A/N: Trying to update whenever I have spare time, which is rarely. Technically, I shouldn't be on now, I still have some homework X) I know, that's bad...oh well. Thanks for the lovely reviews, I always love reading them :) Yes..I know it's been a while. God, I feel horrible :( but here it is, I'll try to update soon, okay?

OMG, the movie comes out this Friday! :D I'M SO HYPED! Anyone gonna see it this weekend? I wanted to go to the midnight showing, but my mom wouldn't let me, unfortunately, so I'm going on Saturday morning with a few friends..CAN'T WAIT AT ALL!

P.S. Random, but..does anyone like 1D? If you know what it stands for, then you'll understand. If you don't, it's okay :)

Chapter 12

The next day passed far too quickly. We got up, trained vigorously until lunch, trained again, ate dinner, and called it a night.

"Get a good night's sleep!" says Effie blithely. "Tomorrow will be a big, big, day!"

Haymitch, on the other hand, doesn't give any advice, to my surprise. He simply pats us on the back and goes away.

Now that Haymitch and Effie are gone, only Peeta, Gale, and I are left in the dining room.

"So.." I start. "Tomorrow's the real thing."

"Yeah," Peeta says glumly. "A real thrill."

Gale drums his fingers on the table. "We can do this."

"How can you be so confident?" Peeta exclaims incredulously. "We're entering an arena filled with twenty one other tributes who are out to kill."

Gale shrugs. "I don't know about you, but I believe that Katniss and I - well, we can do it."

Peeta sinks down in his seat. When he speaks, he isn't angry, but resigned. "You guys can do it. You risked your lives everyday back home. I can't do anything."

I feel surprisingly sad. "Don't give up, Peeta." Idiot, I think to myself. I was only confusing Peeta and my own mind. He was supposed to be the enemy, after all.

There is a moment of silence, then Gale stands up and pushes back his chair, the sound of it scraping against the floor makes me conscious of reality again.

I get up. "We should try to rest."

"I don't think I can," Peeta murmurs. He slowly glides out of the room. Gale and I follow suit.

Peeta turns to us and simply says, "Night." Then the door shuts.

Gale bends down and kisses me on the forehead. "Night, Catnip."

I hug him, not wanting this night to end, not wanting the games to start. "Stay with me."

He pauses. "All right."

He pushes me into my room, then says, "I'll be right back. I need to go clean up in my room first."

I nod, then he leaves. In the wake of his absence, I take a quick shower and pull on an oversize, warm wool sweater.

When I go back to my room, Gale is still gone, so I slip under the covers of my bed. I turn to the glass wall that faces my bed, and gaze at the world at night.

At night, I realize, the Capitol doesn't look so atrocious. That's because it quiet, and all those hideous Capitolites are out of sight; it's so peaceful. I almost believe that the games and everything else is a dream. I glance upwards, and see the twinkling stars, shining and sparkling.

Gazing at the stars nearly puts me to sleep, but I hear the door click, and I turn to see Gale tiptoe in. He carefully makes his way to the bed and glances at me.

"Still awake?" he whispers.

"Yeah," I reply drowsily. "Hurry up." I scoot closer to the glass wall, making room for him.

A soft laugh slips out of his mouth. "Impatient, huh?" But he pulls back the covers and worms his way in.

Then he pulls me to his chest. "I wish we could stay this way."

I wrinkle my nose. "What, stuck in this stupid Capitol forever?"

"No," he sighs. "Free."

I don't understand what he means, but I feel sleep sinking its claws into me, so I succumb to it.

I hear Gale say something, but I'm already asleep and can't catch it.

My eyes open. It is still dark, and I glance at the clock on the wall. Five o'clock. It is only five o'clock in the morning, and I am awake. All night I have been restlessly shifting, barely able to sleep. Thinking about the upcoming game tends to do that to you.

I feel Gale's arm wrapped around my waist and take comfort in it, while a thousand thoughts blow through my mind. I look out the window. It is still dark, and still beautiful.

I think about everything - my life up to the point of the reaping, Prim and my mother, Gale, even Peeta. And especially the Capitol.

I wonder what my life would be like if Prim hadn't been reaped. Right now, I would be in the woods with Gale, hunting.

And I pray that my mother and my little duckling is safe, as well as Gale's family.

Gale. Gale is my best friend, but lately things have been changing. I don't know - Gale just seems a little different now.

As for Peeta, I just don't know about him. He is so sweet and kind, it's extremely hard to hate him. I hope I don't have to be the one to kill one.

The Capitol. I hate them with all my heart, hate them for taking away my life, for forcing not only me and my best friend into this life or death situation, but for taking away all those other innocent lives as well.

And for another hour, I ponder over these thoughts, listening to Gale softly breathing.

"Up, up, up!" The door bursts open. "Time for the games!" Effie sounds positively ecstatic.

She continues chirping away until she sees Gale and I, with is arm snaking around me. "Uh - well - ah - I'll leave you two..."

She hops out of the room, shutting the door.

I pull myself out of bed, and Gale groans. "Come on, Gale. We have to get up." It's six o'clock now, and we have to start preppng for the games.

Gale grunts and hauls himself out from under the covers. "Morning Catnip." He starts to flash me a grin, but it freezes on his face. His eyes harden as he remembers what exactly today is.

He stands up and pulls me to the bathroom. "Damn. This is it, Katniss." He stands at the sink and splashes water onto his face.

"Gale," I say. "I know. It's the games. Everything's going to change." I quickly comb through my hair and braid it.

He doesn't respond, and starts brushing his teeth instead, but I can tell that he is deep in thought.

After we wash up, we don't bother to change out of our sleep wear. The stylists would take care of that.

So, we took one last look at the room.

"I -" I hesitate. "I don't know if I'm ready, Gale."

"Me neither." I feel his hand grab mine, and I hold on tight. "Let's go."

I turn around and look at my room one last time. I don't know how to feel, but I know this a farewell. A farewell to my past life, and a step forward into my present life.

We leave the room, and I flip the light switch off.

In the dining room, the atmosphere is grim. Peeta eats mechanically, Effie is frowning, and Haymitch is actually sober. Gale and I slide into our seats and fill up our plates.

Despite the heaping amount of food in front of me and the fact that I haven't eaten at all today, I don't feel hungry. I just feel sick.

It is completely silent, minus the sounds of utensils clinking on dishes, until Haymitch speaks up.

"So. The plan. Katniss, run off immediately to a safe area to the west. Gale, you need to find her. Peeta, you aren't teaming with them, so just go. Do not run to the cornucopia of supplies. It's a bloodbath. You'll be killed before the games even begin. That's it." He folds his hands together.

I guess this is the brilliant genius plan of Haymitch's. Oh well.

I glance at Gale, then my eyes dart to Peeta. Gale seems unfocused and I know that he's working out some genius plan. Peeta averts my eyes, staring squarely at the food on his plate.

Effie finally clears her throat and tries to lighten the atmosphere. "It's time to go with your stylists!"

Haymitch lumbers forward and we follow him. Effie practically shoves us into the elevator, and I glance at the outside world passing me by until we speed underground.

The elevators are taking us to an underground area that's brand new, only going to be used by us and our stylists once. Then they get preserved as tourist attractions for the Capitol residents, even get to reenact the battles.

"Can you believe this?" Peeta murmurs quietly.

"Honestly? No," I reply.

He whispers something else I can't catch.

"What?" I ask.

His face turns pink and he looks at his shoes. "Never mind."

The elevator dings and our stylists greet us with smiles, but Cinna's doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Come on, Katniss." Cinna wraps an arm around me, and each step I take makes my legs feel like lead weights.

We step into a secluded, bare room. In the room there only is two benches, a black bag on one, a huge TV on one wall, and a metallic circular plate in the center of it all.

Cinna unzips the bag and dumps out the contents, and I realize they are clothes.

"This is the standard wear for all tributes, so I can't say what these clothes are like," Cinna says unhappily.

"I don't mind, Cinna." I face him and try to muster a smile. "Thank you for everything you've done. I know I haven't really shown you how much I appreciate it."

I am dangerously close to tears now, and I look at the ceiling to try to contain them. "You're a good friend, Cinna."

He just nods, then hands me the clothes to change into.

When I am done changing, the TV on the wall flickers to life. President Snow's face appears.

"Stylists, tributes must step onto the launch pad in five minutes. Be prepared." The image switches to the live audience outside of the Capitol, eagerly anticipating the games.

Cinna shoves his hand inside his jacket pocket. "I almost forgot." He opens his hand, revealing the golden mockingjay pin on his palm.

He carefully and slowly pins it onto my shirt.

President Snow comes back to the screen and says, "Tributes, please step onto the launch pad."

Cinna places both hands onto my shoulders. "Katniss, it has been an honor to be your stylist."

Then he looks me straight in the eye. "I can't bet, but if I could I'd be betting on you, girl on fire."

He pulls me into a hug, and I feel a rush of gratitude and love for Cinna.

Cinna draws back and backs up. I step onto the circular plate. A glass cylinder barrier starts to lower upon me, and panic sets in. I turn everywhere, seeking an escape.

Cinna stands and watches me, and a flash of sadness shoots through his eyes.

The president's voice booms throughout the room. "Tributes, the glass cylinder will now escort you to the arena, and the countdown to the games will begin."

The countdown begins.

TEN.

As the tube starts to ascend, I give Cinna one last silent goodbye. I know I'll miss him a lot.

NINE.

He nods at me, and then he's just...gone.

EIGHT.

I am engulfed in darkness for a minute, then light pokes in through the top.

SEVEN.

At last the tube comes to a standstill and I realize I am finally in the arena.

SIX.

I quickly assess everything around me, and I see all 24 other tributes around me.

FIVE.

I find Gale and he is looking at me intensely, mouthing words.

FOUR.

I search for Peeta and he's staring at me.

THREE.

The glass wall trapping me starts to sink back into the ground.

TWO.

I hold my breath.

ONE.

A cannon goes off loudly.

Cladius Templesmith's voice rings through my ears. "Let the 74th annual Hunger Games begin!"

A/N: I finished this! :)) the games begin now! Tell me how it was. I loved all those Galeniss moments, they were amazingly fun to write. Read & review, love you all :D

NOTE: Katniss says "24 tributes" because Gale is a tribute now, just wanted to point that out for anyone who thought that was an error.