other side, eyes still tightly shut.
"Go away, Glimmer. I still sleeping," he grumbles. I giggle and position myself facing him.
"Cato sweetie, I told you to wake me if you got tired. I could've taken over the watch last night," His eyes squeeze tighter and his hands clench into fists. Something must be wrong. "Cato? Cato are you alright?" I question and place a hand on his shoulder. Quick as lightening he grabs my reached out hand by the wrist and twists my arm to my back in a lock hold. A knife appears at my throat. Cato's heavy breathing is muffled by the sounds of my surprised and pained whimpers. My arm is twisted to where my hand is in between my shoulder blades, one move and he could dislocate my shoulder. I know this is not my Cato though. This is the defensive side of him. The side that wants to win the Hunger Games. "Cato," I cry harshly. "Cato it's me, Clove. You're alright, no one is trying to hurt you," I whisper. The blade of his knife is pressed tightly to my windpipe and I can feel a small trickle of blood running down my neck.
He gives a sort of moan and falls back, releasing my arm. I turn and look at him; he has dropped his knife and is covering his face in his huge yet gently hands.
"I am so sorry Clove," he starts, his voice cracking. "I promise I didn't mean to do it. I thought you were…they were chasing me…I couldn't save them.." he is sobbing now. I scoot up to him and put his head on my shoulder. My finger swirl patterns on his back, trying to calm him. I know he must feel terrible, but I will always love him.
"It's okay, honey. It was just a bad dream. No one is chasing you," I coo. Cato lifts his head and his eyes widen at the blood flowing from my neck. It's a long scratch, but not deep at all. It burns slightly, but I'm used to pain. Cato's fingers brush the wound, causing me to wince involuntarily. He hops up and grabs his full canteen and rips of the edge of a blanket which he wets. Back on his knees in front of me, he gently cleans away the blood. I take hold of his wrist. "Cato, I'm fine. Really it's just a scratch."
"I'm so sorry Clove," he whispers. Before he can say anything else, my lips crash into his. Cato begins to kiss back but then gently pushes me away. "Clove, listen to me," he says urgently. He takes my face in his hands and looks at me with pleading eyes. "You have to leave. I can't do that to you again, I would never forgive myself. You have to go and stay safe," he begs with such seriousness. He really expects me to leave him? Sorry Cato, but no way.
"And what exactly would you do? What happens when it's just us left and one of us has to die?" I ask harshly. He guiltily eyes the knife with my blood on it in the corner.
"I'd take care of that before it got to that point," Cato whispers. What the heck does that mean? Then his horrible idea clicks in my head and I almost vomit at the thought.
"You really think I'm going to walk away from you knowing you're committing suicide? Are you crazy? I thought you loved me; I thought we promised not to hurt each other. That would hurt me more than anything anyone in this arena can do to me," I seethe. I can't believe this. He really wants me to leave him.
"Clove I'm doing this because I love you. I don't want to hurt you," he pleads, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. I can see in his eyes that he is being honest.
"We're a team. We stick together. End of discussion," I spat. My knees stiffen as I stand, leaving Cato on his knees. The sun glares brightly once I reach the lake. Water lilies brush up against my bare legs as I sit dangling then into the cool water from a rock. I need to think. What would we do if Cato and I were the only two left? I guess I was kind of hypocritical to him, because if we are put in that situation I know I will kill myself to save him. Because I love him. Because he deserves to live.
My thoughts are interrupted by the nasally voice of Claudius Templesmith, the Game's announcer. His words spin in my head as I try to dissect them. A rule change? Two people can win…we can both win! This sinks into me fully, tears of joy fill my eyes as I race back to the Cornucopia. Cato sees me coming and I crash into his outstretched arms. We hug, rocking back and forth, crying with each other. We can both go home. We can spend our lives together. We can have children and raise them together.
Cato must've been thinking the same thing, because he suddenly drops to one knee and encloses my tiny hands in his.
"Clove?" he shakily stutters. Shock and confusion run through me; what is he doing? I nod quickly. "Clove, we can win. Most Victors don't have anything to make them happy after the Games. They only have their drugs or their drinks. I don't want that when we win. I want to have a family and raise children. I want to have a wife. Not just any wife, I want you, Clove. Will you marry me? Will you let me comfort you and will you be my happiness after this? Please?"
Tears run in torrents down my face, laughter echoing through the horn through my grin. My heart explodes with love and excitement. I must be the happiest girl in Panem. In the Hunger Games, being hunted by Gamemakers and tributes alike, having a one in a million chance of living through the next week, not knowing where my next meal will come from…with the only man in the world that I love. I nod my head, incapable of speech, and he scoops me into his arms, laughing as we spin together in the midday sun.
Cato's POV
I can't believe this. I can't believe that Clove and I will be married. I puts her calloused hand on my chest and I stop spinning and put her down. She faces me and takes my hands.
"Why wait?" she whispers. Her adorable eyes sparkle up at me, her tiny lips turned up in a smile. She wants to get married now? Here? I'm sure this is a first: a wedding in the Hunger Games. Yet I think it is perfect.
"You're absolutely right," I reply. "What about the rings though?" Clove's face knots together like it does when she is thinking. I just love her so much. In reply to my question, a silver parachute lands at my side, waiting to be opened. Slowly I pick it up and open it, marveling at the wondrous sponsor gift lying inside. I hold up the two silver matching rings. Clove gasps and looks up to the sky.
"Thank you so much," she squeals. We position ourselves in front of the golden horn we have come to call home.
I take her hand and place the simple band on her ring finger. Before the arena, the Gamemakers were convinced our purity rings concealed some secret weapon and so the spot is vacant on our hands.
"Clove, I take you as my wife. I really don't deserve you. I can be brutal and horrible, yet you always bring me back to myself. I promise to protect you, to make sure nothing happens to you. I promise to get us out of here. I will always love you, no matter what happens. I will always be there for you when you need me. You can tell me anything, and no matter how terrible I will always, ALWAYS, love you more than anything else in this entire world." I finish my vows, forgetting our surroundings. Forgetting that people are betting against our deaths. Forgetting everything except girl standing right in front of me.
Clove slowly pushes the ring onto my finger, her gaze never leaving mine.
"Cato, I take you as my husband. Ever since we were five we have been there for each other. I used to be afraid that our love is a weakness, something only the feeble fall into. But now, now I realize that our love makes us stronger. If I fall, I know you have my back and you know I have yours. We make each other stronger, better. We are both broken, emotionally and now physically. We both have killed and felt guilty about it. But to me, you're still the boy I met the first day at the Academy. You are still, and always will be, that caring and loving boy I promised to protect. And I don't plan on breaking that promise anytime soon. I love Cato, and I always will." Her brown eyes spill over with tears as do mine, I lean down and gently kiss her, wrapping my arms around her. We pull apart and grin. I look out and notice the sun has set, stars appearing in the sky. The anthems begins to blare, no deaths. Clove tugs me back into the horn and into a sleeping bag.
"I really need to watch-," I am cut off by her lips against mine.
"There are only three left besides us," Clove says knowingly while rolling her eyes. I guess the whole 'wife is always right' thing starts now. I laugh and snuggle in next to Clove, my wife. We drift to sleep together, I stroking her hair as she twists the ring on my finger, both with smiles in our hearts.
There you have it:P I cried writing this! Like I said, I didn't plan this at all. It just flowed out and I didn't stop it. I really hope ya'll like it! Please keep reviewing! It means a lot when I get a new one-feels like opening a Christmas gift! I will try to update soon, but I have a piano camp all week and then marching band starts, so it might be a while but I will do my best! Hope you liked this chapter! :)