Her Victory, Their Life| F. Odair

14. Third Quarter Quell

Emory and Evan were talking before the games when Haymitch approached them. Him and Evan did a kind of bro-hug and her and Haymitch hugged.

"Okay, so to show we're allies, Effie has chosen gold. Katniss and her mockingjay pin. Peeta, has some kind of pin thing, so I gave Finnick my gold bangle. This ring is something I wore during my games, and I haven't taken it off since," he handed it to Evan who immediately put it on his pinky.

"Thank you."

He nodded, "And for you my dear, Effie says it's a hair pin." She smiled at him and turned around for Evan to put it in her hair. It was a gold leaf that helped keep her hair in place.

"Now, I have to go meet up with Katniss, but I hope to see you both soon," he teasingly smirked before walking out of the room.

Emory turned to Evan with a nervous smile, "Well, mentor, anything you want to say before we go to the plane?"

He chuckled with tears in his eyes, "Yeah," he nodded. "I remember your games so vividly. There was this little girl who barely looked 12, she walked in here and stole my heart. She felt like my family. The only problem was, I couldn't see her winning. I couldn't see past what she only wanted me to see, a scared little girl who didn't even know which end of the knife to use. I couldn't see the winner that she would become. So instead, I ignored her so I wouldn't get attached. I trained with Coran day and night, hoping he would win, but then she–you walked out of that plane with your head held high, you were a victor." They both had tears in their eyes. "I have faith that you will help change the world. You will not be dying in these games."

"But Katnis–"

"Katniss be damned," Evan snapped. "Finnick and Johanna agreed. That if it truly came down to it, they wouldn't protect her, but they would protect each other and you."

"I will do my best for her, but if I have to choose, it's them and you all the way," Emory smiled at him. She nudged him in the shoulder, "now are you going to tell me who that person is you were talking about?"

Evan looked down, laughing, "Haymitch, but he has a thing for Effie, and everyone thinks I have a thing for Falle."

Emory smiled at him sympathetically. "One day."

He nodded, "one day. Now, I think it's time for the plane," he smiled at her. He got up and held a handout for her. She grabbed it and picked herself up.

"It's weird that I'm scared," she said as they got into the elevator. Her shook his head.

"You're not scared, when you were scared you looked a lot different," he chuckled. "Your heart's beating fast, your hands are shaking, you're not scared, you're excited."

It was weird, this time they were in a section alone. The peacekeeper came up to both of them with the same machine. "Your tracker," he said, and Evan held up his arm. He moved over to Emory who lifted her arm. The machine went off and it hurt her for a second. It wasn't like the last one and it pulled some blood. She was given a cloth to wipe it up. The lights turned blue and they started their flight to the new arena.

~

Evan and Emory met up in the halls with the other tributes as they looked for their room. "Suit has no thermal, somewhere tropic?" She asked in a low voice, and he nodded.

"More like a wet suit so definitely water, get ready to do some swimming, but you're good at that," he teased, patting her back. He pointed to his door that said 5M. "This is me, see you on the other side."

She saluted back to him jokingly before she passed a few more doors, seeing the others walk in. She passed 4M as Finnick was walking it. They nodded to each other, and he showed his bracelet. She turned her head and played with her braid to show her hair pin.