Note: Here's Chapter One at last! I hope you enjoy. If you notice the abrupt change of writing style, it's because this is our first chapter that both of us write on. We hope you enjoy! ~ Beth AKA Lucy

The Angels Have Our Parents! Chapter One - Camping

I've grown up hearing about The Hunger Games though it hasn't been as much as I like. I want to know more constantly but even after 16 years my parents don't like to talk about it. My dad, Peeta doesn't mind talking about it as much as my mother, Katniss, does but that's a whole other story for another time. My family and I live in District 12... well the new and improved District 12, that is. We're not the richest District but we're better off then during The Hunger Games...well that's what I'm told. We- my parents, brother and I- live in a nice sized house, definitely big enough for four people with room to spare. Also we live right down the street from the school... SCHOOL! I opened up my eyes and I quickly jumped out of bed realizing what time it was. I was going to be late for school. I got dressed as fast as possible and brushed my hair. As I scrambled to get ready my brother walked into my room wearing his pajamas, hair a total mess, yawning.

"What are you doing?" He asked sleepily

"Neo." I scolded, "We're gonna be late for school, get ready."

"Did you forget?" He asked

"Forget what?" I asked as I pulled my brown, wavy, uncontrollable, hair into a ponytail.

My thirteen-year-old brother laughed, "First day of summer."

"Uugh!" I grunted, and then joined my brother, Neo, in laughter.

"Where's dad?" I asked, curious if he was at home this morning. Sometimes he takes some of his baking to our neighbors so he's not always home when we wake up in the morning.

"Downstairs in The kitchen," Neo said

I ran downstairs to the smell of baking bread. "Hi dad!" I smiled giving him a kiss on the cheek

"Forgot about summer break I see." He laughed, "Help me bake?"

"Sure." I smiled washing my hands then joining my dad to bake some fresh bread. It was about an hour later that my brother decided to join us.

"Decided to grace us with your presence I see." I teased

"Yeah well I wasn't jumping around my room like a monkey at 7 O' clock" He snapped. I stuck my tongue out at him as a reply.

Neo leaned into the kitchen, asking about breakfast, as I asked where mom was.

"There's food in the cupboard Neo, and she went hunting, Rose." He smiled.

Neo sighed and opened the nearest cupboard, as there was a knock at the door. I opened the door to see Finn Odair. He had dark hair, was tall (stood well over my 5.6) and had pale skin. Finn Odair is the son of Annie Cresta who lost her husband in the rebellion. Finn is also a year and a half older than me.

"Hey Finn." I greeted.

"Hi," he nodded, speaking barely above a whisper. That boy is hard to read.

"Come on in." I invited. He walked in and closed the door.

He smiled "I take it I'm not the only one who forgot school is out for the summer."

I laughed as I rejoined my dad in the kitchen. "Finally! I'm not the only one."

"Do you guys want to go camping tonight?" Finn asked

"Is there hunting involved?" I stood in the doorway of the kitchen that lead to the dining room.

"Of course." Finn nodded.

"Dad can we go?" Neo asked.

"Talk to your mom." He replied and just on cue my mom came stalking in the door, bow in hand.

"Mom can we go camping tonight?" I asked running up to her. She looked up at my dad who stood where I was, then to my brother and Finn, then to me.

She shrugged with a smile "I don't see why not."

"Yes." I cheered as Finn and Neo high-fived.

"I'm gonna go pack." I exclaimed and dashed up the stairs.

Packing didn't take long. An overnight camping trip wasn't exactly a grand soiree that required dressing up. I threw a few items I might need into a bag, and changed out of my school clothes into my regular hunting attire: comfortable black pants, green t-shirt, and a buckskin jacket my mother had helped me make when I killed my first deer a couple years back.

When I walked into the hall, bag slung over my shoulder, Neo was waiting for me. I smiled, feeling happy. "You ready?"

He nodded, studying his crossbow. "Yep."

I straightened my ponytail, making sure it was tight so it wouldn't come out. "What are you doing with that? You know mom and dad want us to leave everything in the weapons cabinet."

He shrugged. "It made me feel cool to have it beside me, like something might happen, and I'll need it."

I rolled my eyes at my brother's ideas and we walked back downstairs. I looked around. "Where's Finn?"

"Went home to pack. Said he'd meet you at the campsite." My dad's voice drifted in from the kitchen, and a moment later, he appeared, covered in flour, with a batch of cookies on a tray. He glanced at my brother and frowned. "Neo, you didn't happen to have that in your room, did you? Your mom was looking for it earlier."

Neo looked down. "Sorry."

A hand ruffled his hair and I turned to see mom. She had cleaned up from her expedition- she often spent time patrolling the borders of our district. I wasn't ever sure what she was looking for.

She looked so young now, and yet so old at the same time. Acting on impulse, I enveloped her in a hug, breathing in her woodsy scent.

She patted my back. Mom was always a little awkward with affection. She was willing to give it, but it took her a bit of time to feel comfortable with it. At last she embraced me back, a soft sigh escaping her lips.

"Love you, dear."

I pulled back, smiling into her grey eyes. "Love you too, mom."

She glanced at our bags. "Ready for the trip, are you?"

I nodded. "Just about. I have to grab my hunting knife." I reached into the cabinet behind me, scanning the shelf with my family's weapons. My father's knife, beside mine, my mother's bow, the empty space Neo's crossbow should have been waiting. I pulled my hunting knife down, and strapped it to my calf. I turned to smile at my mom. "Ready."

The corners of her mouth moved up slightly, and she brushed my bangs out of my eye. "I have something special for you."

I perked up in an instant. "Really?"

She nodded again. "Just a minute."

She exited into her and dad's room, and my pulse quickened. She kept important things in her room. When she came back I couldn't believe my eyes. In her hands she cradled a bow. It was several years old- over a decade- and was more crude then mother's recent creations. But knowing what it was, a tear crept out of my eye.

She approached me, placing the weapon in my hands. "This was the bow I made many years ago. It served me a long time. I thought you would like to use it."

I rubbed the rough-hewn wood. "I love it."

Mom's lips twitched into a quick smile. "I just replaced the strings. May it bring you plenteous game."

I hugged my mom again. I knew it was a lot for her to give it to me. If it was from the stories I'd managed to hear, this was the bow she had used the year of the hunger games, before she was picked. It was the bow she had used to hunt with Gale Hawthorne. I'm sure it held many memories.

Neo and I told our parents goodbye, and left the house. We crossed our memorial garden, where a pond surrounded by statues of those we had lost sat, and exited our property.

There was a special camping spot we always used with Finn. We didn't have to confirm it with each other; we just always knew where we were going.

Neo and I reached the remnants of the fence that had once been used to keep District 12's inhabitants from leaving. Now, many pieces were missing- people had used them for scrap. I stared at it, trying to imagine how my mother had once seen it: bigger, less holes. She had snuck through it, she said, to go hunting.

Neo and I stepped through the room-sized hole in the fence with no trouble. Our camping spot was about a half-mile to the northwest and we booked it in that direction.

The splashing of the brook filled my ears in no time at all, and I smiled at my younger brother. We didn't have many friends besides Finn. Being the children of Katniss and Peeta was a great honor, some would say, but it was also hard for making friends. Everyone was afraid to talk to us. The same went for Finn. So my brother and I had formed a bond. We were siblings, but we weren't like the siblings who always fought, and made nasty remarks about each other. Neo and I were the perfect team.

"Come on," I said, pushing the bow over my shoulder. We ran the last few yards to the brook. It bubbled water at our feet, and I had the sudden desire to plunge my toes in. Instead, I crossed the stones sticking out of the water to the other side, and pushed away the hanging moss to reveal the clearing.

Finn was all ready laying the sleeping bags around wood he must have collected for the fire.

My eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Wow, you sure didn't take long to get ready."

He shrugged, a smile dusting his lips, and I wondered for a moment if he even packed something other then the sleeping bags. Deciding I could interrogate him later, if need be, I sat down Indian style on my sleeping bag.

"What are we doing first?"

Neo burst through the moss as the words left my mouth, dripping wet. I stared at him, and Finn spoke at last.

"You fell in again?"

Neo scowled, grabbing a clean shirt from his pack and attempting to pat himself dry. "That second rock is slippery."

I shook my head. "Neo, why don't you just change clothes?"

He sat down on his sleeping bag, seeming to not care about getting it damp. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile.

"Because," he said, voice matter-of-fact, "These are my hunting clothes."

I looked at Finn. "So, are we hunting first?"

He lifted his shoulders.

So quiet that boy. A lot different than what I'd heard about his father, the great Finnick O'Dair.

Neo's face twisted in consternation. "Of course we're going hunting. We always go hunting first. Then fishing."

So we did.

Neo climbed a tree with the ease of a monkey, while Finn and I melted into bushes at a distance for one another. The strategy was for Neo to copy the trill of a mocking jay when he spotted good game.

We didn't go for small animals much, unless we could get several, since we were hunting for food, and a larger animal was more likely to feed our families.

We were waiting twenty minutes, but didn't think much of it. Sometimes we would wait hours for the perfect opportunity. Neo's voice shattered our silent concentration.

"Hey, I think it's going to rain."

I glanced up from my bush and noted the angry gray clouds rolling in. Disappointment twisted my gut. It had been so long since we'd gone camping with Finn, and now it looked like our trip would be ruined.

I looked across the way to where Finn crouched, his own eyes surveying the sky. "What do you think?"

He looked back at me, bit his lip, and glanced upward again. "I don't know if it will pass over. Maybe we ought to head back to pack up."

I nodded. Finn was right of course. If we didn't have our sleeping bags, and were just hunting we could stay. But not when we were camping.

As we collected our gear, I frowned at the sky. It had been a perfect, clear day when we left. Now the sky looked as if it wanted to vomit. I blinked as the clouds changed to an angry green, and lightening lit it up.

"Come on down, Neo. I think this is getting bad."

By the time we arrived at our family property we were soaking wet. The rain had started when we reached the campsite, and the downpour hadn't ended since. We'd said goodbye to Finn at the fence, and started for home.

I expected dad would have some hot chocolate and maybe some cookies for us. Mom would help him. When it rained they did things like that.

I didn't even look at anything except my house as we rushed up to it. The lights were on in several rooms, so who knew what they were doing.

I grabbed Neo's hand, even if he wasn't a little kid anymore, and hurried toward the porch. The lights flickered. I frowned. Was the storm putting out the electricity? Just as we reached the steps, the house turned dark for good.

For some reason, fear bubbled up inside me. It was ridiculous, probably just a power outage. Still, I had the distinct feeling that my parents were in trouble. I scrabbled for the door handle, my shaking hands taking longer then necessary.

Neo gave me a look that I saw in the flash of lightening, shook his head, and moved my fingers away from the handle. He turned it himself.

It swung open, and creepy, complete silence met us.

Neo reached out, and took my hand in his, suddenly taking on the role of protective brother. With a squeeze of his hand, I found the courage to walk into the house.