A/N: Hello! now, here is where it starts to get close to the original book, but since i haven't had a disclaimer yet:

i do not own the hunger games or the characters.

Now, here is the story. most of it is from Gale and Keegan :) Enjoy and please review! I love the suggestions i've been getting!

Chapter 7
The three of them wait as long as they can before Katniss has to go. She kisses Keegan's forehead and holds Gale tight, she whispers I love you to each of them before signing in and finding her place among the seventeen year olds. As they do every year, Madge holds her hand and they silently pray.

The Capitol woman comes to the podium as she does every year. She introduces herself as Effie, same as every year. She introduces Peeta, the district's newest victor, and Haymitch, the district's oldest victor.

She doesn't waste any time as she goes directly to the bowl with all the female names of district 12. Katniss prays hard yet again that those 30 slips with Katniss Hawthorne remain untouched.

And they do, but another name is called: "Primrose Everdeen," the woman calls out. Her world stops. Of course it's her. Katniss barely realizes what she's doing before she calls out, "I volunteer!"

She barely notices she's being taken to the stage, as her eyes search the crowd for the two people she loves most. Gale has Keegan on his hip, holding her close for dear life. Mrs. Everdeen holds the two of them, all crying.

The Capitol woman is all a-flutter as she exclaims about the first volunteer. She goes on and on about what an honor it is before asking her name. Katniss stumbles out her name, almost emotional seeing her husband cry. "Was that a relative?" the woman asks.

"My sister."

"Well how terrific! Can we give Katniss a round of applause?"

Not one person in the district claps. Gale barely realizes his actions as he locks eyes with Katniss, putting his three middle fingers to his lips and outstretching them to her. Normally, it is a way to say goodbye to a loved one, but as he looks into her eyes, Katniss realizes that it isn't a goodbye. It's an 'I love you.' The rest of the district follows suit, and Katniss is on the verge of tears.

The woman rights herself and reaches into the bowl of boy's names. She calls out a name, but Katniss is only aware that it isn't a Hawthorne—another year safe for Rory. The Capitol woman says goodbye and leads the two of them to separate rooms. Gale and Keegan are the first to burst through. She holds her screaming child and just looks into Gale's eyes.

"Remember, she likes to be rocked to sleep before you put her in her crib. But you should probably sleep with her since I'm not there…Mom will be able to watch her during the day, or your mother…" She trails off, unsure of what to say.

"Katniss, you can do this. You know how to hunt. They just want a good show, that's all they want. Give them one. I love you, and she does too. We'll be waiting here for when you get back." The Peacekeepers come to take her family away, "I love you, Katniss!"

The door slams shut and she sits in silence for a moment. Next is Madge. "I don't have a lot of time," she is shoving something in Katniss's hand. A pendant, with a Mockingjay. "It will keep you safe. Wear it as your district token. Katniss, look at me," she pulls Katniss's face up to hers, "I will not let them starve. They will be taken care of, do you understand me? Do not worry about them, you can win. I know you can."

Madge hugs her and kisses her forehead before leaving. Her mother and Prim come in, crying. They tell her they love her and promise to take care of Gale and the baby. They said the Peacekeepers wouldn't let Hazelle in, but she and the Hawthornes love her too. Try to win, we love you.

Before Katniss knows it, she's on a train with the other boy, Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie, steaming towards the Capitol. She eats the supper she's provided with and sits to watch the other tributes from the other districts. She can feel Effie saying how strong she looked for her daughter, but now all she feels is empty.

The announcers go bonkers when Katniss is announced. A mother volunteering for her baby sister, no telling what will happen in the arena once maternal instinct takes over. That's when it clicks—she can win. She has to do it for her daughter and for her family. She turns sharply to Haymitch and Peeta, "I have to win this thing. Tell me what to do."

Haymitch guffaws, "So the little lady just wants to return home, huh?" He starts to laugh some more as Peeta punches his shoulder.

"Haymitch. A mother returning home to her child. We can sell that. We can get her sponsors that way. Katniss knows how to shoot and hunt. She can win."

As if mesmerized by Peeta's judgment, Haymitch completely forgets the other tribute in the car and starts helping this mother learn to win.

Gale sits at home. He hasn't let his baby girl out of his arms since Katniss was taken from them. He watches the reapings and before he can stop himself, he's imagining all the different ways each of them can kill his wife. He doesn't notice the tear rolling down his cheek till Posy wipes it away and kisses his forehead.

Mrs. Everdeen, Prim, Hazelle, Rory, Vick, and Posy all fill his tiny home. They all try to swarm him with conversation, some of them try to reassure, but most try to get his mind off of it.

They all offer to stay the night in case he needs something, but he knows all he needs is to be alone with his daughter and wife. Since the latter isn't here, he elects to spend the night rocking his daughter, singing songs that Katniss used to sing.

Keegan is upset, she knows her mother's arms and she knows that Gale isn't Katniss. She begins to cry and Gale starts singing to her once again,

Deep in the meadow, under the willow,
a bed of grass, a soft green pillow.
Lay down your head, and close your eyes,
and when they open, the sun will rise.

She stops crying, she recognizes the song. He knows his deep husky voice is nothing compared to Katniss's light soprano, but he sings anyway, hoping the song reaches her wherever she is.

Here, it's safe, and here, it's warm,
here the daisies guard you from every harm.
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true,

He kisses his daughter's forehead as he whispers the last line to her, "this is the place where I love you."

Keegan sleeps peacefully in the bed he and Katniss share. All he knows is that it's empty, that half of his heart is gone. All he can think about is how glad he is that she isn't pregnant anymore, and how happy he is that they'd started hunting again right after she'd had the baby.

He finally drifts to sleep to the sound of Keegan's light snores. For the second time since his father died, Gale Hawthorne dreams in his sleep. But instead of some horror taking Katniss from him, he dreams that she won the games, that their family is seated in the lap of luxury. She and Keegan run through the meadow, willing Gale to chase them. He lightly tackles them and rustles through the soft grasses. Katniss kisses him and whispers how she loves him…

His dream doesn't last forever, though. And as he wakes before dawn, he realizes that sitting at home all day with nothing to do won't suit him. He loads up his daughter and takes her to Mrs. Everdeen and Prim. He explains that he has to work, he'll go crazy if he doesn't. Mrs. Everdeen understands and tells Gale to take his time.

When he walks into the bakery, the baker almost tells Gale to turn around and go home. But Gale holds a hand up and goes right into working. The baker takes in the dark circles under Gale's eyes and knows that feeling… so he decides to let him stay and work out his anger on bags of flour.

Katniss also passes the night uneasy. By morning, they are coming into the Capitol and everybody is going crazy over the mother who volunteered for her sister.

She is taken to a prep team who will get her camera ready for the ceremony tonight. Haymitch's last words to her were, "Don't resist. They're trying to help you make an impression. Do what they say."

She is cleaned and waxed and almost torn apart as the team gets her ready to meet her stylist. Cinna is a darker man, whose skin remains untouched by the Capitol, save for his gold eyeliner. Katniss immediately decides she likes him. He tells her how brave she was to volunteer even when she had a baby at home. "I knew Keegan would be in good hands with Gale."

Cinna smiles and takes her hand, "Well I'm here to help you make an impression. The more people whose head you turn, the more sponsor money you'll get. Tonight is crucial." He helped her into the suit for the night, all black. It had a cape on it that Cinna explained would produce an artificial fire. "Now, this won't burn you, at all. When you're in the chariot, I want you to smile and wave to the cameras as if you were smiling and waving to Gale and Keegan back home. Got it?"

She nods and begins to head to the chariot.

Gale gets home from work as the chariots are about to set loose. His family is at the Everdeen house, which is not uncommon these days. He takes Keegan in his arms and kisses her, then holds her to the TV to wait for Mommy. Keegan laughs and tries to touch the projection when she sees her, and the entire house goes silent. Katniss is on fire. Literally on fire. He feels his face widening into the first real smile he's had in over 24 hours. This will win her sponsors.

The cameras try to spend equal amounts of air time on all of the tributes, but they fail miserably, spending way too much time on Katniss. She smiles and waves right to the camera and Gale realizes it's a smile and wave just for he and Keegan. Keegan waves back to the projection, unknowing that her mother can't see her, Gale wipes a silent tear from his eye. She is beautiful, and no one in the audience can take their eyes off her.

Just before the chariots stop, she blows a kiss and winks to the camera. Keegan starts thrashing around and giggling as Gale reaches up to catch her kiss. This is Katniss's sign; she is thinking of them.

They present the tributes to the President. Even Snow can't take his eyes of the district 12 chariot. All the commentators can talk about is Katniss, dubbing her The Girl on Fire. The anthem is played, Snow greets the tributes, and just like that, Katniss is off the screen again.

Gale takes Keegan back to their house and is happy for his beautiful wife. He sings his daughter to sleep for the second night in a row, hoping the lullaby is good luck.