Hey everyone! So I hope you like this and if you do REVIEW! Reviewing is the best thing you can do. ALSO: I only made it to the end of book 2, I still have yet to read MockingJay. So… keep that in mind if you notice anything conflicting. This is going to take place as if the second and third book never happened. If I add a flashback from the second book or something, I dont mean to. An event from the second book is included in this chapter, but there's false reasoning behind it and if you havent read the second book, I wouldnt worry too much about it. That being said, Please REVIEW!

I came home from a day in the woods with my old friend, Gale, since surprisingly nothing has changed since we were teenagers. Most of the peacekeepers don't care if I hunt in the woods anymore, but there's always that chance that some bitter peacekeeper will cut out my tongue and turn me into an Avox, or they might put Gale and I to death. It's a shame we never really got a chance to try dating, what with the capitol interference. I lay my bow and arrow on the table near the door and look for Peeta. I love him, but I can never help wondering – what if. What if I had never volunteered after Prim's name had been called at the reaping? Would Gale and I have had a relationship when we were teenagers? Would we be happily in love? I think we would be. I don't regret anything though, Prim's safety is more important than my happiness.

I look down at piano and sighed. The sight of that wretched pregnancy report that I had received from the capitol shook me out of my thoughts. Yesterday, I had gotten professionally tested. I got the report today, it appeared as if by magic on the counter when I got an incoming call from President Snow. He was going off again about how this was not over, and he would get revenge somehow, someway for us making a fool out of him during the 74th Hunger Games. He called us angrily like that at least once a month, usually when he was drunk. After Peeta and I won, he resorted to drinking to calm himself. I don't understand why he is still angry. It's been seven years since then! Fortunately, these next two years or so should be his last years in power. Unfortunately, however, his son will take power soon afterwards.

Anyway, I'm not dumb. I know my pregnancy is extremely likely - and I also know why. It's my own fault, I suppose, for trusting the capitol to allow my doctors to give me decent birth control pills. Of course the doctor was under the control of the hungry-for-revenge president. I breathed out and picked up the envelope. I had gone through the Hunger Games. The HUNGER GAMES! I think I'm strong enough to open a pathetic little envelope to see if I have a… to see if I have a life growing inside of me. I was nervous, though. I remember how the capitol reacted when Peeta said that I was pregnant at 17… and the public outcry was horrendous. They only calmed down when I claimed that I had had a miscarriage, and even then they were angry at me because it was such a close call. If I was actually expecting a baby, the public would be seriously angry that I, of all people, would bring a child into this world knowing that the first chance he got, the President would be sure to put it to death. I mean, Peeta claimed I was pregnant for the right reasons, so people would stop crowding me, taking pictures, and stop trying to make me look like a terrible person in the magazine. Sometimes, though, he needs to think. It didn't matter anymore, its been five years and nobody even remembers about my 'scandal'. I hated being an involuntary celebrity.

I sighed out once again before ripping the envelope open and reading the first line of the letter. "There's my favorite girl!" Peeta said, coming down the hallway. I quickly hid the letter behind my back. "I thought I heard you coming in! What have you got there?" He smiled. I looked at him with frightened eyes.

12 Years Later

"No! Mommy! I don't want to go!" yelled tiny Rue, my and Peeta's daughter, clutching her bedpost. "I don't want to go! Mommy, please don't make me!" she cried. All I could see was my daughters tear-stained cheeks, yet I was paralyzed. They were the same exact tear-stained cheeks that Prim had at the reaping.

"Come on sweetie, we have to. Both your mommy and I were called. What are the chances you will be called, too?" Peeta asked, looking at his watch, knowing if they waited any longer the peacekeepers might have our heads - literally. "And we both survived! The Mellarks are strong!"

"No!" Rue screamed desperately, clutching her bed as Peeta was trying to pull her off. "I don't want to die! Please, daddy! Mommy help!"

"PrimRue Cinna Mellark!" Peeta scolded, using her full name which he only did when he was angry. She only went by Rue though. I couldn't speak, all I could see was Prim and the little 12 year old girl at the games whom she was named after, Rue. I couldn't do this to my daughter - the entire family knew that Effie, who was now getting quite old and would have to be replaced soon if she didn't regain the spunk she had twelve years ago, would be picking from a fixed drawing. All of District 12 knew that, which is why none of the girls would be nervous this year. It was no secret that President Snows son, who was now the president, was bitter about his father having been made a fool of. I saw Peeta grab tiny Rue and carry her out - carry her out to her death. She would die in a matter of weeks, just like the other Rue did, if I didn't stop it. Why was Peeta being so... unsympathetic? Doesn't he know that every year the capitol finds more and more terrifying, painful, and brutal ways to kill teenagers? Didn't the memory of the 74th Hunger Games replay in his head every night like it did in hers? I'm sure they do, but we never speak of the games. Ever. Some may say that makes for an unhealthy marriage. Those people are idiots. They haven't lived through what we've lived through. Those people shouldn't judge. I could hear Rue's cries of desperation - it sounded like an odd mix of Rue and Prim. "PRIMRUE!" Peeta yelled, almost in tears, knowing that there would be a good chance that the peacekeepers would take her and have his and my head, or at least tongue, for being late.

"PEETA! STOP IT!" I yell angrily. He jumped back, having never heard me use that tone with him before.

"Katniss, we -" Peeta started.

"NO! Shut up!" I lower my voice so Rue can't hear me, and pull Peeta to the side. I used that scary tone that people only use rarely and in extreme cases, where they are literally incapable of yelling at that point. "I know as well as you do that the memory of the games plays in your head every night, as they do in mine. Do you really want to subject your daughter to that? And what if she doesn't survive? Do you really want your daughter to be mauled by beasts, burned alive, or starve to death? She can't hunt or fight like the careers! She never took an interest or talent in hunting, despite my attempts to teach her. She is not strong. She can't disguise herself or even find food." I say. I hear Rue's cries, and I realize I was speaking loud enough for her to hear. I stare sympathetically at her before turning my gaze angrily back to Peeta.

"Well what do you suppose we do?" he yells back.

"Well for starters I think you need to get your priorities straight" I snap, before kneeling down to Rue. "Sweetie," I say, kneeling down to her level. "Get your coat. We're going on an adventure. Don't worry, you will be safe! Just put some of your most important things in your bag!" I smile, and she begins to runs off. "Not Swimmy, though!" I yell after her, referring to her Beta fish, and I can see her turn around with a sad expression. I nod my head and she sadly runs off. I get back up. "If we show up, all three of us are dead. Us for being so late, her for being in the games... And with our luck, it will be slow and painful - for us and her!" I say bitterly. "They're already showing that stupid video about the districts rebelling, probably, and any minute now they will call her name and she wont be there!" I look at my keychain watch. "In four minutes to be exact."

"Well what do you suppose we do?" He asked again shortly, quite irritated.

"I think that you-" I poked his chest on 'you' "Need to decide what's more important - your life or your daughters?"

"Rue's of course!" he said angrily.

"Well it sure didn't seem that way when you were pulling her off the bed when she was scared of death!" I say, walking around the house to collect and pack teabags, bread, meat, sleeping bags, matches, rope, clothes, and books into a bag among other things. I took notice of his face, it became softer and he almost looked sick... at his actions maybe?

"I didn't want us to become Avoxes. Or dead." He says quietly, looking down.

I have no sympathy for him at this point, and I spew out things that I don't actually mean. "IF I MARRIED GALE, HIM AND I WOULDN'T BE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION. IN FACT, HE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF RUNNING AWAY BEFORE I DID, AND THERE WOULD BE NO QUESTION ABOUT IT!" I screamed, slamming my bag on the table - loudly. We stared at eachother, with sort of a silent conversation. He silently asked me if I really meant that, and I didn't answer. I didn't mean it, of course. If I did, I wouldn't have been with him for 17 years, despite the capitols 'opinions'. However, I couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"We both know shes going into the games whether we're alive or not!" he yells and I can see his eyes starting to water up, but he dare not show weakness. He learned that in the games when I was sure that I was going to kill him for teaming with Cato, Clove, and Glimmer.

"The Mellarks are marks of rebellion, Peeta!" I say coldly. "You didn't once think of escaping?" I question.

"OF COURSE I HAVE, I JUST REALIZED THAT WE WOULD GET CAUGHT AND EVERYONE WE LOVE WOULD BE PUNISHED SOMEWAY, SOMEHOW!" He screams. I'm taken back by his anger.

"Well, the peacekeepers will be here any second and Rue and I are running into the woods!" I conclude, checking my keychain watch and finishing putting items into my bag. I love Peeta, I really do, but right now he needs to stop being selfish and think about his family.

"So what are you saying?" He asks with an attitude. "That while you two run off you will leave me here to be questioned and tortured by the peacekeepers to the point of death?"

"Of course not!" I roll my eyes. "When have you EVER known me to leave you alone to die? I didn't leave you alone when you were dying of an infected cut, and I was even risking my own life. How dare you say that I-" I was cut off by Rue coming into the room dragging a bag behind her. "And be sure to join us quietly, you walk loudly." I say, so Rue doesn't have to listen to a fight at the scariest moment of her life. He rolled his eyes.

I lowered my voice, out of fear of Rue listening. "In a week or so, if you have your friggin act together by then, maybe your daughter can actually live - unless, of course, you don't want to be turned into an Avox - I mean, since it's all about you!" I say sarcastically. "Let's go!" I say, staring coldly at Peeta as we head out.