The Seed is Strong (Hunger Games Fanfic)

Love Triangle

After raiding her parents cupboards for food, and drinking a significant amount of water, Ela finally started feeling like a human being again.
Even though Melanie was not a doctor, she had given birth herself, so she knew what was normal and what wasn't, which is why she was the one to check Ela and Tammy over.
Tammy was smaller than she should've be, but otherwise healthy.
Ela too was underweight, and the deep cut on her arm had to cleaned thoroughly before being bandaged back together, to avoid an infection developing.
After washing in her families bath tub, and removing layers of dirt and grime, Ela felt much happier, as well as cleaner.

Since everyone thought Ela was dead, nobody expected to see her parents or Glen out and about, which gave them the perfect opportunity to stay inside with Ela.
Her relationship with her mother had never been great, which is why she preferred spending time with her father.
But ever since her name had been drawn at the reaping, Melanie had realised how much she cared about her daughter, and was desperate to make up for the years they had spent disliking each other.
Ela loved her parents, but now that she was a mother herself, she felt like she'd out grown them, and she wanted nothing more than to be alone with Glen.

Several hours after returning home, Ela finally got her wish.
She had returned to her bedroom on the top floor, pretending to need some sleep, and Glen had followed.
"Alone at last" whispered Glen.
"Yes... Where's Tammy?" Asked Ela, when she remembered that they were never going to a pair ever again.
"She's downstairs with your mother" answered Glen, as he joined Ela, sitting down on the bed beside her.
"I didn't think that I was ever going to see you again" admitted Ela.
"Neither did I. I thought I was going to lose you both"
"But you didn't"
"No, I didn't".

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Tomas. He saved my life, and that's a debt that I'm never going to be able to repay" sighed Ela.
"Do you love him?" Glen asked bluntly.
Ela frowned, "Why do you ask?".
"On the camera they made it look like you two were falling for each other. You were always by each other's sides, and the way you looked at him, it looked like you really cared about him" admitted Glen.
"He was by my side, at your request remember. You told him that you'd kill his family if he didn't protect me. And we kept our bodies physically close, because it was below freezing some nights, and we needed each others body heat to stay alive"
"That doesn't explain the looks that you gave him".

"Cameras have a way of twisting things, you know that, so I don't know what looks you are referring to. I have only ever loved one man, and that is you. I care about Tomas, and I really want him to win, so that I can thank him for saving my life. I didn't really know him before the games, but now I consider him a close friend. But I don't love him, not the way I love you" informed Ela.
"You swear?" Questioned Glen.
"I swear. There is no one else in this world that I love as much as so. Besides, if I'd been making out with Tomas, don't you think the people in the Capital would've broadcast that to everyone"
"I guess that's true"
"He kissed my head a few times, by my dad does that too, and I certainly don't fancy him"
"Good to know".

Melanie called them down a few minutes later, to watch the games.
Ela found it extremely strange and uncomfortable to watch the arena, a place that she was trapped in only a few days before.
Seeing her arena, through the eyes of the public, was also rather weird. Especially the shots filmed inside her and Tomas's cave.
She always felt so far away from the real world, even though she knew that she was being watched.
But being out of the games, and watching it on her tv screen made her realise that she had never had a single private moment.
"Are you O.K?" Asked Glen, when he saw the distressed look on Ela's face.
"I'm fine" mumbled Ela.
"You don't have to watch if you don't want to"
"No, I need to do this. I need to know what happens, now that I'm not there".

"You've been out of the games for over a day" reminded Stewart.
"Oh, I forgot that. What happened while I was travelling back from the Capital?" Asked Ela.
"The boy you saved, Josh, was killed the same day you died. And right now there are only 3 tributes left" answered Glen.
"Only 3" gasped Ela.
"Yes; Tomas, the girl from 4 who saved you called Katia, and the boy from 1 named-"
"Lukas" interrupted Ela, remembering the big, threatening boy from district 1, who was lethal with a sword.
"Yeah, him. Apart from those 3, everyone else is dead. They're all spread out across the arena, since no one wants to attack a fellow tribute by themselves, because it's too much of a risk. We expect the game makers will herd them all together soon, for the final big showdown" replied Glen.

Glen was right, because later that day the game makers caused another rock fall, even bigger than the first, forcing Tomas away from the mountains.
A fire was started in the forest where Katia had been hiding, giving her no choice but to head towards the cornucopia, where Lukas was waiting.
Ela clenched her fists tightly as she watched the tributes emerge from hiding, with their weapons drawn.
Lukas was about to make a move, when the ground beneath their feet began to shake.

The earthquake caused the tributes to fall to the ground.
The game makers then forced the river to breached its banks, sending water across the field where the cornucopia was, and forcing the tributes to quickly jump to their feet, so that they didn't drown.
One they were standing, you could see how deep the water actually was, it reached up to Katia's knees, but was lower on the boys since they were taller than her.
Rubble from the rockslide earlier, had fallen in such a way, that the tributes were now barricaded in a large circle around the cornucopia, so that they couldn't escape.
The game makers clearly wanted their finale to be exciting.

"I'm not sure I can watch this" trembled Ela, who knew exactly how scared the tributes were feeling, because she had been in the arena herself.
Glen took hold of her hand and squeezed it tight, "Yes you can, you are stronger than you think".
"I hope you're right" muttered Ela.
Once the tributes were sure that the game makers weren't going to throw anything else at them, they began to advance on each other.
Katia kept her distance and loaded her first arrow, as the boys charged towards her with their swords drawn.
Lukas reached Katia first, and managed to dodge all the arrows that she fired at him. He kicked water at her as he ran, making it hard for her to see and reload.
Before she had time to load her next arrow though, Lukas slashed his sword across her chest, and she dropped to the ground.

Ela turned her head and melted into to Glen's arms, as she heard the sound of the cannon, signifying that Katia was dead.
Though devastated that the girl who had allowed her to live, was now dead. Ela was more concerned for Tomas.
"You need to watch love, you owe it to him" Stewart said gently.
Ela didn't remove herself from Glen's arms, but titled her head back to the screen.
The water was now a blood red colour, and Lukas and Tomas were locked in a brutal sword fight.
And although Tomas was good, he was at a huge disadvantage, because Career tributes trained from a young age to compete in the games.
Lukas had been fighting with a sword for years, whereas Tomas had only had one for a few weeks.

Lukas's superior training started to show, when his hits landed cutting into Tomas's skin, and Tomas's shots were parried away.
Ela knew that Tomas wasn't going to win, because even if he managed to disarm Lukas, his opponent had a whole host of other weapons attached to his belt, and Tomas only had Ela's tiny knife as a back up weapon.
She could tell what was about to happen before it did.
Lukas slipped his sword under Tomas's defensive position, stabbing him right through his stomach, causing him to drop instantly to the floor.
And when Ela heard the cannon go, she screamed, because it meant that Tomas was dead.