➳❦

FINNICK SAT AT THE TABLE IN ARYA'S ROOM, watching as the woman just rubbed at the bruise on her arm. He lets out a sigh as he leans forward. "You should let the nurse look at you." Finnick tells her, looking over the numerous cuts along her. Arya just looks over at him for a second, scoffing slightly.

"I'm fine." She mumbles as she brings her hands to the table. Finnick didn't seem like he believed her in the slightest.

"No, you're not. You were just attacked." Finnick states. Arya doesn't answer, just looking down.  "Look, maybe this is only temporary." He suggests. It could be just a ptsd reaction or it could be just one reaction.

"Temporary? You can't seriously believe that." Arya responds.

"It's better than to think of the other possibility." Finnick responds.

"That Snow made Wesley hate me and turned him into someone he isn't?" Arya asks, raising an eyebrow at him. "That's not a possibility, Finnick. That's what happened." She points out.

"Then we'll get him back." Finnick tells her. He knew how much leaving Wesley behind hurt her, and he would make sure Wesley didn't hate her forever.

"Oh, right. Cause it's just mind control, right? We can just fight against it?" Arya says with a humorless laugh as she rubs her face with her hand. "There's a whole person who I can't remember anything about, who loves me, who wants to be here for me but I can't let him because I have no idea who he is." She snaps, not meaning to do it toward Finnick, she was just angry. "Wesley is gone. Snow took him away from us." She states.

"Arya--"

"The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can go and kill that son of a bitch." Arya states, wanting to just kill Snow in the worst possible way imaginable.

"Just stop for a moment." Finnick says as he takes her hand across the table. Arya sighs as she meets his gaze. "Take a breath." He tells her. Arya clenches her jaw but does what he tells her to do. "We will get everything back to normal." Finnick assures her. Arya shakes her head.

"Look around. Nothings normal." She denies. Her eyes drift for a momeng. "I'm gonna go talk to Katniss." Arya says, getting up from the table. Finnick groans as he realizes she didn't hear.

"About Katniss." Finnick starts and she just turns to look at him with a confused expression.

"What?" She asks him but he stays silent for a second. "Finnick, what is it?" Arya questions, getting a little worried.

"Peeta attacked her." Finnick answers her. Arya closes her eyes for a second. She brings her hands up to her face.

"Great. So Snow took two things from me." Arya mutters, shaking her head. She honestly couldn't be surprised anymore. Snow loved to just ruin everything in her life.

"We don't know what he's like with other people yet." Finnick points out.

"He probably hates me just like Wesley does." She responds as she fiddles with her fingers. Finnick tilts his head as he sighs before standing up from the chair.

"Well, let's go see him." He suggests as he gestures to the door. Aryas eyes widen as she shakes her head.

"I-i don't---"

"You won't know unless you see him, Arya." Finnick points out. He knew she was scared about everything, and not knowing if Peeta hated her was probably the tip of the iceberg.

"I know I'm just.... I'm scared." She admits. Finnick takes a step closer to her, tilting his head and gazing down at her.

"I'll be right by your side if you want me to be." He assures her. She nods her head as she takes his hand. Finnick smiles as he looks at her. Arya was gonna move but stopped herself.

"Finnick...." Her mind kept going to the other night. But she didnt know how to bring it back. Especially with how he was looking at her right now. "Nevermind." She mumbles as she moves past the man. Finnick sighs but follows after her, closing the door behind them.

➳❦

ARYA WAS HESITANT AS SHE FOLLOWED FINNICK INTO THE ROOM. She instantly saw Haymitch and Plutarch who were watching through the window. Her eyes went to the bed that was in the middle of the white room. She recognized the man on it, but he was more frail than he had been before. Plutarch turned his head at the sound of the door opening. His eyes immediately went to Arya.

"What is she doing in here?" Plutarch asks, obviously not liking it one bit. Arya, who was more behind finnick at that moment, stepped beside him.

"I came to see Peeta?" Arya says, not wanting them to just deny her because that's what they thought.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Plutarch says with a sigh as he shakes his head. Arya glares slightly as she crosses her arms against her chest.

"He's my friend." She states. She wanted to see him, to talk to him. Maybe he was the one person who didn't actually hate her. Johanna wasn't really in a talking mood at the moment so she hoped Peeta wasn't like that as well.

"He's in a vulnerable state." Plutarch points out.

"Maybe it'll help to see her." Haymitch suggests with a sigh as he looks toward Plutarch.

"Or maybe it'll make him worse." He responds. Haymitch looks toward Arya, seeing how she was disappointed.

"It's worth a shot." Haymitch says, gesturing toward Peeta through the window.

"Come on, I told her she could see him." Finnick says, not wanting to break that. Plutarch just scoffs as he rolls his eyes a little bit.

"Then thats your own fault." He tells the man. Finnick clenches his jaw slightly.

"Peeta hasn't said anything that indicates he will be violent toward Arya as well." Haymitch states. It was unlikely that he would attack Arya too. Wesley had already done that.

"But who's to say he won't feel triggered when he sees her?" Plutarch suggests.

"I guess that's a risk we can take. He's tied to a chair." Finnick points out. Even if Peeta was violent, he couldn't hurt her even if he wanted to. Finnick wouldn't have allowed her in that room if it was any different.

"I still don't think-- damn it." Plutarch stops himself when he notices that the woman had already walked inside.

Arya closes the door behind her, her eyes going to the man who was laying on the bed. "Peeta?" She asks, not getting any sort of reaction. Maybe he hadnt heard her because her voice was quiet. Or maybe he didnt want to hear her. "Peeta? It's Arya." Arya says as she walks  closer to him. Peeta lifts his head, furrowing his eyebrows. "Do you remember me?" She asks, wondering if his mind was also altered.

But Peeta looked directly at her, and it was almost like he had seen a ghost.
"

Arya." His voice seemed unsure as he stared at her. Arya nods her head as she stops, not wanting to get to close in case he was going to attack.

"Yeah."

"You're alive." Peeta wanted to believe it, seeing her right in front of him. But part of him felt like this was another trick.

"I'm here." Arya tells him as she takes another step. But she stops once she sees him shake his head, his soft expression turning hard.

"Am I.... this is a dream." Peeta states, looking away from her. Arya furrows her eyebrows.

"Its not a dream. I'm real."

"No, this is just a tactic. T-this is fake." Peeta denies as he shakes his head repeatedly, his hands banging against the railings on the bed

"It's not fake, Peeta." She denies.

"Stay away from me." Peeta shouts toward her as he tries to move further away on the bed. Arya frowns as she could only look at him for a second.

"Peeta." She says, taking a wary step forward but he continued shaking his head, pulling at the restraints on his bed.

"You're not real. You're not real." He whispers to himself as he had his eyes squeezed shut. Arya looks at the restraints, carefully walking over to him with no sudden movements. Her hand goes to his and that causes Peeta to jump, his eyes opening like saucers.

"What is she doing?" Plutarch asks as he watches through the windows. He could see what Arya was trying to do. She was going to take off his restraints.

"Let her." Haymitch says, watching curiously as Peeta just stares at Arya with fear in his eyes.

"I'll prove to you I'm real." Arya says as she carefully sits at the edge of the bed. Peeta seemed to be really wary, his hands moving away from her but she only gently takes one of them back. "I'm gonna take these off, okay?" She asks, staring at him. Peeta moves his eyes to the restraints. Arya uncuffs him, rubbing Peeta's wrist as she does. "Here." She says as she grabs his hand, engulfing it with hers.

Peeta softened in her touch, moving ever so closer to her. "You feel me? You feel my touch?" She asks him as she tilts her head, her eyes gentle. "I'm here. I'm right here, Peeta." Arya assures him. By this point, Peeta had moved closer to her, his other hand on the skin of her arm.

"You're here?" He asks, still a little bit unsure but as she nods, she could see that he finally saw her.

"I'm here." Arya says. Peeta instantly wraps his arms around her, hugging her. Arya smiles as she hugs him back, hearing the man sniffle as his head nuzzles into her neck.

"Snow told me you were dead." Peeta says, his voice shaking as he held onto her tightly. Arya rubs his back as she closes her eyes momentarily. "He showed.... it was so real." He states as he pulls back. Arya shakes her head as she places her hand on his cheek.

"I'm not dead. He didn't get me." She denies. Knowing he had to really see her in order to believe it. It was the same for her as well, at sometimes, it didn't seem like who was in front of her was actually there. It felt like a fever dream.

"When he showed me that video I thought you were dead. I-i thought I had gotten you killed." Peeta admits, the tear rolling down his cheek. Arya hated that he blamed himself, that he must've thought this the whole time she was gone. She felt so guilty that she had caused him to feel like this.

"You didn't do anything, Peeta. All you did was protect me." Arya tells him. He had protected her time and time again. She wouldve been way worse off if he hadn't.

"I didn't." Peeta denies as he shakes his head, clearly seeing it differently. "Y-you got hurt." He states. Arya grabs his hands, shaking his head.

"And that wasn't your fault." Arya assures him before pulling him into another hug. "But we're out now. We're both here." She says, holding him tightly as she stares at the white wall in front of her. She was glad he was out, glad he was safe. But she could see in his eyes the pain that he had endured. And it most likely intensified when she had escaped.

But now they were out. Now the only one who was to suffer was Snow. The only one who truly deserved it. And who had it coming to him.

➳❦

ARYA LEFT PEETA'S ROOM AFTER HE HAD FALLEN ASLEEP. She was glad he was semi-okay. Well, that he was alive. Also that he didnt want to kill her, that was a big plus. As she looked down the hall, she saw Xander talking with Ceila. A huge smile grew on her face. "Ceila! Xander!" She shouts, gaining both of their attention. As she made her way over to them, she engulfs them in a hug. "You're both okay." She says, grateful they had made it out of the Capitol.

"We are." Xander responds before the pull away from each other. "You're okay?" He asks, concern in his tone as he looks down at her. Arya nods her head with a small smile.

"I'm glad you got out." Ceila admits. She knew what a commotion it was when Snow had found out. Honestly, she would've loved to see the look on his face when he realized Arya had escaped.

"Thank you." Arya says, her eyes now solely on Ceila. "You risked everything to help me." She states. She knew Snow would've killed her if he found out.

"What Snow is doing is wrong. I've known that for quite some time now." Ceila responds with a small sigh. She wished she could've done more, but helping her escape was something she knew she had to do.

"How'd you get out of the Capitol?" Arya asks as she knew Xander must have been rescued with the other victors. But Ceila was a Capitol citizen.

"Luckily I was with Xander when your team came to extract the victors." Ceila tells her. Arya couldn't help but scoff at that. Coin wouldn't have rescued them if she had it her way.

"Not exactly my team." She mumbles slightly.

"Well, Matthew was on it so I just assumed you knew about it." Ceila states as she looks back at the woman. Arya just stares at them, blinking a few times before clearing her throat a bit.

"Right."

"I heard about what happened with Wesley." Xander says, sympathy in his tone as his gaze was soft. Arya clenches her jaw, she couldn't help but feel the anger in her heart as she thought if what Snow must've done to him.

"They changed him." Arya points out, sniffling slightly. Ceila tilts her head as she moves her hand to the woman's arm, rubbing it.

"They changed all of you." Ceila states. No one could go through the Capitol, go through the games and torment and not be changed.

"But he's.... he hates me." Arya states.

"For now." Xander says, knowing there were ways of getting someones mind back. It would take time and it would never be a hundred percent but there were ways. "We will get him back." He assures her. Arya wanted to believe that, she did. But with the way life had turned out for her, this seemed to be what was on her path.

"What did you do to him!" They heard someone scream from down the hall. Arya turns her head, seeing Violet, Wesleys younger sister glaring at one of the guards. "You hurt him, you hurt him!" She shouts as she shoves the guards back. "Give me my brother back!" Violet didn't seem to be calming down and the guards obviously weren't sure what to do.

"Violet." The words came out of Arya's mouth quietly. She didn't think she'd see the girl again. Part of her thought that Snow would have had her killed.

"Matthew thought it was a good idea to rescue her.. help Wesley." Ceila tells her.

Arya nods before heading over toward them, coming between Violet and the guard. "Hey. Hey, what's going on?" She asks as she bends down slightly. Violet seemed quite upset as the tears streamed down her face. She was a bit relieved when she saw a familiar face but that still didn't change how she felt.

"That's not Wesley!" Violet points out as she gestures toward the door she had just come out of. Arya frowns, she didn't know what had happened but she had hoped Wesley wasn't violent toward Violet as well.

"Of course it is, sweetheart." Arya states. Although she knew that wasn't one hundred percent the truth.

"He's different now. He's not my brother.
Snow took my brother away from me." Violet responds. Arya didn't know what to say, she knew Wesley was different. She knew Violet was old enough to understand that.

"He just needs some rest. He's had a hard time recently, okay?" Xander tells her, interrupting the conversation as he saw that Arya had gone quiet.

"Don't lie. You people are always lying." She snaps toward them, mainly glaring toward Xander and Ceila. Arya sighs as she grabs a hold of Violets hands.

"I want Wesley back too." Arya assures her as she squeezes her hands in her grasp. "We just have to give it time." She says, seeing Violets tears start again. "Just a little time." Arya wraps her arms around the girl, holding her as the young Park cried in her arms.

➳❦

MATTHEW WALKED INTO THE HALLWAY, a sigh leaving his lips as he felt like nothing had gone their way. They had gotten the victors out but at what cost? And it was only because Snow allowed them to. Because he knew that Peeta and Wesley would take out his two biggest threats. Nothing about this was okay. And it seemed they were getting further and further to actually winning this rebellion

He noticed Arya sitting on one of the benches, a string in her hand as she just swung her legs back and forth. He didn't know whether or not to actually approach her, but it was better to still talk to her, even if it wasn't the same as it was before. Walking over, Matthew put his hands inside of his pockets as he glanced around. No one else was in the hallway, it seemed like she was alone.

"Hey." He says as he sits down next to her. Arya lifts her head, her eyes meeting his. She put a polite smile on her lips but Matthew could tell it was fake.

"Hi." She responds, her eyes going back to the string.

"You still doing all right?" Matthew asks, hating how he wasn't there when Wesley had attacked. But there should've been a guard in the room as a precaution. It seemed Coin didn't care about that though.

"Yeah." Arya just nods her head a little bit.

"That's good." He responds, awkwardly glancing around for a moment. "Is Finnick treating you right?" Matthew asks, looking back toward her. Arya looked a bit confused but she nodded once more.

"Of course."

"Did you see Ceila and Xander?" Matthew questions, he was more just trying to small talk. It wasn't like he could talk about anything in the past. She didnt remember it. Arya nodded. "Violet?" He asks her.

"She's angry... and sad." Arya says with a small sigh. Who could blame her? Her brother went into that arena one person, and he came back to her a totally different one. They couldn't even promise her that he'd be the same eventually.

"Well, who wouldn't be?" Matthew points out. With what they went through, even before everything that happened after the quarter quell. Every single one of them had every right to be angry about the world they lived in. To be angry toward Snow.

"He doesn't even talk to his own sister." Arya says, shaking her head as she knew that if Wesley was indifferent toward Violet, there's no way that he would ever want to be near her again.

"Maybe he just needs to readjust." Matthew suggests, not wanting to give up entirely. But Arya felt like she should just expect the worst from now on. It was better than thinking things will get better, only for them to not.

"How's Katniss? Do you know?" Arya asks, changing the subject as she brushes her hand through her hair. Matthew didn't hear much, mainly because they were keeping it pretty low key.

"She's uh... she's recovering. The main injury is to her throat." Matthew answers her and Arya bites her tongue. She never saw Peeta as a violent person, but that's what happens when you're in the Capitol. They change the person you are.

"I guess I got lucky Finnick was able to pull Wesley off fast." Arya admits.

"Yeah." Matthew responds with a slow nod. His eyes drop to the table for a moment. "Look..." He starts, a small sigh leaving his lips. Arya just stares back at him as he meets her eyes once more. "I hate with every part of myself that you can't remember who I am."  Matthew tells her, his voice cracking but he covered it quite well.

Arya frowns as she knew it must hurt him but she couldn't really do anything to comfort him about it. "I-" She tries to say but he cuts her off, shaking his head.

"And I know that's not you fault and I shouldn't blame you... blame Finnick." Matthew states, rubbing his face a little bit as he scoffed to himself. "I guess I'm just angry too." He admits. Arya brings her eyes to her hands. "But no matter what, you are my family. And I will always be here with you, no matter what." Matthew tells her, wanting her to know that. He would care for her forever, he would look out for her forever. Even if she didn't remember why.

Arya tilts her head, wishing she could help him more. Wishing she could give him something to take away even the slightest bit of pain. But even though she couldn't remember who he was, she couldn't deny how much he cared for her. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he spoke about her. He wanted to protect her. And she wasn't going to stop him because she knew that's probably what he always did.

She just reaches out to grab his hand, giving it a squeeze. "I know." Arya responds, giving him a tight smile as she looks at him. No matter how much he wanted to see the person he had practically helped raise, all he saw was someone who sympathized with him. Someone who, although was nice and wanted to help, wasn't the same person.

Because Snow, like everything else in this world, had taken what they had in the palm of his hand, and had crushed it to sand.

➳❦

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR TO FINNICK'S ROOM, Arya fiddles with her fingers as she bit the inside of her cheek. It was pretty late and everyone else had gone to bed already. But Arya couldn't. Not with the conversation of Finnick and Katniss running around in her mind. She didn't know what to think about it, she didn't know what it had meant. And because she didn't, she couldn't turn her mind off. And she hated it. She hated how the one person who she swore to never like, had her feeling this kind of way.

"Yeah?" She heard his voice from inside the rook. Arya took a shaky breath as she reached her hand to the door. She didn't know why she felt so nervous, why he made her like this. Only a few months ago, she could barely stand to be in the same room as him. And now she was practically yearning to be.

Arya opens the door, her eyes moving around the room before they landed on Finnick. She didn't know how she was going to start the conversation, but she knew she had to. But what stopped her, was the fact that Finnick was shirtless with a towel in his hand, his hair dripping as he stood in the middle of the room. Her eyes widen as she takes a glance at his appearance. She felt her cheeks redden as she tried to divert her gaze.

"Oh..." Her voice was quiet as she cleared her throat a little bit. "I--uh, sorry." She apologizes as she furrows her eyebrows. Finnick only chuckled and she could see that slight smirk on his lips. Oh, he knew what he was doing.

"It's all good, just took a shower." Finnick tells her as he drops the towel into the basket next to him before turning to face her. "Did you need something?" He asks curiously as he just stares at the woman. Arya was a bit taken aback, more so because he didn't even take any measure to cover himself.

She was hesitant, her eyes moving between his eyes and his bare chest. It was definitely not helping the nerves that she already had. Arya turns around, shutting the door behind her to make sure that no one else heard their conversation. She just stares at the door for a moment before closing her eyes, letting a deep breath go through her lungs.

Turning back to Finnick, Arya bit her bottom lip. "You said something." She starts as she looks at the man who just nods his head slowly. "Well, I heard you say something and I don't know if you meant for me to hear you, or thought that I didn't. Or maybe you do realize that I heard you." Arya explains to him, almost in a ramble as she stuttered over her words. "But I did hear it. The... the thing that you said." Arya states, not knowing what else to really say. But she had started the conversation and that was enough for her.

"I figured." Finnick says, his response really vague as he didn't seem to put in any effort in answering why he had decided to say it. It seemed he meant it, but why had he? Arya didn't think Finnick liked her in the slightest other than in a friendly manner.

"Why did you say it?" Arya questions, crossing her arms against her chest.

"I said a lot of things." Finnick responds as he shrugs his shoulders. Arya clenches her jaw as she narrows her eyes a bit. It was clear he was also avoiding it quite a bit.

"You know what I mean." Arya says, not wanting him to just blatantly swerve around the subject. Finnick sighs as he looks back at her.

"Maybe I said it because I admire you." He suggests as he gazes down at her. Finnick could see her eyes brightening a little bit. "Maybe it was just a sympathy thing to katniss." Finnick adds, going to move past her but she grabs his arm, stopping him.

"That's not-- stop trying to avoid the subject." She states. Finnick just scoffs as he raises his eyebrows.

"I'm avoiding the subject?" Finnick asks her, as if not believing a word she was saying. "You kept brushing off everytime I asked what you wanted to talk to me about." He points out. If anything, he was the one who was trying to say how he felt but didn't know how she would actually react.

"Because I don't know what to think!" Arya hadn't meant to raise her voice, it just happened. She was frustrated, maybe she was a little bit confused as well. She was confused because she didn't know how to process what she had heard.

"About what?" Finnick takes a step toward her and she just stays silent. He gazes down at her, a bit harshly. "Look, if you want me to talk to you about it, then you have to say what you heard out loud. Because I need you to say it." He tells her. Arya felt tears well up in her eyes.

She didn't know if her heart could open up to him, if she could even allow herself to feel anything towards him. And knowing this, knowing how he felt toward her, it was hard to say any of it out loud. "What if I can't?" Arya asks him, her voice cracking slightly. Finnick seemed disappointed, his face falling as he just casts his eyes downwards.

"Then there's not much we need to discuss, now is there?" He mumbles, turning his back away from her and starting to walk away. Arya could feel her heart pumping in her chest as she watched the man. She didn't know what to do.

She could say it, get him back, not ruin the friendship that they had just started. It could turn out great or it could turn to waste. Or, she could keep it to herself, cause tension to grow between them, let the hatred rekindle and she loses him and their friendship. Either way, she's at risk of losing that she's built with him. And Arya didn't want to lose him. She didnt want to go through life without him.

"You love me?" Her voice left her mouth before she even had time to process what she had said. Her eyes widen as she just stood there, her hands by her side. Finnick stopped in his step, his head lifting. He turns back to face her and Arya tried not to seem affected but she felt her stomach fill with butterflies.

Finnick walks slowly back over to her, his eyes on her as he watched how the woman seemed nervous with every step he took. The silence in the air was deafening and the tension could be cut with a knife. But as he stopped in front of her, as his eyes pierced into her own and as she felt that time in itself had come to a halt, she heard that one sentence. That one sentence that would change everything in a heartbeat.

"What happens if I say I do?"

➳❦

I'm not sure if I should just add the prequel to the beginning of this book or just make a new book....