For the next few days, Heron and I take shelter near the water, a long way away from the remains of our house. We buried the rest of the family, and made a sort of memorial for them. Then we came down to a cave we had discovered when we were younger. We've been living in this for a while. Maybe about a week. It's not so bad here, I guess.
"So, I heard you talking to mother about wanting to buy Finnick back," says Heron one day.
"So?" I ask. "It's true. But we don't really have money right now." I turn my head to watch the waves lap at the shore.
Heron grins at me. "Sure, we do," he says casually.
I scoff. "Nope," I disagree. "It all got burned when we were bombed, remember?"
He extends his hand to me. "Come on, little sister," he says.
I take his hand and Heron leads me through the streets of District 4, all the way to the house that belongs to Mags Shearwater. Heron knocks on the door and she opens it. She gives him a light nod, then sees me. Her eyes widen and her lips open in a silent scream. I smile politely at her, and she looks as if she's about to faint.
"Hi, Mags," I say cheerily, almost teasing her.
"You're dead!" Mags says. "You're dead! How are you here?" She puts her hand to her head and calms down. "Is this a dream?" She looks around.
"No, Mags," I tell her. I understand now what Heron is planning. "I'm really here. Can we come in?"
"Um...sure," says Mags, letting us in. We sit on the couch she has in the middle of the sitting room. "So...you're really here?"
"Yes," I say. "I'm here. I never died." I lower my voice, for fear that we're being surveyed right now. "President Snow made a fake video of my death so that he could..." I trail off.
"Could what, dear?" she says. I go on. I tell her all about Finnick and I being captured by Snow, and me witnessing him being sold, and everything else that has happened, all the way up to my family being killed. Mags only nods through the whole thing. "The Capitol has Finnick? Right now?"
"Unfortunately," I say. "I want to buy him back."
"You want to what?" asks Mags.
"I want to buy Finnick back," I say again straightforwardly. "Since I can't seem to get past President Snow any other way, I want to do it his way and buy Finnick back to me."
"Oh, Aury..." Mags begins.
"Mags, I love him," I tell her. "I love him enough to be willing to cooperate with Snow and pay money for him." I put my head in my hands. "I just...I just want him back."
"I know," she says. "I know. You'll do anything for him. You would, as much as you don't want to, buy him. But what would you do then? You can't keep him forever there."
She's right. Even if I do buy him back, it'll only be for a short amount of time. But I don't care. I shrug. "I'll make something up when I get there."
"I'll give you the money, don't worry," Mags tells me.
I glance at Heron. He grins at me, because he was right about coming to Mags's house. "Are you sure?" I ask innocently. "It might be kind of expensive."
"You let me worry about that," says Mags. "I have more money than I know what to do with. And, let's face it. I'd like to have Finnick back as well. A forced prostitute. That's no way to live." Mags leaves the room, and returns holding a small piece of paper. She hands it to me. "Here you go. There's all the money you'll need."
"Mags," I breathe, taking the paper. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."
She laughs a little. "Just be sure to name your children after me," she says.
I feel my jaw drop. I laugh awkwardly along with Mags, and Heron starts pushing me out the door, saying his thanks to her. When we're outside, he looks at me.
"Children?" he says.
"I guess so," I shrug. "And apparently, they're all going to be named Mags." I laugh and start walking back to our cave. "You know, she probably still thought she was dreaming, even though I told her she wasn't."
Heron laughs. "So, how are you planning on getting to the Capitol?" he asks.
I sigh. "I'll get there," I reply. "Somehow." And when I say "somehow", I mean, President Snow probably is expecting me and will send a hovercraft.