So, I have some sad news. I am going on a family vacation to the beach, and the beach house we have doesn't have internet. And, we are going for two weeks. I'm leaving on Sunday. But, because of this unplanned hiatus, tomorrow I'm updating every story that is active right now! Hopefully that will show you guys that I actually care that I have followers, and that it's only two weeks. I'll miss you guys!

I was in a room full of peacocks. At least, that was how I saw it. They were Octavia, Flavius and Venia. Venia had aqua blue hair filled with feathers, even though it hadn't been last year when they came on, cheering Katniss and Peeta on. Octavia had pea green skin, but really pretty auburn hair. Flavius had extremely bright neon curls, and looked like his skin had been stretched across his bony body.

Flavius moaned at the sight of my hair. "This is terrible!" he practically screamed as he forced my head into a tub of warm water. "Look at these eyebrows!" Venia said as she plucked away most of it. "Oh, and all of the hair on her body, too," she added, looking disgusted. "Her nails are okay, though," Octavia mentioned as she painted them with blue and white. I wondered what the colors were for.

After Venia had ripped off every piece of hair on my skin except my scalp, and Flavius made my hair fall in crimped pieces down my back, and Octavia had finished my finger and toenails, they abruptly left. I pulled my robe on-they had taken it off while groaning about my body and how 'grossly' thin it was- a man came in. He didn't look marked by the Capitol, oddly enough. But he definitely wasn't the stylist who did Katniss and Peeta, though.

He circled me, and finally came to a stop in front of me. "I trust you know what my brother did with Katniss and Peeta last year?" I nodded, noting that he must be honoring his brother or something. "Well, today, you'll be newer. Literally," he said, pointing to my fingers. "White and blue flames," I whispered, getting it. "Yes. You'll be-excuse the pun-hotter than even Katniss. Oh, by the way, I'm Ashe," Ashe pointed to a dress that was on the vanity. It was a sleeveless white dress with blue flames licking at the bottom, and it ended just above my breasts with a flame-licking design, so it was white hot flames with blue burning at the bottom. "Cool," I said, fingering it. He smiled, bittersweet, and I knew the design reminded him of Cinna.

He left me so I could get changed. I got into it and checked myself out in the mirror. It was a really cool design, but I wasn't on fire or anything.

I stepped out into the hallway, and looked down it nervously. There, at the end of the hallway, I saw Alfie. He was arguing with a woman, but stopped when he saw me waving to him, and quickly hurried over. "Wow, Nina, you look hot." The woman looked me over. "You are the crazy girl?" She asked in that ridiculous Capitol accent. "Who's she?" I asked him. "Portia, my stylist." Portia smiled, but kept checking the hallway, as if she expected somebody to come down. I checked Alfie's outfit, and he was wearing blue pants and a pure white top that cut off in a flame design at the bottom and arms. "Hi, Portia, I'm not crazy, and yes I'm the crazy girl." I mentally slapped myself for my mix-up of words.

Alfie laughed, and was about to come up with a witty remark, when an intercom cut us off. "All tributes to the parade. Repeat all tributes to the parade." The annoying voice cut off, and I cursed under my breath. I had told myself I wasn't a Capitol puppet, but I'd been a kid in a candy store. I needed to remember that this may be one of the last days of my life.

I hurried to keep up with Portia as we hurried down to the stage area. We were loaded into a chariot, and Ashe stood next to it. "Good luck, he said, "And may the odds be ever in your favor." I smiled at the expression, but before I could hug him, our horses started trotting out.

The District 1 people, who make luxuries for the Capitol, were dressed in pure white, sparkly material. The girl, a blonde, smiling girl who kind of reminded me of the girl, Glimmer, smiled and waved her hand as the boy, a guy named Ron I think, just stared right ahead, never acknowledging the crowd of the girl.

District 2, which supplied weaponry, was dressed in a steel gray cloth. A tough looking girl with purple highlights and red hair wore a dress almost like a toga, while the boy, a tough looking boy with hair like mine, wore a simple shirt and stone gray pants.

District 3, which supplied electronics, were dressed in purple cloth with tiny lights on them, so they looked like shops in the winter that wreathed their stores with those lights, so I felt sorry for them. The boy was dark haired, with a kind face. He showed sympathy and almost hope, while the slightly Asian girl next to him was hard to the core.

District 4, the sea district, were dressed in net-like clothes, were a blonde kid who looked sporty, and a black haired girl that was husky, and evil-like.

Districts 5,6,7,8 and 9 passed without me being interested. In District 10 a mischievous blonde kid kind of reminded me of Alfie, but the girl, again, was bland. District 11 had a gentle, black haired pretty girl came out. She looked as gentle as the boy from District 3.

Then, it was our turn. We rode out in the arena, and everyone went wild. Was it our outfits? I looked down and saw that it looked like flames lapped up my legs and torso. The blue looked so hot I wouldn't survive, and the white was simply stunning. I poked Alfie's shoulder-he was looking amazed at the crowd-and pointed out our outfits. He noticed the burning and laughed from joy. I smacked his shoulder playfully. I was supposed to be the girl enjoying this, although I hated it with a passion.

He took it as a friendly gesture, and threw his arm around my shoulders. I laughed and pushed him away. The Capitol people loved the whole idea of us being 'friends' and cheered us on. I rolled my eyes at the crowd and whispered to Alfie, "Let's ham it up." I put my hand on his waist, and smiled at the crowd. We laughed as one person yelled, "KISS!" and shook our heads. But the chant had arisen in the crowd, so I rolled my eyes and screamed back, "WE'RE FRIENDS!" but the crowd could not be deterred. I pecked him on the cheek, and he jokingly put me in a dip, which was hard since we were in the chariot. The crowd screamed in delight, until he 'dropped' me.

I jumped up and waved to the crowd, and they howled with delight. I high-fived Alfie, and we waved once more before the horses carried us to the tunnel.

When we got to the tunnel, I hopped off as quickly as I could. I enjoyed it, but I shouldn't have. That was the time I was supposed to hate them, and I made them love me. Yet, after I hopped out of the chariot, I was encased in Ashe's hug. He pulled away, and said, "That was better than Katniss and Peeta!" Peeta pretended to be angry as he tenderly kissed Katniss's head, "Hey, we had true love going for us!" Katniss's eyes went misty, and I knew she missed Cinna. But, she actually had light in her eyes for once. I realized that Peeta was the one keeping her going. "Well, we need to celebrate." she put emphasis on celebrate, as if saying that she had hated victory dinners and such. Well, it made sense.

Alfie whispered, "Do you want to pretend to be in love?" in my ear. I whacked him in the arm again. "I'm taking that as a no," he said, pretending that the slap hurt. "Oh, please, it couldn't have hurt," I said, walking to the elevator. Katniss popped in next to me, and gave everyone a look. "Uh…we'll take the next one," Peeta said, clamping a hand over a whining Haymitch who had a massive hangover.

I watched the glass floor carry us to the twelfth floor. My last home before I died. I gulped.

Katniss grabbed my shoulder. I looked up at her. "I know," she whispered, her gray eyes holding such sadness that I feared they'd break. "What do you want to talk to me about?" I asked bravely, but my knees trembled. "I honestly believe you could survive," she confessed. "But, most people do throwing knives and swords. I think you may have a chance to learn how to use a bow and arrows." I stared at her. Katniss, the bow and arrow QUEEN wanted me to learn how to do it. And she thought I had a chance of survival.

"Yes, I will learn. But…could you teach me?" I asked timidly. I didn't want to practice in front of the tributes…that might kill me. "Sure. I'll get you out of the second day, and we'll practice on the roof," she promised. "What about Alfie? Do you think he could survive?" I asked hopefully. "So you guys are friends…Nina…" she glanced at me sadly. "Sometimes you just have to let go." Rue, I thought. I stared at her. She's been through so much…Alfie wasn't going to die. I would die for him before he did, just like I told him.

Well, what do you think?

~ChocoAwesomeness~