i will not break (wnn's last reunion)

Terra's body fell when my blade sliced into her one last time, and that cannon sounded. That cannon that was meant to signify the end of a tribute's life- it was signifying the first of Terra's deaths. Tomorrow, she'd be resurrected in the catacombs and given a chance to keep fighting. It made me wonder if she'd make it out of there and I'd ever encounter her again, or if one of us would die before we had that chance.

As I thought of the catacombs and second chances, my thoughts moved to Jade and what her fate might be. She'd fought in the catacombs today, and it made me wonder if she'd been the one to make it out alive. That's when I decided that, since I was wandering among the graves at the cornucopia already, I'd wait for her.

I'd wait by where I knew one would emerge from the catacombs and see if it was her that came out. I'd be slightly hidden while I waited, just in case it was someone else with ill intentions who came out instead. I wasn't ready for another fight.

Crouched behind a headstone, I saw the exit to the catacombs open and a female figure emerge from there. At first, I wasn't sure whether it was Jade or not, so I stayed low. As she moved, however, I caught a better glimpse of her and saw: it was her. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her standing there, alive.

I stood up from where I was crouched and was about to call out to her. Before I could say a word, however, she called out to me instead.

"Pisces?" came her voice.

"Jade!" I responded with a sense of relief in my voice.

I made my way over to her and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. I was gentle about it, though, knowing both of us were likely in pain.

"You're a sight for sore eyes," I told her. When I released her from the hug, I spoke again.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Seeing her was a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. I knew at least one of my friends was okay. Now, I just had to find out if Dominic and Zenia were okay.

The relief in his voice made her feel a little better. It was comforting to know that someone cared about her. Maybe not love her, but caring was a decent start. Then she remembered where she was, and who she was talking to, and realized that only one person in this arena would walk out alive and the rest would be ghosts taking resident in the Victor's memory. That meant that it didn't matter much in the end if the people in the arena cared about her, because if she lived they wouldn't be around to care anymore. She'd be completely alone and surrounded by ghosts of people who no longer lived. She would not be loved. She would lose all of the people that cared about her, and she wondered if it was all worth it in the end.

It wasn't. She knew it wasn't. There was nothing worth the price of Arabella Shirley's death. Of Pisces Gem, of Dominic Merluccius, and of Zenia Siella. Living wasn't worth the price of their souls, of their lives, but Jade had to pay it. She'd made a promise to Arabella, and she wasn't willing to break it. If that meant she was going to live amongst the dead for the rest of her life, then she would pay it. No, it wasn't worth it, but she would do it. For the girl who was taken too soon, the girl who was a bright light in the sky, the girl who probably made people happy, the girl who had been loved more than Jade would ever know. She would keep her promise to the girl whose heart she stopped.

Jade's eyes widen in surprise when her thoughts are interrupted. Pisces had put his arms around in a hug, and at first she wasn't sure how to respond, because when was the last time she'd been hugged? Her family, not a single one of them, had ever hugged her before, had they? Only here in the arena. Only the arena made the impossible suddenly possible, but it was paid for in the blood of other tributes. She returned the hug then, her grip tight around the boy from nine who cared about her enough to hug her. She wondered if Arabella would have hugged her too, if she hadn't been the person set to kill her. Now she would never know, because Arabella's heart had stopped beating all thanks to one Jade Morin.


"You're a sight for sore eyes,"

The humor caught her by surprise, because she was fairly certain that humor would be forever gone from this world, because she didn't deserve it. Not after what she'd done, but the smile came naturally, even though it quickly disappeared. She looked him over, and knew he wasn't doing all that much better. There was a whole lot of blood, but that was becoming more common than she'd liked in the arena. At least he wasn't missing any body parts this fight, unlike Jade who was now down an ear. Huh, so maybe she really was a sight for sore eyes. A big, gaping hole where an ear should be. That didn't sound pretty. It was a good thing she brought her severed ear along and had a handy needle and thread kit.

"Feel up to sewing my ear back on?" she asked with a slight grin. "Than I'd look a little less like a zombie mutt, huh?"

Jade kind of hoped that he would agree. While she didn't mind battle scars, she didn't exactly enjoy the thought of losing body parts. She had a general policy that body parts should belong to her and stay that way. Unfortunately, she was in the arena and that always seemed to be an open invite to body part thieves. She should know, since she'd stolen one of Kestrel's.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

If Jade were to be perfectly honest, she hadn't expected this at all. She had figured that those in her alliance had seen her as a shield and nothing else. After all, she was a Career from District One and she had learned through various events in the arena that Careers were expendable and had no value placed on them by any one other than those in the Capitol. Rather, Careers were a large target, because other tributes didn't think they were human. They didn't think they were as valuable. They had lived in comfort, and they had used that comfort to train themselves to kill, so they must have thought they had no hearts.

They didn't see the way Careers were raised. They didn't see their parents, or their hardships. Not even Arabella had seen past Jade's cold exterior until she'd revealed her note from home. She may have had plenty of food to eat, and plenty of luxury, but she'd never known love. Sure, not every Career was like her. There must have been some out there with decent families and rebellious children, but most weren't. Most were products of pain. Thankfully, those tributes volunteered over the ones who lived in true comfort, had loving and supporting families who never trained their kids or only did so casually. Only the Careers trained in households like the Morin's sent their kids off to die. Only the broken kids who would always appear heartless to those who'd experienced warmth and love.

"Thank you," she whispered in response, and meant it.

That's when Dominic appeared, and a look of relief crossed her features, but that soon turned to a look of confusion.

"You see her too, right?" he remarked to Pisces once he approached, thumb pointing toward Jade. He then turned to her and began to pat at her face, feeling the shape of her cheeks and nose beneath his palms. "You actually exist? You're not a hologram this time?"

Instinctively, she took a step back when his hands began exploring her face at will. She wasn't exactly used to people touching her all that much. How could she being raised in such a cold household where even hugs were unheard of? She blinked, astonishment crossing her features, and she wondered what happened to him. Had he hit his head on something hard? That could be plausible. Or maybe the arena was just really getting to him. It had for Jade before she'd died and sent another girl in her place, hadn't she?

"I was a hologram before?" she asked looking him up and down. He looked normal for a tribute, which meant in pretty bad shape, but his head was still attached enough. It must be the arena. "Is this revenge for treating Zenia like a mutt? Because if it is, I'm sorry about that. Don't turn into another Jade, Dom."

That's the first time she realized they hadn't been together. And she saw the fog, and confusion spread across her features again. Just what had happened that day? A Gamemaker trick? It was how many days in the arena? Jade wasn't sure; she'd lost count a long time ago. It felt like years, but she knew it wasn't true, because it never lasted years. Then, she took her hand, formed it into a fist and punched his arm in a playful manner.

"If that hurts, I'm real," she added with a slight grin. Then he apologized and said it had been a long day, and she was beginning to realize that it must have been, because things were looking a little crazy right now. What could have happened that made their alliance separate when they had always stayed together - aside from those who had killed, but even they had a habit of coming back - since day one. Something must have happened, and she was about to say it until -

"I'm glad you made it out," he said softly. He swallowed, his throat raw and screaming. "Not all of us did."

Followed by a, "Zenia's not coming back."

He'd put his arms around her, rested his chin on her, and then shattered her. It wasn't his fault, though and she knew it wasn't. She hugged him tightly in return. Huh, she'd been hugged today more than she had ever been hugged before. But, it was paid for in Zenia's blood. She'd never get to apologize to the girl she'd been mean to. She hadn't meant to, of course, for she hadn't disliked the girl. Unfortunately, she'd lost some of her sanity before her death, and now there was no way to make up for it. Zenia would be lost forever, just as Arabella would be lost forever, and they'd simply remain ghosts in her head. Two girls she had failed. Two lives lost that should have been protected, and Jade knew she could have done more. If she hadn't lost her sanity, surely none of this would have happened.

Jade took a deep breath, then. She couldn't lose herself here. She couldn't break, because she'd promised. Even if every single person here was allowed to break, she couldn't. She wasn't allowed, or she wouldn't be forgiven. She deserved this pain, and she would feel every ounce of it. She would never lose herself to a bottle. She would never lose herself to insanity. She would remain strong, and hurt, just as she should be, for the remainder of her life. She would not be allowed to take the easy way out. Besides, isn't that what had gotten her to this in the first place? Then, slowly, another realization settled and it's one that would hurt, but she had to say it, because she wasn't sure if the other two could.

"There were so many canon shots. It's been so many days, and I can tell something must have happened today, since you weren't together..." She took another deep breath. "Tomorrow morning we'll have to separate. It's...the Gamemakers have obviously set that in motion today."

And she didn't want this to happen. She felt comfort with her alliance. She felt relief when all of them were together, but no matter what she knew it was all coming to a close now and only one would make it out of here alive. If they could avoid running into each other, that would be for the best. The Gamemakers would ensure the Capitol had a good show. That meant more deaths needed to happen in rapid order. That meant the time for alliances had ended.

"F-for today, we'll stay together," she said, her voice shaking a little at the beginning before she could catch herself. "Does anyone want alcohol? I have some, and you can drink it," she added, trying to break the hurt. She grabbed the bottle out of her bag and offered it.