Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Once Remembered

It will never again be forgotten.


Part Two – The Spark


Chapter Two

I woke up in the morning and stretched from the floor. Even back home, I didn't sleep on the bed. We often had guests over so my father wanted to keep our home nice and neat. He didn't think my idea of a bed was very nice and neat, so I slept under the bed every night. I was used to it.

I opened the curtains and allowed the sun to bare its fangs as I went to take a shower. Winter knocked on the bathroom door halfway through and I turned off the water.

"Lainy, I'm leaving you a bathrobe, put it on to meet your prep team. Today's going to be a big day."

"Alright." I called, and resumed my shower. It was the one remarkable thing about the Capitol I truly admired. The shower system was made for me, it was amazing, it was brilliant, it was absolute genius. Today I felt like strawberries, so that's what I showered in. Gooey goodness came from all angles of the shower, and I was covered in the strawberry goo before I knew what was coming. By the time every speck of the goo was washed off, I still smelled like strawberries. I sighed in content.

I saw the robe sitting on my bed outside and slipped it on. It was nice and soft, and all my undergarments were gone, so I had to wear it plain. It was a little inappropriate how it stuck to my body and shaped gentle curves. I went into the main room to ask Winter for some garments, but found that I had been completely abandoned. Only Nelly was left in the room, she had been watching the television, but turned it off as she caught sight of me. She grinned enthusiastically and hopped onto her feet towards me.

"Oh you look beautiful even plain! Your prep team is waiting outside for you!" Nelly ushered me to a control panel by the elevator door and showed me a screen. I saw the heads of three girls, Nelly turned on the speakers, "Come in girls, Lainy is ready to see you!"

The three girls looked a little better than most Capitol people I had in my head, but not by much. They were up the building and passed the elvator doors in a few minutes. One of them had long purple hair with the least make-up of the three, she introduced herself as Falri. The second girl had blonde hair, but it contrasted her skin color greatly and left a very "fake" effect. She looked like a badly-made doll, her name was Cellis. Finally the most fake of the three, was Nina. I had to admit she looked prettier than the other two, but her make-up was thick and I could hardly even distinguish the features that were naturally hers.

I bowed to them politely, "My name is Melanie Savie. I'm so glad to meet you."

They took to me instantly, with my sweet words as their steer. They immediately allowed themselves inside and we shared a few compliments back and forth. I whimpered as Nelly gathered a few things to leave for a bit.

"Lainy, they're going to take good care of you, don't worry. You're going to be thrilled when you meet Meera Tigris, she's only been doing this for two years, but she's going to take care of you. You can count on her."

I assumed Meera was going to be my stylist. I could only tremble in fear as I remembered Winter's sadistic excitement with that gathering. "Where's Winter?" I asked as Nelly slipped her shoes on. "She's probably getting you some more sponsors, she knows how to do her job. Don't worry about it!"

Probably. I frowned as Nelly left me with the dogs.

The three girls didn't hesitate before they stripped me down and made me stand nude. Nina opened a large suitcase that she had brought with her. The other two examined me closely, looking at all my private body parts with great fascination as Nina set up. I tried not to feel too self conscious, but it was just so awkward.

Cellis grabbed my arm suddenly and took in the long slit. I hadn't bothered to cover it or anything, it healed better when I left it alone. "What is this? What happened to your arm?"

"It was an accident." I explained.

Falri shook her head. "Beautiful girl, why do you go out and ruin your own body? Take better care of it sweetheart, there are millions who would kill to be you!" She sighed and held a hand to her face. "She's pretty good as is." Falri said with a sigh.

Cellis nodded jadedly. "You're clean of hairs, and blemishes, you're the best we've ever gotten I suppose."

"What should we do then?" Falri wondered out loud.

"Just lay down the foundation I guess." Cellis replied. "And cover up that nasty wound."

They continued to ponder in silence before agreeing just to apply foundation make-up and leave the rest to Meera. Falri applied a lotion of some sort to my entire body, she didn't hesitate to cover every inch of me. I tried not to squirm. She covered up the wound on my arm after.

Cellris seated me to a chair after and started to do my nails, while Nina seated herself directly in front of me to do my make-up. The whole procedure took almost two hours, and then they allowed me to wear the robe again and accompanied me to the elevator. Falri had dried my hair and straightened it, though it made no visible difference.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I artlessly followed the three out the door and to a limousine. A few people in the crowd saw me and ran towards me, shouting incoherent things. Nina closed the door behind her before any of them could reach us.

"You tributes are always so popular." She murmured. "Or maybe it's just you, you're stunning after all."

"You'd have millions of fans if you were a tribute." I offered and Nina beamed. So very shallow, she didn't even understand that being a tribute meant a lot more than just having fans. "So where are you taking me?" I asked again.

"Meera doesn't like making house calls much, even to tributes. She always has her tributes sent to her."

I nodded. "I see." So she was arrogant too. I stared out the tainted windows taking in what I could of the Capitol as I tried to prepare myself in meeting Meera. I wanted to be in her good book, perhaps then, she would actually help me.

As we drove passed building as building, I tried to imagine my father in the city. He fit in it well, he knew how to blend and stay unnoticed. He had made several trips to the Capitol before, he was the mayor and it was in his responsibility. He told me a lot about the Capitol, and even drew me several layouts of it. I knew the Capitol inside out.

We stopped at a building that appeared to be made of entirely gold in the heart of the Capitol. Falri helped me out of the car and escorted me inside the building. Cellis went to say a few words to the desk clerk and husked us into the elevator. I felt nauseous again as we rose through the air. I had a feeling I would never get used to the motion.

Rooms were down a long corridor when the elevator doors opened. The three girls led me to the room at the very end and knocked. Minutes passed before I heard the door being unlocked, and the door opened and inch.

"Who are you?" Came a quick, snappish voice. I groaned at the sharp tone, I wasn't going to get along with my stylist at all.

"It's us!" Nina called joyously.

"Is Melanie Savie there?" The voice asked quickly.

"Of course, we prepared her just as you asked, though there wasn't much to do anyhow. She was pretty much ready when we got there."

"Thank you." The voice said softer, "Now please leave. I would like to be alone with her."

The girls frowned at each other, and forced a smile to me. "Don't worry, Meera will make you beautiful.", they pledged in unison. Then they giggled as they hurried back to the elevator and left. I turned back to the door and saw that it had been left open.

"Hello?" I called, awkwardly standing outside. "May I come in?"

No answer. I opened the door slowly and saw the large open space that the condo consisted of. It was plain, and nothing like the homes of rich Capitol citizens I dreamed of. It looked empty outside the contemporary furniture laid out in a dull manner, and a few obscure paintings on the wall. The curtains hid most of the sun's light, but there was a small peak where the sun was allowed to shine through.

I closed the door behind me, and walked around the empty space. "Hello? Meera?"

I was considering leaving when Meera stepped out of the kitchen. She had a glass of liquid that I guessed was champagne. I then take in my first sight of her.

She's absolutely… ordinary. She doesn't look like someone from the Capitol at all. The only thing that might give her away is a small sparkly tattoo at the back of her neck. She has her brown hair tied up in a neat bun and wore a simple shirt and jeans. She looked like one of… us. I would have never been able to guess she was from the Capitol if I had seen her walking on the streets of District 4.

"So you must be Melanie." She murmured.

"Lainy." I allowed. She was the first to have my permission.

She nodded at my grant, "Lainy. Now then, please take a seat, we have much to talk about."

I did as she said and seated myself on the leather sofa set. Meera came around a moment later and seated herself across from me and placed a tall glass of champagne in front of me. I took a small sip, and found the taste unnaturally appealing. I took a bigger gulp and set it down.

Meera crossed her legs, "So. Where to begin?"

"Why are you so different from the other Capitol people?" I asked first.

Meera laughed, amused by my question. "I just don't have the taste for so much make-up. I'm no different from them in many ways."

"You don't make it sound good." I commented. She made it sound like she was disappointed in herself.

"That's because it isn't. I know what we are. We're terrible aren't we? Making you children kill one another just to establish an over proved point." Wow, things were looking up.

"Are you sure you should be telling me this?" I asked. Even Capitol citizens themselves weren't allowed to say anything against the government.

"The reason I made you come here, Lainy, is because my apartment is safe. They have spyware all over the place listening in on our little conversation. You have to be real careful what you say around here."

"Is my costume worth so much effort?"

Meera shook her head. "I'm not talking about the opening ceremonies. I'm talking to you about the rebellion."


Author's Note

Did anyone else catch the Meera Tigris reference? I have a habit of making insignificant characters significant in my OC fanfictions.

-creativename