➳❦

FINNICK WATCHES AS ARYA JUST STARES AT HER HANDS. The others were eating what they found in the apartment, making sure to keep their energy up but it didn't seem like she was partaking in it which worried him. "You gotta eat something, sweetheart." Finnick tells her, holding out what he had in his hand. Arya bites the inside of her cheek as she slightly shakes her head.

"I'm not really hungry." She denies, playing with the string on her shirt. Finnick sighs as he tilts his head.

"You gotta keep your energy up, okay?" He didn't want her falling down somewhere because she hadnt eaten. He holds up the food yet again. "Just one bite." Finnick gazes at her and Arya was hesitant but took a bite, chewing it slowly.

"You're not gonna feed me?" Peeta teases, putting on a pout.

"Oh, how rude of me." Finnick responds, chucking a piece of the food toward the man who playfully gasps, acting offended. His eyes move back to Arya who had only went back to staring at her hands.

"Everything okay?" Finnick asks quietly, wondering what was going on with her.

"Yeah." She mutters, chewing her bottom lip.

"Maybe you should get some rest." He suggests.

"I'm fine." Arya says, forcing a smile onto her face. Finnick knew she was lying but didn't push it, instead just sitting beside her silently.

The screen in front of them comes on, showing their names as if they were still in the arena. Arya rolls her eyes a bit. It was ironic how they were seeing their apparent 'death' montage. Finnick chuckles to himself when his name comes up and Arya just nudges him slightly.

The smirk only falters when Snow pops up on the screen. "So, katniss everdeen, poor unstable girl with nothing but a small talent with a bow and arrow is dead. Not a thinker, not a leader. Simply a face plucked from the masses. Was she valuable? She was extremely valuable to your rebellion. Because you have no vision. No true leader among you. You call yourself an alliance, but we saw what that means. Your soldiers are at each other's throats." Snow states and Arya just rests her head back against the wall.

"Is it bad that I'm bit disappointed I wasn't mentioned? I thought we had a real bond." Arya says sarcastically and Finnick snorts, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah, it's such a tragedy." He agrees, resting his hand on her knee. The feed cuts out and Coin replaces Snow on the screen making Arya let out a long groan.

"For those of you that don't know me, please allow me to introduce myself. I am president alma coin, leader of the rebellion."

"Boo." Arya throws a piece of brick toward the screen, it hitting the floor since it was just a hologram making everyone laugh a bit.

"I have interrupted a broadcast from your president in which he attempted to defame a brave young woman. A face picked from the masses, he called her. As if a leader, a true leader could he anything else." Coin explains and Arya couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I had the privilege of knowing a small town girl from the seam in district twelve. Who survived the hunger games and the quarter quell. Who rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an army. Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of this revolution. She will not have died for nothing." She denies and Katniss let's out a small scoff.

"I had no idea I meant so much to her." Katniss mumbles, seeing that Coin was clearly just using her to make herself look good.

"Do you think anyone's actually buying the crocodile tears?" Finnick asks, shaking his head.

"I just know Johanna is cracking up right now." Arya tells him and Finnick smirks lightly.

"Her vision and ours will be realized. A free panem, with self determination for all and in her memory, we will all find the strength to rid panem of its oppressors. Thank you and be safe."

"Snows in his mansion. Where is that?" Katniss asks as she gets up to walk over to the hologram map. Cressida stands beside her.

"That's us. That's the city circle. It's at least seventy, seventy five blocks north." Cressida analyzes and Finnick tilts his head back a bit.

"Seventy five blocks?" Finnick asks with a small scoff and Arya just rests her chin on his shoulder.

"And you can carry me on your back for seventy of that." Arya suggests making finnick raise an eyebrow as he glances back at her.

"In your dreams." He responds making her just narrow her gaze as she places a hand on her hip.

"Um, you're supposed to be a good boyfriend and say yes." Arya says as she holds onto his hand. Finnick smiles gently as he just shakes his head.

"And how am I supposed to protect us with you on my back?" Finnick questions while she just bites the inside of her cheek.

"Multitask?" Finnick rolls his eyes playfully as he just listens back to what the group were saying.

"Nobody knows we're alive. This is our chance." Katniss points out. "These buildings, do these look over Snow's gardens?" She asks as she points toward the map.

"I-" Cressida starts to say.

"They do." Castor and Arya cut her off before glancing toward each other.

"If he goes outside at all I can get a clear shot." Katniss tells them with a nod of her head.

"We're getting ahead of ourselves here. Whether they're looking for us or not, we are pinned down." Jackson points out with a sigh. "Hit that button, scan for pods." She tells katniss who does what she says. The dots appear on the hologram and there were more than expected.

"Just about every ten steps." Homes states causing Arya to run a hand over her face.

"That doesn't even show the new ones." Gale adds.

"So, we can't go anywhere in the streets." Finnick denies, his hand moving to Aryas waist, giving a comforting squeeze. She smiles gently at him as he holds her against himself.

"And the rooftops are just as bad." Jackson tells them and pollux turns to his brother, signing something to him and Castor seemed to be interested as his eyes widen.

"There may be another way." Castor tells them, catching everyone's attention.

➳❦

WALKING THROUGH THE TUNNELS, Arya glances toward Matthew who was beside her. They hadnt really talked much and although she didnt remember the friendship they had, it was clear that didnt stop him from always being there for her. "Matthew." She says softly, catching the man's attention. He glances at her, looking down at the woman who was almost like a daughter to him.

"Hm?"

"I never thanked you for what you did." Arya admits, fiddling with her fingers as she walks beside him. "Saving my life back there." She adds, referencing pulling her away from the black sludge before it could swallow her whole.

"Oh, no big deal." Matthew denies. He didn't think he ever had to be thanked for something like that. Mainly because he felt it was his job to look after her.

"I really am trying, you know." Arya tells him, frowning just a bit. "To remember you." She did want to understand why he would risk his life so much for her. She did want to feel that bond that was so clearly formed between them.

"I know."

"I just don't know how to. How to get those memories back, you know?" She explains to him and Matthew sighs a bit.

"Maybe you won't." Matthew says with a shrug of his shoulders. "But that's okay, cause we can just form new ones." He tells her, smiling down at the woman. He would love for her to regain her memories but even if that didn't happen, she was still here with him and new memories could be formed.

"I'd like that." Arya admits as she nods her head. Matthew saw her smile back at him and he was grateful she started opening back up to him.

"You seem really happy." Matthew tells her, having seen just how much Finnick had an affect on her.

"Really? I seem happy to be going through a death trap?" She asks with a small laugh, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I just mean with Finnick." He corrects. Arya glances toward the man in question for a split second.

"Oh, yeah. I am."

"I'm glad." Matthew knew he was hard about it at first, but he just wanted to make sure that Finnick truly had feelings for her. He believed he was actually the Capitol player until he truly got to know him. "I'm glad you allowed yourself to find love again." He admits and Arya smiles softly back at him.

"I know she'd want me to." Arya responds. Nova would always be with her no matter what. And she knew that nova would've adored finnick. Sometimes Arya wondered if she had sent him to her.

"They all would." Matthew adds and he can see the pain that briefly forms in her eyes as she thinks of her family.

"Have you?" Arya asks, changing yhe subject off of herself. Matthew furrows his eyebrows. "Found love?" She elaborates and he chuckles lightly.

"I don't think it's in the cards for me." He states with a shake of his head.

"Really? Ciela seems to find you cute." Arya teases, smirking lightly and she could see a hint of a blush form on his cheeks.

"Does she?"

"Mhm." She just hums, narrowing her gaze as she tries to analyze his reaction.

"Let me guess, as soon as this is over, you're gonna set us up on a double date." Matthew says, already knowing where her mind was going.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Arya says with a sly smirk on her lips. Matthew rolls his eyes playfully as he just shakes his head. But he was glad she was talking to him again and allowing the trust to flood back in. Even if she still didn't remember him, it was nice to have her by his side again.

➳❦

MAKING THEIR WAY DOWN THE LADDER, they step into the tunnels that carry the train tracks through the capitol. "My brother knows these tunnels really well. He worked sanitation down here, right after they made him an avox." Castor explains to them. Arya glances toward Pollux. She remembered seeing him a few times before he completely disappeared. Seems this is where they had moved him to.

"Took us five years to buy his way out of here. He didn't see the sun once." He adds and Arya frowns, glancing down at the ground.

"And some people still want Snow in power." Xander says as he shakes his head.

"Most don't know what truly goes on." Arya says. It was the unfortunate truth. A lot of the people in the Capitol didn't know the true horrors that happened behind closed doors. Yes, some were accomplices, but others were merely innocent bystanders.

They walk through the tunnels, Arya taking in the area looking for any threats that could be of harm to them. "Sweetheart, stay beside me, okay?" Finnick says, seeing her wandering a but far ahead. Arya slows down a bit, smirking at her boyfriend.

"Wanting to be my knight in shining Armour, finnick?" She asks in a playful tone, sending him a wink.

"Please, you don't need that." Finnick denies, laughing a bit as he moves his hand to the small of her back momentarily. A train in the distance makes them run toward one of the walls in order to hide from it as it passes.

"We're too exposed here." Katniss says, not liking how they could easily be seen if there wasn't another wall to hide behind. Pollux glanced around before leading them to a door which had another ladder to lead them underneath the tracks instead.

Katniss takes an arrow, shooting it down the tunnel so that the flame lit it uo a bit. "Looks clear." Katniss tells them but suddenly air hisses making them all gasp and duck down.

"Everyone okay?" Jackson asks the group who all give a chorus of yeses. Arya sighs as they move through the dark water. She tried not to think about what could potentially be in it.

They eventually make their way to a clearing, a small room that was out of the cool water. "All right everybody, we're gonna stop here and get some rest, yeah?" Jackson suggests, knowing they needed to conserve their energy. "I'll take first watch." She says, setting down her gear.

"Hey peeta, just tuck in there." Finnick says, pointing to a small area. Peeta moves over to it, sitting down, Arya following in toe. She lets out a sigh as her eyes move to him.

"You good?" She asks him curiously and he offers a small smile as he nods his head.

"You?"

"Im fantastic." Arya states, resting her head back and Peeta snorts, smirking back at her.

"That wasn't sarcastic at all." Peeta retorts and Arya narrows her gaze.

"Sarcasm? Never." Arya denies firmly and Peeta rolls his eyes but laughs a bit. She smiles at him before resting her head against his shoulder and deciding to let her body recover a bit from all the energy it lost throughout their eventful day.

➳❦

FINNICK RESTS BESIDE ARYA WHO WAS SIMPLY SAT AGAINST THE WALL, fiddling with her fingers. "It's nice seeing you talking with everybody." He tells her, making her glance toward him, seeing the soft smile that was on his lips. "Even before thirteen, you were so reserved." He teases a bit, winking at the woman who narrows her gaze playfully.

"You calling me stuck up?" Arya asks him, raising an eyebrow toward the man who seemed to want to take it back right away.

"Kept together." He corrects himself, not wanting to face the wrath.

"Hm." She simply hums, looking him over slowly before moving her gaze to the others. "I honestly didn't think I'd see Xander again. I owe him an unpayable debt." Arya admits and Finnick simply nods his head.

"For being your mentor?"

"It's definitely not an easy task." Arya denies. Being a mentor was definitely a gruesome and terrifying job. Because you have no idea if you are actually helping the tributes or just sending them into the arena to die.

"That it is not. I couldn't imagine trying to train you. The nightmare." Finnick says with a gasp and Arya hits his arm harshly.

"You were literally fourteen, you probably had mood swings left and right." She adds, not about to let him make fun of her.

"But I made up for it with my charm and skills." Finnick retorts and Arya covers her mouth as she laughs, causing finnick to narrow his gaze at her.

"Oh, whatever." She mutters, rolling her eyes in a playful manner. "Charm, my ass." Arya teases as finnick crosses his arms against his chest.

"You think I don't have charm?" Finnick accuses and Arya meets his eyes again, analyzing his features for a moment.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you kissed me six years after we met." Arya states bluntly and Finnick scoffs.

"You were probably swooning way before that." He interjects and Arya shakes her head.

"In your dreams."

"Yeah, those too." Finnick winks, his gaze running over her for a moment. Arya blushes gently, glancing away from him. Finnick just takes his thumb and nudges on her chin, bringing her eyes back to his own.

Leaning in, he presses a kiss to her lips. Arya melts against him, her hand moving to his cheek as she deepens it ever so slightly. "Ew, keep your mushy stuff over there." Peeta's voice interrupts them causing them to pull apart.

"Aw, you want some kisses too, Peeta?" Finnick asks, moving over to him before peeta could have a chance to really defend himself.

"Get off of me." Peeta grumbles as he tries to push back a laughing Finnick while Arya just smiles at the both of them. "Stop!" He groans but he couldn't help but laugh as well as Finnick continues his assault.

Arya shakes her head as she watches her boyfriend and bestfriend together. Almost forgetting the imminent danger that they were in and the fact that they had been through so much together. It almost seemed peaceful in this moment. If only it could stay this way.

➳❦

HEARING A EERY SOUND, Arya opens her eyes, looking around the darkened area. She could see katniss making her way toward the tunnel entrance as Peeta watches her closely. Arya furrows her eyebrows, glancing around and seeing no one else was awake yet. "Whats going on?" Arya asks quietly, catching peetas attention as he turns his head to look at her.

"I don't know." He denies, moving closer to the edge as Katniss grabs an arrow for her bow. Arya frowns, turning to finnick who still seemed to be sleeping.

"Finnick?" Shs says, shaking him a bit and he furrows his eyebrows, his eyes fluttering open.

"Hm?" Finnick hums, wondering what she needed. But seeing the fear on her face, it immediately made him awake as he sat up, glancing around the area.

"Katniss?" Peeta calls out, trying to see what she was looking at. They suddenly hear a screech causing everyone to now be on alert.

"What is that?" Jackson asks, wondering the same question as everyone else. But peeta seemed terrified, quickly getting up from where he was sitting.

"We've gotta go, we've gotta get out right now!" Peeta says, trying to get everyones attention. "They released mutts!" He tells them and Aryas eyes widen as they all jump up from where they were.

"Pollux, what's the fastest way out?" Katniss asks him and Pollux instantly starts leading them back into the tunnels. Gale stops him shortly, shooting a flaming arrow down the corridor. Arya flinches, half expecting to see a creature jumping at them but luckily there was nothing.

Finnick was right beside her, his hand gripping his trident as the other holds her hand. Turning the corner, Gale shoots yet another arrow, showing it was clear. Looking at the small gap through the wall beside them, he gestures for them to go through it.

One by one, they climb through, getting to the other side. Arya jumps down into the water, finnicks hands carefully around her waist to steady her. Jackson was the last one but she stopped briefly, glancing behind her. Narrowing her gaze, she moves to start climbing through when suddenly she freezes.

Turning around once more, she is met by about half a dozen mutts, all of them jumping onto her. Katniss quickly shoots a flaming arrow through the hole to hopefully stop the others from coming through. Arya backs up against finnick as they could hear the sickening noises coming from the creatures.

"Come on! Pollux lead us out of here!" Castor shouts as they rush through the tunnels but as soon as they turn the corner, mutts jump onto Castor, pulling him into the water.

"Castor!" Homes screams as pollux watches in horror as his brother gets eaten. Arya quickly grabs them, pulling them the other way.

"Fall back!" Gale shouts and they all run down the tunnels, not even knowing where they were going anymore. But as Arya turns, she was met with even more mutts coming toward them.

"Shit!" She quickly backs up, leading them in yet another direction.

"They're coming!" Peeta announces as they could hear the pouncing of the water behind them getting ever so closer.

"Through here!" Cressida says, leading them into an open room with a ladder near one of the walls. "Everyone get up the ladder now!" She tells them, knowing it was their one chance to escape.

It was complete madness as the mutts close in behind them. Arya could barely blink without seeing one of them. Using her spear, she fights off as many as she can as they try and make their way to the ladder. Everyone was everywhere, getting dragged into the water left and right. Arya didn't know where anyone was, it was just a blind mess. The only person she could clearly see was Xander and just as her eyes lay on him, a mutt jumps on him.

"Xander!" Arya screams, rushing over to where he was but Xander was quick to stab the mutt repeatedly as it held him under the water. He sits up, breathing the air that surrounded him.

"I'm good!" He assures her, coughing up some of the water that had entered his lungs. Arya was suddenly struck from behind, falling down into the sharp rock in front of her. She could feel one of the mutts stick their teeth into her causing her to scream.

"Arya!" Matthew shouts but finnick was quick to kill the one on top of her, helping her up out of the water. Arya clings to him, wincing as she feels the blood leaving the wound. She wasn't able to hold onto her weapon, it dropping into the water below.

"I got her!" Finnick assures him, holding her close as he tries to fend off the mutts still coming into the room. Matthew had made his way over to them, helping keep the mutts away.

"There's too many!" Xander says, noticing the others were already making their way up the ladder and knowing they needed to get out of there quick.

"We need to go, now!" Matthew states, tightening his hand around his spear. "Get her up there, finnick." He demands and finnick was confused, seeing the man not moving along with the others.

"What about you?" Finnick asks him, not about to leave him behind, especially with how many mutts were coming.

"I'm right behind you." Matthew says, not giving him a moment to say anything more as he turns and fights off those coming close to them. Finnick clenches his jaw, his eyes moving around before landing on Xander.

"Xander, get her up." He tells the man, handing Arya over to him. Xander looked a bit confused.

"What are you gonna do?" Xander questions, although he was sure it would involve a stupid plan that would ultimately get him killed which is what no one needed.

"I'm not leaving him by himself." Finnick denies. Xander wanted to argue but Arya was barely standing and he couldn't risk her getting hurt again. So he begrudgingly made his way to the ladder, helping Arya up so she could get with the others.

"Arya, are you okay?" Peeta asks, his eyes wide as he sees the blood seeping from her side and she weakly nods her head.

"I'm okay." Arya assures him. She was alive, that much she could say. "Where's finnick?" She asks as she looks at them, not seeing the man among them. They all share a glance with each other.

"He's still down there." Cressida tells her and her eyes go wide. She moves back over to the ladder, seeing the man still in the water, making his way over to Matthew.

"Finnick!" She shouts, trying to get his attention but it didn't seem like he could hear her. Finnick kicks one of the mutts off of Matthew making the man glare over at him.

"What are you doing?" Matthew asks him, clearly not impressed with the way he was still down here instead of up the ladder with everyone else.

"Saving your ass." Finnick snaps back, both of them fighting off the mutts together.

"Get the fuck up there, now!" Matthew demands, not about to let Arya lose him because finnick seemed to not want to leave anyone behind. But before either could do anything else, a mutt jumps from above, knocking finnick down into the water.

"Finnick!" Arya screams, a gasp leaving her lips. "Katniss, shoot an arrow, do something!" She pleads and katniss goes to do that, only to find no arrows to pull on.

"I'm all out!" Katniss tells them, fear in her voice as they watch Finnick try his best to get the Mutts off of him.

"Guys, come on, you can make it!" Xander shouts, trying to look around for anything that could help them.

"Give me the spear." Arya says as she holds her hand out to Xander who looks at her like she was crazy.

"Arya, no!" Katniss denies, not being the only one who disliked the idea of her going back down there.

"They've got him, katniss! I have to get to him." She screams back, trying to get to the ladder but katniss was quick to hold her back.

"You'll get yourself killed!" Katniss states but Arya didn't care. She wasn't going to let Matthew or finnick go out like this.

"Let me go!" Arya pleads as more mutts make their way over to finnick. But as the man was about to be overthrown by them, Matthew throws his spear at the one directly on top of finnick, allowing him to move slightly.

Running over, he tackles the other into the water which causes Finnicks eyes to go wide. "Matthew!" Finnick shouts as he gets up quickly. He watches as Matthew gets bitten in the arm, earning a strangled scream from the man. But finnick had no weapon anymore, nothing to fight off the countless mutts that were coming.

"Run!" Matthew tells him, knowing that only one of them was going to make it out of this and he wasn't the one that Arya needed the most, it was finnick. But finnick hesitated, tears in his eyes as he desperately wanted to find any solution to save the man. "Go!" He screams, still trying to fight off the mutts.

Finnick internally fights with himself before turning and rushing over to the ladder. He could hear Matthew's pained shouts as the mutts completely cover him. "No!" Arya screams as she tries to get to the ladder. Finnick instantly engulfs her in his arms, holding her close as they watch the mutts rip against Matthew's skin.

"Arya!" They could hear the muffled scream through all the horrible noises coming from those monsters. And it's like that specific tone registered something deep down inside of Arya.

As she watches the man slowly perish, her mind swirls of all these sudden memories, flashing in and showing her all the moments that she had with the man. "I do remember you." Her words were almost nonexistent, her voice cracking as the screams become like background noise as she disassociates near the ladder.

Katniss was staring at her, her eyes full of remorse and pain, having been the only one who had heard her. She grabs the hollow from beside her, her gaze turning to the numerous mutts down below, not even being able to see Matthew anymore.

"Nightlock. Nightlock. Nightlock." Katniss drops the hollow down into the sewers, causing an explosion and the horrid screams come to a stop. Arya simply stares down at the flames, the tears flowing down her cheeks as her ears ring.

He was gone. The only family she had left. The one person who connected her to the people she had lost. The one who had seen her grow up and was one of the reasons she made it to where she was today. And she didn't even remember him until this moment.

Until this final moment where he was taken away from her just like everyone else in her life. Because of power. Because of greed. Because of Snow.

Because of her.

➳❦

Authors note; sorry for the belated chapter! I promise I'll keep updating this book at frequently as I can. I was debating on also killing Gale here but I have a more satisfying death I think. five more chapters left until the prequel starts.