Authors Notes: Im sorry I have been so AFK. I have been writing, and the story is coming along great. I've been planning for the arena, which takes time, but I want this story to be good. I know if its well written, it will be much more appreciated by those subscribed, than a crappy story updated everyday. You WILL have the next chapter tomorrow/tonight, dont worry.
I also wanted to give you a bit more Lya, get to know her better.
Lya and the Labyrinth
Chapter 9
When I Was Younger
I leave the training center and head straight for my room. I don't really feel like being around anyone. It made me feel sick to my stomach that I was trying to impress those that were standing around, betting on us as we slowly died off.
I crawled between the sheets and pulled them over my head. I thought about Ria back in District 12, I wondered if they were sending people for interviews. I wondered if Ria would show her true feelings for these games and tell those Capitol people where to stick it.
When I was younger, my father used to take me into the square on Sundays. We would walk around the shops, staring into the windows. I remember looking into the window of Ria's shop and seeing a beautiful pink dress. It was soft and flowing and my favorite color. Years later I was going to be wearing that dress, not in the same way I ever wanted too. Years later, it would become my dress for the Reaping's, a symbol of evil in my once innocent world.
After the dress shop, my father would take me across to the bakery and we would stand in awe at the beautifully decorated cakes. Sometimes I would see a small blonde boy staring back out at me through the window, and I knew it was Peeta Mellark, but back then things were different. I didn't feel for him then like I do now.
I would beg my father to buy me a cookie, and if we could afford it, we'd pick one out and take it back to mother.
I drew my knees up to my chest and cried underneath the sheets. I missed my family terribly. Every night before she went to bed, my mother would tuck me in and kiss my head.
"Goodnight my love, and I'll see you tomorrow" she'd whisper, and I'd fall asleep in the comfort that I was treasured.
This happened every night until my mother died. I was only nine when it happened, and where my father should have stepped up, he stepped out instead.
Suddenly there was no one to tuck me in, no one to love me. When my father disappeared a year later, I still lived in our old house. As a ten year old, I couldn't hunt; I couldn't sell or bargain at the Hob. I used to wake up each morning and walk to school with a boy called Eden Jaymit. His father was a miner like mine used to be. We'd walk home together, but we never spoke really.
For food I would eat the edible plants in our tiny backyard. It was really just a square meter of space, and my mother had turned it into a garden of sorts.
Together, we planted daffodils. I loved the pretty flowers, but mother would cook the roots that grew to make a soup.
For a while I ate from the garden, making sure to try and plant daffodil seeds I found in the gardens at school.
Most often I was hungry, I was hungry right up until the day Ria was walking along and found me.
She led me back to the creaky old sewing shop and fed me a hot soup. It was the nicest thing I'd had in a long time. I'd stayed ever since.
One the day I turned twelve, Ria presented me with that pretty pink frock I'd admired so much when I was younger. It was a tad big for me, but she took it in at the right places.
The first time I wore that dress, was to my first Reaping. I stood quietly with the other twelve year old girls as names were pulled from the reaping bowl. I watched as two children from the District walked on stage and disappeared behind the curtains.
I didn't know a lot about the games, my mother kept them from me, only telling me enough to know. I learnt about them in school, but I daydreamed a lot.
Ria kept the games from me as well, until I was old enough. For my twelfth year, we would head out with some of the other merchant area and most from the Seam to watch the games in the square. I'd never seen so much bloodshed in my young life. I was so sheltered, and I cried most nights after that. It nearly broke Ria's heart to have to do this, but she was trying to prepare me in case I was ever reaped.
The day Peeta Mellark was reaped, I cried too. The baker's son had always been so sweet to me, so nice. We weren't really friends, but I'd learned by then that District 12 tributes never came back.
I watched as he announced his love for Katniss Everdeen, and I celebrated for him when she felt the same.
It was only when Peeta came back a transformed man that things also changed for me.
It was that silly day, my seventeenth birthday, where my heart finally fell into place, and every feeling I'd ever had made sense to me at last.
And here I was now, in love with someone who loved me too, and soon it wasn't going to mean anything. I wanted to come back; I would crawl across the bodies of all the other tributes to return to Peeta.
I wondered if my mother could see me now. Would she cry, knowing what her innocent child was doing?
A warm body slipped into the sheets behind me and I felt Peeta place a warm kiss by my cheek. He wrapped his arms around me and drew me close. He listened quietly while I told him about my family, my father. I told him about my mother, how she used to sing to me.
After I was done, we were quiet for a while, and Peeta let out a shaky sigh.
"I never liked my mother. I loved her because that is the right thing to do, but I never cared for her much. When I was younger, she used to beat me. She did right up until I was reaped. When I was waiting for my goodbyes, she came in and told me District 12 would finally have a winner. She was talking about Katniss, she told me so. She never cared for me, never believed in me. Even a life in the merchants village couldn't make her grateful for everything we had that others didn't. "
"Im sorry" I whispered.
I was luckier than Peeta in some ways. Although he still had a family, my mother had always loved me. My father too until he went mad.
Peeta and I lay there for a while, hot underneath the covers. He kissed me so passionately I was trembling. I wondered if life would have been different for Peeta and I if I had never volunteered.
It was nearing dinnertime and I was so hungry. My stomach rumbled and I stood under the hot water of the shower while Peeta lounged in my room. I dressed in a sweet purple dress and let the pad of the wall take care of my hair.
Peeta and I walked hand in hand to the dinner room, releasing as usual, just before we entered.
Everyone was sitting in the room today, Effie, Haymitch, Alton, Cinna and Portia.
I sat down and helped myself to a delicious piece of meat and roasted vegetables covered in rosemary and rock salt.
The flavors of the Capitol food danced on my tongue and I was glad at least the tributes had one amazing experience to take with them into the arena.
"So how do you think you went?" Haymitch asked Alton.
"Well, I threw some weights around. I don't really have much in the agility area, but at least they know how strong I am. I lifted a whole weight bench, so Im not too stressed" He kicked back in his chair and grinned.
Haymitch clapped him on the back and turned to me.
"And the little one?" He questioned as he raised his eyebrow.
"They ignored me mostly" I answered "Until I started throwing knives. I'd taken out four dummies easy when one of them spoke to me"
Effie almost fell out of her chair.
"They spoke to you?" She gasped.
Every one was staring at me now and I swallowed nervously.
"Uhm yea, they called me over. The one in charge threw an apple at me, and I reacted and threw a knife at it."
"You threw a knife at them?" Cinna exclaimed.
"No, no! At the apple, I split the apple down the middle. The knife went into the wall behind them"
There were a few ooos!around the room as I finished my story.
"Well, it seems like they liked you. Hopefully the high score wont paint a target on your back" Haymitch said darkly.
I nodded quietly; just glad it was almost over.
Effie dabbed at her face with a silk napkin.
"Well, its time to watch the scores anyway, so lets go see what all the fuss is about"
We all picked ourselves up and followed Effie into a large plush room. One entire wall was the television, a huge white screen. There were curtains on either side on the adjoining walls, currently closed, most likely blocking huge windows overlooking the spoilt Capitol.
We all sat in a long lavish lounge that spanned the room, and Effie turned off the lights. They show a photo of each tribute and then the score. The Careers each earn themselves an eight to ten, which is no surprise to any of us. Little Cora Hazelcorn pulls a seven, so I was secretly happy for her. The married couple from District 8 gained two nines, which made them both threats equally.
Alton's face flashed up on screen and then a number ten. Everyone cheers and Peeta claps him on the back. Then my face flashes up followed by the number twelve.
The whole room is silent and everyone turns to stare at me. My mouth is agape and I just stare at the screen even though the broadcast has finished and it's just a white rectangle now.
Im ignorant of Cinna and Portia patting my back and leaving. Im still completely in a daze as we all say goodnight and Peeta leads me to bed.
I vaguely remember a warm kiss as he tucks me in and gently rubs small circles on my back until I drift asleep.
