A/N: I've been rekindling my love for THG all because... yep, you guessed right. November's coming up and you know what that means... Mockingjay Part 1 is coming! Haha... yeah... I love it. So I made this and I hope I didn't fail but I'll leave that to you guys to decide.

Chapter 1

-Willow-

There weren't a lot of things that were particularly pleasant about my childhood. Only a few memories stood out whenever I thought really hard about it. Mostly, my life was all about gloom and sadness and fear. A constant fear that loomed over us… over my parents.

A fear that caused many good things in my life to disappear until I wasn't sure anymore if anything that had happened to me was real or not. I was starting to understand why my father sometimes muttered 'real' or 'not real' to himself. Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if I started doing it eventually.

I stared up at the ceiling of my room, oblivious to the chill the evening air brought. I gave up trying to sleep a few minutes ago and I don't see myself actually sleeping any time soon.

I heard her scream again tonight. That was the third time it happened this week. My stomach twisted into knots and I closed my eyes, desperately trying to erase her blood-curdling screams. But how could I? I grew up to the sound of her screams. I was oblivious at first but then I grew older and her screams grew louder.

Do you know how painful it is to hear your own mother scream like she's being tortured? Well… for your own sake, I hope you'd never find out. I wouldn't want to wish this on anyone.

I heard soft footsteps outside and I quickly rolled onto my side, my back facing the door. This was routine to me now. After her nightmares, she always checked on me and my brother. Rye's room was closer to my parents' room so it was logical for her to check on him first.

If I were lucky, she'd stay there and not check on me. Rye knew how to comfort her. It just came naturally to him. He was really close to both mom and dad and I wouldn't be surprised if he calmed her down before she could even think about checking on me.

I heard her footsteps getting frantic and faster. She didn't stop at Rye's room, which was odd. Instead, I heard her continue down the hallway, towards my room. My heart plummeted as I drew up the most plausible conclusion: the nightmare had been about me.

It must've been pretty scary for her to skip out on Rye and go straight to me. This was a first.

I closed my eyes and pretended to even out my breathing just as the door opened. I could feel her staring at me and it gave me shivers. Most kids would feel at ease at their parents' presence but not me. Not when she's like this.

"She's safe… s-she's safe…" I heard her whisper to herself. She sounded so relieved when she said that. The nightmare had shaken her up more than I expected as she let herself inside the room, hovering over my bed. She never did that.

Still, I didn't turn around and offer her comfort. That was Rye's job. Usually she would stand at the doorway for a few seconds before moving back to her room.

Mom still stood there, staring at me and then I realized she was hesitating to touch me. I opened my eyes a sliver and saw her shadow. I could see her frame shaking and she was holding out her right hand. She kept pulling it back and pushing it farther until she gave up and placed it at her side.

She still couldn't touch me. Sixteen years since my birth and she still hesitated to initiate contact with her own daughter. I didn't know what I did to her but it must've been something awful. I thought it was just her personality but she was never this indecisive when it came to Rye. She would even cuddle him if she were given the chance. Maybe she just hated me. I don't know. She wouldn't tell me why she acted like that around me. Maybe she just… didn't love me.

She lingered for a few moments before turning around and closed the door softly behind her.

She may care enough to protect me but that wasn't enough for her to love me. At least, that's what I've concluded. She was distant when it came to me but never to Rye.

Maybe it was because of the constant hounding of the Capitol towards my family. I didn't know the exact details but from what I've learned at school and at home, my parents had been a part of a failed rebellion after the 75th Hunger Games. President Snow forced them to surrender and my parents had been on constant supervision ever since.

The Games still continued and despite what my parents did, they were still treated like celebrities by the Capitol folk. Every year they would journey there for all kinds of interviews and meetings and every time they came back, they looked even more broken than before.

I heard stories from people around the District. They said I wasn't planned to come into my parents' lives. They said the Capitol forced my parents to have me to put a stop to the hope that still burned inside the people who believed in the Mockingjay. They had me to show that they were under Snow's command and there would be no more rebellion.

It worked. The moment I was born, my life had been the Capitol's entertainment. I was paraded around with my parents, brought to many parties, interviews with Caesar Flickerman… I was brought up with everyone's eyes on me: the adoring and ignorant eyes of the Capitol and the sad, pitying eyes of the Districts.

I force myself to stop my train of thoughts and curled up deeper under my blanket. I didn't want anything to do with the Capitol… or the games… or whatever things my parents had done… but I was their key to escaping what could have been a very nasty sentence by President Snow for their crimes.

All I could do was do my part and let them use me.

I wasn't anybody special. I was just leverage to my parents' precarious situation and I would be nothing more.

-Katniss-

I didn't get much sleep the night before. My nightmares kept me up again. They were always the same. Everyone I loved would be taken and killed right in front of me and there was nothing I could do.

That night, however, my nightmares did something they'd rarely done before. I dreamt of Willow, struggling inside the arena. She turned into a little girl, the one who loved to dance in the meadows just outside District 12.

I watched as she stumbled across the forest floor, crying and limping, calling for her mother. I could hear voices hooting and whooping in glee in the distance and that was when my blood ran cold.

Cato

Clove

Marvel

Glimmer

The Careers…

I tried to scoop up my daughter… to save her from those monstrous teenagers who wouldn't have a second thought when it came to killing even a harmless little girl.

My feet stayed glued to the floor and my hands were stuck to my sides. I couldn't do anything as I watched my daughter get hit by a small knife on her leg. Then another sailed past me and embedded itself on my daughter's left arm.

I heard her scream in agony and I heard her call for me… but I just stayed there, horrified and frozen. I didn't do anything. I couldn't do anything.

I kept screaming her name, kept begging for them to stop but they continued their onslaught. They kicked her, sliced her skin, made her cry harder for a mother who could never save her.

And then I heard it… Snow's voice drifted through the air, taunting me. This is what happens when you step out of line, Ms. Everdeen. I gave her to you and I can take her back…

Cato stepped forward with his sword gleaming in the moonlight. With one quick movement, he thrust it forward, passing through Willow's small body easily.

That last thing I saw was my daughter's face, eyes wide and pain still written across her features. My screams had woken Peeta up by then and he shook me awake shortly after.

I didn't go back to sleep after I checked on Willow. She was back to her sixteen year-old self and was safe inside her bed. At least… she was safe for now.

I let out a sigh and rubbed my hands on my face. Reaping Day was tomorrow. Maybe that was why the nightmares started up again. My children hadn't been called for the past few years and I was more than grateful to whatever God there was out there. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for this year.

My daughter was sixteen and my son was thirteen. Their names were no longer entered just once in that dreaded bowl and that was more than enough to set me off. Willow had been lucky, surviving for nearly five years without her name being picked. The chances for Rye had been upped, now with two slips of paper with his name entered.

Who's to say this was the year that streak would stop? My stomach churned unpleasantly and tears burned at my eyes. I didn't know what I would do if one of them got picked.

The thought made me light-headed. It made my heart shatter.

If only we hadn't failed that rebellion.

"Katniss? Katniss, breakfast's ready." I heard Peeta call from downstairs. I stared blankly at the door for a few seconds. I didn't feel like eating or even getting off the bed for that matter but I knew how my husband was. He would start worrying again. My children would start to become wary of me. It would be better if I came down.

Peeta called me again and I finally kick off the covers and walk out of the room. I could hear my family's chatter as I trudged down the chairs and it only made me feel guilty.

I found Peeta hovering over the table, placing plates upon plates of bread and eggs on top. Rye and Willow looked tired. It was clear that my screams had kept them up all night. Rye looked ready to fall back asleep but Willow tried so hard to hide it. She only looked down on her empty plate, acting like nothing was wrong.

"Morning, Katniss. Take a seat, I'll get you some coffee." Peeta said as he looked up.

I nodded at him and went to my usual seat at the table. Rye looked up at me and managed a small smile. I forced a smile back to him and leaned back on the chair. I saw Willow looking away from me and I couldn't help but feel saddened.

She'd been distant from me for the past few years. I think most of it was my fault. I'd been distant to her as well as she was growing up. The only memory I had of her and me doing an activity together was the day I showed her how to hunt. Come to think of it, it wasn't a particularly great experience. I ruined her innocence, taught her to kill. Sometimes I saw it in her eyes that she didn't like what she was doing… but then, a fierce determination would take its place and she would continue.

I felt like she wasn't doing it for herself but rather for somebody else. If she was trying to impress someone, I hardly think a bow and arrow would do the job. Who am I to argue anyway? As much as I disliked teaching her how to kill, I couldn't help but think that this was all for her sake. The mentor… or the protective mother in me thought that she should learn all that I knew for her sake, if she was ever chosen for the Games.

I couldn't get Rye to use a bow. He was a lot like his father that way. I did teach him about plants though. Both he and his sister had a vast amount of knowledge on them, which again, made me think that it could save their lives one day.

I heard a chair scraping against the wooden floor and I looked up in time to see my daughter get up and place her plates on the sink. She grabbed her game bag from her chair and told Peeta softly that she would be going into the woods.

Peeta nodded at her and let her go. He wasn't that surprised. Willow spent a lot of her time in the woods, much like myself, only she would go there whenever I'm not.

Peeta finally took a seat but he didn't start eating. I noticed that Willow ate but I could tell it wasn't a lot. Rye gathered some food on his plate but he only took a few bites.

The Games had this effect on all of us. I couldn't blame Willow for wanting to escape this atmosphere. She wasn't one for moping around. She needed something to occupy herself with and hunting in the woods gave her that reprieve.

"So… tomorrow's Reaping Day…" Peeta sighed.

Yes… tomorrow was Reaping Day. Tomorrow… one or both of my children might be sent to their deaths.

A/N: SO...that's that... It's mostly just introduction, letting you see glimpses of the Mellark household and their relationships. I'm mostly gonna write this in Katniss' and Willow's POV. Yeah... That's me. Anyways... This is my first attempt at a Hunger Games fanfic and actually... I don't usually use first person POV in my fics. So... something new, I think. I tend to forget sometimes. Anyways, I hope I didn't do too badly. Please tell me what you guys think