Chapter Text
Rey woke, sweating. It was silent, except for the soft sounds of her aunt and cousin breathing. She carefully stood up, trying not to make too much noise on the creaky bed. Poe shifted and mumbled something, but didn't wake. Good. He didn't approve of her hunting so early, especially today.
She crept out of the tiny house, trying to shake off the dream she had. It was the old nightmare about watching her parents die in the mining accident. She hadn't actually seen them die, but she had watched helplessly as the captain had read off the names of the dead. Seven years later she still woke up crying.
But that didn't matter. The past was in the past. She had to focus on the present. And right now, that meant making it into the woods before the peacekeepers passed by the fence.
Rey padded down the empty streets. Soon they would be filled with the citizens of District 12. Everyone would be packed together, praying that they wouldn't be picked to compete in the Hunger Games. Coming from District 12, the poorest district in Panem, the tributes almost never won. There were only two living victors from 12.
Han and Leia Solo, husband and wife. They had won a few years apart, and eventually gotten married and had a son. He was the same age as Rey, but she never talked to him unless schoolwork required her to. He was probably the most popular kid in the school, while Rey had zero friends.
Unless you counted Rose Tico, another lonely girl whose twin sister had been reaped a few years ago. She had missed three weeks of school after her sister died, and the day she came back she had sat with Rey at lunch. After that they had teamed up together for every partner activity in school. They weren't good friends, just partners. Two lonely girls who worked together because they had nobody else. Well, Rey had Finn and Poe, but they were both older than her.
Reaching the fence, Rey checked to make sure there was no familiar hum that meant it was electrified. As usual, it wasn't, and she ducked through a small hole at the bottom that nobody cared about enough to fix. Rey silently ran through the woods to the clearing where she and Finn always met up. As usual, she was the first one there. She busied herself with stripping some of the blackberry bushes that grew in a ring around the clearing, knowing Finn would arrive soon.
"Happy Reaping Day," a voice behind her said. She jumped, startled. But of course it was just Finn.
"Happy Reaping Day," she returned, rolling her eyes, then noticing his hands were held behind his back. "What've you got there?"
"Oh, nothing," he deflected her question with a secretive smile.
"Come on Finn," Rey laughed, "you can trust me."
"Alright, he said, pulling an arrow out from behind his back. Rey gasped when she saw the two plump leather pouches tied to it. With a nod from Finn, she eagerly untied one of the pouches and peeked inside.
"Oh my god! Is this real?" she cried, picking one of the ripe purple berries out of the container. "Finn, where did you even get these?"
He smiled proudly. "The Hob."
"You're lying. They cost way too much for both of us combined. Where did you even get the money?"
"Leia was feeling sentimental today," he revealed, "I was trying to bring something special for today, and she offered a cheaper price than normal. Even wished me luck."
"Well, I guess we're all feeling a bit closer together today," Rey said. "Poe's almost safe."
"Eighteen already? Feels like we just met yesterday, but it's been years."
"Well you're fifteen. Four more reapings and you're safe too."
"Time flies," Finn joked. Rey desperately wanted him to change the subject. She didn't want to talk about how she still had so many years of reapings left to survive. As if he could sense this-or maybe he could, he knew her better than anybody else-Finn took her hand and looked her in the eye.
"Rey. Your name's only in there once. One time. One slip in hundreds, thousands maybe. They're not gonna pick you. And after this, the reapings are just gonna fly by, and before you know it you're eighteen. It's going to be all right. Poe and I, we've made it haven't we? Poe's made it through all of his. And so will you. Jyn and Cassian are watching over you, I know it. They'll make sure you stay safe. Everything will be fine."
Rey nodded numbly, trying to believe his words. Trying to make them true. But it all came down to the luck of the draw.
Finn's right, she knows. One slip in thousands of others. The odds are in her favor. But not in his. Not in Poe's. Both boys had put their names in extra times in exchange for getting a little food each month. Not enough to keep them happy and healthy, but food nonetheless. Poe wouldn't let her put her name in extra times though. She didn't know why. But she knew that the odds were not in Poe and Finn's favors. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought.
"How about we eat breakfast?" Finn suggested, holding up his pouch of berries. Rey nodded again, and wiped away her tears. She and Finn enjoyed a breakfast of sweet berries by the river. They saved the blackberries Rey had collected for supper after the reaping-refusing to consider for even a moment that they might not be around to eat them-along with a goose Finn shot.
They hid their weapons in a hollow tree. They weren't supposed to have weapons inside the district, though the peacekeepers pretended not to notice when they brought their game back from the woods.
That was the one good thing about being from the poorest and most ignored district in Panem. There was more freedom as long as they produced enough coal for the Capitol. The peacekeepers that policed them were also some of their best customers. Rey and Finn probably had sold more meat to peacekeepers than District 12 citizens.
"Good luck," Rey whispered to Finn once they were back inside the fence, "I'll see you...later."
"Hopefully," Finn whispered back, "good luck."