"Dahlia Blossom. Don't let the name fool you. She's better known as the Black Dahlia. And she didn't earn that nickname by smiling and looking pretty."
"She sure knows how to perform for the camera."
"Because she knows how to play the game. She alwa...
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The Odairs had been to hell and back in their lives.
They had survived two stints in the Games, blackmail from Snow, many difficult years as mentors, the demise of their closest family members, painful separations from each other, Capitol brainwashing and numerous near-brushes with death during their servitude in the war.
But for all the bad things they had experienced, there were also some positives. They had fallen in love with each other twice, Dahlia had gone from a Blossom to an Odair, they had succeeded in their mission to protect the Mockingjay and now they had freed Panem from the tyrannical rule of their former dictator... Only to realise they had let another dictator take his place.
Coin had already settled herself into the seat of power that was won by the sacrifice of thousands of innocent people whose backs she used like a ladder to claw her way to the top. As Katniss lay unconscious, still recovering from the injuries she received in the two blasts, Dahlia kept a close eye on Coin as her ego swelled to a gargantuan extent with each second she remained in charge. In the downfall of one monster, another had risen from the shadows to carry on the legacy.
There wasn't much for Finnick and Dahlia to do while they waited for Katniss to wake up. The Capitol was flooded with rebels, rounding up civilians and officials alike ready to determine if they were guilt of crimes against Panem. Tensions were high. Everybody seemed to be pointing the finger at somebody else, ratting out friends and family in hopes of saving their skins. Loyalty meant nothing when it was their own precious lives on the line. And it meant that it was safer to not venture too far out of the city's centre.
As they strolled hand in hand along the streets of the Capitol which once filled them with dread, the Odairs relished their time in the fresh air without the fear of activating a pod or escaping from Peacekeepers. They could just enjoy being together, swinging their hands between their bodies like lovesick teenagers as they laughed joyously for all to hear. At that moment, they were the happiest people in all of Panem.
Then they reached the old Tribute Centre and Dahlia brought them to a stop. This was the building where she had been kept in during the first days of her captivity in the Capitol. The building where she had endured the bulk of her torturous brainwashing. The building where she had killed a rebel soldier who tried to attack her. So many nightmares spawned from a simple stone structure, so many memories lost and made inside those walls.
"You alright, Lia?" Finnick asked gently, squeezing his wife's hand to bring her back to him. And as Dahlia turned to him, she realised that she didn't care about all the shit she had been through. She was back with Finnick, her heart. That was all that mattered to her.
"I'm fine." She replied earnestly, finally meaning those words for the first time in years. She was fine because she had Finnick by her side. He always made her feel safe and in control of herself. There was no one else she would rather face the truth of her past with. "There's something I need to show you."
