"You are so kind, especially in times like this. We are so grateful."

Gale's 'Thank You's broke through my stunned daze. Supposedly, we were in a large, hollowed out cave underground, but it was no cave. The ceiling, which, in it's dome shape, was also the walls, panelled with brightly painted stones, stretched so far above us it's patterns and murals were almost lost in the gloom. It was about the size of half the village back in District Twelve, sectioned off into tiny homes by huge lengths of a tightly woven black fabric I had never seen before. The spirals and shapes woven so delicately into it reminded me of Cinna, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest, showing me where, in my heart, he had been.

He was talking to a tiny, hunched over old woman, who would have looked on her deathbed if it hadn't been for her small, bright , beady eyes regarding me with a certain…disapproval.

"We have space." She told me. "You will behave." My eyes widened at that. What did she think we were, children? I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Gale put his hand on my wrist.

"We will. We appreciate how lucky we are." The woman scrunched up her face.

"Hmmmm." She muttered, after long deliberation, before throwing back her head and screaming.

"Roscoe! Roscoe! Lazy child! Where are you? Roscoe!"

Nobody came. I sighed and slumped down to the floor. Gale shot me a worried look.

"I'm fine," I whispered, "just tired."

We sat there for an hour, waiting. The woman settled down on the floor and stayed there, scowling.

Eventually a tiny girl burst into the room. She looked at the woman on the floor and then at me. She had a heart shaped face, covered in grime except for two clean tear streaks, still shiny and wet. I stared at her, my heart in my chest. Rue. Her dark hair, her tiny figure. I gasped, choking on the tears in my throat. Gale looked at me from the other end of the room, over her shoulder.

The woman stood up slowly, then walked towards the girl. She raised her hand and slapped the girl around the face. More tears slid down the girls face, which seemed to infuriate the old woman.

"There's no time for tears, stupid girl!" Her voice was harsh and coarse, growling at the child. She shoved her hard, in the stomach, and that's when I saw how frail she was. "Sort them out, now. Brain dead, lazy waste of space." She muttered, then straightened up and left.

Gale walked over to the girl, who was crumpled against the wall, her eyes closed. He crouched down next to her and she opened her eyes, wincing.

"Hello." He whispered.

"Hello." She breathed. "I'm Roscoe." She looked away from his sympathetic, comforting face, directly into my eyes. "Rue's accidental sister."