*Message me and review, please! This is from Tanner Lawson's POV. And yes, to the person who reviewed but didn't put a user name in, this was inspired by your comment about Tanner.*

I had wanted to head up to the rooftop and wait immediately, but Lystra insisted that we wait. She said that it would look suspicious, and we might as well relax for a while. "Take a shower, have a snack, take a nap, whatever," she had said "just come here at midnight and we'll walk up together."

Lystra's final request was well, predictable. She wanted us to wear black clothes, so that we could hide in the shadows and make a quick escape if necessary. "I'm not sure I trust this yet – we will reveal ourselves later, and hide first, to make sure its safe." I didn't bother pointing out to her that us wearing black would seem suspicious.

I was worn from the afternoon. I didn't like arguing with Lystra – it unnerved me. And then, me breaking down like that . . . well, I'd known that it would happen, but the fact that it happened before Lystra was driving me crazy. She shouldn't have seen my like that – it had troubled her, and it disturbed me that I had made her upset like that.

My mother said that I was protective.

Well, I suppose I was. I always kept all the kids from the orchard away from them, knowing that they would only give harm.

But . . . with Lystra it was different.

I can't explain it – it was like a great big bubble of emotion inside of my chest, wanting to burst . . . but instead it swelled even bigger.

So I didn't argue with Lystra when I could avoid it. When I had to, it popped the bubble, leaving a hole, and making me feel empty inside. But the bubble always swelled again, the next time she spoke to me, or even looked at me with those big, blue eyes . . .

I couldn't tell if she felt this great, warm, bubbly emotion for me too. Could she tell that I felt it? Thoughts of her swirled through my mind day and night.

What would I do in the Hunger Games?

This was why I was so interested in the meeting – if Lystra and I were in a big alliance, maybe I wouldn't have to kill her – maybe the alliance would slowly pick off everyone, and I could protect her in a way so that no one could noticed or hurt her.

The instinct to do so was overwhelming.

So I dressed in black as she requested, and went down the hall to her room at midnight. I didn't even have to knock on her door – it opened the moment I raised my hand. Lystra, with her golden hair shining in the dim light like a beacon of good, surveyed me. Then she nodded and gestured for me to make my way down the hall and up the stairs, to the roof.

We hid in the shadows, not wanting to be seen, but we weren't the only ones with the idea – a shape scuttled past us on the other side of the hall once, clothed in black. I gulped, but moved on, determined to get into this alliance.

Lystra and I reached the roof slowly, and, looking about for a moment, found Mazie and Rayne to be standing in the middle of the garden, where the wind whistled loudest. I knew that if any recorders were placed, no one would catch a word of the conversation. Lystra gestured to a thick grape vine mounted on a wall, and we crept over to it, crouching behind it.

Several long moments passed. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I saw dark shadows moving across the roof – tributes dressed in black, not wanting to be seen. The night air was crisp and fresh, giving a false sense of freedom. I had the sudden, swift instinct to jump off the roof and fly away from the Capitol's injustice, with Lystra held safely in my arms . . . but I shook it off.

More moments passed, and I wondered if anyone would join Mazie and Rayne, but no one did. Perhaps they'd speak to each other. Perhaps they'd go to their rooms, and we'd have come up here for nothing. I feared the last the most, but I was not disappointed.

"All right," Mazie called to the garden, her voice just loud enough to be heard over the wind. "This is ridiculous. Come out, all of you."

Not a one of us moved. I'm pretty sure none of us breathed.

"Colin Shoemaker," Rayne pointed to a shadow, and instantly it flinched. "Come on out here." A small, fat boy crept from the shadows, sitting down dejectedly and staring at his feet, apparently too shamed to speak.

"Totsie, Echo," Mazie nodded at an apple tree, and two girls reluctantly slipped out and came into the arena. "Carrie, Armando," I recognized the brother and sister from one here. "Elvatoris," The girl from one – with the beautiful dirty blonde hair.

My heart stopped when Rayne looked right into my eyes and said quite clearly, "Tanner, Lystra." I immedietly crept out, but Lystra hesitated. I turned slightly, locking eyes with her, trying to convey a message to her about how important this meeting was. For a moment, I was worried she might not follow me, but she gave a small nod, and we joined the others.

So it went on. One by one, or two by two, all of the tributes joined the rest. Not a one had passed up the opportunity of this meeting. When all had gathered, Mazie spoke.

"Hello one, hello, all," she said with great authority I'd never heard in her before. It seemed Mazie's personality had changed completely "we meet here tonight to discuss and alliance."

"Awfully late, isn't it?" said Carrie Rippet, the sibling of Armando from one.

"Yes, seems suspicious," her brother chimed in.

Mazie and Rayne exchanged a look and laughed "Why, yes, it does," Rayne said simply, and abruptly turned the conversation back again. "Anyway, I must insist for the good of us all that we swear secrecy."

"Secracy?" Carrie cried. There were several murmurs, and I glanced at Lystra to find her face a mask of distrust.

"Why must we swear secrecy?" Lystra asked

"Why, because we cannot tell you anything until you do!" Rayne smiled

"Yes, but why?"

"We cannot tell you that."

This answer left even Lystra stumped, and she fell silent.

"All must swear secrecy or leave," Mazie told us solemnly. "if you break your swear, I promise you the alliance will give you a slow and painful death."

We all shuddered, but swore secrecy in turn. Even Lystra did. I suppose curiosity killed the cat, didn't it?

"So what's this alliance about?" Carrie Rippet asked

"Yes, what?" her brother, Armando chimed in

"Well, we are going places no one has gone before," Mazie said dramatically "We are beginning something we would be killed for, but we are going to die anyway, so why not just do it?"

"Yes, but what is it?" a gruff voice asked. I couldn't place where it came from.

"This alliance is in defiance of the Hunger Games, is of the resistance of the Capitol. Our alliance, before our country, shall lie down our weapons, stare the Capitol in the face, laugh. We shall not kill. We shall all die as the Capitol sees fit, not at each other's hands."

"What do you mean?" a small voice asked, shaking slightly. The idea was so new, so different, and so definitely illegal, it took us several moments to figure out what Mazie meant.

"I mean," Mazie said "to start a rebellion."