Welcome all readers, both new and old, to the first chapter of the revised version of my first story the Untold Hunger Games. Let's kick this author note off with a disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters, and a reminder that this is a fan version of the story that follows the book, movie and my own ideas, so it might be similar to both at the start but will gradually change around the end. A new edition to my story flow will be that I will be updating weekly as an episodic update. This story will updated every Wednesday.

I'd like to give a thank you to the beta readers of the older versions Aurora Marie Williams and Destiny1406. I really enjoyed working with you both and hope you're both doing well.

Without farther ado let's get Chapter One rolling.

The grass was cool against my bare feet, tickling my toes as I walked silently through the field. My body was tucked low so that I couldn't be seen, but my eyes were still able to pick out the prey in the far distance. I ran my hand over my bow string with anticipation flowing through me, as I readied to attack the creature. Good it's taut, I thought, raising my left, dust covered hand to reach for the arrow in my quiver. Breathing in deeply, I readied to draw the arrow, silence falling between me and the creature.

Just as I let my arrow fly a voice yelled, "You'll never be able to take that back!"

The second the male voice yelled out the words, the creature, a large white tailed deer, leapt away with my arrow narrowly missing its side.

I whirled around to glare up at the slightly taller boy who stood on the hill nearby me. Fury filled me for a moment as I watched all that meat disappear. My family needed that, yet Gale had ruined my chances. "I almost had it, Gale. What do you think you're doing? Sneaking up on me like that. Don't you have better things to do then follow me around?"

Gale smirked at me. "You wouldn't have been able to carry it home. And I wasn't sneaking, you were just too entranced with that dear to notice me. You're losing your touch. Plus you like me following you around, Catnip." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I felt some of the anger dissipate. I couldn't stay mad at my best friend for long. Plus he was right. I should have been able to hear him coming, or at least sensed that I was being watched. I rolled my eyes at his annoying nickname for me. My real name was Katniss, but I guess seven year old boys can't pronounce that right. Of course little five old me was pretty shy and hadn't had the courage to tell him that he was wrong.

I looked at my still smirking friend, taking in his other features. If I really looked at him, I guess I could believe the comments about how close we resembled each other. He could have passed as my brother, if I had one. His short black hair, olive skin and grey eyes were very similar to mine. Though this was also the norm in the part of District Twelve where we lived, which was unaffectionately called the Seam. It was the poorest area of the already poor District.

Almost every man and woman in the Seam, who was over 19, was a coal miner. My father was one, as was Gale's. The dust from the mines settled on everything in our impoverished area, including the sullen people.

I reached behind me to pick up my colourless, steel toed boots, turning my attention back to Gale. "That would have been enough meat to sell to both butchers and at the Hob! Just so you know," I told him in a loud voice, my scowl still showing on my face. Gale made his way down the sloping hill, and into the field below.

"And like I said just moments before, you couldn't have carried that back by yourself and not got caught," Gale reminded me. I sighed as I began to lace up my boots while I waited for him. This was when I heard two long bell chimes sound in the far distance, where District Twelve lay waiting for us to return.

"Two hours to the Reaping," Gale muttered, standing beside me, his voice sullen and filled with trepidation. Leave it to the threat of the Reaping to sullen anyone's mood. I clenched my fist, hating this day more than any other. I just had to distract myself until it was over. At least until the next Reaping.

I looked up at him seeing the slight worry and fear in his eyes, and who could blame him? District Twelve was one of thirteen districts that made up the large country of Panem, in a land that used to be called America. It was vastly different from the country it was found on, especially after global flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters all preceded by a terrible war on a global scale. After the Treaty of Peace was signed by all the remaining countries of the world, Panem rose with its thirteen districts and the shining Capitol at the heart.

Of course we didn't have peace in Panem for long. 99 years ago, almost to the day, a rebellion started among the Districts against the overly oppressive Capitol. No one knows how long it lasted for but it ended in the destruction of District Fourteen, the supposive instigator of the rebellion, and the signing of the Treaty of Treason.

This is the Treaty that started the darkest tradition of Panem; The Hunger Games. In it 13 boys and 13 girls fight to the death to win glory and money for themselves. However the most important was that the District the victor of the Games was from would receive a supply of food every month for every family in the District until the next Hunger Games began. This was the largest prize a victor received, which was why many people in the impoverished Districts prayed for their tributes to win. Of course that was almost never as most victors came from Districts that were rich or skilled with brutal tools.

Gale's hand touched my shoulder to snap me out of my thoughts. "Let's hunt before the next bell rings. Then we can get something to the Hob today," he suggested, looking into the woods around us. "Plus I owe you for scaring off that deer." I nodded my head and we began our walk up the hill, into the woods full of game and the promise of meat to fill our bellies.

We hunted for at least three quarters of an hour before heading to our usual spot for lunch. Neither of us were in a hurry to head back and we needed that last little moment of peace before the threat of the Reaping sank in again. While Gale picked juicy blackberries and raspberries from bushes close by, I pulled out some of the cheese my little sister - and only sibling - Prim had made for me with milk from her nanny goat, Lady. When Gale's hand touched my shoulder, again, I assumed he was passing me my share of the berries, but instead I found myself staring at half a loaf of fresh bread from the baker.

I grabbed the loaf, inhaling its aroma as I whispered, "How much did this cost you?" My mouth watered at the sight of the bread. It had been ages since I'd tasted the delicious morsel. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into the prize. It would have been better had it been warm, but I'd go for burnt pieces at this point in time if it meant I got some.

"Nothing," Gale told me as he sliced off a piece and placed the rest back in his bag. "He gave it to me for free, I think old Garnary's feeling sentimental this morning."

I laughed a little at what he said. Garnary Mellark was a nice old man. He loved buying a few squirrels from me or Gale when we came back from a successful hunt. 'Course he preferred them from me for two reasons; first I shot them in the eye every time, and second I was on very good terms with his youngest son.

A sad smile appeared on Gale's lips after my laugh. "He even wished me luck. I need it."

"How many times is your name in there?" I asked him. Everyone between the ages of 12 and 19 get their name in the pool for tributes each year. Most only have one to eight slips in the pools, depending on their age, but say you're old enough to enter the games and you come for a poor, starving family. You can add your name into the pool each time for the number of people in your family to get a tessera. Tesserae can get you a meager supply of grain and oil for a year for each member of your family. I had been taking three tesserae every year since I was old enough to, and now at sixteen I had not only the five slips that were required but also 15 others for every tesserae I'd taken. Giving me a grand total of 20 slips in the pool.

"42 this year," Gale told me as he looked down at the bread in his hands. "But with five mouths to feed, everything helps." He grabbed half of my cheese and spread it over his slice of bread.

I looked down at my slice and breathed in deep, lifting it like a glass cup saying in the annoying accent of the Capitol people, "Happy Hunger Games!"

Gale tapped his bread against mine and said in the same accent, "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

We both laughed, though it was kind of forced. Our minds were still on the upcoming Reaping and the odds of one of us getting picked. I tried to dismiss that thought and just as we started to eat our bread the bell chimed once again. "One hour to go," I mumbled sadly and scarfed down the rest of my bread and berries, getting up quickly. "You coming to the Hob with me today?" I asked as I slung the bag of dead fish and game over my shoulder. I was glad we'd been successful today and hoped we didn't get in trouble for being gone so long.

Gale rose to his full height with a smile on his face. "No. Madge wants to walk with me to the square. I think she's afraid of going by herself."

It was understandable. Madge was my age, and the only living child of District Twelve's mayor, Marcus Undersee. She was a shy but sweet girl who I would eat lunch with at school. Gale used to believe she was a stuck up child until the Hunger Games two years ago when Jared Undersee, Madge's older brother, got reaped.

Jared was a kind and honest guy who hated violence. No one in the District thought he would live through the games, and they were right. He didn't even last the first twenty minutes, having been killed by a vicious boy from District Two who went on to win the whole thing that year.

The death of her brother had sent Madge in a state of depression that lasted almost four months. During the fourth month of her depression, Gale walked up to us. At first I thought he was going to say something, but instead he sat beside Madge and was silent. I wasn't the kind of person people opened up to, but Gale, he had a way about him that made people just want to talk about whatever was hurting or upsetting them, and Madge was no exception.

Gale hadn't even been sitting beside her from more than a few minutes before the poor girl began to talk about how much she missed Jared. Only a few seconds later Madge had broken down in tears, Gale pulled her into his arms and let her cry against his chest. I missed what happened next with them, since I had left to let Gale keep calming Madge, but the next thing I knew, they started spending more time together. Two months after that day Madge, who had thankfully returned to her sweet, kind self, gleefully told me that Gale had asked her to go steady with him. I don't think Gale actually phrased it like that, but I didn't want to burst her bubble. She looked so happy that day when I congratulated her that it warmed my heart. Dating during a person's Reaping years was taken very seriously in District Twelve, and the fact that Gale had wanted to take the risk was a huge leap for him, or anyone.

"I'll meet you there then," I called over my shoulder as I brought my thoughts back to the present, turning to the path we had made out of twigs and leaves. "Sell some of the strawberries you picked to her father while you're there."

"Yeah, okay," he called back, walking towards the marketplace and the richer side of District Twelve.

After stashing my bow and quiver away in two hollow trees on the path, I came up to the tall electric fence that surrounded my home District. It was built to keep the wild animals away from the inhabitants of District Twelve and also to probably keep the people inside from escaping. The fence was supposed to be electrified 24 hours a day, and probably was years ago when it was first built. Now however, it was only active during the hours when the more dangerous animals were active; two hours before midnight and one hour past. This had to do with the limited power supply District Twelve had. Honestly, it was a surprise that the fence still worked at all.

It was the quickest, and oddly the safest, way to leave the District without getting caught by the many Peacekeepers that patrolled the streets. Of course they didn't really care as long as you came back before night fall, and brought back something for them. They were just as hungry as everyone else in the District.

I walked over to the hole in the ground that had been dug out by a wolf who had tried to get passed the fence. It had been shot and killed by a Peacekeeper on patrol. The body had been dealt with but the hole it made stayed unrepaired. I didn't bother listening for the hum of electricity the fence sounded with when it was on, but only because I was one of the few people who knew what times of the day were safe. I tossed my pack through the hole and crawled under the fence, swiping the dust off my pant legs afterwards as I stood on the other side.

Once my fruitless tries to get the dust off were complete, I moved my feet to the old brick building that housed District Twelve's blackmarket; the Hob. The Hob was originally a coal warehouse, but as years passed a more efficient system of coal transport was discovered. The warehouse was abandoned, people needed work, and empty spaces get used fast in this District. So gradually the old building was taken over by the Hob.

I stepped into the building and the sounds of people bartering and animals rustling about in their cages rang through my ears while the ever present smells of sweets and cooking food filled my nose. I took in the people milling about and smiled. So long as the Hob stayed in business, we would be okay. I moved further through the building, in a little bit of a hurry today. I waved at some of the people I recognized and they nodded back.

I was quick today in trading the game and other items Gale and I had collected from the woods, but only because I wanted to get home soon and change for the Reaping. I traded most of the meat and greens for salt, some good quality bread, and two blocks of soap. I saved a little bit of the game for my family to have tonight as a little feast for another year of surviving the Reaping.

Home itself wasn't really a house, more like an old wooden shack. It consisted of two tiny bedrooms that had enough space for a bed, a small table and a trunk for clothes. A bathroom with a basin for washing took up most of the back wall, and a room that acted as the kitchen, dining room and sitting room with a cracking but working fireplace against the wall for when the cold seasons came to the District took up most of the other room.

I climbed up the three crumbling wooden steps onto our porch that was in desperate need of repairs. The main wooden door and screen door behind it were supposed to keep the bugs from entering the house, but they too were falling apart, barely hanging from their rusted hinges. Inside my mother was gently braiding Prim's long blonde hair into a pair of pigtails, letting them lay over her shoulders once she was done.

I smiled at my sister. "You look so beautiful Prim." My words rang with a touch of sadness in them, since I knew she was only dressed like that so she could wear something nice if her slip was pulled, which was highly unlikely. She only has her name in there once, but my odds of being reaped were far higher than hers would even be.

"I laid something for you on the bed," My mother told me, her eyes had a bit of light in them, but I knew that it was only because she was trying to keep a brave face for us kids.

I acknowledged her with a short nod, my eyes having the same look they always had when talking to her; cold and expressionless. I left the room after setting the meat and supplies on the table and, with just a few steps, entered the bathroom. As I peeled off my clothes from my sweaty skin I thought about the day my mother and I drifted apart. It was the day of the mine collapsed; the day my father, Gale's and eleven other miners perished in the small mining tunnel.

The day it happened my sister and I had been out in the meadow, an area that sat outside the fence, close to the Seam, picking wildflowers for the house. We didn't find out what had happened until we got home to find our mother and grandmother together sitting on the couch, my mother's eyes were filled with tears and my grandmother was rubbing her back, trying to calm her.

I had looked at my grandmother and then to my mother, my small voice cracking when I had asked what was wrong. My grandmother had turned to me, it had been odd to even see her in the house, seeing as she and my grandfather had disinherited my mother the day she married my father.

Her old voice told me in a sad tone, though hinted with relief, "There was a collapse in the mines today… I'm sorry sweetheart but your father died in the tunnel."

My eyes had turned to my grandmother, not believing a word she had said, until I saw the look in my mother's clear blue eyes. They were filled with depression that told me everything my grandmother had told me was true. That was when my eyes filled with tears and I ran up to my mother, grabbing her hands tightly. My grandmother took that moment to pull Prim, who had just entered the house, into our bedroom, to tell her what had happened.

I remembered shaking the hands I held, crying as I tried to get my mother to speak to me, but she remained motionless despite her breathing. It only got worse from that day on. My grandmother had come over every day for the next week until after my family was given the small amount of money that would last us the amount of time it would take my mother to get a job to support us.

However she didn't, even though she had the training to become an apothecary, like her parents. She just sat in her chair, staring into space. My grandmother had given up on her during her last visit, saying that unless she pulled herself together and proved able to keep her family alive, she would take me and Prim away. Not wanting to leave my mother or be raised by my usually absent grandparent, I decided from that day on, at the age of only eleven, to take on the role of head of the family. I shopped at the market for food with the money we had, learned to cook to ensure we were all fed, and did the laundry so Prim and I looked presentable to all who saw us.

I had done my job to the best of my abilities until - "Katniss, are you coming out!" Prim called from behind the door as I was snapped out of my thoughts. I looked down at the bowl in my hand, the one we used to rinse water off our bodies, and then at the door.

"Yeah, I'll be just a minute," I called back, my voice cracking slightly but not enough that my sister would notice. I heard her steps creak away and returned to rinsing off my body.

My family was better now, thanks to the tesserae and game I brought home. My grandmother no longer threatened to take my sister and me away, and my mother had even gotten a steady job as an apothecary for the Seam, being paid with food or important items patients were able to give away. But things were still rocky between me and my mother, and they probably weren't going to fully mend for a very long time.

I climbed out of the washing basin and, after wrapping myself in a towel, crossed the threshold to my room. Laying on the bed I shared with Prim was a simple blue dress that I knew had been my mother's reaping dress years ago. I walked over and picked it up just as my mother's voice sounded softly from behind me, "I thought since this is your fifth reaping, you would need something new to wear."

I turned and looked at her for the first time in five years with light in my eyes. "Thank you."

The smile that now graced her pale skinned face was genuine as she responded kindly, "Why don't you put it on, and I'll fix your hair?"

My head bobbed up and down once before I pulled the dress over my body. While I smoothed down the folds, my mother slowly began to pin up my messy self done braid. It only took her a few short minutes to turn the braid I'd had over my shoulder this morning into a beautiful simple updo that made me look far more mature and prettier than I even thought I could.

"Thank you." I said again, looking at my mother with a small smile. I turned around to leave the room, only to see Prim standing in the doorway.

"Now you look beautiful too, Katniss." Her eyes were bright and, despite what was to come, filled with hope.

I quickly stepped towards her and pulled her into a warm, comforting embrace, "Let's tuck that tail in little duck." I said as I tucked in a piece of her shirt that stuck out. She had been doing this habit for years with me always helping her by tucking it back in.

With a little quack Prim pulled out of my embrace, with us both laughing full heartedly, until the sound of the last bell rang through our little shack, and the laughter died.

Prim squeezed my hand tightly as our feet hit the cobblestone of the large space that made up the city square outside our large, grey bricked Justice Building. It was the heart of every District where official business was conducted; like signing up for tesserae, receiving a medal and money when a miner dies in the tunnels, or where you would go to get married.

However today it acted as its primary purpose for one day out of the year; the annual Reaping for the Hunger Games.

We file into five lines so that a Peacekeeper at the desk blocking the main reaping area can take our blood. This is so they can ensure you are the proper age for reaping. They just recently brought this system in when six years ago a twenty year old man from District One had snuck into the reaping area and had tried to volunteer for the Games that year. It wasn't until they brought him onto the stage that people started to say that he was too old to be reaped and he was lying to the Peacekeepers who had allowed him access.

Now they had to do a blood scan that told Peacekeepers your name, age and even how many slips you had in the pool for that year. Prim froze when she saw the devices. She had seen them being used before, but she didn't like having her blood drawn. It took a few calming touches of my hand to quiet her nerves.

She let go of my hand and walked up to the Peacekeeper who had called her. She gave the man her hand wincing as her finger was pricked. The man scanned the blood he pressed to the paper, which read:

Everdeen, Primrose

12 Y/ 1

He waved her off and called for me. I waited for him to prick me and scan my blood, catching a peek at what my scan read:

Everdeen, Katniss

16 Y/ 20

After he waved me off I went to find a place to stand with the girls my age. It took me little time to find them and I took a stop in the middle. This way I wouldn't be noticeable in the footage they were taking of this reaping. I waited quietly until I felt a hand tap my shoulder, I turned to look beside me, seeing Madge's soft blue eyes looking at me.

"Madge," I whispered out with a deep sigh, a familiar face was always helpful during the reaping. "Nice dress." I smiled at her, receiving a smile from Madge. The dress was an off white that came down past her knees. Her blonde hair was tied back with a pink ribbon. I tilted my head when I noticed a gold pin above her breast, one of a bird of sorts. The pin itself could probably keep a family with bread for months.

I was about to ask about it when Mayor Undersee's voice rang through the crowd. "Welcome to the Reaping of the 99th Hunger Games," he began. His voice had no cheer in it, as he, along with everyone else in the District, had a great hatred for the Games. Of course no one could do anything about it, it was the law of our society and if anyone tried to go against it they would be killed on the spot.

Mayor Undersee looked around the crowd of young people, eyes lingering on mine and his daughter's for a moment before they returned to looking through the crowd. "Today we have a film for you brought from the Capitol by our lovely escort, Ms. Effie Trinket."

We all turn to look at the seats where the officials and Capitol representatives sit during the Reaping. Sitting in the chair, next to the one the mayor usually occupies, is an extremely pale skinned woman who stood out completely from the fairer skin of District Twelve's officials. This is Effie Trinket, the bubbling and perfectly annoying District Twelve escort of five years now. Her light salmon pink wig of this year rested on her head with an overly large, magenta rose sewn onto it. She smoothed down her magenta suit with her flawlessly manicured hand, as if she was going to stand, but she remained seated, turning her head to the screen by the left of the stage.

A video with President Coriolanus Snow's short narration of Panem's history began. Images flashed on the screen; frightened people and soldiers of an older Panem during the rebellion, happy people who were obviously faking it, a recreation of the signing of the Treaty of Treason, overly fit and beautiful young teens, and the last image was the flag of Panem blowing in the breeze.

"I just love that part," Effie Trinket's voice sounded through the audience. Sometime during the video she had traded places with Mayor Undersee and was now standing at the microphone. "Now comes the time for us to remember your valiant victors of the Hunger Games past."

I tried to hide my scoff after hearing Effie Trinket's word to describe the victors of District Twelve. We had two in total and they were anything but valiant. The older one was Victoria Lexington who had won her games through deceit and manipulation. She sat on the right side of the stage with her golden haired, great-granddaughter and caretaker, Jessalynn Doward sitting beside her in a soft cream dress. Victoria was more estranged than valiant, always dressed in black no matter the weather with a thick veil covering her face. She had even persuaded President Snow to allow her not to mentor the tributes in the games, as was her only job as a victor of the Games.

To her right sat a man with a drunken look on his unshaven face. His name was Haymitch Abernathy and he had won his games with intelligence and the skills that only the butcher's son would know. Now he was just a drunk who preferred buying spirits at the Hob than doing actual work.

This was the legacy of my District. It wasn't so bad, after all it was better to have intelligent victors as your mentors than ones who relied on just brunt strength and skill.

Effie Trinket wasn't impressed with our victors either, probably because she was always being criticized by Victoria and teased by Haymitch, who decided at that moment to get up and give her a big hug and a sloppy wet kiss on her cheek.

A few adults were chuckling as they watched a Peacekeeper pull Haymitch off of Effie Trinket and returned him to his seat. Madge breathed out a long sigh as she muttered, "Daddy is going to not like that." She looked over at me. "He hates when Haymitch makes a laughing stock out of the District."

I didn't reply but she was right, since this happened every year to the escorts. It also was why our old escort quit five years ago to be replaced with Effie Trinket.

As if on cue, Effie Trinket's bubbly voice sounded through the crowd once again, "Now that that excitement is over," she exclaimed, fixing her disheveled wig, "Let's see who your tributes will be for this year. As always ladies first!" She strutted over to the large glass ball that held all the names of the 12 to 19 year old girls in District Twelve, reaching her hand into it. She dug deeply before pulling out a slim piece of paper.

The crowd went silent and all I think, desperately in my mind is, Not me, not me, not me, as the pink haired woman strided back over to the microphone stand and unfolded the slip with her long, pink fingernail. She looked down at the name brightly before reading into the microphone with her annoying voice, "Primrose Everdeen!"

I felt my heart stop and the whole crowd went dead around me as they searched for my sister in the crowd of twelve year old girls. My eyes found her and my stopped heart lurched. She was as pale as a ghost, all the blood drained from her pretty pink face.

"Prim," I mumbled under my breath as she walked towards the stage with slow, uneasy steps. Part of me was still in shock. I couldn't believe it. This couldn't be happening. This was my sister's first year. There had to have been a mistake. But my sister kept walking and reality slammed into me. I had to do something. "Prim!" I cried louder, my broken voice easily able to be heard in the silence of the shocked crowd. As the crowd parted, all eyes flicked toward me. I didn't care about them, as I ran to her, just before she could climb the steps onto the stage. "I volunteer!" I yelled, pushing my small sister behind me, as a mountain lioness would when protecting her cub. "I volunteer as tribute!"

Effie Trinket looked stunned at the turn of events she was witnessing. "Lovely!" Effie Trinket clapped, her beaming smile almost blinding me. Any action in this District would make that woman happy. "Come here dear."

I moved to climb up the stairs but Prim grabbed my shirt tightly, not letting me leave. "No!" she shouted behind me. "Katniss! No! You can't go!" She sounded so desperate to keep me from walking onto the stage that it almost broke my heart.

I pushed back my tears and said in a stern, almost cruel voice, "Let go Prim."

The look she gave me really did break my heart; it was one with tears in her eyes. Eventually she let go of my arm, but not by choice. I suddenly see Gale holding her in his strong arms, keeping her from preventing me to leave.

"Up you go, Catnip," The usual strong willed Gale said, his voice breaking as he gave me a little push towards the stage. He turned and carried Prim off towards my mother as I took a deep breath before slowly climbing the steps.

Effie Trinket clasped her hands together, her beaming smile still shining at me. "Bravo, now that's the Hunger Games spirit." I'm sure she's extremely pleased to have a little action going on in the dull District Twelve. "What's your name?"

"Katniss Everdeen," I answered calmly, showing no tears in my eyes, not with every camera facing me.

"Well! I bet my buttons that was your sister... wasn't it?" Effie Trinket's pursed pink lips closed to form a completely new smile. I nodded my head not saying a word as she continued to talk. I swear that woman was in love with the sound of her own voice. I was still in shock. How could this be happening? This had to be a dream. I closed my eyes and then opened them again, blinking several times almost as if I could blink away the scene in front of me. I even went as far as to pinch myself, willing it to be a dream. Yet nothing changed. This was my new reality. I straightened and resigned myself to what was happening. "Come on everybody let's give a big hand to our first female volunteer in the history of District Twelve Reapings and newest tribute." Effie's voice pulled me back to the Reaping and I glanced around at the crowd.

Nobody clapped. Maybe in a District like One, Two or Four, where being reaped was like winning the lottery, but here in District Twelve it was an automatic death sentence that no one wanted. Silence filled the crowd until one by one they all began to touch their three middle fingers of their left hand to their mouths and held it up to me. This old funeral gesture meant thanks, admiration and goodbye to loved ones.

I was about to cry but thankfully Haymitch stopped me by yelling in a loud drunken voice. "This girl's got spunk," he said and looked out at the crowd, clapping his hands loudly. "Bravo! bravo!" he yelled before stumbling off the stage. I was thankful for this as every camera turned to him, giving me a few seconds to compose myself and rid the tears from my eyes.

"What an exciting day," Effie Trinket whispered to me before she stood herself upright. "Now time for the boys!" She called out as the attention of the crowd shifted back on her. Hate filled me. How could she be so excited for this? Did she not realize that she was sending children to their deaths? I clenched my fists to keep from lashing out at her. She quickly walked over to the ball containing the boys' names and picked up the first slip her hand touched. She raced back to the podium, quickly reading out the name on the small white paper. "Peeta Mellark."

"No," I whispered to myself as I turned to face him. The odds are not in my favor today. That one thought rang through my head while he walked closer and closer to the stage. His blonde hair fell in adorable waves over his perfect blue eyes. I could see the shocked look on his face as he climbed the steps to take his place at Effie Trinket's right side. I didn't listen to anything Effie Trinket had to say next, my attention and focus were all on him.

Why him? I asked myself. Why Peeta? I wanted to cry even more than ever but I knew I shouldn't. Peeta looked at me with sadness through the corner of his eye. Effie Trinket beamed her teeth in our direction, instructing Peeta and I to shake hands. I did as I was told, taking his hand in mine to hide how bad mine was shaking and looked straight into those blue eyes I adored so much. I wanted to fall into his arms and have him hold me. I wanted him to tell me that this wasn't really happening and that we'd fall asleep and wake up and it all be a dream. But I could do no more than just shake his hand as the anthem of Panem began to play. Right then I prayed to anyone who could hear me that no one would kill Peeta in the arena. Not even me. He had to win. He had a promising future as a baker's son. He would be kind to the people in the district and would give them bread when they needed it even at the risk of becoming poor himself. He was a good soul. I'd see to it that he won or at least lasted longer than me.

The anthem soon ended and Peeta and I were pulled through the doors into the Justice Building. Once inside we were separated and I was brought to a richly furnished room where I was to wait until my family came in to say goodbye to me.

My mother and sister were first.

I embraced them both tightly, holding back my tears as I tried to remain strong for them. Prim was crying against my chest as I pulled away and I dropped to eye level with her. "Don't cry Prim. You can't let the Capitol see you," I told her, as more of a reassurance for myself than for her.

"You have to win Katniss, I want you to come home. Promise me you'll try to come back," Prim said sternly to me, which, with the tears flowing in her eye, made her look more like a child trying to act older than she was.

I smiled at her, my eyes still threatening to flow. "I promise little duck. I'll be back before you notice I'm gone." I hugged her once more before turning to my mother and hugging her tightly, whispering into her ear, "You can't shut down like you did when dad died."

"I know I-"

"No, you can't! She needs you, and I'm not sure that promise I made is one I can keep this time," I confessed to her and soon felt a wetness on my shoulder. I rubbed my mother's back as I cried too, "Don't cry… Never let them see you cry." My voice broke as I told her the same words I told Prim.

Suddenly the Peacekeeper came in and pulled my family out of the room. I sat back down on the couch waiting for the rest of the time to go by, knowing that I had no more family who cared enough to say goodbye. That was why I was surprised when the door opened and Gale entered the space with Madge following closely behind. I was startled for a bit but soon ran into Gale's open arms and hugged him hard.

"Did you get him in?" I asked Madge calmly. She nodded as Gale let go of me and draped his arm around Madge's shoulder.

"I couldn't let you go without saying goodbye Catnip," he said and looked at me as sternly as I did with Prim only minutes ago outside. "Get a bow. If you show them that you can shoot then they'll put one in the arena. If you can't find one, make one. You're strong, Katniss. Stronger than anyone going into this."

My head nodded without my constant as I was pulled away from Gale's gaze by Madge who hugged me just as tightly as I had Gale.

"Here." Madge gently took her button from her dress and pinned it onto my dress. "I," she hesitated, looking at Gale with a blush, "we want you to wear this… as a District token in the arena." It was small and looked as if someone had fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird was connected to the ring only by its wing tips. I suddenly recognized it. A mockingjay.

"Thank you," I whispered as I brushed my fingers lightly over the small bird. I pulled her into a hug again. "Take care of Gale for me. He needs you."

Madge smiled lightly at me as she nodded. "If not for you, I would have ended my life months before Gale helped me," she whispered, just as the Peacekeepers came in to collect them. "You have my word that I'll take care of him."

I had no time to reply to Madge but was able to call out to Gale, "Take care of my family!" Tears once again threatened to fall from my eyes.

"I will," he yelled back, almost trying to pull away from the Peacekeeper who had his hold on him.

I held back my tears as the next visitor entered my visiting room; my grandmother.

She walked in straight and tall, not showing any sign that she wanted a hug from me. 'Course I wasn't planning on giving her one.

Her eyes looked down into mine and I saw in them, for the first time in my entire life, tears threatening to flow. "You are not allowed to die in there. Do you hear me Katniss?" she asked, walking over and grabbing my shoulders roughly. "You are to survive and return home by any cost." Her voice had begun to break, which was something I had never heard my grandmother do.

I looked at her and wiped the now flowing tears from my eyes. "I will, grandmother. I promised Prim I would come back." I held my head high to show her I was as stubborn as she was. My mother always said that I was just like her in that sense.

A few minutes after my grandmother left, the Peacekeepers came back to escort me to the black, tinted window car that would take me to the train station. I was on my own the entire ride which gave me time to think about all that had happened. This was not going to be easy for me, the Games would be the hardest thing I would ever face in my entire life. I would be put up against not only tributes, bigger and stronger than me, but also those who had been trained since they were young. Of course I had some advances to them. I knew how to survive in the woods, how to climb and sleep comfortably in trees and how to find food and water. I knew what it felt like to starve and live on just soup or roots. I would show the Capitol that the volunteer from District Twelve was ready to fight for her life.

Soon the car pulled up to the station and I saw the many reporters swarming around with their cameras directed at my face. I looked up at the platform to find Peeta standing there, his eyes on me with tears streaming down his face. It took all the strength I had left for me not to hug him right in front of the cameras. Something must have happened with his family while I was with mine. I'm sure it was his mother, she was the cruelest woman I had ever met and we'd never gotten along with each other.

Before getting on the train, Peeta and I stood on the platform for what seemed like forever while the Capitol reporters took many pictures and videos of us. Thankfully Effie Trinket put a stop to them, barking at them for bothering her precious tributes before even stepping onto the train. Haymitch walked onto the train as Effie Trinket shooed away the reporters and turned to us with her blinding smile.

"On you go dears." She waved her hands in a shooing motion to us, hurrying both Peeta and myself onto the train. When we were finally aboard the train, Effie Trinket headed to the car to the right of us. I was just about to follow before I felt Peeta grab me and pull me into his arms, strengthened with his daily ounce of carrying flour into the bakery for his mother.

"How are we going to get through this?" I asked in a broken and trembling voice, a side of me I only revealed to Peeta. He stroked my hair, soothing me before he answered.

"I don't know... but we'll do it together," he promised as he brushed a few strands of loose hair off my head. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead before leaning back and holding my gaze. I felt my heart flutter nervously in my chest and hated myself for the little excitement that filled me as I realized what he was going to do next. His head lowered and I licked my lips in anticipation. I needed this. I needed his attention right now to ground me. My thoughts were swirling around what the future held, but his touches and kiss pushed them all away as his lips pressed against mine. I'm not sure how long we stood there, with Peeta holding me after our kiss, but it felt like only seconds until Effie Trinket called us into the adjacent car.

I had a secret that I had to hold close to my heart. No one could find out about it or I was done for. I was in love with Peeta. And that was the most dangerous thing of all. There was no room for love in the games. It was a fight to the death and only one person would make it out alive. I knew that I should harden my heart against Peeta, turn him away, but I couldn't. Even after making the promise to my family that I'd try to come home, I couldn't kill Peeta if it came down to the two of us. I'd have to find some other way. Though how that would become possible, I wasn't sure.

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