𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑳𝑨𝑪𝑲 𝑫𝑨𝑯𝑳𝑰𝑨, 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝒇 𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑮𝒐

"No... No!" Dahlia gasps out weakly, clinging to his body as he sinks to the ground. "No, Papa. Why-- Why would you do that? Why would you do that?" She cries repeatedly, falling to the ground with him while cradling his head. "No! Don't go. Fight it. Fight it, please... I just got you back. You can't go yet, Papa."

Alaric chokes and struggles for air as blood spills from his mouth. But he still musters enough energy to stroke one hand down Dahlia's cheek, his eyes filling with tears at the realisation that he's leaving his little girl behind. But looking at her now, he knows she's not so little. She doesn't need him anymore.

"You need to let me go, Flower." He murmurs through spluttered breaths, the blood starting to dribble down his jaw. Dahlia shakes her head in refusal, oblivious to the battle raging around her as Alaric becomes her main focus. "Please..."

"No... I can't. It's too soon." She sobbed, never feeling so weak and vulnerable in her life until that moment. "I still need you."

"It's okay to let go... I need you to let go." Alaric begs her, not ready to leave without her permission. He's been ready to die for a long time now, but he wouldn't go if she didn't let him. "Please... Let me go."

Dahlia's eyes close despairingly, a single tear slipping through her eyelashes as her head hangs in defeat. She knew she couldn't hang on to him forever and he'd been fighting so hard to stay strong for her over the years. But he wanted to go. He needed to go. And, despite her own selfish desires, Dahlia couldn't stop him. "O-- Okay." She whispers reluctantly, her throat tightening with emotion as she feels her heart begin to crack. She couldn't even believe the word had left her mouth.

"Good." Alaric manages to reply as Dahlia's eyes open for him to admire one last time. He hates the broken look he sees in them, so unlike the strong woman he raised her to be. This isn't how he wants to remember her. "Now... Avenge me, my daughter. Make them bleed."

Alaric's fighting words remind Dahlia of his killer, who is trying to team up with Brutus against Finnick. He doesn't deserve to live, the Black Dahlia has decided. Her eyes harden into a murderous glare, lips forming an animalistic snarl. As she sheathes her own blade and grips onto Alaric's sleek silver sword, the dying man grins with pride. That's my girl. He can leave this earth in peace now, his Flower will be fine.

Dahlia doesn't let Gloss get one step closer to Finnick before she's sprinting over and kicking him harshly. As the Career stumbles on his feet, Dahlia wastes no time showing him the same mercy he showed Alaric. Gripping his shoulder, she forces Alaric's sword into his back and continues pushing it until the tip emerges through his chest. She doesn't even bother to remove the sword, leaving Gloss' body impaled by the blade as she shoves him away carelessly. Dahlia watches the life leave his body with a blank expression, feeling completely numb inside as she takes another life.

Two cannon booms ring out, one for Gloss and one for Alaric. The last thing he saw before his eyes glazed over was his daughter getting her revenge and the first thing he saw as he passed to the other side was his daughter running towards him. Yes, his last thought, his girl will be just fine.

With two of the Career Pack now dead, the tributes from District Two realise their disadvantage and make a hasty retreat round the side of the Cornucopia. Finnick manages to stop Peeta from going after them but Katniss is able to slip past. Johanna and Dahlia are quick to follow behind the Mockingjay.

They don't make it far before the island supporting the Cornucopia starts to spin. The three girls are immediately swept off their feet, grappling to hang on to the slippery rock. Dahlia's fingers, strengthened from the experiences of climbing, expertly grip the rock but the force generated by the quick rotations prove difficult for Katniss. Her hold falters, causing her to go sliding along the rock with nothing to grab onto. She screams as she skids away and her descent is only halted by Dahlia leaping for her hand.

The women are forced to make a human chain, Dahlia forming the link between them to keep Katniss from plummeting into the churned up waves. Johanna acts as their anchor, screeching in desperation as she struggles to hold the weight of both Dahlia and Katniss. Digging her axe into the jagged rock gives the girl a firmer grasp but it does little to ease their strain.

"Hold on!" Johanna yells frantically, determined not to let go of her best friend and the symbol of the Rebellion.

If Dahlia wasn't gritting her teeth in pain, she would've made a snarky comment to her friend. But she can feel Katniss' hand slipping away as the younger girl stares at Dahlia in distress. "No!" Dahlia yelps as Katniss falls through her fingers, flying backwards into the waves and quickly becoming engulfed.

In her shock, Dahlia releases her grip on Johanna and finds herself following Katniss into the water. Helpless to the will of the tide, Dahlia's body is flung around in the whirlpool relentlessly. She is brought back to her own Games, being swept through the caves and tunnels by the flood. Why does she always end up overpowered by violent waters? It was both her saviour and her doom.

Thankfully, the Cornucopia swiftly ceases its spin cycle mere moments after the two girls were submerged, allowing the waves to grow calmer once more. But as Dahlia starts to swim to the surface, something brushes against her foot. Glancing down, she expects to see fish wading by or possibly a stray strand of seaweed. What she doesn't expect, is to see Alaric's lifeless eyes staring up at her as his body floats in the water.

She's frozen.

Her lungs scream for air but her heart screams for death. Why does she keep losing the people she loves? Everything she touches seems to shrivel under her fingertips. She's not a flower,  she's a disease destroying all life around her. Maybe it would be better if she let the waves claim her. Let her body sink into the depths to join Alaric. She could reunite with Lavender, apologise to her mother and Rosie, reconnect with Cove. She could finally find peace for eternity. No more fighting, no more war...

But she'd be leaving Finnick behind. Finnick, who had just lost his own mentor and forced himself to keep pushing. Finnick, who confessed he wouldn't survive without her. Finnick, who had never given up on her despite all her flaws.

She felt guilty for even considering such selfish thoughts. Alaric had dedicated himself to the Rebellion, recruiting the tributes and devising a plan. He died with the hope that the Mockingjay would live on and inspire the districts to rise up. So Dahlia still had a job to do. He had given his life for hers and she couldn't let him down.

For her Golden Boy and Alaric's sacrifice, she had to keep fighting. 

As one last tear is shed for her fallen father, swallowed up by the rippling water, Dahlia pushes up to the surface. Away from her easy way out, and toward the land of the living. Up to a world of corruption and war, but the place where her love was searching for her.

Emerging from the water with a huge intake of breath alerts the other tributes to Dahlia's reappearance. "Lia!" Finnick calls out in relief, rushing from the Cornucopia and dropping his trident on the rocks before diving into the water to assist her.

Finnick had nearly wrung Johanna's neck when she was unable to answer him on Dahlia's whereabouts. He was terrified when he had lost her in the chaos of the Careers' attack, then to find that the last person to see her didn't know where she was, nearly caused him to go bezerk. As he reached Dahlia's exhausted body, he felt he could breathe easier again with her close by again.

Cradling Dahlia's trembling form, he holds her above the gentle waves as she clings onto him. "He's gone, Finn." She sobs into his shoulder, beginning to comprehend that she will now have to live life without Alaric. A feat that seemed utterly impossible. The painful sting of the scratches on her back was nothing compared to the anguish she felt in her heart. No physical injury would ever rival the torture of knowing that Alaric, her mentor, her protector, her father... was never coming back. "He's gone... I-- I let him go."