Come Back to Me

II

"I don't trust him."

Cordelia almost rolled her eyes at her mother's stern words but, decided against it as she saw the look on her face.

"Rina, you don't trust anyone." He father clarified.

"Do you blame me," The tall woman looked to her husband expectantly, almost wanting him to challenge her, "you think about it and tell me if you can honestly, truly, blame me."

Cordelia's mom had been through alot and she knew that but, sometimes she wished she wasn't so closed off. She only wanted to keep her children safe. However, sometimes she came off as less protective and more controlling. Cordelia's father Dylan shook his head at his wife, dismissing himself before an argument could form.

"You can't trust anyone from the Capitol." Rina pressed.

"He's not from the Capitol mom," Cordelia challenged, "he's from here."

"It doesn't matter that he was born here," Rina muttered, "he lives in the Capitol and, no one lives in the Captiol without their fair share of brainwash."

Cordelia finally let her eyes roll when she turned away from her mother to put her empty glass in their kitchen sink.

"It doesn't even matter," She explained softly, "I probably won't even see him again anyway."

"See who?" Mira wondered.

"Finnick Odair." Greyson said from behind her with a big grin.

"I want you guys to go and get new clothes for the reaping tomorrow." Rina instructed, her voice finally softening just a tad.

No one could speak harshly when it was about the reaping. Toward their children especially.

"With what money," Cordelia knew the answer to her question but, wanted to give the woman in front of her the opportunity to connect the dots herself. She filled the silence when no one else would, "oh, you mean, the money that Finnick gave me for the shell?"

Mira laughed at the teasing look on her sister's face. Their mother however, was in no mood for games, "I just want you to be careful. You don't want to owe the wrong person a favor."

Cordelia couldn't understand what her mother had against Finnick but, every time she thought about it, she came to the conclusion the her father was right. Rina Stone had a difficult time trusting anyone. She couldn't blame her though, especially considering the world they all lived in. A world where parents had to send their children off into a deadly arena to murder twenty three other kids just to keep their own life. A world where you didn't own yourself and instead, one man made every decision for you. There was no room for trust and that was a lesson that everyone had to learn at their own pace.

"Yes ma'am." Cordelia nodded, her dramatic salute finally being enough to bring a small smile to Reina's face.

Each child kissed their mother's cheeks. Then Cordelia grabbed her bag and her brother's hand to lead them out the door with Mira close on their tail.

"When were you gonna tell me that you met the Finnick Odair?" Mira mumbled.

"Whenever it was important," Cordelia shrugged, "so yeah, probably never."

"That's major important," Mira's eyebrows raised, "you know if one of us gets reaped he'll be our mentor."

"How many times have I told you not to talk that way," Cordelia turned her head towards he sister with a stern look on her face, "besides, it's our last reaping and we've made it this far."

She crossed her fingers and held them up with a forced grin.

"You're right, I'm sorry, forget I said anything," It'd be nearly impossible for either of them to forget the reaping. No one truly ever could. Every single year, thousands of children lined up, grouped by age, to find out whether or not they'd live or die, "did you guys talk about anything special?"