I do not know own the Hunger Games.
"I am only going to say this once. Neither of your victors should have left the arena. Katniss' confession and stunt caused an uproar not just in the Capitol but in the districts, as well. The crowning, interview and victory have all been canceled this year. Cato was put back to sleep he should wake up later today. He will be told that he is the sole victor, and that Katniss could not be saved. Katniss will be told the same. The only district that will know Katniss survived will be 12. Neither of your teams are allowed to say anything on the penalty of death. A union between two district victors cannot be allowed." President leaned forward on his desk.
"Completely understood." The three mentors spoke while keeping their faces neutrals.
The three mentors stood outside the Training Center. "I will say this much your victor is definitely the Girl on Fire. She is worthy of being a career or with a career. Do you know what she meant by Cato being her weakness?" Enobaria
Haymitch frowned. "She sees love as being a weakness and not a strength. Her parents were deeply in love and ideal candidates for a belief in soul mates. However, when her father died in a mine explosion when she was 11, her mother fell into her own world and no longer acknowledged anyone and not even her kids. Katniss was forced to quit school and take care of the family the only way she knew how. Over the years, her mother would wake from her void for a month at time before spending several months back in her own world. She vowed to never love or depend on anyone like her mother. The only exception she made was her sister Primrose. I can honestly say there is absolutely NOTHING that girl will not do to ensure that her sister lives and has a good life. I had suspected that there might be a partiality on her part but never expected her response. I wish all the best to your victor."
He shook Enobaria hand. When he shook Brutus' hand, he felt a slip of paper being placed into his hand. He nodded his head in acknowledgement of the note. He turned and entered the elevator as the mentors from 2 walked to the hospital.
"Where is she? I want to see her. I do not care if she is dead. I want to see her." Cato shouted at the nurse that he held up against the wall with his arm at her throat.
He suddenly felt himself being yanked away. He yanked his arm and turned around. He looked at his mentors. "I need to see her body. I have to know it is real."
"You were both announced as victors. However, they revived her on the hovercraft, but she took most of the poison. Her heart stopped again in the hospital, and they could not revive her again." Brutus deadpanned.
Cato noticed there was something not being said in the stance and voice of his mentor. He knew that he would not rest till he found out what it was that he was not being told.
"You cannot see the body because they are in the process of sending it back to 12. You will be returning to 2 tomorrow. Everything has been canceled including the victory tour." Enobaria stated.
His mentors quickly ushered him from the hospital. She could not be dead. He knew that they could have revived her if they wanted too. He could not understand. She was the favorite. He went directly to his room. He remained there and did not come out for dinner. He never heard a knock on the door.
"You need to come out here, Cato." Brutus stated from the door. "It is not an option. I will force you."
Cato yanked opened the door and stomped into the sitting room and stopped. He looked directly at Haymitch. He saw the sadness and something else in his eyes. "I was gathering my tributes belongings to take home to their families when I noticed this letter next to Katniss' bed. It is addressed to you, Cato. I thought that I would deliver it on my way to the train."
He held out the letter. I took it. I could tell that it had been read. "You read it." Cato glared.
"I did. I wanted to make sure that it was not a mistake. I wish you the best. I must go catch my train." Cato watched as Haymitch left the room. He turned and went in his room.
He lay on the bed and kept rubbing the letter. After a while, he sat up and opened it.
Cato,
I knew when you glared at me, and I felt a fire burn within that you would be my death. It was just a question of how. If I was lucky enough to leave the arena; then I would only be a partially alive. My heart would be dead except for the part that beats for my beloved Prim. She has light blonde hair just not as dark as yours. Her eyes are a light blue like sapphires; whereas, your eyes are a deep blue covered in ice. We are complete opposites. I am fire. You are ice. Together, we would have made steam, but the question would have been for how long. No one would allow us to be together not our districts nor the Capitol. When you see the recap of the games, please know that everything you see with Peeta was an act. I was just trying to survive.
I watched my parents love deeply. I watched that same love shatters my family when my dad died. I vowed that I would never love or depend on anyone. I considered love a weakness. You were my weakness. I looked for ways to speak with you during training; however, never had a chance till you started to visit the survival stations. I tried to give you information about me and some insight into me. When I would touch you, I would always feel the fire in me rise.
I know the games will come down to you and me. If you are reading this; then you were able to do what I could not. I knew that I could not kill you without killing myself either literally or figuratively. I wish you all the best of luck with your life. I hope that you find the time to see what others do not want you to see, question everything, very few things are as they seem especially with the Capitol. I know that districts do not interact; however, if you could do anything for my Prim, though I have no right to ask; then I would really appreciate it. I just hope before I died that I had the strength and courage to tell you that I love you.
Love Forever,
Katniss the Girl on Fire and in love with Ice.
Do not worry about Prim, she will be taken care. Just do the others that she asked you to do. If you have any feelings for the Girl on Fire; then do not lose hope. Watch what is not said. Pay attention to things that are done and not done. There is a reason why this year is being done differently. Just remember to keep quiet and never speak of things you might suspect. Your life, your families' lives, and Prim's depend on your silence. H.
Cato felt the tears fall silently. He lay back down and curled into his pillow. He could never remember crying before, but he did now. He did not want to stop. He could feel his heart break. He pulled the letter to his chest and let his eyes drift close. He was asleep in minutes. He never heard the door open or the letter being lifted from his hand.
He awoke with a start. He looked out and knew that it was not morning yet. He looked around for the letter he had in his hand when he fell asleep. He did not see it. He almost thought that he imagined it till he noticed something on the dresser. He walked over to it. It was the letter. He picked it up. He did not imagine it.
He was about to open his door when he heard voices. "Is he still asleep?"
"As of 15 minutes ago, he was still asleep." Brutus answered. "So, what is the news?"
"We are definitely returning to 2 tomorrow. She has not awakened. Her pulse is still faint. It has been said that the doctors have done everything that they could to try to wake her. Yet, with all their knowledge and advancements, she is not responding. She is being sent back to her sister. It is the hope of President Snow that she will finally die on the way there or shortly after because of their limited medical knowledge and means. Hopes that when she dies in their care that it will stop the uprisings and not lay blame on the Capitol." Enobaria stated.
He heard a punch in the wall. "You mean to tell me that they cannot counteract the poison like they did for Cato." Brutus snapped.
"There is no poison in her system. All test show that it is clean. A nurse said that she overheard her prep team telling her to hang on for Prim but were sorry that both Peeta and Cato died. It is rumored that she no longer has the will live and only hanging on to hear Prim's voice one last time." Enobaria stated. "How much will we have to lie to him about when he wakes?"
"The same lies we have to say per orders." Brutus handed her a note.
Cato looked through the crack of the door. He wished he knew what it said. "He is smart. Hopefully, he will heed the warning. President is pissed. He is willing to have them both killed or prostitute them like Finnick but to the worst of the worst slowly kill them and only allow them to pass each other. It would be a fate worse than death."
"Look at what it did to Haymitch, Gloss, Chaff, Seeder and the others. They would not survive it. I would guarantee that they would be sold to both sexes and neither would have a say. He will utterly break them completely after killing their families." Enobaria spat.
"Let us try and get some sleep. We will have to be on train soon. Remember, the train and the district are completely bugged for both sound and video. Not even Victor Village will be safe."
"Understood." Enobaria stated.
Cato quickly shut his door and got back in his bed. His head was spinning. Could she still be alive? Is there a chance that I could still see her? He curled back into the pillow as he heard the door start to open. He thought back to everything that they said. He felt tears fall again. He realized that it did not matter if she survived; they will not allow them to be together. He closed his eyes with anger and hate as he fell back asleep.
He woke up screaming. It took him a moment to realize that there was a pounding on his door. "It is time to get up the train leaves in an hour." Brutus shouted. He threw his mask on and got ready to leave. He walked out of the room 15 minutes later.
He grabbed a small pastry. "Is that all you are going to eat?" Enobaria asked.
"I am not that hungry." He glared.
"When you get back to the district, you are expected to give a speech. After the celebration dinner, you will have an interview with Caesar in your new home. Any questions?" Brutus stated.
"Nope. I understand completely." He stated implied with more.
He quickly found himself in front of a crowd with his cocky grin. "I just wanted to say how happy I am that I was able to provide another victory for the district. It was a great honor to be your tribute and victor this year. I look forward to what the future holds and working with other possible tributes."
The crowd was happy and shouting. Cato just kept smiling though on the inside he wanted to shout to everyone that they are being lied to by the Capitol. It made him sick. He kept the anger buried and kept smiling all through the feast.
He walked up to his new home. He just wanted to pull out Katniss letter and go to sleep. He threw on his jacket. He was glad that he was now separated from his mother. He just wanted to hit her with the comments she made about the Girl on Fire. He heard a noise coming through a connecting room. "Ah and here is the victor." Caesar smiled.
Cato smiled. He walked over and shook Caesar's hand. "How are you enjoying District 2?"
"It is not the Capitol."
"I am sure. There is no place like the Capitol, but I am sure District 1 close."
Caesar laughed. He motioned for Cato to take a seat. "Good evening. I am coming to you live from District 2. I am proud to be here to speak with the Victor of the 74th Hunger Games, Cato Oskar." Caesar sat in a chair near Cato. "I know it has been only a few days. You seem to be adjusted well."
"I knew that it was a strong possibility that I would be the one returning home." Cato smiled.
"I remember you were extremely confidant in your abilities. However, things seemed to change directions even before the games began. Your games had many firsts. We would definitely like to know your feelings on them, so shall we begin."
Cato struggled not shudder but kept his smile on his face. He turned to the screen to his left almost behind Caesar. The annoying voice of 12's escort was heard across the screen. Katniss' shout echoed through the room. He could not prevent the shiver and the sadness that passed quickly in his eyes. "I am sure you watched the reapings before the opening ceremonies. What were your first thoughts?"
"I was intrigued. She echoed with control fire. I was always taught that fire could never be controlled. It could be contained for a short period of time, but it would either be put out or allowed to burn itself out. I knew that she would be dangerous. I just did not know fully how much till the end of the games."
"Sadly, you are correct. It seems that she did burn herself out but not before capturing the hearts of Panem." Caesar wiped a tear a way.
Cato watched his shared look with Katniss after the opening ceremony, and his argument with Clove claiming Katniss his. "It seems you were claiming Katniss as your own."
"I knew that she was my only competition in the games. It would be boring if she was taken out early." He watched the training sessions and watched each glance and touch. He had to keep his hands from balling into a fist. He watched the fight with Peeta and Katniss after the interview. He watched their interlude on the roof. He watched as she sat down to write his letter.
He watched the replay of his and Katniss' experiences in the Games including her interlude with Peeta. He struggled to control the wave of jealousy of her time with Peeta. He watched the end declaring him and Katniss winners. He could see both his and hers chest rising as they were lifted out of the arena. He watched his battle with the nurse.
He could not help the tear that rolled down his cheek. "It seemed that you both claimed each other without letting the other know. It seemed that the Girl on Fire captured the Ice Prince of District 2."
"I knew that something was changing even before the Games. I just was not sure what it was till my vision faded just before we were lifted out of the arena. It is an honor to share the victor status with Katniss. It sadness me that she was unable to survive."
He heard the cries of a little girl appear on the scream. The screen showed Prim holding Katniss pale and appeared to be lifeless body. The site of his Girl on Fire encased in ice cold caused his body to shake with tears. He could not prevent it. He just could not hold himself together. His pain was there for all Panem to see. The interview ended and soon he was left alone in his house with his grief. He reread her letter. He just had to hold on to hope. He knew that she was alive. He fell asleep trying to hold on to the hope.