"What do you expect from me?" He asked.
I took a deep breath through my nose, then exhaled through my mouth. I had to calm down.
"Use your power and save her..." I asked quietly.
Snow looked at me with unreadable eyes. He saw the tears on my face, but I was sure they didn't move him.
"You excluded me from my own daughter's life and now you expect me to save her? You didn't give me a chance to love her, I have no reason to help you."
When I looked at him, I no longer saw my Corio. I saw President Snow. His gaze was emotionless. Just a moment ago, I had seen in his eyes the reflection of the memories we shared. A reflection of us. After a while, however, he moved away from me somewhere far away.
"You're crazy," I said, knowing I was facing death.
Snow laughed.
"You belonged to me, Lucy Gray. You were my girl, my Lucy. Rosaline would have been mine too, if you hadn't taken her from me..."
"You wanted to kill me, Coriolanus. You almost took away the chance to meet your own child. You never trusted anyone, you never trusted me. Still don't understand? You only have yourself to blame for what happened to us."
"You were the one who tried to kill me! You left the snake under my mother's scarf!" he shouted, not caring that someone could overhear us.
When I heard his words, I felt sick. I couldn't believe he said that.
"I never tried to kill you... You're holding a grudge for something I didn't even do. I dropped the scarf by accident while I was gathering food. When I heard your call, I wanted to come closer, and then I saw the gun in your hands. I started running. I heard a shot, but I didn't I stopped. It wasn't me who wanted to kill you, but you who wanted to kill me."
He stared at me, searching for a sign of falsehood. He couldn't find it because I was telling the truth. I never wanted to hurt him. I could even close my eyes to the fact that he killed his friend. I loved him.
"I hate you," I said.
"No, you don't."
And he was rigt. I couldn't hate him.
"You took everything from me... There's nothing left."
Coriolanus moved closer. We were centimeters apart.
"My love for you was medicine to me, but also poison, Lucy Gray," he confessed.
"You said you were sorry... Did you lie to me?"
"Every day I was relieved to have you out of my life. You were a burden to me. But on the other hand, I was tormented by visions of the life we could have led. Regret and guilt kept me from breathing freely."
"The road not taken... our love not chosen." I whispered.
"I wanted to make you my wife. I saw you in my future. In the Capitol."
I imagined me and him in the Capitol, and then in District Twelve. We could have been happy, but life had a different scenario for us.
"I am not fit to be First Lady. Livia is undoubtedly better in this role."
"Livia became my wife because I could never fall in love with her. I was already in love once. With you."
"I didn't get married... It's easier to live if you trust only yourself," I confessed.
Coriolanus suddenly closed the distance between us and placed a kiss on my lips. I haven't felt his lips in so many years. All feelings were coming back to life. I didn't want to let the memories come back to me, but they were taking over my common sense again. I loved it and hated it at the same time.
"Every day I looked at Rosaline and she reminded me of you."
"Stay..." he asked, surprising even himself.
"I can't..." I shook my head in resignation. "You have a wife, you will soon have a child... And I have a daughter to save..."
"I'll let you see Rosaline... You'll stay in the Capitol in secret from Liv until I decide how to solve the case of your daughter... our daughter."
"And what then? Will you kill me? Will you send me away or force me to stay?"
"We'll find out later, my little songbird."