A/N: Since the previous chapter was more of a prologue, this chapter will be longer. And from here on out, pretty much everything (aside from a few key details in this chapter) will be completely different from the book. Duh. Haha. Enjoy, and tell me what you think at the end!

~Fire

I woke up to the sun's rays warming my face. I smiled; today would be a great day. I might be able to go to the bakery and see Peeta Mellark, the baker's son-

My smile immediately fades. There will be no happiness today. Today is the Reaping Day. Of course I'm scared for Katniss. She has her name in the drawing 20 times. I only have my name in once; it isn't impossible for my name to be picked, but it's possible. I feel a tear slide down my cheek when I realize that Katniss might die. I shake the thought away and climb out of bed.

I wash my face off with a towel. The dirt washes into the basin. I stare into my reflection. Will I myself go into the Games, only to return in a brown sack, dead? The Capitol is disgusting.

The Games….where do I start? 24 tributes enter, but only one leaves, alive. This is the Capitol's entertainment. And what's worse is that they even send mutts, mutated creations that the Capitol sends after them. I shudder, trying to rid my head of the images from my nightmare.

I silently help my mother into her favorite apothecary dress. It's a light blue that defines her eyes. I tie her hair into a bun. She thanks me quietly. Ever since our father died in that horrible mine accident, Mother has been quiet. She sunk into a depression, forcing Katniss to become the mother figure at a young age.

Mother helps me into Katniss' first reaping outfit- a skirt and ruffled blouse. The skirt fits, but the shirt is too big. Mother has to use some of her hairpins to hold it back, but even still, it won't tuck in at the back.

Just then, Katniss walks in. She smiles grimly at me. I wonder what happened. Did Gale upset her?

She climbs into the tub filled with warm water. I pet Buttercup as my Mother does some dishes.

Katniss wraps herself up in a towel, and looks with wide eyes at what Mother has laid out for her to wear. It's her favorite dress- one that she wore often before Father died. It's a light blue dress with matching shoes.

"Are you sure?" Katniss asks.

"Of course. Let's put up your hair too," Mother replies. I watch as Mother towel-dries Katniss' hair and begins to braid it. Her hands are magical, and she braids Katniss' hair in her trademark style.

"You look beautiful," I whisper.

Katniss smiles ruefully at me. Now that she's all ready, she has time to do my hair. I sit down as she sings while braiding my hair. It's an old song, one that Father used to sing to us. It's called The Hanging Tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

She dropped the lyrics and just hummed the basic tune until my braid was finished. I stood up.

Katniss looked at my back questioningly.

"Tuck your shirt in, little duck," She said, smiling. She tucked the shirt in.

I grinned. "Quack," I said, flopping my arms around like I really was a duck.

She smiled back. "Quack yourself."

Katniss and I walked towards the town center. Katniss walked over to the section clearly marked 16 year old females and I walked over to the 12 year olds section. I managed to catch a glimpse of Peeta Mellark, the barker's son. HE was the one who had give Katniss bread all those years ago. If it hadn't been for him, we would have been dead.

Effie Trinket, the over-enthusiastic escort for this year's Games was wearing a bright pink wig.

She grabbed hold of the mike, and spoke with such a Capitol affected accent, it was hard not to laugh.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to this year's exciting Hunger Games! Now, let's get started! First, our lucky man." She thrust her hand in the reaping ball, down to the very bottom.

Her pink wig was slightly askew and she must have felt it slipping; her face soon turned a color similar to that of her wig.

She finally grabbed a hold of a slip and pulled it out triumphantly.

"Gale Hawthorne!" She proclaimed into the microphone.

I looked to where Katniss was standing. Her face had gone pale, and her mouth was open. I saw her mouth Gale, as he walked up to the stage.

He looked sullenly ahead, not wanting to give the cameras something extra to look at. Then Effie put her hand in the girl's ball; saying something about this year's very honored lady.

When she pulled out the slip and read the name, I wanted to cry right there on the spot.

"Katniss Everdeen!" She called. Katniss walked up to the stage, but I didn't let her get far.

I ran up on stage with her, and in the clearest voice I could manage, said, "I volunteer! I volunteer for my sister!"

A/N: Well, what did you think? Tell me in a review!