𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍.

Rosie Rue

The air was thick the morning of the Reaping, it was more than the first year she would take part in her role as Mentor, it was also the one-year anniversary of the day her world changed.

The day she wore the dress and became the Sweet Seductress.

The day she signed the warrant for either her own death, or others' at her hands.

The day she met Toby, who she grew to love and had to lose.

The day she met Kit, the man who filled a role she didn't know was vacant.

The day she boarded the train to meet someone who gave her hope in a world where that is uncommon.

Finnick Odair, the boy she hadn't seen in six, long months. Despite the insinuation Snow gave that she would see him in The Capitol, she never was afforded the opportunity. They were kept separate, the closest they got was a fleeting moment of eye contact from across a room. It was clearly purposeful, the way they were separated. The way their respective handlers ensured that that fleeting moment of eye contact was just that—fleeting, cemented it.

Snow didn't want them together. At least not until the 68th Annual Hunger Games. He had a plan, everyone knew it. He had plans for everyone. They were chess pieces, pawns in a game no one else was allowed to participate in.

"You won't be long?" Orion's big eyes, holding speckles of colours that looked like galaxies, looked up at her. Tears masked them, making them look glossy—the sight was hard for Rosie to stomach. "Because I miss you already. You'll be safe, right? No more going in the Arena. You'll just stay outside, give advice." His hair fell in soft chocolate tufts, tickling his eyebrows. He was going through a stage where she wasn't allowed to cut it; who was Rosie to demand he cut his hair, it wasn't hurting him.

The teenager nodded, brushing the locks of his brown hair behind his ear. "I won't be long, same as last time. And I'm a Mentor this year, not a Tribute, I'm safe," she whispered the assurance. Not letting her voice wobble, she couldn't let him know she was scared. He'd not understand why she was scared; she wasn't in physical danger, he'd think, so what did she have to be frightened for? "I just have to tell the Tributes things that helped me win. You'll be with your Dad and Tony."

He grinned, missing teeth dotting his smile. "Tony is my favourite."

The dog truly became a member of the Aldine-Fletcher household. He was treated like a prince, treated in such a way that it brought a smidge of comfort knowing that Rosie was following through on her promises to Toby. The boy who saved her.

"He's my favourite too," her voice cracked. "I gotta go now, bud. I'll be back before you know it, be good for your Dad, okay?"

He nodded emphatically. In the three-hundred and sixty-five days since her name was plucked out of that glass bowl, her Uncle had made leaps and bounds in an effort to repair all the damage he'd caused. He took over Rosemary's role as caregiver to Orion, allowing her to be as free as a teenager in Panem can be. He showed constant thanks to Rosemary for what she'd done for him. He donated baked goods, tables and chairs. He even grew on Kit.

She pressed a kiss to his forehead, just as Kit's distinct knock thumped against their front door.

It was four knocks with the side of the fist, then, if you weren't acting quick enough, a kick of the foot.

"Coming, prick!" Rosemary shouted with an eye roll, Orion slapped a hand over his mouth to suppress the laughs bubbling out. With a final ruffle of his hair, Rosie walked out the front door. "You look sufficiently drunk."