Chapter Six

A/N: Thanks to dream-on-sunday for reviewing. This is for you. Nagging finally pays off!

Their presentation and interview day had dawned, quite aptly, with gale-force winds and a full scale thunderstorm, which perfectly matched the feeling of fear dawning in Abby's heart. Her mother had long since told her how difficult her first interview had been, how she really got through it on luck and not relied on much else. These words had been a matter of light humour at the time, but it was only now that Abby realised how much they had truly counted.

Still, this uneasy knowledge had not helped Abby's confidence to rise, not even in the slightest. At that precise moment, waiting in anticipation for the meeting with Caesar Flickerman, Abby would have given anything to see her mother and father again, to have them prepare with her and reassure her that all would soon be as it was. But that couldn't happen. Nothing would ever be as it was again, even if the young girl followed in her parents' footsteps, as all three of them would then be scarred by the events of the Games.

It seemed to be easy to hide from the 74th and 75th Hunger Games in their household, as the events were never spoken of, but Abby could sometimes hear her father chatting to their friend, Johanna, about it, on occasion heard her mother wake from a nightmare. She had always awoken from them shouting a name, Rue, Finnick, or most commonly, Prim. That was how Abby had known that once you have been in the Games, even if you are lucky enough to win, they stay with you forever.

Her morbid thoughts were interrupted as a loud yet dainty knock resounded on the wooden door.

"Abigail, time to get up. Big day!" came the excitable voice of Effie from the other side of it. Abby groaned a little, sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Effie Trinkett was ruining her day so far, rousing her from her bed so early, alongside the fact that she had spoken her full name, something ever her parents did not do.

"I'm coming." Abby shouted in response, getting up and walking into the shower. She selected a combination of lemon and vanilla scented bubbles, and was reluctant to step out after the five minutes she had been in there, but knew she had to, lest she have Effie banging on her door once again. She hurriedly threw on a pair of trousers and a shirt, and then ran into the dining room, her hair still wrapped up in a towel.

"Good morning, sweetheart." greeted Haymitch, downing a mug of strong, black coffee, though from the slight slur in his voice, Abby could not help but wonder if the drink was actually stronger than it looked. As she shared a glance with Alex, who was sitting across the table from her, she saw that he thought precisely the same, and judging by her exasperated expression, as did Effie.

"Yes, good morning, Abigail." Effie added, causing Abby to wince once again. She really did hate that name, and now suspected that Effie knew this and only continued to use it to rile her.

"Good morning indeed, Effelliane." Abby greeted in exchange, bursting out into peals of laughter when the comment had scarcely passed her lips, while Haymitch and Alex joined her in her jubilant jokes, laughing so hard that Haymitch had to hit his head once on the table to calm himself down.

"Nice one, kid!" Haymitch commended, slapping the girl on the back.

"Yes, very droll. Now, Tributes, I trust that you know today is your interview day, with Caesar Flickerman." Effie said, her voice wobbling a little at the mention of the joke, but straightening again as she consulted her fuchsia pink clipboard, the slip of paper clipped to it confirming the schedule for the day.

"Of course they know that, Effie. You really think I wouldn't tell them something that important?" Haymitch exclaimed, the hiccup penetrating the last word weakening his argument by far.

"The amount of 'coffee' you've had, I don't think you're in a fit mood to tell anyone anything, important or otherwise." Effie shot back, snatching the mug from his hand and placing it at the other end of the table, where he couldn't reach out for it.

"Now, your schedule for the day…"

The remainder of the day had passed unimaginably slowly, but eventually the evening had arrived. Twenty four Tributes formed a line in the hall outside the studio, barely exchanging words other than to their district partners, if to anyone at all.

Finally, the call came for Coda to take to the stage. He was extremely confident, as Abby had expected the Careers to be, given the amount of time they had been training for the Games, as to no surprise were Sapphire, William, Ebony, the District Three siblings and Ainsley, as their various times came to speak to Caesar.

The rest of the interviews were fairly dull in comparison to the boasting and crowd pleasing of the Careers. 'That must be how they do it, then.' thought Abby, as she watched all seven of them laugh and joke their way through. 'Half to do with training, half to do with gaining sponsorships any way they can.' It was a technique that she would have to try, she supposed. No one would sponsor Katniss Everdeen's daughter without it.

Districts Four, Five and Six were relatively similar and bland, full of Tributes discussing how they had not expected to be chosen and how much they hoped to return. That would make no difference for the people of the Capitol, who were merely in it for the sport of it all, though Abby was relieved to see Harry making an impression on the crowd. 'If I don't have a chance against the Careers, at least he will.' she thought gladly.

Any tribute that Abby had been looking out for was the small girl from District Seven. She had been relatively calm in her interview, as Caesar spoke to her gently, mainly on the topic of her mother, who was known to have been a vicious fighter in the Games. She did not look as though she could be a killer, but then again, neither had Johanna.

Before she knew it, Alex was called onto the stage and Abby was left all alone in the hallway. For some reason, just as he left, Abby recalled the story her mother had told. Well, it was a story that everybody knew in all honesty, but there was something about Katniss telling her that made the story much more real. On this night, twenty five years ago, Peeta Mellark had proclaimed his love for Katniss Everdeen, live on the stage in front of half of the Capitol, and on television for everyone to see. She had been horrified that he had done so, slamming him against the wall and threatening him, but Katniss had confessed that she had been rather flattered by the action.

She snapped out of her daydream as a man clothed in black exited the stage, bringing Alex along with him. The boy flashed her a quick smile, as he walked back in the direction of the lift, but she was drawn away from his charms by the man in black calling her up the steps.

The lights were blinding as she walked out onto the stage, the cheers of the crowds almost deafening as she did so. She stumbled up to the chair as quickly as she could, feeling no other way to get the interview over with as soon as she could. In the chair beside her, Caesar Flickerman raised his hands and the room fell ethereally silent.

"So, Miss Abigail-Rue Mellark-" Caesar began, but Abby, unable to help herself, winced at the sound of her name.

"Are you alright?" Caesar suddenly asked, reaching over to clasp her hand. Abby nodded vigorously, but the turquoise haired man still continued."Ah, the name, is it?"

"Yes. I just don't really like my full name. I only hear it when I'm in trouble."

"Ah. So, Abby…" Caesar trailed off, as if to judge whether the name was alright or not. When Abby nodded once more, he continued. "As the daughter of two such famous Victors, you have much more to live up to than any of the others. Are you scared?"

"Absolutely." Abby answered honestly. "My parents were a lot braver than I am, and even they found it so difficult to survive. I'm not a coward, not at all, but it'll be hard, there's no denying that."

"Indeed. Do you have any strategy for the Games, any particular plan you've developed to ensure you stay around long enough to put up a fight?"

"Not really. Just to stay out of sight until a few people are out of the way, then… hope. Hope that I won't let my parents down."

"Right. Good luck, Abby. Abigail-Rue Mellark, ladies and gentlemen, District Twelve!"

As the applause started up once more, Abby rose from the chair, shook Caesar's hand and left through the door she had come in by. Effie was waiting outside the door, jabbering away non-stop at her as they walked in the direction of the lift Alex had occupied five minutes earlier. But Abby wasn't listening. All she could think about was the truth of the things that she had said to Caesar.

She hoped she wouldn't let her parents down.

A/N: I know it took a long time, but with the memory stick situation I haven't been able to write.