Warriors ("Allies" Sequel)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I still don't know if I made the right decision on wanting to go to District 8; what if even in 'action' I'm a complete disaster? But it's too late to back down now.

I'm waiting outside the hospital area for Finnick, who needs authorization from his psychiatrist to come with me to District 8. As I wait I begin to play a little with his piece of rope which I find more and more soothing as the time goes by. After about half an hour, Finnick comes out with a smirk on his face.

"I'm guessing you got it?" I ask, as I stand up.

"You guessed correctly." He says, as he shows me a signed authorization from his psychiatrist. "When do we leave?"

"In about an hour. Boggs told me to meet him down where the hovercrafts are." We begin walking back to the compartments.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asks, and I know he can read me easily.

"No."

"No, you don't want to or no, you're not sure?" he teases.

I roll my eyes at him. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do." My fingers tremble around the piece of rope.

"Be yourself. You've proven that's more than enough to inspire people." He puts his arm around my shoulders.

"But now we're at war. It's different. Now I have to inspire them, not to just speak up but to risk their lives for this cause." As I say it out loud I realize the severity of what this means, and how Peeta was right in his interview with Caesar.

"I know. But we can't go back now. We've come too far to just drop everything."

I say nothing and my breathing begins to shake. I know I'm going to start crying.

"Katniss," he says, and pushes me closer to him. "You can do this, we can win this war. Just know, that there will be losses , there always are, but they won't be in vain, like all those Tributes who died in the Games. This is our chance to avenge their deaths and for them not to have died in vain."

My eyes are watery but I'm not crying. He's right. He's always right.

I nod and put my arm around his waist. We make a turn to a different hallway. "Where are we going?" he asks.

"I need some calm before the storm" I say and keep leading him towards our destination.

The pipe rooms aren't usually big enough for two people but it'll give me an excuse to be a bit closer to Finnick.

"Nice." He says when we enter. "Is this your definition of calm?"

"Don't judge." I say, I slide my arm from his waist and take his hand instead. "I don't judge you and your piece of rope."

He laughs slightly. "Fair enough."

"I come here to think about things or to just... not think at all."

Finnick stands in front of me and grabs my face between his soft fingers. "Sometimes not thinking at all is the answer." He says, and presses his lips to mine.

His lips are soft over mine but I can feel a certain 'hunger' in the way he's kissing me, almost as if he's desperate. I wrap my hands around his waist and pull him closer so there is no space left between us. I find myself mimicking his desperate movements and tangle my fingers through his hair. His lips trail off from mine and go from my jaw line to my neck and then back to my mouth. His hands travel from my face to my shoulders and then down to my waist, as mine wrap around his neck. I can feel warmth spreading through my chest and I finally realize how much I've been wanting to be like this with him since we first kissed.