When I saw Katniss die on the TV screen in the 74th Games, it was surreal. It was like I was watching another person... another person that wasn't my sister, die at the hands of the boy named Cato. I watched as her blood spurted out from the grisly second smile he had carved into her neck, my eyes wide and unblinking. I watched as Peeta charged Cato, and ran him through with a sword just a second too late. Two cannons fired, and one of them was for my sweet, strong sister.

I remember my mother reaching across the table for me, her hands shaky and cold as they wrapped around me, and everything sank in. My sister was dead, and Peeta was the one lone victor of the 74th Games.

The first few months without Katniss had been the hardest. I cried myself silly until I had no tears left to give. The Capitol had ripped the most important person out of my life, the one person that risked everything for me. She promised me she would try, but the Capitol's influence was too strong. They wanted her dead, and it was only a matter of time. What they had been unsuccessful in doing, Cato did for them, only to be killed by Peeta seconds later.

He came home, and Katniss didn't.

I think he must have really loved her, because every week, he stopped by and gave a share of his earnings as victor to my mother. I wouldn't take them; I was angry at him for living when Katniss died. If he truly loved her, he would have saved her, and brought her back to me like they were supposed to. The rules had been amended, hadn't they?

My mother took the money, though. I'm sure without it, we would have starved. Even with Gale's help, we hardly had enough on the table to keep us from becoming corpses ourselves. I couldn't hunt, I couldn't bring myself to go into the woods and gather the fruit that blossomed on the bushes. I didn't want to walk those same steps, in those boots that Katniss left behind for me. I was expecting her to walk in through the door at any moment, a rabbit slung over her shoulder with a smile on her face as she laid eyes on me. That never happened, as much as I wished it would. Katniss was dead, and there was no getting her back.

It took me a while to realize who was truly at fault. A few months had gone by since her passing, and I had failed to do anything but weep and feel sorry for myself, for the loss of my sister and the hole it left in my heart. It was one day, when I was sitting in class, feeling my stomach eat itself, that the answer came to me. The Capitol was at fault. Not just the Capitol, but namely, President Snow.

Things got easier when I had someone to hate. I devoted most of my time to hating President Snow, and thinking of different ways to tear him down. The pain of Katniss' absence quelled when I thought of putting one of her arrows through his eye.

The next day, I waited for Gale outside the entrance to the mines. He'd been forced back into work, which left almost no time to see him elsewhere. He'd taken double shifts in the mines when Katniss died, and I'd hardly seen any of him, except when he'd dropped off the occasional haul of meat from hunts. Even someone as strong as Gale needed to grieve, and for Gale, it had largely been spent chipping away at the stone and dirt underneath the ground. At least down there, no one would notice his sorrow.

It was around nine o'clock when he surfaced. The sky was already black and dotted with stars, and what little light we had was used to light up the way out of the mines. I stood out in the dark, the light of the moon catching on my hair. It didn't take long for Gale to surface, or for him to recognize me and walk over cautiously.

"Prim?" He asked, getting close to me, squinting at me through the smears of coal dust on his face.

"I don't have a lot of time," I started, "my mother's expecting me home soon. I want you to teach me to hunt."

Gale had enough sense not to laugh. "Why?" He asked, suspicious.

"I can't keep doing this; I can't keep leeching from you and Peeta. I need to learn. I need to.. to be my own provider."

I saw his expression change from suspicion to confusion. "Katniss said you weren't any good when she tried to teach you."

"I can change. I will change. Give me a chance."

"I don't know, Prim..." Gale began, rubbing a grimy hand over the back of his neck. "It's dangerous out in the woods."

"And it's dangerous in the mines, too, but you still go down there every day." I protested, keeping my features as stony as I could.

Gale's expression softened, then. "I guess. But you're only a kid.."

"I can't afford to be a kid anymore." I said. And it was true.

Then, for the first time in weeks, I saw Gale's grief flicker across his face as he contemplated my words. "Alright. We'll start this weekend. I'll come get you in the morning on Saturday. Now get going, before your mother comes looking for you."

At first, I hadn't been an easy pupil for Gale. I was loud, tromping through the woods in boots that I got lost in, and a coat that smothered me. Katniss' bow was awkward and heavy in my hand, and the quiver of arrows was too long for my back. I was equally helpless at finding prey as I was at shooting it down, but as the weeks went by, Gale's teaching started to sink in. My persistence hadn't waned, and I was showing improvement. Within the first two years, I had managed to become a decent enough hunter to get our family back on our feet. We ate as good as ever, possibly even better with the addition of Peeta's money buying us a few things here and there.

It was no secret that Gale had feelings for Katniss, and even though hunting had been something he had done exclusively with her, he let me in to his world, showing me the ins and outs of the forest beyond the fence. It was easy with Gale, learning from him and hunting with him, once he showed me how. I don't think he ever saw anything in me like he did in Katniss, because within four years, he'd fallen into a relationship with the Mayor's daughter, Madge.

Our hunts became less frequent after they got engaged. They stopped altogether when they got married. It seemed easy for him to move on after he found solace in Madge's presence. He loved Katniss, I knew that to be the truth, but he learned to love again, and the pain of Katniss' passing waned for him.

It only got worse for me.

I didn't have anyone to love. Gale had Madge, and even my mother found a boyfriend (the Butcher) who she insisted was only a friend.

I spent a lot of my time alone in the woods, honing my skills, constantly bettering myself for the chance to get near enough to President Snow to put an arrow through his skull. I waited until I was almost eighteen, carefully formulating a plan that was more risky than anything else. I didn't care who I hurt in the process; I was going to volunteer for the Games and get at him that way.

The thought had been brewing ever since that day that I realized Snow was to blame. I wanted him to feel the pain of having everything he loved ripped away from him, like I felt when Katniss was ripped away from me... and as much as he probably would hate to admit it, the Districts were in unrest. There were whispers here and there, mostly traded in the Hob. Talk of rebellion had died down since the 74th Games, but after Rue's death, and Katniss' tribute to her, things hadn't been the same. I could see change everywhere within the first year, which had gone cold until late. Grain became difficult to get, along with a few other things like wax and rope. Trading at the Hob had taught me to look out for things like that, and it was hard not to notice the influx in price for goods in short supply.

I was going to fan those flickers of hope until they caught on, and if I died in the process, at least I would die trying.