I didn't even know his name.

He left before the sun rose. The memories from last night still replay in my mind, as much as I don't want to think about it.

President Snow's name does him justice. He's a cold man, with a heart made of ice. Water extinguishes fire. But fire melts ice. It's like a cycle. We're both trying to destroy each other and in the process we destroy ourselves.

When you fight a battle, whether you win or lose, you're not the same. In the end we're all victims, scarred and bruised. We're just remnants of what we used to be.

But with it, we become warriors, trained and bred for war. That's what we all really are right? Children playing soldiers. But that was yesterday. And today, someone will stand up and fight for what's right. And it's me.

President Snow might have thought that this would break me. But in fact, it made me stronger. The girl on fire is burning brighter than ever.

But for now in this room, I'm alone. I give myself permission to break down.

And so I cry.

I feel dirty, I scratch my skin until it's raw and bleeding, the sheets that are wrapped around my bare body are stained with my crimson blood.

This is worth something to fight for. They have taken my life, my freedom, and they have bought my soul, and sold it to the devil himself. I can fight for Peeta, for Prim, for Gale. But now I can fight for myself as well.

That man. That man who took what was left of my youth, gives me a whole new hatred for the Capitol. How dare they? How dare they? They did it because they can. And it's because they are the farmers and we are their cattle, we do what they please.

I curl my legs up to my chest and sob. I can't seem to bring myself to move, the pain is too much. My blood and my tears mix, the copper and salt taste swirling in my mouth.

Then I hear the door open.

"Katniss?" Haymitch barks. I knew he would look for me.

I open my mouth but all that comes out is a choking and gargling noise, he must have heard me because he soon comes into the bedroom.

For the first time, I see Haymitch cry.

He brings his hands up to his face and looks at me with pity. And I hate pity.

He reaches one hand out towards me but I refuse to accept it, so he retracts his hand.

"Oh, Katniss. I am so sorry."

I shake my head violently, as if to say that it wasn't his fault. I reach for him like a baby wanting its mother.

I choke out, "H-Haymitch."

Quickly, he's by my side, cradling me like a little girl. Like a father, "Shhh, sweetheart, it's going to be okay."

I cling to his shirt, sobbing, "D-Daddy."

I can feel him freeze, and I look up at him, "P-please, ju-just be my dad for now."

He nods and holds me once again, "Okay sweetheart, I'll be your dad."

Moments pass and my tears slowly fade away, soon replaced by anger.

Haymitch speaks up, "I saw the note this morning, I came as quick as I could. First I had to get Effie to man the Games."

"It's okay, did you send him the medicine? Is he awake?"

"Yeah, I sent him the medicine. I also sent Vailea some for her burns, sorry sweetheart, I know that you don't like her, but it has to be fair. And no, he hasn't woken up yet. But the swelling has gone down. Rue's been tending to him, we owe that girl. When we get back, do you want to thank Chaff and Seeder?"

I nod, "Yeah, I do."

"There, you've stopped crying, now, go get washed up," Haymitch stands up but I grab his wrist tightly and look at him straight in the eye.

"Haymitch, if I'm going to be one of the faces of the rebellion, I want one thing."

He looks at me puzzled, "What?"

"I kill Snow."

Effie greets me with a hug once Haymitch and I reach District Twelve's Headquarters, and I can tell that something amazing has happened.

"He's awake."

I can feel my lips turn into a huge smile and I run past her and watch the screen.

She's right, Peeta is drowsy, but he's awake. His burns are slowly healing, but he's still paler than usual.

Rue's smashing up a couple of berries and heating them up in Peeta's water bottle. His blood sugar must be low. The sun is beating down in the arena, I can see both of my tributes and Rue sweating buckets.

Vailea's injuries aren't severe, just a couple of burns from the small explosions from Rue's pellets. But it must have been poisonous because the skin on her face is peeling and it looks like she has a sunburn. Cato received a huge gash on his shoulder blade from Thresh's knife and Marvel seems unharmed. I have no idea where Foxface is. I didn't see her during the second bloodbath. And I'm positive that she's alive. There must have been a part of the arena that wasn't affected by the fire, but I know that's impossible because I saw the edges of the arena go up in flames.

My eyes are glued to the screen as Peeta and Rue eat some roots and drink berry juice.

Rue stops abruptly and looks at Peeta, seemingly deep in thought, until she asks, "Peeta, can I ask you something?"

Peeta nods, "Yeah, sure."

"It's about that girl, Katniss. You said you loved her forever, when did forever start?"

Peeta puts down his bottle and looks at Rue, and smiles, "Eleven years ago. It was the first day of school, and we were all waiting in the school yard. My dad pointed out a little girl in a red plaid dress with two separate braids. He said, "See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner." I was confused, and I was sort of mad at the little girl and her mother. So I asked my dad why she ran away with a coal miner when she could've had him, and he said, "Because when he sings, even the birds stop to listen." Later that day, we were in a music assembly, and our teacher asked us who knew the Valley song, and the little girl in the red dress put her hand up. She stood on the stool and sang, and I swear, the birds fell silent. And I knew, just like her mother, that I was a goner.

The next time that I would have an encounter with her was six years later."

Rue looks at him, smiling and tears in her eyes, "You must love her a lot."

"Oh, I do. She has no idea, the effect she can have."

I bring my hands to my face and smile, only then do I feel the wet tears. Haymitch and Effie smile at me.

"He's right. Whenever my dad would sing, everything fell silent."

Effie jumps and squeals, "Oh Katniss! I didn't know you could sing? Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's painful. I haven't sung ever since my dad died. It reminded me too much of him. And my mother, she used to tell me that I looked exactly like him, and that it hurt to look at me, because I reminded her of him in so many ways. I can't deny that what she said didn't hurt me, because it did, she never looked at me after he died until I was reaped. When we were saying our goodbyes, I saw her eyes once again. They weren't dead anymore, it seemed as though something snapped in her, and I think that me being reaped kind of made her snap out of her trance.

I can tell you that being thrown into the Games brought a lot of horror and devastation into my life, but it also gave me my mother back."

"That's beautiful Katniss," Effie smiles warmly at me. I consider myself lucky to have her as District Twelve's escort, we could have much worse.

"Yes, it is," Haymitch nods, "Effie, can you please excuse Katniss and I for a moment?"

Effie furrows her eyebrows but nods, leaving the room.

Like my escort, I'm confused, "What is it?"

Haymitch's face grows dark and sullen, "Last night. It was because of what you said at the interviews, am I right?"

I knew that this was coming, "Yes, it was."

"We need to act fast Katniss. You're on the market now, you can be called in any day. But don't worry, I won't let that happen. But I have to tell you, the Capitol isn't happy with you. You said something extremely rebellious and the Districts are beginning to react. So are the Capitol citizens. They're finally seeing how cruel these Games are. The Districts are cutting the supplies to the Capitol, the medicine cost thrice as much as its original price. They're also beginning to rebel against their Peacekeepers, it's a huge mess, and District Thirteen have already sent the message to their spies to initiate the rebellion. You added fuel to the fire yesterday, and they're acting on it. Katniss, even though you aren't in District Thirteen yet, they see you as the face of the rebellion, you hold the most power out of all of us. Even the leader of the rebellion herself."

I'm speechless, "So what does this mean?"

"It means that you're in grave danger here, the Capitol won't rest until they get rid of you, permanently. You're our Mockingjay."

"Mockingjay? My token?"

"Yes, they named you after your token. And they're just waiting for you to take flight."

"They don't have to worry about that Haymitch, I will fly once Peeta's out of the arena."

"You can't be sure that he's getting out of there."

"I can sure as hell try to get him out."

Haymitch smirks at me, "The fire in you has returned from the ashes."

I smile and turn back to the screen.

And I turn just in time to hear a scream and to see myself drenched in blood.

I hope that you guys know that I made Katniss get raped because it's sort of a replacement from Prim getting reaped. In the original books, that is what made Katniss' hatred for the Capitol grow, in this AU, her punishment is what does that. So anyway, not my best chapter. Thank you SO much for all your lovely reviews with the exception of one, though I do understand why you didn't like the chapter. I can't call you out on it cause it's your opinion, but the explanation is already up here. Anyway, reviews are appreciated :)