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ARYA SAT AGAINST THE WALL, resting her head against Peeta's which laid on her shoulder. She could hear his soft breaths as he slept. Her eyes moved around the room, seeing everyone in a peaceful slumber. Until she landed on Finnick who was beside her, his eyes simply on the ground. A small frown forms on her lips which she instantly covers with a smile as she moves her chin to rest on his shoulder instead.

He turns his head slightly, meeting her eyes and she only leans a bit more in to plant a kiss on his exposed skin. "Hi." She says gently and Finnick lifts his hand to brush a strand of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"Hi." He responds, his eyes analyzing her for a moment, his thumb running over her bottom lip before ultimately pulling it away, his eyes still on hers though.

"What are you thinking about?" She wonders, although she had a clue that he was still thinking back to the tunnels. Hell, she couldn't stop thinking about them.

"Nothing." Finnick denies, glancing away from her. Arya bites the inside of her cheek as she squeezes his hip, tilting her head a bit.

"Finn, please don't blame yourself." Arya pleads, the frown making it's way back onto her face even though she was trying to force it away. But instead of seeing pain in his eyes or hurt splash across his face, she's only met with a teasing smirk.

"Always worrying about me, aren't you, Princess?" Finnick asks her, his eyes meeting hers once more and Arya clicks her tongue, simply raising her eyebrows.

"You know, this cocky behavior is the reason it took you years to get me." Arya retorts, resting back against the wall.

"You were just immune to my charm."

"And what charm was that exactly?" Arya asks, her words coming out slightly lengthened as she narrows her gaze.

"You would've fallen all over me if it wasn't for your little revenge fantasy." Finnick suggests and Arya scrunches up her nose as she giggles lightly.

"Right, right. Because that's totally how it would've turned out. You flirting, me batting my eyelashes at your cute dimples and handsome face and bam, I would've fallen right for your spell."

"See, it's only the truth, gorgeous." Finnick points out as he lifts her jaw lightly with his finger.

"You're such a loser." Arya mutters as she rolls her eyes playfully and he only boops her nose, a smirk on his lips.

"I'm your loser, though." He responds and Arya laughs a bit. Of course he made that into a thing after she made fun of him for calling himself her idiot.

"Don't know if i want to be with the bottom of the barrel. Doesn't look too well for my bad girl image." Arya says with a dramatic sigh and Finnick snorts, raising an eyebrow.

"Your what image?"

"Don't forget how I put a knife to your throat, pretty boy." Arya teases, moving closer to him and Finnick chuckles lowly as his eyes flicker down to her lips for a moment.

"And it was insanely hot." Finnick admits and Arya can't help but bite her bottom lip as she gazes at him.

"Oh, was it? Who knew you had a knife kink." She points out and she could see the way his eyes darkened lightly. And if they were anywhere else, if they were alone, he would have her coming undone for him in a millisecond.

"Would you two just make out already? Anything is better than listening to this." Peeta grumbles from his place beside them, his head still nuzzled against Arya.

"How thoughtful of you, Peeta." She retorts bluntly after he ruined the moment, her eyes moving to him. He lifts his head, his tired gaze meeting theirs.

"I love you both, I do. But I'd rather offer myself to a mutt than listen to this for one more second." Peeta admits and that was saying a lot seeing as they were all almost mauled by them.

"So your love is conditional?" Arya asks, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"If you continue talking it is." Peeta states, narrowing his gaze and she only rolls her eyes.

"Whatever, just go smooch katniss." She tells him and the red tint on his cheek forms as he looks away from them. "Aww, look at his little blush." Arya teases, moving her hand to pinch his cheek but he slaps it away.

"Stop!" He grumbles in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake the others. "You two are definitely right for each other cause you're both annoying as shit." Peeta accuses and Finnick furrows his eyebrows.

"I didn't even say anything." He retorts, not getting why he was getting grouped with Arya.

"Language, Peeta." Arya teases, tilting her head and Peeta simply glares toward her.

"Who are you, my mother?"

"Someone has to be." Arya retorts and Peeta's jaw goes slack for a moment as he narrows his gaze.

"That's just low." He says, pointing his finger at her before letting out a scoff. "At least i had one." Peeta tells her and Arya raises her eyebrows.

"I'd rather a dead mother than yours." She admits and she knew Peeta would agree with her but not actually say it. His mother never treated him right and it was actually kind of sad.

"Maybe that's why you lack manners." Peeta grumbles back to her and Arya let's out a humourless laugh, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Oh, i lack manners? You're the one badmouthing."

"How about you put finnicks dick in your mouth, that outta shut you up." Peeta states and Arya was actually shocked, her mouth dropping a bit as she stared at him. But she was impressed, she was not expecting something like that from him. Finnick only dramatically gasps as he shakes his head accusingly at Arya.

"My god, she has corrupted my sweet innocent peeta." Finnick says, wiping away a fake tear while Arya rolls her eyes.

"Peeta was never innocent." She scoffs out.

"Excuse me, I've always been a good boy." Peeta says in a tone, placing his hand on his chest. Arya gets a smirk as a thought crosses her mind.

"Is that what katniss calls you in bed?" She retorts and Peeta instantly looked like a deer in headlights. Arya gasps, her eyes widening as the boy was turning bright red. "It is!" Arya all but screams, disturbing the others and peeta was quick to cover her mouth with his hand.

"I'm walking away." Peeta hushes at them, a playful glare on his face as he moves to the otherside of the room. Arya only smiles to herself as she watches him slide down the wall, closing his eyes but not before sticking up the middle finger in their direction.

➳❦

TIGRIS WANDERED DOWN THE STAIRS, having heard something and wondered if it was one of them needing something. But as she scans the room, she noticed Arya sitting on the ledge of the window, it cracked open in the slightest. A sigh leaves her lips as she simply places her lantern down, walking over to the woman. "You shouldn't be near the window." She denies, earning Arya's attention. She seemed tired but Tigris knew she most likely couldn't fall asleep.

"I just needed some air." Arya admits as she had her head rested against the wood. Tigris glances around before shutting the window and taking Arya's hand in her own.

"Come with me, dear." Tigris says, bringing the woman out into the backyard, making a small fire near the logs and sitting down in one of the chairs. Arya sits in the other as she just takes a deep breath, resting her head in her hands. "I'm glad you're alive, Arya." She admits and Arya looked toward the woman.

"I thought Snow would've killed you honestly. Since you told me... things you shouldn't have." Arya was honestly relieved when she saw the woman. It had been so long since the last met and having not heard from her, it had been worrying.

"I wish he had." Tigris's voice made Arya want to beat Snow for everything he had ever done to her. "Death is kinder than the life he gave me." She admits and Arya chews her lip as she fiddles with her fingers.

"Has he always been like this?" Arya had never really asked, thinking it was too personal to bombard Tigris with questions. "If it's too much for you to think back on.."

"No, no, it's all right." She denies with a small shake of her head. "I thought he wasn't." Tigris truly believed she knew her cousin, what he was capable of, what he wasnt. "His father was a cruel man, one of the reasons the hunger games started in the first place. I never believe coryo was like that, I thought he was a sweet boy." She explains to her, her eyes darkening a bit. "Turns out that's just who I wanted him to be." Her preconceived notion of what she wanted had flooded her sight and didn't allow her to see the real him until it was too late.

"A man willing to kill the woman he claimed to love is never good." Arya denies with a small scoff.

"That wasnt the only supposed loved one he killed either."

"Sejanous." Arya says with a small frown. She remembered when Tigris talked about him. It was saddening hearing about how he was alienated from his district and only died because he was trying to help people.

"Peeta reminds me a lot of him." Tigris states and Arya can't help but smile a little. "But Coryo threw that all away for power. Everything he did was calculated, every person he supposedly loved only to manipulate was just some part of his plot." She adds and Arya looks at the ground.

"I know he's done so many awful things, he's a monster..." she trails off for a moment, taking a deep breath. "But will you miss him? He is still your family." It was a curious question. No matter what he did, she was still his cousin, she had still loved him at one point.

"I stopped thinking about him as family a long time ago." Tigris informs her and although she hated Snow, she did feel bad for Tigris. She lost the one part of her family that she had left. "I think part of me will mourn the innocent little boy I once knew. But the man he turned into? No one will mourn him." She denies with a shake of her head.

"Do you think if Lucy Gray came back, maybe it would've changed things?" Arya always wondered what could've developed if Lucy Gray hadn't disappeared for all these years. Would it have maybe shifted Snow away from what he had done, or would it have made no difference?

"Truthfully, i don't." Tigris wanted to believe that Lucy Gray brought out the best in her cousin but that was the thing, you shouldn't need somebody to tell you that the things you are doing are wrong. "He would've killed her the moment she showed her face again. The love he supposedly had, the man who fought for her to win the games, who cheated for it to happen... the moment she left is when there was no redemption for him." Maybe if she had stayed. Maybe if she had somehow convinced him before he had committed such terrible acts, but again, her cousin had a twisted mind. And that could not be mended.

"You think if she had stayed, he could've been saved?"

"I don't know." Tigris lets out a small sigh. "No one ever really knew what he thought." She admits. Even she never knew what went through his mind and she grew up with him. "But if he was able to let his best friend die while she was with him.... she would've been killed regardless if she fled or not." Tigris states, remembering how Sejanous was horrifically hung because of Snow's own actions

"You think she's really still out there?" Arya asks, her eyes floating to the emptiness of the space in front of her for a moment.

"I do." Tigris couldn't help but smile lightly as she nodded. "Sometimes I think I see her, hear her voice within the meadows." She states, her eyes moving to Arya. "Her voice really was beautiful." She still remembered it even though it had been so long ago since the tenth hunger games which changed everything.

"Maybe once he's dead, she'll come back."

"I hope she found happiness, wherever she ended up." Tigris admits, smiling as she thought of Lucy Gray before her gaze moved to Arya. "And I'm glad you found it too." She adds and Arya couldnt help but turn red as she stares down at her hands.

"Is it that obvious?" Arya asks, a soft laugh leaving her lips and Tigris gently nudges her arm.

"That boy was in love with you long before you batted any eye to him." Tigris points out. She watched the man fail for years, and although provided entertainment for her, she knew they'd find there way to each other eventually. "Although, I was sure you would've killed him in the arena." She teases with a wink.

"Oh, i wanted to, mainly because he got on my nerves." Arya says with a small scoff, crossing her arms.

"You know what they say." Tigris sing songs and Arya closes her eyes, scrunching up her nose as she laughs, not even needing to hear Tigris finish her sentence.

"Is it even possible to be happy in the world we live in?" Arya questions, glancing out at the moonlit sky.

"I hope it will be." Tigris responds, her eyes moving toward the fire in front of them. "Once my cousin is gone, things should finally go back to the way they once were. Living in peace and harmony." She says with a nod. She believed it would've been like that with Coryo, but then she learned his true motives behind everything. She noticed the hesitancy on Arya's face. "You don't agree?" Tigris asks her.

"Coin worries me. She has alterior motives, Tigris, i just know it." Arya tells the woman who nods her head slowly. Tigris didn't want to admit it, she didn't want another Snow brewing in the darkness but she knew Arya was right.

"A lot of the things she says do strike me as odd." Tigris states with a small sigh before taking Arya's hand in her own. "If you have a gut instinct about something, follow it. I'll support you in whatever decision you make." She assures her. Arya can't help but smile back at her, glad that she had Tigris by her side and not just now, but for years.

"Thank you. For what you did for me." Arya knew she should be grateful toward Tigris. If it wasn't for her, she wouldn't have gotten to this point. She most likely would've been sucked into the capitol void by now.

"You got yourself to this point, Arya. Be proud of yourself." Tigris wasn't going to take any of the credit. She was a strong woman and had fought her way through hell to get where she was today.

"Can i ask a favour?" Arya asks her curiously and Tigris furrows her eyebrows but nods her head almost instantly.

"Anything."

"Can you tell finnick that we're friends? Because he doesn't believe me and he keeps saying i don't have any when frankly, he's way less likable." Arya explains and Tigris couldn't help but laugh. She knew the two had a history of bickering and it's somehow heartwarming that there were still elements of it within their relationship as well.

"You two are truly made for each other." Tigris says with a bright smile on her face which made it's way into her eyes. Arya blushes as she looks away from the woman, fiddling with her fingers.

She had never believed in soul mates, and when she did, she believed that Nova was hers. But the thing about soul mates is that sometimes, you can have more than one. And Finnick Odair definitely took one of those spots.

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