Disclaimer: All characters and things associated with The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins and Lionsgate. This writing is for pure entertainment only.

Summary: Katniss finally thought everything was going to be alright and her children would grow up in a safer world then she and Peeta had, but something changes and a new set of games begins.

CHAPTER 6

KATNISS POV:

We wait for what seems like forever for Emberly to come into our cabin. When she finally does, she is holding a cloth to her head, but the red from her blood has already stained its white fabric.

I am instantly out of my chair, moving to grab her head and inspect the wound myself.

"Its fine…" Emberly flinches away from my touch and it bothers me. This may be the last time I see her, get to be a mother to her, and she moves away from me.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Peeta says, but there is no anger in his voice. He sounds as if he has been mortally wounded instead, and maybe he feels that he has been.

Emberly also seems surprised by Peeta's voice and she steps back, away from him. Clearly, she had expected us to be upset and yelling, and I want to be, but I want to give her a chance to explain it first.

"I…I don't know," Emberly admits.

I study her for a moment and have to admit she does seem somewhat surprised by her own actions still. I remember that feeling; I felt it when I volunteered for Prim. Even though I knew it had been the right thing to do, I still was struggling to wrap my brain around it after I had done it. But this was different. My daughter had volunteered for a stranger when she had been perfectly safe. She needed to know why she stepped forward then; I needed to know.

"You don't know? You are volunteering yourself to be killed, and you don't know why?" I can hear myself yelling now, and it seems to shock Peeta and Galen.

I know this isn't the best way to spend my possible last few minutes with my daughter, but I cannot help it. I am so upset, so angry, so scared. Suddenly, I am crying again.

"Mom, please don't cry…" Emberly asks so softly I can hardly hear her. She then moves forward and does something she hasn't done in a long time; she hugs me.

I pull her fiercely towards my chest, wanting to hold her forever, but she suddenly stiffens and pulls away.

My arms are still stretched out for her as she turns to Galen and Peeta.

"I don't have a lot of time…" Emberly says.

This time, Galen rushes forward and hugs Emberly tightly. She hugs him back and I swear I can see tears in her eyes.

"Please win this…you can…I know it…" Galen begs.

"I'm going to try my best," Emberly responds and it only makes me tear up more. I remember saying nearly the same thing to Prim.

"I need my big sister," Galen looks up at Emberly.

Emberly nods and kisses Galen's head before moving up to Peeta.

Peeta looks as if he is on the verge of tears as well.

"Dad…I'm sorry…" Emberly says softly.

Peeta bites his bottom lip for a long moment before he speaks. He then reaches out and puts both of his hands on Emberly's shoulders. "I don't understand why you did this…but you did, and it's happening…so use everything you know to your advantage. Remember everything your mother taught you about shooting…get a bow if you can…"

"What if they don't have one?" Emberly's eyes frantically search Peeta's as she now realizes he is giving her advice.

Peeta glances at me and I know what he is thinking. There will be a bow, because Emberly is there, and the bow was my weapon of choice, and she is my daughter. The Capitol will want to see her with one to compare; after all, it is a show.

"There will be one. You get it…you use it…and you run like hell. Keep yourself as covered as possible…be careful of who you trust…" Peeta says.

"I can do this?" Emberly asks.

Peeta nods ferociously, "None of the Districts…aside from maybe 2 would have trained their kids for this. You are at no more a disadvantage in this from anyone else…expect for who you are. People will want you dead…because…well…"

"Because of you and Mom." Emberly finishes Peeta's thought.

"Exactly, because of what we stood for…but you can use that. Just stay focused…you can win this," Peeta encourages her.

Emberly nods and then Peeta pulls her in fiercely for a hug. He kisses the top of her head as she clings to him. I can now see the tears in his eyes.

"I love you," Peeta whispers to her.

"I love you too, Daddy…" Emberly whispers back.

After a second they let go, and Emberly turns back to me.

I look at Peeta, and he seems to understand I need a moment with her, and so he silently takes Galen and leads him out of the room, leaving Emberly and I alone.

Emberly sighs, rubbing her wounded head once more as she stands there.

"I know this scares you…" Emberly starts.

"Scares me? Emberly…" I step forward, shaking my head.

"I'll be okay," Emberly cuts me off.

"If something happens to you—" I started again.

"It won't. Nothing will happen," Emberly cuts in once more.

I shake my head; she has no idea what these Games are like. "Only one person comes out of these…the Games are vicious and they are cruel."

"You won," Emberly says softly.

"Yes, but I would never want to do it again…and I won because I had your father," I shake my head and kneel down in front of my daughter. "Emberly, I don't understand. I don't understand why you did this…why would you do this?"

Emberly blinks a few times, biting her inner lip and shaking her head, as if she is arguing with herself on the inside.

"I made a promise," Emberly says to me.

I am confused by her words, and I want to know what she means by them. What promise could she have possibly made? Unfortunately, my time is up and a Peace Keeper comes in, yanking Emberly out by her arm.

"I love you! I love you!" I call out to her.

But Emberly is already down the hall and I don't know if she even heard me as I stand and join Peeta and Galen outside of the cabin. The three of us our led down the hall to the train exit.

None of us speak. Galen holds on tightly to my hand. At first I thought it as for his own support, but now I realize my hand is shaking and he is worried about me.

As we near the exit, Effie pops out of another cabin.

"I will send for you three for the Parade and Interview. It seems only right you are there…and the Capitol has requested that all previous Victor's join us," Effie says, her eyes sad.

"Thank you," I hear myself reply automatically.

Effie then does something rare but not unusual for her. She gently touches my shoulder, her eyes moving between Peeta and I. "I am so sorry this happened…and I will do whatever I can to bring her home safe."

I give Effie a small but thankful smile as she lets go of my shoulder and Peeta's arm replaces hers, helping to guide my now trembling body off of the train.

EMBERLY POV

I move back down the hall, a Peace Keeper holding my arm tightly. I can hear my mother yelling that she loves me but I don't yell anything back. I don't want my voice to betray me; I know I can't sound weak now.

The Peace Keeper jerks me into a large room with huge white couches and a bar in the center and closes the door behind me. Damir is already there, sitting on one of the couches. I sigh and, begrudgingly, join him.

"How is your head?" Damir points to where I know I am still slightly bleeding.

I rub the blood off onto my hand and look at it for a minute before shrugging. It hurts, but it's the least of my worries right now. "I'm okay."

Damir takes a deep breath and is silent for a moment. I know he wants to say something.

"What?" I ask.

"I just…I don't get it," Damir admits.

"Don't get what?" I ask.

"Why you did it...why you volunteered. You really don't know?" Damir looks sideways at me.

In truth, I am still unsure. It seems like a million reasons and then none at the same time. Maybe I didn't want to watch a twelve year old I know be slaughtered, maybe I didn't like the thought of the Capitol making us all little pieces in their Game again, maybe I wanted to prove myself to someone, somewhere, or maybe I really am just that stupid. Maybe I had no reason to volunteer at all; maybe I just have a death wish.

"Honestly? I am still trying to work it out…" I admit finally.

Damir bits his bottom lip and shakes his head. "No…I know why you did it."

I cock an eyebrow at him, daring him to indulge me.

"You don't want whatever these Games mean to happen…I know you. You aren't stupid…you know these Games are more then just one more slaughter…they start again and our world changes…" Damir says.

I am taken back by his words. It seems far to complex an idea for me to have wrapped my head around now, let alone in thirty seconds during the Reaping. No; no I must have just not wanted to see Celina be picked. I couldn't watch her die.

I shake my head after a moment. "No…I just don't think its fair to let one last twelve year old die…I promised her she wouldn't be picked."

"So you really think this is just one last Game?" Damir asks me.

I don't look at him. I can't answer that question.

When it is apparent I am not going to say anything, Damir continues.

"My dad thinks it's just the start of something. I'm sure your parents said the same thing—" Damir starts.

I turn quickly at him, my lips pursed. "My parents didn't say much…my dad said to find a bow and not trust anyone…"

Damir's brow furrows and I can tell my words have hurt him. "You can trust me."

I know that, and I want to tell him that. After all, he is my best friend, and I know that, despite the rules of the Hunger Games, there has been occasions where more then one Victor has come home…namely when my parents played. Still, before I can say something clever back to Damir, the door to the room opens and Effie comes in.

"Well…what a complete disaster!" Effie is still obviously upset, mostly with me. She sits down on the couch across from us and stares, as if waiting for us to say something.

"What?" I finally ask.

Effie snorts and shakes her head, and I can see her own hands are trembling. She is actually upset, visibly upset over this. "We have a lot of work to do. You…" She points at me, "have a target on your back the size of Panem."

"Why?" Damir asks.

I shake my head. His question is stupid; he should know the answer to it.

"Because of my parents…" I sigh.

"Exactly. Not to mention that you are both volunteers!" Effie says.

"I thought Volunteers were likeable?" Damir recalls what was said in our history classes about the Games and volunteers.

"Sometimes…but, as Emberly says, given who your parents are, being a volunteer only gives you a bigger target." Effie says.

"I don't understand…" Damir shakes his head.

I roll my eyes. Does he really think people will see our act of volunteering as bravery or chivalrous? No, they will see it as treason, as the same action my mother made before the Rebellion was sparked.

"Because your parents are everything the Capitol is not happy with right now. That is why it was so imperative for you to stay away from these games! One more year and it would have been over…now I am sure the Capitol will make this Game about murdering you…" Effie shakes her head.

"Do you really think it was just one last Game?" Damir asks her quietly.

Effie shoots a look at Damir as if she is surprised he spoke. After a moment she sighs. "I don't honestly know…what I do know is that this Game has significantly changed. Given your parents, Emberly, and even your father…" She motions to Damir and then just shakes her head.

"What?" I ask hastily when she does not finish her thought. She is winding me up and I need to understand what she is saying. I need a strategy if I think I am getting out of this Game alive.

"We need to make you both lovable…and that won't be easy without a Mentor on top of who you are. The only thing we can be thankful for is that no Tributes are getting Mentors…" Effie finally says.

"Why not? We are nice…and plenty of people still believe in what our parents did!" Damir reasons.

"But not the ones who control this Game," Effie reminds him. "And surely not the ones who this Game is being played for. I am not saying your parents don't have supporters…oh I am certain they do. I am saying, those supporters aren't the ones controlling this right now," Effie says.

"Are you supposed to be talking to us like this?" I ask after a moment. It seems odd for someone from the Capitol to care so much about two kids from District 12.

Effie looks hurt by my words but quickly holds her head in the air, "No…but I care about your parents, and so I care about you."

"Well…sounds like we are lucky then," Damir says.

I shake my head and screw my face up at him. Is he really sucking up to her? I get that she obviously cares for us, but Effie is not going to be the one to save us if we are going to live through this.

"What do we need to do?" I lean forward.

"You need to win over everyone…everyone who matters anyway," Effie says, her voice low as she leans forward, as if only speaking to me.

I hear her words and so does Damir. Damir then goes off on a tangent about getting sponsors and playing into what the creators of the Game want and Effie gives him a few nods here and there, but I know that is not what she meant. Her words meant something else entirely, I could see it in her eyes when she said them. She is not talking about the ones who want this Game to be played. She is talking about winning over people who matter, and I have a gut feeling those people do not really matter.