"I'm back I'm back," Taiya huffed as she ran onto the beach where the others had been waiting for her.

"You got what you need?" Finnick asked, grabbing onto her upper arms, confirming she was still ok.

"I'm good I swear," Taiya nodded.

"Ok, we got to go," Finnick's eyes darted around the arena. They were exposed and were no doubt targets because of Katniss and Peeta. They had to get to safety. Finnick pushed Taiya towards the trees where Katniss and Peeta were waiting. He made sure Taiya was in front of them as they ran, Peeta immediately got the message and ran as well. "Katniss, Katniss, go, go, go," Finnick coached, encouraging the girl to get a move on.

Peeta took the lead, followed by Taiya, and then Katniss and Finnick took up the rear. Cannons continued to echo around the arena as more tributes succumbed to the blood bath.

Peeta used his long knife to cut a path for them as the group sprinted through the jungle. They ran through the jungle for about a mile before Finnick called out.

"Ok, hold up, hold up," he yelled from the back, wanting everyone to stop so they could evaluate the arena. "You alright?" he whispered to Taiya as he came to crouch next to her. The whole group had crouched down to stay out of sight of any other passing tributes

"I'm good," Taiya squeezed his hand. "It's freaking hot in here!" she loudly complained. "I don't know why Moxie bothered with my hair it's already ruined with sweat."

"Agreed," Peeta nodded. "God it's hot. We got to find fresh water."

"I'm going to check it out," Katniss announced as she stands up and walks over to a large tree and begins to scale it.

"That's kind of cool," Taiya admitted. She'd seen her tree-climbing skills in last year's Games, but it was still an impressive talent.

"She's always been a good climber," Peeta smiled proudly.

"Maybe she should take it a little easier?" Taiya suggested. "You know, being pregnant and all," she winked at Peeta who chuckled nervously.

Taiya then looked over at Finnick and the couple had a silent conversation. They knew Katniss was going to be able to see the effects of the bloodbath when she looked down over the arena. She was going to see the bodies laying about, the survivors fighting. It was going to rattle her.

They didn't know exactly which version of her would climb down the tree and they had to be prepared.

So Taiya walked over to Peeta and sat down beside him. He was oblivious to Finnick and Taiya's thoughts. But Taiya was sitting next to him as a threat. If Katniss moved against Finnick, she'd move against Peeta.

They may have agreed to Plutarch's plan, but their primary concern was each other.

All three of them looked back up at the tree as they heard Katniss climb down. Taiya subtly pulled a knife out of her belt and turned it nonchalantly in her hand. It wouldn't raise Peeta's suspicions, but she was sure Katniss would see it.

Finnick acted similarly and casually moved his trident into a defensive position. Ready to strike if Katniss pulled her bow out.

"What's going on down there, Katniss?" he asked. "Have they all joined hands? Taken a vow of non-violence? Tossed their weapons into the sea in defiance of the Capitol?"

"No," Katniss retorted, her eyes flickering over to Taiya and her proximity to Peeta.

"No," Finnick smiled as he shook his head. "Because what happened in the past is the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance."

Taiya then cleared her throat and pointed beside her.

"Except maybe Peeta," Finnick agreed.

Finnick and Katniss remained staring at each other, both calculating how quickly one could kill the other.

Peeta and Taiya both sighed in sync as they observed their partners.

"Children," Taiya whispered to Peeta with an eye roll.

"This is ridiculous," he agreed as he stood up in between the silently warring pair.

Taiya immediately noticed Katniss' change in attitude. Her plan was ruined. She couldn't get to Finnick without going through Peeta.

"So how many are dead?" Peeta asked, trying to ease the tension.

"Hard to say," Katniss shrugged. "At least six. And they're still fighting."

"Could you tell who it was? Who was dead?" Taiya asked as she moved towards them.

"No," Katniss shook her head. "I couldn't see clearly enough."

Bang.

Another cannon echoed throughout the arena, making Finnick chuckle.

"See," he nodded. "We're not holding hands anymore."

"You think that's funny?" Katniss sneered.

"Here we go again," Taiya sighed in frustration as she rubbed her eyes.

"Every time that cannon goes off, it's music to my ears," Finnick pointed out. "I don't care about any of them."

Taiya could only roll her eyes towards Peeta. That was a blatant lie.

"Good to hear," Katniss snarked threateningly.

"Want to face the career pack alone?" Finnick challenged her. "What would Haymitch say?"

"Haymitch isn't here."

"Well Haymitch gets to send you gifts," Taiya interrupted, this time being the one to step in between them. "Maybe if we all sit together and sing camp songs we'll get more. If you kill us now, I don't see him rewarding you. He wants us to work together."

"She's right," Peeta nodded. "Let's keep moving. We need water."

Katniss sighed before moving after Peeta.

"Dude," Taiya hissed at Finnick. "I thought me and her were going to be the problem, not you and her. Cool it."

"She doesn't trust us, she's ready to strike us," he defended.

"I know, but back and forth snarking isn't going to endear us to her ok? Just ease off please?"

There'd been no sign of water. No stream or pond. Only the saltwater at the Cornucopia, and they couldn't drink that.

"Better find some soon," Finnick spoke up. "We need to be undercover when the others come hunting us tonight."

"I think I've lost all my body's water in sweat," Taiya moved her jumpsuit around. She was so sticky and uncomfortable.

She glanced behind her to the girl on fire, who was walking at the back. She'd seemed to have calmed down from earlier and was placidly following after the group, clearly mulling up her future options.

"You good?" Taiya asked as she noticed Katniss stop and look around.

"Yeah," she nodded before continuing again.

They'd trekked another mile through the jungle without water. They were all starting to lose their attention span.

"Maybe we'll have better luck on the other side?" Katniss noted to Taiya. "Find a spring or something."

"God I hope so," Taiya agreed. "What's up?" she asked when she noticed Katniss freeze.

"There's something… PEETA!" Katniss roared. But it was too late.

A loud zapping sound echoed around them and Taiya turned back to see Peeta flying through the air, knocking Finnick over before harshly colliding with the ground.

Taiya immediately ran to Finnick's side, while Katniss ran to Peeta's.

"Are you ok?" Taiya asked as she grabbed at his chest.

"I'm good, I'm good," he nodded before springing into action as he looked over at Katniss and Peeta.

Peeta was motionless and Katniss was screaming.

"He's not breathing! He's not breathing! He's not breathing!"

Finnick took off, racing towards the pair he violently shoved Katniss off the boy, sending her flying towards Taiya.

Finnick immediately went into CPR mode, clasping Peeta's nose closed and bending down to breathe air into his lungs.

This must have been an unfamiliar sight to Katniss, who immediately went into attack mode and reached for an arrow.

Taiya switched into defensive mode and lunged at the girl, tackling her to the ground so she lost her grip on her bow.

Before Katniss could fight back, a knife had been whipped out and pressed firmly against her throat.

"Calm down!" Taiya hissed as she used her body weight to keep the girl in place. "Look," she harshly instructed the girl before grabbing her face and moving it to look at Finnick and Peeta. "He's trying to help."

A shocked breath left Katniss as she surveyed the situation. You could see Peeta's chest rising and falling as Finnick pumped air into him.

He then pulled back as he began to pump against Peeta's chest.

"You got in under control?" Finnick asked, keeping his attention on Peeta. "Come on Peeta! Come on!"

"Yeah, we're good," Taiya confirmed as she noticed the girl on fire relax. Carefully she released the grip she was using to hold her down, allowing the girl to crawl towards Peeta.

"Please wake up!" Katniss sobbed over Peeta's body.

Taiya stood back and observed the girl on fire. Part of her wanted Finnick to succeed in bringing Peeta back so they could continue Plutarch's plan. The other part of her wanted him to stay dead, that would leave her free to kill the girl on fire and follow through on Snow's plan to have both her and Finnick win.

"Come on!" Finnick pleaded as he pumped on the boy's chest harder.

"Please Peeta. Peeta," Katniss sobbed.

"Come on Peeta!" Finnick yelled before the boy let out a cough and air flooded into his lungs under his own control.

"Peeta? Peeta!" Katniss gasped in relief.

Finnick let out an exhausted breath and fell backwards away from the young couple, leaning tiredly against Taiya's legs.

Taiya placed a hand on his shoulder and bent down to his level. "You ok?"

"Yeah," he panted as he brushed his hair out of his face.

"Oh my god!" Katniss sobbed.

"Be careful. There's a forcefield up there," Peeta breathed.

Katniss laughed lightly before she leaned down to kiss him. "You were dead! You were dead! Your heart stopped."

"It's ok," Peeta comforted. "It's working now."

"Do you want to stand up?" Katniss asked between sobs.

"Yeah," Peeta nodded, allowing Katniss to lift him off the ground and onto his feet.

Taiya and Finnick both stood to their feet as well as they watched the pair embrace. They were studying them carefully.

Katniss was violently shaking, unable to calm herself down as Peeta weakly embraced her. The girl was fully upset.

Not what Finnick or Taiya had been expecting.

They'd had conversations around it. They knew the romance was a tactic to garner sponsors' support in the Capitol. An act they fully expected them to continue with in these Games. What they didn't expect was for it to be real, not an act.

Katniss genuinely loved Peeta.

And that broke Taiya's heart. She'd resented the girl all year, but perhaps they weren't so different. Both girls are desperate to save their love.

She and Finnick glanced at each other. Understanding each other was thinking the same. This girl was different to how they'd judged her. She really loved Peeta, even if she didn't know it.

"How are you?" Finnick interrupted the couple. "Do you think you can move on?"

"No," Katniss shakes her head, wiping the tears and snot from her face. "He has to rest."

Taiya sighed as she reached over to the tree and ripped off a strip of moss and handed it to Katniss to use as a tissue.

"You want to make camp here then?" Finnick asked.

"We need water," Taiya protested.

"She's right," Peeta nodded. "It's not an option. Staying here with no water around. No protection. I feel ok, I promise. Maybe we just move slowly?" Peeta compromised.

Finnick nodded as he moved to Peeta's side, ready to act if the boy collapses. "Slowly is better than not at all."

"I'll lead," Katniss offers as she marches forward.

"Katniss no," Peeta immediately protested.

"No, let her," Finnick backed her. "You knew the force field was there, didn't you? You started to yell. How'd you know?"

Katniss hesitated. "I could hear it," she answered after a moment, although no one believed her.

"I don't hear anything," Peeta frowned.

"Well, Everdeen has magical ears then," Taiya smiled. Obviously, the girl didn't want to reveal the secret, so why not let her lead? "We'll follow," Taiya gestured for Katniss to start walking.

"Here," Finnick hands Peeta a large stick he can use as a cane. "I'll take the back. You watch out for him," Finnick smiled quickly at Taiya.

"If you need a break," Taiya said as she and Peeta walked together. "Just say and we'll all stop."

"I'll be ok," he lied. It was evident all he wanted was to lie down.

"Hang on," Katniss spoke up after an hour of silent walking. "I'm going to get another look," she darted over to a tree and began to climb.

"Here," Taiya held her hand out for Peeta, allowing him to take hold as she lowered him down to the ground to sit. "You feeling good?"

"As good as you'd expect," he smiled lightly.

"We've got to get him water," Taiya sighed as she looked over at Finnick.

"Yeah," he agreed as he crouched in front of Peeta and looked him over. The boy was not doing as well as he kept saying. He was exhausted and dehydrated. Combined with the fact he'd died earlier today he was feeling positively rotten.

"The force field," Katniss spoke up as she jumped back down. "It's a dome, we're at the edge of the arena. I couldn't find any signs of fresh water."

"It's going to get dark soon," Finnick pointed out. "We'll be safe with our backs protected. We should set up camp."

"We could use the forcefield as a weapon as well," Taiya pointed out. "Do a Haymitch. If anyone attacks in the night we could deflect them into it."

"That's a good idea," Finnick nodded. "We should take turns sleeping. I can take the first watch."

"Sounds good to me," Taiya agreed.

"Not a chance," Katniss immediately shut down.

"Oh good god," Taiya groaned in frustration as she lay down on the ground next to Peeta.

Finnick had the opposite reaction as he aggressively plunged his trident into the ground and used it as support to stand up. "Honey. That thing I did back there for Peeta, that was called saving his life. Trust me. If we wanted to kill either of you, we would have done it already," he snapped before walking away.

Katniss looked over at Peeta, ignoring Taiya's presence. "Why don't you get some rest? I'll take the first watch."

Peeta looked over at Taiya and shot her a smile. At least they'd get to go on watch together and could almost guarantee there'd be no fighting between them.

"Ok," he agreed. "Just for a little bit."

"Come on Peeta," Taiya took some steps forward. "I'll show you how to make grass mats and then we can rest for a bit."

Peeta and Taiya had been fast asleep on the mats when the Panem anthem echoed around the arena, waking them up.

Taiya immediately jolted up into a sitting position as she stared into the sky, dreading the faces she'd see.

"Dammit," she hissed when she saw Cecelia's face in the sky. She had three kids at home. Three kids who were now without a mother.

"Eight," Katniss announced at the end.

"It's bullshit," Taiya snapped bitterly as she stood up from her mat and walked over to where Finnick and Katniss were.

"Mm-hmm," Finnick agreed numbly as she came to sit by his side.

Taiya's friends were still alive. Cashmere, Gloss, Johanna. They'd all made it through the bloodbath. So she found some comfort in that.

"You hear that?" Taiya jumped up. They could hear the electronic chime of a sponsor gift coming towards them. "Peeta!" she called out to the boy, waving him to come to join them.

Katniss stood up to grab the container before racing it back to the group. "Who's is it, do you think?" Katniss asked, glancing at Taiya. She wouldn't be surprised if the gift belonged to the blonde girl, she'd been showered with sponsor gifts in her Games.

"No telling. Why don't we let Peeta claim it?" Finnick suggested. "Since he died today?"

Peeta carefully reached out and took the package from Katniss, gently unwrapping it.

"What is it?" Katniss asked as she peered over Peeta's shoulder.

Taiya frowned as she lifted up the hollow tube that had arrived. "Is it a weapon?" she asked, passing it to Finnick.

"Doesn't look like it'd do much," he mused as he rolled it around in his hands.

"You could gouge out people's eyes?" Taiya jokingly suggested.

"Drink up," Katniss mused to herself as she read the accompanying note.

"What's that?" Finnick asked her.

"A note from Haymitch. Let me see it," Katniss held out her hand, letting Finnick pass it over to her. She rolled it around in her hands for a moment before she looked up in delight. "I think it's a spile!"

"A what?" Finnick asked as Katniss took off running and leant down in front of a tree.

"A spile," Taiya repeated slowly and Finnick looked over at her.

"You know what a spile is?" he asked with a smirk.

"No," she shook her head and giggled a bit before they followed after Katniss. "Care to explain?" Taiya asked Katniss as they watched the girl hit it into the tree.

"It's a spile. Sort of like a faucet," Katniss explained. "You put it in the tree and sap comes out. Well, the right kind of tree."

"Sap?" Finnick asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Taiya asked.

"You can make syrup with it. You wouldn't have that kind of tree by the sea. There must be something else in these trees though," Peeta explained.

"Water!" Taiya gasped in realisation as she caught onto the pair from 12's thoughts.

"Drink up," Katniss shrugged, hoping she'd understood Haymitch's message correctly. "Come on," Katniss pleaded as she watched the spile.

All 4 of them let out relieved gasps as a water stream began to trickle from the spile.

Katniss immediately dived down to hold her mouth under it, letting a stream of water flow into her mouth.

"You're kidding me!" Finnick laughed. "You're kidding me!"

"Peeta," Taiya ushered the boy forward after Katniss. "Get some water."

He smiled before he leant down and drank from the spile.

"You're up," Finnick touched Taiya's waist, letting her drink before him. She pulled away when she'd taken a few gulps and grabbed his hand, pulling him down beside her to drink.

"I'm going to grab one of the baskets I made," Taiya touched his shoulder before running over to their sleeping mats. She and Finnick had made a basket woven so tightly that it'd be able to hold water.

Everyone took turns washing their faces and quenching their thirst. Without the thirst to concern them any longer, exhaustion hit hard.

Taiya tried to hide her yawn but Finnick spotted it. "You tired?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "My turn on watch though, you need to sleep."

"I'm fine," he nodded as he brushed her hair back from her face. "Get some rest. I promise I'll wake you if I'm tired."

"Pinky promise?" Taiya held up her finger for him.

"Pinky promise," he rolled his eyes before wrapping his finger around hers.

'Love you,' she mouthed at him, making him smile before she walked over to her mat and lay back down near Peeta.

"Taiya," Peeta whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Things can't get worse for you right?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You're already in here. What else can they do to you? Why bother hiding it anymore?"

"You mean me and…"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"It's complicated," she sighed as she looked up at the sky.

"You don't have to follow their rules anymore," he said softly. "Just something to think about. I'm going to get some rest. Night Taiya," he said before rolling over.

Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong!

Echoed around the arena making Taiya jump violently awake from her sleep. She looked around to see Peeta still sleeping through it, but Katniss and Finnick who were currently on watch were sitting up alert to the sound.

"I counted twelve," Finnick said, looking around as though something was going to jump out at them.

"Mean anything, do you think?" Katniss asked.

"Midnight?" he suggested.

"Number of districts?" Taiya inserted. "Woah!" Taiya gasped loudly as they watched a strong bolt of lightning strike a tree multiple times on the other side of the arena. "I guess that could be a water source," she mused as they observed the electrical storm.

"I wouldn't be going near that lightning," Katniss stared at it captivated.

"Well," Finnick sighed. "If you're not going to sleep. I will."

"Ok," Katniss nodded in agreement.

"Wake us when you need a break," Taiya smiled lightly at the younger girl.

"Will do," Katniss nodded.

Taiya lay back down on her back as Finnick came to lie on the mat next to her.

"Hey," he smiled at her as he faced her.

"Hi," she rolled onto her side to look at him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Hot. Sweaty."

"Well you are hot," he winked.

"Stop it," she giggled as she shoved his shoulder lightly. "Move your mat closer," she instructed him. "We're already in here, who cares who sees," she said as she moved herself to lay her head on his chest. "I can't sleep properly without you right next to me anyway," she smiled as she buried her face into his chest.

"Night Tay," he whispered into her hair.

"Night seaweed brain," she smiled as she finally let herself fall asleep properly.