➳❦

FINNICK LETS OUT A SIGH AS HE TILTS HIS HEAD BACK. He honestly thought being out of the arena, having his friends back would make a difference to how he felt. But he still felt a massive weight on his shoulders and that was not only because Snow was still alive, but also because he knew Coin would take over. And he didn't see that as a win in the slightest. But there wasn't really much he could do about that and there was only enough strength in him to solve one problem at a time.

He opens the door to his room, walking inside, stopping when he noticed Arya already laying on his bed. Her head turns toward him, a gentle smile on her lips. Finnick returns it, closing the door behind him. Before he had a chance to say anything, Arya was getting up from the bed, walking over to him and pulling him down to her for a long kiss.

Finnick hums a bit, his eyebrows furrowing as he brings his hand up to her jaw. She pulls away from him after a second and he slowly opens his eyes, meeting her gaze. His smile only grows but he tilts his head a bit. "What was that for?" Finnick asks her curiously as his hand drops to her hip, rubbing small circles on it.

Arya just smiles up at him. "Defending my honour." She admits, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Finnick chuckles as he licks his bottom lip.

"You make it sound so biblical." Finnick responds.

"He just, ugh, he gets on my nerves." Arya admits with a small groan. She didn't understand why Gale literally said everything he could to piss her off. She never did anything to him. And if katniss didn't have a problem with her, then why did he?

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Finnick mumbles before he looks back at her. "What are you thinking about?" He asks her curiously and she lets out a sigh, glancing down.

"Peeta being locked in that room constantly. They won't even let him out of the restraints." Arya says, fiddling with her fingers. Peeta keeps asking her when he'll get to leave and she can't even give him an answer because she wasn't sure if they'll even let him go.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can really do about it." Finnick says with a small frown. He wanted to help Peeta too but they had to have an actual plan because although Peeta is fine now, he could have moments where he isn't just like Arya.

"We can get rid of Coin. Problem solved."
Arya suggests with a firm nod. Finnick couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"But there's still the problem of Snow after that."

"Everyone's gunning for him anyways." She says with a shrug of her shoulder. He wasn't surviving this war no matter how they looked at it. No matter if the Capitol survived it, he wasnt. Someone was going to end up doing the inevitable.

Finnick saw the distant expression in her eyes as she looks past him. He noticed the way she fidgeted with the string on his shirt, something she did when she was nervous or when she was feeling overwhelmed. "Talk to me." Finnick whispers, gazing down at her as he strokes her cheek. Arya chews the inside of her cheek, glancing down before letting a deep breath enter her lungs.

"I had another panic attack." She admits as she looks back up at him. Arya saw the concern flood his features. "It's okay. Ceila was there to help me." Arya assures him. She had just felt so many stares on her after the whole fiasco and it just caused all those fears to come creeping back up. And for a moment her brain wasn't recognizing anyone who was trying to speak to her.

"You're fine now?" Finnick asks her, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. She nods her head, smiling at him.

"Mhm."

"Because you know I'm here if you're not." He tells her. He didnt want her to act like she was okay and then break down when he wasn't around. Finnick wanted her to do that with him so that he could help her through it.

"I just needed to be somewhere secluded." She admits. Arya just had to be alone, to not be around so many people she didn't know.

"So you came to my room as opposed to your own?" Finnick asks her, raising an eyebrow. Not that he minded. He was used to her being around since she got to thirteen.

"What can I say? I like your company." She teases as she smiles up at him. Finnick just rolls his eyes playfully and she just rests her head against his chest. Finnick holds her closely, tucking his head down against hers.

"You have nothing to worry about while I'm here, baby." Finnick says softly before pressing a kiss to the side of her head. Arya pulls away once he does, a bit questionable but mainly happy as she smiles.

"Baby?" She asks him, tilting her head. Finnick blinks a few times before his brain finally reminded him that he had actually said that out loud.

"No?" He responds and Arya laughs a little bit. "I don't have-- it slipped out." Finnick didn't know if she wanted to be called anything like that and he should have asked, it just kind of came to him naturally.

"No, I like it." Arya admits before resting her head back against his chest. Finnick let's out a breath, bringing his arms back around her.

"I'm right here." Finnick says as he strokes his fingers through her hair. Arya hums softly, closing her eyes. "Whenever you feel unsafe or like the room is closing in, just remember im here." He states as he felt her nod her head in the slightest movement.

"I'm always gonna be here."

➳❦

KATNISS FELT HER HEART SLOWLY TEARING AS SHE LOOKED AT PEETA. She was behind the glass she he couldn't see her but she knew if she weren't, he would only be giving her a hateful glare. Peeta hated her. And she knew that wasn't his fault, she knew it's because Snow did that to him, but it didn't make it hurt any less. Katniss hated the fact that she couldn't so much as go in the room without him saying something dreadful or just completely screaming at her.

She wanted Peeta back. And she didn't know if she was ever going to get that.

"You know just staring at him isn't gonna do anything, right?" Katniss hears from beside her causing her to almost jump. She looks to the right, seeing Arya standing beside her now. Katniss let's out a sigh as she glances back at the window.

"He won't even look at me." Katniss denies as she shakes her head. Peeta either looked at her like she was the enemy or didn't look at her at all. There was no in between.

"He just needs time." Arya says. Although she knew she couldn't be saying that when Wesley was the same way and she was fully believing he would stay that way.

"Has he said anything about me?" She asks curiously but also because she needed to know. Arya frowns lightly. She didn't want Katniss worrying anymore than she already was.

"I don't really mention your name." Arya responds. Which wasn't exactly a lie. She didn't really bring up Katniss anymore. Katniss nods her head slowly, clearing her throat a bit.

"Have you gone to see Wesley again?" Katniss questions.

"I don't know if I can."

"You don't know that he hates you, it could've been a trauma response." Katniss suggests. Peeta had done the same thing to her but that didn't mean all of it was similar. Wesley could've attacked her because he had PTSD or was hallucinating.

"He won't talk to his own sister. I hardly think he's gonna speak to me." Arya mumbles with a groan. She wishes she could be hopeful for Wesley's recovery but him not talking to Violet was a sign that it didn't seem to be happening.

Katniss sighs as she nods her head, deciding to change the subject. "So, how are you and Finnick." She asks curiously, raising an eyebrow as a small smirk forms on her lips.

"It's still new." Arya admits as she chews her bottom lip.

"But it's going okay?"

"Yeah." She says, nodding her head as a smile forms on her face. "Yeah, it is." Arya admits, meeting Katniss's gaze. "It's weird, you know. Having someone like that but... I'm glad I have him." She tells the woman.

"And he's already defending your honour so I think you guys will last." Katniss jokes with a small laugh.

"Honestly, I wish I got to punch him though." Arya admits as she scrunches up her nose. Oh how it would've satisfied her to punch that self righteous look off of his stupid face.

"Me too." Katniss responds with a small laugh. "We'll probably get another chance." She states. Gale didn't seem to have any short list of idiotic things to say.

"What's his problem?" Arya asks, genuinely wondering why he seemed to have a stick up his ass the whole time.

"I honestly don't know." Katniss tells her with a sigh. She didn't know why Gale was acting this way. Maybe it was Coin, maybe it was district twelve getting destroyed.

"Well, he better know never to mention my brother's again." Arya mutters as her fists clench a bit.

"I'll make sure he does." Katniss says as she looks at the woman before taking her hand in her own. "Hey." She catches aryas attention again. "I'll never blame you for what happened during the games." Katniss denies, her voice soft. "Both of them."  She adds with the smallest smile. Arya feels the woman squeeze her hand before she gives one last glance to peeta as she leaves the room.

➳❦

JOHANNA LETS OUT A GROAN AS SHE WAS LAYING ON HER BED. Arya was rested beside her, both of them just wanting to be in each other's company. "God, I know we were saved and everything but no one has made any move to attack the Capitol since we got here." Johanna states as she practically grumbled it. Arya sighs as she just rests her arms above her head.

"Coin says we can't until all districts are united." She mutters, not really believing in her so called plan but there was really not much she could do against it.

"What a bunch of shit." Johanna says and Arya nods her head in agreement. "I bet we could get it done in one day." She states as she glances at Arya who laughs, shaking her head.

"That's wishful thinking." Arya admits and Johanna just shrugs her shoulders.

"He wouldn't be expecting you to break in to the Capitol." She points out. Arya turns her gaze to Johanna, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"By myself?"

"Well, Finnick would want to come and act like your bodyguard but yeah." Johanna says with a snort and Arya playfully nudges her. "Come on, Ceila is already coming up with a plan with Katniss--"

"Wait, what is she doing?" Arya asks, sitting up with a confused expression and Johanna just stops herself for a moment.

"Oh, I thought you knew." Johanna admits, not realizing she may have just caused a problem.

"Who else is in on this plan?" Arya asks her curiously and Johanna just leans forward to touch Aryas hair.

"You look really pretty today." Johanna says, trying to sidetrack her but it didn't work in the slightest, not that she thought it would.

"Johanna." She says in a scolding tone and Johanna whines a little.

"Katniss, Matthew and....." Johanna trails off, going completely silent as she stares at her hands.

"And?" Arya says, waiting for an answer as she raises an eyebrow. Johanna bites her tongue.

"Finnick." She mumbles, inaudible as she had all but covered it up with a cough causing Aryas eyebrows to furrow.

"What?"

"Finnick, okay? I said finnick." Johanna says with a groan. He was surely going to kill her for this but she wouldn't keep anything from Arya.

Arya felt a bit hurt as she heard his name. "So, they all have some sort of plan to take out Snow without me?" She asks her and Johanna just rubs her face.

"Well, we're not exactly the most reliable right now." Johanna points out as she gestures between them. "Just a tad bit psycho." She teases but Arya didn't seem to be in a joking mood.

"So this is to protect us?" Arya scoffs again as she shakes her head. "Peeta can't stay here, not chained up like a-a--"

"Psycho?" Johanna finishes for her and Arya just gives her a blunt expression, not impressed.

"If they have a plan, they're letting us in on it." She states firmly as she crosses her arms. Johanna sighs as she shrugs her shoulders.

"Go for it." Johanna says and Arya frowns lightly. "I won't be much help, Arya. I'll stay here and try to fix Wesley's brain." She states. She knew she wasn't any good to anyone when she was detoxing. "You go, talk to the others." She tells the woman who scoffs a bit.

"I don't think talking implies hitting them." Arya mumbles as she rubs her face lightly, not seeing the mischievous glint in Johannas eyes.

"Finnick will probably just think it's kinky." Johanna teases her and that causes Aryas eyes to almost bulge out of her head.

"Shut up!" She shouts, throwing a pillow at the woman who bursts out laughing.

"You know I'm right." Johanna says with a wink. Arya was flustered to say the least as she shakes her head.

"It's not-- we're not--"

"Ohh... you havent had sex yet." Johanna understood why she was stuttering. Arya groans, resting back as she just stares up at the ceiling.

"It's not like I have much experience." She mutters as she lets a long sigh leave her lips. Arya knew Finnick said he hadnt been with anyone else, relationship wise. But what about everything else? "I wouldn't count getting paid for or touched against my will as sex." Arya denies. So, disregarding that, she didn't know where Finnick stood with that either. And she felt vulnerable because of it.

"Hey, Finnick wouldn't touch you without your permission." Johanna assures her with a small frown. Finnick could be cocky at times but he wasn't a complete prick. He respected boundaries, especially of those he really cares about.

"I know." Arya would never accuse Finnick of being anything other than perfect. Honestly, it was a bit annoying how amazing he was. If she told her younger self that she was now with Finnick, surely she would get punched in the face. "He makes me feel safe." She admits, a smile forming as she closes her eyes for a moment.

"I bet he does."  Johanna says with a smirk playing on her lips. Arya groans as she tilts her head back, covering her face in embarrassment.

"Oh my God." She grumbles as she gets up from the bed. Johanna only leans forward, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

"Has there been, you know, under the shirt stuff?" Johanna asks in a whisper, wiggling her eyebrows. Arya scrunches her nose up a bit.

"Under the shirt stuff? What are we, twelve?" She asks johanna who opens her mouth but Arya just holds up her hand to stop her. "Scratch that. Apparently one of is." Arya states, raising an eyebrow. Johanna snorts as she just leans back on her bed.

"Says the one having teenage make out sessions with her boyfriend. That hickey is not hard to spot." Johanna points out causing Arya to turn a flush red. She doesn't say anything more, just hearing Johanna laugh as she quickly made her way out of the room.

➳❦

ARYA COULDN'T BELIEVE HER EYES WHEN SHE WALKED INTO ONE OF THE MEETING ROOMS. Not only were they talking without her, but they were all laughing too. Slamming the door shut, this caught everyone's attention. "So, you're really planning, huh?" She asks as she places a hand on her hip, giving them a death glare. Ceila looks toward Finnick who seemed the guiltiest of them all.

"Arya, we--" She starts to say but is cut off as Arya just lets out a scoff.

"No, I know what you're doing." Atya responds as she shakes her head. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asks, her gaze more focused on finnick and katniss who she was speaking to less than a few hours ago.

"It wasn't our plan to keep it from you." Katniss denies with a small frown causing Arya to roll her eyes, letting out a humorless laugh.

"Which is exactly what you're doing." Arya points as she glares at her. Matthew was keeping silent, not even knowing what he would say to her since she still didn't know him. If he said something, it probably wouldn't even calm her down.

"We just wanted to get it right before we... we didn't want you to get your hopes up." Xander explains to her and she felt her jaw clench a bit as she met her mentors eyes.

"Xander, you too?" She asks, feeling betrayed to say the least. Katniss just takes a step forward.

"Look, you and Snow have a lot of history and you may have became too hot headed before we actually got out of here." Katniss states. It was just the honest truth. They were going to let her in on the plan once they had set one they just didn't want her acting rash and tearing it all down.

Arya felt like she was going crazy for a moment because Katniss was seriously not calling her hotheaded right now. Was she suddenly not the mockingjay?
"I'm the hotheaded one? Seriously?" Arya asks, starting to think this whole conversation was comical. "I'm not the only one who hates Snow." She points out. Everyone in this room had a solid reason or reasons to want Snow dead.

"But you're the one he personally tortured." Ceila points out. Arya is silent for a second as she just stares at the woman.

"Don't you think that would give me more incentive to want to come up with a plan to kill him?" Arya asks them, crossing her arms against her chest. Katniss sighs as she tilts her head a bit.

"We need this plan to be fool proof because if we get caught--"

"If you wanted it to be fool proof, you probably shouldn't have told Johanna." Arya snaps back at her. She just scoffs, shaking her head as she glares at them before turning and walking out of the room.

Finnick shares a glance with the others before following after her. "Hey." He says as he grabs her hand, pulling her to a stop. Arya clenches her jaw but faces him. "We just want you to be safe, okay?" Finnick tells her. It wasn't that they kept it a secret for a bad reason.

"It's not your problem to keep me safe." Arya denies as she stares at him. She wasn't some damsel who needed saving.

"You told me about your panic attack and I just-- I need you to be one hundred percent, baby. That's all." Finnick admits. It was all in the sense of protecting her and he knew he shouldn't make that choice but he couldn't help it. He wanted to keep her safe.

"You think any of us are a hundred percent?" Arya asks, a bit irritated by his comment. "You think you are?" She raises an eyebrow at him and he lets out a soft sigh. "You should've told me." She says as she stares at him. Not angrily, more disappointed than anything.

"I know." Finnick responds as he gazes down at her. "I know and I'll tell you everything, I promise." He assures her but she just chews her bottom lip to stop tears from forming in her eyes.

"Finn, I let you in because I trusted you. And I thought you trusted me too." Arya says, her voice cracking in the slightest which practically makes Finnick's heart almost stop.

"I do. I assure you, I do." Finnick says as he places his hands on her cheeks. She only gazes up at him. "This is just us all making sure you're okay." He admits as he tilts his head a bit. Arya let's out a sigh.

"And again, I dont--"

"Need you to." He finishes for her as he nods his head. Arya just bites the inside of her cheek. "What's wrong with people looking out for you?" Finnick asks her. He thought she wouldve liked the fact so many people cared for her. But he did understand that sometimes being coddled was all too great. "The plan isn't even good yet so honestly, I saved you the ear ache." He admits as he shrugs his shoulders.

This makes a smile break out onto her face. She tried to stop it but she couldn't. Not when he was looking at her like that. Like she was the only girl in the room.  Arya just rolls her eyes playfully. "You're an idiot." She responds as she leans against his touch. Finnick moves his finger to press it on her nose lightly.

"But I'm your idiot." He tells her. It's silent for a moment, Arya just narrowing her gaze in amusement. "I heard it." Finnick admits with a nod and she just laughs, shaking her head. Finnick smiles back at her before leaning down and softly pressing their lips together.

Arya kisses him back, her hand resting gently on his chest before she is pulling away and resting her head against him, his arms wrapping around her and holding her close.

➳❦

TAKING A SHAKY BREATH, Arya stood next to Haymitch as she stared through the glass. Her fingers were idly pulling at one another as the nerves inside of her only grew greater. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Haymitch's voice came through her ears. Arya felt her eyes leave the window momentarily as she moved her gaze to Haymitch. She hesitated for a second but nodded her head.

"Yeah, I am." Arya responds, feeling her stomach twist. She looks back at the window, her eyes resting on the person inside. Wesley. He was sat in a chair, his hands chained to the table in front of him. "I'm not leaving him again." She denies as she takes another deep breath. Haymitch nods as he places his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be right out here if anything happens, okay?" He tells her and she gives him a small nod before making her way to the door. Arya let her hand hover over the handle for a moment, closing her eyes. She had to do this. She had to know, she had to at least try. Because if she didn't, then she couldn't exactly say she did everything she could to get him back.

Opening the door, Arya barely felt her feet on the floor as she took the first step in. She let the door close behind her as she was consumed by the deafening silence within the room. You could hear so much as a pin drop. The only slight noise was Wesley's breathing but even then, you had to really listen close. Arya clears her throat, not even knowing how to start. She hadnt really thought that far ahead.

"Hi." She says with a soft wave which she internally slapped herself for doing since he wasnt even looking at her. Arya sighs, bringing her hand down and walking further into the room. "I um... I don't know if you remember me." She admits. Arya knew he called her a traitor but was that because he knew her and they changed his memories or he just knew her as an enemy?

"Or like, totally hate me now." She mutters as she fiddles with her fingers. Arya keeps moving over to him, deciding to not show any fear because she didn't have any. She wasn't scared of him. She was not going to give that ounce of control to Snow. She wasn't going to let him make her hate Wesley. So Arya just bends down so she could at least see his face.

"But I'm here, Wes." Arya assures him with the softest smile on her face. Although the hurt in her face was clear as well. "Okay, I'm right here and I'm sorry I wasn't before." She apologizes as she glances down momentarily. "I'm sorry I left you behind. I mean, you pushed me out but still. I could've stayed and fought but instead I ran." She knew the others told her not to blame herself but she couldn't help it. Not when her leaving had caused all of this.

"And now you're here and you're not yourself and that's because of me." Arya states as she nods her head slowly. "Violet doesn't even want to visit you because you're so different and that's because of Snow." She says. She had tried to convince Violet to visit him again but she refused and now barely came out of her room. "Are you really going to let him win like this?" She asks him. If he just stayed like this, if he didn't even talk to his own sister then he was allowing Snow the victory of taking him apart. Of taking him from himself.

"We're all broken." Arya states as she shakes her head, feeling the tears drop down her cheeks. "And trying desperately to put the pieces that he took back to together. But in order to do that we need to lean on each other. We need to, t-to be there for each other." She tells him. She knew how hard it was to have no one you can trust, to find someone who you knew would never hurt you. But she did have people. She let herself trust them. And he needed to do the same.

"And I want to be here for you Wesley, I do. But you need to look at me." She says. She needed to know that he was actually in there, if he was actually hearing a word she said. "Or scream." She states with a scoff. "Do something." Arya pleads. She literally didn't care if he threw the table at this point. Not that he could move with the restraints they had him in. "Anything is better then staring at an empty shell wondering if the person I knew is still in there." She admits, her voice shaky as she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself.

"Wesley." She tries as she leans forward, trying to catch his gaze by bending down a little but his eyes remained on the metal in front of him. "Do you hear me, Wesley?" She pleads, wanting to bring her hand forward and rest it on his but she knew that if she did, the guards would probably drag her out for her own 'protection'. No, Arya wouldn't be surprised if Coin didn't want Wesley to get better.

"If you just stay here, if you don't even try and communicate with us, you'll let Snow win. And Coin will do God knows what and you may never be you again." Arya explains to him as she brings her hands up to her face. She didn't want anyone else to see her vulnerable. She knew people were watching, through the glass, in the cameras. But she would say what she needed to do get him back.

"And I need you to be you. I need you to come back to me because I cannot--- I will not lose somebody else, do you understand me?" Arya says, her voice a bit firm but the amount of pain within it completely overtook any sort of urgency. "And yeah, maybe I'm selfish for saying that, for making this about me but I don't care. Because there are people here that care about you and you're just pushing them all away." She tells him, her jaw clenching as she shakes her head. "So, if you want someone-- if you need somebody to hate then hate me. Not them."  She didn't care anymore. She would rather him hate her then never speak to anyone ever again.

"Even if you don't remember me, take it out on me anyways." Arya states as she firmly nods. She didn't care what he said, what he did, she would take it. If it meant Violet got him back, Johanna, Peeta, she didn't care. She would take it. "Because, god, I can't watch another little girl lose her family. I won't let her lose you." She denies, sniffling as she wipes the tears away from her cheeks. "Because I know how hard it is to lose family. And I will not condition her to the same world that I grew up in." She tells him. Arya didn't know if Wesley was even listening to any of this. She hoped he was.

"Wesley." She says once more, her voice breaking more than it did before. But this time, she wasn't met with the silence she was hit with before, she wasn't staring at a man who's eyes were trained on the table. No, she was staring right back at Wesley who was now looking at her. His eyes glossed over as soft sniffles leave him.

Arya couldn't help but smile, a relief filled laugh leaving her as she stared at the man who had been closed off since he first arrived at thirteen. Who had been ignoring every single person in his life. The one who she believed she would never get back. He was staring right back at her and his eyes weren't void. He wasn't glaring at her with a hateful gaze or screaming at her.

No, his eyes were full of emotion as a tear leaves his eye, slipping down his cheek.

➳❦