Chapter 2
Before Gale left, he said to the two of us, "Don't worry. Since your parents have won, two tributes from the same district can win. You are both incredible fighters. Show them what you're made of. Rue, I imagine you heard what I said. Keep it up. Good luck. I love you both." Gale was gone. The only shred left of District 12 was gone. But wait, what's this? My mom stood in front of me, and held a small velour sac closed with a drawstring. I opened the sac only to find the hold mockingjay pin that my mother had used as a token, years ago. She pressed the pin firmly into the palm of my hand, and said, "Take this, Rue. Take this, and I'll always be with you." I looked at her, and started to cry. "Shh, don't cry," she said softly. "You don't want them to think you're weak." Mom was right, I didn't. I was strong, and I knew that both me and Liam could win. If we could just stay alive... Oh, where was Haymitch with his trusty old "Stay Alive."? That would have lightened the mood. But instead, our tears hung heavily in the poorly lit room. Much too soon, the train arrived. After we boarded the train, all I wanted to do was flop down on the couch and curl up against Liam. My wish was granted, but it's effect short-lived. I started to cry as soon as the train left the station, because I knew it may be the last time I ever saw district 12. Effie came into the room, and directed us to our bedrooms. She told us to be ready for dinner in an hour. I lay down on my bed, and just stated at the ceiling until I heard a knock on the door. "Rue, can I come in?" It was mom. "Ya, come in." She walked in the room, and took a look around. "Wow," she started, "This looks a lot like my room when I came the first time." I looked more closely at the room, and sighed. "Really? Do you think it's the same one?" I wasn't really curious, but I tried to show interest in something other than planning my doom. "Nah, it couldn't be. This one looks too new. Mine was more traditional." We stared at each other in silence for a moment, before my mom said "C'mon then, let's fix your hair." She grabbed a large brush off if the table, and began brushing my hair over, and over, and over, and over. Finally, she started braiding. She started the braid on the right side of my head, and then French braided it over to the other side, where it fell over my left shoulder. I looked in the mirror, and gasped to myself. I looked just like mom. Not a little bit, but a lot. I know that I look a lot like her, not only because she is standing behind me, but there are pictures of the district 12 winners on the wall behind me. The man who won years ago, Haymitch, dad and mom. Spitting image. The gray eyes, the coal black hair, even the outfit looks similar to the picture. The only thing that's missing is... The pin. My mom had to send it to the gamemakers so that they could review it, but I'll get it back just before the games. I walk out of my room alongside mom, and dad is standing there with Liam, who looks exactly like Gale. Exactly. Now that I think about it, I can see why mom and Gale were able to pass as cousins. Liam looks like me. We head to the dining section of the train, and sit down where Effie has already arrived. We sat down and began eating the finest food that I had ever eaten. Even with the victor's rations, the food at home was only mediocre. After the meal, Effie put on the Capitol news where they were showing the highlights of reaping day. The ones that stuck out for me were the pair from district 1, Platinum and Gleam,(District 1 had the stupidest names) the girl from 10, I don't recall her name, but she looked awful young. Didn't even look 12 years old. Real thin too. The last one who really touched me was Jacob Odair, Finnick and Annie Odair's son. He is 18 years old, and was born when my parents were only 17. Finnick was in the third quarter quell with my parents, and he escaped the games as well. He died a brutal death during the rebellion. Annie is also a victor, and was reaped for the quarter quell, but another victor volunteered for her, as she was not very mentally stable. My parents have kept in touch with Annie, and so if she was not here with me tonight, my mom would be on the phone with her for hours. Mutual crying, I guess. They live in district 4, and so it's a little far to see each other often. If I had known that Jacob would be in the games, I would've told Thresh to go visit them. I couldn't have known.