Katelyn Izar-Krane. D11. Fin.

[Tom]

Katelyn Izar-Krane
Twelve
Female
District Eleven
What's an orphanage to do when she has no name? Name her after the Victor of Eleven.

[Tom]

"People wanted the world to be a story, because stories had to sound right and they had to make sense. People wanted the world to make sense."
—Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchett

You'd think with a name like mine, I'd be different.

I'm not some heroine; ready to save the day from some injustice in the world. I'm not some kindhearted person who's going to stick her neck out for you. I'm not a way to make sense of the world. I don't have the answers people are looking for. I'm just an orphan who was unfortunate enough to be given a saint of a victor's first name. You'd think there would be more Katelyns running around out there, but I've yet to meet any others. It's just me who has to deal with the pestering questions of strangers. I've heard all the outrageous claims thrown behind my back.

No.

I am not Katelyn's love child, despite what people want.

Yes, I am supposedly an Izar-Krane, despite my father being not the greatest. It's a complicated situation. See, my father didn't know he had two daughters. He came across us both in a surprising trail of papers that led to the orphanage under his name. It's still hard to really understand, but I make do with what I know. He's at least trying and I can give him that. Nana, our caretaker, seemed to have approved of his capabilities, but I still don't exactly trust him. How could I? He left me and my sister out for dead for twelve years now. Sure, he didn't know about us, but he could have figured it out. My mom wasn't exactly subtle about giving me away according to Nana, but I wasn't supposed to know about that anyways.

I don't care anymore anyways.

This is at least better than the orphanage of secrets and screaming children. I'm able to find a quiet place for once and just be me. A book in my hand and the comfort of a sunset or sunrise as I let the last of the light glitter across the pages that make me feel reality isn't around me. People want me to make sense of the world, but I don't even know what realistic sense the world around me has. We aren't exactly all prospering in this world that we live in. I don't know why people expect me to know the secret to life as if I were Katelyn herself.

Sometimes, I wish Katelyn was my mom, at least then I could have some answers to what people wanted to know. Nana used to tell me that I was never going to be adopted because of the way I spoke. I'm not exactly the nicest about things, I just notice the little things people should deserve to hear. I can't stand adults who want something more out of me. I'm just me and no one wants me to be me. At least, that's what I thought for a long time, until my big sister wanted me to be me. A person who I never exactly thought would care about how I felt. She's been a guiding light through everything for me.

Always a bright smile and a comforting presence, whether she knew it or not, I always appreciate her warmth in the room. Nana told me once that we were like the sun and the moon, different, but always glowing in their own ways. Our worlds were different, my big sister and I were always on opposite ends when it came to things, never fitting together like solid puzzle pieces, but I guess that's how family works. We never fit solidly together, but we still try to fit where we can. Always revolving around one another as instinct in order to survive in this orphanage of secrets.

I've heard more secrets than most in this place, seen them with my own eyes, but I'm not exactly certain about these things. Rebels? No, I didn't care if they were rebels or not. Kassandra was someone we saw often around these walls, but I never spoke to her once, always in the outskirts of the other orphans. Izar-Kranes all spread out among the building, but none of them were like my big sister and I. Real Izars with real connections to the mayor and Wilson Izar-Krane. I saw reruns of dad's brother's games and every time, I always wondered why Katelyn had left him for dead.

Izars weren't meant to win. I've seen plenty of them die with my own eyes or heard of them die with my own ears. This is just how big families are, more chances of a tribute relative where they die and never make it home. We were not like Katelyn, Kassandra, Kirito, or Harbinger. Izars were warriors of a time long gone, at least, I liked to believe so. Warriors of another nature meant to fight and fight to live, but ultimately without family, we fall. That's why I haven't broken yet.

Ludo's got my back and I have hers. We may not have the most connected family ever, but I know one day we'll find our place in the world. A story that I'll tell eventually, once we find our reality and are no longer blinded by who everyone who wants to find answers in some twelve year old girl in an orphanage. We glow like the sun and the moon, always protecting one another from the terrors of the world. A smile on my lips as I sit under a windowsill with the book about princes and princesses, trying to be someone different, when really, I'll always be Katelyn Izar-Krane.

It's just a name.

A name that I'll learn to live up to.

And for now, everything is okay.

As okay as two orphans who found out their real dad can be.

We're okay.

We'll be okay.

I'll make sure of that.

Whether it's finding the answers to reality or not.

We'll be okay.

[Tom]

come get your big sis ✨ zozo.

[✨ zozo.]

BABY GIRL!!!!!! she's a hero in my eyes <3