𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 | Hunger Games

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    NEWS OF FINNICK AND AELLA'S
engagement had travelled fast—granted it was partially down to the propaganda video President Coin had released from them in District Four before they even woke up the next morning. Aella had been beyond furious that Coin had released it without their permission but the footage itself had been beautifully captured—seeing them trying to fish together, wrestling on the beach and then Finnick getting down on one knee in the water...

She had cried, Clio had cried, and she'd promptly found Cressida to thank her and the team for capturing those special moments.

Clio had screamed when Aella had sat down in the dining hall the evening of their return and silently placed her left hand in her face. The bubble of bliss had continued on for the coming days as everyone readied for Clio and Daniel's wedding. Coin had sanctioned the day as a holiday for District Thirteen to continue to keep morale high during the peak of the War. Everyone had been authorised to attend though despite their best efforts only Clio and Daniel themselves were allowed to stray from the District uniform. Aella wasn't even allowed to wear a bridesmaid dress.

But Clio's dress... Aella thought she would revert back to her Capitol fashions of extravagant dresses and big, false, wigs but to her surprise she didn't. She had no interest in ever having to become that part of herself ever again she had told Aella—renouncing every belief, every habit from the Capitol. A true rebel, Aella had called her with a grin. Clio's response had been pure truth, that she had been desperate to shed that skin for years.

It all made sense. In the years Aella had known Clio she'd seen her on a few occasions in her 'normal skin' as Clio worded it. Unlike Effie Trinket—who had been mortified to not have her dresses and big wigs—Clio embraced the normality of not painting her face five shades lighter before the sun had even risen, she enjoyed not plastering her face in makeup to make herself look unrecognisable from her true self but recognisable enough to fit in with the Capitol patrons. She liked not wearing the wigs... some of the dresses and heels she would wear again in a heartbeat but for the most part Clio did not miss her life of luxury.

But for her wedding day, she didn't mind dipping her toes into a little bit of that luxury.

All the years of watching Cayenne and Flax preen and pamper her over and over again had taught Aella enough lessons for her to help Clio get ready for her big day. Effie Trinket had come by to do her hair and soft, blonde curls hung down her back. Effie braided two sections of hair from the side of Clio's head and twisted them together in a loose knot at the back of her head, pinning it in place with the clip of her veil.

Clio's dress had been made from several of Aella and Katniss's old dresses that they had worn throughout their time as Victors. She and Effie had worked tirelessly to design, pick apart and put back together the garments to create Clio's dream dress.

The white garment was entirely chiffon. The scoop neckline was the only tightness to the dress, the rest was entirely loose and made up of an abundance of flowing skirts that lasted for days. Two lengths of chiffon flowed from the shoulders of the dress and stretched for eight meters creating Clio's train while her back remained bare. The sheer veil fell to the ground.

Clio always favoured tight dresses through Aella's time of knowing her. She wasn't entirely sure why she'd gone for a loose wedding dress when she had the figure of a Goddess but Aella didn't want to question her. Clio suited the loose fitting, flowy, style.

Aella had tears when she'd seen Clio in the final product but had been too afraid to hug her. She looked beautiful—they were the only words she could manage without crying.