Ok so as I've made it a point in the past, I would like to reiterate that I do not officially know the Hawaiian language and so anything and everything that is written in the language throughout this fanfic comes from google and google translate, so if it's a little butchered I am so sorry! Anyone who does speak the language and can help with translations is totally welcome to! Remember to leave a review! Enjoy!

My body may not have been moving in the slightest, but my mind was running at a mile a minute. I sat in a small room inside of the Justice Building waiting for my family to walk through the door to say goodbye. Because soon I might be dead.

I pray they don't have to watch me die a painful death; who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and die of starvation or dehydration instead of being brutally murdered.

My thoughts came to a screeching halt as the door to the room was flung open and Luana and Koa crashed into my lower body. I could feel them shaking and hear them crying and it only made me feel worse about the situation I had put them in. But how was I supposed to let a little girl die? Who else would have volunteered for her?

"Are you insane?" Akela is the first one to speak. "What were you thinking?"

"She would've died-" I started.

"And now, so could you!" He screamed. I waited for him to calm down, but it never happened, instead he grew hysterical. "You have to win these games, you have to come back. You can do this, you know how to spear fish and use a harpoon, you're a strong swimmer, Finnick can help you with sponsors, you're fast and you're stronger than you think. You're smarter than them, you are." I'm grateful that he has so much hope for me, because I don't.

"You'll be okay Kalani." Koa whimpers. "You'll come back. You gotta come back."

"I'm gonna try." I tell him honestly.

One more time I hug the twins before looking at my mother. She's taking this better than I thought she would. Instead of crying, she looks me dead in the eyes and says, "You're going to win. And you're going to come home."

She, like Akela, acts like there is no other option, and I want to believe them, but there's too much hopeless optimism in that - this I know for sure. Chances are, I make it to maybe the final ten. Chances are, I end up facing off with a tribute way bigger than me and end up being taken down easily, or I starve, or I get eaten by a mutt, or literally anything else kills me. Chances are, I never come home and I never get to see my family or the ocean ever again.

"I'll try, mama."

"No." I'm startled by her tone. "You will." And I start to see them, the tears in her eyes are beginning to form.

"Ok." Is all I can say to her. "I love you guys."

We all stay with each other for a couple of more seconds before the Peacekeepers come in and rip us from one anothers' arms. Luana is screaming to let me go home, Koa isn't doing any better, Akela and my mother are trying their best to soothe them, and that's all I see before the doors close and separate me from my family for what could be forever.

"I've already got a list of sponsors that I know I can get to support you and send you whatever you're going to need in the arena. You've worked with animals which may come in handy with knowing how to interact, avoid, or even kill or maim some of the mutts they might release in the arena. You can catch fish, that could help you out with food because chances are there's gonna be a water source somewhere, they hate it when tributes die of dehydration, not gory enough for them. I've taught you some hand to hand, just in case you get into it with another tribute, but we'll brush up on that during our personal training time."

"Finn." I try to interrupt him, but he's rambling now, and it seems like he's only paying attention to what he's saying and nobody else.

"You're good with with spears and tridents, harpoons too, that'll be really good to show off to the gamemakers when you go for your individual evaluation. They've never put a harpoon into the games, that could be a huge new feat they'd like to add, maybe I can talk to some of the gamemakers, plant a seed in their minds. They're better for bigger targets."

"Finnick."

"Or maybe I can get you a nice trident, no one has used one since my games, so it's been awhile, I could make it like you're my protege, that would be perfect! You're beautiful, so we can work up a really good angle on you for the interview, sweet but sexy, classy but sassy, they'll eat it up those ignorant twats."

"Finnick!"

"What?" He finally looks at me and stops talking.

"Finn, chill. You've gotta work with Kai too, remember? I'm gonna try to win Finnick, I promise. But I need you to be calm so that you can help me."

"No, I already called dibs on you, Mags is gonna work with Kai." He takes a couple of deep breaths. "I have something for you, from Annie." He pulls out a necklace made with thin black rope. It held a shark tooth on it. I had seen the necklace before, it was Finnick's from his games. He had given it to Annie before her games, who had kept it and never taken it off until now.

"Your necklace." I whisper. "Thanks Finn. Tell Annie I said thank you..when you see her."

"You can tell her that yourself after you win and come home."

We stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Finnick grabbed both of my hands and brought me to sit next to him, where we hugged each other for what seemed like hours. Everyone seemed to have so much hope held inside of them, believing that I could truly make it out. I needed to start believing in myself like they believed in me if I hoped to stay alive. There were two things I knew for sure: I really would try my hardest to win if it meant getting back to the people I loved; however, if it came down to it...I doubt I could take another person's life and live with myself.

We got to the Capitol a couple of hours later and by then Finnick was able to convince me that I actually had a chance at winning these games. He had given me a few tips, starting with the most important one: the game isn't only played in the arena, to succeed - to survive - I needed to understand that the game started now. Step number one in our master plan: win over the hearts of as many people in the Capitol as I could.

I wasn't terrible at making friends, so I figured that part wouldn't be too hard, I would be charismatic, sweet, charming...Finnick-like?

Finnick ran a couple of rules by me: don't interact with any of the other tributes just yet, wait until training for that; smile and wave, smile and wave; no crying, act like this is one of the greatest experiences of my life; don't be afraid to be a little flirty, they "eat that shit up" - Finnick's words, not mine. With all these rules being thrown at me, I found it only fair to have at least one of my own.

"I'm absolutely not dressing up as a fish." I refused to lose both my dignity as well as my life here in the Capitol. "I'm fine with whatever you approve for me Finnick, just please don't have me dress up like shark bait."

Finnick laughed at that. "Don't worry darling, last year's designer was fired, but I'll run it by Cinna, Four's new designer, just so he knows how high maintenance you are."

"I hate you."

"You adore me." He scoffs. His expression changes from one of amusement to disdain in a matter of milliseconds as his eyes move from my own to past me. This causes me to turn around to see whatever was making him react in such a way.

"Wow." Is all that I can say when I see it. The Capitol. It really is a sight to see. Nothing like home, but it's beautiful.

Soon enough we begin to come across mobs of people, all dressed in very...flamboyant outfits. The train comes to a stop and Effie squeals in excitement at being back home where she so obviously belonged. She's the first one off of the train. And then Finnick. And then me. I hold onto Finn's arm for support, and not the physical kind.

"Smile and wave dollface, I'm right here with you." His whispering calms me down.

He's right, I can do this.

I look up into my mentor and, as of that moment, best friend's eyes. He smiles at me and kisses my forehead. The Capitol people go wild. My gaze is torn from the pair of safe ocean blue eyes and into the large crowd of eccentric outfits. I put on my best Finnick Odair face and give them a dazzling smile. The hand I'm not using to grasp onto Finnick is assisting me in blowing and catching kisses, as well as sending little joyous waves to everyone I can. Unsurprisingly, Finnick is absolutely right, they love it, the love me.

It doesn't come soon enough, but eventually we make it into the building ahead of us. The doors close, and once again it's just Finnick and I…and Effie...and Kai and Mags.

How have I not noticed them this entire time?

I'm ushered away almost immediately, and I almost freak out until Finn explains that they're just taking me to be waxed, shaved, and cleaned up. I barely flinch while they do this. It's pretty common to remove hair from your body in District Four, it takes off dead skin cells and heightens the feeling of the water while swimming, which in turn makes it feel like you're moving faster in the water. The glam crew, as I have officially deemed them, were quite happy with how little I squirmed or complained. After my body and hair were cleaned with some nice smelling soaps I was given a fluffy jacket like thing that I was told was called a 'robe' and walked to another room where I sat alone for a couple of minutes before someone else entered. It was a taller man with a dark complexion; he wasn't dressed like everyone else in the Capitol, wearing a simple black jacket and pants, and just a hint of gold glitter lining his eyes.

"My name is Cinna." He told me. "And I am immensely honored to meet you."

This made me smile and blush just a bit. "Thank you...I mean, mahalo."

Cinna smiles and it seems like it's his turn to blush. "Seriously, what you did for that little girl, you're a true inspiration, the people believe you to be a saviour, an angel of some sort, a-"

"Goddess." Another voice interrupts the designer. It's Finnick, and I'm thankful he's finally with me again.

"Exactly. And tonight, that's what I plan on making you into." Cinna has me stand on a pedestal in just my underwear and a wrap around my breasts. "How do you feel about a lack of clothing? Not that I'll have you out there naked or anything, but I was thinking of playing with some sheer fabric, see through and whatnot."

I shrugged. "I'm fine with it. No one from our District really has a problem with nudity or any sort of lack of clothing. It's too hot to wear so much all the time, we're usually in bathing suits and we rarely wear shoes. And we're always in and out of the water so there's no real point in excessive clothing."

"Yeah, and the tan lines suck." Finnick throws in. I giggle at that comment, remembering a specific time when he had gotten a bad tan from wearing a shirt while out on the water. "I know why you're laughing you little brat, don't make me bring up any embarrassing stories about you. Trust me Cinna, there are plenty."

Cinna seems amused by mine and Finnick's bickering. "Alright, let's get down to business. I was thinking over a couple different ideas for goddesses, and originally I was going to go with a sort of minor sea goddess, or maybe even a kind of siren feel. But then I was reading up on it, and everything was put into perspective: Aphrodite."

"The goddess of love?" I smiled.

"And beauty. Born from the sea, Aphrodite was the most beautiful of all the goddesses, mortals worshipped the very ground she was said to have walked upon. And those who opposed her found themselves faced with her wrath, underestimating just how powerful and strong she really was."

"It's perfect!" Finnick screamed. Cinna and I jumped a little, forgetting for a few moments that he was also in the room. "Sorry, sorry...it's perfect." My mentor said in a softer voice this time.

"He's right." I tell Cinna. "It's like you knew exactly what kind of angle were gonna play."

"What can I say, great minds think alike."

"Yeah, and I called him like three hours ago and told him the plan." Finnick rolled his eyes.

"Why can't you just let me have this?" Cinna rolled his eyes, to which the victor only smiled and gave a playful wink.

For the next two hours the glam crew worked on my hair and makeup. I didn't have blonde hair like Aphrodite was said to have had, so they put something in my hair that apparently had the ability to make my hair lighter. I told them I didn't want to change my hair color completely, so they only took pieces and made them a sort of gold color that blended with the rest of my brunette colored hair. My hair was left down and wavy for the most part, two pieces of hair from both sides of my head were twisted and weaved into one fishtail braid in the back. My makeup surprisingly didn't take as long, Cinna wanted a more natural beauty look so my face was covered with some liquid that matched my skin tone, some stuff was put on my eyelashes to make them look longer, and they put some stuff on my lips to give them a pinkish red coloring. The last hour was spent putting on my outfit and perfecting some minor details.

The dress was white and sheer, almost giving the illusion of mist, as if one wrong turn would give the entire world a view of what was underneath the fabric. There was a slit up the entire right side of my leg and a slim gold wrap was placed around my waist area. The top part of the dress criss crosses over my breasts and wraps around my neck, leaving almost my whole back on show along with part of my stomach ending just before the gold wrap. I was given a piece of material that was attached from one wrist to the other by gold bands and looked exactly like-

"Water."

"Not real obviously, but it gives off the illusion of that element, yes. It even moves exactly as water would. Luckily, it's not actually wet or else it would ruin your dress." Cinna explains. He places a couple of more thin golden bands on my upper left arm, and even gives me one that looked like an eel wrapping around my entire upper right arm. Once all of my accessories are placed on me, Cinna gives the green light to start leading me to where the chariots are being held. "The eel isn't exactly Aphrodite-like, but I figured it would remind you somewhat of the ocean, and of your home." And he's right, I love it.

Finnick grabs a hold of my hand as we all walk, slowing me down to a brief stop behind the group. He doesn't say anything, just places his hands behind my neck and then fixes whatever he put around my neck. The sharktooth necklace. My glam crew had me take it off so they could wash me down. We both exchange sad looks. Finn places his hands on my cheeks and then his forehead onto my own before closing his eyes. "Ma ke aloha, ua loa'a ikaika." His words comfort me. It was something my mother always said, especially after dad died when she felt those words were needed most in our time of loss. Through love we find strength. It's not what it means exactly, but that's the gist of it. I repeat the words back to him, my voice breaking a little. "You're gonna make it out of there Kalani. I'm gonna make sure of it."

"You promise?" It was a lot to ask of him, but in that moment all I wanted was the safe feeling only those words could bring me.

"I promise." We finally pull away from each other. "Let's go get this over with so you can rest up before tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" I ask.

"The start of training." He reminds me and I groan. "Come on you dork. You look gorgeous by the way."

"I know."

This makes him laugh. "And so humble. Sometimes I lie awake at night and think to myself, there's no way we're not related."

Cinna and the glam crew are waiting for us a few yards ahead. They must've realised that Finn and I had stopped but decided to give us some time to talk. I'm about to walk out the doors blocking us all from the chariots and fellow tributes but Cinna stops me. "No, no, no. Your shoes, give me them."

"You want me to walk out there without shoes?" I ask, not really sure I'd heard him correctly. "I mean, I don't mind, but why?"

"When I envision you out there in this outfit, I don't picture you with shoes."

I shrug. "You're the fashionista." Cinna laughs at my comment and catches my shoes when I toss them to him. "Finn, carry me to the chariot."

"Bugger off." He rolls his eyes at me.

"I will fight you right here, don't you dare make me embarrass you in front of all these people. Pick me up!"

"You're as intimidating as a baby shark."

"Finnick!" I narrow my eyes and the victor and I somehow end up in a stare down that I, of course, end up winning.

"God, fine." He leans down and picks me up bridal style. I smirk, feeling smug at the fact that I had won the argument. My momentary happiness is not long lived. As soon as we walk into the hall that held the chariots I felt all of the hope I once had leave my body. My arms subconsciously wrap tighter around Finnick's neck. He looks down at me. "Come on baby shark, remember that they're only kids, and they're just as scared as you are." Thanks to Finn I make it to District Four's chariot without fainting, where he then sets me down. I catch a glimpse of a couple other tributes and a bunch of well known victors. My eyes drift over to District 11 first, where a young girl and bulky man stand shoulder to….uhh head. She looks adorable and he looks intimidating.

"He sure doesn't look scared." I point him out to Finnick.

His raise eyebrows. "Yeah he doesn't look much of anything." We continue to watch the boy as their mentor seems to make a joke to which the young girl busts out laughing and the boy doesn't bat an eyelash. "God, does he even have emotions?"

We stop gaping at the boy finally and look at each other once again. "I'm gonna go say hello to a friend, I wanna introduce you to her, give me a couple seconds, stay right here." Finnick disappears and I'm left alone. Luckily, Cinna comes to touch up little areas of my outfit, making sure it was 'absolutely perfect.' He's rambling about sparkles and fabric and messing with my hair when I notice a slight change in his demeanor, he doesn't move or talk as fast as before. I don't have to wonder why for long, as he gives me an answer without me having to ask the question. "You have a shadow." His gaze is right over my shoulder.

I look over to see the little girl from District 11. She shies away a little, but smiles and sends me a brief wave nonetheless. All I can see in her is Lilinoe, they have the exact same eyes. It feels like someone is reaching into my ribcage and squeezing my heart. I was able to save Lilinoe from the same fate that would befall this poor girl. No one was able...no one choose to save her. And it's that simple fact that rips me apart the most, the fact that we let this continue on, we allow the government to continue to slaughter children and rip apart families and destroy the minds of those lucky enough to make it out of the arena; as if it should even be considered lucky to be alive after killing other kids against your will, watching district partners, people from back home, die, living weeks in fear that someone or something could potentially end your life within seconds. There are endless reasons to consider the victors of these games anything but lucky. And yet here I stand, praying I would make it out and become one of them if it meant keeping my life. But the same questions remained in the back of my mind: could I actually kill someone in cold blood?

I quickly shake off the depressing thoughts inside my head and put on an award winning smile. If I could at least make her feel somewhat safe, like Finnick was able to make me feel while I was here, then maybe she would have some hope for winning the games too; after all, tributes like her don't make it into the career pack obviously, they rarely make it into any alliance, and they usually die within the first few days. If there was anything we all needed at the moment, it was hope, and I was sure that I could give that to her.

I halt Cinna's hands and walk toward the District 11 chariot with a little pep in my step. My gaze is so focused on the little girl that I don't notice the plethora of stares I'm getting as I walk past everyone in the vicinity. My feet only stop moving when I'm right in front of her. "Hello!" I'm smiling from ear to ear, which makes her smile too. "I'm Kalani. I couldn't help but notice how beautiful you look, I just wanted to come and tell you how much I love your outfit. You look absolutely gorgeous."

A blush forms on her cheeks. "Not as beautiful as you, everyone can't stop staring." Her voice is small and causes my heart to hurt even more. How could the Capitol do something like this to someone like her? "My name is Rue." She pauses and averts her eyes, "I love the thing on your arm," she points to the eel band. "What is it?"

"It's called an eel. A lot of people think they're like snakes because of how they look, but they're actually a type of fish. They don't look like much, but they're dangerous little creatures of the sea." I smile again and wink at her, hoping she understood my underlying metaphor. "I have to get back to my chariot before Finnick realizes I'm missing, I just wanted to meet you before the night ended. Maybe we can hang out during training." Her eyes become wide and she can't seem to stop shaking her head up and down. I giggle. "Goodbye, Rue! It was wonderful to meet you!" I shout as I walk back to the District Four chariot. If I hadn't noticed all eyes on me before, I most definitely did now.

"Kalani." Finnick's voice tore my attention away from everyone else. "There's someone I want you to meet." When I looked up I saw the last person I would assume Finnick would associate himself with. "Kalani, meet Johanna Mason."

She gives me her signature smirk. "Sup, baby shark."