Forever [Prim/Cato]

Chapter 11 - The Train

After I've composed myself, I gather up the tributes and get them ready for the train. Effie is standing beside me as Willow and... and...

Dang it, I never got the boy tributes name. That's not very professional of me. 

I stifle an eye roll and turn to Effie quickly. "Effie," I whisper, "what's the boy's name?"

Effie gives me an exasperated look before quickly muttering "Jackson".

Jackson... Jackson. 

I wonder if I know who his family is. It wouldn't be so strange for me to know. It's only been 16 years since I lived here, and you don't find many people traveling from any other district to District 12 for refuge. 

Before I can ask for the last names, Willow and Jackson approach me. Jackson is a good-looking boy, with strong features and a decently toned body for a young man. He must do all of the heavy lifting for his family, I think. After we make it to the train and get settled for dinner, I can scope more of his background out. 

He could be of use to us and our plan. The plan that we don't even fully have. 

Maybe Cato and I...

And then it hits. 

Cato. Oh my god. 

He is not going to like this. Cato probably already has word of all the tributes for this pool. I don't really know what I could imagine his reaction was when he saw his own daughter's name in the pool, but I doubt he was happy. 

If anything, he's probably destroyed the entire arena's center. He's probably killed everyone, including President Snow, and we just don't know it. Maybe we will get back to the Capitol, and he would have already screwed everything up that there would be no need for the Games this year. Maybe we will get there and then promptly be back on the trains to send these lucky kids back to where they belong, back to turmoil, struggle, and death surrounding every fiber of their being. 

Maybe that would be a good thing. 

But would it be?

Isn't now, more than ever, the time for the nation to fight back? Surely no one, especially not the Capitol, will be happy with their little sweetheart being pulled into the Games, whether or not it was her decision. Maybe Cato won't have to destroy anything at all because the Capitol was so petrified by the idea of Willow going into the Games and decided to disbar the entire system surrounding them.

Maybe... maybe...

Shoot, this is all wishful thinking. What I think about Cato may be true, but our government is so rooted and dependent on the Games that they would never end them, not even for the most extreme of circumstances. 

That's why it's up to us. 

I'd like to think that maybe I would be the face of the revolution. I thought that the insurmountable amount of love I got from the Capitol would be enough. What I underestimated was how much love my daughter -- the product of myself and Cato -- would get as much attention as it did. 

Willow is the shining star. She's the one that people die trying to see. 

And she's the one that, when the Capitol gets word of the Tribute from District 12, they will surely riot. 

"Um, Prim..?" I hear a voice call to me.

I snap out of my thoughts and focus in on the boy. 

Oh... right, I'm supposed to be the trainer. 

"Sorry," I stammer. "I'm just a little stuck in my thoughts." 

Jackson smiles, and it's a dazzling, shy, but still innocent smile. "I can understand why. This isn't the greatest circumstance for anyone to be in."