Well this is a rewrite of a story of mine called "Emotions Through Work". It was a Cinna and an OC character story that I ended up having really bad writers block to go on. Basically I am restarting it and changing it up a bit. Anyways, all places and people belong to Susan Collins.

Ella:

I cannot close my eyes anymore. The images of death and despair are painted inside my eyelids. I should have gotten into drinking or doing some type of drug; at least I did not have to bear with the pain of the games. I did not do that though and decided to stay on a clean route. At least I know how my father feels, he deserves so much better than what has been done to him. My mother left when I was reaped, leaving my father on a downward spiral of depression and thoughts of death. Now we have the same thought process, but try to get through it together.

Sometimes I wish that I did not win, that I did not have to go back to the Capitol. I always have dreams about my own death, a noble death for my district. However, I knew that some greater power wants me to stray here. There is a reason a girl with no odds in her favor, which lived the high victor life, had not any chance of winning won. "You out witted them," my father always explains to me, "you are a very intelligent girl, Ella."

My father always makes me think with his comments, about how true he was. Most of the time I always thought that he had a sixth sense, and that was what was going to happen in the future. Even his old stories about how things where going to get better made you press the pause button and think. Maybe things would eventually get better for me. The Capitol took much from me, my sense of being human, my mother, and whatever ties that my father had to sanity. There is one thing that they did not take from me. Design.

Design was my talent as a little girl. Being from District Eight, I knew about fabrics from school and I knew how to put them together. A few stitches there and I had made my first outfit at age five. It has been my specialty ever since.

Now we head back to the hell that everybody knows as the Capitol. I have been summoned up to the President's Mansion the first thing after I step off the train platform. At first I wanted to say "no" to them, but I knew that would be putting my father and me at risk for death. I just hope that they do not do what they did to Finnick Odair, forcing him to pleasure those of the Capitol. He knew their secrets, but never used them against the people they belonged to. It was just too risky and would be thought as a sign of another rebellion.

The midday sun was illuminating anything that it was touching; from the ugly, rugged rocks that lined the mountain of the Capitol, to the sparkles of the sea in the distance. The scenery was so beautiful, and was the only thing I liked about being in the trains. "Ella, come over here," one of Cecelia's kids pulls on my pant legs, "we have something to cheer you up!" I smile at the young boy, with his golden hair, dark eyes; he was so much like his father.

"Well, do not keep me waiting," I smile as he grabs onto my hand, really my finger, with his tiny hand and leads the way.

"Close your eyes," his little voice commands, I do as I am told, "you have your eyes closed?"

I nod my head, "yes Daniel, I have my eyes closed."

"Good, we are there," a voice whispers and I knew that it was not Daniel's. I feel his hand leave mine, "now open your eyes." I open my eyes to find my stylists on the television screen. What a disappointment, before I noticed his house and his conversation.

"Is that really you Carron?" I whisper, "is that really you?"

"Yes, it is me, my little Dandelion," his voice soothes me over, "how have you been?" This conversation lasts all the way to the Capitol. Carron and me go over everything that had happened since the victory tour. He tells me how popular my designs are in the Capitol and not to worry about Snow. Really, I was forgetting about my summons to the President's Mansion to he mentions it. "So you think I will be fine?" I ask him through a microphone that has been lying on the table.

"Yes, if it is anything, it is about your designs. Again sweetheart, do not worry," Carron gives me a reassuring smile, "it looks like your train is stopped, so I must get going. I wish your tributes the best of luck and I will see you later. Good bye." The screen goes black before I could say anything else. Cecelia grabs onto my shoulder for a second, gives me a smile of good luck before exiting the train. It had stopped without me knowing it; even the tributes were off board.

I pull over the jacket I brought with me and step off in the somewhat chilly Capitol air. When I am off the platform, I look for any sign of somebody to pick me up. There was only two peacekeepers, who watch me closely like I was going to do something wrong. I peer at them, pushing up my glasses, and flash the one to my left a smile. He rolls his eyes and whispers something under his breath, but does not move his position. I hear a slight giggle leave my throat, the first one between months of pain.

A dark car pulls parallel to the train and a man dressed in all dark steps out of the back of the car. "Ms. Hawthorne, you have been summonsed to the President's Mansion," the man steps out my way and offers his hand, "now lets go together." I have heard this voice before, but I cannot put a face to it. Not matter what I take his hand and let him lead me into the car.

The man's face was shaded and I could not tell who he was and why he is escorting me for the car ride. He sits there quietly; all I could tell is that he was like everybody else in the Capitol, skinny, crazy, and a borderline alcoholic. When we arrive, there are no paparazzi, but you could see busy avoxes getting ready for the tribute parade. The car pulls up right in front of the president's gigantic mansion; the avox driver opens the door. I whisper to him, which is a risk in its self, "thank you." He smiles before shutting the door and getting back into the driver's seat.

My escort had already gotten ahead of me, and I could only get a glimpse of the brown hair that covered his head the suit he was wearing. "Follow me," he shouts back without turning around, he motions me with his right hand. I follow him up the stairs and into the mansion. I follow him through the luxurious hallway filled with paintings of long before this time; the walls were different colors and lined with crown molding. All the halls of the small palace were the same, even with the sharp turns through different halls. We stop in front of a door and the man opens it and holds it open, keeping his arm behind of them.

"With the innocent on his face is a map of the world.
A map of the world, on his face is a map of the world."

― From Yesterday, 30 Seconds to Mars

At first, the aroma of roses greets me; it was a rose garden. As we venture further on the smell becomes more sickening. I knew that smell from months before in the victory tour. My eyes start tearing up; it was him; the man that forced me to design for the Capitol; the man who took everything from me, including my humanity. I know not to show that I am weak, the others told me that. Finnick told me that was the only way I was going to survive if I were called into his home.

"Oh Seneca, you brought her!" the voice was materializing now.

"As you requested, sir," the man replies, taking a seat across from. I peer at the small group of men; there were three of them: the Head Gamemaker, the President, and a man that I never knew.

"Now sit, Ella, your are not in trouble," the president points to the seat next to the man. I slide into the seat and immediately peer down at my feet, "now look up! I only have a proposition for you!"

I let my gaze meet his sinister gaze, "then why are they here?"

"Do not worry about them," the president reassures me, "now lets get down to the real reason that you are here. I am correct that you met Finnick Odair?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" I peer at the man next to me, then to Seneca, then back to Snow.

"You do know what Finnick does when he is in the Capitol?"

I shake my head, "No, I do not."

The president smirks, pulling a rose from one of the bushes and picks up a pair of clippers. He disgusts me, but I have to do what he says. "Well Jeremiah, I guess she is yours now, remember to make your payment later." I do not have enough time to react before I am dragged away from this foreign man and out of the building. He pushes me into a car, in the back seat. "Now sweet heart I am going to make you regret fighting," I am trying to kick the door open, but fail, "lets get you going again."

I lose my dignity and respect that afternoon as I stay at that man's apartment for around two hours. "You where great," Jeremiah smiles, his dark blue wig falling off his head and revealing his brown hair. I just pull on the last article of clothing that I had left before pulling myself up from his bed. The man's eyes droop and slowly close. He is deep into slumber now, which is when I sneak out of his house.

There was no way that I knew how to find my way through the Capitol. There were no faces that I knew here, that I could attach to and let them find my way through. So I just wander, hoping to find another Victor. I knew Haymitch would be in this part of the city, there are a lot of bars and I knew he would roam in this area with Chaff. I do not find their faces, but I do find a peacekeeper. "Umm, excuse me sir!" I shout to the peacekeeper, "can you give me the direction to where all the victors would be right now. I am Ella Hawthorne and I need to find them.

"Go down the block, take a right, then a left, they should be in the blue building on the corner," He whispers, "congratulations Ms. Hawthorne, if you need anymore help head back here."

"Thank you," I start following the directions that the peacekeeper. I take a right, and then head down the block. I am stopped by people that I knew where my sponsors, who decide to take more pictures and some of the male ones ask about contacting Snow. I do not tell them a thing and just head to the left. I spot the blue building and smile, opening the glass doors to find all of the victors there.

All eyes turn to me when I enter. Finnick is the first to get up as I start crying, he throws his arms around me, "I know that this happened to you, I am sorry this happened to you."

"You knew all along?" I choke out, letting his body protect me from the sight of the others and the world.

"Yes, and I tried to stop it. I know how it feels. I have lived with it for three years now, just come up to my bedroom tonight and we will talk about this in private. Okay?"

I nod my head, "lets talk about this Finnick." He lets go of me and I peer at my father. Everybody knows what Snow forced me to do; and give me apologetic looks as I head towards my father and Cecelia. I start crying, just falling on my knees in front of my father and my mentor. "I am sorry," I choke out between the tears, "I am a disgrace to you and District Eight."

My father, whose auburn eyes are glazed over with sleepiness, just meets my gaze, "you are not a bad person, Ella. You can not stand up against the Capitol."

"Your not a bad person Ella, really I do respect you for enduring that kind of pain. Especially since it was not somebody that you love and have married. I just precaution you to be safe," Cecelia grabs onto my hand, "We are here for you. Not just your father and me, all of the victors; especially Finnick. We will make sure that you are safe and still have the most normal life you can. Just endure this for us while we figure out how we can help you. You got that Ella?"

I nod my head, "as long as I know that there are people behind me, I will endure this. However, why me?" Cecelia and my father look at each other then at the other victors. I never get an answer for the rest of the afternoon. All of just sit in a room, telling stories about our Hunger Games. There is drinks and food laid out for us and we just continue or idle chitchat. I try to ignore the avoxes, the silent souls that we must order around, cause I do not want to be cruel to them, even if they were criminals.

After a couple of hours worth of talking, it is time for the tribute parade. I had made some friends, including Beetee and Wiress (who I must say have the most wonderful relationship in the world), Finnick and Mags, and Blight and Johanna. Finnick offers to take up to the VIP area to watch the parade, "come on, it is fun."

I am resistant at first, but I agree to go. Finnick and me have to go immediately if we were going to the area early before all of the big Capitol citizens get there. We walk through the darkening and crowding streets together, I hold onto the back of Finnick's plaid polo. I just make sure not to leave the bronze hair on top of his head, being shorter than most of the citizens. Luckily I do not lose him and we make it to the area safely.

"Come on, let me introduce you to a couple of people," Finnick shouts over the loud music and starts making his way through the building. I do not reply and just follow him as he piles through the crowd. When I catch up to him, I grab onto his belt for his shorts and let him glide me to a staircase. There is nobody there so I am reassured that there will not be large crowds anymore and just follow Finn.

Finnick and me make our way up a silvery staircase that is lined with portraits of the people who own the home. I just hold onto the rail and try to straighten out my black reaping dress, the incident earlier made my clothes wrinkle a tad bit. "We are almost there," Finn could speak in a quieter tone now; the music was dulled now.

"Finn, who do you want me to meet?" I question him; my feet were killing me from walking so much in heels today.

"Stop complaining, we are almost there. They are good friends of mine," you could hear the lighted tone in his voice; that was much different from earlier today. When we reach the top of the staircase he is greeted by his friends, "hey, Sienna and Annette, and you too Cinna."

The room was small, but outside there was a balcony that faced where the tribute parade was about to happen. Finnick's friend were a small family, they sit on a large, circular, black leather couch in the middle of the room. They had their own refreshments and goodies to snack on, totally ignoring the party going on down on the lower floor. The three of them just stare out to the balcony, talking about the tributes this year. "Come Ella, let me introduce you to these people," Finnick whispers, pulling me over to the couch and sitting me next to the younger boy.

"Ella, the party is going to come up here in a minute, if you seen someone that might be your future love, ask me about them. I know everybody in this party," Finnick whispers, "good luck, sweetheart. Remember, I will find you later to take you for dinner at the training center." Finnick steps up and the boy I was sitting next to walks out onto the balcony to get a front view. I decide to follow him with nothing better to do, and stand out and hold onto the metal rails.

At first there is nobody out there except this young man, and me, he does not say a word to me and watches the crowds below. You could hear the crowds of below roar in cheer as they get the announcement that the tribute parade was going to start in five minutes. People from the party start to pile onto the large balcony. They all try to have conversations with each other, but they end up shouting to people that are right next to them. The boy does not say anything and holds onto the cool metal bars; he was in focused on the ground below.

You could hear the echoes of cheers coming from down the cheers coming from down the street. The parade was starting and I was being pushed up against the bars, so was the boy that was next to me. There was another young man to my left as well, who tries to hit on me. I just roll my eyes at the cheesiness of his pick up lines and the crude jokes that makes me shake my head. He makes fun of the district kids, but I doubt he knows I come from a district. I just watch the activities below; the tributes are dressed in fabulous costumes. "I know I can do much better than these stylist," the boy shouts over the music, "what a shame."

I guess that comment was meant to be towards me, "I know right, I have my own line that is ten times better than this." His green eyes meet mine; I finally could see his face. He had green eyes, wore golden eyeliner that brought out the gold flecks in his eyes. His skin was a pale white, but he has freckles that line his nose; his lips are pale. He has dark brown hair covers half of his forehead. He had a pretty face and I could not help myself from smiling.

The boy quickly turns away and I could see the blush that paints his face. I giggle under my breath and turn back to the parade with the last chariot of District Twelve. The crowd diminishes and the people head on their own merry ways. The boy leaves with a group of older men, leaving me standing by myself on the balcony. I lean my elbow on the rail and lay my head on top of my hand, "who are you boy with the golden-green eyes? Why do you look so normal? I must know more about you."

Finnick was behind me in my moment of pure lust, "I guess you found somebody at the party sweetheart? What is his name?"

I turn around and smile at Finn, "I do not know, all I know he is the boy with the green-gold eyes."

"Oh, him, he is such a charmer and a looker. You have picked well young lady, now lets head to the Training Center and get you some food. Then we will talk about your current situation," Finnick whispers to me, grabbing onto my arm. He escorts through the crowds that continue to celebrate the Hunger Games. I remember watching these people from my room last year, wishing that I were apart of it. At least these citizens did not have a care in the world.

We enter the training center, greeted by one of the Game Makers that were heading for the party. Oh the rumors that were going to be started by that Game Maker! I knew Finnick has his love at home that he would protect with his own life; I did not know her name, but I knew she was beautiful. Little ugly me was walking arm to arm with the hottest man in Panem; which is news story in the Capitol.

We enter the elevator and Finnick punches in the numbers "04", and we make our short descent to District Four's floor. When we step off the food was being cleaned off from the table, leaving my stomach rumble. "Adelina, will you please bring Ella here a drink of tea and a plate of seafood with a summer salad," Finnick asks, "it will be greatly appreciated, just bring it to my room when it's ready." The dark headed avox nods her head; stepping onto the elevator and leaving our sight, "follow me sweetheart."

Finnick leads me through the District Four level, through halls painted green and blue like the sea. I follow him down a blue green hall and into the room at the very end. The door slides open, which is different, opening a room with a window view of the Capitol city lights. Finnick sits me down on a modern bed with dark wood headboards, light green blanket, and dark blue pillows. The room was beautiful, large, and lined with candles that kept you in passion once you step through the door.

"I can turn the lights on if you wish," Finnick pulls are chair and takes a seat in front of me.

I preferred the candlelight, and actually enjoyed it, "No Finnick, it is perfectly fine. Now start off telling me why I have gotten into this predicament."

Finnick looks down, his golden curls auburn in the candlelight, "see when you first won the games last year your sponsors mentioned much about your beauty. They told President Snow how much they wanted you, just like they did to me. See when there is request for those types of dirty things makes President Snow only think of profit for himself. That is why they forced you into this, me and you are the only ones who have to suffer this fate."

"I am not pretty."

"Not pretty? Darling, have you ever looked into a mirror? You're the most gorgeous girl in the world, and I am pretty sure that everybody else thinks that."

"Finnick, what am I going to do about this situation?"

There is a loud sigh that escapes his lips, "we really can not do anything but do what the Capitol wants us to do. Do not worry though, remember how I said I wanted you to look at young men at the party?"

I nod my head, "yes Finnick, the one with the green-gold eyes and beautiful complexion is my choice out of all of them."

"Well get him to fall in love with you, that is all I am going to say. Now, the rest of the conversation is something for another time. Now I believe your feast is arriving in a couple of minutes, just lay back and relax." He pushes me down onto the bed and smiles, getting out of the chair and laying down next to me. The bed was large, so both of us could fit.

"Am I really pretty, Finnick?" I ask him, letting my gaze stay glued on him.

"Yeah, which makes it more than a task to lay in this bed with you," Finnick whispers, throwing his arm on top of the pillow and lets me nuzzle my head on his arm. I just gently fall asleep, forgetting the food and hoping my father does not figure out about this. He obviously wants his fifteen-year-old daughter to be laying with a seventeen-year-old boy known for sex.

However, I do not dream of Finnick, I only dream of the green-gold eyed boy from earlier, what his name would possibly be. How was he so normal in this outrageous place known for its color? I had to know more.