**

RYLIE ASHTON sat by Cadence di Angelo next to the burning fireplace, watching the sparks of fire crackle. 

They had returned from the Hunger Games and everything that followed a week ago, and Rylie still didn't know exactly what was going on.

He stared at the sparks of fire as they glowed, they sparkled, and they jumped around in the bright lit fire.

Some of them blossomed into a bigger, blazing fire; while others.. well, they "died". Spots of black were left on the carpet, their last resting place, as a constant reminder that they were still there in spirit, yet they weren't actually there in person.

Like.. they were present, but not accounted for.

Rylie felt like a withering spark himself. When he entered the Hunger Games, he was determined to win. To get out of that arena alive. And the fire burned inside of him as he fought inside the arena, until he took his final breath. 

He was dead, but now he has been brought back. The result of both of the "plans" was the same - he was alive and well, and he was with his friends - but he couldn't help but feel.. weird. Like he wasn't meant to be here. But he didn't know what happened.

Why had he come back? 

He took one last glance at the sparks flying to the ground, and sighed. 

***

"Cadence, are you sure this is going to work?" he asks, and the girl nods, taking his hand in hers.

 "It will. Trust me," she replies, her voice unwavering and confident.

The boy puts his head in his hands. "It's not that I don't want to. It's that.. I don't know what's real and what's not anymore," he says. "I.. I'm not sure." 

Cadence doesn't smile at his words. She's concerned - Rylie knows that - but her stony face isn't the topic of laughter anymore. 

Ever since Cadence di Angelo returned to the Adelaide Woods alive after the Hunger Games ended, Rylie didn't know how to face her. Was she a victor.. or was she a survivor? He himself was nothing more than a shell of himself - he hadn't survived, yet he had been brought back. Was he even deserving of if it?

Rylie couldn't fathom the different identities they had - friends? allies? or even possibly family?

Suddenly, a voice breaks the silence. "Then ask," says Zoey silently, her shy voice fading away like it was meant to be protected.

"Ask, Rylie. Ask when you're not sure." 

Rylie hesitates. "Eunice killed me. Real or not real?" he whispers softly. "Real, Rylie. Real," answers Cadence, "but-" 

Rylie cuts his childhood best friend off. "Then why am I here? Why am I here?" 

"Listen, Rylie-"

"I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN! All of this is just messed up," he repeats. "I'm dead. I'm not supposed to be here." 

Then suddenly, he comes to his senses. 

"You saved me. Real or not real?" 

Cadence shakes her head. She wants to take her best friend out of his misery, but she knows she can't lie in this situation. She could never forgive herself. "Not real. Gwyneth, she saved you, Rylie. I only helped."

Once again, questions fill Rylie's mind. 

"Then why did she save me," he whispers under the crackling firelight. "why?" 

Cadence seems annoyed. "Because she is nice, Rylie. She cares about us more than you would think she does. And she saved you. You're all here now because of her. So will you learn to trust her?" she repeats in exasperation.

Rylie shakes his head. "No, Cadence. I won't trust a killer. Gwyneth is a killer, real or not real?"

"Yes, Rylie, but we all are. You're one-" 

"See, that's the problem. Right there. I can't trust Gwyneth, I can't trust you. Heck, I can't even trust myself now!" 

"Look, Rylie. Learn to trust. And I'm not telling you to forget everything, because it's impossible, but at least just open your mind?"

"I don't know, Cady. I really don't know," he says after a few seconds of silence. "You're all just making me confused right now. Will you please leave me alone?" 

"No, Rylie. We- we need to get you to cooperate." 

Rylie takes one sad look at Cadence. 

And after that, he whispers, "You care about me, real or not real?" 

She tells him without thinking twice. 

"Real." 

Cadence envelopes Rylie in a tight hug before standing up. "If that's what you want, I'll leave you alone for a while. But learn to trust, Rylie - and forgive." 

***

Again, Rylie Ashton sat by the fireplace - but his mind is even more confuddled than it was the first time. The sparks flew to the floor - but this time what he sees is not death. He sees the scenes in the Hunger Games - turning into black spots, fading into nonexistence - still there, but also not - and he realizes Cadence was right. 

The Games are part of him now. And they're scars that he'll never want to cover up. He is going to try to forgive Gwyneth - to forgive Eunice. But he is never going to forget the Games. 

Even if he wanted to, he will never be able to.

But there's another deeper meaning. The blazing red fire sucks Rylie in - he longs and he yearns for some fire inside him. Or most of all, he wants the fire inside himself to be rekindled - just like hope was when he saw Cadence again for the first time.

He laughs, remembering how she pushed through crowds of their old friends who were clambering Cadence with hugs. She had everyone make way for Rylie, then rushed up to him, embracing him tighter than ever. All their friends joined the hug and there it was again. Them, reunited, together at last.

Rylie's mind flashes back to all the memories they've had, Cadence naming herself Rylie's unlicensed therapist and advisor, the last night talks and everything in between.

Then it clicked. 

Perhaps, what he actually needed was some flowers - something to keep him company. And someone that would happily watch his fire of hope burn, never to be extinguished. 

Rylie smiled to himself, and ran into the house, looking desperately for not only his childhood best friend, but the rest of them who had once entered the arena.