SAGE COULD BARELY BREATHE AS HE WAS ESCORTED INTO THE JUSTICE HALL. A peacekeeper kept a firm hand on his shoulder as he physically directed him into a room. If he hadn't been directing Sage, he probably would just stood in one place— aimlessly and unable to move on his own. What could he possibly say to anyone who came to say goodbye to him? How could he look at them even? Just thinking about it made his stomach drop and his chest began to ache at the thought of never seeing them again. What if Ella came? She knew how many times his name had been entered, but nobody else knew. What would he tell his family? What would he tell Prim? She was just starting to learn about the games in school, and now she and Katniss would have to go to school while everyone around them knew he was in the arena. In the past, if anyone in his class had a sibling go to the Capitol— nobody could bare to look at them. Even teachers, any interaction was one that was full of pity. Surely Mrs. Allen would be no different towards Prim.

     Sages' mind was spiraling as the peacekeeper ushered him into a nicely decorated room in the Justice Building. The heaviness in his stomach began to radiate through his whole body, he felt weak and like his breakfast would make a unwelcomed reappearance. So in a feeble attempt to calm himself down, he focused on the room around him. He had been in Mayor Undersee's home a few times, most of the time to get Katniss and walk her home. But other times to offer Mrs. Undersee some fresh berries or herbs in exchange for just a few coins that he could save. This room was decorated like their entire home— on one wall was a window that overlooked the district that was framed by dark wood and elegant curtains; the type that looked soft to the touch. The furniture was leather, and was dark in color. They looked freshly polished or something— which wouldn't surprise him. He didn't think these rooms were used for much more than this.

      His eyes drifted back to the window though. So he made his way to the window and pushed the curtain to the side; getting a clear view of the dispersing crowds. When he was younger, his father would take him beyond the fences if the weather was nice— they'd hunt a bit, but for the most part they'd sit and they would talk in the meadow. It wasn't until he was old enough for the reaping that his father was just enjoying getting another year, safe from the reaping. After his fathers hours changed, he took Katniss and did the same thing. His mother only allowed Prim out a few times. He wished that's what he was planning on doing this year; he hoped his father would take Katniss this year...

      Sage glanced downward; what would stop him from jumping? Surely dying that way, on his own terms, and not on national television would be better...

       Sage quickly stopped entertaining that thought and stepped back from the window. How could he even let himself think that? At least if he dies in the games, Kat and Prim could be distracted and away from the television and they wouldn't need to see him. So he turned to examine a small table that was just beside him, on the table was a vase of flowers. He wasn't sure what type, they looked like daisies but he wasn't sure.

The sound of the heavy door open brought him out of his thoughts. For a brief moment he was filled with panic and dread thinking about who joined him first...

      When he turned, she saw his family; his father was a solemn look his face, his mother who was actively blinking back tears with Prim on her hip, and before he could even look at Katniss she had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist with her face buried against his shirt. At first, Sage was frozen. What was he supposed to say to her? His eyes simply darted from the top of her head to his parents, as if waiting for one of them to say something. But neither of them did; they were just as lost for words as he was. Finally, Sage took a step away from Katniss and crouched down so he had to look up a bit to even see her face.

"I-It's my f-fa-fault isn't it?" Katniss choked out.

Sage was at a loss for words. It didn't feel real...

"Katnip, of course it's not your fault..." their father spoke up from behind Katniss when Sage stayed silent.

Katniss quickly spun around, "O-of course it i-is! B-because of th-the sh-ship!" Katniss replied, her voice much louder than it needed to be. "And because I'm not old enough they p-picked you!"

Sage quickly began to shake his head as he grabbed her arms and turned her back towards him. "No, Kat, of course it's not!" he told her, "You can't go around talking like that Kat, ever. To anyone."

"But that's i-it isn't it?" Katniss said, her eyes beginning to turn red from the constant stream of tears.

Again, Sage shook his head. "No, Kat. It isn't. It's mine." he said simply, hoping that his parents wouldn't question either of them about the ship. "I took out extra tesserae for each of us." With that, Sage pulled his sister into a firm hug. He could feel a wet spot forming on his shoulder. Katniss was old enough to know he wasn't going to be back.

      As he hugged her, he looked up at his parents. Who looked like they had both gotten punched in the gut.

"Promise me you will never take out any." Sage said quickly, realizing just how short on time they were. "Not even one, Katniss." he used her full name, something he only did when he wanted to make sure his point got across.

      Katniss quickly nodded as she took a step back. But knowing just how headstrong she was, in a few years she probably would take out a few just like Sage had this year. But for the sake of his own state of mind, he told himself she'd keep her promise.

After a split second though, she cleared her probable hoarse throat. "I made this for you..." she said as she bent down and pulled out something she had tucked in her sock. "Ms. Villa taught us how to make the beads. I was going to give it to you on the last day of school...but I brought it today just in case..." she explained simply.

"I helped." Prim quickly chimmed in from their mothers arms.

"She helped paint them..." Katniss said as she handed it over to him.

       It was a bracelet made of braided string with a few small and unevenly made beads intertwined with the string. There was two green ones, a blue one, a red one, and a pink one.

"They're all of our favorite colors, green for me and you. Blue for dad, red for mom, and pink for Prim." she explained, "I thought if you're allowed something from home, you could wear that..."

Sage stared at the bracelet for a moment. "Well, I'll never take it off." he assured her as he slipped it on.

"You have a chance, Sage."

      Sage looked up and turned his attention to his father as he spoke. As soon as sage stood up, his father rushed to him and pulled him into a hug. It was odd, usually all Sage got was a firm hand on the shoulder and that meant the same as the hugs from his father when he was little. Was Sage was older, he had always recoiled from his father's hugs— he was too old for them. But not this time. He felt like a little boy again who just seemed to sink into the hug, terrified of some nightmare.

"There twenty-three other tributes," Sage spoke with his chin against his fathers shoulder. "they've all been told they have a chance.." as he spoke his throat seemed to get more dry.

"But you do," his father assured him, "why do you think I've taught you how to hunt? What herbs to eat, what berries are poisonous...you know how to survive, Sage."

His father took a step back and looked Sage in the eye as if it would make his point get across better. "You can win."

Sage offered him a small nod before his father turned to take Prim so he could properly say goodbye to his mother.

"Oh, Sage..." she said weakly as she wrapped her arms around him. Putting one hand on the back of his head and killing his cheek. "you didn't need to take out tesserae." she told him, "We would have been just fine."

"Now I know you will be." Sage stated, "It was my last year, I wanted to help as much as possible after last year."

"You've always been too good, Sage. Too good, for your own good." she said, "I love you, you come back alright?"

     Sage nodded weakly, he wasn't going to make a promise like that. Not in front of Katniss and Prim, he never broke his promises to them. And coming back to twelve wasn't a promise that he felt he could keep.

"I love you too, ma." Sage replied simply. Then with that, she took a step back and Prim reached for her turn.

      If heartbreak was real, if a heart could literally rip in two; holding Prim in his arms was what he imagined it felt like. Up until them, he had felt a bit numb, he was going through the motions. But as soon as Prim hugged him while he held her— it felt painfully real. It hit him like a ton of bricks— he wasn't just leaving for the games. He was leaving for good; and Prim didn't quite understand that yet. She just knew he was going to the Capitol and would be in the games. He'd be in her nightmares instead of being the person she went to because of them. He'd never see her again after this, he'd never see if she became the artist she dreamed of being. He wouldn't see if Katniss would master a bow and arrow and be a sharpshooter...

"Are you scared?" Prom asked, her voice was quiet but it managed to pull him out of his spiraling thoughts. "Or are you still just nervous?"

Sage sighed heavily, "This time, this time I'm a bit scared, Prim." he admitted, "But you should tell Mrs. Allen that her advice really does work." he told her, "It's the only reason I didn't get sick on stage."

Prim smiled a bit and nodded, "I'll tell her." she said, but her eyes darted downward. And it wasn't until she began to sniffle that she looked back up at him. This time her big eyes were filled to the brim with tears. "You're not coming back after the games, are you..." her voice was soft, but loud enough. Her words caused their mother to gasp as if she was about to begin weeping. "Like all the other tributes from twelve..."

"You don't think I could win?" Sage questioned immediately.

"Jorie says tributes from twelve never come home." she said, her eyes unable to contain her tears anymore.

The words she spoke stabbed him. He couldn't bare to tell her that Jorie was right. "Well, you can tell Jorie that I am coming back." as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted the impossible promise he was making. "I promise."

      As if on que, the door was opened and a peacekeeper stood in the doorway. Everyone knew what the peacekeeper who stood in the door was about to say. So Sage quickly kissed Prim's cheek and hugged her before handing her back to their father. He hugged his mother one more time, and said goodbye. He echoed to the same goodbye to their father who had his arms full with Prim. He then turned and swiftly bent down and hugged Katniss once more.

"So you're going to win?" Katniss asked quickly.

"I promise, Kat. Until I do, please watch the sky? Don't just stare at it. And don't go out without dad, or even Ella. Okay?" he said quickly in her ear and he didn't begin to release her until the peacekeeper placed a hand on her shoulder to help her leave. "I love you, Kat. Love you, Prim," he added as the peacekeeper helped escort his family. "Love you Ma, you too, dad-" he spit out quickly, hoping they had heard him before the door hit behind them.

       Sage felt his mind begin to spiral as soon as he was alone again. But it wasn't for long, because Ella rushed in and had her arms firmly wrapped around his neck before the door shut behind her.

"You're such an idiot, Sage."

"I know."

"If you had just stuck with the plan, you wouldn't be in here!"

"I know."

"You promised me, Sage,"

"I know."

"You said that we would get through the year without taking any chances! And then-"

"I know, Ella." Sage quickly cut her off, her voice grew louder with each thing she said. And he could hear her voice growing shaky as she got close to taking about their plans for after their graduation. "I'm sorry."

"You should b-be." she replied quickly, "You're going to win." she told him.

"Ella..." he sighed heavily, attempting to loosen his grip on her. But she only tightened her own. "Yes, yes, I'm going to try."

"No. You are going to win." she told him.

"Will you watch out for Kat until I get back then?" Sage questioned. He felt guilty asking, she had four siblings to worry about. But he also couldn't bear the thought of Katniss going hunting on her own, there were too many things that could go wrong. "She's going to try and prove herself and hunt on her own."

Sage felt her nod against his shoulder. "I'll watch her, promise."

      Sage took a firm step back, this time, Ella finally let go. Her eyes looked bigger than normal, and glossed over with with tear stains beneath them. But he could still see how bright blue they were, he hadn't ever noticed before just how blue they were. He hadn't noticed the few freckles that were on her nose, or the small scar that was on her lip— or maybe he was just subconsciously trying to take in every detail of her before she had to leave.

"Remember when we were kids and would talk about what we'd do with the money if we won?" she questioned. "You'd always say you wanted to have enough your dad wouldn't have to work and your sisters wouldn't even need to work a day in their life."

"That was before I really realized what it meant to win." he reminded her. He really didn't know if he had it in him to kill people— kids.

Ella sighed heavily and quickly hugged him again, "Just please come back to me, Sage."

      There was a rapid tapping on the door signaling their time was up. Ella swiftly stepped back and kissed Sage and then turned and left before the peacekeeper had to come in and escort her out like they had done to his family. Leaving Sage once again, alone in the room to wait to be escorted to the train.

      The car that escorted Sage and Deedee Cole to the train was more cramped than Sage would have thought it would be. A peacekeeper drove, and two more rode along on guard— god forbid a tribute get to the Capitol hurt, or worse, dead. But the worse part was Effie Trinket seated between the two tributes, her costume took up space and her perfume was suffocating.

"Haymitch Abernathy took a seperate car," she informed them as if they questioned why he didn't take the cramped car. "He's quite the team leader," she told them, placing a hand on a knee of each of them. "but he is an acquired taste you could say."

"Perfect," Sage muttered.

       Besides that, the ride was silent. They pulled right up to the train station, and they were led to the platform behind Effie who seemed to prance the whole way.

       Sage had seen the train on a few occasions. Once he and his father were able to watch it from the cover of the thick trees outside the fences as it entered District Twelve. When he was eight, he though it was fascinating. But now, it seemed like a luxurious train they used to bring animals to the Capitol for slaughtering.

"I hope you find this comfortable." Effie beamed, Sage has no doubt he would enjoy small parts of the train ride at least. He dreamed of living in a place like it when he was little.

      The train car was elegant. There was a long table, with bowls of fresh looking fruit that they rarely got in Twelve. Like the cherries that sage saw sprinkled among the other fruits. There was a vase full of roses, there was actually a couple throughout the car that filled the car with a sweet smell. There was golden decor spread all over, and the chandelier reflected the sunlight as well as the lights inside of it.

"Dinner with be here, our first meal as a team." Effie said, smiling at both of her tributes. "Until then, of course, help yourselves," she said motioning to the fruit on the table. "You'll find yourself cabins in the next car." she added with a smile, flashing her perfect teeth.

       Sage glanced down at Deedee, who was still looking around in awe. So Sage decided formal introductions would be best saved for dinner, when they've had time to themselves. So Sage made his way to the next car, to find his cabin, which was just across from a door that read COMMAND. His own door simply read DISTRICT TWELVE MALE— which sounded pathetic. That's all he was to them. But it was still a space he could call his own until he got to the Capitol, so he swiftly concealed himself inside.

        The room wasn't huge, it was only a bit bigger than his room in District Twelve. There was a small restroom connected to the room, so that added a bit more space.  The curtains weren't drawn back like they were in the dining car, but they were the same material. The room was filled with light from wall lamps that were evenly spread around the room. So Sage walked towards the curtains and pulled them back only to see that the train was already in motion and on its way to the next district for the next reaping. The view of the trees flying by made Sage's heart sink.

         So as a weak attempt to distract himself he laid down on his back on the bed; which was exceptionally comfortable. And the comforter was fluffy, and very soft to the touch. It was nothing like what he was used to in Twelve. He thought maybe closing his eyes for a bit would help things move faster, but of course, it didn't. He couldn't keep his mind quiet. All he could think about was his family, and Ella— he wished he would have ended things with Ella. As horrible as that sounded. There had been a girl, a few years older than him, but her boyfriend had been reaped and Sage couldn't even recall if she had moved on even now. If Sage died in the arena, Ella may end up like her and Sage didn't want that for her.

        Sage must have lost himself so much in his thoughts that he completely lost track of the time. He had been thinking about his family and Ella, whether or not he'd have a chance, or what his strategy would be if he would have one— would he kiss up to the careers like past tributes have tried? Or would he stick with one or two people until the end, like Haymitch? That got him through a games with twice as many tributes. Or maybe he'd just make it fast and quick and hop off the pedestal a second too soon...

Don't go there, he thought to himself. That went against everything he promised Prim. He couldn't do that, he wouldn't even let his mind go there.

"Sage?"

He jumped at the sound of Effie's voice on the other side of the door.

"Sage, will you be joining us for dinner?"

He sighed heavily, "Uh, yeah, I'll be right there." he called to her.

     Sage pushed himself off of his bed and left his cabin. He stepped out just as the doors shut behind Effie as she made her way back towards the dining car. He took a deep breath, he was a bit unsure of what he'd find in there— Haymitch Abernathy didn't exactly have a good track record. But then again, he had been crowned a victor, so he must have had a bit of advice that would be helpful.

         In the dining car, Effie was seated at one head of the table, and Dedee sat to the left of her. And then on the other end sat Haymitch Abernathy. His shaggy hair hung down, nearing his shoulders and his formal wear looked a bit more disheveled. Sage took a seat, leaving only one open— the seat that hadn't been taken since before Haymitch had been the Victor of the fiftieth games, the seat that was meant for the second mentor that district twelve never had.

"Nice of you to join us," Haymitch started, "unfortunately for you, the recaps just ended." he said looking at Sage as he picked up a closed flask from the table, opened it, and took a drink. "Lucky for you, the recaps don't mean much of anything."

Sage stared at him for a moment, "But doesn't it start to give us an idea of what we're up against?" Sage asked.

"That's what the training center is for." he stated, "For sizing up the other tributes, seeing who you might like to be allies with." he explained as the doors opened, and two avoxes stepped into the car each balancing the two silver platters of food that filled the dining car with a amazing smell.

        For a moment, Sage felt uncomfortable as they began to set food down before them. They were avoxes, meaning they had been forced into this life of slavery— but as soon as he saw how perfect and amazing the food looked, he didn't mind anymore. He just forced himself not to ponder how the two became avoxes anymore, the food set before him was too mouthwatering to ignore.

"But we'll cover that tomorrow over breakfast or dinner." Haymitch stated, and then taking a big breath and letting it out as a sigh as he picked up his fork and knife.

"Which is at ten," Effie reminded them, "you're lucky we didn't let you sleep through dinner, Sage. Be on time in the morning, it's a big, big day." she said looking at Sage and then at Dedee.

Sage glanced at Dedee who looked down at Haymitch nervously as he began to eat his food. Sage followed her eyes— and he could feel himself begin to get just as nervous as her.

Because by the way Haymitch was already eating, they weren't getting any life saving advice over their dinner.

*edited*