Makenna hummed softly while she put the finishing touched on my Parade outfit. I could have kissed Makenna- I looked amazing, and there was no speck of coal dust within a two mile radius of me. Elijah smiled at the look on my face and tucked a stray bit of hair behind my ear.

I looked over at Phox, and when he saw me looking he grinned. He was wearing a dark bronze chestplate, the type that some miners wore over their shirts to protect them. There was no shirt under his chestplate, so his muscles were strategically shown. His dark blonde hair was strategically ruffled, and Elijah had put black glitter in his hair, and I had to admit, he looked beautiful.

I was wearing a dark bronze dress that was ruffled so it looked almost looked like feathers, and I felt gorgeous. There were no mirrors around, and before I could look at the dress anymore, Elijah and Makenna ushered me and Phox onto a chariot, just as Katniss and Peeta showed up. They exchanged a glance and their faces broke into huge smiles. I resisted the temptation to bite my lip nervously- the fact that they arrived meant I was all that closer to the Parade.
"Well, I won't have any trouble getting sponsors now." Peeta looked a bit relieved. "Just remember to smile- Both of you."

"What if they boo?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. Katniss looked almost sympathetic.

"They won't boo. District 12 are favourites now, and with Elijah and Makenna's work, you'll be stunning." She and Peeta exchanged a knowing look, but before me or Phox could ask them what they meant, the chariot lurched forward. The horses were huge and black, at least 17 hands tall, but their reins and feathery plumage on their heads were dark bronze like me and Phox.

"Good luck." Phox whispered to me, just before we emerged into the twinkling lights of the crowd. I flinched away from Phox's touch when he went to reach for my hand, but he followed my hand and held it, squeezing it for comfort. I could only see as far ahead as District 7- Lumber, made up by Ottilie Snow and Septimus Erdvine. Ottilie looked like an ice queen, dressed in what looked like old newspapers- white and black. It was a beautiful dress, but Ottilie ruined it. Her face was shown up on the screen- white blond hair, grey eyes and a sour face on the verge of tears. It wasn't a wonder she was picked, I suspected her name was put in a couple dozen more times than the rest of us, because of who her grandfather was.

District 8 was Textiles, and basically Mallory Caprice and Alto Jardine were dressed in random scraps of material sewn together. They looked awful, to be honest. Their stylists were very obviously not bothered about them. District 9 had Nim Ardlace and Magnus whose last name I forgot dressed up to represent Grain. They were dressed up in skin coloured catsuits with hundreds of stalks of grain sewn on. They also had headbands made of twisted grain. They didn't look good, but they looked better than Mallory and Alto.

District 10 was now the main focus of the crowd as livestock- they had skintight animal print materials barely covering them, the crowd were cheering with surprise and amusement- they looked alluring and dangerous.

District 11 had Roman looking cool, calm and as if he couldn't be less bothered what anyone thought of him, but Merope Herriot blushed and gushed as the crowd cheered for her. Their clothes were almost the same leaf green my eye had, covered in rustic leaves. They looked like they were mythical creatures that just stepped out the forest.

Then the crowd errupted and the noise tripled as people started to notice us. The sound deafened my ears and made my heart jump. I looked over myself, only to see that the dress started burning and turning black- but it didn't hurt. It felt like when water runs over your toes right at the edge of the shore- it tickles.
Phox squeezed my hand to get my attention. and then jerked his chin over his shoulder. I looked where he was looking, and my mouth dropped open. Makenna and Elijah were... geniuses. I don't know how I hadn't noticed but somehow Makenna and Elijah had incorporated wings from between my shoulder blades stretching down to the hem of the back of my dress. They had done the same thing with Phox's chestplate- I had assumed it was a cape or something.

The wings spread up until they towered high above our heads, spreading out, fluttering softly in the wind. The flames from our clothes reached the wings, turning them ashy black and white- like a Mockingjay. The crowd whooped, cheered, clapped, whistles and threw tokens like roses.

I looked up to see my face, and on the opposite side of the crowd, Phox's face, on the big screens. Phox looked handsome, dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes, and even I had to stay I looked quite beautiful. Elijah had outlined my eyes with gold eyeliner- they made my green eye look brighter, and my brown eye look thoughtful. I knew why I had the wings- my name, Wren, was a bird. It had died out long ago but it was one of the last types of birds to go, it was a surviver.
And with the flames of the wings behind me- I looked stunning. I looked powerful.

Together, we looked like we could win.

I recoiled from the thought suddenly. There was no together. There was no we. It could only be me, myself and I, until I died.
As the horses pulled to a stop, and President Paylor began her speech, I barely listened. My heart pounded, my skin prickled. Phox looked at me and gave me a small congratulatory smile. I didn't smile back, and I swear Phox looked hurt.

I turned back to Paylor- who was so beautiful, and young. She looked way too young to be in charge, but her voice carried a kind of authority people listened to, like a teacher, or a mom. My heart was still racing when we got back inside. Elijah and Makenna were thrilled at the crowd's reaction, even though some of the others (like Ottilie Snow) were glaring at us. Thistle, the small, slight, doll-like girl was dressed in clothes too big for her, as her District's Transportation job. covered in sheets of thin metal to make her look like a form of transportation- like cars, or a train. It only made her look smaller, more delicate and fragile.

And then I had to get changed for the ball. Elijah came to help me, and Makenna helped Phox. Elijah had made a whole replica dress in black and white. The wings were obvious now that I knew they were there- and they made the ruffled feather texture of the dress more accented. The Mockingjay theme was back. The only differences in the dress were that this one had no sleeves- it was strapless and had a sweetheart neckline. Elijah's skilled fingers worked my dark black hair into a messy yet elegant low bun, adding a black peacock feather for effect.

"Will you tell me what's bothering you?" He asked me in a low voice, his liquid silver eyes looking at me worriedly

Rule 1- Don't show emotion. "Nothing." I lied, a bit too quickly. Elijah frowned as he adjusted my earrings and necklace.

"That's not true." Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Now tell me what's wrong." He told me gently.
I sighed. He was just my stylist, nothing more. "Earlier, when I saw myself and Phox on the screen, I thought that we looked unbeatable. We. Plural. And in a few days or a few weeks, one of us might be dead, one of us might have killed the other."

Elijah looked at me sympathetically. "This is nothing to worry about. You're high on adrenaline, emotion over load. You're just misreading emotions." He assured me.

I wasn't that sure, but I wanted to believe him wholeheartedly. "You sure?" I asked nervously.

"Positive. Now get yourself to the ball, gorgeous." He took me by the crook of my arm and led me to the ball hall, leaving me alone for a moment while he got dressed into fancier clothes. I stepped into the hall, feeling like Cinderella. The hall was all gold, glamour and full out Capitol party beauty. The sides of the hall were crowded with tables stuffed full with platters of food, deep bowls of soups and fountains that poured chocolate and on some, drinks.

I was fine standing by myself, watching everybody dance until somebody came up to me and asked, "Do you want to dance?"