I'm back with Marth Sakurai from District 1 and Citrine's District partner. Thanks to AmericanPi for submitting this tribute. I hope I did him some justice. I don't want to be the one to beg or anything but I will still need some tributes to fill up all the spots and be able to have a full reaping of all tributes done. Now, let's get on with it.

Night before the Reaping

Sitting in one of my favourite armchairs, I knitted, my two kneedles criss-crossing over each other in an attempt to finish one of my friends, Corrin's scraf before tomorrow to be able to take it with them tomorrow to the Capitol. Corrin was gender-fluid and a victor as well, and they were going to the Capitol tomorrow to mentor this year's volunteers for the 105th Games. As I knitted slowly, examining each stitch, I heard the phone beside me abruptly ring. Laying my work down, I took the phone, pressed it against my ear, "Hello?" Filling the hull of my ear from the other side was Corrin's voice. They seemed desperate and afraid, quite possible in the depression phase of their bipolar disease.

"Corrin? What's wrong?" I enquired timidly.

"Draco Gan is the chosen volunteer to represent District 1."

I sighed involuntarily. Anyone but Draco Gan should be this year's volunteer. He was brutish and strong, very capable of winning the Games and he hated LGBTQ people. All the work Corrin put into slowly pulling us into a LGBTQ-safe community was going to go down the drain if Draco wins. I faced a lot of bullying from Draco and his gang because I was feminine.

"You think he can win?

I could hear Corrin's desolated sigh. They did not want to say it out loud but they thought that clearly. Draco Gan has a huge possibility of pulling out of the Games perfectly alive. "Think we can solve it in any way?" I asked hopefully.

"No. No other rogue volunteer is going to want to face Draco's wrath.

The cogs in my head started to turn. I would do it, volunteer, to save the LGBTQ community, which were all of my friends. Contrary to what people believed, I may be feminine, enjoyed baking and knitting, and amused myself by playing with my sister's dolls when I was young, I was perfectly straight, only in One Pride, an LGBTQ support group, for my best friend, Roy Worthy, but truth be told, they all became my friends, helping me recognize my femininity and that it was me, I shouldn't be ashamed of it.

"Robin thinks that I should disattract sponsors from him and to squander his sponsor money on anything else, maybe slip them to the girl tribute's sponsor money.

It certainly was not a bad idea. Robin is very smart and intelligent, though strength is certainly not one of her strong points. Robin is transgender, born a boy named Roxton. It took quite a while to accept herself but she is smart, and almost always with a book in her hand.

"That's actually a good idea." I commented.

"That would've worked a few years ago but last year, Lacie, a District 8 victor had her brother reaped and actually stole money from the girl and put it in her brother's account. Not only was she killed for it, they made stricter rules regarding that, making it much harder to do that, besides as much as I disattracted sponsors from him, that won't stop people from sponsoring him."

I sighed, the idea of volunteering passing through my head once more. I shut my eyes and inhaled deeply, I was going to volunteer, not only for this. I had also a small ulterior motive. The District thought I was weak, incapable, vulnerable, and even if I died, I would show them, prove to them that I'm strong despite my femininity. If I wanted to prove that, this was the last year I could do that.

Lying through my teeth, "Corrin, I don't know what to do but Mom is bugging me about being late for dinner. We'll talk tomorrow." I could hear their sigh and their small and slightly scared voice sent a pang through my heart, "Okay, talk tomorrow." They hung up and the persistent beeping reminded me of what I wanted to do. Taking a deep breath, I put the phone on its hook, and went back to knitting, my kneedles tangling over each other in one repeated motion, a thing that always calmed me down when I'm nervous.

Morning of the Reaping

I woke up, much earlier than my designated waking up time, especially on Reaping day, my stomach twisted in knots and filled with butterflies. My conversation with Corrin yesterday came back with a painful rush and I buried my head in my hands. Standing up slowly, I went down the stairs and started preparing the batter for today's baking. I didn't bake everyday, but I needed to give my hands something to do other than tear the hairs out of my head.

I don't know how many hours I worked, my hands working on the dough, giving me the same soothing feeling it always does. I didn't notice when my sister, Lucina, crept behind me. My eyes widened in fear when she casually touched my shoulder and I flipped around, my face contorted into an expression of horror. I relaxed when I saw my sister, but not by much and what Lucina so casually commented, "Relax, you are not in the Games," got to me somehow because not only did I react as if she was going to brutally murder me, but it reminded that I was going to volunteer. "I was not a chicken," was a mantra that yesterday lulled me to sleep and I mumbled it again.

Lucina didn't notice but only smiled, "This smells real good, Marth." I only smiled weakly in response and didn't protest like I usually did when she took one of the fresh loves of bread and sunk her teeth into them. Lucina grinned, "I think Caeda said that she was coming?"

I shrugged because I absolutely had no idea. Caeda was one of my friends from One Pride, she was bi-sexual and seemed to like Lucina a lot, constantly preferring her over the rest. Sometimes, I was the one she preferred over the rest but I guess she was just being friendly.

I took the liberty of biting into the warm crusty ends of one of the loaves, letting warmth fill my mouth, giving me a pleasant feeling. I relaxed slightly and when Mom and Dad came down, I was almost completely relaxed, letting the usual warm smile filling my face. I had pushed the thought of volunteering back in my mind, but as the reaping ticked closer and closer, it was inevitable, I was not going to come back for celebratory lunch after the Reaping...