Crisis of Faith

10

"Katniss?" Kaianna's eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

She hadn't seen anyone other than Finnick, Boggs, and the crew of medics that came in to administer her medications, or checkup on her.

"Hey." Katniss gave the woman a sympathetic grin.

"Hi," Kaianna started to tear up at the sight of the girl. She noticed her neck was slightly bruised, "did...Peeta do that?"

Katniss nodded sadly, "Um...Finnick convinced everyone to let you try eating in the cafeteria today. If you want to-"

"Yes," Kaianna's tone was drenched in desperation. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, "I'm sorry. I just fucking hate it, being cooped up in this room."

She all but threw herself out of bed, and joined Katniss's side.

"Yeah I feel that. Especially because Finnick's probably the only one they let you talk to, huh?" Katniss joked as she opened the door.

Kaianna looked at her humorous expression, questioningly, "Can I ask you something? I mean I just feel like I'll trust your words more than his."

"I get that," Katniss smiled understandingly, "what do you want to know?"

She linked her arm with Kaianna's comfortingly as she showed her the way through the long halls.

"Did he really do what they told me he did," The woman wondered cautiously, "I remember that he left the three of us. He didn't come for us or anything. He just got himself out. Is that real, or not real?"

Katniss shook her head, "No. Finnick went looking for you or, at least that's what I think. When I got back to the tree, he wasn't there anymore, and I heard him calling your name," the brunette girl bit her lip nervously as they turned another corner. She was fighting with what she should say next, "it's actually my fault he couldn't get to you. I blew out the arena, and he tried to stop me."

"Oh." Kaianna's response was for lack of a better one. She didn't know what else to say. That's not how she remembered it happening at all. Maybe what she remembered wasn't real.

"He didn't get out of bed here for a really long time. My room was right next to his, and I still remember some nights that I couldn't sleep because he was sobbing so loud," Katniss explained sadly. They had reached the doorway of the cafeteria, and Finnick was in their line of vision. Kaianna examined him closely, as he talked to the two young girls beside him, "it wasn't his fault but, he thinks it is. Finnick's given himself one-hundred percent of the blame."

Kaianna scrunched her eyebrows at the feeling of her heart squeezing. The difficulty she felt when it came to figuring out the man across the room from her, seemed familiar. Maybe she never truly knew him. Or maybe that wasn't real either. The only thing she was sure of in the moment, was that she couldn't trust him. Even with Katniss's defense, she wasn't sure she could let her guard down. She'd been engrained that he was a monster, and to her trust was nothing but a weakness.

"Right."

Before she could say anything else, Katniss was escorting her closer to the three, while Finnick was waving them over enthusiastically.

"Hey," His bright smile seemed based off of hope as he rose from his seat, and stepped towards Kaianna softly, "they let you out! How are you?"

She responded with a simple head nod, that she followed with a halfhearted shrug. She flinched when Finnick rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, "do you want to sit down? I can grab you something to eat."

"Yeah that sounds...," Kaianna froze, her eyes settled on the towhead blonde sitting at the table. Every thought she had faded into something new. Finnick tapped her shoulder in confusion, bringing her back to reality, "sorry. That sounds fine."