I woke to find myself lying on the couch, my hands heavily bandaged an inch past my wrist. I could see where the blood had started to soak through the thick bandage, but it seems to have stopped. I forced myself to sit upright on the couch.
"Good, you're up." Says Enobaria, I glance around the room to see Cato asleep on the other end of the couch.
"He refused to go to bed until he knew that you were alright." My mentor explains.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Nearly morning. You should sleep while you can." She says.
Oh yeah, I'm getting shoved into the arena in a few hours. I can't help myself, even with how gruff Enobaria was, I was still really going to miss her. I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her as tightly as I could.
"Hey, I'll see you in a few weeks okay? Fight hard, survive, and win this for District 2." she says. I almost break down again, because I know that if Cato dies and I do win, I'll never really return home. I'll forever be in that arena in my mind, trying desperately to fight my way out. I'll never be whole, because Cato is the other half of my soul. I couldn't truly live without him.
I loosened my grip on my mentor, and pulled back. She gave me a sad smile, her pointy ivories still making me flinch, and walked away.
I stood, and made my way to the other end of the couch, and I curled up next to Cato, lacing my fingers through his. Just as I closed my eyes, I felt his fingers wrap protectively over my bandaged hand, and I smiled.
------------------------------------------
Morning came far too quickly, and I woke up to find Cato still sleeping beside me, his hand still on mine.
I didn't want to move, I wanted to freeze this moment and live in it forever. But, that's not going to happen.
"Hey." I murmured, kissing him lightly on the lips. He opened his eyes, and smiled.
"Hey." He replied, somewhat groggily, and I giggled. I had better be able to stop myself from doing that in the arena.
He chuckled in return, pulling himself upright, still holding gently onto my hand.
"Come on! You should be with your stylists now! Hurry up!" Klestania says, frantically racing around the floor and trying to get everything together.
"Alright," I say, then turn to Cato, "See you in the arena." I give him a long lasting kiss because I don't even know if I'll make it out of the bloodbath.
"See you." He says after I've pulled away. I just now noticed that I was still in my dress, which was still covered in my blood.
I quickly ran into my room, putting on a simple outfit of a grey t-shirt and black shorts, hiding the dress in the closet. I had no doubt that Oran would find it, but maybe someone else would kill me before he could.
I then walked to the elevator, and left to meet up with Oran.
"What happened to your hands?" Asks Oran, as he inspects the bandages.
"I.... Um... Punched a mirror." I say quietly, averting my eyes.
"Now why would you do that?" He asks, slowly removing the bandages. I was surprised to find baby pink scars where the cuts had been. Wow they healed quickly.
"The wonders of medicine." I murmur, and Oran chuckles.
"Yep, now come on, let's get you in your outfit." He says, leading me away.
After I was finally dressed in black skin tight pants, a double layered jacket and leather boots with treads made for running, Oran pulled my hair back in a high ponytail, with the hair handing down to my middle back in perfect round little spheres.
"Thanks Oran, really, for everything." I said, surprising him with a hug.
"It was nothing." He says.
"Two minutes till launch." a mechanical voice announces.
"Come on," Oran says, pulling himself away, "It's time to show them what you can do." He says, and I step into a glass tube, with a metal plate to stand on, and the glass slides shut behind me.
I then, feel myself rising upwards into the arena.
