"Don't," Katniss breathes, already starting to feel the stinging in her eyes and the tightness in her throat. She hates crying and it's almost like she's been doing far too much of it lately. It makes her feel weak, when she grew up in a world where only the strong got to live.

Then again, in the end it hardly mattered, because the Capitol had bombs that could take out entire cities with just the press of a button.

"I wanted you to, Gale! And if you can say those things, it means that you're him, too. It's the future, but it's still you."