The effects of my actions were quick and pleasing. To sum it all up, all you could hear was screaming, glass shattering, and hastened footsteps. I smiled to myself, thinking about how I used their own weapon against them, how I'd outsmarted them.

"Ms. Everdeen, you may leave," a voice says from the darkness. It's Plutarch Heavensbee. And so I find my way out of the room, which I tell you, wasn't as easy as I hoped.

I had planned to meet Rory to ask him how it went, but no one's around. I walk to my room alone, and decide to take a shower. My smile never comes off my face.

Dinner time comes, and we all gather around the table. Haymitch gets right to the point as excepted.

"How'd it go?" he questions. I quietly tell Rory to go first. I'm not quite sure I want to break it to them yet, the brashness of my actions.

"Well at first I just made some snares. Later I caught a dummy by the leg, put an 'X' on the mouth with some berry juice, and then..."

"Then what?"

"I wrote my Gale Hawethorne- it was suppose to be a tribute to my brother."

A hushed silence fills the table, and I see Effie's eyes fill with tears.

Before they start making any comments, I tell them about my pebble act, blacking out the room. More silence, and then Effie leaves the room.

I wonder if I did the right thing. I'm in it to save Rory now, and I'm not exactly sure this is going to help.

Haymitch was livid. He scolded both of us, screaming the whole time with a cherry red face. I was afraid he was going to blow up. Peeta calmed him down a bit, and Cinna suggested that we watch the training scores together.

We gather around the TV, just in time to see them. Cashmere, Gloss, Brutus, Enobaria, and Finnick all received high scores as expected. The rest had decent scores, but nothing lower than a 6.

"Has anyone every gotten a 0?" I wonder out loud.

"There's always a first," Rory whispers.

We were both right and wrong. There's always a first, but we weren't the first to get 0's. We were first to get 12's.

Cinna and Portia are first to depart, leaving no comments on our scores. As Peeta leaves, Rory suddenly breaks it to Haymitch that both of us don't want allies. We had discussed this shortly in the hall. Haymitch gives a blatant response along the lines of that's just wonderful, I won't have to watch you and your idiocy kill off my friends by accident before storming off.

Rory and I walk down to our rooms together, discussing the matters of the evaluation. Just as we are about to break up into our respective rooms, I come up with a brilliant idea. "Hey, you wanna come over? It'll be just like the old days," I say abruptly.

"You mean with the sleeping bags, stories, and junking out at midnight?" He says with a smug grin on his face. I give him an eager nod, and soon, we're off searching for an attendant who can provide us with 2 sleeping bags.

We have a great time together, talking about how things were in District 12, making jokes, telling secrets- it makes me feel wistful about the past.

The next morning we're left with peeta-who by the way isn't too happy with us- to work on our interviews. According to him, Haymitch was too disgusted to see our faces and wished not to be in our presence. Peeta works a bit with us, then leaves us to work on our own-tells us we don't need much help.

This time it's Rory who comes up with a brilliant idea, chilling out on the roof. We order some food first, and shockingly, Gale comes to our aid. Rory receives the food and there's a moment of non verbal connection between them, then Gale's gone. The awkwardness soon departs though, and we joke about various things.

By noon, we're taking turns being Caesar Flickerman as we fake our interviews- coming up with ridiculous questions.

We don't go down for dinner, and no one summons us. We watch the sunset, and I wish time could just stop like this, the two of us until the end of time.

The stars start showing up one-by-one, and we go downstairs to my room. The sleeping bags lay untouched, and soon we're dozing off.

The next morning, I woke up a very emotional prep team. Rory was no longer in the room, and I assumed he had gone to his room to be prepped as well.

Octavia takes one look at me before she starts to cry. I couldn't interpret her muffled words, and she just leaves the room in tears.

Next to leave was Flavius, who left some tears on my shirt.

Venia and I are left alone, and she works swiftly to make up for the other two members. Talk is close to none, though she sheds some silent tears as she works on my hair, nails, and make up.

Cinna shows up, and Venia grips my hands, looking into my eyes.

"We just want to tell you...that it has been a privilege to work with you this past year."

She leaves the room, and I can tell she knows I won't be coming back. I wonder if everyone else knows that as well.

Cinna doesn't break into tears, as promised, but I can tell he knows too, knows that I won't come back.

"So. What will I be wearing today?"

He pulls out a beautiful dress and I gasp. It looks like a replica of Katniss' chosen wedding dress, only smaller.

"But why," I question, it seems such a weird concept to wear this particular clothing.

"Snow's orders," is all Cinna tells me, and he starts to dress me.

"Is it suppose to be this heavy?" I ask him.

"I...altered it a bit," he says, "the bodice is quite tight, so don't raise your arms above your head- not until you twirl."

"Oh, I'm suppose to twirl again?"

"Yes, I'm positive Caesar will ask. If he doesn't, suggest it near the end of your interview- it'll be your big finale."

As we meet up with Effie, Haymitch, Peeta, Portia and Rory near the elevator, I realize something. I will most certainly die. But I'm not in it to win it, I'm in to protect Rory. And I am a symbol for rebellion to the rebels out there. put two and two together- I'll save Rory by defying the capitol. How I do not know, but that doesn't matter. Because now, I finally have a plan.

Rory and I join the others backstage, and they all stop talking with our arrival.

"Can't believe your stylist made you wear that thing," Finnick says quietly after a long silence between everyone.

"Snow made me wear it," I tell him matter-of-factly, refusing to let him insult Cinna.

"Ew, that thing looks ridiculous on you," Cashmere says before lining up with her brother. The rest of the tributes start to line up, giving me strange looks as they do so. Half of them look angry, while others look sympathetic.

Johanna Mason stops and straightens my pearl necklace, then tells me to make them pay. I have no idea what she means.

Interviews go by fairly quickly. They aren't what they used to be, as this years tributes give harsh remarks about Snow and the games.

"I will be truly sad, thinking about the bonds I've made in the Capitol."

"I would like to question the legality of this Quell. We were issued a deal, when we win the games, we're out for life!"

"If Snow is so powerful, why can't he change the quells? Maybe he just doesn't care!"

My turn comes, and I walk onto the stage with a forced yet convincing smile. Caesar asks some questions, and I answer them all with ease. He questions about Rory, and I tell him about how we've been friends for so long. Words are exchanged, and soon it's time for my finale.

I raise my arms and twirl, only to find myself engulfed in smoke. At first I'm scared, but I know that Cinna has intended for this to happen. I keep spinning until the smoke stops. The audience gasps, and at first I think it's because of the change of color in the dress. It's now coal-black, but otherwise the same design. Then I see myself on the screen and gasp. Wings. Cinna has turned me into a mockingjay.

~A/N~ Hello fellow readers, I am back with a fresh new chapter!

I know it's pretty late, but please forgive me. I'll try hard to post early next week.

I am not that satisfied with this chapter, but I hope you like it nevertheless.

Vote if you liked it and comments are always welcome!

Finally, thanks for your unconditional support. You guys are my motivation :)

-Monica