❝ ALONE WE ARE STRONG,
TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER, ❞
in which talia riverthorn,
a citizen of district 4,
finds her heart torn
when she is forced into the
71st hunger games.
and the handsome,
mysterious finnick odair
is her mentor.
and as well...
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REJOICE
Home. The scent of the sea hit her as soon as she stepped off the train. Finnick was beside her, he felt it too, the tug of the ocean. The sound of the boats swaying in the water could be heard from here. The clearing up of debris had already began, those remaining in District 4 and some volunteers from the Capitol and District 13, were all helping to clean up the District. Luckily, the most affected area was the District Square, where a lot of the buildings had been destroyed.
The sound of seagulls cawing overhead made Talia smile. She was home. Finally, she was home. They walked from the station, through the Square. Jamie Kilen was stood with Bobby, who was making the permanent move to live in District 4. They were drinking lemonade, taking a break from their debris clearing job. The Square made memories Talia wished she could forget flash in her mind. Her first and second Reaping Days, the first time she came to District 4 after the war began, when she recovered her parents and Rossan's bodies and massacred those inside the nearby Peacekeeper base. Bile rose in her throat, but she swallowed it down. She places a hand on the wood of the stage, looking up at the shredded fabric that wore the District 4 sigil. Her parents blood had seeped into the foundations of that stage. It was painful to look at, but she wanted it to remain as it was.
Herself and Finnick nod in greeting to those they pass by. Coral and Joyce Harper were painting a rundown building, both of them sharing stories to those working with them. Talia smiles kindly towards Coral- they hadn't always gotten on, but when Talia had learned that Coral was safe and had been taken in by friends in the Capitol, she was glad. Glad for Joyce that her wife was fine.
They leave the District Square then, passing by the docks where the boats sit. It would be awhile before anyone ventured out to sea again, for now they were crab fishing near the shore or kayaking out slightly and lowering nets into the water. Children were playing in the sand on the shoreline, building sandcastles or collecting seashells. Finnick's lips curved into a smile, one day his own child would play on that very beach, without fear of one day having to face the Reaping, or potentially having to face the Hunger Games.
Talia squeezed Finnick's hand and they turned from the main path to go towards the cemetery. There were hardly any actual bodies buried in the cemetery as most District 4 people were sent out to sea, a tradition that had passed on from the old world, before Panem was even a concept. The cemetery was merely a place to go to mourn, to pay respects, to honour anniversaries. They visit the Odair family graves first. Finnick's mother, father and sister all have headstones here. No one has visited in years, even Finnick has not been here to see their graves. Finnick lays flowers at their graves, just some wildflowers that had been growing near the beach. He wishes he could bring them better flowers, give them a proper memorial that he could not give them when he was so young, so broken by their deaths.
