As the spear enters her stomach, my world is turned upside down.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

I no longer have control over myself, and my body, weakened from the days when I was too nervous to eat the little food provided for my family, hits the stone cobbled ground.

My baby, my sweet, sweet baby, my Rue, who, by some horrific feat of injustice, was reaped on her birthday… We all told her she would win. And subsequent to her alliance with girl from 12, my heart filled with hope. Maybe she could make it.

And watching her light those fires, in her eyes, I saw a determinedness that my Rue had never exhibited before. She didn't give up, as most from 11 do, the minute they're reaped. My baby earned a 7. My baby should have won just for that.

Linnea, Linnea, get up.

Mommy! Mommy!

You need to see your daughter, Mrs. Vaighn.

Mommy!

Honey, please, you're scaring the girls!

I know they need me, my other babies, my husband, my district. But I can't. I just can't do it, that spear pained me as much as it did my Rue.

I can still hear Katniss and Rue talking, my baby's voice pained beyond recognition, and Katniss' with a teary edge to it.

And suddenly I'm filled with hate, a fury that threatens to overcome me. For that boy, that boy, who killed Rue. Whose name, Marvel, makes me shake with rage. I could kill him. I hate him! I hate him! I-

And suddenly, I hear a voice almost as sweet as Rue's. It's Katniss, and I can hear her crystal clear, singing a lullaby.

Deep in the meadow, under the willow

A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

And when again they open, the sun will rise.

My Rue… I remember… Her first day working in the orchard… She was so tired by the time we were done, she lay beneath a tree, her pitch black hair falling in tendrils around her thin face, big, brown eyes closed, chest rising and falling slightly in the hot mid-afternoon sun. The memory fills me with happiness, like Rue is right in front of me.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

And now I'm sobbing, realization sinking into my every being, like spilled ink on a table cloth. Rue is not coming back.

As much as it pains me, I can't pull myself away from Katniss' smooth, flowing voice.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away

A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray,

Forget your woes and let your troubles lay

And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

In the wave of emotions I've felt in the last few minutes, this one is new. Gratefulness. I will never be able to repay Katniss, for her melodic singing, her compassionate comforting of Rue, and providing closure for me. If Rue died by herself, I wouldn't be able to stand it, my baby suffering, all alone. But now a new thought crosses my mind… Rue may not have been so scared, so pained, so miserable. Katniss was with her, and in a small way, my baby had helped destroy the careers, and for that, she died victorious.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

The cannon has fired. For her, my lovely. My sweet Rue, who met her end at the innocent young age of 12. It's catastrophic, it's heart breaking, it's tragic. No words can describe the feeling I have now, as if I'm in a pit of darkness, and I can't get out.

But one thing does console me. My daughter died with dignity. And a lullaby.