This fanfiction is about Winter Mellark, Katniss and Peeta Mellark's 12 year old daughter, along with her 9 year old brother, Daniel (AKA Danny), who are just about to go to the first Reaping in 12 years. With Winter knowing all about Katniss and Peeta's long lasting revolution and journey, Danny does not know anything about the Games, or the revolution his parents were in. At least not yet.

Brave, 12 year old Winter Mellark must prepare herself for what may come among her: death, salvation, and leaving her family behind. Is she ready? Will she be reaped? Will this be the last time she ever sees her family again?

Winter:

Danny is still asleep. He has no idea that this might just be the last day I see him ever again.

I slowly slip out of bed, pause, and take a moment to think. I had woken up three hours before I am to get ready. What am I supposed to do? It's my first Reaping day, which is also the first Reaping day in twelve years.

Yes. They brought the games back. Ever since my brave mother led a revolution against the Capitol, the games had been eradicated, as well as the old president, Coriolanus Snow. Once the new president, who dare not speak her name because of security reasons, had taken over, she promised to keep the peace within our nation for as long as time intends. This year, my 12th and eligible year, she brought the games back.

Everything is practically the same as the old rules, Mom had told me. The same old games. Same old torture.

I shake my head after a while of staring at my bare feet, take a quick glance at Danny, my 9 year old little brother whom I have developed a loving, trustable relationship with, then slowly creep down the creaky stairs. I wish not to wake up Mom or Dad, but when I walk downstairs, I realize they are both awake.

"…Katniss…"

"They're back, Peeta. The games.. Th-they're back." I hear her gasp for air.

"Shhh…"

"What if everything happens all over again? What if I lose everything, everyone I love, e-every-body…dead…"

"Katniss…."

It was silent after Dad whispered her name, like a melody. Dad was always good at making me feel better, and seemingly he was good with Mom, too.

They spoke again.

"Winter…" Mom says. At first I wonder if she had seen me through the tint shadows, but then realize she was only mentioning my name as a recognition.

"Why her year? What if she gets called?"

"Katniss, please.."

"It's possible. Prim was called. I had to volunteer. Now look. She's dead. Everybody is dead. It's going to happen all over again."

My heart sinks. Is that true? I let out a huge, shaky breath of air after realizing I have been holding my breath for such a long time, and fear they heard me.

They did.

"Winter?" Dad quickly turns around and swiftly motions toward me. My legs give in and I stumble into his arms. Is it true? Will this all happen yet again?

I see Mom stand up and walk towards me. She sniffles, smiles sadly, and brushes her arm through my hair.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Winter.."

"No, I am. I shouldn't have listened…"

"It's okay. I would have done the same."

I laugh a little then find myself walking towards the couch and laying on mom's lap, her arms still brushing against the bristles in my hair. Her smooth fingers run against my light brown hair, messaging a sense of tingling throughout my scalp. I smile. "Mom," I whisper.

"Yes, Winter?"

"Can you braid my hair?"

I don't even need to look at her to hear the smile creep on her face. She stays silent, and motions her fingers through my hair again.

She braids my hair, and I slowly drift back to sleep.

Danny:

Winter is out of bed.

Why is she up so early? Usually she wakes up much later than this. I shrug, then walk downstairs. I see that Mom and Dad are awake too, in the kitchen. This, I think, is normal. I greet them and they return their gratitude quite grimly, as if they are upset about something.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, concerned.

Mom and Dad exchange looks.

"Yes, Danny, everything… Everything is fine," Mom says, and I see her eyes water. Is she sick? Did something happen?

"Where's Winter?" I ask them, worried.

"Winter. She's just over there in the living room," Mom says.

I turn back and find her sitting on the couch, two long dutch braids hanging by the side of her head, wearing a beautiful plaid dress, high knee socks and two flat slippers dangling from her feet.

"Hi," I smile.

She glances up and her light blue eyes brighten as she looks at me.

"Hey, Danny," she croaks.

"Have you been crying?"

She nods, slowly but

"What happened?"

She stares at me then shakes her head. "Nothing, just, uhh, a bad dream.."

"Oh," I tell her. "Why are you dressed up like that?"

She looks at her shoes and shrugs. "Just wanted to start my day early."

"M'kay. Why are Mom and Dad sad?"

She doesn't reply, but just gestures towards me to sit next to her on the bed. I do.

"Danny, what would you do if I said I will never see you again?"

What is she talking about? I glance at her, confused, and tilt my head.

"What?"

"Just curious."

"Well, I would be really sad. And lonely. Why? Are you going to leave me?"

She muffles her face into her hands and sighs. "No, of course not."

"Good. I don't ever want to not see you again."

I hear faint sounds spill out of her. She is crying. "N-neither do I."

I understand what is going on now. I wrap my arms around her and hug her tightly. "Must have been a terrible dream, then, huh?"

She looks at me and smiles. "Yeah," she says, "it was."

Winter:

My ears twitch as the sound of a blow horn chimes and rings through my head.

It's time.

We have ten minutes until we have to head to the circle. The worst part of it all is that Danny has no idea of where we are going or why we are even going there. It's okay, I tell myself and wipe the tears from my face, if I get chosen, Mom and Dad will have to tell him eventually.

Mom, Dad, and poor, curious Danny walk with me to the Circle. "Where are we going?" I hear Danny ask, and I look down. It is Mom who answers. "We'll tell you when we get home."

It's as if Mom and Dad already know I am going to be Reaped.

Once we arrive to the circle, we are acknowledged to stand in an orderly fashion, surrounding the stage only encountered by one, large, silver microphone, two large glass bowls, and hundreds of worried families shuffling through the crowd. Nobody says a word. Not even Danny.

The ceremony begins once a trumpet plays yet again and shocks the crowd with its loud, clear chime. Then, a lady, a very overly-dressed, pale, lady, walks toward the microphone and picks it up with a depressed look on her face. Beside me, I see Dad twitch with some sort of shock and Mom lift her hand to cover her mouth.

"Hello, everybody…" The lady says, grimly, "and welcome, to the 80th annual Hunger Games, the first Hunger Games ever hosted in 12 years!" She claps pipingly, though she doesn't seem to mean her excitement. "I am Effie Trinket, and I am here to welcome all of our honorable people to this exciting… wonderful ceremony…" Once she finishes talking, I look at Mom and see that she is crying silently. "Mom," I whisper. She doesn't hear me.

Effie shows us a video explaining the Games, their purpose, and what they are. Once the video ends, I look at Danny and see the puzzled look on his face. He tugs at my dress. "What is going on?" He whispers sharply. I muffle his hair and bend down to kiss him on the forehead. "Shh," I tell him, and attempt to smile. How could we keep this from him? Why can't Mom and Dad let me tell him? He has to know...

"Now, let's begin!" Effie says a little more peppy. "As always, ladies first!" She takes a deep breath and skims her hand through a large glass bowl filled with slips which I know to be ladies' names. As her brittle hand muffles through the bowl, she lifts a single slip of paper and begins to unfold it as I hear a gasp exploit from her mouth. My heart drops as I hear the name form from her lips.

"Daniel Mellark."

Murmurs from the crowd burst and I feel my stomach lurch. Mom and Dad look expressionless and shocked. Danny? Why Danny? He is only nine. He is a boy. There is so much occurring after this mentioning of his name that I can't seem to evaluate my own reaction. All I can do is stand still and keep my mind blank. Then, with deep confusion, everybody stares at Danny. He doesn't seem to even know that his name was announced. Then I realize. DANNY! DANNY WAS REAPED FOR THE HUNGER GAMES!

Effie is the first who speaks up. "There must be a mistake. Daniel is a boy's name!" I see her glancing at my direction. I realize she is looking at Mom. Mom still is standing emotionless and seems to have blacked out. She seems as if she is going to fall apart

A peacekeeper whispers something to Effie and Effie stands still for a moment. She takes a deep breath and silently says into the microphone, "Will Daniel please step onto the stage?"

Daniel does not move. He just looks at me and starts to cry.

"Winter, was this your nightmare?" He asks me.

My throat tightens and I burst into tears and hug him. "Yes, Danny. It was something like this." Everybody is staring at us sympathetically and I just wished they would all disappear and it could just be me and Danny standing there, hugging and crying. Once we stop, he takes a shaky breath and glances up at Mom and Dad. Tears stream from Dad's face and he just stands still. Mom falls onto the ground and screams. Peacekeepers begin to rush toward us as all the confusion begins to rush towards me and cause my mind to break down.

All I can think about is, Why? Why Danny?

"MOM!" Danny yells, and shakes her arms and screams and cries. "What is happening? Please! Someone explain to me what is going on!"

Peacekeepers now begin to rush toward us and once they reach us, they push Danny away and he stumbles to the ground. Dad pushes the peacekeepers and grunts. "Don't you DARE touch him."

In a split of a second, guns are pointed at the heads of three: Mom, Dad, and me. We each stay silent and I can hear, even feel the breaths and thoughts exploding from my family. "Someone must get on that stage or you all die."

Danny sniffles and lets go of Mom's arms. "Okay," he says and shivers, then slowly walks up to the stage, catching one final glance at his family. "Danny," I croak. That does no good - it only brings one other gun to my head. "Shut up." They groan. A cry forms out of my mouth and I look at Danny again, and see him staring at the ground and heading to the stage. "no. NO!" The peacekeepers begin to choke me, and I almost feel like I heard a gun click. My struggle to speak was ineffable, but I managed to get two words out of my mouth without losing breath. "I volunteer," I hear myself say. Their grip loosens, and gasps erupt once again from the crowd, especially Mom, Dad, and Danny, who turns back around and stares at me. "I VOLUNTEER!" I run away from the peacekeepers, and whisper to Danny, "Hurry. Go back to Mom and Dad now. I love you."

"Winter!" He cries.

"Go!" I run up the stairs, and glance back at Danny.

"You promised you would never leave me," He says.

"I won't, Danny. I never will."

"You will come back, wont you?"

I thoughtfully look, one final look, at his strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes much like mine, and button down shirt and khaki pants and smile. "Of course," I whisper. "I always will."

His face brightens, then he runs back to Mom and Dad. I take a deep breath, climb up the stairs to the stage, and realize the boy tribute hasn't even been announced yet. That is not even important to me, I tell myself, shake my head, then look out for Mom and Dad. The peacekeepers let go of their grips of them but are still standing by their sides. Danny ran back to them and stuffed his face into Dad's chest, beginning to cry. They all put their heads together, even Mom, who can't bare to look at me, and I begin to feel their sorrow once again. I feel their sadness.

I am their sadness.