BY THE TIME Alexis had stopped crying, the two teenagers exited the Justice Building to find it well past dark and the square turned into a deserted town. Rael offered to walk Alexis home despite the fact that she lived in the opposite direction of his house.

"No," Alexis shook her head as Rael watched over her in concern. "I don't want to go home."

Not knowing what else to do, Rael offered to let her crash at his place for the night. If Alexis would've been in her right mind, she never would've intruded on Rael as much as she had that day, but she was still reeling from the hurt and shock from not being able to see Finnick before he was shipped off to the Capital.

Bringing Alexis Ribbon back home certainly wasn't what Rael thought his day would look like when he woke up that morning, but years of being forced to adapt to certain situations allowed him to get the girl settled as comfortably as he could. His house wasn't the best in District 4, he had known this since he was just a small boy, however, he felt ashamed at how tiny and shabby his house was compared to Alexis' in the upper District, although the girl certainly wasn't in the right mind to judge as Rael sat her down on their minuscule couch. He knit his eyebrows together in concern as Alexis seemed unresponsive to her surroundings, simply staring straight at the wall with a hollow look in her eyes.

"Who's she?" the soft, shy voice of Maisie Finely filled their humble shaft of a house as Rael's eyes snapped to find his younger sister standing in the corner, staring at Alexis with wide and curious eyes.

"She's... a friend," Rael answered after struggling to find the right words to describe the blond in front of him. "She's going to crash here for the night."

Maisie nodded her head before disappearing back into the room Rael and her shared, reemerging several seconds later with her tattered blanket. Without hesitation, Maisie shuffled over to Alexis, handing the blanket out for her to take. It wasn't much, but it seemed to be enough to temporarily shake Alexis out of her dazed state as she gratefully took the blanket from the young girl and sent her a small, and quite forced, smile.

Maisie grinned back at Alexis, showcasing the quite noticeable gap where her two front teeth were supposed to reside, before she returned by Rael's side. Alexis stared down at the blanket in her hands, her hands trailing over the overly simplistic, but interesting pattern of waves on the old cloth.

"Let her sleep," Maisie tugged her brother's arm, snapping out of his concerned daze as he stared at the blonde girl on the couch. 

Maisie may only have been a mere seven years old, but she understood how the world worked. She had known the word loss before she was even four, as her father died out in sea during one of his jobs, and seen her mother die from a sickly, incurable disease when she was just six. Death, loss, grief - Maisie was a stranger to none of them and by a simple glance at Alexis Ribbon, Maisie understood.

Another tug on his sleeve and Rael followed his sister back to their meager room, but not without throwing one more concerned glance at the blonde over his shoulder. They entered their room, Maisie jumping onto her small mattress stuffed in one corner of the room. Rael made his way next to Maisie, where instead of a mattress laid a pile of hay on the ground for his makeshift bed. Having a bed was a luxury Rael couldn't afford, the only reason they had Maisie's was because the baker's wife had thrown it out when remodeling their home last winter.

Rael released a small sigh as he blew out the candle, engulfing their room in darkness. He slowly stepped over to his bed, careful not to step on any of Maisie's toys that she loved to leave around for him to stub his toe on. As he laid down in his bed made of hay, his thoughts once again returned to the blonde in the other room as he thought about what he would do from there.

"She'll get better," Maisie interrupted her older brother's thoughts, knowing exactly what Rael's thought process was. "She just needs time."

"You think so?" Rael questioned as he stared at the ceiling of the room, wondering why he was so weak that his sister had to comfort him. He felt like a failure of a brother.

"I know so," Maisie replied as she shifted under her blankets. "You were the same way."

Maisie left Rael to his thoughts as she dozed off to sleep, tired from the long and stressful day. Rael spent several hours just staring ahead into the endless darkness, different thoughts running through his mind as he thought about what he would do from there. It wasn't until the sun started peeking through the small cracks of their house that Rael realized how long he had stayed awake.

"Did you stay up all night again?" Maisie's soft voice filled the room as she sat up, a long yawn escaping her small mouth as she reached her arms out in a stretch.

"I got a couple hours of sleep," the lie slipped from Rael's mouth easily, although he knew Maisie wasn't quite convinced as she slipped out of bed and headed into the main room.

Rael pushed himself up, cracking his back and letting out a disgruntled groan at the pain that shot through his muscles from sleeping on the hard ground. He made his way out of the room, but not before grabbing his chestnut-colored jacket he won in a bet against his boss. It was the most expensive and precious thing Rael owned and he wore it wherever he went, evident in the tears and wears in the jacket but he loved it nevertheless. 

He exited his room to find Maisie grabbing a beef stick for breakfast, a sheepish grin on her face at the disapproving look on Rael's face as he caught her taking food from their stash. She held out another beef stick for a bribe as Rael made his way over to his younger sister. A grin spread across Rael's face as he took the beef stick from her hand and ruffled her hair with his free hand. Maisie pouted at the action, quickly reaching up to fix her hair as Rael took a bite out of the beef stick.

Rael ignored the thoughts about what they would do with the shortage of food as he made his way over to the couch, where Alexis Ribbon slept seemingly peacefully as she tugged the blanket around her tightly. Not wanting to wake the girl, Rael ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he wondered what he would do with her, especially since he had to leave for work.

"It's okay," Maisie told her brother as she climbed onto the couch, plopping herself by Alexis' feet. "I'll watch over her.

Rael hesitated, knowing leaving someone as out of it as Alexis with a seven-year-old wasn't the best idea, but he had to feed his sister and himself somehow and couldn't afford to lose his job.

"You remember the rules?" Rael questioned, knowing he didn't have much time before his boss would come looking for him.

"Of course," Maisie rolled her eyes at the question, insulted he would even ask it.

"Good," Rael nodded as he leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back for dinner. Don't eat too much from the stash."

"Aye aye, captain," Maisie chanted as she saluted her brother, who repeated the same action back to her with a smile before heading over to the door. 

"I mean it, Maisie," Rael warned with a pointed finger as slipped on his boots.

"I got it, Rael," Maisie repeated back irritated. Rael paused by the door, giving one more nod of reassurance to himself, before slipping out and heading down towards the docks.

Maisie turned her attention to Alexis, who had begun to stir in her sleep. After several more minutes, the blonde slowly peeled her eyes open, pulling her hand up to her face to block the bright sunlight coming through the single window in the Finley's small house. Alexis pushed herself into a sitting position, jerking back in surprise when she came face to face with Maisie Finely.

"Who are you," Alexis questioned as the girl flashed her a grin and slid off the couch into a standing position. 

"I'm Maisie," the girl introduced herself as she held out her hand excitedly in introduction. At the confused look on Alexis' face, Maisie elaborated, "Rael's younger sister."

Alexis' eyes widened and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as the event of last night came back to her. 

"I'm Alexis," the blonde introduced herself, reaching out to grab Maisie's outstretched hand.

"Nice to meet you, Alexis," Maisie replied as the two girls released hands and allowed them to drop limply at their side. As Alexis glanced around her surroundings, taking in the small house, she suddenly remembered the events from the proceeding day, everything that had seemed like a distant nightmare to the girl while she slept.

"Do you have a television screen?" Alexis asked the young girl, who looked confused at the question but nodded her head anyways.

"Yeah," Maisie made her way over to the table and pressed the small device laying on it. 

Panem's national anthem began playing, the symbol boldly projecting above the table in the form of a hologram before turning into a television showcasing Captial channels, more specifically The Hunger Games and the events leading up to the so-called grand event. Tears welled in Alexis' eyes as Ceasar Flickerman appeared on the television, discussing this year's tributes with the current Head Game Maker.

Maisie, glancing over her shoulder to find tears streaming down Alexis' face, realized what exactly was making Alexis so upset as all the pieced clicked into place: her coming to their house hours after the reaping, acting as though someone she loved had died, and crying at the television showcasing the events leading up to The Hunger Games.

Maisie crawled back onto the couch and, after hesitating a few moments, reached out and wrapped her tiny arms around the sobbing blonde. Alexis melted into Maisie's embrace, sobbing until she had no more tears left to cry and all the energy drained out of her body.

Maisie slowly peeled away from the blonde, slipping off the couch as the tears dried from Alexis' face and pulled out her and Rael's stash of food. Maisie pushed past the beef sticks and rabbit feet until she found, buried in the deepest corner, their most valuable, saved food that they ate only for special occasions. Maisie only hoped Rael wouldn't scold her as she pulled out pears and foods that cost a fortune for people like them.

Maisie made sure she was careful cutting the food and sliding it into a bowl for Alexis to eat out of. When she was finished, she brought the bowl to Alexis, who shook her head and pushed the bowl away.

"You have to eat," Maisie pushed as she plucked a sliced apple out of the bowl and held it up to Alexis' mouth.

"I can feed myself," Alexis pushed the food away, causing Maisie to huff in irritation.

"Then feed yourself," Maisie shot back, taking Alexis by surprise by her stern tone.

Maisie held the bowl back out again and this time Alexis took it from her hands. It took her over an hour and several stern glares from Maisie, but Alexis managed to finish the bowl of food. Alexis set the bowl down on the table without another word as Maisie was glad at the progress made.

"The parade will be on shortly," Maisie interrupted the silence, treading carefully around the fragile blonde as she quickly mulled over the right words to say. "Are you sure you want to watch it?"

"I have to," Alexis wasted no time in responding and Maisie didn't push her any further as she simply nodded her head.

A few hours later, the national anthem played again before Ceasar Flickerman appeared on screen as he prepared all of Panem for the Tribute Parade. Alexis' hands balled into fists, her fingernails digging into her palms and drawing blood before Maisie reached out and held her hand, loosening her fists and comforting her at the same time.

After several more minutes of Alexis biting on the lower lip in a fit of nerves, the tributes were finally shown on the screens, most of them in their ridiculous costumes as they rode out in chariots. Alexis' breath caught in her throat as Finnick appeared on screen, looking the same as he did the day before he left.

"Your brother?" Maisie questioned as Alexis took in the image of her best friend in his merman costume that showcased his stellar abbs from working on the docks every day.

"Friend," Alexis corrected absentmindedly as she watched the way Finnick grinned at the camera and waved to the screaming crowds.

"Not boyfriend?" Maisie's questioned cause Alexis to snap her eyes away from the screen and to the small girl beside her.

Alexis stared at the girl for several seconds, mulling the thought over in her head before replying with a soft, "No."

Maisie nodded her head in understanding as they both turned back to the screen to watch Ceasar reviewing the tribute parade and all the tributes.

"He's cute," Maisie commented as a picture of Finnick appeared on screen as Ceasar's voice continued to fill the room.

"Yes," Alexis stated as she stared at Finnick's sea-green eyes, eyes that she had taken for granted every time she looked into them. "Yes, he is."