I have no excuse for the amount of time that has passed since I've last posted on this story. But I'm back and hopefully I'll finish this fic in the near future. I hate leaving things undone, which is why I've decided to continue with this story... that is if this story still has readers, So please if you enjoy it, review to let me know if it's worth me continuing. Thank and enjoy.

The image of Katniss as she spoon-feeds Peeta makes me glower in annoyance. My disproval is apparent as I sit in brooding silence. My shoulders hunch over as if to block myself from receiving another blow to the heart. As Katniss tries to coax food into Peeta he denies it in disgust. The mere sight of it making him pale significantly. Katniss pleads for him to eat. When she used anger, I relished in it. But as she places small kisses on his lips, whispering her pleas, I'm taken aback by how sincere she appears. I abruptly stand to practically beg my mom in allowing me to cook dinner. It's the only excuse I see to put some distance between the images and me.

I only allow myself fleeting glances towards the TV while I prepare dinner. Nothing too interesting happens while I'm fiddling around. Most shots are of Katniss and other tributes doing the necessary things to survive. The whole love act between Katniss and Peeta must be enough entertainment for now. In the meantime, I keep myself preoccupied with cooking. I found myself pleased with the task at hand as I view my mom where she rests on the couch. To give her some peace in her hectic day is another achievement I can be proud of.

I call over Posy just as she's about to climb into my mother's lap. My mother stirs in her sleep, but I stopped Posy in time. Posy comes over to keep me entertained as I wait for the stew to finish and soon after my brother's make an entrance jumping int to help wrap up dinner. I try to think about the last time we all have been together and not fully focused on the games. I'm glad for this moment. I don't know when the next time we'll get to be together without worries.

We all set the table together, talking and laughing like it's a day full of nothing but normal routines. Our laughter wakes our mom who comes over to insist in helping, but we all shout protest at her interference. She should take advantage of our help while it's given. She laughs as my two brothers push her into her chair and place a tattered napkin in her lap. I serve the finished stew. We all ignore the empty spot where dad would sit and enjoy the meal. Yes, we're eating more broth then stew and it's a meal we have almost everyday. But for some reason as I'm eating, I appreciate the taste and fill up on just a bowl.

When dinner is done, we all clean up and eventually go our separate ways. Our one TV is kept on so the Games is always in our presence, but as I check in now and again catching glimpses of Katniss with Peeta, the resentment I felt before isn't overtaking me. She's playing the Game. Her actions are all purposeful. Even the ones that make me flinch in discomfort. As long as I remind myself of this fact, I will be able to continue to root for her as wholeheartedly as I can.

ooOOOoo

Blood poisoning.

The skin on Peeta's leg has streaks of red running across the swollen wound, a clear sign for blood poisoning. The injury has taken a turn for the worse, making Katniss turn pale with worry. As usual, I'm viewing the Games, checking up only when Katniss appears. After seeing Peeta's leg, Katniss went to toss together a stew, which she now is feeding Peeta as she tells the tale of getting Prim a goat for one her birthday's. It's a nice story.

But it's a lie. Not all of it, but I get why she can't tell the real version since it involves our illegal hunting trips into the woods. For some reason her not telling him the truth makes me hold on to the fact that Katniss and I share moments together that no one will ever no about. Even if Katniss is taking precaution since there are cameras, it's always been just the two of us. Fighting to stay alive together and sharing our deepest secrets even our families aren't aware of. I think eventually we can go back to that.

Peeta seems to relish in the tale for his eyes stay glued on to Katniss while she speaks. "They sound like you," he notes, his eyes shining as he pictures them in his mind. The two continue to talk about Katniss' family and make slight jokes that I can't remember what they were since I start to wander into my own thoughts of memories with Katniss.

Out of nowhere, trumpets play a booming tune, indicating an incoming message to the tributes from the Capitol. Claudius Templesmith invites the tributes to a feast, which usually in terms is just a place for tributes to get food, however Claudius says, "Now hold on. Some of you may already be declining my invitation. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desperately."

At his words, pictures of all the tributes are placed on the screen, everyone listening intently to what's to be said. " Each of you will find something in a backpack, marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you, this will be your last chance."

Chaos ensues as each tribute is seen discussing and deciding whether this backpack is worth risking their lives for. But as Claudius mentioned, some people, like Peeta, this may be their last chance at life. Katniss knows that and Peeta obviously does too but he immediately shuts the idea down. "No." Katniss would have been right out of the cave door just Claudius finished, ready to dash of for whatever is in the pack, but Peeta's hold on her shoulder halts her. Whatever is in the pack is something to help the very ill Peeta and he addresses that. "You're not risking your life for me." He grips her shoulder, pulling her to face him.

"Who said I was?" Katniss blinks down at him, trying her best to contain her poker face. But knowing her for as long as I have, I can tell from the twitch of her lip that she's straining to hide her true intentions.

"So you're not going?" Peeta questions suspiciously, clearly not sure whether to believe her.

"Of course, I'm not going. Give me some credit. Do you think I'm running straight into some free-for-all against Cato and Clove and Thresh? Don't be stupid," Katniss says while she puts Peeta into their makeshift bed. When she lies she likes to make herself busy to distract away from her words. "Ill let them fight it out, we'll see who's in the sky tomorrow night and work out a plan from there."

"You're such a bad liar, Katniss. I don't know how you've survived this long." In his best Katniss imitation, Peeta mimics, "I knew that goat would be a little gold mine. You're a little cooler though. Of course, I'm not going." Peeta looks at her before shaking his in incredulously. "Never gamble at cards. You'll lose your last coin."

Katniss' anger flares at the mockery and yells, "All right, I am going and you can't stop me!"

"I can follow you. At least partway. I may not make it to the Cornucopia, but if I'm yelling your name, I bet someone can find me. And then I'll be dead for sure." Peeta looks at Katniss intently to show that he in no manner is kidding about doing just as he said, but Katniss doesn't relent.

"You won't get a hundred yards from here on that leg."

"Then I'll drag myself. You go and I'm going, too."

Peeta and Katniss stare each other down, both trying to decipher the other's breaking point on the topic. Someone will have to break. Katniss speaks, her voice pleading for him to understand her reasoning, "What am I supposed to do? Sit here and watch you die?"

"I won't die. I promise. If you promise not to go." Peeta looks sincere, but how can someone stop the clutches of death? No matter how strong your willpower to live is death will always be stronger. It's a long moment before Katniss seems to shift out of her defensive stance; resigning to the fate Peeta has dealt her. But she doesn't fully give into submission.

"Then you have to do what I say. Drink your water, wake me when I tell you, and eat every bite of the soup no matter how disgusting it is!" She's practically turning purple trying to keep her anger under control. Katniss never has been one to take orders well. He agrees wholeheartedly and the debate is over, leaving one person happy and the other moping in the loss.

Katniss goes about the usual making of the soup for Peeta, although alittle more anger tossed in. Peeta keeps to his word and takes in every bite with a little too much exaggeration for the delectable taste. I for one know she wasn't the cook I the family. Her job was to catch the food, not make it. Katniss is clearly not as amused as she thought she would be by forcing him to eat.

She leaves him alone as she heads to the stream where she begins to wash up. You can tell she's churning thought after thought through her head in order to figure a way to getting the pack without having Peeta following.

Suddenly, a silver parachute lightly descends from the clouds. Katniss is absentmindedly wiping her arm of now nonexistent dirt and it take her a moment before she shake off her trace to notice the parachute just as it lands with a splash in the stream. Katniss lunges for it as if scared the stream was powerful enough to sweep it away. She flings the lid open to reveal a vial.

She studies it carefully, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. She opens the vial before dropping a drop of what's inside on her tongue. She looks disappointed at her discovery of what she was given, until she perks up with a revelation. She scrambles up out of her sitting position and reaches for a handful of berries, which she mashes up and then adds the vial of medicine into the concoction. She even adds some mint leaves to help cover the taste the medicine must leave. Katniss gathers her things and heads back to the cave where she greets Peeta with the berries.

"I've brought you a treat. I found a new patch of berries a little farther downstream." Katniss directs the spoonful of the berries with the hidden medicine to Peeta who takes it obediently. But after one bite, his face twist in curiosity, " They're very sweet," He notes.

"Yes, they're sugar berries. My mother makes jam from them. Haven't you ever had them before?" Katniss' smooth reply takes even me by surprise since there's really no indication in her body language that she's lying. I nod my head in approval. She makes him take another bite and Peeta does, but seemingly only to see if he can understand the taste more.

"No, But they taste familiar. Sugar berries?" He's suspicious, but he doesn't know of what. She forces another mouthful and after he swallows he says, "They're sweet as syrup." She places the last spoonful of the concoction into his mouth and it's too late. Just as he repeats "syrup", the realization hits both of us.

It's sleeping medicine.

His eyes grow wide as he understands what he's been taking, but he's react is too slow as Katniss cover her hand over his mouth, forcing him to swallow every last drop. Peeta goes to the effort to make himself throw up, but you can see his limbs growing heavy as sleep begins to cling to him. He slumps onto his back, eyes fluttering to stay open as they accusingly stare at Katniss. Within seconds, he loses the fight.

Katniss watches Peeta as he falls under the effects of the sleep medicine. Her eyes show no regret for her actions. She even whispers, "Who can't lie, Peeta?" Showing her triumph that she got her way, even if it meant betraying his trust. She makes her way out of the cave. She stops at the mouth of it and begins to collect various rocks to place at the entrance. As she piles rock against rock, the mouth of the cave is no longer visible to a passerby.

The feast isn't until the next day so she has some time to prepare. Katniss goes to sit by the stream, eating a fish that she caught. After eating, she makes sure she has water and that her weapon is intact and loaded. Fully prepped, Katniss heads back the cave, scanning her surrounding thoroughly. But I can tell she's strategizing while she walks. As she reenters the cave she immediately heads to Peeta's side. The only reaction to the sight of her snuggling up to Peeta is a slight twitch of a muscle in my jaw. The best trait of mine has always been my ability to conceal my true emotions.

I take there cuddling as a sign to call it a night as well as the camera moving on to the other tributes preparing for tomorrow. I hesitate from leaving, wanting to be aware of what other tributes plan of action against Katniss will be, but I think better of it. My knowing of their plans would only stress me to no end since there's no way for me to help her. So I turn the TV off and head into my room to sleep. No school means I won't miss a single thing that will happen during the feast. Yet, even if I didn't have school, it's mandatory that everyone the feast for it's a crucial point in the Games. I slide in to bed, mentally reminding myself to get up bright and early. Tomorrow is definitely not a day I can miss one second of.

ooOOOoo

I startle awake, disoriented, but ready to greet the day. I look towards my window. A slight frost has coated the glass and the sun has just started to break away the darkness. I haven't been up this early to see the start of it. But I'm glad I did since today is a crucial day.

I dress and make a semblance of a breakfast, before I head out of my house and head to the Everdeen's. Today will be an important day for Katniss since we now know she'll indeed be going to the feast. So I want to be there to support her family. We don't know what'll come out of this and I don't want them to experience it alone.

I knock on the door, but no answer comes. So I open the door, announcing myself as I do. "We're in the living room!" Prim directs me. I head over to see that both Prim and her mom staring intently at their TV screen. "They just revealed the packs," her mom fills me in, motioning for me to sit. I walk over to them, pulling on a kitchen chairs to sit on. I catch a glimpse of a girl dashing over to the table where four packs sit. She snatches her pack with such stealth and whips away in a blink of an eye.

We all sit anticipating the next move of a tribute. It comes several minutes after the first girl and my heart jumps at the sight of Katniss, running low to her target backpack. She's barely in the field before a knife is flung in her direction. It misses and Katniss shoots and arrow in the direction the knife came from. It hits her target, but not fully on. The girl from district two, Clove is stopped short as the arrow plunges into her bicep, leaving a trail of blood coating her arm.

She growls in pain and she grips the arrow and pulls it out, blood spurting from the wound. In the time it took Clove to pull the arrow out, Katniss made it to the table. I silently cheer that she's reached her objective, but I feel the anxiety rise at the knowledge that getting out is going to be a much more difficult task.

Katniss grabs the bag with the number 12 on it and she's about to attack again, but she's one step behind. A knife appears out of nowhere, slicing right across Katniss' forehead. Blood spews down her face, covering her in a sickly amount of blood that makes Prim take in a shuddery breath. Her mother soothes Prim by smoothing her hair, but her hands shakes, indicating her nervousness for her elder daughter.

Katniss is clearly blinded from the onslaught of blood. She sends an arrow flying in the direction of nothing since the other girl is on her second later. Katniss is thrown harshly on her back. The small girl from two is much stronger than you would ever perceive for she pins Katniss down easily.

"Where's your boyfriend, District Twelve? Still hanging on?" Her voice is mocking. She's enjoying this far too much.

"He's out there now. Hunting Cato." Katniss' lying has become so much better in the last hours that even the girl from two flinches in fear of her words. To add to her claim Katniss screams, "Peeta!" The girl fist makes contact with Katniss throat, immediately silencing her screams. The girl is anxious that at any moment Peeta will jump to the rescue, but it's clear he's not coming.

"Liar." The girl says, her earlier confidence back and at full force. "He's nearly dead. Cato knows where he cut him. You've probably got him strapped up in some tree while you try to keep his heart going. What's in the pretty little backpack? The medicine for Lover Boy?" The girl lowers her face closer to Katniss' before finishing with, "Too bad he'll never get it."

She leans back up only to reveal numerous knives of all different lengths and shapes hiding in her jacket. Clove smirks as she picks the one with the sharpest blade, studying it with anticipation for its use. "I promised Cato if he let me have you, I'd give the audience a good show." She flicks the knife up inspecting it more, the sun that's now finally in the sky, glints of the metal tip, the sharpness unmistakable.

Katniss begins to struggle at the sight of the weapon by shifting her hips and squirming into a position to push her off, but the efforts are wasted. I internally yell words of encouragement, but it's useless. "Forget it, District Twelve. We're going to kill you. Just like we did you pathetic little ally… what was her name? The one who hopped around in the trees?" The girl sure does know how to put on show. She's highly aware of the camera's that view this scene and her evil attitude is clear all the way here in District Twelve. Clove enjoys the chase just as much as she does the killing.

I'm glad that we're not in the square where the big projector is. There's no privacy from the stares of sympathy we would be getting as this scene unfolds in front of everyone.

Clove is back to taunting, "Rue? Well, first Rue, then you, and then I think we'll just let nature take care of Lover Boy. How does that sound?" The girl smirks down at Katniss, happy with herself. She studies Katniss for a moment before saying, "Now, where to start?"

She haphazardly begins to wipe some of the blood that coats Katniss' face, not remotely trying to be careful. Katniss tries once again to fight, but the girl is prepared for it and she grips Katniss' hair to hold her head still. "I think we'll start with your mouth."

Katniss clamps her lips shut tightly, her last effort of fighting against the enemy. I grip my hand into a fist as the girl casually uses the tip of the blade to trail menacingly over Katniss' lips. She looks more than ready to carve her open. Her eyes are practically twinkling with the need to butcher her prey. It's disgusting.

Katniss doesn't relent to her fear. She stares her enemy down with malice laced in her piercing glare. The message is clear, she won't beg, not matter how painful it'll be. "Yes, I don't think you'll have much use for your lips anymore. Want to blow Lover Boy one last kiss?" The girl taunts. Katniss spits directly into the girls downcast faced. Blood and spit drips from Clove's face to reveal her cheeks burning red with rage. Yet, her voice remains leveled as she says, "All right then. Let's get started."

The knife barely makes contact with Katniss before a burly shadow falls over the pair and two large hands grab out for Clove, yanking her up like she weighs nothing. He harshly throws the girl from District two down into the ground, sending rocks and dirt flying from the impact. Katniss stares in shock at her rescuer, clearly not understanding why he came to her defense. Thresh stomps over to the cowering Clove and he shouts, "What'd you do to that little girl? You kill her?" His anger is boiling over to extreme heights.

"No! No, it wasn't me!" The girl whimpers and she tries to crawl away from the menacingly figure of the boy. I can tell that she has absolutely no chance in getting out of this alive. The boy, I think, if I ever came in contact with him could beat me, without breaking into a sweat.

"You said her name. I heard you. You kill her? You cut her up like you were going to cut up this girl here?" His voices rises as his anger does, leaving the girl looking so small in comparison to his massive form as it hunches over her.

"No! No, I- Cato! Cato!" The massive rock in Thresh's hand went unnoticed until he began to lift it in the direction of the girl. Cato, the boy the girl desperately calls for answers back, but it doesn't matter. He's too late. Thesh slams the rock right on the temple of the girl's head. The strength he has is immense and it's clear as he moves away from the now slumped and unmoving girl, for her head in now dented from the impact.

Suddenly, Thresh's anger is moved to Katniss whose been observing the scene in obvious shock. "What'd she mean? About Rue being your ally?" It takes Katniss a second to shake of her shock, "I-I- we teamed up. Blew up the supplies. I tried to save her. But he got there first. District one." Katniss looks up to the boy who just took out a girl with one hit, expecting the same result.

"And you killed him?" He stares at her with so much intensity, I'm proud of Katniss for not wavering under his gaze.

"Yes. I killed him. And buried her in flowers. And sang her to sleep." Katniss tells him as tears glisten in her eyes at the thought of losing her friend.

"To sleep?" He questions.

"To death." Katniss clarifies. "I sang until she died. Your district… they sent me bread." Katniss takes a resigned breath as she accepts her fate. "Do it fast, okay, Thresh?" She steadies herself for a blow that doesn't come.

"Just this one time, I let you go. For the little girl. You and me, we're even then. No more owed. You understand." The hand that holds the rock drops to his side, showing that he really doesn't mean her any harm.

At least for right now.

From the distance, the call of the boy Cato yells out to Clove who lies still in a heap on the ground. "You better run now, fire girl." Thresh advises. Katniss is up and on her feet in a second and off running faster than I've ever seen her run in her life. She's been given a second change and she's not about to let her shock keep her from taking this opportunity to getting to safety.

Prim and her mom both let out shaky breaths that they seem to have been holding and I reach out to pat both on the shoulder. "She's okay. She's okay." I say it out loud to fully bring the situation into light. Because sometimes it can be unreal until someone else puts it into perspective for you. So I'm grateful when Katniss' mom reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze, being there to confirm to me to of her safety. "She's alive."

But our happiness is only celebrated for a short time as we view Katniss. She runs until she's panting and a clear sheen of sweat covers her forehead since it's mixes with the blood and it drips down her face. But she doesn't stop. Not even as she reaches the cave. She quickly enters dropping down next to the unconscious Peeta.

She pulls the pack off her bag, flipping it upside down to pour out its contents. A box lands, but Katniss quickly swipes it up and opens it to reveal a needle. Katniss is quick, pulling the needle out and jamming it into Peeta's arm, pumping the medicine straight into his veins. Katniss goes to wipe away the blood that has once again obstructed her vision. I take in a sharp breath as I realize it's still bleeding. That's definitely not a good sign. And as Katniss suddenly tips over, her eyes fluttering shut, and falls into unconsciousness, we all stare in horrified silence at the image of two injured people on the brink of death.