I handed Johanna some bread making her scowl: "You know that you shouldn't steal the food here in 13, right? If they catch you ..."
"They won't", I interrupted her. "In comparison to stealing food in district 11, it's nothing in 13. And even if they should catch me, they won't harm me because I'm a victor. Plus, I didn't steal it but just sneaked it out. It's my ration", I resonated.
She pushed the bread back into my hands. "Then I don't want it."
"Why? You just take what you need, remember?"
"Not from you", she mumbled so quietly that I almost did not hear it.
"My body is used to way less food and you need to recover. So please?"
Pleading usually helped. Johanna could not decline. "Jeez! Why are you always getting what you want?", she complained.
I smiled teasingly at her: "Cause you love me."
"Screw me."
"Look who's talking. I knew you were head over heals for her", Finnick proclaimed while smirking at Johanna teasingly.
"Watch yourself, Odair! One step further and it'll hurt, no matter my state", Johanna threatened him.
Annie was standing slightly behind him holding his hand. Actually it was the first time we met after talking over the phone for months.
"Hey, Annie", I greeted her with a smile. "Don't worry. Johanna is all bark, no bite", I reassured her.
"Hey! What did I deserve that for?", Johanna complained.
"Do you prefer being called cute?", I asked her, a grin started to spread over my face.
"What's up with you?", she yelled at me.
I kissed her hand and flashed her a smile: "I'm just happy to have you back and to be with you for real."
She quickly turned her head to the side. Was she blushing?
"Is handsome better?", I questioned.
"Yeah, of course. I'm super handsome with my non-existing hair and the bruises", she stated sarcastically.
"To me you will always be the most beautiful person in whole Panem. No offense, Finnick. You neither, Annie. You two are probably the prettiest couple in Panem."
Said couple was watching Johanna and me interacting.
"Don't boost Finnick's ego even more", Johanna interjected.
"Hey! I deserve love too", Finnick shot back.
"Maybe from your girlfriend. Not from mine", Johanna clarified and inched closer to me.
"Is someone getting jealous?", Finnick mocked her.
Johanna had started growling now.
"Maybe you should stop now, Finnick. Don't underestimate her. She already threw a pillow at a paramedic", I warned him, which made him laugh.
"Why?", he asked.
"He had a shitty timing", Johanna explained.
The same paramedic just entered the room and I burst out laughing. He had guts for showing up again. I had to give him credit for that.
"You are still not finished eating?", he addressed Johanna looking at the bread in her hand.
"None of your business", Johanna rolled her eyes at him.
Poor guy. He simply took her plate with him and left without another word. Now Finnick started laughing making Annie smile. "Speaking of the devil, I guess?"
I nodded. Suddenly the device on my wrist vibrated. "Heavensbee wants to see me. Can you stay here a little longer?", I asked Finnick.
"I don't need a fucking babysitter!", Johanna exclaimed.
"But if you're all alone here, it will make me feel anxious", I declared.
She let out an annoyed sigh: "Fine, but hurry up. I don't wanna be stuck with the playboy forever."
Johanna just could not admit that she liked Finnick. The latter nodded at me. So I set off.
To my surprise Heavensbee had called me to talk about Peeta. Apparently he had been hijacked, how they called it, and tried to kill Katniss. Now I was even more grateful that Johanna seemed to be herself, though I knew that she was suffering as well.
"Maybe you should visit Katniss. She should be in her room right now", Heavensbee suggested.
"Thanks for telling me."
Katniss and I had become really close during our time in 13. After all we had been stuck in a similar situation.
"(f/n), there is another thing", he stopped me from standing up. "You know who the real enemy is, right? That it isn't just one person. Don't close your eyes from the truth."
What was that supposed to mean? Anyway I made my way toward Katniss' room. Although it was not her opening the door, but her little sister Prim. For a moment I saw an image of Rue.
"Hey, you alright?", Prim softly ripped me out of my thoughts. Katniss was approaching us.
"Yeah, thanks", I mumbled with a smile. I walked past her to hug Katniss comfortingly. "Heavensbee told me."
"Yeah. Johanna looked pretty bad herself. How's she doing?"
"Eating it all up like a victor", I declared.
Katniss understood what I wanted to express. We talked for a while before I made my way back to Johanna.
"Finally you are back", Johanna exclaimed relieved, before glaring at Finnick.
A smile appeared on my face: "What did you do, Finnick?"
"Nothing. Just talked with her about wedding plans with Annie."
"Congratulations!", I rejoiced and pulled them into a hug. "I wanna hear all details", I declared.
"Hell no!", Johanna interjected. "Don't make me regret being happy about you being back", she warned me.
"Alright. Guess we should call it a day", Finnick suggested and left with Annie.
"If you leave me with him again, you may not have to worry about me, but I can't promise anything considering his state", Johanna grumbled and turned away from me.
"Peeta attacked Katniss", I told her.
"Oh, yeah. Maybe I should have warned them", Johanna mumbled.
"Do you know what they did to him? You don't have to answer of course."
"Don't treat me so carefully", she complained.
"Well. Snow did a pretty good job at breaking all of us", I mumbled back, which made her look at me again.
"You're not going to cry now, are you?", she worried. Johanna was usually completely overwhelmed by such situations.
"No", I chuckled. "I don't think that you are weak or fragile. I just want you to feel comfortable and not make you even more miserable", I explained.
"I just heard Peeta's screams and him calling Katniss a mutt. That's all."
The next days were filled with a lot of training for me. Zianne was calling me the best sniper in Panem now. But there was still the problem of defending myself in close combat. Dodging was the only thing I was at least a bit skilled at.
"We will arm you with two more guns and a lot of ammunition. But for worst case scenarios you should carry around some daggers as well. Maybe you should train using them", Zianne advised me. So that was my task for the next days.
"Did you hear that Katniss was shot?", I heard one of the other soldiers whisper.
"What do you mean?", I questioned.
The other soldiers had really started to respect me because of my skills and determination. You could sometimes even call them intimidated, which was something I was not used to at all.
"Didn't you see it? It was a live broadcast." I shook my head.
"Zianne! I have to go!", I yelled and ran toward the infirmary. When I opened the door, I almost collided with my girlfriend. Katniss was laying in the bed behind her.
"Did you two try to kill each other again?", I greeted them with a joke?
Johanna chuckled.
"No, she was just telling me why she hates me", Katniss declared casually.
I looked at Johanna accusingly, but she just shrugged her shoulders: "What? You wanted me to be honest, didn't you?"
I sighed. "How are you?", I addressed Katniss instead.
"Have been worse", she smiled reassuringly.
Johanna started laughing: "You don't have to worry about our mockingjay. Just a few bruises."
I closed my eyes. What was I supposed to do with them? If they were supposed to stay in the same hospital room, Coin wanted to kill Katniss after all, or to destroy the last bit of patience inside of me. Luckily Gale appeared and freed me from my misery as Johanna decided to give him and Katniss some privacy.
I followed my girlfriend. "Where are you going?", I asked her.
"I've to go to another session with my psychologist. He's an annoying idiot, but if I skip they'll never leave me alone", she growled.
I decided to return to training, where I trained fighting with my knives.
"Do you need a sparring partner?", a familiar voice asked me.
"Finnick! What are you doing here? Aren't you planning your wedding?"
He smiled brightly at me. "Yeah, but I need to train a bit too."
"What about Annie?"
He pointed over to her. She waved at us with a smile on her face. I replied the same way. "Alright then. What do you wanna do?", I wondered.
"Let's fight bare-handed", he suggested.
That worked pretty well. I had improved a lot over the last weeks, while he had mostly been sitting around. So I actually stood a chance against him.
"I've to give you credit for your improvement", Finnick complimented me panting, while Annie approached us.
"I would have never thought that you could stand your ground against Finnick", she stated.
I shrugged my shoulders with a small grin: "I've always been up for a surprise."
The next weeks were overshadowed by Annie's and Finnick's wedding. Everyone was super excited as the people in district 13 were not used to celebrating at all. The mood between Coin and Plutarch was not the best though as they had the exact opposite image of a great wedding. The former gamemaker wanted to create a great propo with an entertaining festivity, while Coin just wanted to get over with it.
In the end nothing was able to ruin the mood of the couple on their wedding day anyway. The whole time such a wedding had appeared impossible. I could see the pure joy on the faces of my two friends and it was making me incredibly happy. It was the first time since Rue's death that I felt nothing but happiness for a moment. My hand was resting in Johanna's as I watched the now married couple. When the music started and the people hurried to dance, Johanna pulled me over to Katniss and touched her elbow.
"Do you wanna miss the opportunity of Snow seeing you dance?", Johanna questioned with a grin and Katniss actually acted on Johanna's words and approached Prim. The people of district 12 started teaching the people of 13 the steps of a special dance.
"Come on, Jo. Let's try it too", I requested.
"No way!"
"Snow seeing you dance with me after your rescue? Do you wanna miss that opportunity?", I used her weapon against her. She sighed and reluctantly led me to the dance floor.
It was a night full of fun. Something we had all desperately needed with everything going on. Others might have thought that it was not the right timing. But exactly because of that reason it was the best timing. After all love consisted even during the worst times. And I definitely preferred to entertain myself and the people precious to me than to entertain the Capitol by suffering for them. Snow had had his fun long enough. It was our turn now.
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Hey, you probably already noticed the inconsistent updates. Thanks for sticking with me anyway. I'm definitely going to upload the whole story in the long run. So waiting is worth it if you wanna know how it continues and ends.
Hope you like the chapter :)