LEIA HAD A CONSTANT ACHE IN HER CHEST ALL OF THE TIME. There was very rarely information on how Finnick and the others were doing, and when there was, it was a miniscule amount. She had been spending a lot of time with Peeta since they both had people out there, whether he liked it or not, but eventually, he left to go with them as well.

So, she was left with Johanna and Annie. The Mason woman was so incredibly pissed that she didn't get to go fight because she was 'too weak', and she then proceeded to demonstrate how not weak she was by throwing a chair at all of the nurses who disturbed them. That was until she ripped a stitch on her ribs and had to get patched up and drugged up again.

"So, how's married life treating you?" Johanna asked, and Annie might have smacked her if she wasn't injured.

"Well, considering my husband is fighting in a war where he could die at any moment, not great," Leia answered, rolling her eyes. "How's the drug life treating you?"

The Mason woman grinned. "Wonderfully." She had been begging everyone for more morphine, and she even stole some from everyone she could after being cut off. Leia might have been worried, but after everything they had gone through, a painkiller addiction seemed like something they could deal with later.

All of a sudden, Leia felt a huge amount of pain, more pain than she had ever felt in her life, even in the Capitol. She screamed and bent over because it racked her entire body. Johanna jumped out of bed, and Annie immediately ran down the hall to find someone to help them.

"Ah!" Leia cried, and Johanna did her best to help her over to the bed so that she could lie down. Her heart dropped when she saw water and blood dripping down the Calore woman's legs, knowing that that couldn't be good. The only thing Leia could feel was pain, and it shot through every single limb. She screamed again and sobbed, knowing that something was wrong with the baby.

Johanna finally got her up on the bed just as Annie ran back in with the doctors. They pulled up Leia's dress to investigate, and then, there was chaos. There was a lot of yelling, and all of a sudden, Leia was whisked off to another room, quickly followed by Johanna and Annie.

They lifted her off the bed and placed her on some sort of table while she squirmed and screamed. Annie went to grab her hand and let her crush her bones while Johanna screamed at the doctors. Leia couldn't hear anything, though. All of the sound around her was muffled because she was just in panic.

"Leia, I need you to listen to me," one of the doctors told her, leaning over her face. She took a lot of deep breaths and nodded, letting her know that she could hear her. "You're having the baby, and I need you to push. Do you understand?"

She nodded again, but if she was being honest, she was terrified. If it weren't for the fact that her child's life probably depended on this, she might have not done it. She pushed slightly, and she screamed loudly. She didn't think it could hurt anymore, but it did.

Johanna replaced Annie by her side, and Leia grasped at her arms as she cried. The Cresta then moved to the end of the table to check on what was happening. The Calore woman pushed again, and she had to sit up because it hurt so much. She didn't know what to do. She just wanted it to stop.

It felt like it went on for hours and hours and hours. Her entire body was exhausted, and she had never felt so tired before, not even after being burned and kicked and then thrown in a cage. She couldn't breathe anymore, so no more screams came out, just cries.

"You got this, Leia," Annie repeated over and over again. Johanna said nothing, just pulled her sweaty hair away from her face with her free hand.

Leia let out one last push and one last scream before collapsing back onto the table. She was flickering in and out of consciousness every second, and she was sobbing. The only thing keeping her going was the sound of her crying baby. It was passed off to Annie, who brought it over to the side of the table.

The Calore woman was too weak to move anything, so she just turned her head slightly and worked up the strength to smile. It was a girl, and she was absolutely beautiful. She was heartbroken that she couldn't hold her and kiss her forever, but she knew that she just needed some rest.

But then, a woman entered the room and spoke to one of the nurses. She tried to whisper, but she did not do a very good job. "We just got word that her husband and the Mockingjay were killed in an explosion."

Finnick.

Leia's world began spinning, and she began gasping for breath. She was so exhausted, and this just piled on top of it. Finnick, the love of her life, the father of her child, her home, was gone. Annie was crying, and Johanna began shouting at the woman, asking what was wrong with her and why she would say that when Leia just went through labor.

Leia couldn't hear any of it. She couldn't breathe or think, and she felt her heart begin to slow down. Her eyes began to close, and she told herself that it was just an awful nightmare. She would go to sleep and wake up again, and it would be fine.

Right?

《✵》

FINNICK BREATHED OUT A LAUGH WHEN THEY MADE IT BACK TO DISTRICT 13. They had captured President Snow as well as the Capitol, and they made it home. He couldn't wait to return to Leia and the baby that would be born any minute. He couldn't wait to kiss her and hold her and tell her that they won.

He stepped off the hovercraft and ran inside the compound with everyone else. He made it the hospital wing, and as he rounded the corner, Johanna was standing there, waiting for him. He thought immediately that he must have missed the birth, and she had come to bring him to his baby.

But something was wrong. Her eyes were tired and sad, and she looked like she had been crying. He had never seen Johanna like that. She had always been tough and sarcastic, but something had changed. Something must be seriously wrong.

"Finnick," she breathed out, and his heart dropped to his stomach. As soon as he heard her voice, he knew what had happened. Someone had died.

He pushed past her and ran toward the very small NICU that they had. He reached the window, and there was a baby that he immediately knew was his. She was a girl, and she had her mother's eyes and his curly hair. She was awake and kicking, and she looked incredibly healthy.

He placed his hand on the glass with a smile. His baby was alive and there and completely perfect. Johanna stopped next to him, and he was quickly reminded that something had happened. And if his baby was right there, then that meant...

"Leia," he concluded, and he spun around, distraught. He ran down the halls, searching every single room until there was only one door left at the end of the hall. He looked back at the Mason woman, and she nodded slowly.

The morgue.

He covered his mouth with his hands, and his heart was aching. He slowly stepped toward the door and opened it. He wasn't sure that he wanted to see what was inside, but he knew that he needed to.

There, lying on the metal table in the middle of the room, was Leia. Her body was sheet-white, and her eyes were closed. He could tell immediately that she was dead. He stepped toward the table and dared enough to touch her face, brushing her hair back. Her skin was freezing, and that sent him over the edge.

He crumpled to the ground and stuck his hands in the air, wanting to pull it out. Johanna watched him unravel from the doorway, and she kept her eyes on him because even she couldn't bear to look at Leia.

"Leia!" he cried out loudly, and he wanted to hit something. She had the baby, and he wasn't even there. She died, and he wasn't even there.

Leia, the one person who believed in him when no one else did. Leia, the girl that devoted every waking hour during the Games to finding him sponsors. Leia, the person he always found himself coming back to. Leia, the fearless woman who pulled him off of his knees. Leia, the only one that kept him going. Leia, his one true love...

...was gone.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

i'm sorry.