Author's Note: I was reading on Tumblr about how many people speculate that Susanne Collin's original draft may not have had a love triangle and that Gale and the Hawthornes might have been Katniss's cousins. It actually implied in canon that Gale and Katniss are very distantly related. I began to wonder how things would have changed if the story was more about family and community rather than romantic love. Obviously probably not as exciting as a love triangle but far more interesting to me. I also think that the themes of war and human rights can be discussed more sanely without ship wars. The Gadge portion is added as my personal weakness but it won't appear much in the Hunger Games portion of the story since Katniss is narrating and is far away in the Arena. I really hated the love triangle thing since it always pulled me out of the story. It felt forced and contrived especially as it dragged into Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I understood how Collins tried to put the theme of just and unjust war into the triangle but it never seemed to be executed successfully. It became a constant shipper war with people making judgments based on that. I also didn't like how it seemed as if Katniss had to pick one boy or the other. I would have loved to see more development of District 12, individual characters like Prim and more of the war theme. And I have a real weakness for family drama and discussions of war, human rights, and freedom. The love story portion will take a back seat though it is still quite important.

The bed was cold when I woke up. Prim had already crawled in with my mother as I awoke early that morning. It was the most important morning of my life. I knew it could be important for it was Reaping day. I carefully stood up and braided my hair in its customary long braid down my back and put my hunting boots on before reluctantly allowing the cat to come in. Buttercup was not my cat, I despised the ugly creature, but Prim adored him and he was good at catching rats. I had once tried to drown him so he hated me even after all those years.

The sun was just rising as I slipped under the fence and headed towards my usual hunting grounds. The fence was designed to keep wild animals out but it was more about keeping us in. District 12 security was not high on the list of Capitol priorities so we were largely forgotten. District 12 was the District in which you could starve in safety. I had once been a rebellious child who made no secret of my disdain for the Capitol and the government. But I quickly learned how dangerous my words were. I learned to be silent, to keep my head down and do what I was told.

I sat down to wait for Gale at the usual meeting place on a rock ledge overlooking the valley. He was my cousin and only two years older than me. We had always been particularly close at least since our families started speaking to each other again. After my father died in a mining accident that took Gale's father as well our family was in desperate straits. I was only eleven years old but already I was expected to somehow keep my family from starving to death.

My mother was useless. She sat there cold and unmoving as I screamed and cried to get her to do something. To prevent us from dying. Someone helped me and that gave me the courage to begin hunting on my own. I had gone with my father but now it was up to me. I met Gale in the woods a few months later. We knew we were cousins but had little to do with each other before that. Partly it was due to the family coldness but it was also because he was a boy who thought girls were "stupid" and "silly".

He soon learned I wasn't like most girls. I didn't have time to worry about pointless things like my appearance, romance or friends. I had to keep Prim fed and clothed and my mother together. We worked together seamlessly. At first, I was cold and standoffish remembering how his family hadn't been there for my family during those terrible days. It had been a stranger, my own age that had saved us.

My mother had been a Merchant but my father had been Seam through and through. He had met the Apothecary's daughter when he sold herbs to the shop and apparently they had fallen in love and ran off against the approval of both their families. Her family had cut her off and his father had nearly done so. It was hard for me to forgive Gale's family for all but abandoning us. True enough those had been desperate days for his family too with his mother pregnant and all those siblings to take care of. So I didn't really hold it against them too much.

Once we started hunting we gradually developed a friendship. Over hesitant sharing of our secrets, me with a bow and him with snares, we slowly became friends. Now he seemed more like an older brother with his annoying habit of tugging on my braid, trying to tell me what to do and calling me Catnip. I thought about the possibility of his being Reaped and winced. My stomach tangled itself in knots. It was a real possibility since he had taken out a lot of tesserae. What would we do? His family would be left without a provider. His mother made some money washing clothes but it wouldn't make up for the hunting or the mines.

"Look what I shot." I heard his voice long before I heard him approach. Gale had the lightest tread just like me but it was a surprise for him considering how tall and strong he was. It must be an Everdeen thing. His mother was the one that taught him to hunt.

"Shut up, Gale." I rolled my eyes as I saw him pull an arrow out of a loaf of bread. In spite of myself, I smiled. The only people I really smiled with were my family. Gale said I only smiled truly in the woods. It was fine bread, toasting bread really, but it deserved better treatment than to be thrust through with an arrow.

"The baker must be feeling generous today," Gale commented as I pulled out the fine goat cheese my sister made from her goat Lady's milk. We spread it on the still warm slices of bread and ate berries from the bush behind us. It was a real feast.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds…" He tossed me a berry, which I caught in my mouth. "Be ever in your favor." I finish in my best Effie Trinket impersonation. She's the woman from the Capitol that draws the names from the Reaping bowl. The woman that decides who lives and who dies.

"How's Prim?" he asked after awhile. It was to be her first Reaping. It wasn't as if there was any likelihood of her being reaped. She only had one slip out of the thousands in the bowl.

"She's worried. But I keep telling her it's not going to happen. I think she's more worried about me." I replied knowing that whatever the odds are for her they are definitely not in my favor.

"Rory's first Reaping he was so scared he couldn't stop throwing up. But she'll be ok."

" How many do you have?" I asked dolefully.

"42. How about you?"

"20. I guess the odds aren't much in our favor." I refused to think about us being Reaped together. The mere thought of it was terrible. We both had family and we both needed to be there for them. Since District 12 hadn't had a Victor since Haymitch Abernathy twenty-four years ago it was likely that both of our families would be left without a provider. I didn't think there could be anything more dangerous. We had always looked more like brother and sister than cousins. It was hard to imagine that Prim with her fair skin and blonde hair and blue eyes was related to both of us. We looked like the Seam with our think dark hair, olive skin, and gray eyes.

I looked out to the valley, which stretched out before us as far as the eye could see. The sun was warm and bright upon the wildflowers and grasses that grew abundantly about us. I knew the life that lingered in the greens and roots to dig up and use for food and medicine and the fish that swam in the river. It looked like Paradise, a place my father had described as perfect in his stories he used to tell me. But I didn't believe in Paradise. But I could enjoy a day like this and the food we had. The berries sweet tang, the cheese melting a little into the fine bread and the company of someone I could trust. The only flaw was that it was Reaping day. And we had to be in the square at two.

"We should take off. Live in the woods. We can do it you know."

"Not with all those kids," I replied. I thought of little Posy and Prim living all alone in the woods. I thought of my mother trying to heal all of us in the woods.

"It's better than here. Just think of it. No reapings, working in the mines, no Peacekeepers, and no Capitol." His voice rose in enthusiasm.

"Yeah, and what would we do when one of them got sick. And what would happen when the Peacekeepers got suspicious." Even as I listed my practical reasons for staying behind I couldn't suppress the surge of excitement that passed through me. I wanted freedom more than I wanted anything except Prim's welfare.

"I guess. But think about won't you?"

"Besides, what would you do? I bet you couldn't find a wife in the woods. And there aren't very many women you could convince to move out here." I knew his reputation with girls and knew he could pick any of the Seam girls and maybe some of the Merchants. I hoped that I would approve of the girl he eventually married. There would be nothing worse than some shrew of a wife interfering and breaking up the family.

" I don't know. There's freedom here. Most people want that."

"I'm not getting married. Or having children. Or falling in love. Not ever." I replied firmly. I knew what happened to kids in District 12. I knew what happened when you fell in love. You ended up like my mother not able to cope with the loss of your lover.

"You'll change your mind. Someday you'll come crying about some boy you like."

I rolled my eyes at his superior tone. I wouldn't come crying about some boy. Besides, I avoided boys. I think they thought I was terrifying and ugly anyway. I was sixteen and I hadn't had a single boy ask me to go to the Harvest Festival or any of the other District 12 social events. Not that I cared. I would have refused anyway.

"Why don't we fish at the lake? Then gather something. We can have a nice supper." I nodded but mentally hoped that we aren't the ones that are sent to the Capitol and our families left to try to figure out how to make it through.

We have a dozen fish, a heap of greens and a pail of strawberries. We manage to trade half the fish for bread and salt and some of the greens for paraffin from Greasy Sae.

"I guess we should head for the Undersees." Gale lifted the pail of strawberries and I dusted off my hands before picking up my bow and heading out to the fence. Madge Undersee, the mayor's daughter, was an acquaintance of mine. I didn't think we were friends but we ate lunch every day together at school. She was one of the quietest girls in District 12.

I wasn't stupid. I saw how she looked at Gale when he wasn't looking. She got this funny look on her face but when she talked she always sounded annoyed. He was the only person who made her angry. And I had to admit he was pretty mean to her. If it was as Prim said some sort of crush I thought it was a weird way to go about it. And besides, it wasn't going to work. She was the Mayor's daughter and wouldn't last five minutes in the Seam. Madge needed to stay away.

"Pretty dress." Gale handed her the pail which she carefully transferred half the contents to a large bowl. She then handed him the money.

Madge glanced at me as if trying to see if I thought he was being sincere. At my shrug, she glanced back up at him and noticed the sneer on his face. Her face hardened again and she said shortly, "Well I want to look nice if I go to the Capitol."

"You don't need to worry. How many slips do you have? Five? I had that many when I was twelve."

I wished Madge hadn't brought up the Capitol. If there was anything that set Gale off it was the Capitol and the unfair way that the District 12 society was divided. Then again Gale was being pretty mean. Occasionally Merchants were reaped and they usually died quickly. The Reaping system was unfair and almost always affected the poorest and most vulnerable. By taking out tesserae you made your own death more likely even while preventing your family from starving to death. Gale ranted about the system constantly but he had figured out that his anger against Merchants was partly misdirected. The only real winners were the Capitol. I always found his rages pointless. It didn't actually do any good. But it was better for him to blow off steam in the woods than making some remark where it could be overheard.

"Good luck, Katniss." Madge glared at Gale for a moment before smiling at me and disappearing into her house with a sharp of her door. I glanced at Gale for a moment and noticed that he was staring at the closed door. Hmm… that was interesting. Girls never flustered him.

I went home and found Mother and Prim up and getting ready. Prim still looked scared and I pressed a kiss to the top of her head before I went inside. She smiled up at me and I smiled back.

My mother had set out a bath for me and I scrubbed myself in the warm water. It was hard to draw water and heat it laboriously on the stove. But the water smelled like lavender that I had picked in the woods and she added to medicines and creams to cover the taste and scent. I dressed in her old Merchant days dress. It was blue and plain but looked absolutely magical to me when I was a kid looking through her clothes. It actually nearly fit me where it had hung on me before. Prim was wearing a blouse and skirt and I noticed the ends of the blouse were sticking out.

"Tuck your tail in, Little Duck." I tucked the offending ends in and smoothed the fabric down.

"Quack, Quack." She replied with a little grin. I had already explained to her that the odds were against her being picked. She had such small odds.

We would have the fish for dinner with some leftover bread and greens. There were some berries left as well. But we would have the tesserae bread, which was coarse and dry, and goat's milk for lunch. We would have a good meal for supper for a change. That was of course if neither Prim nor I was reaped. I refused to consider that.

We made our way to the Square and I fell into the line with the other sixteen-year-olds. Madge joined me and smiled at me wanly. I could see she looked worried. I wondered whom she was worried about. I felt them prick my finger and wave me towards the holding pen.

Effie Trinket stood on stage with Mayor Undersee. When the Mayor began to address the crowd as to the meaning of the games and about the Treaty of Treason that the Districts had been forced to sign after the Dark Days my mind wandered. I had heard it every year for my whole life. The main point was to remind us how helpless we were. How little we could do to save our children and ourselves. To remind the tributes that only one could survive. Haymitch ambled on stage drunk as anything and tries to hug Effie, which causes her, and Mayor Undersee to look upset. It makes District 12 look terrible.

Effie dug her long talon-like fingers into the bowl and said brightly "Ladies first." I felt my stomach knot and whispered to myself, "Not me, please."

But the name on the slip wasn't mine. It was Prim.

I started to fall with the shock. How could this happen? Prim being reaped out of the thousands of slips. I saw her walk towards the stage with wide eyes and pale face and that endearing duck tail that reminded me of what I needed to do.

I ran towards her while the crowd parted before me and I push her behind me screaming her name.

"I volunteer." I gasped out. "I volunteer as tribute."

Prim was protesting and screaming but I told her to let go harshly. I couldn't afford to start crying. The reapings were televised and every facial expression was being studied by my opponents. I saw Gale come and grab her from me and say in a tone that was unsteady with suppressed emotion, "Up you go, Catnip."

Effie seemed more happy with the fact that District 12 just got a volunteer for the first time in forever than in anything else. She asked my name and then said something insensitive about my not wanting to have her steal my glory. She then tells the crowd to applaud me. The crowd refuses to obey. The people of District 12, even the hardened ones, stand silent and dissenting. They were telling the Capitol they were wrong. Then something extraordinary happened. They lifted the middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and then hold out their hands towards me. It was a gesture of thanks and goodbye.

I nearly cried but Haymitch created a distraction by throwing an arm around my shoulders and shouting to no one in particular, "Look at her. I like her. Lots of….spunk. More than you! He staggered towards the front of the stage and said again "More than you!" He then fell off the stage and knocked himself out. But the distraction was enough to allow me to calm myself. I stare out to the mountains I climbed with Gale that morning. For the first time, I wished that we had run away. Dragging Prim away so she couldn't be reaped. Haymitch was taken away and Effie looked alarmed at the distraction.

She moved toward the other bowl and fished about with one hand while holding her wig in the other. I didn't even have time to worry about Gale or Rory before she reads the name. "Peeta Mellark."

Peeta Mellark. Oh no. Not him. I recognized the name even though I hadn't ever spoken to him. I watched him come towards me. He was medium height, stocky and with ashy blond hair that fell into his face. I could see the shock on his face but also the attempts to remain expressionless. But I recognized the alarm like I saw in prey. I also noticed there were no volunteers not even the one brother still able to do so. That was standard behavior in most districts. I was radical.

I continued to wonder why it should be him. It wasn't as if we were friends, neighbors or relatives. But I couldn't forget our first interaction many years before. It was right after my father's death in January on a bitterly cold day. I would cry out in sobs calling for my father who never answered. We were out of money, my mother was useless and we were slowly starving to death. I knew I couldn't let anyone know what was happening or we would be put in the community house. I only needed to hold out till I could sign up for tesserae. I went to town to trade old baby clothes of Prim but no one wanted them. I hadn't had real food in three days. I dropped the clothes in a puddle of mud but couldn't stop to pick them up for fear I would never rise again.

I went along the lane towards the merchant area and looked I the trash bins hoping for something edible. But there was nothing. The baker's wife came screaming telling me to leave and how she would call the Peacekeepers and what Seam trash I was. I saw Peeta standing behind her though I didn't know his name. His mother disappeared and I went to hide under the apple tree. I was going to die right there. I heard the sound of a blow and then the boy appears with two loaves of bread that he began feeding to the pigs. His mother came out screaming at him for being stupid and useless. I saw the welt on his cheek and was shocked. Being hit was alien to me. He then through the bread to me and ran into the bakery. I nearly cried at the sight of the bread, burned but still recognizable, and shoved it under my shirt and hobbled away.

It was still warm when we ate it. We drank mint tea and ate an entire loaf of the hearty raisin and nut bread. The next morning I questioned whether the boy burned the bread purposely. The next morning was a wonderful contrast to the day before. The sun was up and it looked like spring. The air was sweet and clear and the fluffy clouds passed overhead. I passed the boy at school and saw his blackened eye. We didn't speak. But later that day I caught him staring at me across the schoolyard and then he looked down. I was embarrassed and saw growing before me a dandelion. I knew then we were going to make it.

As I stood on the platform I still couldn't shake the connection between the boy and the bread that gave me hope and the dandelion that told me we would survive. I had caught him staring at me a few times but always he looked away. I felt a terrible debt towards him and I have always hated owing people. I wished I had thanked him so I wouldn't feel so conflicted. It was too late though. I could hardly say a thank you to someone I was going to kill.

The mayor finished his speech and motioned for Peeta and me to shake hands. His grip and handshake were solid and warm. He looked me in the eyes and gave my hand a slight squeeze though I could be sure it was voluntary. We turned to face the crowd. I only hoped it would be someone else that killed him. Surely the odds weren't that much against me.

End of Chapter Notes:

I know this follows pretty closely to the book. But there was a lot of important backstory to cover. Frankly, the Hunger Games portion won't differ wildly from the book since the changes I have made won't really start being significant until Catching Fire. But I will be using different motivations for the characters. I also won't be scene for scene following the book like I did for this chapter. I hope I captured Katniss well. Her relationship with Gale is a bit warmer and more natural than in canon simply because he is sort of her annoying older brother and there isn't any romantic element. Also, he is wanting to run off just like in canon but bringing their families with them. While a completely unrealistic plan it shows how desperate people are in District 12. You might notice the theme of freedom starts appearing here. That will be a major theme of the retelling.