It's not fair.

The words float around her like some kind of supernatural spirit. It's not fair. They didn't deserve this. Not after the son.

Fair or not, Linghua lifts up her chin and puts on a smirk as she walks to the stage. It's what Tianlong would have wanted, if he couldn't save her from the Reaping. He would have wanted her to walk into the Arena, head held high, confident, and go out in a blaze of glory.

Or, of course, he would have wanted her to win. Either way.

"Congrats." Her mentor, Taeyeon, is a beautiful woman with slightly wavy blond hair. "You look like your brother."

Suddenly, the pain of Tianlong's death rushes back to Linghua, and it's all she can do to not drop down in front of the entirety of the district and bawl her eyes out. It was a cruel thing to say, though Linghua knows it probably wasn't meant to elicit the reaction it nearly did.

"Thank you," she says back, and Taeyeon leads her into the Justice Building. The place where she'll say goodbye to her family and friends before getting shipped to the Capitol and plucked like a chicken ready to roast.

Immediately, the first visitors she has are her siblings. She opens her arms, and they run to her crying. Especially Minhua, which she didn't expect.

"What will I do without you?" she sobs loudly, and the other three cry as well. Linghua has to bite back a laugh as she pulls them onto the couch. 

"Hey, you'll be fine." She wipes the tears off their faces. "Minhua, I did teach you how to hunt, somewhat, and other people love you, you can always find a job. Yingfei and Qiansui, you two pay attention in school, okay? You have to learn all you can and then you'll get great jobs. Ranhuo, you should stop crying so much, okay? Because everyone is busy, and you need to become a strong independent kid."

The crying continues, and eventually, at the last minute, Linghua says to them, "If anything happens to me, find Xuerao or Xiuying, okay?" Then, all too quickly, they're being pulled from her grasp, and Linghua is left holding a single reed necklace. Minhua must have stuffed it into her hand in the confusion. She presses her lips together and puts it on.

Now I'll really be taking you with me, Tianlong.

The next visitor is her best friend. Well, two of them. Linghua jumps up, and Xiuying holds her close while Qian jumps around her, her hands.

"It'll be okay," Xiuying says croakily. "I'll keep an eye on the kids. You just remember to show them what we're made of."

Linghua nods, and they sit in silence. Qian whimpers as if he knows what's coming, and Linghua can't stop running her hands through his fur. "I want you to make sure he protects the kids," she says to Xiuying. "He probably will, but there's a chance he won't, but I need you to protect them, okay?"

She's not making any sense, but Xiuying understands her anyway. "I will."

Linghua's not sure when Xiuying leaves and when Xianhong enters, but when she realizes, she grabs onto him, never wanting to let go.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." He runs his hands down her back. "You'll be okay. You learned from all the Games, didn't you? You know how to hunt. You'll always have food. You'll survive."

"But what's the point?" Linghua sniffs. "What if I don't have any prey to hunt?"

"Then you'll have to make prey." Xianhong's voice is suddenly hard, and he pulls back to look her in the eyes. "You have to come back. If I could make it in District 12, you can make it through the Games."

Xianhong's parents came from District 8. They received a lot of discrimination for it, and Xianhong didn't have the best childhood. Linghua nods, but not because she believes in herself. She doesn't want Xianhong to worry.

They spend the rest of their time locked in embrace, and Linghua thinks that's the end, but her last visitor has her in tears. Xuerao reaches out, holds onto her as she sobs, and then, they're suddenly crying together.

"How did you do it?" Linghua whispers. "How did you let him go?"

Xuerao shakes her head. "I didn't. I never did." Lightly, she touches Linghua's necklace. "You have him everywhere you go. It's the same for me, but he's in my heart. Forever."

"I don't know how I could have ever disliked you." Xuerao laughs at that and clutches her hands even tighter. "You're so good to me, even after everything."

"We have to be there for each other. No one else will."

No one else will, Linghua thinks as she steps onto the train. No one else will be there for us. That much is true. Even her own parents didn't come to say goodbye. They'd always liked her the least, anyway.

Yeah, no one else will be there for her. But she needs to be there for everyone else. Her siblings, her friends, her brother.

She needs to avenge her brother's death, and if she doesn't do it, who else will?

so i got my period today and classes start in two days i really want to just sleep for a week. so i'm going to sleep right now and i ing hope there's nothing to do tomorrow because i'm gonna be doubled over in pain uwu. anyway yeah since classes start soon and i have very few inspiration (i can english i swear) i'm probably not going to be working on this story regularly.