CRASH!

Rain pours from the sky in buckets, lightning flashes, and thunder roars as Camilla Sanford grasps onto the sheets of her bed hard. Her husband, Curt, is by her side being as comforting as he can, but honestly, he's not helping much. Her three-year-old-daughter, Lyllia, hides behind her father as lightning strikes the ground outside their Seam home once again.

"What in Panem's name are you doing?" Camilla hisses at Curt. "I need something to wrap this baby in when he or she is born. Something to-"

Camilla's interrupted by yet another contraction. She squeezes the bed sheets, as well as her husband's hand, and takes some deep breaths to the best of her ability. After a moment that seems like an eternity, the contraction ends, and Camilla loosens her grip.

"As I was saying, something to clean the baby with? Something to wrap them in? Please?"

"Of course, Honey." Curt says, jumping up from his chair.

Of course, the Sanford's weren't planning on having to birth their second child alone at home, in the middle of a storm. The storm was just bad luck. They had tried to make their way to District 12's only hospital, which was small and mediocre compared to - well, anywhere else. They certainly were no Capitol, no District 1, with the elegant buildings, and posh citizens. They were certainly no District 13, who produces the medical supplies, along with mining graphite and providing nuclear power, with 13's nine hospitals situated throughout the district.

They were just small, poor, grimy, old District 12. While small, their district did house one hospital. But, while on the way there, the storm began to worsen, and Camilla's contractions began to become more severe. So, the three turned tail, and headed home. They would've tried to get Camilla's parents who lived a few blocks away, but there was no telephone system in District 12 anymore, not since the war began, and Camilla hadn't wanted Curt to leave the house.

And so Camilla sat, on her crappy old bed in her house in the Seam of District 12, trying not to yell at the top of her lungs (for her daughter's sake), and just trying to push this baby out.

At around that time, Curt returned to the room. He smiled lightly at his wife, and Camilla smiled lightly back, to the best of her ability, at least. With him, Curt had brought two towels: One to wrap the baby in when he or she is born, and another to set under the mother-to-be. Camilla winced as she held herself up off of the sheets for just long enough for Curt to place one of the towels under her.

"There. That's all set." Curt said softly.

Curt had also brought a bucket of (thankfully warm) water, as well as a sponge. He had grabbed a pair of scissors also, to cut the umbilical cord with. Camilla smiled at the thought of the baby being born. All of this pain and anticipation would be over, and she would finally have her baby boy or girl in her arms. Ah, that would be nice. Once it was all over, she'd be able to-

CRASH!

Camilla, as well as Lyllia, jump a mile as the lightning and thunder return, after a few moments of letting up. Lyllia slams her finger down on the TV's power button, turning the thing on. The Sanford's were fortunate enough to own not one, but two television sets. The first is situated in the living room, while the second, of course, is in Curt and Camilla's bedroom. The channel is currently tuned to District 12's only news channel, situated at - of course - Channel 12. The female news anchor is talking about the ongoing fighting in District Eight. Ever since the war started just over a year ago, battles in between the Capitol and the districts have been almost constant all throughout the nation. This has been the first war to rock the nation since the civil war in between Districts 13 and 14 eighty-seven years ago, which ended with District 13 obliterating their western neighbor, and then taking over their industry of medicine, on top of the two they already had.

Camilla is thankful that there isn't currently any fighting going on in District Twelve as she battles another contraction. There are soldiers present in the district most likely, but there hasn't been any large battle in a couple of weeks. Though there was plenty of fighting going on in all of the surrounding districts - Six, Eight, Thirteen - so things probably wouldn't be peaceful for much longer.

Camilla yells through gritted teeth and squeezes Curt's hand as she has yet another contraction - a big one at that.

"Push, Camilla, push! The baby's crowning!" Curt screams.

Little Lyllia stands in the corner holding her hands over her ears as Camilla continues to push as hard as she can. With another push, the baby's head is born.

CRASH!

BOOM!

Just more thunder. Camilla thinks to herself, allowing herself a momentary break. It's only when Camilla glances out the window, to see a building burning in the far distance, she realizes that only the first noise was thunder. The second was a bomb. And just like that, the male news anchor frantically begins talking about a bombing scene in District 12.

CRASH!

BOOM!

The TV screen goes black. The station was set in the Square. They must be bombing the Square.

Camilla pushes. She pushes as hard as she can several times, and in ten more seconds, all but the baby's legs have been born. The 32-year-old smiles lightly, takes a few quick breaths, and pushes one final time. The baby is born, fully landing on the towel, and begins to cry. As Camilla enjoys some much-deserved rest, Curt cuts the umbilical cord, cleans the still-screaming newborn off a little bit, and hollers:

"It's a girl!"

Camilla smiles as Lyllia notices the baby has been born, and comes over to stand beside her mother and the bed. Another little girl, Camilla thinks to herself. As her father cleans her new baby sister off, and wraps her up in the remaining towel, Lyllia changes the TV channel, from the black screen that is now District 12's news station, to the currently-unharmed District 13 news station.

"So, you had any names on your mind?" Curt asks with a grin as he hands their new daughter to Camilla.

Fuck. A name. We need a name for this little girl! Camilla glances at the screen, where District 13's female news anchor is currently talking about an invasive species of flower, the yellow flag iris, is now a common new ingredient in multiple medicines. Camilla glances at the screen, then back at her baby.

"I've always liked Iris." Camilla states quietly.

"Please tell me that you didn't just get that off the screen, and that you liked the name before this." Curt says skeptically.

"I did like the name before this." Camilla kind-of-lied.

Well, it wasn't really a lie. Camilla had indeed liked the name Iris before seeing this news story, this was just the first time that she had considered the name.

"I like it. Iris Sanford. Do I get to pick the middle name?" Curt asked with a smile.

"No!" Lyllia chimed in. "I want to pick her middle name! Me!"

"Sorry, Lyl. You can pick the baby's name when it's your own baby one day. But for now, the middle name is Daddy's choice." Camilla said tiredly, stroking her new baby's black hair. Lyllia nodded sadly, so Curt ruffled her hair playfully.

"I've always loved your name. Camilla. Iris Camilla Sanford." Curt replied.

"No, Curt. I don't really-"

"Come on, Honey, I love your name. And so do your parents, and...even little Lyllia loves it!" Curt interrupted. "Come on, please."

"Okay. If that's what you really want." Camilla told her husband tiredly.

CRASH!

BOOM!

Guess the soldiers' strategy is to detonate a bomb each time lightning strikes. How...symbolic? Camilla thought to herself. And with that thought, literally seconds later, Camilla slips into sleep, without even realizing that it was happening. Giving birth is quite tiring; Camilla could certainly use the rest. It's late by this point, past ten o'clock at night. Curt puts Lyllia to bed in her room, and tucks her in. She asks if she can hold Iris before she goes to sleep, but Curt tells her that she can hold the baby first thing in the morning. Seemingly content, the little girl drifts off.

After this, Curt quietly sneaks back into his and Camilla's bedroom, and quickly and quietly scoops his newborn daughter, still wrapped up in her towel, and brings her out into a bedroom of her own.

"C'mon, Iris Camilla Sanford, let's get you changed into some nice pajamas. You'll need some good rest, as we've gotta go to the hospital and the Justice Building tomorrow."

After changing the baby up, Curt places her in the crib that he built three years ago for Lyllia, and it's now been passed down to Iris. It's a nice crib, made of healthy, strong wood, with a surprisingly comfortable mattress. Curt smiles at the baby as he puts her down. But she's already asleep before her head even hits the mattress.


A/N: District 12's first Victor has always been an interesting prospect in my mind, so, what better thing to do than fully chronicle her Games? I've had the general idea for this prologue floating around in my mind for a while now. I didn't intend for it to be this mushy, I guess it kinda just came out that way. That is not usually my writing style. Was it even mushy though? I hope it wasn't mushy. So, as I state at the beginning of all of my works, this takes place in the same AU as COS. All of the headcanons from that story apply. So...what did you guys think? Was this prologue bearable? Lemme know what you think.

Until next time.

-Bo