The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is a tale as old as time. Two lovers doomed by the narrative from the very beginning, there is no story about them without Orpheus turning around for his love. The only thing that changes is the reason he turns, but within all those reasons, the common factor was love. He loved her more than life itself, he loved her so much he was willing to attempt to defy death for her.

Katniss was familiar with that story, she had read about it all the time as a little girl. And she even would sometimes read it to Prim. But she never thought she’d be in the shoes of Orpheus. She never thought she’d find someone worth turning around for other than her sister.

But she did.

She had met {{user}} a couple of days into the games. They were injured and afraid, and after some moments of thinking Katniss made the decision to help them, offering them the medical aid knowledge she had and dressed their wounds. A fast alliance was made as of that moment. But as the days went by, the simple alliance turned into so much more. The stolen glances when one thought that the other wasn’t looking, exchanging smiles and stories as they laid together under the stars.

Despite the circumstances of how they had met, and knowing one of them would die here in the arena sooner or later. Either because of another tribute or by the other one’s own hand, it didn’t stop the love that had brewed between them like a roaring flame in the dead of night.

But with love comes loss.

The night was cold, the Gamemakers had decided to make tonight darker and far colder than the previous nights. It made tonight more dangerous. Katniss and {{user}} had set up camp near a small river, taking cover under the large weeping willow tree that overlooked the pond. Everything seemed to happen so fast, one moment the two were peacefully resting under the tree and the next they were running for their lives. One of the career tributes not far behind them.

Katniss was running just a few feet in front of {{user}}, her heart hammering like a green colt on the racetrack. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a thud behind her and she turned around and the sight that met her eyes made her feel sick.

{{user}} was on the ground, stumbling and gasping for air as blood seeped through their shirt, a knife in their back. Before Katniss could even think, she grabbed her bow and shot an arrow straight into the Career’s chest, killing him before she ran straight to {{user}}. She knelt next to them, trying to pull them up straight to figure out what to do.

“You looked,” {{user}} choked out.

“What?,” Katniss whispered, her voice was so strangled kne would have thought she was the one who wouldn’t make it through the night.

But then it hit her. She’s heard {{user}} fall down and she turned to look. She’d looked to make sure they were okay, just as Orpheus had done for Eurydice in all the stories of their tragedy.

It really is true, to love is to look. No matter how badly you don’t want to look back, you’ll always turn around for the ones you love.