At the Capitol's Remake Center, Katniss endures hours of painful preparation from her prep team, Venia, Flavius, and Octavia. They scrub her skin, shape her nails, and strip hair from nearly her entire body so she will be acceptable for presentation. Katniss finds them foolish rather than malicious, and she carefully stays polite because she promised Haymitch she would cooperate.

When Cinna finally arrives, Katniss is surprised by how normal and calm he seems compared with the Capitol's usual stylists. He notices and praises the braid Katniss's mother made, reveals that this is his first Hunger Games, and says he specifically asked for District 12. Over lunch, Katniss studies the Capitol's effortless abundance and feels fresh disgust at a society that lives in luxury while children are sent to die for entertainment.

Cinna then explains his plan for the opening ceremonies. Instead of dressing Katniss and Peeta as ordinary coal miners, he and Peeta's stylist, Portia, decide to emphasize burning coal. Katniss and Peeta are fitted in black outfits with capes and headpieces that will be lit with synthetic flames, and Cinna tells Katniss he wants the audience to remember her as "the girl who was on fire."

Before the parade, Katniss and Peeta nervously joke about tearing off each other's burning capes if the trick goes wrong. Once their costumes are lit, however, the fire proves safe, and Cinna signals them to hold hands as their chariot enters the streets. The crowd is captivated, and Katniss quickly realizes that the flames, their linked image, and Cinna's styling have made District 12 the focus of the entire ceremony.

As the parade continues, Katniss gains confidence, plays to the audience, and feels a new sense of hope that public attention may win her sponsors and improve her odds in the arena. President Snow gives the formal welcome at the City Circle, but District 12 still dominates the cameras and leaves the other tributes resentful. Afterward, Peeta thanks Katniss for holding on to him, and his warmth unsettles her because being presented as a united pair clashes with the fact that they are meant to kill each other, so she reminds herself not to trust him even as she answers his kindness with a calculated kiss on his bruised cheek.