A/N: Last reaping! Yay! :D Finally finished. After this chapter, there will be three chapters of train rides, followed by chariot rides, then training days and so on. Hopefully now that the reapings are done, things will get a lot more interesting.

Now, this is very important: On my profile, there is a favorite tribute poll. This poll will play a role in who I decide to kill off. It won't be a huge role, since I have a lot planned already, but it will play a part nonetheless. It will be up for the duration of the train rides, so you have three chapters' worth of time to go and vote.

Question of the Chapter: Favorite of Twelve? And, as our last two tributes make an appearance, who is your favorite tribute out of all twenty-four? Besides your own, of course.

Happy last reaping!

~Ashes

District Twelve

Lynette "Nick" Nicklin, 17

Nick smiled at the sight of the familiar fence, looming up and encasing the forest beyond. It was huge, topped with barbed wire, and if you didn't know better, then it would be terrifying, especially with the constant low hum of electricity that could be heard.

There was no electricity, though, nothing whatsoever. It was just there to scare you. The fence, too, was dilapidated and falling apart, if you looked closely enough. The Capitol didn't care much about far-off District Twelve. Especially now that half the forest had been bombed away in the Second Rebellion.

The fence had history, though.

During the Second Rebellion, there had been this woman who had took her family and ran away into the forest. Her name had been Kanissa, or Katnissa, or something like that. She'd ducked right under that fence with her husband, who was a baker, along with her sister and best friend, and his family.

She hadn't been interested in the rebellion, hadn't been interested in creating equality and a better world and all that mumble-jumble crap that the rebels were constantly feeding each other. She had just wanted to keep her family safe, and that's what she had done. Nick would probably have done the same under the circumstances.

It didn't work, though, or at least that's how the story went. Some of the townspeople had the same thought, staying out of the war, and they followed her into the woods. Keeping a few people hidden isn't too hard, but there were too many. The Capitol bombed out half of the forest, effectively eradicating them.

It was one of the Capitol's favorite stories to tell. The moral? Don't mess with them. Ha. Nick snorted.

That's what all the stories told of. How great the Capitol was, how invincible they were, how they were immortal and undefeatable and all the Districts were chained beneath them, kissing their feet.

Nick knew better, though. Nobody was immortal, nobody was infallible. People were imperfect, and therefore a society run by people would always have flaws and loopholes. Rules had loopholes, commands had loopholes. In the end, sometimes it was safest to only trust yourself.

The Capitol had built a bright, shiny new fence when they won the war, intending to keep it up and running at all times.

It didn't take long before the Capitol got tired of wasting their electricity on District Twelve, and now the forest was the main source of food for a lot of citizens. You could see traps laid along the treeline just walking along the trails.

"Hey, Nick!" Ruselle materialized from somewhere by the fence, waving at Nick. Her mouth was quirked up in a half-smile.

"Hey, Ruselle," Nick greeted her best friend with their usual shoulder bump. "How's the fence looking?"

Ruselle shrugged one shoulder. "Same old. No electricity. We've got to be quicker and stealthier this time, though. The peacekeepers are perkier today. All high on the prospect of choosing two more teenagers to slaughter each other."

Nick snorted. "Yeah, the reaping today, huh?"

"Unfortunately."

"May the odds be ever in your favor, Ruse," Nick mimicked in a Capitol accent.

"Shut up and climb." Ruselle gave Nick's shoulder a shove, and Nick hooked her fingers into the grooves in the rough bark of the tree. This was their tree, their favorite way into the woods, and they'd climbed it too many times to count.

Nick pulled herself up, feeling the rush she always got from physical activity, and the feel of the muscles in her arms straining and bunching. She wasn't anything special to look at - plain brown hair, hazel eyes, a face that wasn't pretty, but wasn't ugly, either.

One thing that Nick knew she was good at, though, was physical activity. She had quite a strong body, from climbing the tree and setting traps and prying them open again to retrieve prey.

Nick reached the top of the tree, easily shimmying herself onto the branch that hung out across the fence. She swung down with one hand, launching over the fence, and then bending her knees slightly to absorb the impact of the ground.

Ruselle followed behind her, landing with a muffled thump. The two of them took the winding trails to one of the traps they had laid, an expertly tied noose. Nick smiled when she saw the rabbit hanging from it. She pulled out her hunting knife, checked the area around them for larger predators - she'd had to kill a wolf, once, when she'd forgotten to scan the area and had almost got her throat ripped out - and then hacked at the rope around the rabbit's ankle.

If they had a good haul today, maybe Nick could trade for the blue truck that Judy had wanted.

"Kurt! I'm home!" Nick let the door slam shut behind her, echoing through the house. Their father was still at work in the mines, only getting off ten minutes early to attend the reaping today.

"Nick?" Judy, her seven-year-old brother, poked his head out from the top of the stairs. His green eyes widened when he took in the red truck in Nick's hand. "Wow, is that for me?"

"'Course it is, bud. What would I want with a toy truck?" Nick set her bag down on the floor, and the pots inside clattered. She had traded for a fair amount of stuff today, and even had leftover meat. The one quail it had cost for Rudy's truck was no big deal at all.

"Thanks so much, Nick!" Judy dashed down the stairs, his face alight with happiness.

"I know you wanted blue, Jude, but they only had red." Nick handed her little brother the truck, and he immediately clasped it to his chest. "I hope you don't mind."

"No, no," Judy said hurriedly, "I don't mind at all! Thank you, thank you, Nick!"

Judy looked up at Nick with a grin stretched from ear to ear. His eyes were bright with blatant admiration for his older sister, and Nick smiled down at him.

Judy wrapped his arms around Nick's leg, and she ruffled his hair playfully.

No matter what, she would always, always, be there for Judy.

Asa "Ace" Wester, 14

Elisa stared down at the floor, silent and utterly still. Her usually warm and bright brown eyes were distant.

This wasn't right. Ace was the one whose eyes were usually distant. The quiet dragged on, strange and foreign without Elisa's comforting chatter and loud, carefree laughs.

"Elisa?" Ace's voice was quiet, hesitant. His best friend didn't reply, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"Elisa, are you okay?" he raised his voice slightly, and Elisa looked up at him blankly.

Ace wrung his hands, and then clasped them together tightly. He could feel himself getting stressed. "I'm so sorry about your mom."

That seemed to get through to her, because she flinched. Elisa's mother had been sick for weeks, and their family couldn't afford to pay for her treatment. Her mother had passed away yesterday night, and as soon as Ace had heard about it at school, he'd gotten excused so he could come and try his best to make Elisa feel better.

"I can't believe she's really gone," Ace said. Elisa stared at him for a few seconds, and then burst into tears, her sobs loud and raking. She leaned into his shoulder, and Ace could feel her tears soaking through his shirt. He didn't mind, though. Comforting Elisa was worth ruining a shirt.

"Oh, Ace," she wailed, and the fact that she was speaking again made Ace breath out a sigh of relief. He wasn't used to Elisa being quiet, and when she was, it felt like the whole universe was tilted off balance. "What am I going to do? I-I miss her so much!"

"It's okay," he consoled. "Things will get better."

"It's not fair, though!" Elisa protested, sniffling and wiping at her eyes.

"Of course it isn't fair," Ace said. "Nothing here in Twelve is fair. We have to live with it, though, and I know you're strong enough to get through this, Elisa."

"You really think so?" her voice was a bit softer, and she looked uncertain.

"I know so."

She gave him a shaky smile, and he smiled back. Ace couldn't imagine what she must be feeling right now, losing a parent like that. He loved both his parents with all his heart, and didn't know what he would do if they died.

Elisa was absolutely right. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Mrs. Hendale should have to die while people like the President and the Capitol citizens get to live, with their youth pills and surgeries and wrinkle-removal procedures. Mrs. Hendale was one of the nicest people Ace had known, with her soft blonde hair and a smile that could melt your heart. She had always baked Ace and Elisa brownies after school, even though it used up almost half of the sugar rations.

So why should Mrs. Hendale die, when the people who sent twenty-three teenagers into a fight to the death each year get to live? How many more people would have to suffer at the hands of the Capitol?

Stress twisted through Ace's stomach. He could feel himself getting wound up, like someone had taken the wires of his brain and was now slowly twisting them together, tighter and tighter.

Elisa frowned, her face still tear-streaked. "I know that expression, Ace. Are you getting all philosophical again?"

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Elisa sighed, sitting up and taking a deep breath, smoothing down her hair. That was Elisa for you: her emotions were quick bursts, loud and dramatic, but never lasting. She pulled herself together so well. "I can't believe I still have to go to the reaping today. I should be exempt or something."

"Then I would have to be all alone," Ace said. Just thinking about the reaping got his stomach clenching again. Who would it be this year?

"Don't worry, Ace." Elisa swiped away the tear-trails on her cheeks. "I have to go, just like every year."

"Yeah." Ace smiled, but it was forced, a worried smile, with his fingers twisting together in anxiety.

"There's no reason to be nervous." Elisa smiled, all sign of her tears gone. "We're only fourteen. What are the odds that it'll be either of us?"

"Small for me," Ace said. Being an only child, his parents had strictly forbidden him from taking tesserae. They were doing okay, enough money to get by, and so they didn't really need it, anyway. Elisa, though, had two twin brothers to look after. "You took tesserae though."

"Just ten. That's nothing compared to some people."

Ace looked down at his feet. "What if it's you, Elisa?"

Elisa draped an arm across his shoulders. "Don't worry, Ace. It won't be."

Reaping

"Uh, welcome!" Zee Delphi blinked at the crowd, her introduction a second too late. "Welcome, welcome to the ninety-nineth annual Hunger Games!"

There was sparse, scattered applause from the people gathered below. Zee looked lost up on the stage, her shimmery blue eyes darting back and forth, dressed in a black and white dress that was simple by Capitol standards. This was her first year of mentoring, and on rather short notice, since Effie Trinket passed away just three days ago.

Effie Trinket - just the name made people feel sympathy. During the Second Rebellion, she and Haymitch Abernathy, the lone living Victor at the time, had both joined up with the rebels. She was one of few Capitol citizens to do so, but certainly not the only Escort who had decided to switch sides. Rumor had it that the two of them had engaged in a secret romance, but it was never proven.

Haymitch was blown apart by landmines in the Capitol, but Effie survived. Out of spite, and to show their power, the Capitol forced her to resume being an Escort, while living in prison for the other days of the year. She'd went on to be an Escort for two years, but before reaching three this year, she'd had a heart attack and died.

"My name is Zee Delphi, and I'm your new escort!" she smiled at the crowd. "Happy Hunger Games!"

"And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Zee rushed out after a second, as if she'd almost forgotten to say Effie's catch phrase. She must've watched the past reaping videos. The words sounded strange coming out of her mouth, though, and she'd accented the wrong word.

Zee stepped back awkwardly, her flats shifting into black to match the shadow that fell over her as the Dark Days video played above her. Madge Undersee, the woman who had been elected Mayor, predeceasing her father, took to the stage to give her speech.

Word had it that she had run to the woods during the Second Rebellion, following the man she was in love with. It was rumored that she was the only survivor -evident by the burns on half her face - but the Capitol denied it, insisting that the burns had occurred when the rebels bombed the Mayor's house.

Mayor Undersee rolled open the scroll, reading the pathetically small list of only three Victors in ninety-nine years. The first two were both dead, and the only survivor and mentor, Emelia Ruth, had won the ninety-third Games.

It had been more luck than skill, though - the Careers that year had broke apart early on, and quite a few tributes died when a volcano erupted and they hadn't gotten to high ground in time. Emelia wasn't much of a fighter; she'd been better with healing than with hurting. The final showdown had been on the edge of a cliff, and Emelia won when the boy from five - who also hadn't been much of a fighter- had lost his footing and fell into the lava below.

"Alright!" Zee took back to the stage, clasping her hands together in front of her as she flitted to the girls' bowl. Her eyes were alight with curious excitement for who her first tributes would be.

Zee stuck her hand into the bowl, and plucked a slip from the very top, opening it quickly, eager to see the name.

"Lynette Nicklin!"

There was silence in the crowd, but for the visible relaxing of shoulders, and sighs of relief as children glanced at their friends' faces, smiling, safe for another year.

In the seventeen-year old section, a girl with long brown hair relaxed as well, starting to smile as she met the eyes of her father in the roped-off section.

Her smile froze halfway, dripping down her face.

Why did he look so terrified? The girl frowned slightly, thinking back to the name.

Lynette Nicklin.

No.

She'd gone by Nick so long that she almost didn't recognize her first name anymore, but there it was. Spoken loud and clear.

"Lynette?" Zee's eyebrows pulled together. "Are you out there?"

The crowd was silent for another moment, and then a well-built girl stepped out of the seventeen-year-old section, her hazel eyes unreadable. She was wearing a loose beige dress that hinted at curves hidden beneath the layers. She looked fit, and fairly tan for someone from twelve.

Nick walked up to the stage without a word, her face hard, her eyes on her little brother. He was staring at her, wide-eyed and terrified, clutching their father's leg.

She would come back to him.

She would.

"Great!" Zee beamed at Nick, apparently satisfied with her first female tribute. She didn't look fazed when Nick didn't return the smile. "Now let's move on to our male tribute!"

Zee bounded over to the boys' bowl, anticipation lighting up her eyes as she selected a slip. Zee pursed her lips as she turned to the microphone.

"Asa Wester!"

Don't think.

That was the first thought that swelled through Ace's mind when he heard his name echoeing around the square. The shock was undeniable, and so was the terror, the desire to burst into tears.

He couldn't cry, though. He couldn't have the whole Capitol laugh at him.

So Ace didn't think. He shoved it to the back of his mind, pretended that it was all okay, that he wasn't going off to the Games to most likely get painfully slaughtered.

That he would come home to Elisa.

Zee watched as a small, scrawny boy stepped quickly out of the fourteen-year-old section, nearly tripping over someone's foot in his haste to get into the aisle. He had hair so dark a brown that it was practically black, and his brown eyes were thoughtful, slightly unfocused, as if his mind was far away.

Zee didn't look quite as pleased with her male tribute, but her eyes were still bright and excited as Ace stepped up to the stage. She clapped her hands together happily.

"Wonderful! Such great tributes for my first year!" Zee beamed at the crowed. "Lynette Nicklin and Asa Wester, everyone!"

Nick turned to shake hands with Ace, her strong hand gripping his thin one, and then they were led away.