Light the Way

Twenty Six

"We can't pick Three." He said, turning to look over at her again, their hands still locked. She raised a confused, tired eyebrow at him. "They'll make Three pay for that rebel attack in the games. She'll make it happen. Dr. Gaul." He explained. Olivia nodded in response, drinking more of the water.

"That leaves us three others to choose from. All well fed, all strong. We run the risk of getting a kid from the poorer outskirts, but that would be the same for all of them." Olivia shared her thoughts, trying to weigh out the pros and cons of each without using too much energy. Her head was pounding, begging her to try and close her eyes.

"I guess it just depends on how literally we think Dr. Gaul will take to this year's theme." Coriolanus mused, leaning back down against the train seat.

"Maybe we should pay her a visit then." Olivia said, her voice even. Coriolanus nodded, twisting the idea around in his head, wondering if Dr. Gaul would consider it a favor and he'd owe her one.

"I'm sure she'd appreciate a first-hand recollection of the uprising." His voice sweetened, the confident velvet returning as he straightened up. Purpose filled him again. Clarity.

Turning a trauma into an opportunity, his specialty.

Olivia let out a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding, letting her shoulders slink back into the seat, letting her legs stretch out and her jaw unclench.

"Tomorrow morning then, yes?" She asked, her green eyes flaring up at him.

Turning a trauma into an opportunity, a skill she'd been practicing her entire life.

"Tomorrow." He agreed, tugging on her hand, willing her to come closer.

She shifted, her side connecting with his, her head lulling into his shoulder, finally relaxing enough to let her eyes close. His quickly followed suit, his breath even.

-

The train came to a stop, jerking both of them awake, their bodies getting up quick and the blood rushing to their heads. Steadying themselves, they marched off the train, yearning for their feet to touch the safety of the Capitol. 

Coriolanus had dreamed that the train didn't head back home – but instead took him back to Twelve where he was to be a peacekeeper for twenty more years, the games and Olivia Lumen a forgotten memory. A life he'd never live again.

Olivia's mind was filled with chattering of teeth. The sound her body made when she huddled under the table during the war, hoping that the ceiling wouldn't fall on top of her. Concrete slabs would fall down, crushing the table and her beneath it. And then the rebels in Three were chasing her. Capturing her and chaining her legs up in that factory, forcing her to build weapons to be used against her own people. She woke with a jolt.

As soon as their feet touched the ground of the station, all restlessness washed away. They were reinvigorated – as the heart of the Panem gave back to them. As the Districts pumped their vile blood into the organ, and it purified it, sending it back out to the people who needed it the most.

"Coriolanus!" A familiar voice shouted above the guzzling train, pushing past the few people waiting to get on until they enveloped him in a hug. Tigris almost knocked him down to the ground with her force, only pulling away to grip his face in her hands, shaking him. Like he had gone mad.

"We were all so worried when we heard." She cried out, tears starting to spill. He hugged his cousin back, hoping he didn't worry her too much.

Another body joined them, Ma Plinth, who stood there shakily,, sobbing fat tears and blotting them away with her cloth. She was wailing too much to speak, so Coriolanus offered to stifle her with a hug, biting back whatever snide comment he'd make about her if the circumstances were different. She thought she'd lost another son today, to the same rebellion that took the last.