2/14/20

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The Manipulation Games 3: Rebellion

Chapter Fifteen: A Green Dress

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The day of the wedding arrives quickly. I spend most of the hour leading up to the ceremony watching Finnick pace back and forth, occasionally stepping in to fix his tie and attempt to calm his nerves. He's nervous. Extremely nervous. Honestly, I don't blame him. After all he's been through to make it to this day, who wouldn't worry about something going wrong? Plutarch eventually comes in to fill Finnick in on the final details of his oh-so-precious propo, and I take his appearance as my cue to step out for the moment.

My stomach churns at the thought of Plutarch using Finnick's wedding like this. Oh, it's clever all right. Insanely clever. Taking a wedding that Snow never wanted to happen and shoving it back in his face for the good of the rebellion is a move so good that I wish I would have thought of it myself. But Finnick's wedding? After everything he had to do to get here? It doesn't seem right. Especially not for Plutarch to do this of all people, not after everything he's taken from us. I'm no romantic sap by any means, but today should be more sacred than this.

I sigh, leaning against the door frame of Annie's dressing room. I knock quietly, careful not to startle her. The last thing we need is for me to trigger a panic attack.

"Come in!"

I manage to smile as I slowly open the door.

"You really shouldn't just say that without knowing who it was. I mean, what if it was-"

My voice catches in my throat when I see Annie's dress.

I knew Katniss took her back to Twelve to find a dress, but this was the first time I saw it for myself. Admittedly, I had my reservations about this plan, since Katniss is slightly taller than Annie, but the dress had clearly been altered with this in mind. The last thing we need would be the bride tripping down aisle over her long silk dress. But despite my fears, Annie looks absolutely beautiful. None of these things, however, are at the center of my thoughts now.

The color is.

"If I ask you nicely, will you wear a pink dress at my wedding?" Annie asks.

Cashmere shrugs bitterly, which roughly translates to 'President Snow will never let you and Finnick get married, so I don't see why you're getting your hopes up'.

"Okay then, what would you suggest?"

"Why not… green? That's a nice color," Cashmere teases.

"Okay, fine. You can wear green," Annie sighs in exasperation.

"We can get you a green wedding dress. We'll be matchers then."

"Oh, Annie," I whisper, gently rubbing my thumb across the emerald green silk of her sleeve.

Cashmere's death isn't something we talk about. What is there to say? That I murdered her best friend in cold blood? That I couldn't save such a bright, caring soul from becoming a pawn in Snow and Plutarch's twisted war against each other? That one little mistake cost us one of the few people left in our lives?

Annie bites her lip. "Johanna, it wasn't your fault. Really. She and Gloss… they knew what they were doing. What the consequences could've been."

I nod my head, because I don't trust my voice.

"She forgave you, in the end. No amount of guilt can bring either of them back, and pretending they were completely innocent won't do that either. All we can do now is honor their memories."

I swallow the lump in my throat. "I wish they were here."

Annie smiles sadly. "I do too. There's so many people who should've been here today. That's why we have to do this. I know you're against the propo, but… today isn't just about me and Finnick. It's about winning this war, too."

I sigh, brushing a chocolate brown curl out of her eyes. "You've come a long way, you know it? Gosh, it feels like it was yesterday that I met that bratty little tribute."

Annie chuckles. "I was pretty full of it, wasn't I?"

"You were still such a sweetheart though," I say, managing to smile. "That hasn't changed a bit."

A sharp knock on the door interrupts our conversation.

"Annie? Ten minutes 'til the ceremony," Dalton calls from the other side of the door.

Annie smiles widely, beaming with excitement. "Okay!"

I smile softly at her enthusiasm. "You ready, Scatterbrain?"

"Mmmhmm," Annie hums. "More than I can possibly say."

…

The ceremony is almost perfect. To some, it may have seemed less than what two such amazing people deserved, but under such circumstances it was more than they ever could've hoped for. I'm happy for them, and I make sure they know this despite how vulnerable positive emotions have made me feel lately. It's what Finnick deserves.

Obviously, there are holes in the ceremony. Mags. Cashmere. Gloss. Annie's sisters and the grandfather who raised her. Finnick's aunt and cousins. Friends and family who died because of the Games, or who are stuck in their districts because of the rebellion. Snow's meddling killed both of Annie's parents, as well as Finnick's father. His pathetic excuse for a mother disowned him to save her own skin, so her absence is the only welcome one. The other absences are felt strongly, and are the only thing that prevents today from being perfect. But like Annie said, we honor their memories and move on, because today is a day of celebration, not mourning.

Dalton, Annie's half-brother from Ten, is the one who walks her down the aisle and conducts the ceremony. There's a mix of tradition from Four and Ten, to honor Annie's heritage (or make things simpler for Dalton, if you want the "official" excuse). It's likely similar to the way her parents were married- two victors who Snow tried to tear apart, escaping from his grasp and declaring their love for each other. Only unlike Marissa and Angus's private, secret wedding known only to a privileged few, Finnick and Annie are putting their wedding on display for the whole world to see. Knowing the full story honestly turns this into a bigger middle finger to Snow's face than it initially was. I can't help but wonder what Blight would've thought about this, as a guest at Marissa and Angus's wedding all those years ago.

When the ceremony is finished and the guests have begun to dance to the tune of a lone fiddler from Twelve, I somehow find myself in the middle of it. I even convince Everdeen to join in. After all, why waste the chance to let Snow see the Mockingjay dance?

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Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games

Hello again! Sorry it took a while to update, but because it took so long I got to do something really cool with this chapter! You see, back when I first started writing this story, I had an schedule for when to update all planned out. The plan was to post the Odesta wedding on Valentines Day of 2018. However, as you all have probably figured out, life got in the way of that plan. But now I got to post it on Valentines Day of 2020! Which tbh I think is pretty cool. Here's to hoping I can finish this story by Valentines Day of 2021 ;)

This was a pretty refreshing chapter to write. I figured Johanna could use some happiness for once in her life, and she did seem pretty happy at the wedding from the snippet of her we saw in the book, so I decided to go with that. Poor girl deserved a break.

In other news, who's excited for the Hunger Games prequel coming out in May? I heard we're getting Snow's backstory, which should be really interesting as long as Suzanne Collins doesn't decide to woobie-fy him (not that I personally think she will, since I trust her skills as an author, but I have seen some concern about it from others).

Quote of the day!

"Come on, it'll be fun! Assuming we don't get stuck here, and no one ever finds us, and you starve and I give up." -Olaf, Frozen 2

May the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess