Hello my dear loves 3 How is everyone this fine day? I can happily say that I watched The Hunger games in theaters on March 23rd, 2012. It lived up to about half of my expectations. I guess it was fine, but I won't get into that now, you can read my review on my Deviant Art page. I am 4everAmber. Anyway, I am going to tell you all a little story. So as my friends and I were getting ready to go to the movie, we were getting dressed and such, and one of my closer friends suggested we listen to a song. She said it was called Don't Take the Girl. She warned us that we might cry, but I didn't think that I would because there are few songs that can make me cry, only My Heart Will Go On and Safe and Sound. So she started playing it while we were putting our make-up on and such and then my fiancée called us downstairs so that we wouldn't be late. We ran down the stairs, still listening and then stopped in the front all instead of going into the kitchen and walking out. We stood there, watching the lyrics scroll by as the song played, and I felt myself getting choked up and when I looked up see my friend crying, it sent me over the edge, I was crying for ten minutes straight. So, that will be the inspiration for a portion of this chapter. Just to throw that out there. Anyway! Without further adieu, Chapter 24!

Chapter 24

"Willow!" I scream, my throat beginning to burn from the acid smoke filling the air. Every breath that I take fills my lungs with the burning hot smoke that threatens to choke me every step I take closer to the burning house.

The flames are now lapping up the sides of the house, destroying everything in their path. That is when my brain begins fighting against the flashbacks.

I hear the young children's voice, whimpering in the cold of the winter morning. All of them stuck, forced to be Snow's shield. I can feel their bodies pressed closely against mine, trying to retain any warmth that they can.

All of these images fight for my attention, trying to pull me down. They almost do, until I hear her cries. My head snaps up. "Willow!" I scream, the smoke burning as it rushes down my throat, pushing into my open mouth.

I run up to the door and frantically try to get it open. When I cannot, I slam into it with all my might. "Willow!" I scream. "Willow!"

I hear wailing sirens from behind me, but I ignore them, not trusting anyone but myself to get my daughter.

When I cannot get the door open, I look around frantically for a way in. I stare through the window on the door and get an idea. I run to the side of the house where I know there are some decent sized rocks. I grab one that I can carry and run over to the door again.

I take a deep breath and with all my might, I fling the rock at the window.

It flies throw the air and meets the window within seconds and shatters the glass instantly.

Running over, I slide my arm through the broken window. I feel the cool glass pressing heavily against my skin. After a moment of trying to find the lock on the other side, I feel the shards break open my skin, causing blood to flow down the glass.

I bite my lip, trying to block out the pain as my fingers fumble around for the lock. When my hand clasps the doorknob, I jump, causing the glass to cut further into my arm, but I don't care. I flip the lock and pull my arm out of the hole.

Wincing as the glass tears through my already damaged skin, I take a deep breath, and then push open the door with all my might and run into the house.

There is smoke everywhere. I can barely see three feet in front of me, but I can hear. And I hear her cries. Weaker than before, but I can still hear them. "Willow!" I scream, "Willow, I'm coming!" I run down the hallway and turn into the kitchen.

It is at that exact moment that I know the fire started in there. The flames have consumed the entire room, and their fingers are stretching toward me. I know standing still means eminent death from the flames.

I step backwards and run down the hall, coming upon the steps, I stop, looking back. The flames are moving fast, engulfing everything in their path. I charge up the stair, praying that Willow is at the top.

When I jump up the last step, I look around frantically, trying desperately to hear Willow's cries. "Willow!" I scream. "Willow!" I whip my head around and hear small, strangled cries coming from my left.

My heart is exploding, and suddenly everything is going very slowly. My mind begins getting fuzzy as the smoke begins to overwhelm me. The blazing gases set my lungs ablaze as they burn down my throat. I choke slightly and slam into the wall.

Clamping my eyes shut, I try to regain control of myself, but I am already beginning to lose my grip on the situation. A million things are fighting for my attention.

My entire body begins to shake as my mind fights to keep cool. I keep my eyes closed and fasten my teeth to my lower lip, causing blood to well up in my mouth. Turning to face the sound, I open my eyes facing the fire head on. I gasp when I open my eyes to see Prim reaching towards my, her mouth just forming my name.

"No!" I scream and run straight at her. "Prim!" My strangled cries echo through the house, the only sound able to compete with them is the crackling of the flames beneath me.

Suddenly, all I can hear is my own breathing. Everything else is gone. Until I see her. She is sitting in a small, makeshift crib, wailing. I don't hear her. Only see her. Her face is flushed and she is upset, I can see that. Anyone would be able to. Her mouth is open-wide, wailing.

In a matter of seconds, the entire world jumps into reality for me and I gasp, taking huge breaths of the blazing smoke down my throat. "Willow!" I cry out and run to her. I dive into the room and pull her into my arms. Immediately the tears spring to my eyes as I wrap my arms around my baby girl.

She is still bawling, upset that I took so long to come.

I could sit there forever, with her in my arms. With her safe in my arms. But when I open my eyes, I only see an ever growing amount of smoke filling the room. I widen my eyes in alarm and clutch Willow closer to me.

That is when I begin crawling as low to the floor as I can. I take a huge gulp of air and try to hold it as long as possible. I roll into the hallway, protecting Willow from my weight by placing all my pressure on the muscles in my arm, so I do not crush her fragile body.

The smoke is getting darker and thicker faster and faster. I can barely see anymore and my mind is getting fuzzy as things vie for my attention. And then I am no longer in Sae's house. I am in the City Circle. The cool wind is biting against my face. The pressure of the children's bodies all around me. And then the sudden heat. The explosions all around me.

And then there is only one person screaming. Maybe it is me, but I don't bother to check. Then I am standing up and running. Running through the smoke and the flames lapping as my heels, threatening to catch me. But I never let them.

Everything is fighting, fighting for my attention. I know I can make it. Make it out of the house, but it is so hard to not drop down. To allow the memories of seeing my only sister turn into a fire ball crush me and kill me.

The only thing keeping me running is the pressure of my child in my hands. The fact that I know if I die, so does she. So I keep running. Keep going, if only for her and nothing else. My feet pound over the perfectly lacquered floor, echoing in my mind.

Run Katniss! I scream at myself. That is when I see the front door. I try to speed up, but I feel the smoke beginning to overwhelm me. My mind begins to get fuzzier and fuzzier. I push myself to run, if only for a few more feet.

For a moment, I feel as though I may collapse, finally give up when I am so close, but that is when I feel my weight smack into the door. I almost fall back from the force, as well as the fact that my body is so weak, but I do not. I hold myself up a little bit higher for a moment until I begin to fumble with the door handle.

When I finally free open the door, it swings toward me. It would have smacked me straight into the face had I not already been falling out the door, into the fresh night air. I run a few feet further, until I reach the small grove of trees in the center of the Victors' Village before I collapse onto the ground.

My lungs are burning, my skin screaming from the heat, my throat closing up, but I do not allow any of this to bother me because I know I have finally saved my daughter from the flames.

And with this thought in mind, and with my daughter wrapped safely in my arms, I allow my eyes to slowly close, as I take one final rasping breath before everything fades into black.

I walk down the sidewalk, watching the world go by slowly, as it always has. I wave to people that I pass, being as friendly as possible.

An older woman who I know to be a regular costumer at the bakery , walks closer to me, smiling. She stops next to me and cheerily greets me, "Well, hello, Peeta, how are you this fine day?"

I smile at her, "Wonderful, Ms. Pater," I tell her. "And how are you? And Violet and Apollo?" I ask. I know from past experience that she utterly adores it when you ask about her two grandchildren, who are her two favorite people in the world, but hates it when you mentions her late husband, Mitchen.

"Ohh! They are both wonderful, as am I!" She exclaims, her eyes lighting up. "And how is your lovely wife, Katniss? And your precious little daughter…aah…Willow!" She snaps her fingers as she remembers her name.

"They are wonderful, and Katniss is actually pregnant again." I say, beaming, as the words just seem to roll of my tongue.

"Dear goodness!" She says, clasping her hands in excitement, "That is just amazing!" She smiles so genuinely, that it is hard not to embrace her. "I may just have to stop by that wonderful home of yours to congratulate Katniss!"

I smile, "Thank you, Ms. Pater." I answer graciously.

"Come now," she scolds, "Call me Miriam!"

I laugh, "Alright, Miriam, thank you, truly. It will mean a lot to Katniss, I know that it will."

We strike up the usual small talk about the weather and such, and are just about to say our salutations when my head cranes to look at the road where there are large trucks rushing past. There are ambulances from the hospital, and trucks from the small fire department.

I watch them for a moment, fixed on them and whisper in my mind. Please don't turn right…

As if on cue, the parade of emergency vehicles turns right, their tires squealing beneath their huge bodies from their break-neck speeds.

I feel my heart drop out of my chest as the entire world recedes and I can only think about Katniss and Willow. "Mir…I have to go." I stutter and push through the crowd of people in front of one of the stores. I then begin sprinting down the sidewalk, only able to think of what could have happened. There are only three houses inhabited in Victors' Village. Ours, Haymitch's, and Sae's.

Running down the gravel path to our home, I feel my shoes kicking up clouds of dust, sending small pebbles flying. I follow the tire marks from the ambulances, praying that it isn't Katniss. I try to pick up my speed, but I feel my legs tiring. I am not built for distances, especially with my bad leg, but I force myself to keep running. To make it to her.

As I get closer, the smell of smoke begins to enter my nose, burning my airways. When I reach it to the fork in the road, going in both directions around the circle of the Victors' Village. I turn my head to look at our house and see it perfectly intact, not a mark on it.

But, turning my head to look in the other direction, the direction of Sae's house, I see a huge billow of smoke floating above the fire-scorched house. And the is when I see a lithe, burned body being laid across a gurney.

The glint of her dark brown hair tells me exactly who she is. That is when I feel myself falling. I barely register my own lips forming her name, shouting as I run to her. Two men try to block me from seeing her, but I just ram through them and over to her.

Seeing her face jolts me back to reality. It is covered in charred ashes, the smell of smoke clinging to her clothes. Her one arm is bloodied, still bleeding through the wrap they have managed to get around her entire lower arm. Her chest is barely rising and falling as she lay completely still, not even moving her hands. Her eyes are closed, her mouth opened slightly, pulling air into her lungs, but just barely.

I collapse onto my knees, slamming into the ground, burying my face into my hands. I feel the pressure of someone's hand on my shoulder after a moment. Give it to the two visits to the arena, or the hijacking, but I spin around, throwing it off of me, taking it as aggression.

The man holds his hands up in surrender, but his eyes connect with mine, "Do you know her?" he questions as I watch her being loaded into the ambulance.

"She is my wife." My shaking voice is barely audible, hardly able to form the simplest of words.

He raises his eyebrows, "Then by all means, get in with her, you will be taken to the hospital with the young child as well."

"Willow?" I choke out.

He stares at me for a moment, and then shrugs, "I have no idea, I am sorry."

I stand up, and then run over to the ambulance, the man following my closely as I jump inside. I sit down beside Katniss, my entire body shaking. I take her good hand into mine and bury my face into them, tears springing to my eyes as different emergency workers bustle around me to hook her up to dozens of machines, supporting her.

I block everything out except for her. All I can hear is her intake of slow, shallow breaths. I feel tears rolling down my cheeks, dropping onto the gurney.

The ambulance lurches forward, speeding down the road and out of the Victors' Village. I barely register the ride to the hospital, only the fact that Katniss' breathing is getting slower and slower as each moment goes by.

When the care slams to a stop, I barely move. That is when the back doors swing open, and they pull her away from me. I look up, shocked, and that is when I feel myself slipping away. "No!" I shout, flinging myself after her, but they have already wheeled her inside, and I am left with a young nurse, who is trying desperately to calm me down.

"Please, sir, please, she will be in good hands, just calm down." She stammers, trying to lay her hands on my shoulders to clam me.

"No!" I shout, "No, she won't!" I shout, feeling tears filling my eyes again. "I promised that I would take care of her! I promised that I would let nothing happen to her!" I shout. "I promised!" When I cross the line into hysteria, I feel the familiar pinch of a needle, and then black.

I lurch awake and I am in a familiar sterile hospital room. I am faced with a tall man in a set of scrubs, his eyes are serious, but there is a hint of remorse in them. I jolt up, jumping out of the bed, and stare him straight in the eyes. "Where is Katniss? And Willow?" I demand, my voice hoarse.

He looks up at me and takes a deep breath, "The child will be fine, just minor smoke inhalation she was saved by being in one of the upper rooms while the main portion of the fire was going on, and then the quick thinking of Katniss." He explains.

I allow myself to breathe, until I realize he hasn't said anything about Katniss. "And Katniss?" I am barely able to get the sentence out for fear of the answer.

"Peeta..she…" He exhales loudly, looking down at his hands and then back up at me, "She is barely hanging on." He murmurs. "The smoke took a huge toll on her. She has pretty bad burns, and she hit a pretty large blood vessel in her arm from that cut." He pauses for a moment before look me straight in the eyes. "Peeta, I…I don't know if she'll be able to make it. There is just too much going against her…" His voice trails off. He looks at me for a moment, and must see what he is saying register on my face, because he looks at me one more time before standing and walking out.

I stare after him for a moment before collapsing to my knees, my entire body shaking. I feel as though the entire world has receded into nothingness.

Within seconds, I cross the line between utter despair into a near psychotic anger. I jump up and grab a small vase filled with violets off of the small night table and hurl it across the room. I then set my sights on a pile of books and magazines on a small coffee table beside a couch, which I promptly shove off the table, causing them to fly into the wall, clattering as they slam onto the floor.

The door swings open and there stands the nurse from earlier, her eyes wide with shock as I fling a cup across the room and at the door. She immediately slams the door shut as the cup smashes into the wooden door, breaking into hundreds of pieces.

"Mr. Mellark?" her voice comes out timidly as she opens the door a crack, barely poking her face in.

"Get out!" I shout, my voice shaking. "Get out!"

The door closes swiftly, blocking out the outside world, leaving me alone. For a moment, I just stand there. And then, I am on the floor, the weight of the world crushing me. Sobs wrack my body, sending me over the edge.

"Take me instead!" I shout, looking skyward. "Let me take her place!" I shout, clamping my eyes shut, trying to block the tears from leaving my eyes.

I remember a few details from my childhood, and one of those memories is that my mother always used to tell us that there was something greater than us. He created us and took care of us. I always scoffed at the idea. If there really was someone like that, why wouldn't they stop the Hunger Games? Why would they even allow them to happen in the first place? So, I never believed my mother. I would just tune out when she began to talk about that sort of stuff. Religion, and such.

But, right now, in this moment, I look up, and pray to whomever it may be, to who ever created me, to allow me to take her place. I bury my tear-streaked face into my hands and whisper so quietly that it would be impossible for anyone else to hear, "Take my life instead, take the life that you gave me if only so that she could live."

"Peeta?" The doctor's voice swims around in my mind, barely registering in my head. I turn my stiff neck toward him, looking up at him with my dead eyes.

"Peeta, she is out of surgery, you can come see her if you like." He murmurs, his voice low, soothing, "She is still in a medical induced coma, but you can see her."

I stand slowly, moving in robotics-like motions. I can barely move, let alone move quickly.

The doctor stays next to me with each step, "Now, nothing is guaranteed, but she seems to be responding well to the treatments." He states.

I stare at him for a moment, my face void of emotions, but I feel a tinge of anger at the way he says this. He makes it seem as though she is some test animal and she is doing exactly what they please with a lethal drug.

"This way," he says, gently.

I follow him, and within a few strides, I see her though the glass. Her face is pale, and different machines are connected to her from all directions. One I think is showing her heart rate has a barely moving line.

I stop dead in my tracks for a moment, utterly shocked by how fragile she looks. Her entire right arm is covered in a tick white gauze, while most of her left side is charred from the flames. I take a few steps forward and press my hands against the glass separating her from me.

"Katniss…" My voice is hoarse and barely recognizable.

"Peeta, she's doing a lot better than expected, after everything, but…" he pauses, clutched the window sill, staring in at her.

I turn to look at him, "Doctor, just tell me, after everything, nothing will be a shock." I choke out, my voice strained.

He turns to face me completely, his blue eyes penetrating mine, "Well, if you really can handle it…" his voice trails off a second time. He must be think about how to tell me, because he begins speaking under his breath, almost arguing with himself.

"Doctor, please just tell me, I can't handle much more, let alone waiting for more bad news. It will drive me mad, if I haven't already crossed that line." I feel a numbness where my heart should be and nothingness where my mind should be, so maybe I have gone insane. Again. Maybe nothing has changed. Maybe I will go tracker jacker mad again. Maybe I will just die, just to get rid of the pain. The pain that has always haunted me. Maybe I will finally be free.

I glance over at Katniss. Maybe we will both finally be free of all that has held just tight restraints on our hearts for so long. Just maybe.

He takes a deep breath and looks up at me, his eyes seemingly penetrating my everything. "Peeta, I am sorry, during the procedure, it seems that Katniss…" he takes one final breath before he just spits it out. "During the procedure, Katniss lost the fetus."

I stare at him for a moment dumbfounded, and he must take the hint.

He looks up at me with impenetrable grief in his eyes and elaborates. "Peeta, Katniss lost the baby in her womb."

Well, you guys guessed it. After about a month, I am back. It took a little bit, but I was finally able to accept what happened. So now, I march on with my writing. With this, my lovely RtF, and my Titanic novel, which is currently in the works for being submitted for publication. Now, I have actually started up a Twitter. I am Zentanic14 if y'all want to follow. I will post little teasers every few days as I write for y'all. I truly appreciate the support of all of you. It helped me feel right with my decision to suspend writing for a little bit. I started this chapter two and a half months ago, and finished today. Hopefully none of you hate me for killing off Maybe-Mellark Baby #2. And Like stated, Willow is perfectly fine. Just some smoke inhalation ;) So no worries on her. Anyway, thank y'all for all the support again. I love every single one of you with all of my heart.

With love,

Amber