𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒕𝒖𝒔; 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝑮𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒆

After weeks of convincing, Lilith is finally being discharged from her hospital room. Finnick has been begging President Coin and Lilith's doctors to let her be released. At first, Coin didn't think it was a good idea, claiming the girl has caused chaos in her facility and not wanting anything else to go wrong. But, Finnick begged and pleaded with her, saying that Lilith is a changed person and she deserves to have a life. So, finally, Coin has agreed to let Lilith leave.

Haymitch and Finnick come rushing into Lilith's room. Her head perks up from her notebook and smiles when she sees Finnick. He has been her knight in shining armor throughout all of this. He never stopped believing in her. She appreciates that deeply.

"You look especially happy this morning," Lilith comments, taking in the enthusiasm that Finnick and Haymitch share.

"You're getting out of here," Finnick smiles brightly. It's probably the biggest smile he's had in a long time.

Lilith looks between the two of them with confusion. This can't be right. Can it? She just expected this would be where she spends the rest of her life.

"It's true," Haymitch says, noticing her skepticism. "We vouched for you and made sure they couldn't refuse letting you go."

Suddenly, doctors rush into the room and begin unhooking Lilith from all of the monitors she's been on. One by one, every IV and wire that was attached to her is undone. She sits there with wide as, not knowing what to do. When she's able to move freely without any attachments, she slowly stands up. She fully expects Haymitch to start laughing and tell her this is all a cruel joke. That she isn't really leaving and she was silly to think so.

Lilith glances over at Finnick, searching for any hint of deception in his eyes. She hasn't seen any before, and she certainly doesn't see any now. Finnick holds out a hand, smiling softly at Lilith. She stares at his hand for a moment.

"Come on," Finnick murmurs.

Lilith slowly grabs Finnick's hand and allows him to lead her away from her hospital room. She constantly looks behind them, waiting to see if anyone will stop them. She nervously clutches her necklace with one hand, while still holding Finnick's hand with the other.

Lilith doesn't believe that they're really letting her go. She's heard how strict District Thirteen is, and how strict President Coin is. Finnick must've charmed her real well for her to agree to this.  Haymitch leads the two kids through the halls, before stopping at a door and placing his hand on the doorknob. 

"Are you ready?" Finnick asks, his voice full of anticipation. He has been residing in this room all alone since he was released from the hospital. He can't wait to share with his girl.

Lilith looks up at Finnick. He looks so excited. He could either be waiting to see how she likes the place, or he knows there's people on the other side waiting to lock Lilith up again. She sighs and looks back at the door. She's ready to take her chance. Haymitch looks back at the two, waiting for Lilith's approval. She looks at Haymitch and nods her head.

"I'm ready," She mumbles.

Haymitch opens the door and moves out of the way so Lilith can see. She takes small steps through the doorway. It's a decent sized room; not too big and not too small. It has two sets of bunk beds, and only one of them looks slept in. There is a door that leads to a small bathroom off to one side of the room. It's a tight, but livable space. The room is bland in terms of decoration, but Lilith can see remnants of District Four scattered throughout the room. There are small sea shells sitting on a table, and a small string of rope lying next to them.

"What do you think?" Finnick asks softly, entering the room.

Lilith's fingers toy with her necklace as she looks around some more. "It's... nice."

"I'll let you get settled," Haymitch says with a small smile.

Lilith glances at Haymitch and nods before going back to exploring the room. Lilith takes a seat on one of the unused beds and sighs. This is different than she imagined, but it's nice.

"Thank you," Lilith says after a moment.

Finnick seems confused by her words and sits down on his own bed. "For what?"

"For believing in me," Lilith answers honestly. Finnick shrugs lightly and looks down. "I mean it. If you didn't fight for me I'd still be locked up in that hospital room."

"You deserve better than that," Finnick says. He has a hint of sadness in his voice.

Lilith and Finnick spend most of the night just talking. Finnick shares memories that the both of them share, mostly good memories. Occasionally while Finnick is telling a story, Lilith will start telling it with him. It's a good sign that she's returning to her old self. Finnick encourages her to ask questions, and so she does. They made a game of it. Lilith will say what she thinks happened, and then Finnick will reply with real or not real. It's their own version of true or false.

Finnick and Lilith were fairly close before the Quell. Real. The Capitol cares about everyone's wellbeing. Not real. The Capitol set up the Games to harm the Districts. Real. What happened during the Quell was Katniss's fault. Not real. Lilith has a hard time believing that last one. Probably because she was never too fond of the Mockingjay.

As the night progresses, Lilith feels herself getting more and more tired. Finnick is in the middle of telling the story of when he taught her how to swim. Just when he gets to the part when he flips her over in the water, she feels herself dozing off. She rests her head against her hand and breathes softly.

Finnick notices the lack of reactions from Lilith and looks over at her. He sees her lying with her eyes closed. He can't help but watch her. He's afraid that she'll disappear if he takes his eyes off of her. He gets up and softly drapes a blanket over her. He softly brushes hair out of Lilith's face and settles into his own bed for the night.