Disclaimer: The Hunger Games Trilogy is property of Suzanne Collins. This is a parody fanwork by fans for fans. No money was made off of the creation of this fanwork.

Backfire
by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre

oOo

Theme: 48: Shocked
Words: 369
Summary: Not all soulmates get a happily ever after. Especially not those from the Capitol.

oOo

"Do you want me to get a teacher?"

Shocked, Cressida looked up from where she'd fallen, gravel embedded in her hands, a thin trickle of blood oozing down her knee. It was painful, distracting. But not as distracting as the light, almost tickling sensation creeping slowly up her neck and into her hair.

She shook her head, both in answer to the boy's question and to shake off the sensation.

The redheaded boy crouched down in front of her. "So what can I do to help?"

"Stay with me?"

The boy's eyes widened and he pulled up the edge of his blue long-sleeved shirt to reveal the words, those same words, indelibly etching themselves onto his skin.

Her words.

Dangerous words.

Soulmate words.

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The Capitol didn't allow soulmates. They considered soulmates a superstition, a throwback to a time long-forgotten. Something no one modern needed or wanted.

But that didn't stop them from being any less real.

Out in the districts, soulmates could hide, refuse to report their words. Especially if fate was kind and placed them in easily-covered areas. The soles of feet. In the hair. On the inner thigh. But in the Capitol, surrounded by cameras and an indoctrinated citizenry, keeping it secret was next to impossible.

That didn't mean Darius and Cressida didn't try.

oOo

For ten years, they managed. Ten years of friendship, camaraderie, and five stolen kisses. Ten years of long sleeves and even longer hair.

Ten years of happiness, before it all was shattered.

Surprisingly, it was Cressida's mark that gave them away.

A friend's slumber party and the inevitable hair-braiding, and their secret was out.

Cressida first tried lying, then crying. To no avail.

It didn't take them long to find Darius's mark.

It took even less time for the punishments to begin.

Cressida was taken from her home, sent to a camp. Re-educated. Indoctrinated.

Tortured.

Darius was sent away, too. To a camp or to his death? She didn't know.

It wasn't until after the war, the Rebellion, that Cressida learned his fate.

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Now, when she visits classrooms, schools, to talk about her part in shaping the war, she leads with four simple words.

"I had a soulmate."

oOo

AN:
Written:
2/28/18
Revised: 3/6/18

ALL the randomization.

We randomized the pairing and the rest grew out of that. We used the variation that the soulmate's first words appear when they're said, rather than being born with them like in most iterations.

This fic now means that FanficAllergy now has a story featuring every letter of the alphabet. RoseFyre is now only missing 3 letters. Which is amusing since they're FanficAllergy's initials.

You can get more information about our original writing here:

Website: RoseLarkPublishing

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Thanks for reading!