I couldn't sleep. Even the recorded sounds of the soothing District Twelve forest couldn't help calm my tense nerves. I took a brief glance at the sleek black clock, its large digital numbers told me it was 5:36 in the morning. Haymitch would probably not want to talk with Peeta and me until about an hour or two before training, and if I remembered correctly, said training began at 10 am which was almost four and a half hours away.

After a dozen more tries to fall asleep, I regretfully tore myself from my extremely comfortable bed and pulled my tired body towards the door to Peeta's room. I pressed the button to the side of the door and dragged my feet past the soft powdered blue sitting area and into the bedroom.

Peeta was nowhere to be seen and the door to his bathroom was opened without the light. Where could he be? I thought to myself as I walked, more awake this time, out of his room and looked about the hallway of doors to the bedrooms. A bright light in the right corner of my sight made me turn my head to see a brightly lit staircase at the end of the hallway.

This must lead to the roof, I thought cautiously as my slipper clad feet pulled my body towards and up the marble stairs. When I reached the top, my breath was taken away by the beautiful sight I beheld.

The city filled the sky with dim but wondrous lights. They were nothing like the stars I could always see in the clear sky back home, but I guess the lights here obscured them from view. Nonetheless, the monumental buildings with their brightly lit walls and streets below were amazing. I felt as if I was looking at a whole new world, a view that was even more amazing than the one from the balcony or the glass elevator. A deep and oddly content sigh escaped my lips as I leaned on the railing staring out at the view before me.

"Enjoying the view?" A soft familiar voice asked as strong arms wrapped around me and the familiar sweet scent of baked pastries gently filled my nose, "Don't lean over too much or you'll get zapped." Peeta's words tickled my ears.

"Really?" I whispered back with a slight smile on my lips. "Why's that?"

Peeta moved away from me and I could hear him picking up a stone before he threw it beyond the railing. The stone was soon zapped by a strong electric field. "There's an invisible electric fence around the whole building, well except the ground floor."

I turned around and looked at him. "Guess they don't want to take any chances with any of us escaping."

Peeta nodded as a smile formed on his lips and he grabbed my hand. "Follow me."

I was too stunned by the surprise of him grabbing my hand not to follow my tall love towards a large greenhouse with millions of wind chimes blowing their tinkling sounds into my ears. I looked about, pulling my hand away to touch the chimes and turned to look at Peeta with a smile. "Why here?" I asked in a soft voice.

"Because the chimes are so loud that no one can hear us in here," he mused before moving to pull me into a rough almost frightened kiss. It was passionate, far more passionate than the one we had shared hours ago. When we breathlessly pulled away from each other I looked at him stunned and panting softly.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was distancing myself from you," he whispered as he pulled me into a tight, but gentle hug. "I'm terrified I might lose you in the next few days and I guess I let that fear show with me becoming distant."

I touched his cheek gently, my vulnerability flowing out of me, something that always seemed to happen when I was alone with Peeta.

"I've only been here for a few hours and I already feel like I'm living a lie," he whispered as his hand moved to cover mine. "I don't think I can handle this for three more days."

Suddenly a gust of chilling wind whipped through my hair, and chilled my barely covered arms and legs. I shivered slightly. "Here." Peeta quickly pulled off the thick bathrobe he wore and draped it over my shoulders. "I don't want you to get cold."

My eyes traveled up and down his body, noting his loose gray shirt hanging over sweats of my favourite colour; dark green. His socks were thick and woolen. I now realized that unlike Peeta, I was barely dressed, having only put on a thin fabric nightgown of sunset orange - Peeta's favourite colour - before going to find him. "Thank you. I guess you're better prepared than me, for once," I teased, slyly hinting at the time I tried to have him come hunting with me. Which was more disastrous than teaching Prim to hunt.

Not only did he come with just a carving knife, but he also wore the loudest boots in all of Panem, scaring away every game in sight. I gave up on him only an hour later with no game to show for that time. Peeta may be a strong guy but he was clumsy and as loud as a herd of stampeding elk.

"One point to me," Peeta teased back as he leaned back on the bench, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. "Did you get to talk with your mother and Prim before you left?" he asked me suddenly, following with a soft sigh.

I nodded my answer, whispering, "Yes, I also saw Gale, Madge and even my grandmother."

Peeta turned his head to me with an interested gaze. "That old bat went to see you?" My nod prompted him to ask, "What did she say?"

My smirk grew on my lips. "That I'm not allowed to die, that I have to come back home no matter what." I laughed and turned my eyes to the ground. "Like she can control my fate in this thing."

"My mom seems to think you can win this," Peeta's muttering words astounded me.

"How do you know that?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly as I voiced the question, "I was under the impression that she hated me."

Peeta's face now had an expression of defeat. "She does, but she told me that District Twelve would finally have a real victor... Because she's a survivor. She not he." His voice was filled with sadness and his head dropped.

"Peeta..." I began, but my voice was enough to make him look up. He smiled at me and took my hand. Then something caught his eye.

"Look." He pointed towards the outside of the greenhouse. A sliver of golden yellow light shone off the dome of the roof. It was beautiful, more so than any ray of light I had seen in my life.

"The sunrise," I exclaimed as I ran to the railing, leaning against it once more to watch the colours of the sky fade slowly into a mixture of blues, yellows, oranges, reds and purples. I smiled in the golden light, turning to look at Peeta. "I think you can handle this, despite what your mom thinks, as long as you remember what's waiting for you outside the arena."

"The only thing waiting for me outside the arena is a life without you." Peeta's comment made tears well up into my eyes. I pulled the robe over the tops of our heads and kissed him one last time on the roof. There was something magical about kissing him in the rays of the sunrise and I knew that magic would have to end soon.

It was almost 7:30 am by the time Peeta and I made our slow descent down the stairs, our fingers laced together. The steps we took to our rooms were even slower than the ones down the stairs, but I could tell that like me, Peeta wanted to spend as much of the precious time we had left together. It took a great deal of strength to pull away from each other when we stopped in front of my room and even more for me to leave his side.

Peeta's eyes were soft as he whispered in his soothing voice, "I'll see you at breakfast." And with a last peck on the cheek he walked to his room. I was lost in my thoughts as I entered my room, forgetting once again that there was no doorknob, and walked straight for the bathroom, right into the shower. I let the soothing water calm my nerves and wandering thoughts about Peeta. Of course those thoughts were soon replaced by ones about the training that was just a few hours or so away.

Was I prepared for this, the time when I would actually have to show my skills, even in practice, to the Gamemakers and more importantly my fellow tributes?

I shook my head roughly, splashing the sides with water. Of course I was, in fact I was really anxious to get down there and show off my abilities to the stuck up tributes from One, Two and Four. Picturing them all scowling at my talent made my body tingle, though that might have been from the body wash I was using.

Once I stepped out of the shower, letting the mat dry off my body. I turned to face the mirror, pressing the pad that dried and unmatted my unruly hair.

As I looked in the mirror, something hanging from the hook near the door caught my eye. I turned around to get a better look and discovered it was a cotton fiber uniform with leather black boots on a stool underneath. When had that got there? I thought stepping towards it and felt the cloth with my fingers. My first and only guess was Cinna. He was my stylist after all, and he was the only person, besides me, who was allowed to choose what I wore during my days here.

I smiled to myself as I thought of Cinna's reaction to discovering mine and Peeta's secret, pulling on my uniform as I did. He had been so kind and concerned about it. It made me think that he was more unlike the people in the Capitol than I initially believed. Most Capitol residents would go running to the nearest official and blurt out our secret to the entire city, but not Cinna. I shook my head, of course he was a citizen of the Capitol. The gamemakers wouldn't allow someone of non-Capitol citizenship even near the Games. In fact the only people like that in the Capitol were the Peacekeepers assigned to the rich city.

I flipped my hair behind my shoulders and turned my attention to my uniform. It was almost pure black, from head to toe, the only thing that wasn't in black were the white block number twelves sewn tightly onto my shoulders and back, as if they would fall off them if I wasn't careful. Like I was that strong, though it may also be to ensure they aren't torn or ripped off by the weapons we'd be training with.

When Effie Trinket's annoying rapping at my door echoed in my ears, I hurriedly tied up the laces of my boots and pulled my hair into my favourite single braid. Not as good as my mom would have done, but good enough. Before leaving I caught my reflection in the mirror. I felt like tears were welling up in my eyes. I saw the real me again, the Katniss from District Twelve, and not Katniss Everdeen, the 99th Hunger Games tribute and the Girl on Fire.

I took in a deep breath. The real me was going down to the training arena, and would show the other tributes just what Katniss Everdeen from District Twelve could do. Of course if Haymitch was okay with it, which I doubted he even cared.

I took another look at my reflection for a quick inspection to make sure Effie Trinket won't send me back in because my face wasn't clean enough. Once I decided I would pass an Effie Trinket approval, I made my way out of my room and towards the gleaming steps of the District Twelve dining area.

The unique table was bare of food and people except for Peeta who was sitting quietly, calmly eating his meal, in the exact same outfit as me. The Capitol must prefer their tributes to dress in similar training uniforms. I wouldn't even be surprised if the female tribute from last year wore this uniform too. I cringed at the thought and looked around for where Peeta had found the food.

My eyes stopped on the far side of the platform where a long and narrow glass table stood on winding limbs with a crimson tablecloth spread neatly upon it. I gulped and held back the impulse to lick my lips in hunger, as the elegant tabletop had more than twenty dishes lined out, all for our pleasure of eating.

A man in a red uniform with heavy black eyeliner and lipstick stood beside the table, expressionless and attentive. I immediately realized that he was an Avox, though his uniform and heavy makeup were different from the ones last night. Another question I would definitely ask Haymitch, or maybe Effie Trinket.

When I reached the table he stepped forward to prepare a plate for me but I stopped him. "If it's okay," I started reaching out gently to grab the plate from him, "I'd like to serve myself."

The man looked a bit relieved at my request and nodded, returning to his post as expressionlessly as when I walked towards the table.

I looked at the food and then at the plate in my hand. If I was going to try everything here, I would definitely need to return for seconds. With that thought in mind, I loaded my plate up with all that I could. Delicately seasoned, poached eggs, crisp brown sausages, juicy lean bacon, thinly sliced fruits with small chunks of cheese, and several bread rolls which I had spread thickly with flavoured butter. The butter flavour was hard to decide on since there were forty flavours but I settled on the oddly brown coloured apple butter. Back home, hardly anyone could afford butter, let alone imagine having flavoured butter.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I wasn't at home anymore. I was going to live to the fullest since my death could happen three days from now.

I set my food next to Peeta and turned my attention to the brown liquid he was drinking as steam flowed from the top of it.

"What's that?" I asked, before taking a bite of the apple buttered rolls. Not bad, I thought, taking another quick bite.

Peeta looked up at me from his meal and smiled. "They call it hot chocolate. It's powdered, sweetened chocolate with water and milk. Here," he handed me the mug of the brown liquid, "It's really good."

I took a slow sip and the sweetest taste flowed into my mouth. Wow, that was good. You rarely saw chocolate in District Twelve, only the rare rich families of my District ever had such sweet food and I had never heard of any of them making drinks with it. My grandma was one such person but she never wasted it. She did however give me and Primrose a thin piece of the sweet food for our birthdays.

Before I could look around to find a cup to drink from myself, the Avox from the serving table was at my side with a mug of the hot liquid. I looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you. You didn't have to get it for me though."

The man smiled a little before turning to return to his post. I watched him leave and grimaced a little, which of course, Peeta had seen.

"You okay Katniss? You don't really like it, do you?" he asked, obviously talking about the hot chocolate and not the real thing running through my brain.

I shook my head to answer him, "No, it's really good." I handed him back his mug and looked back at the Avox. "It's just. The Capitol even treats its own citizens like it does the rest of Panem; cruelly. And if they make a mistake, they're punished severely for it."

Peeta looked down at the mug I returned to him, a solemn expression on his face. "We can't just assume that all Capitol people get special treatment. The only ones they even let us see are the ones who live in the center of the Capitol. We don't know how they treat the ones outside that radius. They could be just as miserable as we are in Districts."

"Peeta's right," Cinna said, his voice surprising us as he ascended the staircase. He walked over to us and leaned against the wall behind our chairs. "The Capitol's just as divided as the entire nation is." He leaned forward and said in a lower voice, "I'll show you." He walked back the way he came, to the balcony we had stood on last night. Peeta and I exchanged looks but soon followed behind my stylist.

He was leaning against the railing of the balcony when we arrived. "What do you see when you look off this balcony?" He asked us, not turning around at all.

Peeta stepped forward and looked out at the Capitol covered in the light of the new dawn. It took him a few seconds to answer Cinna's question. "I see the Capitol, shining and gleaming like I've seen during every Hunger Games I've been alive to see."

"Maybe you do, but when I look I see a divided city." Peeta and I looked at Cinna, confusion still on our faces. Cinna smiled and stated, "The Capitol is divided into eight blocks just as Panem is divided into thirteen district. Where we are now is the City Center. The Ministers, Capitol officials, Hunger Games sponsors, they live in the buildings around us, then you have the next six blocks all surrounding the center. I am from there," he pointed to the north west of the center, "Designer's Block. Every stylist, designer, hairdresser, and so on and so forth live there."

Cinna looked at the block next to Designer's Block and went on to name the other seven blocks, "There's Cutlery Block, Peacekeeper Quarters, Education Block, Health Block, and Entertainment Block, most people who are making a living on the Hunger Games live there."

I looked out past this block to see a small building with smoke rising from it. "What's that block?" I asked looking back at Cinna, only to find his eyes narrowing.

"That's the Outer Block, it's where the citizens of the Capitol who do minimal jobs live. A lot of Avoxes come from the Outer Block. It runs all around the perimeter of the Capitol and it's the worst place in the Capitol to live. Though it's not as bad as living in the Districts," He stated and looked behind him to sigh, "Did you want something Effie?"

I turned around quickly to see Effie Trinket standing behind us, her lips pursed. "My tributes' breakfast is getting cold, Cinna. Are you planning to give them a lesson on Capitol geography all day?"

Cinna shook his head and turned to us, "Effie's right, you two should go eat before your breakfast gets cold, you'll both need the energy for today."

Peeta and I nodded at the same time and walked back to the dining area together.

Much to Effie Trinket's delight, our food wasn't cold since most of the food the Capitol served was so hot it took an hour or so to actually get cold. She did scold us for leaving it alone and uneaten. "Food is important for your bodies to grow strong and healthy, my darlings. If you don't eat it then how will you show off your wonderful skills to the Gamemakers today?"

"They won't be," Haymitch's voice interjected as he appeared next to her with a bowl full of thick hot beef stew with three bread rolls beside it.

Effie Trinket lifted an eyebrow and turned all the way in her chair to face Haymitch. "And why ever not?"

Haymitch bit into a big chunk of one of his rolls and proceeded to talk, spitting food in Effie Trinket's face, by accident I hope. "They should save their talents for when they're put into individual assessment with the Gamemakers."

"And what if their talents are terrible?" Effie Trinket suggested. "They need to practice in order to-"

"Why don't we ask them what they can do then Effie," Haymitch interrupted and looked at us as she pursed her lips again. "What skills have you two got? I know you've got good aim," he said looking calmly at me, as he twirled his fork in his hand, "What else can you do?"

I shrugged, stating modestly, "I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow."

"You're more than good. She can shoot any animal in the eye, I've even seen her take down a deer with one shot." I blushed at Peeta's compliments.

I smirked and quickly complimented him back, "Well you can lift a hundred pound flour sack like it's the lightest thing in the world and you can wrestle. Second place overall… after your brother," I muttered, thinking about how that same brother, Rye Mellark, didn't even try to volunteer for his little brother. I shook my head of the thought and smirked, "Just add a knife to the equation and you can kill anyone in hand to hand combat."

Peeta blushed. "Well maybe but I can't trap, make fires or fish."

I tilted my head before nodding in agreement. "That's true, you're clumsy and you make more noise than a herd of elk."

Haymitch stopped our bantering before we got worse, or sillier. "That says it all then, you too will learn small things during the next three days. Tie knots, make fires, learn how to climb trees and throw spears and knives. We want to surprise the Gamemakers when you meet them individually."

The two of us nodded in understanding and began to continue before Haymitch added, "Stay by each other's side every minute you're together in training. Ok? The tributes may not care about you being close but the Gamemakers will and everyone in the Capitol loves an instant ally pairing."

We nodded once again, both more than happy to stay with each other but something about Haymitch's words got to me. I shook my head. It didn't matter, right now Peeta and I would get through this together.