Irina Sokolova, District One mentor

Majesty kept randomly breaking out in raucous laughter, trying to freak everyone out. Charm kept looking down her nose at him like he was being very undignified and she was trying to be mature. I counted the seconds until the chutes came down and I could be rid of them.

Caio Sagres, District Two mentor

Isn't this supposed to be fun?

I knew it wasn't, since I'd been through the Games, but I would have thought Marley and Joseph would be excited. Instead Joseph was moodily looking through the glass of the tube, clearly thinking about something far away, while Marley was doodling on her arm with a pen. I guess it takes all kinds...

Gidget Ford, District Three mentor

"It's not even a big deal," Theta scoffed to herself. "I can get through this. I've been through worse in Three for years. At least the Arena won't have junkies." She kept blustering as Jurrien quietly ignored her. "Big deal. I'm not even scared. What a joke..."

Vera Busattil, District Four mentor

I stared silently at the tubes. My eyes misted. My breath caught. I cried. Hug her for me, Frankie. Hig her so hard...

I felt two light hands on my back. I looked down and saw Beth gently hugging me, tears on her face. Across the room, Laken was looking over at us nervously in that way men do when women cry.

"I'm sorry," Beth said. I couldn't say anything. I just hugged her back.

Meenah Turbine, District Five mentor

Galvan and Wren bounced around the room like two flies stuck in a jar.

"Almost time," Galvan said again as he paced back and forth. Wren leaned her leg against the wall and stretched it out. Galvan absentmindedly copied her and they started stretching like they were about to start gym class.

"I hope you don't die," Wren blurted to Galvan.

"Me too," he said. "I mean, I hope you don't die. Not me. But I hope that, too."

Lancia Audren, District Six mentor

Valencia looked down at her shoes. "I shouldn't have had a kid," she said.

I didn't have an answer. I hadn't had any kids myself. Not when Victor's kids so often seemed to get Reaped.

"We could have been a family," Romeo butted in.

Valencia slowly looked over at him and raised a closed hand. "Shut up, shut up, and then after that, shut up."

Loki Saberhagen, District Seven mentor

It was always lovely when my mentee shrank away from me. Propaganda goes a long way. Even people in my own District thought I was a villain. Enough time had passed that most people didn't remember my Games footage. They still remembered the Capitol recaps. At least Dahlia wasn't afraid of me. I wasn't afraid of her either, but to tell the truth I hoped she didn't come home.

Tillo Peters, District Eight mentor

"I'm scared," Kade said. She looked up at me for comfort I didn't know how to give. I'd had a hard life. Gentleness didn't come easily to someone who had never experienced it.

"Just do your best," I said lamely. It was all anyone could hope for. For most of us it wouldn't be enough.

"It's okay. No one will go after someone so little like you," Mike said, taking her hand. "They'll go after ugly people like me."

Kade laughed suddenly, then guiltily covered her mouth.

"It's okay. There's more to life than being a pretty face."

Nassor Doyle, District Nine mentor

"Goodbye," Jack said. I could have said something like "maybe you'll come back", but I wasn't good at lying.

"Yeah, goodbye," Ama agreed. "Not to be depressing, but just statistically speaking."

I didn't even know what to advise. I'd won by lucking into an amazing ally and by rigging together a harebrained scheme that actually worked. Neither seemed to apply here. I could only hope that lightning struck twice.

Bambi Kirkland, District Ten mentor

Rainbow's chest was heaving. Her eyes shimmered and then everything spilled over.

"I'm going to die," she said between sobs. "I'm going to die and I've never been in love."

Anjou raised a hand. He had a strange expression on his face. He stood near the tubes, behind Rainbow. He opened his mouth to say something. He stayed that way for a moment, then shrank away.

Frankie Disney, District Eleven mentor

"I'm going to come back, of course, but just in case, tell Mom it's okay," Isabella said as she sat by me on the narrow bench across the room from the tubes. "If anything happens, I'm going to try not to look scared, okay? It's okay if I go. Maybe adopt another girl, a little baby so Mom has someone to cuddle? Just don't let Anders volunteer, okay?" She leaned in closer and dropped her voice. "You're the only one I can trust. If Anders tries to volunteer, break his arm, okay? So they don't pick him. Don't let him break Mom's heart."

My daughter didn't even like to squish spiders. She went on begging me to hurt her brother as Elias did whatever he was doing. I wasn't paying attention.

Nubu Sanders, District Twelve mentor

Zebulon sat on the bench restlessly bouncing his leg. Sky wandered around poking at the glass tube vnd various mechanisms. She turned to me and made three signs. First she pointed her index finger at the ground. Then she laid her pinky finger on the corner of her mouth. Then she crossed her arms in front of her, her left hand on top of her right elbow and her right hand under her left elbow. She made a devil horns sign with her left hand and opened and closed her right hand.

"What's that mean?" I asked.

She repeated each sign as she spoke. "This means 'this', this means 'is', and the third one I can't say in polite company."