Another Tribute

"Auden!" Thisbe squeels, motioning for me to come and give her a hug. I rush forward and embrace her harder than I've ever embraced anyone before.

Well, almost anyone.

"Looks like we always end up together," Eli says, smiling at me. He hides it well, but I can see the nerves in his eyes. This wasn't really what he was expecting either. Did Harpon tell him the plan?

"Destiny just knows me," I say, sliding on the couch between Eli and Thisbe. I grab Eli's hand, perhaps a little too aggressively. He squeezes my hand, and I turn to look at him. He stares intently at me, and I think I understand what he's trying to say.

He knows about the plan.

"I can't believe it's really true...but it is," Thisbe says, looking sadly at my hand in Eli's.

"You mean...us?" I say, leaning towards Eli. She nods.

"It's so horrible, to find love...only to have it ripped away..." she says, sighing. Suddenly she cringes, just for a moment. What?

"We just try not to think about it," Eli says, stroking my hand with his thumb. It's strangely relaxing, and I find myself easing gently into his shoulder.

"I think about it all the time," I say as if I was alone with the two of them, no cameras, no watching crowds. Just me and my two best friends. It makes me feel slightly vulnerable when I realize it.

"Auden, you can't...I mean...you have to just focus on staying alive," Thisbe says, twitching nervously. That is so unlike her, what's her deal?

"Truthfully, I do too," Eli says "but it's the best motivation I could hope for. I'll do anything to stay alive and protect her," he finishes, looking intently at me again. Yeah, he must know the plan, he's really going overkill with this. Or is this the real Eli speaking?

"I think we would have been great friends back home Eli. Thank you for taking care of my sister," Thisbe says, smiling at him. Eli suddenly looks flustered, but in a good way. Like a shocked way. Thisbe twitches again.

"I'm glad I got to meet you, after all you're Auden's best friend," he says. I don't know why, but this has become the most awkward conversation ever...it just doesn't flow right. It's too...not normal.

"I'm glad I got to meet you too, even if it will be the only time," Eli says, smiling sadly. I whip my head so quickly towards Eli I think I might get whiplash.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask him, distinctly aware of the frown on my face. Maybe I knew what he was about to say all along, but it doesn't make me agree with it.

"Only one person can win Auden, and I don't deserve for it to be me. You saved my life, and I will repay it in the only way I can," he says, staring at me head on. I see the sadness in his eyes when he says it, but also the hope. He really thinks he can pull this off.

"Eli, that's rediculous...you know that you've saved me from making mistakes in the area. And you've saved me more than once for goodness sakes! Your logic is outrageous...and....and..." I say, railing off. I don't know what to say to make him understand he'll never get his wish. I hadn't thought much about how it would end if it was just me and him on the finish line, I just assumed we'd both be dead. After a couple silent moments, Eli holds me closer.

"Auden, please don't cry," he says, wiping a tear from my cheek. I didn't even realize I was crying, but it seems to be true. I bury my head in his shoulder and silently let my depression go. His loyalty in one of my weakest moments, aired to all of Panem, makes me trust him more than anything. I look up just in time to see Thisbe face the camera and speak with a courage and confidence I never knew she possessed.

"If the Capitol people have any heart at all, they will see this put to an end. Can't you see the love you destroy because of your games? If you think Eli and Auden are the only ones who will suffer, you are wrong. It is worse back home, where there is nothing anyone can do to save the children of their district. If you love your own children, you will help the families with children here. Stop the games once and for all!" she says, lighting up the room with her fiery defiance. I am surprised the cameras are still rolling, but she must have made the declaration too quickly for them to stop her.

I am only given moments to soak in what she has said before her body flails helplessly on her couch and goes limp. It is then that I see the metal bracelet around her small wrist, and suddenly it all makes sense. Moral in the Capitol must be low too, and the Gamemakers have tried to script these meetings to keep control. By getting Thisbe to tell Eli and I to keep fighting would make it okay in the Capitol's mind, and they thought the threat of harm would keep Thisbe on track. What the Capitol didn't anticipate was the bravery of those in the Districts.

I am unable to make a sound as people come in to take Thisbe out on a stretcher. It was too fast for me to even protest it. The camera people must have honed in on my shocked face in the end and decided that was enough.

"Auden..." Eli says, holding my hand tightly. He knows what I'm thinking...is she dead?

"Eli..." I say, looking at him intently once again. We can't let her sacrifice be wasted, despite the sadness that overwhelms me. He nods, and I am finally sure that he understands. We have to give the Capitol a show of love, something else to use as footage. If we want them to save us, they have to love us first. Which means Eli and I have to love eachother more than we're sure of.

"We have no idea what situation they'll put us back into...so if this is the last moment we have together," he says, pulling me into him. I speed up the process and close the gap between our lips, kissing him harder than I ever have. We both start by making a show of it, but the longer this kiss goes the more I can tell he means the intention behind it. And the more I am sure that I do too.

"I just want to tell you something," I say to Eli as we end the kiss.

"What's that?" he asks, looking blissfully unaware of the situation we're in.

"I love you," I say, with more confidence than I expected. He looks taken back, but when he's over the shock of the statement he grins at me.

"I love you back," he says. And for a moment, I feel like the only girl in the world.

But then reality hits.

And I remember I'm the only girl in the world right now that's in the Hunger Games and in love.

This strategy is becoming very complicated.

"Come along, you have to go back now," a man in uniform says. He looks very official, unlike everyone else I've seen today. Did they increase security? I also notice that the cameras are on us and seem to have caught everything. Good.

Eli and I walk back onto the hovercraft hand in hand. And when they let down the ladder at the same spot we were in this morning, we climb back up the tree for safety's sake.

Time to make a plan.