The elevator door finally opened after what seemed like eternity on your floor. You thanked the Peacekeeper quickly and exited the elevator, walking through the corridors to see Effie, Cinna, Portia, and Haymitch all standing there with grins on their faces.

"I missed you guys so much!" you cried, running all the way to the group, and even surprising yourself when you realized you landed in Haymitch's arms first.

"Nice job, sweetheart," Haymitch complimented you, patting you on the back, and for once, he sounded very genuine with his words.

"Thanks," you said, pulling away to hug Cinna and then Portia and then, finally, Effie. This surprised her too, but she eventually patted you on the back too. For a moment, you were relieved to see everyone before you realized something went amiss, and began to panic. "Where's Peeta?" you asked. "Is he okay?"

"Peeta's fine," Haymitch assured you. "He had minor injuries, so they were able to fix him up fine. But they wanted to make your reunion with him more public, so you won't see him till the victor's ceremony tonight."

"Tonight?" This made you put a hand to your temple. Everything seemed to be going by so quickly--honestly, it only felt like yesterday when Cato...no. You can't think about it.

"The Capitol nurses thought you were able to appear onstage tonight, since you haven't suffered anything too severe," Cinna told you now. "And even now, you still look healthy as ever."

Though in all due retrospect you didn't feel healthy, you still nodded. "Alright then."

"I'm going to set up dinner for tonight," Effie said now, strutting away to the dining room to order food, while you quickly excused yourself to your room. Running all the way there, you threw the door open to find that nothing has changed since you left. The bed was still unmade, the nightgown you wore still at the foot of the bed, splayed messily across it. In a panic, you ran to the closet, where you remembered putting Cato's sweater in before you left for the arena. To your relief, it was still there. Taking it out from its hanger, you held it gently in your hands and brought it close to your face, breathing in the faint scent of him still lingering on the sweater. Tears sprang to your eyes as the memories of you and him began to play through your head once more...but you managed to keep yourself together.

Cato wouldn't want you to cry over him.

The door opened to reveal Cinna, who entered the room slowly. "You alright, (Y/N)?"

You bit your lip in response, gently placing Cato's sweater on the bed as you looked at Cinna. "I...I guess so." You glanced down. "Cinna, you remember before we went into the arena, how I said everything was complicated and you said things can work themselves out?"

Cinna nodded. "I do."

"Well...I don't even know if what I did during the Games was right at all," you whispered. "I've allied with so many people they've all become, in a way or another, my friends. Now? They're gone. And I've got myself out of the arena alive, and I kept my promise to Prim, but what would be left when I return to District 12? What would I become?"

This seemed to intrigue Cinna. Rarely do tributes ever ask their stylists for help, but he tried his best to answer you in the best way so that he didn't incite any debates. "Your alliances with others...has given everyone a beacon of hope," he finally said. "I have been watching you throughout. So many people were rooting for you, if not Peeta or the other boy from 2 or the Career tributes. Your friendships just proved to others that...there's another reason for the Games to be played. To unite everyone together. To remind everyone of the reason they fought once before. (Y/N), you're a tribute who's changed everyone, and in a good way too."

"You sure about this?"

"I'm sure." Cinna nodded with such certainty you had to believe him. "And don't think you have nothing left once you get back to 12. People would see you as a hero, (Y/N). They'll look up to you, and Peeta too. I promise you that."

You nodded, the images of your mom and Delly and the Everdeens and the Mellarks grinning widely with relief and genuine happiness flashing in your mind. "Thanks," you whispered, giving Cinna a big hug as the tears started to fall onto his shirt, but he didn't mind.

"Alright. I got your final victory ceremony dress in my room," Cinna told you now. "Why don't you grab a bite first, and then we'll talk."

You nodded again as you made your way to the dining room, alone, and sat down in a random chair. A small white roll with a small plate of butter and a stew with carrots, peas, eggs, and corn sat on a plate in front of you, as well as a single piece of steak.

"Not bad," you heard a familiar voice say above you, and you looked up to see your prep team waving at you and smiling, the flashes of their colourful hair glinting under the lights of the dining room.

"Yeah," you shrugged, taking a bite of the roll after having buttered it entirely, of course. "Beats nothing." Bit by bit, you finished the meal, feeling quite satisfied when you were done, and you looked up at the prep team. "So you're here to beautify me once more?"

"As always!" Venia cried, taking your hand and leading you into your bathroom. Soon, all three members of your prep team started to work on you--filing and painting your nails, putting on some highlights on your face, styling and shining your hair until they were satisfied with the final result.

"Just GORGEOUS!" Flavius complimented you with a grin, clapping his hands.

You nodded. "Thanks...I guess."

Octavia handed you your white robe now as she lead you to Cinna, who was waiting for you with the victory ceremony dress wrapped in a dress sleeve.

"More flames?" you asked, smiling shiftily at him.

Cinna nodded. "You tell me."

You nodded as you closed your eyes, and the dress was slipped over your head, through your arms. This dress somehow seemed very light, not like the interview dress at all. You felt someone adjust something on your head, and someone else held your hand as you stepped into a pair of very flat sandals. "Is this it?" you asked.

"Yes. You can open your eyes," Cinna told you.

Slowly, you obeyed, looking at yourself in the mirror. You knew the prep team left your hair down, not entirely sleek and straight and shiny but just so that it retained its natural state. A sparkling (F/G) circlet was placed on your head, and you nodded, realizing that somehow the sponsor gift from District 1 must have been rescued from the arena. Shiny silky white satin made up your dress, and it amazed you because with every movement a shiny orange flicker seemed to illuminate through the white of the dress, giving you the illusion like the satin was made of fire itself. Gold sandals complemented the outfit now, and you almost felt the urge to just melt there. It made you look so...young. Innocent. You even beamed at the sapphire pendant that Cinna added onto the outfit, feeling as if your mom was always with you.

"Thank you, Cinna," you murmured. "This is probably the most beautiful thing I've ever worn."

Cinna beamed along with the prep team at your ecstatic reaction. "I'm glad you like it."

Soon, you were ushered to the ground floor and towards the same place where you had your pre-Game interview by Effie and Cinna, all the while wondering where Haymitch and Peeta possibly could be. Peeta did make it, but why wait till now to see you again? Your heart was hammering hard against your chest as the thought of seeing him again made to the forefront of your mind, and with every step you were feeling more and more nervous and jumpy, knowing that by the time the final interviews came around, he would have to do a lot of explaining. And who isn't feeling scared, anyway? You didn't know if what Peeta did to you was genuine, real even. Then the question started to burn through your mind. Were you ever his? Like, truly? Or was he just trying to make you feel better by saying what he said in the arena?

"Look at you."

Haymitch's voice suddenly cut through your thoughts, and you blinked twice to see that Effie and Cinna were already gone, leaving Haymitch to speak with you. You nodded and smiled at your mentor in thanks before your smile disappeared from your face.

"What's wrong, (Y/N)?" Haymitch asked.

You shook your head. "Haymitch, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, what about?" Haymitch asked.

You took a deep breath now, tensing up by the terror consumed within you. "A lot of things. Kind of all at once."

This made Haymitch raise an eyebrow, but he understood. "I know what you mean. You made so many friends in the arena, it's a wonder that you're still alive when they got killed. And about the berries too, right?"

You nodded slowly. "I don't even know if what I did was right."

"You have given the districts a whole lot more reasons to fight," Haymitch whispered to you now. "And right now, the Capitol is mad at you for that. Word has gotten across after you...well, after you sealed your solid friendship with the boy from 2, after you pulled out the berries with Peeta, after you screamed all those random things, and after you made an alliance with Careers and non-Careers alike. (Y/N), you're a tribute everyone is looking up to, and the Capitol is not liking it."

"So...what can I do?" you asked in desperation, finally knowing that what you did was indeed incorrect.

"Go along with their game," Haymitch whispered. "Tell them that you were only relying on your allies to kill them in the end. That you were blinded by your broken friendship with Peeta to see truth about his true feelings for you, and that was why you formed all those alliances. As for Peeta, in the end...say that you were...you were desperate, you didn't want to lose your friend--"

"You knew about my crush on him, didn't you," you muttered.

"Yes, sweetheart. I did."

"So...oh. That was why you told me to act vulnerable," you realized.

"Exactly. But what you did, what you did gave you more friends and enemies. And people are looking up to you as an idol. Tonight, act as if it was a surprise. That you must have been insane doing all those things you did in the Games," Haymitch suggested in a low voice. "You'll be fine, (Y/N). I always thought I would see something different in you."

"Good different? Bad different?"

Haymitch chuckled. "It's a good different for me."

Soon, the trumpets above sounded.

"Wait, Haymitch. Did you tell Peeta anything? Did you see him?" you asked.

Haymitch nodded. "I did tell him to do the same. that if he was asked about his crush for you or Katniss...well, I told him to trust his gut. He's a natural speaker."

"Of course." He patted your shoulder once and gave you one more hug before he took his place, ready to enter the stage.

Now as you stood alone, waiting on the metal plate as if you were going to enter the arena once more, you couldn't help but feel...scared. Even more than ever now. Haymitch had just confirmed your worst suspicions, but at the moment you didn't care. Yet if the Capitol was on your trail, there is always another reason now to just turn away and flee.

Cato and Peeta have been right all along. That there was no reason for the Capitol to have you guys turn against each other, as if you have never fought together against the Capitol in the rebellion. If the Capitol continued to let you turn against one another, you guys would be taken for fools, for simple marionettes that they control. Haymitch had a point too, that what you did made the districts more united, gave them a reason to fight against the Capitol. And you proved it to them, too. The nights you spent with the Career tributes, Rue, and even Peeta haven't gone unnoticed. Your acts of defiance with Rue and Marvel as you decked them in flowers. The first and last kiss you had with Cato. The berries you and Peeta pulled out, feeling that you would never be alive again without him. All those were a part of you.

"I was never yours to begin with," you mouthed to yourself, clenching your fists in anger once more at the Capitol for inciting this stupid game. "I was never, and never will be, your stupid marionette. And you may have put me in danger, but the districts put me in the spotlight. Till the day I rightfully die, I will fight to protect the people I love, to protect the people I care about."

Images of your dead allies flashed through your mind once more, as well as the faces of your friends and your mom back in District 12, knowing that what you vowed was true. Until you die, you would never stop fighting.

The music outside began to blare, the roar of the crowds reached your ears, and you eventually found yourself composing yourself, shoulders straightening and head held high, fingers gently gripping onto the silky satin on the hem of your skirt. Tonight, yes tonight, is the night where you may very well be making your final mark as a tribute of the Capitol's Games. But tonight, you knew, is also the night where any wrong moves would result in further punishment from the Capitol. And as the plate below you began to rise, you braced yourself for what may be the most dangerous part of the Games.

So? How do you guys like this? I'm trying not to make this lame, I know. But ugh, it's hard to even make an effort to do so, especially since I'm juggling 2 more assignments to finish before tomorrow :( But ahhhh well.

I guess I'm going to start following the events of the book from this point on, though again, I may include film elements as well. Hehehhhhhhh.

OKAY I'M GOING BACK TO WORK NOW SO BYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

-magic_mockingjay