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𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 : 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯

i woke up with a start, sitting up immediately and feeling the cold sweat beading on my neck and under my arms. "oh... oh my god." i started to sob uncontrollably into the moist palm of my hands, beginning to breathe heavily. "no, no." i sniffled to myself.

all of a sudden, someone ran through the door, someone i couldn't care to look up to see. they ran to the bed and quickly sat beside me, holding my body and rocking me side-to-side. "it's okay. it's okay. it was just a nightmare. you're here. you're safe." i heard them mumble. it was peeta. he was there. "i'm sorry. i'm sorry." i spoke in hushed sobs. "don't apologize. don't apologize. i get nightmares too." he assured, continuing to rub my arms and rock me softly.

i felt him kiss my head. i was safe.

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hattie woke up in her bed, but didn't sit up. she looked around. it was a dream. it was all a dream. she let out a shuddering breath. of course, it was a dream. yet, she could somehow still feel the lingering touch of peeta's kiss on her head. it was all in her head.

"bad dream?" she looked across from her bed, where cypress laid. he could barely fit the bed, so he had to scrunch his legs up to his stomach. hattie didn't respond, but he just stood up and pulled himself into her bed, pulling the blanket over himself. she let his face be less than a couple inches away from hers. it reminded her of the sleepovers they used to have. though she had the urge to kiss him, she knew she was acting on the emotion of the moment and not her true feelings. he was like a brother to her.

"tell me what's happening... come on, hat', you're my girl. i'm doing this with you. don't leave me in the dark." he whispered to her. it was true. hattie knew it was true. "i'm good at keeping secrets. let me see... i've never told anyone that i was your first kiss." hattie could help but giggle at cypress. "and i was yours !" she smiled. "we were 6. what did you expect?" he smirked. she relaxed back into the bed.

"no one hates my father more than me." she confessed. "i know that. everyone knows that. don't worry. i don't think anyone could beat you." he shrugged. "and i want to help. i want to help so bad. but, if we do win the war, what if he's still alive? how will we really win?" cypress knew who she referred to. "we'll figure it out. we always do. i'll be right here every step." "you should wake up when i have a nightmares more often." she joked in a low voice. "come here," he said.

she pulled her arms around his neck, and he positioned his arms under hers. "get some sleep." he told her. "you first." she felt the vibration in his chest as he laughed.

"nice try."

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"i'm here for whatever you wanna do. you're the mockingjay. it's ultimately your choice."

hattie talked to katniss as she paced and played with the park necklace. "i just wanted to check with you, since, well... you know." katniss said, and the brown skinned girl nodded her head. "yeah, totally,"

katniss looked down to her neck, and sighed. "hattie," she turned her head to the girl. "yeah?" "uh... peeta wanted you to.. have this." katniss slowly pulled the medallion off her neck and offered it to her.

hattie chuckled nervously, "no, it's okay. you can keep it, i already have the pearl, i feel bad—" "he wanted you to have this. i want you to have this. please." it reminded her of the time she had to depart from peeta. pleading danced around in her eyes so desperately that hattie couldn't help but nod in acceptance. "okay, okay. thank you, babe." katniss softly smiled and placed the medallion in hattie's palm. she closed her fingers over the gold medallion, and nodded her head.

katniss felt hattie's afraid aura from yards away. she had never experienced any type of rebellion in her life, nor losing someone so important to her until last year. she was new to this.

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"my mom is going crazy in that room by herself."

"you know she can join us, right? the door opens from the inside just like everyone else's." "i dunno about that. but apparently she's gonna me katniss' escort." hattie nodded with a smirk. "that sounds about right."

they spotted president alma walk out onto her balcony, and they quieted down. "good afternoon. thank you for interrupting your schedules. they have already been adjusted to compensate for the delay. please check in with your unit supervisors when you resume work. i have an announcement for the citizens of 13. and our welcome guests from 12. katniss everdeen has consented to be the face of our cause, to help unite the districts against the capitol, along with the guest-starring of harriet fire."

hattie looked up at cypress, and he was already looking back. "did you—?" "i dunno. i told katniss it was her choice." she shrugged. "in exchange, i have promised several concessions. first, we'll assess all opportunities for the extraction of the victors held hostage in the capitol. peeta mellark..." clamoring began, "johanna mason... and annie cresta. once freed, they will be granted full pardon for any and all crimes committed against the rebel cause." the crowd started to shout in disagreement.

"if katniss everdeen fails to fulfill her duties the deal will be off. thank you for your attention. please, resume your daily schedules." the best friends looked at each other.

"ooh, that's cold." he mumbled.

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"hey, effie !"

hattie quickly walked towards the table where gale, katniss, and effie sat, with cypress trailing after her like a lost puppy. "oh, hello, darling !" effie looked different than she usually did, but hattie recognized this look from most of her childhood, when she would find effie stuck in her bedroom all day, sewing and designing.

"can you believe this place?" she asked the table. "yes, mom, you've told me multiple times." cypress rolled his eyes. "i miss coffee." effie sighed. "preach." hattie agreed, clicking cans with her. "i never knew any place could be so strict. i mean, i thought at least in the higher ranks there'd be some.. side action." effie exclaimed. "mom, not everywhere you go has a fashion show and a makeup team waiting for you." cypress told her. "i wish there was. i miss my wigs. luckily, i remembered that this was all the rage when i was coming up. you know, everything old can be made new again. like democracy." "i seriously cannot see how you two are related, sometimes." hattie mumbled, poking at her food.

"which brings me to this." effie offered her the portfolio case, and katniss took it and opened it. she recognized the designs as— "cinna." katniss let out. "he's dead, isn't he?" he looked around at her friends, and they nodded. "yes, dear." effie answered. "he made plutarch promise not to show you this until you'd decided to be the mockingjay on your own. he knew the risks. as well all do. he believed in this revolution."

"he believed in you." hattie said.

...

a couple minutes later, gale had left, and effie and hattie sat at the table together, alone now. "how's my son?" she asked the young girl. "he's good. he's good. as good as he can be. he's been caring about me a little more than he has about himself." hattie scratched her ear as she spoke, careful to not loosen her piercings. "that sounds like the boy i raised." effie smiled, watching her son and katniss walk away. "yeah. he's my boy." hattie smiled proudly, "he has small crush on katniss." "oh please, darling. even a mother as absent as me knows that."

hattie laughed. though effie was gone a lot due to work, her and cypress maintained a well-done relationship, which hattie became envious of every once in a while. she spent the first 16 years of her life, just with her father, and yet, their relationship is so skewed that it could be a fruit kebab.

effie took another sip of her drink, and stared at her plate. "nice medallion." hattie looked down to her chest, and saw peeta's medallion hanging on her neck. "katniss gave it to me. peeta wanted me to have it if anything bad happened to him." she admitted. effie smiled gracefully, and looked between the two walking away, and her. "find your happiness. let no one stop you." she reached over to hattie's face and caressed it gently.

"i won't, auntie. promise."

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"dude, you're making us late." hattie groaned. "beauty takes time." she turned her head at the voice of her figure of a father. "what's up with the get-up?" she asked, a teasing smile growing on her face. "gotta look good for my debut appearance." "you look fine. come on !" "fine, fine !" he blew into his handkerchief, and hattie patted onto his back. "c'mon, old man."

"people of panem, we fight ! we dare to end this hunger for justice." haymitch started to slowly clap, walking in with hattie following behind. "and that, my friends, is how a revolution dies." he said. "hello, katniss." katniss looked at him, before glancing at hattie. "where'd you find the trash?" "next to the dumpster." hattie played along. "is this how you greet an old friend?" the man asked, looking from the first girl to the next. "no, that's how you greet an old man." hattie joked. he gave her a look. "sorry. did not know this was the mood today." she murmured.

he blew into a handkerchief. "maybe i don't recognize you sober." katniss shot. hattie smiled, holding back a laugh.

"i guess it looked as bad as it feels."

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"people of panem, we fight ! we dare ! we end this hunger for justice !" heroic music played as katniss spoke her lines on the screen, and people cheered. however, the people sitting in the room stayed silent. hattie squinted at the TV, but tried her hide her expressions. katniss glanced over to hattie and looked away. haymitch cleared his throat, "uh, madam president, indulge me for a moment." he stood up, looking to hattie for an indicator. she just raised her eyebrows and pulled her lips into a thin line.

haymitch sighed. "let's everybody think of one incident where katniss everdeen genuinely moved you. not where you were jealous of her hairstyle, or her dress went up in flames or she made a halfway decent shot with an arrow. and not when peeta made you like her. no, i'd like you all to think of one moment where she made you feel something real."

"oh," effie raised her hand, "when she volunteered for her sister at the reaping." "excellent example." haymitch encouraged, wiping the stuff off the TV with his jacket arm. "okay. i hope that wasn't important." hattie put her hand to the bridge of her nose. "uh... okay. 'volunteer for sister'. what else?" "oh. when she sang that song for little... rue." effie slowed her sentence when it came to the name, realizing hattie was in the room.

haymitch looked at hattie from the corner of his eye, looking for some sort of expression to overcome her face. one thing about having the evil president's daughter on your team is you could never quite know her emotions. hattie slowly put a smile on her face, patting katniss' wrist. "i liked that too." katniss looked into hattie's face, and caught onto the idea that it was a forced smile. katniss put her hand over her friends and squeezed it.

"oh, yeah. who didn't get choked up at that?" haymitch said, seeing hattie's reaction was stable. "you know, i like you better, effie, without all that makeup." "well, i like you better sober." effie shot back, and hattie held back a grin to the ground. "when she chose rue as an ally, as well." beetee added. "mmm, yes." effie nodded.

"when i had to say goodbye to her and peeta, i was telling them thank you, and she hugged me. she always seemed to hate me before that point, but right there is when i knew she appreciated me." hattie exclaimed. "oh, yes, that's a good one, hon'." haymitch pointed out, writing that one on the TV as well. "now, what do all these have in common?"

"she was brave." gale said. "mmm, yes, but not quite." haymitch shook his head "it was all unscripted. no one told her to do what she did." cypress answered without any hesitation, playing with his hands. katniss glanced at the boy from the head of the table. he looked up and looked at her, making her eyes fly away when they made contact. "yes. so maybe we should just leave her alone." beetee agreed.

"and wash her face. she's still a girl. you made her look 35." at colonel bogg's statement, hattie couldn't hold it in anymore. she let out a snort before covering her mouth, starting at the floor. effie scoffed. "the opportunities for spontaneity are obviously lacking below ground. so what you're suggesting is we toss her into combat?" plutarch asked

"i can't sanction putting an untrained civilian in battle just for effect. this is not the capitol." president coin denied. "that is exactly what i'm suggesting. put her in the field." haymitch argued. "no, we can't protect her." "it has to come from her. that's what people respond to. you want a symbol for the revolution? she cannot be couched into if. trust me, i know." haymitch said. "hattie is a symbol, too. i mean, she is revolution. she's the presidents daughter and she's sitting here, helping us overthrow the capitol." katniss added.

"but we can't just throw her into combat, she can move anyone, anytime she wants to." haymitch replied. "not if you don't want a machete through the skull. or teary eyes." hattie crossed her arms. "maybe there's some place that's less dangerous." plutarch said. "district 8. they reported heavy bombing last week. there are no military targets left." beetee responded. "we can't guarantee your safety." president coin said. "you'll never be able to guarantee my safety. i wanna go." katniss guaranteed. "and if you're killed?" coin asked.

"make sure you get it on camera."

a / n :
THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 400 VIEWS ! i love you all do much. you know the drill, comment, vote, and take care of yourselves. I LOVE YOU.
xoxo,
mel 💋