I had a nightmare about the Hunger Games and woke up in darkness, but I could feel Finch’s body next to mine, and I relaxed immediately. It scared me a bit how little time it had taken me to learn to trust him. That wasn’t like me. I was like my Mother. I didn’t trust anyone aside my kin. But there was something about Finch’s gentle heart that made me have complete faith in him. It was almost as though I’d convinced myself people like him could do no harm. Sure, he had the Capitol’s naivety, and so much unprovoked cheeriness it scared me, but he was also caring and selfless and brave. It took a lot for him to move from home to live in 13. To stand up to Elliott. To give me a second chance when I threw his friendship in his face. I call that brave, no matter what anyone else thinks.

 I kissed his hair lightly as I got out of bed. It was another early start for me, but I wanted a chance to wake up properly before I faced the training group again. Undoubtedly, I’d made an impression on them the day before, but I wasn’t sure it was necessarily the one I wanted. I wanted them to fear me, but to also respect me. I wanted to build them up to be better soldiers, but also better people. They were never going to be good soldiers without empathy and altruism and cooperation. Somehow, they’d been deprived of those traits. And we needed to build them together. I was sure it would benefit me too. But to get what I wanted, I had to try a new approach.

 I scanned my wrist to get my timetable and found that the session didn’t start until after lunch. Still, I ate my meagre breakfast quickly and headed down to the training floor. I wanted to get in some exercise, as what I had planned that day didn’t involve much of it. I wasn’t having a typical training session with the boys. I was trying something new.

 I met Finch for lunch in the dining hall and told him quickly about my plans for the session. He listened quietly and intently, spooning tomato soup into his mouth as he nodded along.

 “I think it’s a great idea,” he said when I’d finished “Go for it. Those kids may need a push in the right direction, but now that you’ve shown them who is boss, you need to get them to trust you. I think you’re going about it the right way.”

 Glad I had his approval, I ate my lunch quickly and bid him goodbye so that I could set up for the afternoon. I had to use a bit of imagination with the tools that I had. When the boys started turning up in dribs and drabs, they looked curiously around the room. They were considerably quieter than the day before, and for good reason. Just as the clock was reaching half one, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Zach, his nose plastered up and his expression blank.

 “I’m not going to apologize for what I said. You broke my nose,” he said.

 “Then I won’t apologise for breaking your nose,” I retorted. To my surprise, Zach gave me a half smile and stuck out his hand to shake.

 “Then we can mutually agree to put it behind us without any further discussion,” he said. I nodded, and reluctantly shook his hand.

 “Agreed. I will need you to co-operate from now on, Zach. Do you understand?”

 “Yes. And don’t worry. These guys may look like they are shaking in their boots now, but they actually admire you. They think you gave me what I deserved. You’ll have no further problems. I promise.”

 I tried not to blush, because really, that meant more to me than anything else he could have told me. All I’d wanted was some respect. And if my methods had worked, I wasn’t going to punish myself for them.

 I clapped my hands together for attention, but all eyes were already on me anyway. I cleared my throat.

 “Hello, everyone. Now, I know we all got off to a wrong start yesterday, so today focusses on trying to fix that. I’m hoping the activities might be somewhat fun, and it will help us all in getting to know one another. So. I want you all to get into pairs.”

 It took a few sluggish minutes to put people into pairs, which gave me some time to think of how to explain the tasks ahead. I cleared my throat again “The aim of this exercise is to gain trust and create co-operation,” I said “One of you in the pair will be blindfolded, and you’ll alternate. Sometimes, you may go into combat in the dark, or need someone to watch your back, and that’s where your partner comes in. They have to guide you around this obstacle course with only their instructions and without touching anything. You are only allowed to make one comment per move they make. You’re not allowed to correct yourself. You have to be disciplined and accurate in your instructions. You only get one chance on the battlefield, after all. So. One pair at a time. Zach, how about you get blindfolded first?”

 Zach rubbed his hands together eagerly, stepping forwards to take a blindfold from my hands. His partner ties the blindfold around his eyes and he laughs to himself “At least if I fall flat, my face can’t get much more battered.”

 “Don’t bet on it,” I said, earning a nervous laugh. The obstacles around the room consisted of upturned boxes and training apparatus. They were tightly bunched together to make the task even harder. A bunch of ropes hung from the ceiling, like snakes in a jungle, swaying gently and threatening the success of the participant’s task. I led Zach carefully to a starting point and spun him around to disorientate him. The others laughed as he stumbled about, trying to get his bearings.

 “Oh, and did I mention?” I said. I produced a stop clock slyly from my pocket “The lowest scoring time will win an extra prize. Ready…go!”

 The news threw Zach’s partner off and he tried to quickly give some directions, sending Zach stumbling around. He received some laughter, but then everyone went quiet to see how it was done. The pair didn’t last very long. In their hurry to try and complete the obstacle course, Zach lost his balance and bumped into a balance beam. Irony.

 “Unlucky,” I called over the sound of laughter “Make a mental note to learn from their mistakes…pace yourself! The first time you do this, you need to take it slow. You’re not experienced enough! You can quicken your pace with time, but until then, take it slow!”

 A few of the pairs after Zach and his partner still struggled and either bumped into obstacles or finished the course excruciatingly slowly, but a few showed particular promise. A younger boy, Ronan, with soft looking blonde hair shyly completed the course quickly and deftly, despite mediocre instructions from his partner. Another boy, Alexius, who towered above the others at six foot five was very skilled in his instructions, and then went on to complete the course with very little trouble, aside from the hanging ropes from the ceiling. However, just as I was about to try out a new task, I had an unexpected visit.

 Coin.

 “Verona-Grey!” she said. I glanced around at the boys.

 “Keep going. I’ll be back.”

 “Actually, you won’t, Miss Verona-Grey. The rest of this session is cancelled!”

 I thought I heard a few groans from the boys, which was pleasing. I was glad they were enjoying the session. I raised an eyebrow at Coin “What’s with the urgency?”

 “You’re needed in Command for a meeting. Regarding the Mockingjay,” Coin said. I was surprised, to say the least. Last I’d heard, Katniss Everdeen was mentally unstable and incapable of focussing on daily tasks, let alone being the Mockingjay. I’d seen her around a few times since her rescue mission. Of course, she didn’t know who I was, that I’d saved her, but she never looked particularly grateful. She shuffled around quietly, disregarding her timetable, much to Coin’s annoyance. But I didn’t blame her, of course. She’d lost everything. Her home, her innocence…and Peeta.

 I nodded, jogging over to Coin’s side. I turned to the boys “If you want to continue, I should be back in a few hours. If not, I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ve made a good start!”

 A few of the boys headed for the lift when Coin and I did, but many of them stayed behind, including Zach, Ronan and Alexius. They were certainly the ones I was keeping an eye on most.

 “I was wondering,” I said to Coin as we rode the lift to Command “Can I train them at night outside?”

 “There’s a curfew, Miss Verona-Grey. I know you don’t respect it, but don’t drag them down with you. What possible need could you have for them being outside at night?”

 “There’s plenty of need. I would train them in the day in running to build their stamina, and get them used to the hilly terrain. They’d learn to spot things the Capitol soldiers would never see. Knowing the landscape would be good for them, and they can familiarise themselves with working with the elements and sleeping outside in case we’re driven out of District 13 and forced to live on the run.”

 “You seem to have put rather a lot of thought into this. Tell me, are you more enthused about this project than you first seemed? You appear to be diving in head first.”

 “Yes. Yes I am. If I do a job, I want to do it properly. And if I won’t be allowed out onto the field on missions anymore, I will make sure those I train are fully prepared to do so.”

 “Very well,” Coin said as we stepped out of the lift. We walked silently most of the rest of the way to Command. As she opened the door to room 307, she said “You know…you’d be a good leader.”

 “If you’d let me,” I added slyly. Coin frowned, but said nothing as we entered the room together.

 “Mockingjay?” she asked a soldier named Boggs.

 “Not yet,” he replied.

 “She likes to keep us waiting,” Coin mumbled. She doesn’t like Katniss I realised. Coin doesn’t like any woman she thinks might be stronger than her. Or man.

 As though on cue, the Mockingjay entered the room, Gale Hawthorne trailing behind with his hard face set in an I-mean-business mould. I couldn’t help feeling a little starstruck by Katniss. I was in awe of her. Even though she wouldn’t have been there without my input in the mission to rescue her. Or any soldier’s, for that matter.

 “Pencil. Paper,” Katniss said. Coin tried to look calm and unflustered, as though she hadn’t just been worrying that Katniss wouldn’t turn up. She handed Katniss what she’d asked for and Katniss sat down at a desk. There was a slight tremor in her hand as she wrote and she gripped the pencil hard, like she was unused to its feel in her hand. She was making everything look hard work, her face screwed up in concentration as she tried to write. She closed her eyes after a moment and began to mutter. Unstable isn’t the word. More like mental breakdown. I watched her pityingly. She had a hard task ahead of her, and her condition clearly wasn’t making it any easier. She’s survived two Hunger Games, only to be thrown in to a game of Presidents, politics and protest.

 Katniss suddenly seemed to get some inspiration and scrawled one last thing on the list, scrawling it desperately across the page. A long time had passed by the time she put down her pencil.

 “I’ll be your Mockingjay,” she said a little dejectedly. I felt a surge of excitement. It’s all beginning now. For real. We can fight the Capitol. A few people slapped her on the back and congratulated her, but I stayed back, arms folded. I didn’t know her and wouldn’t pretend to. She was a hero, and I respected her, but I suspected she had enough attention without me there too. She proceeded to rattle off some trivial conditions she had for being the Mockingjay. Keeping her cat. Hunting time. I suspected she must have learnt her archery skills from hunting in her District. Being able to keep Gale close by, which seemed to please him. I still disliked him for leaving Peeta behind, even if he didn’t have a choice. I wondered how many times he’d wished Peeta out of the picture since the first Games.

 My ears pricked up more at the mention of the captured victors in the Capitol.

 “It’s not their fault you abandoned them in the arena. Who knows what the Capitol is doing to them?” Katniss said, an accusatory tone in her voice as she glared Coin down.

 “They’ll be tried with other war criminals and treated as the tribunal sees fit,” Coin replied calmly.

 “They’ll be granted immunity!” Katniss shouted, startling me as she banged her palm on her desk and stood up “You will personally pledge this in front of the entire population of District Thirteen and the remainder of Twelve. Soon. Today. It will be recorded for future generations. You will hold yourself and your government responsible for their safety, or you’ll find yourself another Mockingjay!”

 Damn, she’s good.

 I watched Coin and Katniss compete in a heated exchange, until finally it was agreed that the announcement would be made of the victor’s pardoning. Katniss crumpled up her list, and then smoothed it out again nervily. “Just one more thing. I kill Snow,” she said confidently.

 Coin smiled thinly “When the time comes, I’ll flip you for it.”

 Better find a three sided coin, I thought there’s no way my Mother’s going to miss out on the chance to kill him herself. Watch out, Mockingjay. You're not the only bird that bites.