The Next Day…

You were awoken by a loud pounding on your door. Groaning, you slowly got up and pushed yourself out of your nice warm bed and onto the cold, hard floor. Frustration rose to your face as you opened the door to confront the loud, rude intruder. The door swished open, and you were greeted by a pair of angry, big blue eyes. Cid was standing there with his arms crossed across his stomach, and his goggles down around his neck. He gave you a mean look as he let himself in.

"Ah Cid, it's too early!" you groaned, annoyed with the little twerp. Cid waved this off with a rude gesture.

"I can't believe you got back from a mission and didn't say hi to me!" he exclaimed. You rolled your eyes in annoyance. Usually, as soon as you got back from a mission the first thing you did was tell Cid that you were okay. Looking across at him, you realized how worry lines had erupted across his forehead and cheeks. His eyes were a little puffy, as if he had stayed up all night waiting for you to return. A pang of guilt rang through your body as you realized that he had been genuinely concerned for you. You put your arms around Cid and squeezed him in a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry, I was just so tired that I didn't think about it," you said slowly. After a moment Cid wrapped his arms around your middle. He sighed into your hair.

"Just don't do it again," he whispered back. At that moment you took stock of how tall the blonde boy was getting. He was no half an inch taller than you, and he was starting to develop some lean muscles. He slowly let go of you and you saw the worry vanish from his face. That pang of guilty multiplied by ten. Cid was like your little brother, your thoughts should've immediately been to make sure that he knew you were okay. Smiling, you promised the kid that you would meet him for breakfast. He left your room with a sigh of relief and then shut the door.

You slowly stretched each limb, making sure that your bruises and cuts were healing. You then changed into a striped white and grey t-shirt and a rough pair of jeans. You then stuck on your Communicuff and made your way down to the mess hall. The line moved slowly and you found yourself sitting at a long table with a plate full of soggy strawberries and a large portion of stale ham. Holding back the grimace you were willing to dig up in response to this food, you took a few bites before being joined by Cid. Looking around, you realized how people seemed to be staring at the table across the room from you. You nodded over in that direction. "What's going on?" you asked Cid. He turned in his chair and saw what you were meaning.

"Oh…it's that Katniss girl," he said quietly. You frowned slightly. That was the girl who Coin wanted so badly; she was the one who had won the Hunger Games this year. You noticed how she had a faraway look on her face, and how she seemed to play with her food, as if distracted. You then watched as Gale slid into the seat opposite of her. They talked for a few minutes, Gale gazed at her with an interest that you hadn't seen yet cross his face. Cid followed your gaze and nodded his head in understanding at your confusion.

"Yeah, it looks like they know each other…," he stated slowly, implying a lot of things. You turned your attention back to the food in front of you. A sudden pang of jealous sprang up in your gut. It was small, but it was still noticeable, and it caught you off guard. Why were you jealous? Because of Gale's attention? Whatever. You shook your head and conversed with Cid about what he was doing up in the lab. He talked excitedly of new projects he was taking on involving the Capitol's mainframe, you listened semi-intently. Smiling every once in a while at his enthusiasm.

Cid was interrupted by Gale who slid quickly into the seat next to him. He merely nodded at Cid, acknowledging his presence, and then turned his attention to you. "So, are we training today?" he asked, a slight excitement in his voice. That pang of jealousy sprang up in the middle of your gut and you found yourself playing with your food.

"What about your friend?" you asked, nodding towards Katniss, who had gotten up and was making her way up the stairs. He merely glanced over at her before turning back to you with a solemn look on his face.

"Katniss is….traumatized from losing Peeta….I don't think she'll be up for training for a while…," he said, covering up the truth with a bad lie. You nodded your head, feeling slightly ashamed of yourself. What did it matter if Gale liked Katniss? It was to be expected, they were from the same District after all. Finally, you smiled at him and nodded your head.

"Yeah, we'll start by warming up in the combat room first," you said. Gale nodded your head and said that he would meet you there. Now you were left alone with Cid who was giving you a knowing look. You glared at him back, refusing to allow the heat to grow onto your face.

"What?" you demanded darkly, already knowing the answer. Cid smiled and rolled your eyes.

"Sure, you were tired…," he said slowly and teasingly. You rolled your eyes and gently pushed him on the shoulder. Getting up, you dumped your tray, and proceeded to the combat room.

You walked right in, only to stop suddenly at the sight of two boys standing there waiting for you. On your right was Gale, as expected. However, on the left was the Taylor boy from Coin's office. He was leaning against the wall nonchalantly, looking at you with a curious gaze. You raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Uh, who are you?" you asked getting straight to the point. He smirked and stood up straight.

"Finn Taylor," he answered. "President Coin said that you were supposed to train me…or something…" You rolled your eyes, making a mental note to tell Coin off for handing you yet another student. You weren't a training professional, this wasn't your job description. You walked over and gestured at Gale. "This is Gale Hawthorne, I'm Juliet Matthews" you stated simply. He nodded at Gale and smirked at you.

"How come you're not wearing what everyone else is?" he asked curiously. You rolled your eyes, recalling a similar conversation with Gale. And right now, you didn't have the patience to answer it. Instead, you gazed at Finn assessing his muscularity. He was lean, a little bit smaller than Gale, but he looked like he could handle himself in a fight. So, you walked over to the mat and stretched your muscles a little to warm up. Gale followed suit, however, Finn merely looked at you with skeptical eyes.

"You'll want to warm up before you train," you warned. Finn shrugged his shoulders and pulled off his jacket, showing off his muscular shoulders. Before Finn could block himself, you flipped backwards toward him and grabbed his arm before flipping him over face-first onto the mat. He looked up at you with a surprised expression on your face. You couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"Welcome to District 13," you said, unable to help yourself. You caught Gale smile at this, and then helped the boy up. He looked slightly embarrassed but he didn't resort to any name calling or badgering. Instead he just gazed at you in awe.

"Wow, you're really good," he said. You rubbed the back of your neck uncomfortably. You didn't get praise very often.

"Uh thanks….now, I'll need you to watch carefully. You'll need some practice before you catch up to Gale, he's been training a little longer than you," you said. You then proceeded to show the new kid all of the basic steps and moves. He watched with intense care, making sure that every adjustment was perfect. You kind of liked seeing this, he was attentive and willing to learn. As for Gale, he held back and practiced alongside you, mastering each step...

"Why are you making me do all of this?" It had been 3 hours, and Lazy was still refusing to let you rest. He chuckled good-heartedly, his gut rolling slightly. He circled you slowly and carefully. You were feeling tired and worn out, yet he kept coming at you.

"Because little one, one day you might be teaching others these moves and I don't want you to forget them," he said. You giggled slightly.

"I've hardly begun learning them myself, Lazy," you reminded him. But he waved this off.

"One day you'll see…"

"Okay, I think we can be done for today," you stated, a little breathlessly. Both of the guys were bent over their knees attempting to catch some air. Gale nodded his head and said that he had to go check on Katniss before lunch, so he left first. That meant that you were left alone with the new guy. He smiled at you as he caught a big breath of air while standing straight. He held out his hand in a friendly manner.

"Good job today, I don't think I've ever seen a girl fight like that," he stated in a complimentary fashion. You eyed him suspiciously before shaking his hand. He continued to smile at you as you packed up your things. Ignoring him, you moved for the door, however, he walked alongside you, attempting to make conversation.

"So, where're you from?" he asked curiously. You raised an eyebrow and gestured around. But he shook his head. "No, I mean…what District did you live in before you came here?" You sighed, not really wanting to get into that complex subject, but suspecting that he wouldn't stop asking you questions.

"District 4," you stated, your voice turning slightly cold. However, Finn didn't catch on to it.

"Oh, I'm from District 2," he replied. He let that statement hanging there, begging for you to ask him another follow-up question. Sighing, you obliged to this mandatory manner thing.

"So, how do you like District 13?" you asked with a monotone voice. Finn shrugged his shoulders undecisively.

"I guess it's okay…," he answered. You were now in the main cafeteria. Getting in line, you waited impatiently for your food. Finn must have sensed your tension.

"Sorry, I'm bothering you," he said slowly. You felt a pang of guilt and shook your head.

"No, it's fine. I'm just…a little wound up, that's all," you responded. You got your plate of rations, seeing that the extra food you had been getting diminished slightly as your weight increased. Finn followed you, and seeing his family over at the other side he waved. He then noticed how you were going over to sit by yourself.

"Where are your parents?" he asked, curiously. You winced slightly, trying to remind yourself that it wasn't his fault he had no idea what your story was.

"Uh…they died two years ago…," you said softly. Before he could answer, you gave him a smile and waved good-bye. "I've..uh…got to go…I see a friend over there." And with that you left him to his own relatives. You saw Cid sitting by himself, so you made a beeline for the seat opposite of him. You sat down in a flurry and began chowing down. The blonde genius gave you a confused look as he raised a spoonful of mashed potatoes to his mouth.

"Are you okay?" he asked suspiciously. You smiled and ate with a good enthusiasm. Shrugging his shoulders, Cid let your unusual behavior be. You sat in silence for a few more moments, letting your thoughts take over…