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𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 : 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴
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hattie sat beside katniss' bed with cypress next to her, kissing both of their cheeks before leaving to talk to beetee. katniss laid asleep, until the sudden noise of the white curtain being pushed to the side. "well, there she is. the mockingjay." "jesus, johanna. scared the shit out of me." hattie sighed. "of course, wherever katniss is, hattie magically appears. but who is this yummy treat?" johanna caught cypress by his black tie, pulling him close to her. he wore a white button up with a brown cardigan and slack jeans for his long legs.

"johanna, that's my best friend, cypress. he's effie's kid." johanna looked him up and down. "nice to... meet you?" cypress said, ending the sentence as if it was a question. "mmm... effie's kid? boy, would i like to eff something." johanna said. "okay, i think it's time for me to go. bye. bye." he ran back and kissed hattie's cheek again, then katniss', before starting to leave. "what? nothing for me?" johanna stopped him. he hesitated, before pecking her cheek and running out.

"ah, squeezing them until fear oozes out is just amazing, isn't it?" johanna smiled. "i just know when you grow old all young men are going to be terrified of you. they already are." hattie told the bald girl. "oh, hattie, that speech you gave. oh, man, feel. i mean, i still have goosebumps." johanna complimented the girl, sitting onto katniss' bed and stealing the IV out of her arm.

"don't mind, do you? they cut off my supply of morphling. there's this head doctor that comes in and sees me every day, trying to help me adjust to reality." "oh, yeah, cause that's helping real well." hattie sarcastically remarked. "it's like some guy from this rabbi's warren, thinks he knows anything about my reality." johanna continued, sparing glances at hattie as she talked to katniss.

"at least 20 times in a session, he tells me i'm totally safe." "no one is ever totally safe." hattie commented. "exactly ! like i'm safe from the capitol. safe from snow. what about you, mockingjay, fire? you feeling totally safe?" oddly, hattie hadn't felt totally safe until johanna appeared. "'till i got shot." katniss answered. "i'm doing just fine." hattie replied, obviously lying.

"oh, please." johanna told katniss, "the bullet didn't even touch you. cinna saw to that. of course, your costume would be bulletproof, like hattie's over here." effie had made hattie her costume. it wasn't as sleek as katniss', but it was sure damn close. instead of black. it was a deep pink that reminded hattie of spider-man. a superhero that only lived in another reality. silly powers, but a good life lesson here and there. "so, what are your injuries?" johanna asked katniss.

"bruised ribs, bruised lung." "i'm surprised they haven't found you a new lung. i mean, i've got two, you want one of mine? i mean, it's everybody's job to keep you alive. that's why hattie, here, is here with you." "is that why you hate me?" katniss asked. "partly. you're also a little hard to swallow. the whole tacky romance drama... and the 'defender of the hopeless' act, that one isn't an act. how 'bout you, fire, what you got?" she turned her attention to the brown-skinned girl, and she just tried to wave it off.

"oh, it's nothing really. i didn't realize until i got back that i had been hit in the chest with an arrow. my suit deflected it, but i just got a punctured lung." hattie picked up a clear fluid tank that sat beside her chair johanna didn't see at first, and saw a tube connecting from the tank to under hattie's shirt. "see? that's what you give a lung for. you okay?" "yeah, i'm fine." hattie nodded. "i never asked for a lung." katniss said.

"feel free to take anything of what i just said personally." johanna shrugged. "you should've been the mockingjay. nobody else would tell you what to say." katniss told her. "but nobody likes me." "they're afraid of you." katniss said. "maybe here, but in the capitol, you and hattie are the only thing that they're scared of." johanna picked up katniss' fathers photo, and admired it. "my family brought me this stuff." katniss said. johanna looked at the other trinkets, and turned to hattie. she immediately spotted the gold medallion peeta wore in the arena. "peeta." johanna said to hattie. "yeah."

johanna looked back to katniss, "they messed us up pretty good, didn't they?" hattie chuckled, "yep, they got us pretty bad."

« « « » » »

hattie stood beside haymitch, looking into peeta's room as she crossed her arms and played with the ends of her hair. her fluid tank was in her free hand. "you think it's gonna work?" she asked. "all we can do is hope."

they watched katniss step into the white room, and stand there, letting peeta look at her, and letting herself look back. "i watched you die." he told her, "you look terrible." "you've looked better." katniss replied. "you're not even remotely nice to say that to me now." "i was never the nice one. you were. hattie has to do it now." at katniss' mention of hattie, he froze. "when i saw you die, i remembered something. about the bread. i remember you in the rain. i burned it on purpose. to give it to you."

hattie put a fist over her mouth. "what is he talking about?" haymitch asked. the girl's mind trailed back to the time katniss and her sat quietly together, waiting to get medical attention. she had told her—"the first time they officially met." hattie answered quietly. "i remember my mother hitting me. i was supposed to give it to the pig." peeta said. "that was the first we'd eaten in days." katniss responded. "why would i take a beating like that for you?" peeta asked. "because that's the person you are. that's the person you were." hattie mumbled, putting her hands over her mouth and nose.

"because you were kind and generous. and people said you loved me." "did people say you love me?" he asked back. the daughter and father figures turned to each other, wide eyes. "they said that's why snow tortures you. to hurt me. to hurt hattie." "snow says that everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie." peeta shot back, "all that i know is, i would've saved myself a lot of suffering, if i'd just given that bread to the pig." "what... the hell." haymitch sighed.

katniss hesitated, before turning and leaving the room.

« « « » » »

"time to empty your fluid tank !"

"why are you always so excited about this?" hattie groaned from her hospital bed. "because... i dunno, but it's fun to say !" cypress smiled, popping the tube away from the small tank and going into the bathroom to pour it into the sink. "i know i don't say this enough, but thank you for taking care of me." she shouted to him. "no problem, it's kinda fun." he called to him.

"i just feel kinda useless not being out there right now." she spoke as cypress walked back in and hooked the tank back to her chest tube. "oh, hey. you already did so much already. plus, they'll fly you and katniss in for the surrender, and of course, for the ceremony." he assured, patting hattie's arm.

"okay," cypress clapped, standing up, "time to eat some dinner !"

« « « » » »

a few days later, hattie twirled around in her pink dress, finding herself in the mirror. she had just gotten her tube out earlier that day, so she could wear a dress in time for finnick's wedding.

"boom ! i did that." cypress grinned, putting on his sunglasses. "and i raised you so you could do that." effie said, walking in with an extravagant pink dress. her wigs were back. "you're seriously wearing sunglasses underground?" hattie deadpanned. "hey, let the designer do his job, sweetheart." cypress said, fixing his pink tie, the shade of hattie's dress.

she turned around and flicked his forehead, walking away. "don't call me sweetheart."

« « « » » »

"for this day forward, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, i promise to love and cherish you each day." annie told finnick. "i, finnick odair, take you, annie cresta, as my wife from this day forth, together or apart, we will always be united. one life, one purpose, one destiny." "you may kiss the bride." once the couple linked lips, everyone applauded.

"woo ! i love you finnick and annie !" hattie shouted. once the couple pulled away, they found hattie in the crowd and waved to her, big smiles on their faces.

...

as the happy couple danced and everyone join in, clapping to the beat and dancing rhythmically, hattie stood their, clapping along to the music with cypress next to her. as she watched the couple, she could see cypress, in her peripheral, looking around for a girl hattie knew well.

"go find her." cypress looked down at the girl, a confused look on his face. "who?" "katniss. go, keep her company. gale probably isn't here, so, go." he smiled at her, "really?" "yes, go, go." she felt her best friend kiss her on the cheek before running away like a lost puppy at the dog park.

as hattie missed sight of cypress in the crowd, she felt someone appear beside her. "you saw peeta, didn't you?" she turned her head and saw johanna. "did you tell him 'hi' for me? we're old friends, you know. we had adjoining cells in the capitol. we're very familiar with each other's screams." johanna joked. they stayed silent for a moment.

"i'm going to kill snow." hattie suddenly spoke. johanna looked to the brown girl, and she continued, "nothing good is safe while he's alive. it never has. ever since he let my little sister die in the games, i've wanted to kill him. and one thing you can always rely on me to do is to keep my word. i can't make another speech about it, i can't make katniss do that. no more cameras, propos, no more games. as long as someone kills him, i will be the president and make sure the games never happen again. he needs to see me, all of me, when i kill him." she heard the sniggers of johanna from beside her. "now you're talkin'."

hattie couldn't help but smile as well. "find a way to the capitol when everyone's looking the other way." "i heard the medics talking, they're shopping supplies for the front line from district two around midnight tonight. medicine, painkillers, i was gonna go steal some for myself, but i guess i could stay here and cover for katniss... if you wanna take her. i bet your little busy boy would cover for you, as well. anybody can kill anybody, harriet. even a president. you just have to be willing to sacrifice yourself." she told her.

"i've been doing that my whole life." hattie said.

"go on. don't you want your father to see you dance?" hattie walked away before johanna could finish her sentence. as she stepped into the dance, she joined haymitch as he danced with effie and cypress. they spun around and held hands, until haymitch pulled her into a small dance with each other, putting their hands together and their other hands on her waist and on his shoulder.

they continued to dance in a circle, until hattie suddenly hugged the man. though confused, he hugged her back, and they stayed like that for a while.

« « « » » »

katniss and hattie walked through the tube, wearing black and a small backpack on their backs. katniss held a bow, and hattie, a machete.

slowly, they stepped into the warehouse, dodging the people and walking through the aisles of inactivated missiles. the girls watched the last two men walk off the plane, which gave them their cue to run onto the plane, jumping onto the closing door.

hattie led katniss over to a small aisle between the countless boxes, and slid down simultaneously, sitting onto the floor of the plane. katniss inhaled a big breath. hattie pulled her arm around the girls face, and let her other hand link with katniss'.

katniss was always scared of plane take-offs.

« « « » » »

hattie woke up to katniss' shaking. "are we dead?" was the first thing she said when her eyes jumped open. katniss slapped her arm.

though the two didn't know any of their plans, one thing they did know was that they were going to do it together.

as they walked from the plane, they kept their head down, and of course, people couldn't stop from noticing them. soon, people surrounded the two, and held up three fingers. hattie smiled, and put up the salute as well, but just as katniss was about to, gale walked through the crowd. stupid, ugly, crazy face gale. "hey, thought you two were in the hospital." "we were." they chorused. "come on."

everyone made a path for the girls, and hattie made sure to make eye contact with the people and nod her head to them in thanks. katniss wouldn't, so she had to. commander paylor met them halfway, throwing an arm around hattie. "hey, glad you guys could make it back. how you guys feeling?" "better." hattie answered. "good." katniss said.

paylor nodded.

a / n :
YAYAYAYAY ! HOW ARE YOU GUYS? I HOPE YALL ARE GOOD. going on my first date tomorrow !! i'll update y'all 💗 maybe. 🙄 ANYWAYS, COMMENT AND VOTE !
xoxo,
melanie 🤭