~Katniss~

I was nervous about meeting Luna's family. Even though she was my roommate for two years and I trust her completely, but her parent's are a different story. They were wealthier, judging by the part of the District we were walking through. Cato kept a tight grip on my hand, as did Luna.

"Hey Katniss, wanna loosen the grip on my hand? It's about to break." Luna said chuckling. I let go of her hand completely and flexed my hand.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little nervous." I replied and Cato gave my hand a little squeeze, letting me know that he was there for me.

"It's okay, and don't be. My parents love you." she exclaimed proudly.

"They don't even know me though."

"But after what I told them about you and what they saw during the Games, they can't wait to meet you."

"Hey what about me?" Cato questioned jokingly.

"Oh don't worry they want to meet you too. They loved how you took care of Katniss in the Games. Ate it right up." she told him, then stopped realizing what she was talking about. After Peeta died, I was a wreck, and Cato and Clove helped me, but we lost Clove too. Luna spun around and wrapped me in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry about Peeta, and Clove. I was just so excited about you two being together, I guess I kinda forgot."

"It's okay." I told her, giving her a sad smile. "I miss them every day, but I'm getting through it." I continued then looking up at Cato, a sad look on his face.

"We both are." he finished and kissed my head.

"Okay okay, enough sadness. Come on we're almost there." we walked a few more block to Luna's house, a two story, light blue, painted house with flowering bushes beneath the windows. We walked up to the front door and Luna shouted as we walked through the door.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" she called and the two of them came out from in the kitchen. Luna had her mom's blonde hair and freckles, but her dad's green eyes. Her mother was of normal height and a thin woman, but her father was tall and intimidating. "Mom, Dad, this is Katniss and Cato."

"Nice to finally meet you both." I greeted, hoping they'll be accepting of me. They were quiet for a moment before her mother smiled and came to hug me, which caught me by surprise.

"It's so nice to meet you too honey." she said pulling away. "Luna talks about you all the time. I'm Enna and this is my husband Rollan." she introduced, gesturing to her husband. He looked at me with a smile, shaking my hand.

"It's about time we met Luna's roommate." he said happily, then turned to Cato. "And you're Cato. Pleasure to meet you son." he said shaking Cato's hand as well. By the look on his face I could tell he was just as surprised by the warm welcoming.

"Come! Sit! We're just making some tea." Enna chirped excitedly. We then gathered in the living room around the coffee table while Enna went to get the tea for all of us. We spent the next two hours sitting and talking with them, telling them about how Cato and I got along at the Academy versus now that he and I are together. Eventually we had to leave to go back to the train and since we didn't know the way, Luna went with us.

"I can't believe you have to leave already." she complained, a tear in her eye as we stood at the train station.

"I'll be back to visit before you know it." I told her and she nodded, pulling me into a hug.

"Keep in touch." she reminded.

"I will." I said, pulling away from her. She turned to Cato and pulled him into a hug as well, taking him by surprise.

"You take care of her or I'll kick your ass." she said with conviction.

"I promise." the two of them pulled away and Cato and I walked onto the train. I could tell something was off with him. He's been acting differently since we met Luna's parents.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, taking his hand. He nodded and gave me a smile, but I could tell it was fake. I tugged him to our room and sat him on the bed, shutting the door. I sat down on the bed next to him, holding his hand while he looked at the floor. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Cato, don't shut me out. Please?" I asked.

"They shouldn't have been that nice to me." he stated in a flat tone.

"What?"

"Luna's parents. They shouldn't have been nice to me. I killed people, I was horrible in the Games before I caught up with you. I killed people and I was okay with it, they shouldn't be. Why would they be nice to me?" he rambled. Where was this coming from? He never acted like this before, so why did it now?

"Because you were there for me? Because you did what you had to do to survive, just like I did. You were trained to kill since you were a child. Maybe they understand that. Maybe they understand that anybody else would have done the same thing. Even Luna if she had to go in, God forbid. I killed people too Cato, and they treated me the same as they treated you."

"But you're Luna's friend, her roommate."

"True, but they know that we just want to get passed everything that happened. That we just want to forget. And even though we won't be able to, they may want to make it easier for us to forget."

"But I still killed people Katniss. I can't forget that." he continued, putting his head in his hands.

"Anybody else would have done the same thing to get home." I said, taking his hands away from his face and making him look at me. "Hey, I still love you. No matter what. We'll get through this, together." I said softly to him and he nodded, pulling me to him, and burying his face in my shoulder.

"Together." he promised.

"Always."

That night we couldn't sleep, too wide awake from the day that had happened. So we talked all night, telling stories from home, what our friends are like. Well what my friends are like, I've met his. I told him all about Gale and Madge and Peeta, what we were like before the Games and how much trouble we would get into at school, and how we took care of each other.

"So Gale is your hunting partner right?" he asked as we laid on our backs on the bed, our hands clasped between us.

"Yep, has been since I was a kid."

"I still can't believe you hunt, and the Peacekeepers are okay with it?"

"Well they aren't supposed to be, but they are just as hungry as the rest of us so as long as we give them game they let it slide. Sometimes they even trade with us."

"Wow, and Madge is the mayor's daughter. How did you meet up with her?" he asked curiously.

"She and I were both kind of loners, nobody really talked to her because she was the mayor's daughter, thought she was a nark or something. She saw me sitting by myself at lunch and sat with me, we got to talking and just became friends. She's like a sister to me and Prim." I explained and he stiffened at the mention of Prim. "You nervous about meeting my sister?"

"A little bit. What if she doesn't like me or approve of me. From what you tell me, I need her approval more than your mother's."

"Prim sees the good in everybody, with a few exceptions."

"Like the Capitol?"

"More like someone in the Capitol. But she probably already loves you if she saw any of what you did in the Games."

"You think that'll be enough?" he asked sheepishly and I gave him a small smile as I prop up on my elbows to look at him.

"More than enough." I confirmed. He smiled and wrapped his arm around me, holding me to his chest. He kissed my head as we laid in a comfortable silence as I fell asleep in his arms. I hope Prim will like Cato, she likes just about everyone because she sees the good in them.

Meanwhile...

~Coin~

I sat in my office, watching the monitors showing me the view of the train carrying the latest Victors. With the two of them winning, they will be the next symbol of the Rebellion, what we need to bring the Capitol down. A knock at the door brought me out of my musings.

"Enter." I called, turning to see who was walking through the door. Peter, my messenger came through the door, out of breath.

"A memo, from District Twelve." he said, handing it out to me. Hastily I grabbed it from his hand and ripped open the envelope.

Healing process complete. Should wake any day.

-D

I sighed in relief, they'll be awake before the tour is done. I set the paper on my desk and turned back to Peter who stood at attention.

"Peter, send some troops to Twelve."

"How many ma'm?"

"Three, I don't want them to raise attention."

"What is the purpose of this ma'am?"

"To bring our subjects back here. Have them take the tunnels into the mines." I told him, writing out the instructions for those watching over the subjects.

"That's a two day trip."

"Better than taking a hovercraft." I said, handing him the paper in an envelope. He left the room and I turned back to the monitors. Katniss and Cato were sleeping in their rooms while their mentors and Effie sat in the Lounge Car. It was time for the Capitol to lose it's power.

~Katniss~

Over the next few days, visiting the Districts were interesting. Every now and then I would see people wearing mockingjays, either pins, necklaces, some even engraved into bracelets. Every time we passed somebody wearing a mockingjay they would tip their hats or nod to us in acknowledgment. And when Cato and I would ask our mentors or Effie about them they would either shrug or say that we started a new trend. But it wasn't until we got to District Ten that things got bad, really bad. Before we even started to get ready for our speeches the ground started to shake.

"Earthquake?" I asked, looking to Cato. He shrugged and moved towards the window to look outside when the ground shook again, only much harder, accompanied by a loud boom. Off in the distance you could see a cloud of smoke rising from the ground.

"Bomb!" he shouted, more bombs fell to the ground, shaking the train cars. Cato pulled me to him, as if trying to protect me when Haymitch and Brutus burst into our room.

"We need to go. Now!" Haymitch boomed.

"What's going on?" I shouted as we ran from car to car to the very end of the train.

"There's uprisings in the Lower Districts. And the Capitol is taking action." When he opened up the door to the end of the train, a ladder appeared out of nowhere. What the hell is going on? Looking up I see a hovercraft, ready to take us to its destination.

"Katniss come on!" Cato shouted over the sounds of the bombs. I looked and saw that I as the only one who hadn't climbed that ladder, I didn't have time to think. I grabbed on and was pulled up into the hovercraft. When I got my bearings in the already moving craft I look around to see Cato seemingly asleep in a chair.

"Cato?" I called, walking towards him, shaking his shoulder. "Cato!" I called again, more urgently. Over and over I called his name until I felt a burst of pain in my shoulder, before everything went dark.

When I woke up later, everything was white almost blindingly white. The ceiling above me was white and lined with florescent lights, the walls were also white, no windows except a small one in the door, the tiled floor was white, so was the bed I was on and the clothes I was wearing. Where was I? And where was everybody else? I sat up in bed as the door opened and Brutus, Haymitch, and a worried looking Cato walked in. Cato gathered me in his arms and held me tightly.

"Thank God you're okay."

"What's going on? Where are we?" I asked, looking at the people around me.

"We are in District Thirteen." Brutus informed and I gave him a confused glare.

"Thirteen doesn't exist anymore. It was flattened by the Capitol." I told them, utterly confused. How could we be in Thirteen? It's in ruins.

"As was Districts Ten, Eleven, and..." Haymitch trailed off. No, he's lying.

"And what?" I demanded, my voice cracking with anticipation. "Say it!" I shouted, making them flinch.

"Katniss-" Cato started but I stopped him.

"No!" I shouted. "No I want to hear him say it."

"And District Twelve." Brutus finished and my world crumbled. My home was gone. What happened to Prim, my mom, Madge and the Hawthornes? Were they gone too? Or did they make it out alive? Did anybody make it out alive? I don't know what I would do if I lost them all. And I very well could have right now.

"Did anyone survive?" Cato asked, holding me to his chest as tears fell down my cheeks. I couldn't speak, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't even think. The idea that everybody I loved and cared about could possibly be dead, was more than I could take.

"There were survivors." Haymitch said, and hope filled my chest. A hand landed on my shoulder and gripped it lightly.

"They're fine Katniss. We got them out in time." Brutus said, his voice light and quite, trying to soothe me.

"Them?" I croaked.

"Your mom, sister, Madge and the Hawthornes. They are all here and safe." Haymitch informed and a new round of tears filled my eyes. Tears of joy. They were alive, they were all safe. I wanted to see them, I needed to.

"When can I see them?" I asked them, shaking slightly. Cato held me tighter, trying to calm me, but it did very little.

"When we land you'll meet the President of District 13 then you can see them." Haymitch said and I sighed in relief.

"What about my family?"I heard Cato ask.

"They are still in District Two. So far there haven't any problems in the Upper Districts, specifically Two. District Two is too loyal to the Capitol." Brutus explained and I felt Cato sigh in relief. I know eventually we'll have to bring them here, Cato's parents hate the Capitol.

"So where are we right now?" I asked, pulling away from Cato slightly to look at Haymitch and Brutus.

"In a hovercraft on the way to Thirteen. We should be there soon." Brutus explained.

"What exactly are we going to be doing in Thirteen? If this is the start of the Rebellion, what can we expect?" Cato asked and our two mentors looked at each other hesitantly.

"We'll let the President explain that to you when we get there, until then just get some rest. You're in for a long night." Haymitch said before walking out of the room with Brutus behind him. After a few long moments of silence, I turned my head to Cato to find him looking at the floor.

"What do you think is going to happen?" I asked him and he shrugged.

"I don't know. Uprisings in the Districts? Now? And this President of a District? Something seems off, and I don't like it." he mused, I just curled myself into more.

"We should rest, who knows what will happen when we get there." he nodded, still deep in thought and we readjusted ourselves on my small bed to get comfortable. I was curled into him, one leg slung over his, with my head on his chest while his arms were wrapped around me. After we had both drifted off to sleep, we were woken a short time later by our mentors, telling us hat we were in District Thirteen. We were given new clothes to wear, gray shirts and pants the color of coal and black shoes. I looked at Cato and saw that we were wearing the exact same thing.

"Must be the standard clothing here." I said, causing him to look at me and realize the same thing I did, that our clothes were the same. He held out his hand for me to take as we followed Haymitch and Brutus off the hovercraft to find a man dressed in a black military styled uniform, much like a Peacekeeper, that alone made we weary of him.

"Hello, my name is Boggs, the President's right hand man. It's a pleasure to meet you Katniss and Cato." he said, introducing himself and holding out a hand for us to shake. When neither of us returned the gesture he lowered his hand and turned towards Brutus and Haymitch.

"Brutus, Haymitch, I trust that you two are sitting in on the meeting?" he asked them.

"Hell yeah we are." Haymitch said, taking a swig of alcohol from his flask, to which Boggs grimaced at.

"I'll be taking that." he said, swiping the flask of spirits from Haymitch who gave him a glare.

"Perfect, a rehab facility." he muttered under his breath. If Boggs heard him, he chose to ignore him.

"This way." he said, indicating for us to follow him. As we walk I take in our surroundings, walls seeming to be coated with metal, but the ceiling is made of stone. Lights line the walls, offering light in this wide, round tunnel. It is then that I realize we are underground. It makes sense, District Thirteen was known for nuclear weapons and military. This is how they've survived for so long, in bunkers underground. Deep enough as to not be picked up on the Capitol's radar. After walking through halls, taking many twists and turns, and going up stairs, I know that a person unfamiliar to this place could get lost easily. But finally we come to a room with the word PRIVATE stamped on the door. Boggs knocks twice and I can faintly hear a voice telling us to enter. Sitting at a table surrounded by chairs, with a series of screens behind her, is a woman with silvery hair down to her shoulders, pale skin, but gray eyes similar to those from the Seam sitting there waiting for us.

"Madam, this is Katniss, Cato, and you know Brutus and Haymitch." he introduces us to her and she stands from her seat and crosses the room to us, holding out a hand.

"It's an honor to meet you, I'm Alma Coin, the President of District Thirteen." she says, her hand still held out. When neither of us return her gesture either, her smile tightens with irritation and she lowers her hand. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, please sit." she says, gesturing to the chairs around the table. One by one we took a seat, I sat closest to Coin with Cato on my right, and everybody else following in suit. The only person who didn't sit was Boggs, who just stood by the door as if on guard.

"What's going on in the lower district's?" Cato asks immediately as I eye Coin, waiting for her answer.

"It seems that the deaths of Rue, Peeta, and Clove sparked something in the Districts, as well as you two winning together. You defied the Capitol, something that hasn't been done on this big of a scale since the Dark Days."

"Okay, so what do you want us to do?" I asked her.

"We want you two to be the face of the Rebellion. If we can keep this energy going, we may be able to take down the Capitol."

"And by we you mean-" I started but I was cut off.

"All of us Katniss." Haymitch interjected. "We're all sick of what the Capitol makes us do. Preparing children to be sent to their deaths."

"And who is us?" Cato asked, looking at everyone around us.

"Me, Haymitch, President Coin of course." Brutus started.

"We also have spies in the Capitol. Finnick, Beetee, and Caeser have been collecting information and getting it back to us."

"Caeser Flickerman is a spy for you?" I asked, hardly believing it.

"Has been for years, easily covered up by his flamboyant character on stage." Coin admits somewhat proudly.

"But why us? Why make us the face of the Rebellion?" I asked.

"People are rallying behind you. You are the pair that defied the Capitol, they're follow nobody but you." Coin explained.

"And what if we don't do it?" Cato challenged. "We never wanted this. We just wanted to survive. We didn't mean to start a war." Cato said and he was right. I never wanted to be in the Games. I just wanted to protect Prim, then when I got into the Games, I just wanted to survive, whatever way possible.

"I have something that may change your mind." Coin said, nodding to somebody behind her. Suddenly a screen lit up across the table from us, and two familiar face showed up on the screen. Two faces that were supposed to be dead. "We intercepted them before they made it back to the Capitol, they were not quite dead yet. But we managed to bring them back with the technology available to us." she explained, gesturing to the two figures sitting at a table eating food, barely speaking to each other. I stood up and walked to the screen, there right in front of me, were images of Peeta and Clove, looking healthy after being in the Games, like they were never in them to begin with.

"They're alive?" Cato asked from behind me. I was so caught up in the image in front of me I didn't hear him come up behind me. I reached back and clutched his hand tightly in mine. He pulled me to his chest as I cried tears of joy, my friends, my best friends were alive.

"And they will remain alive. Unless you choose to be anything but the Mockingjays, the faces of the Rebellion." she threatened.

"You're blackmailing us?" I asked incredulously.

"Madam President really is this necessary? Haven't they gone through enough losing them the first time?" Haymitch asked in our defense.

"I am the authority here. And you should be thankful we brought them back to begin with. It used a lot of resources and we could certainly use their places here for other survivors who need it more."

"So if we aren't your Mockingjays, you'll kill them?" Cato asked through gritted teeth, his grip around me growing tighter.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. So what is your answer?" she asked us expectantly. I looked up at Cato then at the screen that held the image of Clove and Peeta. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned back to Coin.

"We will discuss and let you know." I said and she nodded.

"Don't take too long." she replied, turning to leave the room with Boggs following behind her. After a few moments of silence I rounded on Haymitch and Brutus.

"Did you know?"

"That they were alive? We knew that they might try but we didn't know that they were successful." Brutus explained.

"Why didn't you tell us that they were trying this?" Cato asked, moving us back to the table, sitting down with me in his lap, still holding me tightly.

"We didn't want to get your hopes up." Haymitch said sympathetically. I nodded and turned back to the screen.

"I can't lose them. Not again." I stated firmly. "I never wanted this. I never wanted to start the Rebellion I just wanted to save Prim." I thought out loud. Cato started rubbing my back, agreeing with me.

"I know Kat, I know." he sighed and addressed our mentors. "So what do we do?"

"If you guys do this, if you become the face of the Rebellion you'll be saving lives, more than just theirs." Haymitch said, gesturing to the screen. "But know that you will lose lives as well. But we all agree that Snow needs to be stopped. And Coin, while I don't agree with everything she does, we can find ways around it. Because without you two, this whole thing is a lost cause." He finished explaining all of this to us. We needed to stop this, stop sending innocent kids to be killed. Who knows what being a Mockingjay would entail, but with Cato by my side I know we could do it. I can't lose my friends again, and I can't lose my family.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Brutus questioned.

"I'll do it. Snow needs to be stopped. The Hunger Games needs to end. This is the only way." I said. I just signed away the next however many years of my life, however long it takes to stop this.

"I'm in too." Cato said immediately. "You can't do this without me babe." he continued, pulling me tighter to him. "When can we see them?" He asked the two men in front of us.

"As soon as we give Coin her answer. Then you can see them." he said and we all proceeded out the door to find the woman we were looking for in the hallway waiting for us.

"Your answer?"

"We'll do it." Cato spoke for us and Coin smiled triumphantly.

"Excellent." she said, a smug look crossing her face.