Damn, I am on a roll with this. And I am negletcing all my other fanfics because of thisss!

I'm sorry about the two bloopers in the past chapter! First, there should have been 23, not 21, and second, I made a mistake with the whole Rye/Peeta thing. I was watching the Hunger Games when I was typing this, and it was instantaneous. Also, Peeta is not going to be in this story unless in memory…because, as I'm sad to admit, he is dead.

Normally I get Rye and Roan's name mixed up!

Almost everyone thinks that Peeta is Roan's father…You'll have to wait and see!

Thank you so much for the reviews!

Also, I used one of the reviewers suggestions to make Glimmer or Clove or both like Roan!

On another note, in this chapter, the interview set up is back stage, with chairs until your name is called, kind of like in the movie.

Please keep reviewing!

May the odds be ever in your favor.

-The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

"You are really going to run this 'girl on fire' thing to the ground, aren't you?"

Cinna laughed, finishing pinning up my hair, before appearing in front of me with a brush.

"Close your eyes."

Obeying, I felt the familiar tickle as he dusted some more gold eyeshadow over my eyes.

"Now open them and look into the mirror."

I did, and was shocked into what I saw.

I was dressed in a dress of gems, all in the patterns of flames. The tips were ice blue, and whenever I moved, it looked like I was being encompassed in fire.

My hair was curled and piled atop my head, some strands falling around my face. Glued around my eyes, which had been emphasized by the golden eyeshadow, were some small gemstones.

The dress itself was simple, clinging to my body and showing off the curves I had mostly kept hidden. There were no straps or sleeves, and my collarbone was bare from any jewelry.

Cinna smiled at me, before tucking what he called a fire lily behind my ear.

"You look beautiful."

I smiled, saying, "Thank you."

Cinna crossed over to the door, before opening it, and then closed it, coming back in with Roan in his arms.

I had to laugh before taking him into my arms.

"Now you guys match."

Roan was dressed in a red one piece, with small flames printed on it. His hair was styled back away from his face, and his innocent eyes looked up at me before his hands started batting at my hair, and my necklace, the one that Prim had given me.

Cinna lead me out the door, and I didn't trip over my feet, thank god.

Rye was dressed similar to me, his suit a deep burgundy red that flashed whenever he moved.

Together, we went to a car that was going to take us to the interviews.

The entire time, I felt like my nerves were going to explode.

Roan seemed to feel my emotions in the way all babies do and squirmed a little until I sang softly into his ear.

When I finished with the wordless lullaby, we had pulled up, and I was being lead out of the car.

Camera's flashed in our eyes, and I turned Roan in to bury his head in my chest to keep him from being startled from the bright lights.

Haymitch pushed through the crowd with Effie tottering after him, the others following him.

It was only Cinna's hand on my back that kept me from freaking out again.

Once we were in, we were escorted backstage, where many plush chairs were occupied by the other tributes, dressed in their finest.

Cinna, Portia, Haymitch and Effie all wished us luck and then left to go take their seats.

Rye and I were left with Roan backstage, with others just looking at us.

Refusing to blush, I sat down, making sure Roan was comfortable.

With nothing else to do but wait, I fiddled with the edges of his hair, making sure they stayed down.

A motion in front of me had me tensing and looking up, seeing the girl from District One sitting in front of me, eyes wary and curious.

I remembered vaguely that her name was Glimmer.

Roan looked around, his eyes wide and fingers stuck in his mouth.

Rye was stiff at my back, I could tell; tensions was radiating off of him in waves.

Glimmer let out a genuine smile and cooed softly to Roan, letting him hold her finger and even stick it in his mouth.

To say I was shocked was an understatement.

This girl from One, who had been trained her whole life to kill without remorse, who looked at me with scorn and a mix of admiration and hatred, who wielded weapons like I had never seen…was playing with my son.

When she looked up at me, her eyes were wide with hope, and I saw no note of hidden motives.

"May I…may I hold him?"

Throat dry, I didn't know why I let him go into her arms, I didn't know how I could rearrange her arms into a comfortable cradle for him.

I didn't know what I was doing.

Glimmer cooed more at him, and my shock steadily grew.

The roar of the crowd made Glimmer look up, smiling ruefully at me.

"Thank you."

Glimmer then handed Roan back to me, before flouncing off to her interview.

Rye dropped into the seat that she had just vacated.

His face said it all.

"What kind of planet are we on right now?"

I let out a weak laugh, letting Roan play with my fingers in his baby glory.

"I have no idea."

The interviews passed quickly, and all too soon, I was called up onstage.

I passed Roan to Rye, kissing Roan's forehead for good luck, and then walked as steadily as I could.

"Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire!"

The crowd's roar was deafening, and I could literally feel it reverberating in my chest.

Caesar Flickerman took my hand and lead me to the chair.

"Welcome, welcome, Katniss, I will say, it is a pleasure to have you here."

Reaching down in the depths of my personality, I tried to paste on a smile I was sure looked fake.

"Thank you Caesar. Yes, it is great to be here."

"Now, Katniss, I'm sure many of us were wondering how someone so young could have a son so sweet as him."

There it was. The digging.

I kept my fake smile on, before answering in the least biting tone I could answer, "Roan. My son's name is Roan. He is the best thing that happened to me. I wouldn't trade him for the world."

Caesar noticed that I was trying to not answer the question, and promptly moved on to another subject.

"Now, I'm also sure many of us want to know how you managed to get an eleven, making Hunger Games history!"

The crowd roared at that again.

I let out a secret smile before leaning forward and looking over to the Gamemakers.

"I'm not supposed to say, aren't I?"

"She's not supposed to say!"

Laughter exploded from everyone.

"Now, I know I'm not supposed to say, but I'm sure it was…different then they were expecting."

Let me dangle that tidbit in front of them.

We continued on, and I even stood up and twirled to the amusement of the crowd.

When there was only a minute and a half left of the interview, Caesar made a motion to the people back stage.

"Now, Katniss, do you want to introduce us to Roan?"

I smiled, this time without force.

Some random Capitol worked walked out with small Roan in their arms, and I stood up and took him swiftly, before walking back over to Caesar.

"This is Roan Everdeen. He's about two months old, and he is the best son anyone could have asked for."

There was some aww-ing throughout the crowd, and Roan made it better by flashing a gummy smile and wiggling closer to me.

"Thank you Katniss, and thank you Roan!" Caesar said, leaning forward and rubbing a finger along Roan's forehead.

Then I was quickly bustled off the stage.

Haymitch was waiting for me, a small smile on his face.

"Good job sweetheart. You defiantly did well."

I let out a small sigh of relief.

The interview had been my biggest fear. No matter what my training score or a splash I made in the opening ceremonies, I couldn't depend on that alone to get me sponsors.

Dropping a kiss onto Roan's forehead, I sat back and watched Rye's interview.

He and Caesar worked the crowd, Rye telling small stories about back home, before Caesar said something that rocked me.

"So, Rye…I have to ask…are you Roan's father?"

Rye let out a laugh.

"No, I'm not Roan's father. I am the unofficial uncle. Roan's middle name is actually my late brother's name."

I smiled a little, even through the pang in my heart.

Caesar worked for a way to phrase a question.

"So, how do you know Katniss? Are you two friends back home?"

Rye nodded again.

"She helped me out of a tight spot, and I helped her, and from then on, we were good friends. Just friends."

That quickly put an end to those questions.

"He's good at deflecting questions."

I let out a small smile, before turning to follow Effie back to the cars.

"Yes he is."

When we got back to the training center, we had out last meals.

When I was done, I went up to the roof with Roan.

Curled in the corner where I could watch the sunset, I nursed Roan one last time. I would leave in the morning before he woke up, and then he would be stuck on some kind of formula for newborns. Apparently the women here at the Capitol didn't want to breastfeed, because they thought it 'ruined their looks.'

The vanity here made me want to shoot them.

When Roan was done, he curled closer to me, his small eyes closing.

I was just sitting there, enjoying the sunset and the feel of Roan's warm body when someone spoke from behind me.

"Well, you sure made an impression Girl On Fire."

I whirled around on the balls of my feet, making sure not to jar Roan.

Standing behind me, dressed in casual black pants and a light green shirt, was Cato, the District Two tribute.

"Thank you."

Cato walked nonchalantly to me, and I grew even more tense.

He rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm not going to hurt you Twelve."

Looking him up and down, I just said, "What do you want."

Cato looked me up and down before saying, "I'm offering you a spot in our alliance."

For a moment, I was speechless. Then my mind was racing a mile a minute.

Never, had someone from the outer districts ever become part of the Career pack.

Then again, I'm not sure any of them had ever had a son and a little sister they needed to go home to.

"Is this your idea of a joke?"

Cato scoffed.

"Hardly. You got an eleven. You obviously have some talent."

Ahh, I saw it now. I was a hot spot for sponsors. If Cato could somehow get me to join the alliance, then he would benefit too.

Giving myself time to think, I said, "Who else is in the alliance?"

Cato was still looking at me intently; it was starting to make me uncomfortable.

"One, Two, obviously, you."

That was pretty small this year.

Like he could almost see me hesitating, Cato rolled his eyes.

"This isn't a joke. You actually have a spot in our alliance. I promise that I'll protect you from the others, if they aren't too keen on you joining."

He sounded serious.

I could almost hear Haymitch yelling at me if he knew I was considering not taking the option.

Not thinking about how I was betraying Rye, not thinking about how I was letting down Prim, Mom, Gale and everyone I loved, I looked directly into his ice blue eyes and said,

"I'm in."

"WHAT?!"

I winced, knowing that Rye would explode when he heard what I was doing.

"I joined an alliance with the careers."

Haymitch nodded. He didn't look pleased, but he didn't look too surprised either.

"Rye, it was only a matter of time before someone asked her to be in an alliance."

Rye was breathing heavily.

I walked over to him and put my hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at me.

"Rye, I love you. You're my best friend, my brother…but I need to do what I have to do to go home to Roan and Prim…I'll keep them away from you as well as I can, I'll protect you…but please understand that."

Rye closed his eyes and threw back his head.

"How do you always seem to talk me into your idiotic plans?"

I laughed a little and gave him a hug around his middle.

"Don't worry about me though. I'm in an alliance with Thresh from District Eleven."

Immediately my thoughts flew to Rue.

Like he could read my mind, he said, "The little girl is on the alliance too. We'll protect her."

I sighed again.

Haymitch cleared his throat, and I turned to face him.

"You did the right thing sweetheart. If you had turned him down, then he would have gone after you first. All the sponsors on your side are insurance on your life. At least this way you'll be protected for a while. You'll know when to get out."

I nodded.

It was late, so I went back to my room.

The entire night, I couldn't sleep.

I spent the hours just laying on my too big bed with Roan, watching his stomach fall up and down, his eyelids flicker as he dreamed. When he woke up in the middle of the night, we stared at each other for a minute, and I stroked his cheek.

The thought of never seeing him again made my heart clench,

I loved Roan so much. Even though he wasn't planned, even though he came out of something horrible, I loved him more than my own life.

And I was willing to do anything to come home to him.

In the early morning, Cinna rapped on my door, and I stood up and let him in.

His face was solemn.

"We have to go soon."

I nodded.

I turned back to the room, and leaned down into Roan's crib. I kissed his cheek, his forehead, his nose, breathed in his smell, and ran my fingers through his hair.

Holding back tears, I took off the sweater I had wore to bed and wrapped it around him.

Then I turned and walked out of the room without looking back.

The hovercraft ride to the launching rooms was quiet and awkward.

Rye was sitting next to me, Thresh and Rue to his right.

Cato and Clove, along with Glimmer and Marvel, her district partner, were sitting across from us.

At the very end of the row I was sitting on, Coral and Finn were huddled together, and I couldn't help but hope that they made it before the Careers went hunting.

Being led into my room with Cinna, he reached into his pocket and handed me something.

It was a small pill, bright pink in color.

"Here. It's a pill to keep you from producing milk until you take the antidote. It's safe, and when you do start lactating again, it will have no harmful affect on Roan."

Blushing a little, I popped the pill and swigged some water Cinna handed me, before letting him help me into the clothes we were going to be wearing in the arena.

There were tight black pants, and thick hunting boots like the ones I wore back home. Only, on these, the laces were for decoration and the zipper was was really made them easy to get on.

The top was thin material, stretchy, but still soft. Mine was deep burgundy color, and I cracked a small smile when I saw the small flame embroidered into the bottom.

The jacket was black, layered.

"This is made to reflect back heat. So be prepared for some cold nights."

I nodded, biting my lip.

Cinna pulled one more thing out of his pocket.

"I had it changed…I thought you wouldn't mind."

In his hand was the necklace Prim had given me.

I found a small latch on the side, and when I opened it, a hand flew up to my mouth.

On one side was a picture of Roan, smiling his gummy smile.

To the right, was a picture of Peeta, Rye, Mom, Dad, Prim, and Gale, along with all my cousins. Even though the picture was tiny, it was perfectly clear.

"How-?"

Cinna let out a small smile, closing it and clipping it behind my neck.

"Haymitch. He found an old picture of Peeta from the Reaping footage, one from your Dad's identity card to work in the mines, and then he had one constructed of all of them together."

I shook my head.

"Tell him I said thank you."

It meant more to me then he could have imagined.

Now, if I died, I would die with all my loved one's faces close to my heart.

I tucked the necklace under my clothes, where it settled right in the hollow of my breasts.

Cinna kissed my forehead, before leading me to the tube in the corner.

"I'm not allowed to bet. But if I could, I would bet on you."

I couldn't say anything more to him. The door shut, sealing me in the glass tube.

I slowly acceded, and my heart tripled it's rhythm.

The arena was a forest, so I allowed myself a minute of quiet thanks.

The cornucopia was piled high with goodies. Around the outside, things were tossed around, seemingly in no pattern at all. Most of them faded with value the farther and farther away they got from the cornucopia.

There was a bow and two sheaths of silver arrows about fifty yards in front of me.

This is what I was made for. I did well with long distance running, but when it came to short sprints, I was faster than the fastest boy back home.

I crouched down in position, the countdown reverberating through my chest.

Roan's face floated in front of my mind.

Unbidden, while I waited for the sixty second countdown to end, I thought of everyone back home.

Prim, asleep, curled up around Roan.

Mom, smiling while she braided Prim's hair.

Gale, his face set in concentration as he tried to work an intricate snare.

Rye, his face serious but laughter hidden in his eyes as he worked on bread.

Dad, before he was killed in the mining accident, his hands callused but soft as he held my hand and sang a song that caused all the mockingjays to fall silent.

Peeta, blue eyes intense as he stared at me, his blood hot and sticky on my hands as I tried desperately to save him while he bled out in my arms.

The cannon sounded, and I was off my plate and to the arrows before the careers.

I drew it, my aim falling on a poor tribute, and I let the arrow fly.

Let the games begin.

I was shocked actually that Katniss didn't become part of the Career pack in the books. She was strong enough for it, she would know when to get out, and she would have made it farther.

That's my reasoning behind her joining, but I know it might not sound great to everyone.

OK, I'm going to be out of it because my cousin is getting married over the next two days (rehearsal dinner, the actual ceremony, the reception) so can we get up to fifty reviews for this, or over? PLEASE?!

Anyway, next chapter coming out soon!