"NO!" Taiya screamed, digging her heels into the floor. "No! Let me go! I'm not going! Don't make me go!"

"Oh, you're going," Gloss dragged her through the hallway by her arm.

"Please don't make me," she used her free arm to grab onto a door jamb in an attempt to slow him down. He just pulled her harder and her grasp slipped away.

"Time to face the music Ambersnow."

"But I didn't do it! Tyler did it," she protested. "TYLER!" she yelled out for her mentor, who had emerged from his compartment after hearing her pleas.

However, as soon as Tyler caught sight of Gloss and the unfolding scene, his eyes widened in recognition, and without hesitation, he swiftly retreated back into his compartment, leaving Taiya to fend for herself.

"You traitor!" she cried out in dismay, her hopes dashed as she watched him retreat.

"Sleep with one eye open Silvergaze," Gloss yelled out as they passed his door.

"That's right," Taiya nodded. "Get him, not me, let me go."

"Oh no no," Gloss laughed. "You think you could prank me with Tyler and get away with it? Not a chance. You're going to go up to Gale and tell him that the whole thing was a prank and not true."

"Please don't make me talk to Dale," Taiya pleaded. "I've been so happy not having to talk to him."

"Well, your happy streak is over," Gloss shrugged, his grip relentless, there was no way Taiya was escaping this.

Taiya had been training Tyler in the art of pranking. Gloss had helped at the start, but Tyler quickly got frustrated with the man and made him leave. This left a golden opportunity for them to prank Gloss.

It was Taiya's idea, but she and Tyler had sought out Gale. As they walked past the man, they loudly gossiped between the two of them about how Gloss had a massive crush on Gale.

Gale of course had complained to Boggs about the matter. He and Gloss did not get along at all. They despised each other.

Boggs had then inadvertently disclosed to Gloss that Gale knew about his crush. Gloss was clueless as to what he meant, but a few questions had made it abundantly clear to him what happened.

He knew he should have put his name down on Taiya's 'never-prank' list. The only names on it were Haymitch and Peeta.

Now he was marching her through the corridor, demanding that she clear up the rumours with Gale and tell him it was just a prank and there was no truth to the matter. She would've happily done that if it didn't mean she had to talk to Gale.

God she hated Gale.

He hadn't even done anything against her except flirt with her. There was just something about him that she didn't like.

"Gloss," Taiya whined as they walked through the cafeteria and spotted Gale in the food line.

"Don't argue," he gave her a shove in the other man's direction. "You and Tyler started that gossip, now you're going to fix it."

"Good prank though right?" Taiya smiled at him. Gloss didn't smile back, he merely pointed in Gale's direction.

As Taiya reluctantly approached Gale, her mind raced with the unfairness of the situation. Tyler the coward, fearing Gale's wrath, abandoned her. He was not worthy of joining her in future pranks. So she needed to fix this situation with Gloss so he wouldn't retaliate against her.

Taiya aggressively tapped Gale on the shoulder.

As Gale turned to face her, his eyes became wary. "Where's Buck?"

Taiya just shrugged dismissively, rolling her eyes. "Who cares about Buck? He's a big softie anyway." She knew this was not exactly the truth. Buck was secretly, very deep down a softie, but he was also very very scary. But she wanted to rattle Gale, to damage his ego.

"What do you want Taiya?" Gale sighed in frustration.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Taiya shifted her weight on her feet. "Look, about that gossip you overhead from me and Tyler… it was all a lie. I've been ordered to clear it up. I was teaching Tyler how to play pranks and Gloss is always a fun target. But to tell you the truth, Gloss hates you, and he definitely doesn't have a crush on you," she smiled at him.

Gale simply glanced over at Gloss, then back at Taiya. His scowl deepened and he remarked dryly, "Majority of you victors are chemically unbalanced," before turning and striding away.

Taiya smirked before she turned back to Gloss and shot him a thumbs-up. He just groaned before walking out of the cafeteria.

"What did you do sweetheart?" Haymitch asked, having walked over after observing the interaction.

"Tyler and I pranked Gloss by making Gale overhear that Gloss has a big crush on him," she turned to her friend with a smile. "Turns out Gloss doesn't like being pranked."

"Nicely done sweetheart," Haymitch nodded in approval. Given he was safe from their antics, he liked to encourage her. He didn't feel the need to reign them in, because he was never going to be a target. "Hovercraft's ready to go. Tyler's already on board."

"No," Taiya complained, dramatically throwing her head back.

Plutarch was currently having a stressful fit over the dress that Taiya would wear to this engagement party. Coin wanted them to just wear the District 13 uniform, which led Taiya to agree with Plutarch, saying the occasion called for something else. Oh, how she regretted that now.

Katniss had volunteered to go with Taiya back to her house is 12. Cinna had left a variety of evening clothes in a storage closet there. Apparently, there was quite an assortment of wedding dresses and gowns she wore on her Victory Tour.

The District 4 team (Tyler) immediately refused to let her go alone. He did not trust her not to get up to mischief if left unsupervised. There was no faith. So he was going to tag along. Finnick had sulked about not being able to go, but Plutarch didn't want him to know what dress she was going to wear, so he had to stay in 13.

Tyler was nervous about separating them for too long. Taiya noticeably got twitchy and unstable when they were kept apart for too long, so he was hoping this would be a quick trip. In and out. No complications.

Taiya stepped onto the hovercraft and immediately met Tyler's eyes.

She hadn't been expecting her reaction, but it was immediate. She was hit with an unexpected surge of panic. Her hands shook uncontrollably, her chest felt tight, she felt hot and her heart was hammering.

She'd only been on a hovercraft five times before. None had ever ended well. Four times they'd been used to ferry her to and from the arena. The last time had been her rescue from the Capitol, the rescue from the Capitol was traumatic.

Her anxiety spiked fiercely, pushing her into the throes of a panic attack. She gasped for air, her body trembling as tears streamed down her face, feeling trapped within the confines of the hovercraft.

Tyler reacted instantly. She hadn't even noticed him racing toward her. But she felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her into his chest. His presence was like a comforting anchor

"Hey, hey it's ok," he murmured softly, his hand tracing calming circles on her back. "You're safe. You're safe. I've got you," he repeated in her ear. "Try to take a breath with me. Take deep breaths. You're safe."

"Tyler," she sobbed, her hands gripping onto the front of his jumpsuit. This was the most vicious anxiety attack she'd ever felt.

"Copy my breaths. Breathe with me," Tyler urged, guiding her with deliberate breaths to help her regain control. "Come on," he guided her unsteady steps out of the hovercraft, knowing she wouldn't ever be able to calm down inside.

"We need to get going. We don't have time for this," a District 13 soldier protested.

"We're not taking off until I say we are," Tyler snapped angrily as he kept his hold around Taiya. "We're not putting her back on there until she feels ok."

"I'm sorry but we need her on now, we're on a schedule," the soldier shook his head and stepped to follow them out of the hovercraft.

"Katniss!" Tyler yelled, his determination clashing with the soldier's insistence.

The younger girl answered the call of her fellow victor and stood up and raced to stand in the path of the soldier, taking a stand in Taiya's defence. If he wanted to get to them, he'd have to go through the Mockingjay, and he wasn't brave enough to do that.

"We'll wait until she's ready," Katniss asserted firmly. He could do nothing but huff and turn away. Katniss commanded too much respect as the symbol of the rebellion. This would no doubt make its way back to Coin though, and she wouldn't be too impressed with victors working together to defy her team.

"We don't have to go Tay. We can cancel the whole thing," Tyler reassured quietly. He wasn't going to pressure her into anything she didn't want to do.

"Just give me a minute," her voice shook. She was still clutching onto his uniform.

"Take your time," he continued rubbing her back. Her shaking wasn't as bad now, getting her out of the hovercraft was helpful. But the only way to get to 12 was to get back on this hovercraft.

Taiya slowly released her death grip on his jumpsuit, but she wasn't ready to fully let him go yet.

"We don't have to go, Tay," Tyler assured her again.

She lifted her head. "I want to go," she answered quietly and he didn't quite believe her.

"It'll be fine if you don't. You won't get in trouble, I promise."

"I want to get a nice dress," she shook her head. "I want a nice dress to wear at this party. For Finnick. I know he's excited about this stupid party," she pulled away and wiped under her eyes. "I want to look nice for him."

"It's not worth getting anxiety attacks though Taiya," Tyler shook his head and held onto her shoulders.

Taiya glanced over his shoulder and at the hovercraft. "I'll be ok. I just wasn't expecting to feel that way. Now I know, I can control it," she whispered, her gaze fixed on the hovercraft. She pulled one of his hands off her shoulder and threaded hers through it, clutching his hand so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Don't let go," she breathed before she took a step towards the aircraft.

Taiya's anxiety still lingered, but she felt safe with Tyler by her side. He'd never let anything happen to her.

Tyler guided Taiya to a quiet corner of the hovercraft, away from the commotion, providing her with a sense of security. Taiya still clung to his hand.

As soon as Taiya and Tyler were strapped in, the hovercraft took off.

Amidst the quiet, Tyler finally looked away from Taiya's white face and caught Katniss's gaze. The younger girl was watching them, trying to get Tyler's attention to check how she was doing. Tyler offered her a nod, silently reassuring her that Taiya was managing.

"Hm," Taiya nodded her head as she walked inside Katniss' home. Hers and Finnick's was nicer. "Do you have a dock?" she asked.

"A what?" Katniss frowned.

"Any water? A lake?" Taiya turned to look at her. She missed seeing water. And she really, really missed her and Finnick's small pier.

"Oh, no. There's no lake or anything in 12," Katniss shook her head.

"That's what I thought," Taiya frowned. "But you swam in the arena? How'd you know how to swim?" That'd been bothering Taiya for months. Katniss had no trouble swimming, it would've been much easier to drown her when she'd tried if the girl didn't know how to swim up. Peeta didn't know how to swim, but Taiya had concluded that her geography teacher must've been wrong and there was a body of water in 12 somewhere.

Katniss hesitated for a moment, how she learnt to swim was technically illegal. But there were no consequences to that now.

"There's a lake just outside the fence," she admitted. "My dad used to take me there. His mother taught him to swim there, and then he taught me."

"You went outside the fence!" Taiya excitedly gasped.

Katniss just shrugged. "They never turned the electricity on."

"Nice," Taiya nodded in approval.

Katniss had been nervous about this trip with Taiya. They hadn't spoken one-on-one since they agreed to let bygones be bygones. Each time they'd been together they had Finnick as a buffer. He'd always lead the discussion, there was no chance of it being awkward with his enthusiastic attitude. He was just so glad the two girls were finally getting along. She was really hoping Finnick would be coming on this trip, but instead, it was Tyler.

Katniss hadn't interacted with Tyler much. He'd attend rebel meetings, but it was always obvious he was just there to try and get Taiya back and support Finnick. He'd never gone out of his way to talk to Katniss.

"So your prep team got to come?" Taiya asked, interrupting Katniss' thoughts.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I didn't want to be making any fashion decisions."

"Groovy," Taiya picked up photo frames to get a closer look. "I miss Tigris. She was a great stylist. The rest of my prep teams are dead though," she said nonchalantly. "But they didn't have good taste anyway," she shrugged.

"How did you know that?" Tyler's eyes widened. He'd sworn everyone to secrecy to keep it from her.

"Oh crap," Taiya's eyes widened. Buck had made her promise not to let Tyler know she knew.

"I'm going to kill Buck," Tyler scowled. That man couldn't keep a secret to save his life.

"The dresses!" Katniss' assistant Octavia tapped her on the shoulder.

"Right," Katniss mumbled. "This way," she walked down the hallway and opened a cupboard full of dresses.

Taiya and Tyler observed them from the living room. They were silent as they looked at the dresses, and then Octavia fell to her knees crying.

"It's been so long since I've seen anything pretty."

Taiya immediately turned to face Tyler with her mouth hanging open in feigned shock. She then jokingly pointed at herself, subtly pointing out her appearance as pretty.

Tyler just shook his head at Taiya's joke and rolled his eyes. They weren't here to play around. He wanted to get her back to 13, back to Finnick as soon as he could. So he spun her around and marched her towards the cupboard.

"Come on Little Miss Jokester. We're here to help."

Taiya smiled a little bit as she observed the cupboard that was overflowing with dresses. She did love shopping!

"Are you going to be ok here?" Tyler asked her. "I have to run to Peeta's to get a suit for Finnick."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Look at all the pretty dresses!" Taiya cooed. She despised the District 13 uniform, so these were in a league of their own.

"Come get me if you need me," Tyler whispered to Katniss before hurrying out.

"Oh my god!" Taiya gasped, ripping a crazily extravagant dress from the wardrobe. "You have to wear this to the party!" she shoved it towards Katniss.

"Not a chance," the girl shook her head, moving it to the side.

"This one!" Taiya grabbed an equally insane dress.

"Let's just look for one for you okay," Katniss smiled. "The sooner you pick the sooner you can get back to Finnick."

"This one will do," Taiya immediately grabbed a dress and held it up.

Katniss wasn't sure whether Taiya chose her dress due to her excellent incentivising skills, or because it was a gorgeous dress.

It was a subtle design. A floor-length dusty blue dress. It would fit the party perfectly. Not too extravagant, but not too drab.

"An excellent choice," Octavia clapped her decision. "I'll take it to the hovercraft," she grabbed it and left with the rest of the team.

Taiya shot Katniss a quick smile before turning back to the closet and continuing to rifle through it.

"You know I hated Finnick when we first met. We were 8," Taiya smiled to herself.

"Yeah. He mentioned you weren't a fan."

"Seaweed brain bumped me off the pier and into the water."

"He told me he fell for you right away. But he said he snuck up on you."

"Well, what can I say? I was a very charming kid," Taiya turned her head to wink at Katniss. "In all honesty, I didn't know he liked me until we were like 16," Taiya snorted. "I wasn't very observant. Looking back on it the signs were all there. I'm pretty sure I unknowingly stomped on his heart a couple of times. Lucky for me that man has the patience of a saint. We'd only been together for like a month when I got reaped. I always loved him. But I think I fell in love with him after my Games. I completely shut him out and would barely speak with him. He didn't like it, but he accepted it. I think the fact that he let me have my space was when I fell in love with him. There's nothing hotter than a man who respects your boundaries."

"Did you ever… love Seneca?" Katniss asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Taiya's hands froze mid-motion, her fingers lingering over the fabric as a wave of emotions washed over her. She couldn't bring herself to turn and face Katniss directly, but after a moment's pause, she responded, her voice tinged with nostalgia and sadness.

"Yes," she admitted softly. "Yes, I loved him. I loved him a lot. But I wasn't in love with him."

Taiya finally turned to look at Katniss, a bittersweet laugh escaping her lips. "Talk about a man who respects your boundaries," she remarked. "He never tried anything, never forced anything on me."

Pushing back the sadness threatening to engulf her, Taiya continued. "I remember one time… I was drunk and apparently, I'm not great at holding my tongue when drunk. I accidentally let it slip about Finnick and me. Instead of assuming I was a cheater, he figured something else was going on. He asked me eventually and I told him the truth about what Snow had me doing. I broke his heart… but he still stuck by me. He wanted to keep me safe. He wanted me to be happy. He announced a fake engagement to satisfy the people in the Capitol, even though he knew that the relationship was never going to go anywhere. I'd never leave Finnick, no matter what. He was still in love with me in the end, but I lost some of my influence over him," Taiya sighed. "He fell down the Capitol hole I'd kept him out of for years. He forgot what the Games stood for. Punishing the Districts. Instead, he fell for the idea that it was just a TV show. He wanted the ratings. Snow wanted you dead, but you got high ratings. His determination to put on a good show got him on Snow's bad side and so Snow got rid of him," Taiya swallowed.

"I spent years with him. He was my best friend. The people in the Capitol are victims as well," Taiya stated her opinion that would not go down so well in District 13. "They're brainwashed from when they're children. Tigris said it wasn't always like that. People used to be horrified by the Games. Them viewing the Games as just a TV show, that's an aspect of the Games that Snow wanted. No sane person would ever just enjoy watching the Games, you have to brainwash that into people. The Districts are the primary victims of the Capitol, but the people who live there aren't all evil. Admittedly some are, like Lucius Creed. My friend Romulus saved me when I was being tortured, he's good. I would've been like Peeta and Johanna if not for him. Anyway," Taiya spun back to the wardrobe, busying herself with the dresses, attempting to mask the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.

Katniss offered a silent understanding, allowing Taiya a moment to grapple with her emotions. She'd never really thought of people in the Capitol being victims. They were all complicit in the crimes that took place. But Taiya did raise a good point. It was highly unlikely that they were all evil, it was more probable that they were victims of brainwashing. Who would question what they were told if they lived in the comfort and safety of the Capitol?

Katniss looked up at Taiya to see her frozen in place, her hands clutching a dress, seemingly lost in thought. Katniss was instantly worried and stood up, ready to run out and get Tyler Taiya was on the verge of a meltdown.

"Taiya, are you okay?" she inquired softly.

Startled out of her reverie, Taiya quickly flung a new dress across the rail, covering up the one she'd been staring at. "Yeah, just a pretty dress," she turned her head to smile at Katniss nervously. Her eyes darted around the room, and she glanced at an empty wall. "Oh, is that the time? We better go."

Before Katniss could respond, Taiya swiftly dashed out of the house. Suspecting there was more to Taiya's departure than she let on, Katniss decided to investigate, walking up to the cupboard that Taiya had been rifling through.

Pushing aside the dress Taiya had hurriedly flung across, she looked at the dress Taiya had been staring at. It was one of Cinna's exquisite boho wedding designs. One that would never be approved by the Capitol.

Glancing towards the door, she caught a glimpse of Taiya chatting with Tyler outside.

Without hesitation, Katniss reached for the dress and zipped it up in a garment bag. It was cruel, but she was hoping Taiya was too anxious about getting back in the hovercraft to bother asking her what was in the bag. She knew Taiya didn't want a wedding in District 13, but it would be nice to give her a dress option for when the war was over, and she seemed to have a connection with this dress.

Taiya and Finnick walked side by side through the cafeteria with Finnick gracefully carrying both of their food trays, engaging in a very serious conversation about cake.

"He's so disappointed," Finnick mocked.

"Don't tease, we're all disappointed," Taiya stood up for Buck.

"He tried to get them to agree to let him use the chocolate but Coin shut that down."

"But I love chocolate cake!" Taiya whined. "I can't believe he's not allowed to make a chocolate cake for us."

"You'll like the vanilla cake just as well," Finnick tried to cheer her up. "That's all they'll allow. Besides, Peeta's doing the icing and decoration so at least you know it'll look good."

"Hell yeah, he is," Taiya instantly smiled. "He's going to do great. Wait, they're not putting a limit on icing are they?" Taiya's eyes widened. Icing was the best part.

"Not that I'm aware of," Finnick smirked as they reached the table all their friends were already sitting at.

"Hey," Taiya greeted. There was a wave of responses across the table. But Gloss didn't respond, he just flipped her off, not that she paid him much notice.

Finnick gently placed their trays down and courteously pulled out a chair for Taiya, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Thanks," she smiled as she sat down.

"Anytime."

He then pulled out his chair to sit down. But as he went to sit, Tyler, who seemingly emerged out of nowhere, quickly pulled Finnick's chair out from beneath him.

With an unexpected yelp, Finnick stumbled backward, losing his balance and landed on the ground with a thud.

Taiya immediately let out a laugh before quickly slamming her hand across her mouth.

"Finnick!" she gasped, checking in with him to make sure he was alright.

"I'm good," he groaned, holding up a thumbs up.

"You!" Taiya immediately turned to Gloss, pointing a finger in his face whilst Finnick picked himself up.

"Me?" Gloss asked, a playful glint flashing across his face. "I'm not the one who pulled the chair out."

"Oh please," Taiya scoffed. "This has you written all over it."

He just responded with a sly wink. He revelled in this stuff.

There was no doubt in Taiya's mind that this was Gloss' retaliating against Taiya, and he'd used Tyler as his proxy. He'd taken aim at Finnick to rile her up.

Finnick, now seated, looked between them in confusion, not sure how Taiya linked Tyler's attack to Gloss.

"No hard feelings," Gloss smirked at Finnick. "But can blame your fiancée over there," he quipped. "She knows what she's done.