Four things before we get to this chapter.

One- Sorry about the long time between updates. I may try to update again before the weekend, but more likely than not, the next update will hopefully come mid next week.

Second- This is just a reminder to keep your eye out for allies for your tribute

Third- Thank you to 97Bo97 and Elim9 for Eva and Ermys respectively.

Lastly, I still do not own the Hunger Games.

Dawn Vella: District 3 Victor

She was still sleeping when her best friend Kayla came to get her for the reaping. Six years ago, she would have been awake already, and she would have been nervous about getting reaped. Now she didn't have to worry.

"Alright Dawn, it's time for the reapings." Kayla said, in a positive tone, "Who knows? Maybe next year at this time you won't have to mentor two tributes."

"Thanks Kayla." Dawn said quietly, "You may be right. At least this year I don't have to worry about possibly having to mentor my best friend."

"You know, this year I don't have to worry about being reaped for the first time." Kayla said, with a teasing tone in her voice.

"You know very well that's exactly what I meant." Dawn said, almost laughing, but then remembering that even though Kayla was safe, and even if she brought a tribute home, one teenager was going to be seeing district three for the last time, and she wouldn't be much help to mentor them. She had only killed two people, which was the second least only to Tisha of District seven.

"Well, we better get going, otherwise we will be late." said Kayla.

When they got to the reaping area, they parted ways, but only for the first year knowing that both of them would be safe. Dawn made her way to the stage, where the district welcomed her. A minute later, Mayor Dakota Fusco took the stage, reading off the list of victors. Right after that, the escort, Nicholas Orazi stepped towards the girls reaping bowl and pulled out a name.

"For the girls," he said as he unfolded the paper, "Eva De Jong."

Right after he said the name, the seventeen year old section parted around a blonde girl, who was around the average height. When she started walking to the stage, Dawn was surprised. Although Eva had hesitated at going up to the stage, she kept a straight face, even when she was on the stage. Dawn remembered when she herself was reaped, and she had to almost be dragged up to the stage. When Eva reached the stage, Nicholas went to the boys reaping bowl, knowing as much as Dawn did, that at least one of the names he was about to call wouldn't come back.

"For the boys," he said, almost wishing that he had the power to save both of them, "Ermys Palmer."

When the name had been called, you could hear the crowd mutter. Obviously, the Palmer family had been well known, and from the objections heard to him being reaped, they were either real popular, or hard working. Since she didn't recognize the name off hand, she assumed that it was the latter. When she stopped trying to figure out if she knew the last name, she realized that the twelve year old section had opened around a short red headed boy wearing a tan shirt and brown pants. Dawn could tell that he had worn the pants for a few years before, because they were a little too small, and had a few holes in them.

After a little hesitation, Ermys slowly headed for the stairs. Ermys had made it about halfway up the stairs when he fell. As if falling during the reaping wasn't bad enough, the peacekeepers, annoyed by the time it was taking him to get on stage, decided it was time to take matters into their own hands. They rushed him up to the stage, even though he had almost been there already. When they put him down, the peacekeepers basically dropped him on the stage. Dawn, knowing that she had almost had the same thing happen to her in her own games, went to help Ermys up. She then walked with him to his place on stage near Eva.

"Thanks." said Ermys, which Dawn had barely made out. He obviously was very nervous about this.

"Ermys, Eva, please shake hands." Dawn said quietly, so only the two of them could hear, seeing that it would be better off for everybody if they could get off the stage as soon as possible.

Quickly, they shook hands, and the reapings were over. Dawn thought over what Kayla had said earlier about possibly having another victor. She realized that it was theoretically the same odds every year, and yet they always seemed different. This year, if she could get a victor home, she felt that it would mean more than normal.

Eva De Jong, District 3 Female tribute

She knew that she would have to change to have a shot.

She couldn't rely on people to calm her down when she was mad. In the arena, she would have to learn how to channel her anger into strength. When training, she would have to keep all her anger at bay, because her allies may think twice about the alliance if she started hurling knives into targets.

"Don't worry, I know you have a shot at coming back." said Eva's best friend, Sophie, "Just remember that you will need allies, no matter for how short a time, allies bring supplies could mean the difference between coming back alive, or not coming back at all."

"I know." said Eva, "Don't worry, I will do my best to get back here. Just make sure that nothing changes even if I don't get back."

"I can't promise that nothing will change Eva." said Sophie, "But just as you will do your best to get back, if you don't, I will do my best to make sure it doesn't change too much. I assume that you won't be considering Ermys as an ally?"

"I don't think so. Even though we are district partners, I think I will need somebody who will be able pull their own weight, but if they don't come to me, I don't think I'll go to them."

"Just remember that allies will only get you so far. In the end, only one person gets back. It doesn't do you any good if you have an alliance of 5 people, they all make it to the finals, and then you die. It's the same result as if you go with 2 people and die in the finals."

After that, the peacekeepers came in and told Sophie her time was up. They both said that they would do their best to keep the promises they made. Sophie asked the peacekeeper if she could say one last thing to Eva.

"Alright, but at least keep it short."

"Trust me, it will be." Sophie said, "Eva, good luck."

Then she nodded to the peacekeeper and they both headed out the door, leaving Eva to stay in the room until she had to board the train to the capitol.

Ermys Palmer, District 3 Male Tribute

He and his sister Cristina had always wanted a shot at a better education. This was their chance.

"At least you're safe now Cristina." said Ermys, it was one of the few positive things that he could say.

"And if you survive, we will both be able to pursue our education without any trouble."

"That's right."

"And then our parents would be able to actually be around more than 5 hours a day."

For a few minutes there was just silence. Then the peacekeepers came in. At first Ermys thought they were there to take Cristina away, but they had just come in to tell them they had two minutes left.

"Ermys, I can't imagine what I would do if I was to lose you forever."

"Then I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen."

After that, Christina had too much and she just embraced her brother in a hug until the peacekeepers came in to take her away. She convinced them to give her a moment to say goodbye one last time to her brother.

"I saw that you had your bottle cap collection on your desk, so I decided to grab one to give to you for your token."

"Thanks Christina." said Ermys, "I'll use this for sure."

Then the peacekeepers decided that they had given her enough time so they started to walk with Christina out of the room. Christina only turned back to look at Ermys when he said this quietly.

"Christina, I forgot. Could you tell Everly that…"

What Ermys was going to say, Christina could only guess at. She knew Everly well enough to know that she was in Ermys grade, but that was about all she knew.

Inside the room, Ermys decided that since there was nobody there, that he might as well be prepared for the train to the capitol. He had to assume that since the door closed before he finished his sentence that Christina didn't know what he wanted her to do. He just hoped that he would have the chance in the interviews.