Disclaimer: The Hunger Games Trilogy is property of Suzanne Collins. This is a parody fanwork by fans for fans. No money was made off of the creation of this fanwork.

Volition

by FanficAllergy and RoseFyre

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Theme: 23: Stubborn
Summary: Soulmates-verse. Katniss didn't think she had a soulmate. She certainly didn't think she'd meet them because of the Hunger Games. Fate's funny like that. Katniss would like to shoot Fate through the eye, because she's funny like that.
Notes: This is part of my "Patchwork" series.

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Chapter 1 - Selection

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The heat in the town square pressed on the children waiting for the Reaping to start. People were fanning themselves, trying not to pass out. Katniss just wanted the day to be over so she and Gale could return to the woods. Standing here in the sun wasn't going to put food on her family's table.

Finally, the District escort, Effie Trinket, minced up on stage, her high heels echoing across the square. She recited the same tired speech, told the same stupid jokes, and exclaimed the same inane opening line of "Ladies first!"

The heavily made-up woman swished her hand around the large fishbowl, pulling out a slip of paper. Katniss held her breath.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

The air in her lungs expelled in an audible gasp. All around her, people let out little cries of dismay. Prim was well-known and well-loved throughout the district, but everyone knew the twelve-year-old didn't stand a chance in the Games.

Prim stood rooted to the ground in shock, the crowd of girls stepping away from her like she had some kind of disease.

Katniss's eyes were glued to the back of her sister's neck and the orange cat eye just peeking over the edge of her collar. Prim's soulmark. Vick Hawthorne had a matching one on the back of his left calf. They were both so young. Vick wasn't even eligible for the Reaping yet. They had their whole lives ahead of them.

And unlike Prim, Katniss didn't have a soulmate.

In that moment Katniss made her choice.

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

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Katniss had never seen so much food in one place in her entire life. There was enough laid out on the table to feed her family for a month and still have some left over.

To her surprise, her district partner, Peeta, seemed as shocked as she was.

"I've never seen so much food in one place in my entire life," Peeta breathed, unconsciously echoing her earlier thoughts.

She looked at him in surprise. He was a Merchant, the son of the baker. The bakery was always full of food. Cakes, cookies, pies… Katniss's mouth watered as she remembered the beautiful displays in the bakery window. Was Peeta lying? Or was she missing something?

He turned to look at her, a blush rising up his cheeks. "We eat stale bread at home. New bread isn't for us, it's for selling. We eat what doesn't."

It made sense. There was no point in letting food go to waste in Twelve, even in the richer families.

"And all those cakes in the window?"

Katniss nodded for him to continue.

"They're cardboard. The ingredients are too precious to waste on a display."

"Oh." She'd never thought of it, but of course they weren't real cakes. Cakes were expensive. Too expensive to sit in a window, unsold.

"You know I always envied you?" Peeta said, continuing the one-sided conversation. "You got to have something different for dinner every night. Whether it was squirrel or fish or even just bread and cheese, it was different. The only time we ever got anything different was when my father bought one of your squirrels. The rest of the time it was just stale bread. Day in, day out." He picked up a croissant and looked at it wryly. "Not gonna have to worry about that anymore."

Katniss didn't try to give him any false platitudes. It was the truth. Neither of them had to worry about where their next meal was coming from, at least not until they got to the Games. And there, it was more likely they'd be killed by some tribute's spear than by starvation.

She picked up a croissant, considering Peeta's words. Considering the time he'd given her bread when he didn't have to. "You know," she said slowly, deliberately, "we could last longer if there's two of us."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Haymitch's head jerk up and his gray eyes narrowed consideringly.

"Are you suggesting an alliance?" Peeta asked, his voice tinged with hope.

"Yeah," she said, confirming her decision. "I think I am. What do you say? Partners?" She held out her hand.

He clasped it warmly.

A little jolt of something zinged through her. It wasn't the sensation of meeting her soulmate, so Peeta wasn't. Her mother had always said she'd know her soulmate when she met them. But it was something, though she wasn't sure what.

Peeta smiled at her. "Partners."

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Katniss was cold. This was unsurprising, considering she was naked and lying on a metal slab while three of the most colorful human beings in Panem did things to her.

She was doing her best to follow Haymitch's advice, but it was hard. Especially when they started ripping away whole swaths of her leg hair. Methodically, they removed every follicle below her neck, before getting to work on her eyebrows and upper lip. It was torture, and Katniss couldn't imagine what other horrors would follow. But for now, she decided not to protest.

Finally, the three jabberjays deemed that she was good enough to meet Cinna. The way they said the stylist's name was somewhere between reverence and barely controlled excitement.

Katniss couldn't imagine thinking of anyone that way. She wondered just what this Cinna would look like, if he would be even more colorful and ostentatious than the three members of the prep team.

When the man finally entered the room, Katniss stared at him in shock. He was quite possibly the most normal-looking Capitolite she'd ever seen. Only the quality of his clothing and a hint of gold eyeliner against his rich, dark skin hinted at his esteemed origins.

"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen." He extended a hand. "I'm Cinna."

At his words, a strange sensation formed in her stomach, like someone was tracing their fingers over that part of her body. She reached up to feel the phantom hand and found her own skin.

Her eyes leapt to his. "What-" She couldn't finish the thought.

But it was enough.

His left hand clutched at his right forearm. After a minute, he rolled up his sleeve to reveal a gold mockingjay etched on his skin.

She glanced down at her stomach, seeing the same mark outlined just above her navel.

Katniss knew what this meant. This Cinna was her soulmate.

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AN:

Written for the wonderful MTK4FUN. You are amazingly awesome and such an integral part of the community. We hope people don't take you for granted. All the hugs!

We decided to go for a different form of soulmarks this time. We still like the words, but it's fun to try new things too.

This was originally a one-shot but then we had too many ideas, so there's a lot more chapters coming.

Thanks for reading! Let us know what you think!

Curious about what else we're doing? Check out our original writing under the name Christina Rose Andrews.