Cato

We've cried for a long time, just nestled into each other, feeling each other's presence.

I sniff violently and rub my tired eyes. I shudder a little and sit up. He did this for us. He did this for us. I'm so thankful and so scared too. Now there's a lot more pressure.

"Cato, we can go home," Clove whispers in the dark.

"Yeah," is all I can muster. Then, "what should we do?"

"I don't know... who's left? Other than us?" Clove asks.

"Lover Boy, Katniss, Thresh..."

"There's someone else..."

"Yeah, I don't know who."

There's another little silence and I have to resist the urge to kiss her again. When I whisper Clove's name she doesn't answer and I panic, thinking she's somehow dead.

But no, no she's breathing. I can feel her breath against my neck and face. She's just asleep. Okay, okay. Calm down.

I settle down a bit and fall asleep.

-

It's a dream of a memory. Our first night on the train. I stand up and walk away from the bed where Clove and I had lay.

"Don't go," She says urgently. I stare at her. She's really beautiful.

"I'm not."

I lean over and pick up one of the yellow flowers I used when I fixed her hair for the reaping. I twist it between my fingers for a minute, until Clove comes up behind me and reaches for it.

"That's what the water was for," Clove says. "I felt bad about throwing them away." I can tell she really does.

"Why? They're just flowers," I say. Clove hesitates a moment, and I think she might be mad at my dismissive comment, but then she says, "Because they were from you."

And suddenly I am more aware of how close we are at the moment. Clove's breath hot against my neck, our fingers brushing together, both still holding the flower. I am also suddenly aware of the fact that I want to be even closer. Then she pulls away and I let her and the flower go. I resist the urge to take her in my arms and hold on tight forever. Forever and ever.

She gathers the rest of the flowers and places them into the glass on her dresser one by one and this time, in my strange dream world, they sparkle a bit and cast yellow light over our faces. I approach her from behind and begin to stroke her hair, still damp from her shower. She has just placed the last flower in the glass when we start to move backward, onto the bed. I lean against the pillows cross legged, with Clove in my lap, and continue to run my fingers through her hair. This is something I do a lot, my fingers dancing through her hair making braids and other up dos. It keeps me calm, and let's me focus- gather my thoughts. I eventually let my hands drop, and Clove leans her head against my chest. I wrap my arms around her waist and touch my cheek to hers, wishing I never had to leave her. Clove Cray; the girl who played with knives until she could never miss her target. Clove Cray; the girl who worked her way into my heart until I realized I could never live without her.

-

I wake up and play with Clove's hair until she wakes up. It's barely bright out, little bits of dust dancing in the sunbeams. Everything looks... shiny. Almost like it's not even real. If only...

I can tell when Clove wakes just by the change of her breath. After a while she turns to look at me and our faces are just inches apart.

I kiss the tip of her nose and sit up.

"We should do something today," I mutter. We've been lying around in this little nook for long enough. "Hunt, just take a walk. I dunno."

"Yeah, you're right," Clove says, getting up and stretching.

We eat slowly, pack up our supplies, then squeeze out of the nook and into the wild.

It doesn't take long for us to notice a stream of smoke billowing up nearby.

"Look!" Clove exclaims. "Maybe it's Katniss!"

"Maybe..." I say, a little hesitant. She likely has weapons by now, and I don't want to risk anything.

"We can take her," Clove says as if sensing my doubt. She takes my hand in hers and leads me towards the smoke.

There's no one there, just a crudely stacked pile of green branches wafting smoke.

"Maybe it's another diversion?" Clove mumbles.

"A diversion from what?"

"I'm not sure... maybe... maybe she's diverting us from herself. Maybe she wants us to think she's near here so... you know?" Clove reasons.

I smile. I love it when I can see the wheels turning in her mind.

"Yeah, maybe," I say. "Want to stick around here just in case?"

"Sure."

We hunt within a few yards of the area and manage to catch two odd birds that look sort of like a turkey or chicken. We heat them over the green fire and eat. The meat is good, greasy and filling.

After we eat, we store the leftovers in an old sponsor gift canister and head to a craggy outcropping we found while hunting. It's within view of the green fire but provides sufficient protection.

The floor under the outcropping is made from dead leaves and toiled dirt and provides about two yards square of space under the shelter of the rocks.

Clove and I settle down, tucking our supplies into a corner. We lean against the back of the little cave, which is part of a hill, and I drape one arm around Clove and the other over my knees, pulled up close to my chest.

Clove lays her head on my shoulder and breathes slowly and deeply.

There's no one dead today, so after the anthem plays the sky just goes dark. I look down at Clove and see her eyes are closed. I whisper her name and when she doesn't answer I assume she's asleep.

I grab the little blanket we had on us and drape it around her, then settle back down beside her.

I think again about the other tributes. Who would benefit from this? Katniss and Lover Boy will, of course. Anyone else still working in pairs? I don't think so. That means Katniss is our main opponent again.

I sigh and close my eyes, just to rest them. I figure I should stay up and keep guard in case Katniss shows up.

I open my eyes again and don my night vision glasses and see a deer wander across the little clearing, looking strange and distorted with the glasses. It stares straight at me, then prances off.

I take off my glasses and squint up at the sky, but there's no way to tell the time. I settle back down.

Clove

I wake up probably around midnight. It feels like midnight. Cato is next to me and turns to face me when I wake.

"Hey," he whispers.

"Hey," I say. "Want me to take watch?

"Yeah, sure," he says, obviously getting tired.

"'Kay," I say and lay the blanket over him.

I stand up, well enough rested, and stretch. I yawn and sit back down, kissing Cato's forehead. He stirs a little but doesn't say anything. After a bit he's dead asleep.

I get up and wander around the clearing a little. That's when I spot the shadow of a person. Katniss?

The person sees me too and freezes. I look for weapons on them but see none, and I can also see it's definitely a girl based on her size and build.

Neither of us move or say anything for a long time, I just try to figure out who it could be. I don't think it's Katniss after all, but what other girls are left? I run through a messy list in my head, but can't make any sense of it.

"God," I whisper exasperatedly. "H-hi." I say to the girl. She just gets even stiller.

Ah, right. I'm a Career. Very frightening, surely.

"You don't need to be afraid of me," I say, and the girl becomes about... five percent more relaxed.

After a long time she mutters in a quiet voice, "you're Clove."

"Yeah... and you are?" I bite my lip a little and shuffle my feet. The girl settles down a little more. Just a little. She takes a long time to speak again.

"I'm Fynch." Fynch? My mind wanders back, back, back, all the way to... the interviews. I remember her. Yes, Fynch. She's from District 5?

I look back up and she's gone.

"Hey," I hiss. "Wait!" But it's too late. She's gone, I can't even see any trace of her ever being here.

A deer wanders through the clearing.