Alright, I have no excuse for not updating, except for school! Here is the District Five Reaping chapter. The other districts will follow. Soon. I go on holidays in a couple of weeks, and I'll try to write on Sunday. The next one will be probably be a quickie though, if you want it soon. More reviews will tempt me. They'll remind me to write. :p

Megan deftly took strands of her sister's hair, weaving it into plaits and twisting it neatly around the back of her head. Lizzie squirmed, the five year old never content to sit in the one spot for too long, and as it grew near to her birthday, she gradually grew more hyperactive. It was a good thing, then, that Megan was well practiced in doing up her sister's hair.

Their mother was a busy woman, the scatter-brained owner of the town's medicine store, and Megan often had to take care of the little ones. Lizzie was the oldest of her sisters. The other, Rhia, was three.

And then there was Ferrid.

Ferrid was twelve, and it was his first year in the reaping. He was nervous to say the least. He was pretending he wasn't, combing his curly brown hair very casually, but Megan knew those worried green eyes too well to take the bait. He was scared.

While their mother was zipping around the house getting Rhia ready, she secured Lizzie's hair with a pin and ribbon and walked over to her brother, taking the comb off him. He'd already brushed it about five times. "Keep doing that and your hair's going to fall out."

Ferrid smiled ever so slightly.

Frowning didn't suit his freckles. Megan should know, she had them too.

Clipping his chin, Megan smiled, and after a moment, he smiled back. He knew there wasn't really anything she could say to make everything better. No-one could do that.

"Alright, I'm ready, let's go, we're late!" That was their mother, running through the kitchen with Rhia flying along beside her, dragged by her hand.

Lizzie ran over to her identically dressed little sister, grabbing her hand from her mother and running ahead.

Megan let them go, putting an arm around Ferrid's shoulders. Their mother came over, kissing both of their heads and smiling at them both. Lizzie and Rhia didn't understand. The Hunger Games were too evil for their innocent minds to comprehend. They just knew that whoever went, didn't come back.

"My babies. Both of keep your fingers crossed, ok? Remember that your dad is looking out for you, wherever he is."

The group gathered in a tight group hug and Megan held her own tears in as she knew the others would be doing as well.

Arm in arm, the group walked out of the door, heading for the village. There was an abundance of trees along the edge of their road, trees with delicious apples that no-one was allowed to eat. Forbidden fruit, if you would. When Megan had been 8, before Rhia and Lizzie were born, their father had been very much alive. He had taught Megan how to get apples from those trees without getting hurt or caught. When he was older, Ferrid had been brought in on the trick too. While their father was alive, it had been their little secret, just him, and Megan and Ferrid.

The factory incident that brought about their dad's death was only days after Rhia was born.

After he died, those apples had been all that kept the Gallagher family alive until the medicine store took off. District five was fairly well off, but with their father just dead and two new, little mouths to feed, times were hard.

Stolen apples meant a lot to a starving family.

Even now, with plentiful food and water, stolen apples were significant. They featured on every birthday dish, and served as a good luck charm for Megan. On days like today, they gave her the little bit of extra strength she needed to break through the nerves and fear for her and her brother, for the rest of her family.

For two weeks after the Reaping , the two weeks between the terrifying event and Lizzie's birthday, they saved apples, saved food, saved all sorts, and had a big feast for Lizzie's birthday. For the older kids, it served as a celebration of not being picked for the games.

For Lizzie it was just an amazing birthday party.

Smiling, Megan thought back to the most recent birthday, which was Rhia's. It was very fun. Birthdays were always amazing in their family.

Megan flicked back to being eight, and deftly scaled the fence, knocking a branch and jumping down to catch the falling apples with a practiced movement. Grinning at Ferrid, she threw him one of the delicious fruits, keeping the other for herself.

Their mother had moved ahead with the little ones, knowing the pair would want time by themselves to prepare themselves mentally for the Reaping.

Ferrid smiled at Megan and began walking away, pensievely munching his apple.

Megan walked slower, on her own side of the road, watching Ferrid. He'd always been a fatalistic thinker. If something had a chance of going wrong, his mind automatically went to the worst case scenario. Megan felt sorry for him; she knew what that felt like.

Sighing, she looked around, taking in the fantastic views of District 5. The big advantage of living in the lumber district was an abundance of amazing views, mostly visible because the trees in the way had been cut down.

Hearing a crunch that wasn't her and was too far away to be Ferrid, Megan dragged her eyes from the mountains and whipped her head around to find a boy. He had an apple.

District 5 was pretty big, and Megan wasn't the most sociable of people, so she didn't have a clue who this guy was. He looked vaguely familiar, from school probably, but past that, she knew nothing.

He was looking at her with a curious expression.

"How did you get an apple?" she demanded.

The boy cocked his head to the side. "My dad taught me."

That comment gave Megan pause. Eyes softening, she moved closer as they both began to walk to the Reaping. Not together, just within talking distance.

"I'm Rio. You're the Gallagher girl, aren't you?" the boy said eventually, his tall, lanky form shading Megan from the sun.

"Yeah," she nodded, "Megan Gallagher."

"We have maths together on Wednesdays." Rio said, before taking a munch out of his apple, his fluffy, light brown hair ruffling with the breeze.

Megan opened her mouth to speak, but instead whipped around and hid behind a wall, shoving her apple behind her. Her eyes met Rio's, in the same position on the opposite wall. They'd seen the peacekeeper at the same time.

They stared at each other and held their breath until the man had passed on.

Sharing a shaky smile, they continued towards the Reaping, both eating their apples just that little bit faster. Who knew if it was going to be their last.

Alright, so it'd be nice to get reviews from people telling me who their favourites are so far!

Do it! You know you want to!

By the by, my apologies to the district partners that aren't being mentioned as such, but I'm not going to do twenty-four reaping chapters! The other tributes will get their own focus chapters at a later date.