A/N: Wow, I can't believe it! We're at the end, people!

Well, the end of this story at least.

Alas, I find myself equally ecstatic and depressed that yet another of my stories has found its end. Regrettably, this always seems to happen; however, where one story ends another begins. This is always a helpful thing when it comes to my sanity. I would like to think that people value my sanity.

Even if I would make a pretty insanely awesome person, if I say so myself. Which I obviously just did.

But this isn't about me! No, no, no! This is all about YOU! My wonderful readers that have stuck with me through this entire story; showing me their love by means that include, but are not limited to: bribery, threatening, excessive compliments (my slightly narcissistic tendencies enjoy that immensely) before asking quite nicely for an early update (which, I will inevitably refuse, however politely). I mean, I'm like Effie when it comes to schedules.

And I'm already getting slightly off-track. Okay! Getting strictly to the point, you guys are awesome! Seriously, over 1600 reviews? For one story? That's epically fantastic in the most deliciously spectacular way. Reading your reviews always brought a smile to my face. It's an indescribable feeling to know that others seem to love your work just as much as you do. So, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being the best readers on this cite and gracing me with your presence through cyberspace.

And, because you're all so awesome, I find myself needing to thank every single one of you. If I forgot your name . . . well . . . slap me silly, cuss me out, and toss me in the meat grinder . . . my bad, guys. If I mentioned your name twice, quite honestly I have a lot of reviewers and sometimes I can't remember if I recorded your name or not. LOL

So! My wonderful reviewers are:

Ame123, Fanta, jmjames, CatchingPeeta, Naruto4Sakura, Guest, StayingAlive223, I 3 this fanfic, Skye Allison, wildflowersanddandelions, PirateGurly101, Bemac, unknown, Avid Reader 59, psalmofsummer, May, inu-rulz, crazyrawrx3, MadgirlSBA, Allison, GalanthaDreams, Alaee301, justcuz123, Angel Eyed Vampire, izzybellawella, AliceLightningBug, pyroseyes, JacksSwann07, Norbert's Mom, Emma Kellog, Claudita, ImBeautifullyHuman, Ellie, that1persona, cassieerin, ginevra-james, mrssherrange, thghpfan, schur665, Luna200, theOneAndOn1yOne, Lgwater27, mrsodairmockingjay132, amaskuponthesky, emmaknic, iam97, PAFSoeiro, diaphenia, 0Aud0, streetlightlove, katrissmellark, TinyNuttella, PercabethFanatic, Trisbriel, Peeniss0314, Dracoisalooker76, PieRoxMehSox, Bina, herehavesomeberries, JenniferBee, PrincessRedfern, kolorfulk, Peetasmylife, sadiemayk13, Hunger4Books, Delylah, Maryshann, Kate McKenthy, bettybops, Never Shout Sydney, Deception's Call, ,HungerGamesLover1234, Imc123, PeppermintToothpaste, 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Again, if I forgot any of you (hangs head in shame) toss me in the meat grinder. I'm quite serious.

On a less bloody, mutilated note: MERRY CHRISTMAS! And enjoy the last chapter . . .

Movie quote for the day comes from Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

"Why would I want anything with a mind of its own bobbing about between my legs?" - Sherlock Holmes

Random Disclaimer: I do not own CF, though I do own a rather fantastic fedora; "Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?"; "Why is the rum always gone?"; "Why so serious?"; "I'll get you my pretty! And your little dog, too!"; "I am Asneeze, father of Achoo."; "Dobby did not mean to kill . . . only to maim . . . or seriously injure."; "My precious!"; "Puny god"; "So that's what it feels like"; "Yeah, I can fly."; "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."; "Your skin is pale white, you dress fashionably, and you abstain from sex. . . I know what you are . . . Jonas brother"; "Snakes. I hate snakes."; "When you marooned me on that god forsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate: I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."; "It's like Christmas, but with more . . . me."; "It's the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."; "It's beautiful isn't it, Harry? The moon."; "Hang on, everybody! I wanna try something I saw in a cartoon once!"; "Well that's as clean as it will ever be."; "Slimy, yet satisfying."; "You may not like it Minister, but you can't deny . . . Dumbledore's got style."; "Over that boy hand!"; "Don't ever hit your mother with a shovel. It leaves a dull impression on her mind."; "Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!"; "There's a jungle cat in the bathroom!"; "Any guy can sweep a girl off her feet; he just needs the right broom."; "I suffer from aviophobia - it means fear of dying in something that flies!"; "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."; "I should have brought you a sedative."; "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"; "My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men."; "Spock, I look forward to the destruction of your planet and every planet around it. You will die. Your people will die. J.J. Abrams will die . . . you will ALL die."; "Master Robin . . . AH! . . . you lost your arms in battle! Oh, how terrible . . . but you grew some nice boobs!"; "I mean, really, Hermione. When have any of our plans ever actually worked?"; "Why would I want anything with a mind of its own bobbing about between my legs?"

Chapter 35

I'm sure that the hike up to the lightning tree is just as long and arduous as it was earlier, but it doesn't seem like it. My excitement must be fueling my energy. When we reach the tree, I'm nearly bouncing, and I force myself to calm and treat this as a type of hunt. Slowly, my heart rate returns to normal, and my breathing becomes even and steady. I let my senses stretch out, searching for anything that could potentially harm us.

Beetee's first task appears to be unrolling yards of the wire. He has Finnick tightly tie it to a broken limb and then place it on the ground. Then, Finnick and Beetee stand on either side of the tree and begin to wrap the wire round and round the trunk. Johanna, Peeta, and I stand guard as they work, but I can't help that my eyes occasionally stray from the jungle around us to watch Beetee and Finnick work. At first, it seems rather haphazard, but then I begin to notice an intricate pattern forming from the wrapped wire. I don't know if it makes any difference how the wire is placed, but I'm not going to question it. Maybe it's just a ploy to add speculation from the audience. I bet that they know just as much about electricity as I do, which is to say not a lot.

Beetee declares that the work on the trunk is finished just as we hear the ten o'clock wave. I look to the sky to figure out just what time it is, because the wave doesn't start at exactly ten. First, there must be some build up of all the water and then there's the flooding afterward. The sky tells me that it's ten-thirty.

An hour and half to go.

"Okay." Beetee gets our attention. "Now, Katniss, I need you and Johanna to run the rest of the wire down to the twelve o'clock beach. Once you reach the beach, toss the spool and whatever wire is left into the water, and make sure it sinks. Then, run back up into the jungle as fast as you can. If you leave now, you should make it."

Peeta immediately starts to object and says, "I want to go with them as a guard."

After all that we've been through in the arena, there's no way Peeta is going to let me out of his sight, especially considering the baby, but Beetee shakes his head. "You're too slow. Besides, I'll need you on this end. Katniss will guard," he says. "There's no time to debate this. I'm sorry. If the girls are to get out of there alive, they need to move now." He gives Johanna the coil.

Truly, Beetee's logic is sound. Johanna and I are the smallest and the quickest. Plus, we're both the most comfortable in the trees. We'd be a lot faster than Peeta or Finnick. Still, I don't like separating from Peeta any more than he does. He's my partner in all of this, but it just won't work out that way this time. Johanna and I have to run the wire down to the beach.

"It's okay," I assure him. "We'll just drop the coil and come straight back up."

"Not into the lightning zone," Beetee tells me. "Head for the tree in the one to two o'clock zone. If you find you're running out of time, move over one more. Don't even think about going back on the beach, though, until I can assess the damage."

I nod curtly and then move to Peeta, taking his face in my hands. "Don't worry," I tell him confidently. "I'll see you at midnight."

"Make sure you do," he tells me, and we share a short, yet passionate kiss. His hand brushes my stomach gently as he says, "Be careful."

I flash him a quick smile before turning to Johanna. "Let's go."

Immediately, we take off into the jungle. Johanna unrolls the wire while I guard, and we're weaving through the trees at a pretty fast pace. Once we're about halfway down, we hear the telltale ominous clicking that signals eleven o'clock. "Better hurry," Johanna says, her voice slightly breathless from the exertion. "I want to put a lot of distance between me and that water before the lightning hits. Just in case Volts miscalculated something."

"I'll take the coil for a while," I say. She's had a long turn anyway and it's more work to unwind the coil than it is to guard.

"Here."

Just as I take the coil, both of us feel a vibration run through the wire and then suddenly it goes slack. Johanna and I stare as the wire drops down from above and falls in curls around our wrists and at our feet. Then the end of the wire falls between us. The cut wire.

Someone above us cut the wire. Someone close to us cut the wire . . . and it wasn't any of our friends. It only takes a split second for me and Johanna to reach this conclusion. I'm reaching back to my quiver for an arrow when something hard and metal slams into my temple. The world immediately starts spinning and blurring as I crumple to the ground, dazed. My head is pounding, amplifying the excruciating pain in my skull. A warm, sticky substance drips down the side of my face. Blood.

But none of this explains why I'm having trouble breathing. I force my eyes to focus and am stunned when I see Johanna on top of me, her knees planted on my chest. Johanna? I see a blood spattered spool on the ground beside her. Johanna hit me? Why?

Suddenly, I feel a sharp, stabbing pain in my forearm. I resist the urge to scream as Johanna twists the point of her knife into my flesh. It's like she's digging for something, carving into my arm. I try to jerk and twist away from her, but Johanna is much stronger than she looks, and I'm still too incapacitated from the blow to my head. There's a terrible ripping sensation in my arm that brings tears to my eyes and causes a warm flow of liquid to gush from my arm, coating my hand. Before I can blink, Johanna slides her hand down my arm, coating her hand with blood, and then smears it on half of my face.

"Stay down!" she hisses and then takes off running in the opposite direction.

I've just barely processed her words when I hear two sets of feet approaching. Unthinkingly, I close my eyes. "She's as good as dead!" It's Brutus. "Come on, Enobaria!"

Then I hear them thunder away, not bothering trying to remain unnoticed, in the same direction that Johanna went. What's going on? Why did Johanna turn on me? Betrayal stings in my chest as I think of the woman who has slowly been growing on me since reaching the Capitol. She seemed to be on my side.

I put my hand on the jagged cut to my forearm, ignoring the stinging pain that magnifies as I apply pressure to the wound. Wait . . . my forearm . . . my forearm that was implanted with the tracker. Johanna cut it out. So the Capitol no longer knows where I am. They have to rely on the hundreds of cameras throughout the arena to try and catch a glimpse of me. This has to be part of the plan. It has to be. This was Johanna's job. To cut out the tracking devices. And then she led Brutus and Enobaria away from me.

For a moment, I'm filled with renewed respect for Johanna, until I realize that Peeta, Finnick, and Beetee can't possibly know that the wire was cut. They don't know about Brutus and Enobaria screwing everything up! I've got to tell them. I've got to get back to Peeta.

But the second I'm on my feet, my world is spinning rapidly. Blood loss. The cut on my forearm is bleeding at a fantastic rate, and I quickly grab some moss to try and staunch the bleeding, securing it with a tangle of vines. Get back to Peeta. That's my only goal at the moment. Have he and Finnick seen the wire go slack? Do they have any clue about the deadly turn of events?

I begin to stumble back up the slope, trying to move as fast as I can. But the world is still spinning, my vision is fading in and out, and the blood loss from the cut on my arm is quickly sucking all my energy. No doubt Johanna did irreparable damage to veins and arteries, not that she really had time to be exact about it.

I've barely gone fifty yards before I hear someone coming toward me a fast clip. Too fast to be Peeta or Beetee. Finnick, then. It must be. But just in case I grip the arrow loaded into my bow and duck behind a curtain of vines. I needn't have been cautious. Finnick flies by me, yelling, "Johanna! Katniss!"

"Finnick!" I try to yell back, but I don't quite manage it. My voice is too weak, but somehow Finnick manages to hear me and his head snaps back so quickly I'm surprised his neck didn't break.

"Katniss!" He rushes back to me, quickly looking me over. "Where's Johanna? What happened?"

"Brutus or Enobaria cut the wire," I explain as quickly as I can. "Johanna hit me and made it look like I was as good as dead and then took off. They left me and followed her."

Finnick looks torn. "Come on, I'll get you back to Beetee and Peeta."

"No!" I argue. "Go after Johanna." Even with Johanna's skills, taking on Brutus and Enobaria by herself is nearly impossible. "She needs you more than me. I can make it back by myself. Go!"

Finnick hesitates for a second more before hurrying off in the direction Johanna went. I resume my trek up the slope at as fast a clip as I can manage without the world spinning. Peeta. I have to get back to Peeta. It's this thought that fuels my legs to move a little faster. Find Peeta. Get back to Peeta.

I quickly become aware of another problem. How close is it to midnight? I pause for a moment and listen. The clicking of the insects is still loud and clear. But how much more time do I have? Half an hour? Maybe less? What happens if we don't bring down the force field by midnight? Everything will be ruined and I'll most likely die. My baby will die. That can't happen.

I will my feet to move, but I've only gone twenty yards before they get caught up in a snag of vines. I fall on my face and struggle, flailing, trying to dislodge myself from the vines. But when the trapping foliage hits the moonlight, I see that it's not vines at all. It's a mess of the golden wire. Well, at least I'm not so disoriented that I'm on the wrong path. I free myself from the wire and then follow it uphill, staying the right side. If the lightning hits, anyone touching that wire is dead.

Midnight is fast approaching, I can feel it. Have the insects begun to fade? I can't tell anymore. My mind is too consumed with getting back to the lightning tree, where Peeta and Beetee should be waiting. But when I finally make it to the little clearing, I only find Beetee lying prone on the ground. A pained moan escapes him as I collapse to my knees beside him.

"Beetee!" I hiss, but he doesn't answer me. I see a bloody gash on his arm. His tracker has been cut out as well . . . but Johanna couldn't have possibly cut it out. It would have had to have been Finnick or Peeta. Maybe even Beetee himself.

And that's when I realize that Haymitch has fooled me once again. There was no splitting of information to keep the plan as secret as possible, no pieces of a puzzle. No, Peeta and I were the only ones lacking certain information. All we knew was that we were breaking out of the arena. Finnick and Beetee with the bread. The trackers with Johanna. They knew every facet of the plan. Peeta and I were the only ones in the dark. Momentarily, I forget Beetee lying in front of me as my anger at my mentor consumes me. Was I not trustworthy enough? Or was this just another attempt of his to protect me?

I shake my head . . . not the best idea with a head injury. My vision fades in and out for a moment. I blink quickly, trying to clear it. I can't focus on Haymitch's half-truths right now. We still have to break out of the arena. Then I can give him a piece of my mind.

"Beetee!" I call to him again. "Where's Peeta?"

A moan is all the answer I get, and I growl in frustration. I have a feeling that Peeta took off after me not too soon after Finnick. That overprotective fool. He should have stayed!

Beetee moans again and makes a weak gesture toward me. A knife is clutched in his hand, Peeta's knife, with Beetee's gold wire wrapped around it. I pick up the wire in my hand and see that it's tied to the tree. My brow furrows. What did Beetee try to do? This must be part of his real plan. The plan to break us out of the arena. I remember the yards of wire that he'd seemingly laid aside earlier, the wire that he had Finnick tie to a branch. This is the wire that matters.

But what does he mean to do with it? My eyes find the force field in front of me, not even three paces from me. It's not invisible like the one in the Training Center that separated us from the Gamemakers. This one is more like a mirror, and from Peeta's encounter with it earlier, I know that the real world lies behind it. How do I bring it down? What was Beetee's plan? Did he mean to send the lightning bolt's energy into the force field? The force field is mainly energy, right? Would the energy of the lightning bolt, combined with the existing energy of the force field, result in some kind of overload and cause the force field to collapse?

I notice that the jungle around me is too quiet. The clicking has stopped. I have only minutes. Maybe less. And I'm not kidding myself into thinking that I can stay conscious that much longer. Blood is seeping from the moss covering the cut on my forearm. I'll pass out within minutes.

"Katniss!"

Peeta. It's Peeta. I hear him, trampling through the jungle, but he's far away from me. "Peeta!" I call as loud as I can, hoping to steer him back in the right direction. "Peeta, I'm here!"

"Katniss!" His footsteps change direction. He's moving back toward me.

"I'm here! I'm here!" I call again, hoping that he can keep on the right path.

And then a cannon sounds.

Who was it? Peeta? Johanna? Finnick? What about Chaff? Brutus or Enobaria? It could be anyone. Time is running out. Midnight is coming. The lightning is coming. Beetee is incapacitated and at the moment I'm the only way we're getting out of the arena.

If only I knew how.

Two sets of feet reach my ears, and I look to my left to see Enobaria and Finnick. They've reached the lightning tree, but they can't see me high on the slope, camouflaged by the ointment. I think of shooting Enobaria, but I can't bother with her. I have to bring down the force field. There's only a faint insect click every now and then. Running out of time. Running out of time.

Another cannon fires.

"Katniss!" Peeta hollers, and I want terribly to answer him, but I can't with Enobaria here. I can still hear Peeta, though, plowing through the jungle. He's closer. He might make it to me.

My eyes find Beetee's knife, the golden wire wrapped around it. What was he trying to do? Minutes to midnight. Minutes until I black out from blood loss. What were you trying to do Beetee? I stare at the knife and then back to the force field.

And that's when I see the rippling square about fifteen feet above me. The flaw in the force field. The chink in the armor. And suddenly, it all clicks. I know what Beetee planned to do. The wire is the key, yes. And I now know its lock. The force field. The chink.

I remember the day in the Training Center, when Wiress and Beetee pointed out the undulating squares in the force field. I'd thought that "chink in the armor" was an odd turn of phrase, and postulated that perhaps it carried a heavier connotation. Why had I forgotten my previous theory? The chink in the armor. That's how I'm getting the hell out of here.

With trembling hands I slide the wire off the handle of the knife and wrap it just under the feathers of my arrow. Then I step out of my cover, fully revealing myself, but not caring. There are no clicking insects anymore. Seconds to midnight. I aim for the rippling square, the chink, and then let my arrow fly. I watch as my arrow and the wire connected to it disappears through the force field.

Then the lightning strikes.

The wire flares a bright white and for a fantastic moment, the entire dome of the arena lights up in a dazzling blue hue.

And then I'm blown backward, hitting the ground hard. I lie there, completely stunned, paralyzed, and only able to look up at the fake sky above me that is now collapsing and exploding. Matter rains down on me, but I can't move. I can only lie there motionless on the ground. Explosions rock both the ground and the sky, bright flashes of red and orange light flaring everywhere. It's complete chaos.

The ground continues to explode, sending dirt and plants spraying everywhere. Trees go up in flames. Everything is burning. Everything is destruction. But I'm not focusing on that.

"Katniss!" His voice is faint, whether due to injury or distance or the loudness of the explosions rocking the arena, I don't know. "Katniss!"

I manage to get to my knees. "Peeta!" My eyes try to focus more on what's around me, but all I see are explosions and flying dirt and plants and flames. Where's Finnick? Johanna? Beetee still lies prone on the ground. He won't last much longer.

Where's Haymitch? Where's the hovercraft?

"Peeta!" I force myself to my feet, and just as I take a step forward, he crashes out of the jungle. "Peeta!"

His eyes immediately find me and then he's right in front of me. "Are you alright?" he asks quickly, looking me over. He doesn't look too injured, except for a few bleeding gashes on his chest, arms, and face. Probably due to catching vines as he ran through the jungle. "What happened?"

"Wire cut," I tell him simply. "Johanna cut out my tracker. Led District 2 away from me."

"Finnick and I didn't know what happened. The wire just went slack," Peeta says quickly, so quickly that my faint mind can barely keep up. "He took off and I stayed with Beetee, but I couldn't stay for long. I had to find you."

Another explosion rocks the ground beneath our feet, causing me to pitch forward. Peeta's arms wrap around me to steady me, and I place both my hands on his chest to brace myself. "You're such an idiot for going after me!" I tell him harshly. "You should have stayed here!"

"Like hell," Peeta retorts. "I wasn't about to wait around for you to come back, especially when everything went south."

Suddenly, a hovercraft materializes above us. I'm filled with excitement and relief for a split second until I see the seal of Panem painted onto the side. The Capitol hovercraft. It drops its claw, and before I can react, Peeta yanks on my good arm and we're running through the exploding jungle. We're able to maintain a stumbling sprint for a good two hundred yards when we encounter a thick section of the jungle that hasn't been blown to bits by the explosions yet, and Peeta suddenly comes to a stop.

I look at him confused and fearful. Why has he stopped? But when I see the sad, yet determined look in his eyes, I realize that he has a plan . . . and I'm not going to like it one bit. "Listen to me, Katniss," he says quickly, his hands cradling my face. "We can't keep running. They'll capture us."

"But if we stay—" I begin to argue, but Peeta shakes his head.

"No, if I stay we'll still be captured," he says sadly. Peeta holds up his forearm. There's no bloody gash. "I still have my tracker. You don't. As long as I'm with you, they'll know where you are."

Horror fills me as I realize what he's saying; what he's planning to do. This can't happen! It can't! He can't possibly do this to me. "No! Peeta, you can't leave me! Do you know what they'll do to you if they . . . if they . . ." Tears are stifling my words. I can't finish the sentence out loud. If Peeta's captured, the Capitol will hurt him. Torture him. For information. Information that he doesn't really have.

Peeta rests his forehead against mine. "I know," he says softly. He knows exactly what will happen. "Listen, I'm going to run . . ." I'm already shaking with sobs. ". . . and you're going to go in the opposite direction, alright?"

"Peeta," I plead with him, my voice breaking. "You promised you wouldn't leave me. You promised."

"I know." Peeta tenderly wipes away my tears. "I know. How about I make you a new promise? Alright?" His voice is choking. He's trying not to cry. "I can't promise to never leave you, but I can always promise to find a way back to you. That's one promise that I'll never be able to break. I will find a way back to you, Katniss. I swear." Peeta pulls away from me slightly so he can see my face. His blue eyes are shimmering with unshed tears, but his face is set in a mask of determination. "I love you," he tells me so softly that I barely hear him. "More than I could ever hope to describe. You and the baby are everything to me, so please take care of yourself, alright?"

"Peeta, I can't do this without you," I sob, and the look in Peeta's eyes is so pained that it causes my already breaking heart to wrench. "I can't survive without you."

"Katniss," Peeta pleads in a strangled voice. "Please. Be safe. Let me do this. I'll come back to you, I promise. But you've got to let me go."

"No—"

The trees suddenly begin to sway violently as a sharp wind tears through them. The Capitol hovercraft has found us. Peeta turns to me, panicked, determined, and terrified all at once. "I love you both," he whispers before capturing my lips in a fierce kiss. It doesn't last for more than two seconds, but it still leaves me reeling. He stares into my eyes, conveying all his love in one tender look. He gently caresses my face.

And then turns and bolts into the jungle.

The Capitol hovercraft begins to follow him, and I'm overcome with sobs. I want to follow him. My muscles are straining against me to follow him. We're in this together. That's been our motto. Together. Always.

But instead of chasing after him, I turn and run in the opposite direction. The baby. That's the only reason I'm doing this. Keep the baby safe. That is mine and Peeta's purpose. Keep the baby safe. I repeat this over and over in my mind to keep my feet moving away from Peeta.

Each step causes the claws gripping my heart to sink a little deeper.

I reach the lightning tree in time to see a claw from a hovercraft lifting Beetee into the air. This hovercraft is black. Secret. District 13. I collapse onto the ground, which is still riddled with rocking explosions. My body curls in on itself, my arms wrap around my stomach. Protect the baby. All of this is for the baby.

Peeta went willingly into the Capitol's cruel clutches to protect me and the baby.

The silver claw descends once again, and I don't fight it as it lifts me up. I'm dazed and broken. Blood drips from my forearm. Agony savagely rips at my heart. My eyes flutter shut as I succumb to the blood loss. Darkness envelopes me, and right before it takes me away, I hear Peeta's voice in my head. His words to the baby that have proved heartbreakingly true . . .

"You and your mother are the two most important things in my world, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise."

His final words from that morning are a whisper in my mind as I finally succumb to unconsciousness.

"Daddy's going to keep you safe."

I mean, what's better than Peeta (you're such a white-knight, m'dear) sacrificing himself to the Capitol to protect his family? Plus, since I did it that way, I got to write the tearful goodbye scene. I love those. They're so much fun! Woo!

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. It's sad. Yes, yes. Very sad indeed . . .

But still awesome.

So! This is the end of another story! Always bittersweet for me . . . so it's a good thing there's another one coming, right?! My plan for Come Rain or Come Shine is to begin posting January 14. I know that's a three week break in between, but it's my Christmas Break and I just want to chill and relax. Plus, I plan on seriously ironing out my ideas for my own set of novels, a trilogy that I'm extremely excited about, so that I can begin writing them this summer.

In summary, mark your calender's people: Monday, January 14, 2013. The first chapter of Come Rain or Come Shine will be published at my usual time on that day. Prepare for a deliciously dark, mature, depressing twist of turns that will leave you reeling every chapter (hopefully). Don't worry, there's some happy stuff in there too . . . seriously, I promise . . . it's just kind of a rare occurrence. Not trying to scare you, just telling you how it is. CROCS is full of emotion. It's sad. It's depressing. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. There's hope.

There's just a lot of ass-kicking to be done by various characters. ;)

CROCS is my favorite in the series if that makes any difference or settles your worries. It's the one that I think is the best written, holds the most emotion, and portrays the reality of what has happened in the first two books and the repercussions. I'm very proud of it, and it was tons of fun, so I hope you guys will like it as much as I do.

And with that, there's not much else for me to say. I can only praise all of you guys once again. You are the best readers on this cite, and I'm incredibly honored that all of you take the time to read my stories. That said, I seriously want to know what you guys have thought of this story. I know I have tons of readers who don't review, and I really want to hear from you guys. So, I'm asking that you just take a few seconds to tell me what you think. It doesn't even have to be a coherent sentence. It doesn't have to be a sentence at all. I find smiley faces extremely satisfying. :)

Alas, I owe you one last quote. And, naturally, it comes from Peeta.

"Not a minute passed that I didn't think of you."

So, on that note, I bid you adieu,

AC