my little dove | Finnick Odair

chapter twenty-nine

"Take my mind, and take my pain."

Heal- Tom Odell

~~~

DOVE, Isabelle and Peeta were informed of what had happened when the rebels stormed the outskirts of the mansion. They were horrified to hear what had happened. More specifically, what final acts Snow had committed instead of surrendering.

He'd tricked the people of the Capitol who had handed their children over to him. Sponsor parachutes in the Games were released into the crowd, and blew up everything in its perimeter. Men, women, children.

Cressida pulled Peeta and Dove to one side, informing them that Primrose Everdeen was one of the many casualties. When she excused herself, Dove hugged Peeta, and they stayed like that, for a little while.

In a matter of days, they had all lost so much. So many lives. Prim was just a child, just a little girl, who was in the Capitol to help the wounded. Dove remembered how kind the girl was to her back in District 13, when she helped train her basic nursing skills. She remembered the way Prim clutched onto her body when she was saddened by Peeta's outburst.

It was then revealed that Snow had been arrested, and was on trial for his execution. Coin of course wanted it to be a public viewing, with the Mockingjay firing her arrow to end it all. Until then, Katniss would recover from her injuries after the explosion, and the people were safe to leave their houses.

Dove, Peeta and Isabelle said goodbye to Cressida and Pollux as they made their way towards Snow's mansion. By now they had all changed their clothes, after Tigress offered them some suits she used to design. Dove wore black trousers, with a grey shirt and a black jacket to cover the cold. She put her boots back on, as they were all met by fellow rebels who were escorting them to the mansion.

—

Once they had finally reached the mansion, Dove and Isabelle was escorted inside separately from Peeta. They were shown around the mansion, until they reached one room that had much needed friendly faces in.

"Coraz.." Dove whimpered, as she ran into his arms.

Coraz hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head as she sobbed into his chest. He hushed her kindly, letting her cry into his embrace as much as she needed to. When Coraz heard the news about Finnick, he was beyond devastated, and was desperate to get to Dove. He couldn't even imagine what she was going through. He saw what Dove was like after the Quarter Quell, when she had to await for Finnick to get better. But even then, Dove knew he would get better. But now, everything had changed.

"I'm so sorry." Coraz whispered into her ear.

"He's gone. He's really gone." Dove cried into his arms. "I killed him. I killed Finnick."

Coraz pulled away from the hug as he lifted Dove's head to meet his eyes. He grabbed her arms intensely, pained by the amount of grief and guilt shown on Dove's face.

"It wasn't your fault." Coraz urged. "Listen to me, it wasn't your fault."

"He's dead. He's dead. Finnick's dead." Dove sobbed. "He's dead because of me."

"No, no, Dove. Stop. You did what you had to do. You did." Coraz said desperately.

"It shouldn't have been you, but it was." Coraz remarked empathetically.

It was true, only Dove could have made that decision in that moment. The Holo was in her hands. Who would've known, that Finnick's life, also was.

Dove wiped her tears as she tried to push away the image of Finnick's death. It was haunting her, and she couldn't get rid of it. All she wanted, was to get him back. That's what it had all been about. Everything Dove ever did, was to save him. It was all for Finnick. Now he was gone, and Dove felt empty. She had failed. She couldn't save him, in the end.