𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐊 ... 𝗽𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗸

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

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𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 : 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦
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the warm feeling of cypress' chest against her head is something hattie would never take for granted ever again.

"oh my god." she mumbled, hugging the boy as tight as she could ever remember. "hey, i'm here. i'm right here." her assured, rubbing her back soothingly. she brought her eyes to his again, and let out a small breath of relief. his eyes looked out from behind his blue-light glasses. he was sensitive to watching holograms for too long. "i'm so sorry." "don't be. don't be. you know i got you." he chuckled. she hugged him again, and he took her in.

hattie and katniss were at president snow's home. or, mansion. luckily, still untouched.

"uh, who's that?" cypress whispered. hattie let go of him and looked behind herself. rue stood their nervously. she wore a little pink jacket and a pink beret to match. "that's rue. she's the kid i saved from the capitol." "oh. oh, oh, oh." cypress let out in realization. he turned to the girl. "hi. nice to meet you. i'm your uncle, cypress. you're her mom, right?" hattie shrugged with a slight nod of her head. "what's your name?" "rue." rue let out in a small voice. "rue?" he turned his head to hattie. she nodded. "...what a beautiful name. you wanna see what i'm doing? come on." he picked her up, and walked out without another word. he always got carried away with children.

hattie let her bags drop besides the door, and set her feet to take her through to the back of the house, opening the door and standing outside in the freezing cold. she shivered. she was about to turn back inside, when she saw katniss walking out of the greenhouse. curiously, she walked towards her.

"hey." hattie greeted. "hey, don't go in there." "why?" katniss stopped her, and they looked each other in the eye. "your dad is in there." "don't call him that." hattie shook her head. "well, he's in there." "and cypress is in there. with rue." hattie pointed to the main house. "i guess we'll both go mind our business now." katniss cheekily said, turning away and walking back to the home.

hattie looked at the greenhouse, and sighed. she knew she had to go in there. slowly, she walked towards the greenhouse, and the guards opened the doors one by one. they wouldn't deny harriet fire of the right. "father," she lightly sung, looking around, "i know you're in here. kat told me."

"you got me." she spun around and found her father in a red and black suit, with a white rose in his pocket square pocket. "hello, darling." "hi." she meekly said. "shall we sit for a chat?" "uh... yeah, that would be good." hattie sat at the fountain rim, and he sat across from her. "so... you want to kill me, don't you?" at the question, hattie nodded without missing a beat. "i understand. and i'm sorry for the death of your mother. i wasn't expecting it." "i know, but didn't one of your guards do that?" hattie asked bitterly. "yes. yes, they did. i'm sorry." "it doesn't matter now. she's dead." it was quiet.

"president coin dropped the bombs on the medics." hattie's eyes widened at her father. "seriously?" "yes, she's also planning on taking my spot when i die." "like hell she is." hattie scoffed. "she's planning for a free election once i die, and i think we can both say that isn't a bright idea." "you and i can agree on something." suddenly, he started to cough into his handkerchief, and hattie spotted red on the white cloth. blood. "sorry." hattie said abruptly. she didn't even know why she was apologizing for his health status.

"don't apologize. don't worry about your old man's health. you know, hattie, you apologize a lot. while i'm gone... do me a favor. don't ask for forgiveness unless you've done something truly wrong. and from what i've seen from raising you, you won't say sorry again until the day you die." he smiled at his daughter, and saw she was starting to tear up. no matter how much of a horrible father coriolanus snow was, he was still hattie's father. she closed her eyes and nodded.