My first Hunger Games fic, so I hope that it's not too bad. I wrote it just now while I was on a sugar high, and am too wired to check it over so please excuse any grammatical and spelling errors. And I promise the next chapter will be better. If there is another one. You guys decide.

Highlight of the day: My mom told me that she used to eat her children's vitamins like candy when she was a child, taking them by the handful and watching t.v. Now I know where I get the habit from.

"Got all the names in the ball?" President Coin asks Plutarch.

He nods. "All the live capitol children are entered."

"Okay, let's get outside. We start in twenty minutes."

President Coin walks out of the room stiffly, the way she always walks.

"You should probably start getting ready Katniss." Plutarch called over to me.

I nod slowly, but half of my mind is absent. It's reaping day, but my name isn't on any of the slips of paper this year. I don't have to worry about someone I know getting chosen as a tribute in the arena. In fact, I'm probably going to end up as a mentor.

But honestly, that's not what's really on my mind. I'm really thinking about Prim, how her name was called on reaping day two years ago, when she was still here. Still alive. But those day's seem as though they were centuries ago.

Plutarch is right though, and I should be getting ready, considering that I was one of the victors who voted for this year's Hunger Games to take place. I get up off the couch and make my way towards my quarters to put on something respectable. Or at least clean. That's the best it's going to get today.

I make it out to the stage with a good three minutes to spare, and take my seat on the stage between Johanna and Annie. Annie is whispering to her bulging stomach. "Oh, I know today's a bad day, but everything's going to be okay."

"How's the baby?" I ask her.

She gives me a small smile. "Oh, just fine. My little darling is sad because... well today's not a good day."

I nod to show her I understand, even though there's no way her unborn baby would be sad. But she's a little unstable mentally. I am too. So are half of the victors.

I stare out into the sea of faces, the children from the Capitol who are shaking with anxiety, probably praying that their name won't be called. I know the feeling too well. I examine different faces in the bunch. Twenty-three are going to be dead soon.

I'm so relieved when President Coin takes the stand and starts talking because I'm starting to feel shaky, thinking about all the dead children. But I fore myself to stop because all those kids out there have been watching district children die their whole lives. Now it's their turn.

"We gather here to choose the twenty-four tributes for this year's Hunger Games. The Hunger Games were started as a punishment for the dark days inflicted upon those who lived in the districts. For seventy-five years, the Capitol has been taking children from each district to participate in the Games for entertainment. However, today there is change, and now it is the children of the Capitol who pay the price. Effie, would you like to come up to draw the names?"

Effie Trinket gets out of her seat and heads over to stand by the two glass balls filled with slips with names printed neatly. The names of Capitol citizens between the ages of twelve and eighteen.

"Happy Hunger Games!" Effie pipes with excessive cheerfulness. "And may the odds be in your favour!"

I wonder how she manages keep upbeat almost all the time. Maybe she slips stuff into her coffee.

Effie walks over to the ball on the right. "Ladies first!" She digs around a bit before pulling out a slip. "Tessa Pinits."

A girl in the crowd, who I assume is Tessa, bursts into tears immediately. The girl beside her gives her a quick hug before Tessa makes her way to the stage. She's still crying as she shakes Effie's hand. And when Effie tries to talk to her, she's sobbing too hard to respond, so Effie stops trying.

In fact, almost all the female tributes are like this, although a couple attempt to keep it together before the tears start to flow. A couple of the tributes stick out in my mind, like a girl with hair so frizzy and pink, it reminds me of the candy floss they used to sell at the sweet shop in District Twelve, although I didn't much of a taste for it. A girl whose skin was a deep blue and white hair. However, the last girl called makes my heart stop. She's so little she must be only twelve, but she could easily passed as a nine year old. And as if that wasn't enough of a disadvantage, she had her arm in a cast. She really tried to keep a straight face and be brave, but with her odds, it's hard to avoid the truth.

After all the boys are called up, it's sob fest. The kids in the crowd are crying, the kids on stage are crying, and the parents are crying. Effie makes a last ditch effort to regain attention. "Are there any volunteers?" she's practically yelling.

One single hand is raised in the crowd. It's far back, and I can't see the owners face, but it seems to get everyone's attention in seconds. Because there actually is a volunteer and this is the Capitol: a place where you always put yourself first. There's no way it's a Career, because there aren't Careers in the Capitol. Because Capitol citizens are never forced to take part in the games. Period.

"Oh," Effie says. Even she's surprised. "Well come on up!"

The people in the crowd clear a space for the volunteer, and that's when I get my first look at them.

Make that her, it's a girl. And my first thought is that she can't possibly be a Capitol kid, she just doesn't fit the picture. She has dark hair, olive skin, and as far as I can tell, has no alterations to her physical appearance like most Capitol citizens do. In fact, she has the Seam look to her, although there's no way she's from the Seam. I look to see the other victors expressions, but instead I catch Plutarch's, whose eyes are the size of dinner plates and pained look catch me off guard.

As she mounts the stage, Effie sticks out her hand, but the volunteer does not shake it. I almost laugh because Effie seems extremely put off by this display of bad manners.

"Hello, there. What's your name?" Effie forces a smile.

"Violet," the girl replies.

Effie frowns. "Can you tell us your last name?"

Violet pretends to think for a while, but you can tell she's just humouring Effie. "No."

Effie seems distressed at the level of disrespect. "Um... okay then. Which lucky girl do you want to replace."

"Gilda," Violet responds. Gilda's the one with the broken arm, and the look on her face is awe. Disbelief. Then Gilda walks over and gives Violet a big hug, before running off the stage.

"Was that your sister?" Effie asks Violet.

Head shake no.

"Another family member?"

Head shake no.

"A friend?"

Another headshake. "I've never seen her before in my life."

Shock is on every single person's face that's here, because no one was expecting anything like this to happen. President Coin is taking the microphone again.

"Yes, let's all give this year's tributes a round of applause."

It's silent for a moment, because everyone's still in shock, but then one-by-one, people start to clap. After a respectable amount of time, President Coin silences them. "Do our tributes have anything to say?"

Most of the tributes are still crying silently. Except the volunteer, who after a long pause steps forward. "I have something to say."

President Coin hands the microphone over to Violet, who accepts it with a small thank you.

Violet marches right up to the front of the stage, and you can see her faced being zoomed in on by cameras as her face is on every screen, magnified a hundred times. Everyone seems to lean forward in anticipation.

She takes a deep breath before speaking. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I'm taken aback. In fact, I'm sure every single person who is here is taken aback. You can see the shock on their faces; this was the last thing they were expecting.

"I mean, we just had a revolution, in case you missed it," she said, angrily, "And people took part in that revolution, I took part in that revolution because we needed change. And we won, yet you're falling back into the same patterns as the people before us, sending kids into an arena to kill each other! We have the opportunity to make Panem a place where justice is established, but this isn't justice! This is revenge! And it's so misdirected because the children who are standing before you on this stage have nothing to do with the terrible things the previous government inflicted."

I can see President Coin calling for guards from the side of my eyes, but my attention is focused on Violet, along with the rest of Panem.

Yet, Violet speaks on. "You're already leading the country in the wrong direction. If you want progress, try a different system than the faulted one we had before us. I know you're angry and hateful; I am too, but if an eighteen year-old can see past that, then you should be able to as well. There is no benefit to these Games, no justification. Whatever justification for the previous Hunger Games was flawed and twisted as well."

By this point, guards are climbing onto the stage, but Violet doesn't hesitate.

"If can't take reason about the morality of the situation, at least think of how illogical it is to hold the Games. Resources and money will be wasted, the way they've been wasted for years of Hunger Games. And you can't forget the reduced population. There's a population of less than ten thousand left after the rebellion, and children are scarce. Despite what you might believe, children are the future, and we need as many as we can get to maintain the population. You're about to kill twenty-three. Some are still yet to die from incurable disease. Some are still slowly dying from wounds and exposure to radiation." She took a collective pause, and I swear you could've heard a pin drop. "Let's see how bright the future is going to be."

The last line falls over the crowd as Violet throws the microphone to the floor. President Coin orders the guards to seize her, but Violet just jumps off the stage and lands on the balls of her feet before walking through the crowd which splits for her. The guards catch her as she reaches to the end of the crowd, but she seems totally unfazed by being captured, and walks back with them without complaint.

"Thank you, you may all return to your dwellings," President Coin says, but the sound is distant in my mind because I'm thinking over everything Violet has said. About how we are following in the footsteps of President Snow by holding the Hunger Games. About how we are misdirecting our anger. How we're simply wasting resources that have a way better use. And I'm almost sure that she's right.

I exit the stage with Peeta and Haymitch, but no one says anything. It's only been about thirty seconds since the end of the reaping when we are called for a meeting. All of the victors and select others. We meet in Integrity Hall, a grand place with board rooms that have those long tables. We file in and take seats. I spot Gale who's across the table, six spot to my left. Things have been weird with him.

"We have Violet being watched in room 103," President Coin announces upon her entry, just seconds after I've sat down. "What did you think of that?"

"There no way she's from the Capitol," is what I blurt out before anyone else has the chance to say anything. It's not the first thing they expect to hear. "She has no hint of the capitol accent; she doesn't look the part at all; and she volunteered to replace a girl she's never seen in her life. It doesn't fit."

"She looks a bit like Katniss," Peeta says blandly.

Enobaria smirks. "Yeah, a better-looking Katniss with brown eyes."

I really try not to take that personally, but it's kind of impossible. And it doesn't help that almost everyone in the room is holding back smiles.

"Enough," Coin says, clearly agitated. "The point is, what do you think about what she said? Do you think she's trying to rally people for another rebellion?"

Beetee shakes his head. "Probably not. She'd have to be out of her mind to try and start a rebellion now, but she didn't seem insane. Just angry."

Angry. Yes, she was undeniably angry. You'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice. But why would someone from the Capitol, who probably has had a really easy and trouble-free life, be so angry? Unless she just really didn't think Capitol citizens should be subjected to such atrocity because they're better than the rest out us, but I seriously doubt that.

Coin nodded. "So what do you think-"

"She's definitely not from the Capitol," I interrupt Coin.

Coin stares at me. "Pardon?" she asks, clearly annoyed at my interjection.

"Well she isn't," I insist, "I mean, she doesn't fit the image at all. The way she acts, talks, looks. Are you sure she didn't come from the districts?"

Coin, along with half the other people in the room, sigh in frustration. I have a tendency to frustrate these people. Coin just shakes her head. "If it bothers you so much, do you want to talk to her? I'd really like to get down to the meeting."

I feel the heat creep up to my face. "It's okay. Continue."

"Should we keep her as a tribute? Or should we choose a new one to replace her?" Coin asks.

Haymitch sighs. "Why would we replace her?"

"She caused a major disturbance in the public."

"She just ranted to the crowd for a couple of minutes, hardly a disturbance," Peeta commented. "Besides, you asked if any of the tributes wanted to talk, and she wanted to talk. It's not like you gave them an outline of what they could and couldn't say."

Coin doesn't respond to this for a long time, as she realizes he's right. "But she directly accused the government of poor ruling, saying we were doing things wrong and-"

"She gave her opinion," Beetee pointed out plainly. "It's not like she went threatening people."

President Coin is just standing there looking sheepish. Well as sheepish as she can look. "Then shall I release her from custody?"

"Since she poses no threat and has done nothing illegal? It only makes sense. There's no justification to keeping her in custody. Plus, her prep team is going to be furious considering tonight's the opening ceremony and they haven't been able to get started." Haymitch say off-handedly.

"I'll have her released," Coin announces while walking out the door.

Johanna just rolls her eyes. "Let's 76th Hunger Games begin."

Love, hate?

Please review and leave any kind of comment you want. Just be honest.

Also, who thought Mockingjay was a little disappointing? I did. Well the ending, but maybe that's just because I was hoping Katniss would end up with Gale. But what really killed me was when Finnick died, because he was one of my favourite characters. Tell me what you thought.