The Black Widow | A Hunger Games Fanfiction

The End

I couldn't face going back to District 1. That was where my family was buried; where they had died because of my mistakes; where Snow had murdered them.
But now I had murdered Snow.
And the only person left for me to blame for that was myself.

So instead, we had gone back to District 4. Finnick and I had moved back into his house in Victor's Village, where he had so many happy memories with Annie and Mags. I wished I could say that my happy memories weren't all tinted with sadness but that would be a lie.
It seemed everything that I had ever had had been tainted by the Capitol.
I hoped that this new life would be different.

Johanna had the same idea as me. She was now alone in District 7 as her family and fellow victors were long dead by now. Only skeletons awaited her there.
She had come to live with us.
I had always thought they put too many bedrooms in the houses in Victor's village. The life of a Victor was always a solitary one. It was almost as if the Capitol knew that wouldn't last.
Together, we had been helping Johanna undo the conditioning of the Capitol. Helping her remember the times when water had not been terrifying. In the end, it was helping me as well.

I had heard Katniss and Peeta were living together quite happily back in 12. Haymitch had joined him, but I wasn't sure if he would ever fully be alright. A quarter decade of losing kids to the Hunger Games would do that to you.
But at least he had someone.
Cashmere had no-one.

After the games, she had gone back to District 1; back to her old house. She hadn't contacted me and I hadn't contacted her. In all honesty, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see her: the betrayal of her vote and realisation of the differences between us still stung deep.
But still, she was alone. And no-one deserved that.
Which was why I had written her name on a wedding invitation and sent it to her. I hadn't got a reply.

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"You look beautiful," Finnick told me, coming into my room as I was fastening my veil to my hair.
"Get out," I shrieked, turning to him, "You know you're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding!" He smiled, approaching slowly and taking my hand in his,
"I'm sure we can make an exception." I smiled back, then put on a facade of sterness,
"You know, I can't do makeup one-hand."
"You look beautiful with or without makeup," he said,
"I know," I replied teasingly, dotting some mascara on his nose, "It's actually for you. You look awful without it." He feigned outrage,
"No?! Well then, you're going to have to do my makeup as well as yours." I laughed with him and finished applying my mascara,
"Come on," I said, "We can't be late for our own wedding."

We left the room and began to walk down the stairs to the living room.
"Oh," Finnick said, "before I forget, I brought someone to walk you down the aisle." I raised an eyebrow,
"Who?"
"Hi Rose," Bella said, stepping out of the shadows,
"Bella?" I gasped, setting eyes on the woman who had been my housekeeper but had in the end become more like a second mother.
"I didn't get an invitation, but Finnick found me and asked me to walk you down the aisle."
"I thought you were dead," I breathed, "I thought he would've killed you."
"He would've," she replied, "If he could find me. No-one knew who I was so I just kind of... disappeared."
I buried my face in her shoulder and tears spilled out onto her pretty dress,
"I'm sorry," I told her, "For everything."
"The good thing about family," she said, holding me at arms length, "Is that you don't have to be sorry. They'll love you no matter what." I smiled as she wiped away the streaks of mascara running down my face, "Now we have a wedding to get to."

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The ceremony was beautiful: a mixture of customs from District 1 and District 4. Everyone attended and it was nice to see everyone together and smiling.
It was a sight I hadn't seen in a long time.

When it was over, we shared a first dance and a meal. By the time that was all over, it was dark.
But still one more person joined the party.
I first caught sight of Cashmere's shining gold hair in the light of the setting sun cast off the water. She stared out to sea as if this was the first time she had ever seen it: in utter awe at its colossal magnitude. And I supposed, that maybe this was the first time. After all, the train in district 1 always went straight to the Capitol and so the only other time she might've seen the sea would've been her victory tour. And who really wants to do sightseeing on that?
"It's beautiful," I said, approaching her. She started slightly before regaining her composure and turning to face me,
"Yes, it is. And you make a beautiful bride."
"Thank you," I said stiffly, "I wasn't sure I was going to see you today."
"Neither was I," she replied, "I only decided about an hour before I got on the train."
"And I assume that left you just enough time to get ready," I said with a slight smile. Cashmere smiled as well,
"Then you'd be right." It was all so stiff: as if we were trying to return to the easy method of conversation we'd once had but couldn't quite latch onto the right emotion. The vote had severed that. Coin had pushed us apart. The Capitol had broken us.
"I... I'm glad that you came," I said finally,
"I just wanted to see you happy," she replied, "I wanted to see that there was a way that a victor could achieve happiness again. So are you... happy?" I smiled, tears springing to my eyes,
"Yes. Happier than ever before." She smiled ruefully,
"I'm glad some good came of this then."
We stood in silence, staring out at the ocean, for a while before Cashmere said,
"I brought you a gift. I'd call it a wedding present but it's not for Finnick." She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small, tissue wrapped parcel. It looked like it had been in storage for w a while judging from the stains on the wrapping.
Carefully, I removed the paper to reveal a simple gold chain and locket.
My district token: a relic of the girl I had been. Of the family I had had.
The metal was cool against my skin but quickly warmed and I pulled open the locket. Inside, the scrap of fabric remained and I remembered the story Snow had told me. The one of the girl in the rainbow dress. And now I knew what this fabric was from.
And I understood why my father had given it to me to take into the Games.
It was a reminder that the Captiol was not all powerful. That they could be defeated.
It had been his small act of his rebellion.
A reminder that he knew what happened to Lucy Gray Baird- the victor of the 10th Hunger Games. And now I did too.
"Thank you," I said quietly and emotionally, "I thought this was long gone. How did you find it?"
"They gave it to me to give to you after the games, but I know that most victors destroy their tokens at some point and I thought you might want this later. When the memory of the games wasn't so fresh. This seemed like a good time."
"It is," I said, "It is a good time."

And I hoped it would stay that way for a while.