Yay! You guys are awesome, two reviews and three follows! Thank you all so much! You give me so much more motivation to write! Be prepared!

Warrior Chickenz: Don't worry more will come, much, much more *evil laugh*

Professional Tsundere: Yay Panda! *pats it on the head*

^.^

Ralph glanced at Irunya. She was completely silent, just staring at the clean plate. He sighed and turned towards the women with lime green hair. What was her name? Effie? He turned away; her hair was starting to make him nauseous. He needed to concentrate. It was great that his friends were alive, but he knew that Panem would begin to suspect their identities. There was only one possible answer, to ignore them and treat them like strangers. He shook his head. It would be easier said than done. He thought about Arthur and Alfred; they would almost certainly recognise both him and Christian.

"Bugger..." he muttered, earning a glare from Effie.

He leaned back further in his chair. There had to be a way for him to communicate with Christian, without Panem listening in.

The waiter arrived with the food, completely ruining his line of thought. He hadn't eaten anything other than stale biscuits, and that had been at least twelve hours ago. As soon as the plate was placed before him, he dug in. He didn't bother with the knife or fork, he was starving and prepared to show it.

Effie coughed indignantly, Ralph kept inhaling his meal. She coughed again, louder, and he looked up.

"My, in all my years, I have never, never, seen someone behave in such an impromptu manner." She announced.

Ralph swallowed his food and laughed.

"Calm down lady, it's just food mate" he gave her a cocky grin, and was about to resume his eating, when he caught sight of Irunya. She hadn't touched a thing on her plate. That's when it hit him. He did know her; she was the older sister of…

"Hey, Irunya," she looked up, staring at Ralph through cold eyes. He laughed nervously.

"You should eat, it helps keep your strength up," his gaze softened, "and you need strength to protect a life."

Her eyes widened for a second, and then she smiled.

A while after Irunya and Ralph had finished eating; a man came into the room and whispered something in Effie's ear. She nodded and stood up.

"It is time for you to meet the other tributes." she announced.

"IGGY!" Arthur grunted as he was hit by a bear hug. Alfred laughed. Arthur felt a smile on his face, and hugged Alfred back.

"It's good to see you chap." He murmured.

"Lovino!"

"Idiot brother!"

There was a crack of palm against cheek.

"ow. Veh~ why did you do that?" asked Feliciano rubbing his cheek. Lovino stood, silent, then pulled his twin into a hug.

Kiku smiled as Vash and Erika ran up to meet each other.

"Big bruder" she cried. Vash was too happy for words, so he just stood there, joy etched into every corner of his face. Kiku startled when a large hand clamped down on his shoulder. He turned, reaching for his katana, only to remember it had broken when his country had been destroyed. He gasped in shock.

"N-no wai" he stammered, staring into the confused blue eyes of his former ally.

########

Ralph made his way towards Christian, who was standing in the corner struggling to not smile.

"Hey, you're the tribute from district eight aren't you?" He smiled, at least he and Christian had had time to plan this part out. They both knew that there were cameras hidden everywhere from here on out. Christian looked up nervously, playing along.

"W-who are you?" he stammered, keeping his head down so the cameras couldn't see the laughter in his eyes.

"Ralph Darwin, district twelve" Ralph held out a hand, and Christian, after some hesitation, took it.

And so it begins thought Ralph as Christian's eyes met.

########

Ludwig stared as Kiku began to back away from him, his normally calm eyes filled with shock and… fear?

"Calm down Kiku" said Ludwig, Kiku flinched at every word.

"N-n-no you can't be alive, I saw you..." Kiku snapped and ran of, leaving a bewildered Ludwig staring after him. He had been calm enough to see all the other countries alive, so why was he acting so strangely around him?

"LUDWIG!" Ludwig felt familiar arms close themselves around him.

"Veh~ I knew I could trust you!" Feliciano looked up at the tall German man, "I called for you and you came! Now you, me and Kiku can go and eat pasta and run away from En- Arthur like we used to"

Ludwig sighed, Feliciano hadn't changed at all.

"Veh~ what's wrong Ludwig?"

Ludwig looked down to see Feliciano looking at him nervously. He didn't want to upset him with Kiku's strange behaviour.

"It's nothing," he answered shortly, but he could tell that Feliciano wasn't truly convinced. Maybe his years living alone in the districts had changed him after all, he seemed a lot more cautious.

"It's really okay, I'll get over it," Ludwig smiled reassuringly, and that seemed enough for Feliciano, because he smiled in return.

"Hey Alfred, those two in the corner do they seem familiar to you?" Arthur asked indicating the male tributes from districts eight and twelve.

"Haha! You're totally right dude, maybe we should ask them!" Alfred laughed and marched straight up to them.

"Hey dudes!" Alfred slammed his hands down on both Christian and Ralph's shoulders. Ralph grunted with the sudden weight, and Christian yelped.

Shit was all Ralph could think as he found himself face to face with one of his brothers.

"Get off them you prick, you're scaring them," Ralph and Christian froze. Arthur dragged Alfred of the two boys and sighed. He opened his eyes to see two very familiar faces staring up at him

"Y-you two seem familiar," he began cautiously; he wanted to uncover the identity of the two young men before him without giving away his own.

"Really? Well you don't seem familiar at all to me," replied Ralph bluntly, it was hard, he felt an urge to run up and hug both his older brothers, but if Panem knew their secret, and Ralph confessed to knowing them, it wouldn't take long before he and Christian's cover would be blown. Arthur frowned at the response.

"Are you sure, your face seems very similar to…. An old friend" Arthur pressed. Ralph gulped and looked away from his brother's piercing green eyes.

"I must have a common face then" he shrugged. Arthur sighed and decided not to press the matter any further. Ralph sighed in relief as Arthur walked off to talk with Gilbert, Alfred followed, but he kept staring back at them over his shoulder. He looked over at Christian, who seemed to be on the verge of tears. He ruffled his hair.

"C'mon mate, that was probably just an act to scare us," he lied, remembering to keep up the tribute act. Christian nodded sadly, but kept glancing at Arthur as he talked with Gilbert.

"I guess," he muttered.

###############

"NONONONONONO!" Screamed Ralph.

"Come one sweetie, just let us take of that filthy Band-Aid," cooed the vibrant haired freak as she and her companions stood over him.

"We can't let Cinna work on you while you have that on," said another.

"NO!" yelled Ralph, covering his face with his hands, he neither knew nor cared who Cinna was, no one was taking his Band-Aid from him.

"What's the problem Flavius?" A calm voice that reminded Ralph of Kiku without the accent came from the next room.

#########

Ralph left the prep room shivering. He didn't really want to go out dressed the way he was, it was embarrassing and so formal. Oh well, at least he still had his Band-Aid. Cinna hadn't been that bad really; in fact, something seemed to almost draw Ralph to him. He turned around the corner, and ran into a very large and fluffy sheep. The sheep turned around, and Ralph burst out laughing.

"S-shut up" mumbled a red-faced Christian, this of course only provoked more laughter from Ralph, who was now using a wall to support himself as he laughed.

"Ralph, get to your chariot you have no time to be laughing at other tributes," Ralph stopped laughing and groaned as Effie Trinket walked briskly towards them.

"See you later!" Ralph grinned as he followed Effie to his chariot.

Irunya was already there, staring Ivan and Natalia. Ralph pitied her. He glanced at Arthur, who was dressed as a lumberjack. Ralph could sense his embarrassment from a mile away. He looked down at his own clothes. He had to admit, Cinna was amazing at what he did. Both he and Irunya looked like blue embers, a cold and deadly fire, prepared to strike at those who would oppose it.

"Ralph?" Ralph turned to see Irunya looking at him through kind eyes, it was the first time she had actually spoken to him, she took his surprised facial expression as an acknowledgement and smiled,

"Thank you."

Before Ralph could figure out why he was being thanked, the chariot began to move. The cheers of the crowds thrummed through him. There were so many people, he mentally slapped himself and regained his composure. He felt an easy grin slide onto his face. He began to wave, laugh and cheer with the crowd. They hung upon his every movement, every sloppy salute and cheerful wave. For the first time in his life, he was the centre of attention. Not Alfred not Arthur, him.

Then his happiness was gone. He felt a cold wave of fear, as he caught sight of a single man, watching the parade, smiling his fake smile and waving.

Ralph's wave faulted, and he took a quick glance at Irunya. She saw him too.

President Snow stood watching the parade. Ralph took a deep breath, and started waving again; he had to keep his identity secret, for his safety and Christian's

###############

Christian was trying to concentrate on the snares. It didn't help that Feliciano was laughing, and Gilbert was declaring his 'awesomeness' to the world. Ludwig was trying to pull Feliciano away from the edible plants training section, while Kiku was practising sword work. Vash was trying to teach Erika how to shoot a bow and Alfred was following Arthur and poking him while he worked on camouflage. Ivan was hiding from Natalia, and was speaking in hushed tones with Irunya.

Christian sighed and turned his attention to Ralph, who was practising knife work with the female tribute from district one. She was glaring daggers as he swung his knife with smooth practised movements.

Christian smiled and continued his work with the snares. Both he and Ralph had planned that they should fade into the background of the games as much a possible. But it would be hard, Christian knew of the rivalry that Alfred and Ralph had shared. It would be hard for Ralph to not try and get a high score in front of the game makers in order to beat Alfred. He didn't think that Ralph would be able to stand getting a lower score, so it was up to him to appear as plain, and pathetic as possible.

##################

Twelve points.

Christian glared at Ralph as he came out of the room. Ralph was grinning wildly as he went to join the others being prepared to be interviewed. Admittedly, most of the others had gotten high marks, except for Christian, who had been careful receive a four.

"Idiot" he cursed under his breath.

"The male representative from District eight, Christian Alries!" Christian startled when he heard his name. As he walked onto the stage, the female tribute from district one tripped him.

He stumbled onto the stage, causing roars of laughter from the audience.

This is going to suck…

#############

Ralph relaxed on his bed, staring out the window. It was a strange looking city, completely different from the ones he had back home.

Home. It was different now, the people were starving, and the crime rate rose every night. His people were beginning to become disheartened. He needed to get this right, if he didn't, then both he, and his country would die.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," He mumbled unhappily.

The door opened to reveal his stylist, Cinna.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with concern. Ralph nodded, still staring out the window. The two sat in silence for a minute.

"Are you scared?" Ralph flinched.

"yes"

More silence. Ralph slowly turned his head to Cinna.

"I don't like it here in central," He admitted indicating the window with his hand, "The air's to thick."

Cinna laughed.

"I don't hear that often, most tribute tell me how wonderful it is to stay here,"

Ralph shook his head.

"I want to go home," he said bluntly, "I want things to go back to the way they were."

Cinna cocked his head and gave Ralph a confused glance, but said nothing. Instead, he reached into his bag and brought out a hat. Ralph's eyes widened as he caught sight of it. It looked exactly like one he used to wear when he was fighting alongside Arthur.

"I thought it might suit you," said Cinna standing, making his way to the door. He paused.

"And Ralph, one more thing," Ralph looked up. Cinna gave him a sad smile.

"Good luck."

##########

So… freaking… tired bleeeccchhhhhh. Ah well, the chapter is complete, and the games will start in the next one. Be prepared for more Prussian quality awesome (hopefully)