Titania Topaz, District One

It had been a long night. A long week, really. Ever since Titania had volunteered, she had been rushed from one activity to the next. She imagined that once she got into the arena the chaotic atmosphere would be even worse, until she either won or died. The time between now and the morning was likely to be her last quiet moments in quite some time.

Which is probably why she was so annoyed when she got back to her floor in the training center, and found a man waiting for her there.

He was middle aged, with his blonde hair beginning to turn to gray. His soft features and smooth skin clearly spoke to a lack of hard labor. To Titania he looked like every other Capitolite. Yet somehow, she knew exactly who he was.

He stood, flashing her a nervous smile. "Miss Topaz. You look so much like your mother. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is-"

"Ignatius Wren." Titania cut him off.

"So your mother... talks about me?" He looked so hopeful as he said it, which just made Titania angrier.

"Not really. The rest of One does, though. A good quarter of them think you're my father."

"And what do you think? I know she's chosen to keep quiet about that, but did she ever tell you?"

"She offered to once. But I told her I didn't care." Titania answered.

She still didn't care, though she couldn't say the same for the rest of District One. She had heard the entire lurid story from whispered conversations and veiled insults. Her mother Sapphire had been one of the most well known jewelers in Panem at one time, due partially to the man standing in front of Titania. Ignatius had been her patron, bringing her to the Capitol and expanding her business by introducing her to a whole new market. The Capitol had loved her designs, and soon enough everyone who was anybody and a piece made by her. Sapphire had fame and fortune beyond what even many Capitoloites could imagine.

All of that changed when she became pregnant with Titania.

"I mostly came here to introduce myself. And to see if you needed anything. Anything at all."

"I must be doing amazing in the polls right now." Titania responded, "We both know you wouldn't bother if I was unpopular."

"I think you have the wrong impression of me."

"Do I?" Titania was controlling herself, but only barely. Her voice came out as a low hiss, "my impression of you is a clout chasing, crowd pleasing coward. You were in a perfect position to help my mother. Stand by her, shelter her from the scandal. But instead you cut all ties with her. Because to help her would reflect badly on you."

To his credit, Ignatius didn't deny the accusations. "I deeply regret my actions regarding Sapphire. That's why I'm here. Let me make things right. Let me help you."

"I don't need your help," Titania said, "I'm going to win the Hunger Games. I'm going to bring honor to District One, the Topaz name, and I'm going to restore everything that my mother lost. That you let her lose. And I am going to do all of that without your help. Goodnight Mr. Wren."

She turned and walked into the hallway without bothering to see if he had left. She was hoping it looked like cold indifference, but reality was the opposite. She felt like she was splintering into she couldn't afford that. Now was not the time to fall apart. Not the night before the Hunger Games.

She knocked on Diamond's door and opened it without waiting for an answer. He was at his desk, fiddling with something.

"Do you still want to know why I picked you?" She asked.

"Of course."

"Because the sign of a true victor is their allies. Someone they can depend on. Someone they can trust. We only talked a few times before all of this, but you always talked to me like a person. Not the career prodigy or the daughter of Sapphire Topaz. Just me."

Diamond stopped what he was doing and looked at her thoughtfully. "That's all well and good for you. But... I'm trying to win too you know."

"Alliances go both ways. I've got your back Diamond."

"I'm glad." Diamond said, then went back to what he was working on. Titania shut the door and went to her own room.

She slept fitfully, tossing and turning the whole night. Just one more thing Ignatius Wren had managed to ruin.

Dash Grester, District Two

Dash couldn't sleep, partially because of excitement. When he had left the Career Academy, he realized that the goal he had worked towards for years might not come true. Even when he began training by himself, determined to volunteer anyway, he knew that it was a desperate scheme with a low chance of success. But somehow, things turned out better than he could have possibly hoped for, with an official endorsement from the council. He was a few days and twenty three tributes away from everything he ever wanted. Naturally that made sleeping difficult.

What also made sleep difficult were the noises coming from Zella's room.

He had learned over the past few days sharing a floor with the girl that she was prone to activity at night. She claimed to only need four hours, and she always appeared to stay up longer than him and get up earlier. But she had always shown some basic courtesy about their different needs. Tonight, he could scarcely go a few minutes before a loud thump emanated from her room. He had almost drifted off to sleep, but the sounds had woken him up twice.

On the third occurrence, he got up to investigate what was going on. Zella's room was a mess, with old Games tapes and scraps of paper with combat maneuvers on them scattered all over the floor. Zella herself was furiously scribbling at her desk. Half of a set of throwing knives were near within reach of her, while the other half were embedded into the wall. At least he had discovered what was making the noise.

Dash was not entirely sure he wanted to forgive her for what she said during the first day of training. He was a generally laid back guy, willing to allow people to make mistakes. But there were some things he couldn't let go. Zella had crossed a line, and while she had spent the rest of training trying to make up for it, all of it rang rather false to him.

As he watched his district partner try to work out some last minute strategies, he came to the strange realization that he had been watching Zella Waneta most of his life. Most district's mayors had children, he imagined. But most of them weren't also married to the Head Peacekeeper. The Wanetas were the ultimate power couple, and nothing short of celebrities in District Two. Ever since Dash was young, he could remember news reports and television streams of Zella's birthdays, school graduations, and status updates about her career training. Once, a couple years ago, a reporter had asked her if her dyed hair and piercings was setting a bad example for the other children in Two.

Zella flipped the reporter the bird, then told them that nothing was going to change who she was. Dash had respected that at the time. He was so afraid of what his parent's loyalties meant for his future, so concerned about making the right and logical move. They were opposites, in almost every way. Meeting her had just confirmed that for Dash, from the very first moment where she practically forced him into being her lieutenant. But he was not sure he respected her for it any more. He wondered if it was his opinion of her that had changed, or his feelings about himself.

But as she sat there grumbling to herself, Dash realized that not liking her was not a good enough excuse to let her suffer.

"It will be fine," he told her. His voice startled Zella, and he ended up having to dodge one of her throwing knives. "Your plans are good. And I'm sure you'll be able to come up with new ones once we're in the arena."

"It has to be better than fine." She answered, "I'm already not the leader. Sure, we talk all this bullshit about there being three of us, but we all know who's in charge. Those watching will know too. My mom and dad are going to see me out there, taking orders from a One of all people. So my plans need to be fucking flawless."

She was turned away from him, but Dash could still catch the tears in her eyes. The girl didn't deserve his sympathy. Everything she was dealing with was of her own making. But he couldn't help himself.

"Of the career victors, what percentage of them were leaders of their pack?" He asked her.

"Twenty percent." The answer was automatic, one of those facts she had memorized. As easy to pull up as breathing.

"With an average of six people per pack, that's not really better odds is it? Do you think your parents care if you're the leader, or if you win?"

"They'd probably have to think about it." Zella spat, but she seemed to relax a bit.

"That strikes me as more their problem than yours."

Zella went still, and the two experienced a rare moment of silence together. Then she spoke again, tone heavier and more serious. "I didn't really mean it. What I said."

"That's part of the problem. That you can say it so casually."

"I guess that's fair. I'm trying Dash."

"I know."

Zella wrote something down, then folded it into a paper airplane and threw it over to Dash, "Revised Bloodbath strategy. Could you take a look at it for me?"

"Could you stop throwing knives into your wall?"

Zella sighed, but placed the remaining knives into her desk drawer.

Carlotta Pierce, District Ten

Carlotta had discovered rather early on in the week that the only time no one was watching and analyzing her was at night. It reminded her of when she lived in the group home, before her aunt had taken her in. The caretakers there were sadists, always eagerly looking for an opportunity to punish the children there. Carlotta had grown up with everyone just waiting for her to fail, changing the rules until she did.

But at night, the caretakers were all asleep. This gave her the ability to move about as she wanted without fear of punishment. The Capitol seemed very similar to her. One wrong move, and she was dead. But tonight, and only tonight, no one was watching.

In the center of the main living room, there was a wide window that opened up to a ledge. There was a force field around it, but the ledge was large enough for Carlotta to use as a makeshift balcony, looking out on the twinkling lights of the Capitol.

The window behind her slid open and suddenly her mentor Blaire was sitting next to her, a cup of tea in her hands.

"Why are you up so late?" Carlotta asked.

"Me? Oh I'm just planning a murder." Blaire smirked and took a long sip of her tea.

"Honestly, same."

Blaire laughed slightly and almost choked on her drink. Then it got quiet as they stared out at the city together. The silence grew taut with expectation. Carlotta got tired of waiting and spoke first.

"Don't bother."

"Don't bother what?" Blaire asked.

"I can tell you're going to try to cheer me up. Or relate to me. Maybe talk about what it was like for you last year. I don't need to hear it."

"So you're telling me not to do my job."

"Exactly." Carlotta said, "It's a job. And right now it's late at night, before the games start proper. This is as off hours as you can get. So you don't have to pretend to care about me right now."

Blaire laughed. "You haven't changed." she said.

It was the first time either of them had acknowledged that they knew each other. Not that it had ever been particularly well. They had merely been classmates. Carlotta knew her more by reputation than anything. They had talked a few times, but the most substantial conversation they ever had was when Carlotta had come to say goodbye to Blaire after she had been reaped.

"You have." Carlotta said, "Quite a bit. I might even like you a bit now."

"Have you ever thought maybe I like you?" Blaire asked.

Carlotta scoffed, "You really want District Ten to win this year don't you?"

"Oh I definitely do." the victor answered, "I want to be the first outer district to win twice in a row. I want someone to take my place so I don't have to mentor, or go to the Capitol anymore. I want to show Kaenas how capable I am, I want to be able to save someone for once. I want to be the person that you keep trying to push away but never can. I want to guide you even when you fight me tooth and nail until you come home safely. Because I don't just want District Ten to win. I want you to win. Because I like you. And because I owe you that much."

Carlotta couldn't outright dismiss what she was saying, and that pissed her off. Blaire had a habit of throwing her off balance, of getting shots in between the cracks of her walls. It had happened last year as well, when she had gone to say goodbye to the girl. Carlotta had done it more out of obligation than anything. It didn't seem right to know a tribute and not give them that basic courtesy. She had thought it might benefit het as well, maybe help her get more comfortable with the thought of death. Yet the visit had stuck with her, and not in a good way. When she came home, she ended up crying for hours.

Aunt Marge had tried to comfort her, held her while she cried. But eventually, she started to talk about Dyson. That was the moment that Carlotta truly started to hate her. She had been sitting in her own pain, and the only thing Marge could do was talk about her dead son. That was when Carlotta understood that she was just a replacement, and could never be anything more.

"What would you even owe me for?" Carlotta asked, "We've only talked maybe six times."

"It only took once really. Did you know that you were the only person outside my family to say goodbye to me?"

Carlotta didn't know that, and honestly couldn't believe it. Blaire had always been quite popular. "Bullshit."

"It's not. People get weird around death I guess. That visit got me through some of the worst times in my life. You're why I'm still alive today. So I'm going to return the favor."

"I don't need your pity."

Blaire laughed again, then finished off her tea. "I promise you Carlotta, this isn't pity. I don't have any of that left."

AN: oh hey another chapter. And we're SO CLOSE GUYS. Just one more, for the preparations the day of, and then we are off to the bloodbath. It's going to be hard to lose a single one of these guys, I love them so much. So all you submitters can pat yourself on the back for making my job hard. I hope you all enjoy reading, please review!