Hello! Yes it's me again! This would have been up sooner but I was watching the Red Carpet Premier of the Hunger Games and I couldn't just tear myself away. I'm sorry to Aurora's Creator, I kept her as close as I could WITHOUT her becoming Katniss in another District. *shaky laugh inserted here* yeah sorry. Me and My beta thought it would be better this way, so thanks BBE

Aurora Hope Summer-18 POV

I sat in the small armchair, which also counted as my bed, reading quietly. All the kids were silent. No sound at all. Thank god, I think, finally they can all rest.

I set my book down for a moment and think. A house payment would be due soon. Along with Myka's medical bill. And we were low on food.

"Ugh," I grumble, falling back into my chair. Myka sat up suddenly. She winced a little as she did so, and fell back down, but looked over at me.

"What's the matter, Hope?" She asked.

"Thinking about money," I said.

"When aren't you?" She growls a little. She carefully swings her legs off the side of the couch. I hopped up to grab her make shift crutches and hand them to her. She took them and stood, trying to maneuver around the table in front of her. She was almost around it when she hit her broken leg against the corner of it. She let out a loud yelp, a tear slipping from her eye.

"Sorry," She said through gritted teeth when she heard the beds squeaking from the other room.

"It's ok," I sigh, heading to the girls room.

I wasn't mad a Myka, I mean she was the closest person to me in the house. She was my twin after all. I felt bad for her though; she had broken her leg in a mill accident trying to cover my shift and her shift at the mill. Now I had to work both of ours, for a little less the pay.

I stepped into the girls room and saw Suzie, the 4th oldest after me, Myka, and Oak, helping Rose get up and Violet, Rose's twin, helping the youngest, Laurel, up too. They were all pretty close to the same age, Suzie was 16, Violet and Rose were 13, and Laurel 12. They all glanced up at me and smiled a little, which I returned before heading into the boy's room.

Leo, Suzie's twin, was already harassing Oak and Ash to get up. I gave him a little glare as he did so and when he saw me he shut up.

"Morning Aurora," Oak said.

"Morning. Get decent ok? Like pants, and I'll get breakfast," I smile.

"Food!" Ash yells, and I have to laugh a little. He was in the middle of a growth spurt, and it made it even harder getting food, since he could eat a bit more than what everyone eats combined. I slip out of there room, not needing to watch them change, and head into our small kitchen.

I open our ice box and see we have a carton of eggs and some slightly moldy bread. I examine it carefully and see only the first few slices were like that. I removed those pieces and set them into the trash can. I take some of the oil from tesserae and light the stove carefully, pan already on the burner.

I crack all of the eggs quickly into that pan and start scrambling them quickly. There still runny, and I realize it might not be enough. I look back into the ice box and see milk, and I douse a cup of that in to it too. It mixes together easily and also looks like I make more than I did.

I keep the milk out and pour it into 9 separate cups, 2 having less than the rest. Me, Oak, and Myka normally give up a good amount for our 'kids' as I call them. Normally we wouldn't even have anything for breakfast, but on reaping days, we all eat from being nervous.

I put the scrambled eggs onto a plate and see Ash staring them down.

"Don't even think about touching them until your sibling sit down," I scold. He snaps out of his daze and looks away ashamed. I start toasting the bread over the fire directly, removing the pan. That doesn't take long and I cut each piece in half. I pull out 9 plates and start delegating the food.

"Foods ready!" I call to the back rooms. All of the kids run out instantly taking their normal seats, oldest to youngest.

At the Head was Myka, then Oak, Leo and Suzie shared a bench, Ash, Rose and Violet on our coffee table which they pulled over, and Laurel sat on a rickety old chair. I put a plate in front of everyone with their normal portions, which I had learned by heart after feeding all for so long. I place glasses of milk next to everyone, and take my food and lean against the counter.

"So how was school yesterday?" I ask everyone. They all look up and then shrug.

"Fine," They all say at the same time, and then they all start laughing. I smirk.

"Really, though what did I miss?" I ask them. Laurel answers quietly, her bright blue eyes staring up at me.

"Yesterday, Oak got into a fight with some older kids," I turn and glare at Oak, who was rubbing the back of his head with an apologetic smile on his face, obviously avoiding my glare.

"Sorry…?" He tries.

"Why?" I ask with a sigh.

"They were picking on our family," He said as if that made fighting perfectly ok.

"What did they say?" I ask.

"Uh, well," He drops his eyes.

"Well?" I counter.

"They were mocking on how Dad could live through the Games but not beat a tree," He says quietly. Everyone's happy and fun vibe died right there. Everyone dropped their eyes to their plates and ate quietly.

"What did you do to them," I ask quietly.

"The worst one got was a broken nose," He says. I roll my eyes.

"If that had been me the worst someone would have gotten would have been was a broken neck," I smirk. Everyone sorta smiles back, but it was still tense.

Dad was the Victor of the 3rd Hunger Games. It was amazing, since Victors were so limited then, and they still are I guess. Before the Games even started he had been part of one of the armies, so it wasn't surprising that he was strong and able. He met mom that year and me and Myka were born 9 months later.

Victors Village was amazingly wonderful. And a Father as a victor, all the money you could ever want, it was amazing. And all of his knowledge. It was perfect.

He tried to teach me everything. But I never thought I would need it so I never really paid attention. . Oak learned too, but not as much and was more eager to learn how to kill someone. Dad taught all he could to me over the years of me not caring or really wanting to learn.

But that changed one day. Him and Mom when to the mill for a bit. One of the machines malfunctioned. They were pelted with wooden spikes about as thick as my arm. They didn't have a chance.

We were instantly kicked out of Victors Village, and we lived on the streets for a little bit. I didn't want to go to the community home, to have Laurel, who was 1 at the time, to grow up in that place. So I remembered everything dad taught me.

I remembered little things that barely helped. Tree bark that was edible and leaves too. Little bit of weapons here and there, but not much. I sold our good clothes and got cheaper pairs and money too. I worked illegally at the mill, and finally when I was 14 we got a house. I rented it, illegally of course. Well, one of my friends, June, rented it for us under her parents name for a while, and I gave her the money.

We jumped from home to home, paycheck to paycheck, and did all we could. We would still be on the streets every now and then, but I think it has made us stronger.

"Sis," Myka says breaking me from my trance.

"Yeah?"

"I bet we don't but, do we have any more milk?" She asks. I nod and pour my cup into hers. She gives me a sad look.

"No, I won't drink that, you need it," I lie. I do want it, I haven't had milk in forever, but if Myka wants to have her leg healed, she needed it. She sips at it but I can tell she feels guilty.

And then Rose, who looks like the youngest, burps loudly. We all look at her, not able to believe it came from her small form, and we all burst into laughter again. She gives a shy giggle, which makes us laugh louder.

"All right," I gasp out between laughs. "Everyone…go get….ready!" I laugh. They all hop up handing me there plates and I slip them into the sink. I'll do them later I think, not wanting to go get the water yet. I slip into the girls' room and strip out of my dirty shirt and shorts. I pull out a simple purple dress and put that on, and then help the others into their dresses, which are about the same light, dull purple. I pull out my shoes, white flats that were my mother's originally.

I'm a little more reluctant to go into the boys' room, carefully knocking and being ready to turn around instantly if there is something I don't want to see. But when Ash opens the door, their all putting on shirts and jackets. As they are ready I grab them and push them into the living room.

Everyone is chattering when I finally get out there. I notice Myka has been able to change, and I wonder who helped her. I clap my hands together so they all look at me.

"Come on guys! To the reaping!" I call. I take Laurel's hand in mine and start skipping out of the house. She giggles and I laugh, and I'm happy she isn't worried about the reaping. It is her first time.

These are the days I'm happy we have 3 pairs of twins. They keep each other company so they don't worry. I look up and see Oak playing with Rose and Violet, all of their black hair spinning around them. I laugh a little, watching Leo and Suzie sticking their tongues out at Ash, then bolting away from him.

We step into line and when we get up front, I place my hand out and they prick it carefully. She does the same, but a little more reluctantly. She smiles proud of herself for being brave and I smile with her. I see Oak is already talking with our only mutual friend.

I lead Laurel to the 12 year old section and she instantly starts talking to her friends. I sigh as I head back to where Oak was, and smile when June waves at me. I huge her short form and she complains about me messing up her hair. I laugh and so does Oak.

"You got the zoo out on time. Nice," She says with a smirk. I roll my eyes and Oak gives her a mock glare, knowing he was part of our Zoo.

"Yeah, wasn't easy. I need to go shopping after this stupid thing too," I grumble.

"We're out? Again?" Oak asks surprised. I nod.

"Hey!" I hear my other friend, Jake, call from the 18 year old section. He rushes over with a smile putting his arm lazily around my shoulder. I smile up at him and his stormy grey eyes are bright.

"What's up?" I ask loudly over the crowd.

"Not much," He calls into my ear with a shrug. "You?"

"Same," I call. He nods and I see Myka coming in and I help her over to out section, where Jake follows into the guys part. He was just on the other side of the rope next to me and Myka. We stood on the corner of it, so the Girls' and Guys' seventeen year old section was directly behind me. June stood right behind me and Oak behind Jake.

"Welcome!" I hear the loud voice call. I glance up and notice our escort, Vinnia Platonix, was standing with her evergreen skin and hair. "Let's get this started, shall we? Ladies first!" She yells. I want to cover my ears. She sticks her hand in it carefully, and I have to think. This is my last year. Same with Myka. Oak has one more. He'll take tesserae next year; I won't be able to stop him. Myka took some this year, but it was the first time. She did it without me knowing.

42 slips have my name in there. 42 have Myka's. Around 122 slips have the Summer name to them. Out of thousands we have a higher chance than anyone else. Her hand pulls out and she reads her slip.

"Aurora Summer!" She yells. Myka starts to move but I halt her.

Jake grabs my arm, or maybe it's Oak, I don't know but I pull away. I move from my spot and I hear Myka complaining. I move to the stage. Vinnia calls out giddy support to me.

I grumble a little at her, and I almost miss the guy getting called.

"Lester Black!" A tall gangly boy stepped from the 17 year old section. He stepped up to the stage arms crossed. I glanced down and saw Laurel crying. So was Rose and Violet. Suzie too. I didn't cry though. I didn't want them to worry.

I stood tall as the mayor spoke, looking at Oak. He was really the only one holding up, but I could still see haw angry he was. The boy, Lester, tapped my shoulder carefully and extended his hand. I took it carefully. His grip was strong and warm.

We were shoved down the steps and into the Justice Building. I wasn't alone long when Oak rushed in, Ash following. The girls and Leo probably went to get Myka. Oak hugs me tightly and so does Ash.

"Come home! You need too!" Oak pleads in my ear. I nod, not trusting my voice fully. He pulls back, his hands still resting on my shoulders. Ash was still clinging to me like a little kid on the first day of school. I sat down and he curled next to me, head almost on my lap. I brushed his black curls from his face letting me see his frightened blue eyes. Oak sits next to his curled up form, his black hair hanging over his eyes.

Violet and Rose burst bust in, and I was instantly wrapped in a hug. I could feel tears falling onto my shoulder and chest as they cried loudly. Myka, Leo, and Laurel soon followed.

"They won't let Suzie in," Myka sniffles.

"Why not?" I growl. Already 8 people in here," Leo sniffs.

"She can come in with June and Jake I think," Myka says. And then she's crying. Into me again. Laurel sat on my lap and Rose and Violet hung on my right side while Ash on my left. Myka had fallen to the floor in front of me and I brushed her hair from her face again.

It's too quick. All too quick before their taken from me. Everyone. Taken. Laurel screams and Oak has to tear her out. I let a few small tears slip from my eyes before Suzie, Jake, and June run in. They embrace me tightly and Jake takes my shoulders harshly.

"Win. You need to win! Please! We can't lose you!" Jake almost yells.

"While you're gone, I'll help take care of everyone," June says sniffling.

"Take care of Oak," I whisper in her ear when I pull her in for a hug. She glances up surprised. But I had seen the way she looked at him, and how he looked at her.

"Ok," She breathes.

"And Suzie you and Oak are in charge now. Leo too. You need to go shopping soon, probably today. We have nothing else for dinner," But how much will you be able to eat tonight? I think back to when Mom and Dad died and how I couldn't eat well for months. I hugged them all again tightly.

"Ok," Suzie whispered to me. I nod.

"You can do it," I promise her.

"Ok," She says again.

And again it's too short. They are taken from me, torn away no less. I am alone again. And now the tears fall fast down my cheeks, and no one can stop them.