A scream woke Willow from her sleep. It wasn't loud, but Willow was sensitive to her mother's terrified scream. She could then hear her dad comforting her mom. Sometimes it would be her dad who would wake up with a loud gasp, but most of the time it was her mom.

Willow's mom and dad didn't really think she could hear them, but she did. And her heart hurt for them every time.

Turning toward her nightstand, she looked at the small clock on it. It was only five A.M, and her seventh birthday. Willow sighed. When her mom and dad were seventeen, they were fighting a war they didn't mean to start.

She was so thankful for her parents, but sometimes she wished that it had been someone else to handle it.

Willow rolled off her bed, stretching as she stood up. She might as well start her day since she was up. She dressed quickly into her running clothing and left her room. Making her way into the hallway, she knocked softly on her parent's door. "Mom, Dad, I'm going on a run. I'll be back in a few."

"Okay, sweetheart. Be safe!" her dad called through the door.

"Will do, Dad!"

Willow made her out of the house, into the humid morning air. Across the street, Haymitch's geese were squawking annoyingly. She rolled her eyes as she started out on her morning run. She would run every day without fail. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night. It always depended on what her family was doing that day or when she woke up.

She made her way out of Victor's Village, turning into the Seam. She would always go there first, to see where her mother had grown up. Everyone still called it the Seam, but it wasn't as poor now. It had pleasant houses, a few businesses - District 12 was thriving.

Her mother had had one request when they had built the District back up. She didn't want anyone to touch the remains of the home she had grown up in. Willow passed it, a grim reminder of the life she'd never known.

"Hey, Willow! Happy Birthday!" Ash Charter called from outside his home. He waved at her as she passed by.

Ash was Willow's classmate. He was nice and all, but something about him made her feel awkward. However, she was never sure what it was.

"Thank you!" She waved back at him before turning down the street that would take her through town. She passed all the stores, smelling fresh bread from the bakery and coal dust from the miners heading to work.

She loved District 12 with all her heart. It was her home, her life. However, when her mother would get tired of the memories, they would visit District 4. Willow could stay on the beach for hours, swimming, making sand castles, pretty much anything.

They hadn't gone in a couple months because of all the rumours lately.

It had gotten out that Coriolanus Snow's great-granddaughter, Adonia Snow, had escaped from custody after raging about how the Capitol would be back with a vengeance, or whatever the news report had said.

Willow's mom didn't like her watching the news, said it wasn't important. Willow disagreed whole-heartedly. If something was to happen, she wanted to know.

After passing the Justice Building, Willow made her way home. As she passed the open gates to the Victor's Village, she noticed Haymitch standing in his yard. He had a mug in one hand and a handful of feed in the other. His geese were surrounding him, heads trying to reach toward him.

Willow jogged up to him, wiping sweat from her brow. "Good morning, Haymitch. How are we doing today?"

Haymitch took a swing of whatever was in the mug. "Tired." He smirked at her. "How does it feel to be old?"

Willow scoffed. "Oh, please. You're old."

The man pointed at Willow with a proud expression. "Taking after me, I see."

"Only on some things, Haymitch. Are you coming over for dinner?"

Haymitch nodded. "Yeah, you better get ready. I think your mom had something she wanted to do for you."

Excitement filled Willow's veins. "Okay! See you later, Haymitch!" She ran across the street without waiting for a response. Willow had no idea what it could be, but she was ecstatic. Her mom and dad had already shown her the book on her twelfth birthday. They allowed her to learn about anything she wanted to. They would never allow her to watch the Hunger Games tapes, not that she wanted to.

Walking into the home, she smelled her father baking in the kitchen. She heard her mother and brother, Rye, humming together in the living room. Rye had always been more talented than Willow. He seemed to be able to hunt better, sing better, bake better. The only thing she was better at doing was thinking.

Willow was top of her class at school, she had even written multiple papers about politics. Plutarch Heavensbee, after she had published the first couple papers, had come down to District 12 to talk to her. He had guaranteed her a spot in the government if she kept doing well in school and didn't get into any trouble. Thankfully, she was highly confident in herself to be the best she could be.

"I'm going to shower!" she called into the living room. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

Willow took a rushed shower, scrubbing her dark brown hair roughly. Once she got out, she dressed in a simple shirt and jeans. She didn't need to be fancy on her birthday. Stepping out of her room, she could tell the atmosphere had changed.

Something wasn't right.

"Mom?" she called out carefully. Silence.

Willow carefully made her way into her mom and dad's room. They kept a stash of weapons in their closet. They didn't know Willow knew, but at the moment she was glad she had stumbled upon them two years before.

She shut her parent's door carefully, keeping her movements quiet. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. They didn't sound like anyone in her family. The footsteps didn't even sound like Haymitch's.

Willow quickly went into the closet, shut the door, and climbed up onto the shelf. She grabbed the closest weapon she could reach. As she dropped onto the floor, she realised she had grabbed her mom's bow. The one she had used while fighting the Capitol.

Taking a deep breath, Willow loaded the bow and prayed she could be an okay shot. Her mom always took her and her brother hunting every week. Rye would always get something within the first couple hours. It took Willow a little longer and most of the time she could never get a clean kill.

The only time she had been an expert shot was when her mom had let them try hunting with a gun. Only, she didn't like how powerful it made her feel when she had gotten more kills than Rye. So, she decided to just stick to hunting with a bow.

Someone tried to open the door. She cursed herself for locking it. Willow looked out of the closet at the window. Maybe she could scale down the house. Too late, someone kicked the door down, making Willow back up into the closet more. She pulled the arrow back, aiming for the door.

Willow heard the door fling open. She tensed, trying to block out the sound of her heart beating. A moment later the closet door opened, exposing about a dozen Peacekeepers. Willow's stomach dropped. Peacekeepers hadn't been around in years.

The one who had opened the door raised his gun at her. Without thinking, Willow aimed for his neck and let the arrow fly. To her surprise, it hit him right where she had intended. Blood spurted from the wound and onto the carpet. The Peacekeeper fell, dead before he hit the floor.

After the initial shock, Willow looked up at the other Peacekeepers. And she smirked.

It was almost slow motion. She shot the arrow, it would hit a Peacekeeper. Sometimes he would fall, other times she'd have to shoot again. Willow kept wondering how many were inside the house, since it seemed like they just kept coming. She pushed her way out of the closet, and was making her way over to the window, when she was shot with a dart.

Willow's vision went blurry. Her aimed arrow was let loose and hit the Peacekeeper in the face. He fell to the ground as she fell onto her parent's bed.

A/N: *EVIL LAUGH* I am super excited to write this one. It is a rewrite (the one I had written was bleh in my opinion) and I absolutely love it! I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I'll have fun writing it!