Chapter 11: The Girl of Water on Fire

"I must say, I never thought our next meeting would be in the same Hunger Games." Clove says with an unreadable expression on her pale, freckled face. Her hands are on her hips, and she is wearing a roman warrior getup.

It makes her look fierce, deadly.

I want to cry and run into her arms, but Clove doesn't seem like the motherly type, albeit she was kind to me. I know I need to look tough, because what I need desperately in the arena is allies. And just because I talked with Clove and Cato last year in District 2 doesn't mean that they're automatically going to make me their ally.

With her eyes firmly fixed on me, I fidgeted with my hair for a moment before saying, "I didn't think so either. But hey, that's the games for you. The odds are never favorable."

I even manage to give her a half smile slash smirk. Needless to say, I was pretty proud.

Clove smiles back. "I knew there was something special about you, kid." She says, before turning back around.

Okay, so she didn't exactly offer me to be allies, but maybe the ally offers come later? I had to remember to ask Finnick.

"Well, well Katniss." Cato says with a smirk, having just climbed into his chariot.

"Nice to see you here." I say with my fake confident voice.

"Well, I did say I looked forward to kicking your ass next time we met. And this is the ultimate kick ass stadium." Cato says with a loud laugh.

My blood turns cold but I maintain my career attitude, "I think I made it clear in District 2 that I'm ready for you whenever, wherever Cato." I say.

"Good, you'll need to be." Cato says menacing, before patting me roughly on the back, as affectionate as he could get. "Nice getup by the way. Girl of water on fire? Sure Snow is fine with that?" He says before turning back around.

So they hadn't jumped to ask me to be in the career pack, but I was from 4, and I knew them. So hopefully that gave me a good shot, I desperately needed to get in with them, at least for the first couple of days.

In the spirit of survival, I turned around to face District 5 and shake their hands. The girl's name is Finch, and the boy's name Tar. Tar looked strong, Finch looked smart. As I smile and talk with them, I catch Finnick's eye and he nods ever so slightly.

The Games were starting soon, and it's time for me to start finding my allies.

"These outfits are actually pretty spiffy." Andrew says while fidgeting with the shark tooth necklace, running his fingers down the smooth, polished gold.

"I know. We are going to steal the show." I say with a smile.

We do as she says, and I smile as I see the fire. No one would forget us.

"Smile dears! Not like that Katniss, that's how you scare sponsors away." ZaZa yells with a pout, her yellow powdered lips scrunched.

I make an effort to lift my cheeks up as the horses begin to trot towards the exit of the stables.

I had seen this scene in countless televised pre hunger game ceremonies; when the chariots come out of the stables into the city in glorious fashion. This part was always my only favorite thing to watch. But I was not prepared for the deafening roar of the crowds and flashing bulbs of cameras.

I make sure to wave and smile, waving my flaming trident around. I'm pretty sure some sparks of flame hit district 5 behind me.

The Capitol is glittering with splendor, the streets lined with gold and flowers for the event. People sit on the sidewalks with their children, kids sitting on the shoulders of their father. The luckier people get seats in stands just outside Snow's pulpit. As we enter the square, people begin to throw little gifts to chariots they liked. I catch a rose from a little girl that looks just Prim. Everyone is looking at the chariots. Everyone is looking at District 4.

Everyone is looking at me.

"They love us." Andrew says to me with a gleeful smile.

"KATNISS! KATNISS!" My name is chanted throughout the square. "DISTRICT FOUR!" Everyone seems awestruck by out fiery tridents, talking loudly about it with the person next to them.

I smile back as we near the end of the path to where President Snow is waiting to give his speech.

Our flames go out just as the chariot comes to a stop. President Snow smiles at the people in each chariot, starting with District 12. When he gets to out chariot, his eyes lock on mine and the coldest look I have ever seen bores into my eyes. It's a threat. It nearly knocks the wind out of me, and I find myself gasping for breath. A few nearby tributes turn to look at me, and Andrew rushes to support me.

"Katniss what's wrong?" He says with a worried voice.

I make an effort to calm myself down. "Too much smoke." I say loudly with a chuckle. I cough for good measure.

Andrew nods and I hear Cato say, "Very smooth, Katniss."

I manage to keep that smile on my face as President Snow speaks. I don't hear anything else of what he says. Everything moves in slow motion as I wonder what Snow was trying to tell me. He was mad. Is my family in danger?

The roar of applause fills the air as the chariots slowly prod back to the stables.

Once our chariots rolls to a stop, ZaZa, Bail and Finnick are at Andrew and I's side at once.

"Brilliant! Everyone loved you two! You will get SO many sponsors. And Katniss!" Zaza trills.

"Nice job. I think your look was a success." Bail says proudly.

Neither of them mentions my little incident. With all the noise only a few nearby people heard me anyways.

"Great job guys." Finnick says with a small, encouraging smile. He nods at Andrew, and while Zaza and Bail go to talk to Andrew, Finnick rushes over to me.

"Katniss! What the hell happened out there?" He asks with concern.

"It's a tale for a later time." I tell him, and he just stares at me for a little bit, before realizing what I was trying to say.

"Okay." He says grudgingly. He reaches up to grab my hand and helps me down from the chariot.

A soft on my door awakens me from my restful sleep. "Come in, Finnick." I say without even having to turn my lamp on.

The door creaks open then shuts. The lights turn on. "Hey." Is all Finnick says.

I keep my face turned towards the stale while wall on the left of my bed. I don't answer; not because I'm mad at him, but because I was too tired and scared to even say hi to Finnick. If he wants to be affectionate right now, that's great and easy for him. I'm the one going into the Hunger Games in 4 days, not him.

"Are you okay? Katniss?" His soft, loving voice asks in a broken whisper.

His voice is what makes me start crying. Finnick's voice used to always be teasing and mischievous. You could practically hear the wink, dimple, and grin on his face. But he's broken. The Games broke him, me going into the Games has broke him as well.

As soon as I start crying about that, I think about how my family, my home. My cry turns to a gut-wrenching sob, and soon I'm crying harder than I ever have before. All my emotions of the past few days pour out of my body in the form of tears. All to familiarly, I feel like I am drowning in tears and emotions.

As the sobs rack my body, strong arms are immediately around me, just like that day in the sea.

"Katniss. Shh, Katniss. It's okay." Finnick pulls me into his lap, with him in a seated position, his back leaning on the headboard of the bed.

"NO, IT'S NOT!" I shriek.

It's silent for a long period, except for shouts outside and knocks on the door. Finnick must have had the good sense to lock the door.

"You're right, it's not okay." Finnick says quietly.

I just close my eyes and try to sleep. One hour, two hours, three, four, five hours pass as we sit in the same position, neither saying a word. It was like the awful reality cam crashing down on us at the exact same moment, rendering each of us lifeless.

"It's my fault." Finnick confesses.

I move to sit up and look at his chiseled face. His face is pinched and red but a single tear falls from his sea green eyes, and rolls down his cheek.

I lift my finger and wipe the tear off of his cheek.

"Finnick, it's not your fault. Okay? If anything it's Snow the basta-" I begin to say before Finnick motions to a clock on the wall. I assume it's a camera so I keep quiet.

He leans close, putting his lips right next to my ear, "No, it is. Remember I told you Snow was going to make me start doing something?" He asks.

I nod.

Finnick swallows and then says, "I refused to do it. I-I couldn't. I told him to take it out on me, but then you got reaped and that was my punishment." He says tearfully.

I stay calm, not wanting to make Finnick feel any guiltier.

Neither of us says a word for the rest of the entire night.

Thanks, finally an update after a year x3 SO sorry.

Please review, follow and fave. Please tell me what you'd like to see happen. And also, it's been a year since I wrote the last chapter, so obviously my writing and portrayal of the characters are gonna be different. Bear with me as I get back into this story.