Aurora Grace loves flowers more than anything. They are tiny sparks of joy in a hard cold world. When she is chosen for the Hunger Games, Coriolanus Snow becomes her mentor. Through her eyes, he starts to see the world in a brighter light.
Coriolanu...
"It's The Things We Love The Most That Destroy Us." - President Snow
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WHEN CORIOLANUS FINALLY WOKE UP, really woke, it was dark outside. His Grandma'am and Tigris were leaning over him with worried looks. I'm not in the arena, he thought, feeling a warm reassurance. I'm safe....but she's not.
"Aurora," he gasped, trying to sit up abruptly, but Tigris gently pressed her hands against his shoulders, easing him back onto the bed.
"Take it easy," Tigris soothed, her voice a soft balm. "It's okay." Her eyes softened as she added, "You're safe now, Coryo."
"Is she okay?" Coriolanus's voice cracked with urgency. The room seemed to close in around him, the walls pressing near as memories of the chaos in the arena flashed through his mind—her eyes, her voice, his flower girl.
"She's alive. I spoke to her," Tigris reassured him, squeezing his hand gently. "She's okay and she's worried about you."
"She's okay," he repeated to himself, his heart clinging to the reassurance even as the morphling blurred the edges of his senses. "She saved my life. She was there with me. She stayed."
Tigris gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm not surprised. She's obviously a good person. Right from the beginning, she tried to protect you from the other tributes."
Grandma'am, however, seemed less convinced, her voice tinged with skepticism. "Well, she likely figured the Peacekeepers would shoot her down if she tried to flee, but still, her saving a Snow shows she has some character."
"She's not like that, Grandma'am," Tigris interjected with a gentle sigh. But their Grandma'am scoffed, muttering under her breath about 'wild beasts'.
"What happened?"
"It was a rebel bombing," Tigris explained, her voice grave. "They must have been planning it for months. Four tributes are dead. Everyone's terrified, Coryo. People are locking themselves inside. Felix Ravinstill's on life support."
Sejamus, who had been quiet, spoke up from the doorway. "The rebels broadcasted a message. They wanted to destroy the symbol of the Hunger Games on live TV. Marcus got out; he's the only one. Peacekeepers are hunting him in the streets, but at least he has a fighting chance now."
"Tomorrow?" Coriolanus asked, confusion knitting his brow. "They're still going ahead with the Games?"
"Yes," Sejamus nodded grimly.
Coriolanus felt his heart drop. Aurora could've run. But she stayed. I called for her and she stayed. She had risked everything, not for glory or survival, but for him. He had to do something, anything, to help her now.
His attention snapped to the television when he caught the familiar voice of Lucky Flickerman's, "And now, our final tribute of the evening. I had the pleasure of meeting this remarkable young woman recently in the zoo. Representing District 12..."
