"Urgh I'm so sick of her," Kenna complained as she and Taiya lay on the couch. "Boo," Kenna taunted as she threw blueberries at the screen.

"You going to pick those up?" Taiya asked and Kenna just shrugged.

"Have you met her yet?" Kenna asked.

"Nope. I didn't go to the Crowning Ceremony Party. I'll meet her on her victory tour though."

"The boy looks sweet."

"The boy's a pawn," Taiya dismissed.

Kenna laughed. "You're such a sceptic. I would've loved that couple if I didn't have your sour voice in my ear all the time. 'Urgh, they're so annoying, urgh why does she never smile'," Kenna mocked. "I get you're mad that there were two winners, but you can't begrudge them for it."

"I can, and I will," Taiya smirked as she popped a blueberry in her mouth.

"You've got a sparking personality Tay, truly," Kenna teased.

Taiya glared at her friend before giving her a light shove off the couch and onto the floor as the girls giggled.


"You're going to be nice to them today," Tyler lectured as Taiya paced her living room. The victory tour was arriving at District 4 shortly, and Taiya's contempt for the two victors was still obvious.

"Why?" she scoffed. "It's pretty obvious how 'successful' their tour has been. You all know what it meant when the video from District 11 was cut off. They ignited the crowd, and someone got killed. Everything was fine going fine for us until they came along."

"No. It wasn't," Buck said harshly. "Do think it was fine? Seriously Taiya. How many people do you know that were killed? It was not fine."

Taiya let out a shaky breath as she turned away. Obviously, he was right, but her fear was outweighing the rational part of her brain for the moment. Terror had been flooding her veins ever since she left the Capitol those months ago.

"Give us a minute," Finnick quietly asked the other victors, who nodded and left the house. They were heading for the Justice Building where the victory speech would take place. Finnick came to stand in front of her. "You know when you pace the room like that it's kind of hot," he smirked, succeeding in making her laugh.

"Don't," she whines.

"No I get a real good view of all the angles," he teased as she tapped his stomach in warning. "Look, in all honesty, particularly when the camera is on, you need to act perfectly. The Capitol is already angry that the fishermen aren't sending seafood. We need to be on our best behaviour."

"I know how to act," Taiya assured.

"I know you do," he agreed. "Don't be rude, but you don't need to be friends with them. Just polite ok?"

"Ok," she nodded.

"Brilliant," he kissed her forehead.

Neither of them made to leave the room though, they were stuck staring at each other. "What?" she asked with a smile.

"Have breakfast with me tomorrow."

"We have breakfast together every day," Taiya frowned.

"On the beach. Our old spot."

"We haven't been there in years," Taiya smiled. "I miss it."

"Me too. We'll have a picnic."

"I'm in," she nodded.

"Excellent," he smiled widely before kissing her. "I can't wait."


"We are all of us united. Both victors and vanquished, and serving a common purpose," Katniss ended her speech.

There was applause, strictly for appearances. But not one person in the crowd was smiling. They may be a career district, but their opinion on the Games was clear. All of the crowd seemed transfixed by the girl on fire. Young girls wanted to be her, older adults wanted to join her in defiance. It was a dangerous time.

A young girl who'd just entered the academy was tasked with presenting Katniss with flowers. Her name was Coral, she was only 8. She'd had her hair done in a braid until Peacekeepers instructed her to change it. She was naive to the larger issues at play.

"I'm nervous," Coral whispered.

"You'll be fine," Taiya replied quietly. Taiya was her stage escort every year and was tasked with minding the girl to ensure everything went exactly according to plan. "Ok, let's move," she tapped Coral, urging her to walk forward.

Coral took a deep breath before moving and handing Katniss her flowers.

"Thank you!" Katniss sweetly thanked the girl.

"One day, I'm going to volunteer. Just like you did," Coral smiled widely.

The change in attitude was evident in both Katniss and Taiya. Their smiles fell and horror took over their faces.

Taiya grabbed Coral's shoulder and tugged her back before marching the girl to the other end of the stage, out of the camera's view.

"Why did you say that?" Taiya demanded as she bent down to Coral's eye line.

"I want to be like her," Coral reasoned, confused as to why she was in trouble. "To do that I need to volunteer."

Taiya looked across at Katniss. She was still watching them. Taiya may not like the girl, but she would never have wanted to inspire children to volunteer.

"We don't volunteer in 4, Coral," Taiya reminded.

"We've had volunteers," Coral pointed out.

"They were different."

"How?"

"Trust me," Taiya replied shortly. "Promise me you won't volunteer ok?" Coral looked between Katniss and Taiya. She didn't know what to say. "Promise!"

"Ok, ok, I promise," Coral agreed before pulling away.

Taiya stood up and looked over at Katniss. It was one thing to inspire rebellion, it was another to inspire children to leap to their deaths.


"Ow," Taiya groaned. Tyler had kicked her under the table.

'Polite,' he mouthed at her and she rolled her eyes. She'd been sitting silently at the table, she thought that was best for everyone.

"So successful victory tour so far wouldn't you say?" Taiya asked and Tyler immediately dropped his head into his hands. "Tell me, how was District 11?"

"Very welcoming," Peeta diplomatically answered.

"Hmm, I'm sure. Katniss? How did you find District 11? I'm afraid the national broadcast got cut off right after your speech. We didn't get to hear the cheers of the crowd."

"It was fine," she answered curtly.

"Taiya," Haymitch warned gently.

"No, no," Taiya shook her head. "I'm interested in getting to know your victors. Isn't that what you wanted Haymitch?"

"In a way," he muttered as he took a drink.

"Are you proud?" Taiya asked Katniss who frowned. "You brought pride to your district. They went from one living victor to three. Biggest increase ever. No other district has ever been able to bring home two victors. And the Capitol, well the Capitol just adore you. It makes it painful to watch TV. What will Katniss be wearing in District 10? How about at the Capitol party? When will they get married?"

"We're not engaged," Peeta smiled at her.

"Yet," Taiya winked. "I mean forget the Capitol, you saw today the influence you've had on children, didn't you Katniss? Little Coral. She's 8 years old by the way."

"What happened with Coral?" Tyler asked.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Taiya gasped. "Little Coral, told our girl on fire how one day she's going to volunteer. She wants to be just like Katniss. She even had her hair in a braid before. She to take it out though."

Katniss sat at the table looking incredibly uncomfortable. She obviously wanted to say something, but perhaps she was better at following her mentor's instructions than Taiya was. But everyone looked disturbed at what Taiya had revealed. An 8-year-old child already thinking about volunteering. It was disturbing.

"Taiya," Finnick spoke up, breaking the stony silence. She turned to look at him. "Eat your food, it'll go cold."

"Of course," she nodded. "But first, cheers," Taiya raised her glass. "To the girl on fire. Inspiring children around Panem to head straight to their deaths," she snapped before quickly drinking her glass of champagne and placing it back down. She sat at the table a few moments longer before she slapped the table and stormed out of the room.

Finnick immediately went to follow, but Haymitch raised a hand. "I'll go," the older man muttered as he stood up and followed after her.

"Apologies," Tyler smiled at the stunned District 12 couple. "Please, try the fish."


Haymitch came and stood next to her at the rear of the justice building. "What's gotten into you? You're grumpier than I expected."

"I was doing ok until Coral said that. I still don't like your girl much, but… I swear Haymitch, I was going to be nice."

"What happened?"

"She's a child Haymitch. She was so happy when she said she wanted to volunteer."

"Why do you care about her so much? I mean I understand it's upsetting, but it's a bit of an overreaction from you, don't you think?"

"That's her house," Taiya pointed. "Coral's house."

"Oh," Haymitch realised.

"Yeah," Taiya breathed.

"The mayor's house."

"She's me. She is living the same life I was. She could be on the same path as me and I don't want to stand by and watch that happen. She's innocent. She's an only child. Daughter to the mayor. I used to present the flowers to the victors when they came here. She's a kid, Haymitch. I understand the message is reaching some people. But children are misinterpreting it. It's glamorising the Games for them. They want to be involved. And all I can think about is that if this happened 10 years earlier, that would've been me on stage dreaming about volunteering. I told her off and she was so confused."

"So that was where you used to live?" Haymitch asked.

"For 16 years," she muttered. "Until he killed them," she sniffled.

"Snow's never followed the rules. You know that. So don't blame them for that. Please," Haymitch asked.

"If the rules were followed, and Finnick got to live the life of peace he was promised, our parents would still be here. I may never have been reaped. Theo would be alive. Shark would be alive. Annie would be sane. Who knows about Seneca. But we could've all been happy. Finnick and I could be married with children, never knowing the depravity of the Capitol," she said as she wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "Instead we're here. Where everything is going wrong."

"I'm sorry," Haymitch squeezed her arm gently.

"Everything is going wrong Haymitch. I get a year of public mourning for Seneca and then I'm being reassigned. I'll be… on the market."

"What if you weren't?" Haymitch whispered.

Taiya turned to look at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" she whispered back. "Snow told me, he was very clear. You can't beat the system in the end Haymitch."

"Just… keep an ear out ok. Certain people want to capitalise on the opportunity we have," he whispered in her ear before taking a step back as she processed it.

She didn't fully understand what he meant but she knew what he was implying, and it wasn't as scary to her now as it had been before.

"I'm going inside," she smiled. "Don't worry I won't be rude."

"Let's go," Haymitch nodded as he led her back to the dining room.

As they entered, she passed behind Finnick's chair and quickly squeezed his shoulder before meeting Katniss' eyes. She hadn't intended for the girl to see that small display of affection, but she had. And she could see the judgement brewing in the victor's mind.


"Finn?" she called out as she woke up early the next morning. He was never awake before her, but his side of the bed was empty. "Finn?" she called again as she got up and walked out of their bedroom. The house was silent. "Hello?" she sang as she walked into the kitchen, only to see a note on the bench.

I'm down at the beach with the picnic. Put on a nice dress and meet me when you're ready.
I love you.
- Seaweed brain

She smiled as she read the note. 24 years old and he was reminding her of the nickname she'd screamed at him when they were 16. He would not let it go.

She took the note back upstairs with her and placed it in a box under the bed. She'd kept all the notes he'd written her. All the small trinkets he'd bought her. She'd never get rid of them. They were her treasures.

She quickly changed into a blue flowy dress. She had to wear black in front of the cameras as a sign of morning. So she swore she wouldn't wear black in her personal life. She tied her hair half up with a rope from Finnick's bedside table and then rushed out of the house and down to the beach where he would be waiting.

The sight that awaited her was astounding.

There he was.

In a white shirt, standing with a bouquet of light pink dahlia flowers.

It made her freeze.

A wide smile overtook her face before she started walking towards him again.

"What's this?" she asked as came to stand in front of him.

He quickly greeted her with a kiss before silently handing her the flowers.

"Thank you," she said as she smelt them. "They're so beautiful."

"I love you," he finally spoke. "More than anything in the world."

"I love you too."

"You have my heart. You always have. And you always will. For all eternity."

"Oh my god," she breathed as he started to lower down onto one knee. "Oh my god."

"My love. Will you do me the honour of…"

"Yes!" she interrupted.

"Can I finish?" he laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she nodded gleefully.

"Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded frantically as she dropped her flowers and dove down to him, pulling him in for a hug as they fell back on the sand.

Finnick laughed as he held her to him. "That was terrifying."

"I would never ever say no," she breathed into his chest.

"Kenna told me it was 50/50," he scoffed.

"No one listens to Kenna, she talks rubbish," Taiya whispered as she lifted her head and pulled him in for a kiss.

"The ring, the ring, the ring," he interrupted as he pulled away.

"You got a ring!" she gasped as she sat up on her knees.

"Kenna did help with that actually," he admitted as he picked up the case he'd dropped when she'd tackled him.

He slowly opened it to reveal the ring he'd bought.

Taiya gasped at the sight. It was a fine, vintage-style diamond ring. "Finnick!" she looked up at him.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it!" she emphasised as she giddily held her left hand out for him. He took it out of the case and slid it onto her ring finger.

"Thank god it fit," he breathed. "Why are you crying?" he frowned.

"I'm just so happy!" she laughed as she wiped her eye. "I love you. I will love you forever."

"We're going to do this you know. We're breaking free of these chains and we're going to live the life we deserve. I promise you that," Finnick swore to her before she pulled him in for another kiss.