"I'm home," Lucy Gray uttered, a faint smile tinged with sadness on her lips.
However, Maude Ivory's reaction wasn't one of acknowledgment; instead, her expression resembled that of someone who had just glimpsed a ghost.
As Lucy Gray took in Maude Ivory's appearance, she noticed the transformation from the short, little girl with a wispy frame she remembered. Maude Ivory had grown up, her once-childish features now bearing a quiet maturity. Her blonde hair framed a face that held traces of the young cousin Lucy Gray hadn't seen in years, but with a grown-up grace that spoke of life's experiences.
Maude Ivory's voice trembled, a subtle catch in her breath, as if she were holding back a sob. She embraced Lucy Gray, the hug conveying the unspoken emotions that words couldn't capture. Lucy Gray's eyes welled up with tears, and as she buried her head in Maude Ivory's shoulder.
She whispered "I'm sorry for leavin',", the weight of her apology carried in the warmth of their embrace.
She gently pulled away, looking around. "But we best get inside before anyone sees us, Maude Ivory. Can't let the whole world know just yet."
Maude Ivory opened the door to let them inside, her eyes falling on the young girl who strolled past her and suddenly removed her scarf.
"Who's she, Lucy Gray?" Maude Ivory questioned.
Lucy Gray reached for Lumi's head, gently caressing the top. "She's my daughter," she shared with a softness in her voice, pride and affection evident in her eyes.
Maude Ivory's face revealed her surprise at the unexpected sight, but as her eyes lingered on the girl, a spark of recognition flickered. "It's his, isn't it?" she asked, pointing to the distinctive hair that she could identify anywhere.
Lumi's innocent eyes widened, and her brows furrowed in mild confusion as she looked back and forth between Maude Ivory and Lucy Gray, "I don't know who you're talkin' about. Who's 'he'?" The mention of a mysterious 'he' left her unaware of the gravity of the conversation surrounding her father..
Maude Ivory looked straight at Lucy Gray with a serious tone and began, "What happened? Why did you leave, and wh—" Suddenly, Lumi started having a coughing fit, collapsing to the ground. The urgency shifted the focus from the unanswered questions to the immediate concern for Lumi's well-being.
"What's wrong with her?!" Maude Ivory stressed "That's why we came," Lucy Gray replied, her tone tinged with concern.
"She's been sick for a few years now, and it's just getting worse. Nothin' seems to help."
The simplicity of Lucy's words conveyed the helplessness and frustration of trying to find a solution for Lumi's deteriorating health.
Maude Ivory's face softened, a mix of empathy and concern. "We need to get her help, Lucy Gray," she urged, her eyes reflecting the shared worry for Lumi.
"I know, but... nobody can know that we're here. If anyone even catches a glimpse of her hair..." Lucy Gray's voice trailed off, carrying the weight of the secrecy they needed to maintain.
"but..if shes really his daughter then-"
"No! anything but that" Lucy Gray interrupted with a determined urgency. The fear in her eyes spoke volumes about the potential danger lurking in revealing Lumi's true parentage.
Lucy Gray gently picked up Lumi and laid her on the nearest bed. She lowered herself to the floor, sitting beside the bed and tenderly caressing Lumi's head.
Meanwhile, Maude Ivory, with a wet cloth in hand, approached to place it on Lumi's forehead.
"Hey... Can we talk tomorrow? I want to know how you've been all these years."
"Sure, I'd like that," Lucy Gray replied with a smile, a hint of warmth in her eyes as she anticipated reconnecting with Maude Ivory after so many years.
Maude Ivory left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving the mother and daughter alone. The soft click of the door settling into place marked the beginning of a quiet, intimate moment between Lucy Gray and Lumi, as they navigated the challenges that lay ahead together.
While caressing Lumi's head, Lucy Gray sang her lullaby:
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
Here it's safe, here it's-
Lumi interrupted with a hoarse voice, "What was my pa like?" The question hung in the air, introducing a moment of heaviness into the soothing melody of the lullaby.
Lucy Gray's hands paused on Lumi's head, and she let out a weary sigh before responding in a solemn tone.
"He was a complicated man, Lumi. Trouble followed him like shadows. There were times when he brought laughter, but just as often, he brought storms that never cleared. I wish I could say more, but it's a part of my life I'd rather not dwell on." The room fell into a heavy silence, the lullaby now tinged with the weight of untold stories.
Lumi's voice, nearly breaking and laced with sorrow, uttered, "Why didn't he come back for us?" she tried to blink away her tears.
The question trembled in the air, carrying the weight of unspoken emotions. The room seemed to shrink with the unspoken ache that lingered between them.
Lucy Gray, her own voice thick with sorrow, met Lumi's teary gaze.
"Sometimes, darlin', people carry shadows they can't escape. It's a burden that drags 'em down, and they can't find their way back. He had his own storms, and maybe he thought stayin' away was the only way to keep everyone safe. But it's a choice I can't explain, Lumi, and it's a pain we both have to carry."
Lumi, her voice a mix of vulnerability and confusion, asked Lucy, "Does he even know about me?" The question hung in the air, laden with the uncertainty of a daughter yearning for acknowledgment from a father she barely knew.
Lucy Gray, with a sigh, answered Lumi's question plainly, "No, sweetheart, he doesn't know you exist. It's just you and me, and that's what matters now." The room held a simple truth, the weight of unshared stories between them.
"Now go to sleep, darling. You need all the energy you can get," Lucy Gray said, her voice gentle as she continued to soothe Lumi.
Lucy Gray laid next to her daughter, holding her close, a protective embrace that spoke of a mother's love and an underlying fear. She clung to Lumi, hoping she would never have to let go, scared that when she wakes up, she might find her daughter cold and lifeless. The room whispered with the vulnerability of a parent's deepest fears, as Lucy Gray cradled Lumi in the quiet darkness, willing the night to be kind.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Maude Ivory knocked on the door, announcing, "Lucy Gray, breakfast is ready."
Lucy Gray immediately snapped awake, her first instinct to check on her daughter, making sure she was still breathing. A wave of relief washed over her as she confirmed Lumi was okay. Lucy Gray then gathered herself, released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and stood up. With a lingering glance at Lumi, she walked to the kitchen and took a seat at the table, ready to face the day ahead.
"C-can we talk now?" Maude Ivory asked.
"Go for it," Lucy Gray replied, stuffing her mouth with bread.
Maude Ivory took a seat, her eyes reflecting a blend of curiosity and concern. "Lucy Gray, I've been wonderin' all these years... why did you leave? What happened?"
"The mayor wanted to kill me. He thought that I was the one who killed his daughter, so I left... with him," Lucy Gray explained.
Maude Ivory, her eyes wide with astonishment, asked, "Do you know who actually did it?"
"He did it," Lucy Gray responded.
The revelation that the man they once knew as Coriolanus was the perpetrator added another layer of complexity to an already intricate story.
"But... I-I had sent him a letter after you disappeared. I thought you had died..." Maude Ivory confessed, her voice carrying a mix of sorrow and regret.
Lucy Gray, caught off guard, asked, "What did he say?"
"He never responded," Maude Ivory replied with a heavy sigh.
"How was your life... out there?"
"It was... peaceful. I mean, of course, it was hard, especially with a baby, but there was a simplicity to it. Away from the Capitol's gaze, away from the games they play with people's lives. We lived on the fringes, surviving day by day. It wasn't the life I imagined, but it was ours," Lucy Gray continued, her eyes holding a mix of nostalgia and resilience as she revisited the echoes of a life left behind.
"Do-Do you know how he is?" Lucy Gray asked.
Maude Ivory slid her hand onto Lucy Gray's, holding it in a comforting gesture.
"Lucy Gray, the man you knew then isn't the man he is now... he's—he's a monster," Maude Ivory confessed, her voice heavy with the weight of a truth that had taken root in the years they were apart.
"Wha-what do you mean?"
"He's the president of Panem now... and he's continued the games, and he... forces us to watch,". The revelation hung in the air, casting a shadow over the already complex reunion between cousins. The world she once knew had transformed, and the man Lucy Gray once knew had become an architect of the very games that had torn them apart.
"i-if you don't, you get publicly executed at The Hanging Tree," Maude Ivory added
Lucy Gray, her eyes wide with disbelief, couldn't fathom the extent of the transformation that had occurred. The once familiar face of Coriolanus Snow, now the president, was tainted by the horrors Maude Ivory described. The weight of the revelation hung heavily on Lucy Gray, a mixture of shock, sorrow, and a renewed sense of the dark forces that had shaped their lives.
After a while of Lucy Gray and Maude Ivory catching up, Maude Ivory stood up. "I'm going to talk to some doctors to see if there's anything they can do. I'll be back in a few."
Lucy Gray nodded, appreciation in her eyes. "Thank you, Maude Ivory. Whatever you can find out, I appreciate it." As Maude Ivory left, Lucy Gray sat in quiet contemplation, hoping for answers that might bring a glimmer of hope to Lumi's uncertain future.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
It had been two hours since Maude Ivory had left, and Lumi had already woken up, her fever having gone down. The fragile calm of the moment shattered as the sound of the door being broken down echoed through the room, sending a chill down Lucy Gray's spine. Instinctively, she moved closer to Lumi, a protective stance in the face of the unexpected intrusion.
The sudden intrusion revealed a group of Peacekeepers, their faces masked, and their uniforms now stark white instead of the familiar gray. Lucy Gray felt a wave of fear grip her as they were arrested on charges of treason.
As Lucy Gray clung to Lumi, one of the masked Peacekeepers barked orders, "Move! You're charged with treason against the Capitol."
Lucy Gray's voice trembled, "We haven't done anything wrong!"
The Peacekeeper, cold and unyielding, ignored her plea, pushing them forward. "Save it. Your fate's sealed."
Lumi, her eyes wide with fear, screamed to Lucy Gray, "Ma!"
"No! Let go of her!" Lucy Gray tried to fight back, but she then felt a sharp pain in the back of her head when a Peacekeeper jabbed her with his rifle. She went sprawling to the floor, consciousness slipping away. The last thing she remembers is hearing her daughter's pleas, a desperate melody echoing in the midst of the chaos.
As they were escorted outside, Lucy Gray was dragged unconscious by a Peacekeeper, her body limp in their grasp.
The Hanging Tree loomed ahead, a silent witness to the tragic fate that awaited them.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Lucy Gray suddenly woke up, disoriented, as she felt water being splashed on her face. Instead of finding herself back in the comforting familiarity of her life in the cabin, she discovered she was sitting next to The Hanging Tree.
The reality of the situation crashed over her like a wave. Confusion and fear gripped her as she took in the stark surroundings
Frantically, Lucy Gray called out her daughter's name, "LUMI! LUMI!"
The desperation in her cries resonated with the profound fear of the unknown.
"Ma!"
When Lucy Gray turned her head, her heart sank as she saw her daughter being led to the hanging, the ominous act of tying the rope around her neck unfolding before her eyes. A surge of terror gripped Lucy Gray as she struggled against whatever forces held her, her voice catching in her throat as she helplessly witnessed the impending tragedy.
"NO! LUMI!" Lucy Gray screamed, her voice hoarse with desperation. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to move, to reach out, but a Peacekeeper was also walking her to be hanged next to her daughter.
The stage now carried the weight of a mother's love and the unbearable fear of losing her child to a cruel and unjust fate.
The Hanging Tree loomed over them, as silent witnesses gazing up at the tragedy unfolding beneath its haunting branches.
Nature itself seemed to mourn as Lucy Gray and Lumi faced the unforgiving fate dictated by a merciless power.
The oppressive reality of their circumstance bore down on Lucy Gray as she faced the agonizing prospect of sharing the same fate as her beloved Lumi.
She couldn't believe this was happening, after all those years of surviving when she was so close to her happy ending, for it to end like this.
Lucy Gray held up her hand, silently asking Lumi to hold hers. Lumi looked down at her mother's hand and squeezed it.
"It's gonna be okay... I'm here," Lucy Gray whispered, her voice carrying a mix of reassurance and heartache.
A Peacekeeper held the lever that, when pulled, would seal their death. He asked Lucy Gray, "Any last words?"
"I-I..."
"STOP!" a voice cried out, disrupting the solemnity of the moment.