A/N: Okay, so big news happens in this one XD next chapter for sure they'll start training, and will possibly move through a few days cause its kinda going slow. i'm trying a new format type thing; i'm doing third person onmiscient, aka i'm doing third person, and focusing on everyones thoughts. not all at once, but like one at a time. it switches focus more often than straight up POV's. anywayz i'm just trying it out. it's actually not too different.

As she stared down at her breakfast—a warm, thick soup with beef and greens, and chicken in an orange sauce—Mira thought about how she had never been hungry, but never fully satisfied either. Back home, all the Seam kids thought the merchant kids were snobs. It was true, the merchant kids had a lot more than the others; they never died of starvation, and always had clothes on their backs. But they didn't live a life of luxury. She had secretly envied the kids who were brave enough to cross the fence. Their food would taste delicious, and would always be fresh; they could make whatever they wanted with what they had. Even as an "upper-class" merchant kid, she had never, never in her life eaten food that was actually fresh.

But, she figured, this food was fresh, so she would enjoy it. Who knew if she would ever have food like this again. The odds, she knew, were against it.

Her heart skipped a beat as Peeta entered, and beat at double time when he smiled at her. So when he asked her, "How did you sleep last night?" it was all she could do to remember how to talk.

"Oh, alright. I was still on a bit of an adrenaline high after the parade," she answered truthfully. The parade had been amazing. The Capitol people had loved them, screaming their names, throwing them flowers...

"Yeah, you guys were great last night," Peeta was saying. Mira blushed as he smiled again, but then Katniss walked in, so she turned back to her meal. But she didn't miss the way his eyes lit up when he saw her, and her appetite suddenly dwindled.

Katniss was whispering something to Peeta, and his eyes turned serious. He nodded and said something back. Mira couldn't pretend to understand what went on between those two.

Gale came in then, and he seemed to be in a better mood, but who knew. He served himself breakfast and sat down across from her. They nodded hello, then continued to eat in silence.

Gale was agitated. He wanted to get to the training week. He was tired of sitting around on the Capitol's plush couches and doing nothing. Excessive energy caused his fingers tapped endlessly against the hardwood table, creating a rhythm for his thoughts.

He ate his food quickly, as if his speed could determine the speed of the upcoming events. He finished just as Haymitch was coming in. He stood and blocked his path on the way to the buffet. "When do we start training?" Gale demanded.

Haymitch glared at him. "Soon enough; hold your horses boy," he said, and pushed past him.

Angered, Gale walked calmly up to Haymitch as he loaded his plate. "I asked you a question."

"And I gave you an answer. Now if you want a real one, you'll back up and let me eat in peace," Haymitch growled. "Katniss, Peeta, come here!" he barked. Gale started stalking off to his room, but Katniss caught his arm. "Can we talk?" she whispered? He sighed. "Alright."

"I need a few minutes, Haymitch! I'll be there soon!" Katniss called over her shoulder as she lead Gale through a maze of narrow halls to an elevator. She didn't say anything until they were on the roof, where the wind would drown out their conversation.

"Well Catnip? What do you want to say?" Gale asked, a smile playing around the edges of his lips. Katniss looked into his dark grey eyes, softer now than they had been, but didn't smile.

"What's the matter with you Gale? You've been so hostile this whole time. Mira probably thinks you're some kind of ax murderer." Speaking of Mira, that conversation had to happen today. They had waited too long already.

"Why should I care what she thinks? She's my enemy, isn't she?"

"Don't think like that. That's how they want you to think. Don't let them own you, Gale." Katniss said quietly. She remembered having a conversation a lot like this with Peeta, a year ago on this very roof.

"Why shouldn't I? It's not like I'm going to live anyways."

"You are such a pessimist!" she finally exclaimed, exasperated, because Gale was, frankly, being a drama queen. King. Whatever.

"Whoa Catnip, I'm joking," he laughed. She glared at him, and started to walk away, frustrated and unaccomplished.

As Katniss walked toward the exit, Gale stared confusedly after her for a moment, before running after her. He caught her arm. "Hey, I'm sorry. I can't be serious right now; I'll go crazy. If I'm not there already." He waited, but she still didn't smile. He looked at her more closely. She looked as though she hadn't slept through the night in weeks. "Are you okay, Katniss?"

"I'm fine. I came up here to tell you that, they might be keeping the rule they instated last year, for Peeta and me. But obviously, you've already taken the opposite mentality," she said bitterly.

He stared at her uncomprehendingly. "And that means..?"

"It means that, if you weren't so intent on killing her first chance you got, you and Mira might both be able to win. We don't know if the rule is being kept or not."

"We could both win?" he demanded. Both of them could win? That changed everything...

"Yes! Well, maybe. I'm not sure yet. Haymitch thinks they might, but Peeta doesn't think it's likely. I wasn't actually supposed to tell you..." she said sheepishly.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me Catnip," he said impishly. His mood was much brighter with this news. The darker part of his mind was focused on the "maybe", keeping him from being fully happy, because if this suddenly proved untrue it would turn everything upside down again if he and Mira were friends.

"Thanks. Let's go back down; we've been gone long enough," she said as she walked toward exit. This time, he followed her.

They found stairs this time, and walked back down to floor twelve. He followed her through the maze of hallways, thinking about how she had always known how to get home back in District 12, too, when they had wandered farther into the woods than usual.

When they got back to the dining room, Haymitch glared coldly at both of them. Gale took the opportunity to brush by him and Peeta, and escape to his room. "Later Catnip," he muttered as he left.

Peeta stared after Gale. He wondered what happened when they were alone like that. His gaze flew to Katniss, and he smiled at her. She returned his with a quick grin, as she took her place at his side. Mira had long since gone back to her room; it was time for their Mentor Meeting. In other words, it was time for Haymitch to tell them they were terrible actors and had be be more in love, etc.

"Nice of you to join us, sweetheart." Haymitch glared at her.

"So what did I miss?" Katniss asked him.

"Nothing important. Peeta can get you up to date as you work on your act. You have one hour, do what you want. After that you two and those other two need to be here, ready for training."

"Why do we need to be here for training?" Peeta asked him.

"Because you need to present yourselves to the other mentors. Someone might want your tributes for allies, so they'll send their mentors after you two."

"But what about you?" Katniss demanded.

"I'm not officially signed up as a mentor this year. The major dealings will be your jobs." Peeta and Katniss exchanged a panicky look at this news. To have the fates of two people entirely in their hands... it was a lot to put on a person.

Seeing their look, Haymitch added, "Don't worry; I'll still help you. Normally you wouldn't be mentoring at such a young age, but I needed a break this year."

"Alright, fine. Can we go now?" Katniss asked.

"Course, sweetheart. Go work on your love life."

Katniss shot him a look, but deliberately grabbed Peeta's hand as she stalked off to the hall way.

Hiding a smirk, he stopped her at his room. They didn't go in, but he said, "So what are we doing for an hour?"

Without hesitation, she said, "We're going to see Mira."

"You sound soo happy about that..?"

"Yeah, can we go?" she said, brushing off his implied question.

"Lead the way."

Mira was lying on her bed, staring morosely at the ceiling when they knocked. "Leave me alone," she called. The door opened anyway, and she was about to repeat herself when she saw her visitors. "Oh, Katniss, Peeta, I'm sorry. I thought you were an attendant or someone..."

"Nope, just us," Peeta said.

"Okay... what's up?" Mira asked curiously. Why would Peeta and Katniss want to talk to her?

"Oh, nothing important. We'd just like to get to know you more," Katniss said.

"Oh...kay? What do you want to know?"

"Well, anything really. What's your life like back home?" Peeta said.

Mira hesitated. This was definitely not something she usually discussed. "Nothing special really..." she said, wishing they would change the subject. No one knew her secret, and she had no immediate plans to change that. It wasn't something for the world to know, not at all.

"Okay, so what's your average day like?" Katniss asked.

Another taboo question. She decided to keep it simple. "Well, I wake up, go to school, and help my parents in the shop," she said, hoping her voice was steady.

"Oh, yeah, which shop do they own?'

"Oh, you know, the... um... general store." Honest enough.

"The... general store? I don't think I've heard of that one..." Katniss asked, her eyes growing suspicious. Oh great.

"I think you mean the produce shop, right Mira? There are a lot of general items there..." Peeta offered.

"Yeah, that one."

"So what do you do after that? Does your mother work in the shop too?" Katniss asked.

"No. No, she doesn't work in the shop." At this point, Mira was fighting to keep her voice steady, and she pulled her sleeves down past her fingers.

"Oh that's interesting. What does she do then?" Peeta asked.

Mira didn't answer for a long time. This was the question she hated. The dangerous one. The one that could send her to the Community Home, if she wasn't careful. She took a deep, shaky breath before she answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No one knows this about me. Please, please don't say anything. I know I probably won't make it back home again, but my family's reputation would never recover if anyone found out."

"Of course," Peeta answered at the same time as Katniss said, "Never." They exchanged a ghost of a smile before she continued. "Everyone has secrets Mira. Me more than most. Yours will be safe with us."

"Thank you. You have no idea what that means to me." She took another deep breath before she told her story. "My father and my mother never married. My mother was a direct descendant of one of the District 13 survivors who came here. That's why my eyes are green. That has always set me apart.

"My mother was a maid to one of the Peacekeepers, so she was technically merchant class. She did the shopping for the Official, which is how she met my father." She paused. The difficult part was coming up. "My father fell in love with her, or that's what she told me. She said they loved each other, but because of her status, he didn't want to marry her. I try to remember that he really did love her." A bitter edge had crept into her voice. The same edge that always tinted her thoughts about the man she called Father.

"My mother was only sixteen when she had me. She knew that what she had done was completely against the law, but she was blinded by love. She managed to keep me from her Peacekeeper boss by claiming she'd had a stroke of paralysis. Her boss didn't care to send for a physician, so she was able to stay in bed for the months that she was pregnant. She didn't keep it a secret from him though. When he found out, he was furious. He called her a harlot, and refused to have anything to do with her or me.

"She kept me hidden while I grew up, too. I only lived with her for two years though, because when she was eighteen years old, her name was drawn to be a tribute for the Hunger Games. She died within a week, but before she left, she took me to my father, and plead with him to take care of me. I guess he still loved her, because he agreed. When she died, I think it killed part of him, too." She took a breath.

"That would be a big enough secret, but it comes with another. My father, he isn't quite right. Or, that's what I tell myself. Since I was five years old, he's... hit me." To illustrate, she pulled up her sleeve, which she had always fought to keep down to her fingers, ever since she was five years old. As she pushed it higher and higher on her arm, a grotesquely colorful array of bruises and scars were revealed, and with them, her carefully concealed past.

Katniss stared at the colors blooming on the poor girl's arm, barely aware of Peeta's sharp intake of breath, or even of her own "Oh, no..." She had no idea how to do this, there was no precedent for it. She had heard of abusive parents; sometimes in school, when they taught the history of Panem, they included it as one of the things the Capitol put an end to. It was one thing she had actually believed.

She came to her senses, and whispered, "Mira, are there more?" She nodded, and pulled off her loose shirt. When only her undershirt covered her, the full extent of the damage was revealed, or so they thought. They didn't realize that her stomach was just as garishly colored as the rest of her body, until she lifted the hem of her shirt. Every inch of her body was covered with ugly purple, blue, and yellowing marks, along with bright red gashes and pink-white scars. Katniss's heart broke, because even though her mother was far from perfect, she would never have dreamed of hurting her or Prim. She couldn't imagine a parent who would do something like this to his own child. Even if he wasn't quite right, like Mira had claimed.

She noticed Mira was crying softly, and without thinking, wrapped her arms around the girl, being exceptionally careful not to press anything, lest she hurt her. Mira looked so small now, as if speaking the news had taken a physical weight from her. Katniss rubbed her back gently, as Mira cried into her hair. Peeta wrapped his arms around them, too. The three of them stood like that for a few moments, until Mira broke free of them.

"I am so sorry. I shouldn't have put all of this on you, I had no right..." she trailed off.

"Don't worry about that at all. We're here to help you, Mira. Feel free to talk to either of us, anytime. You can even tell Haymitch, if you want. He acts like a heartless drunk, but he does care about us. There's a heart somewhere, drowning in the alcohol maybe, but it's there." Peeta was successful in bringing a small smile out of her.

"Exactly. You can tell us. But, now I think it's almost time for training... So we'll give you a few minutes to get ready while we go get Gale and Haymitch, alright?" Katniss said.

"Training? Oh, right. I'll cover everything up again."

"We'll see you in a few," Peeta said, and he and Katniss walked slowly out of the room. Only when they were in the hall did Katniss notice how troubled Peeta seemed, beyond what she felt herself.

"Are you alright, Peeta?"

"I've known her for so many years, and I never even suspected..."

"This is NOT your fault, do you understand me? Nothing you could have done would have prevented this."

"I know, you're right. I just feel awful. What a life to live, always covering up yourself, your secrets. No wonder she didn't talk much."

"Well, we know now, and maybe we can help her," Katniss said, ending the conversation as they went to fetch Gale for training.

P.S. - Let me know if you think Mira's news was too extreme, or if Katniss and Peeta's reaction to it wasn't good. Also if the new format works or not :) just generally what you thought too would be nice. I am definitely open to suggestions :D and praise, of course ;D

--mymockingjay