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❝Loving you was the most exquisite form of self destruction.❞
SONG SUGGESTION: We Remain by Christina Aguilera
As time went and passed, Greyson found peace in the small, delicate moments life gifted her with. Her hair grew longer, she grew stronger. Her eyes became brighter, her heart lifted of death and sadness. She was a different person now that the Games were over. A gleam of light shined around her every time she smiled, every time she did something she loved doing. No longer did she cry when she had a nightmare about the boy who died loving her or for her family that now rested peacefully.
When she did have those nights or days, she would take a deep breath and remind herself that everything that happened, everyone who died, was all part of a journey. Their journey in life was done with, they had fulfilled the revolution by giving their life so that others could see another day. Then, she would find Finnick, kiss him and hug him until he made sure she was able to float above the water again.
Many times she thought of Johanna, of Annie, and Mags. She got angry at herself for letting them die, but Finnick had told her something on one of her bad nights when Greyson was sobbing into his chest, hyperventilating. He brushed back her hair and pressed a hand to her chest, inhaling along with her until she calmed down. Greyson had seen the world through a fragile glass that seemed to always threaten to tip over and shatter. Yet, Finnick always seemed to catch it before it touched the floor.
"All of those deaths; Johanna, Annie, Mags, and everyone else, are not forgotten. They gave themselves the choice to fight in the revolution, they chose to die. Just like we did. The only difference is that you're not living the life they could have had. Live for Johanna, do the things she never got to do. Live for Annie, live for Mags. Because if you sit here, withering away, then you're just as dead as they are. And you are the last person I know who would want that, because you're a fighter – so fight this. Be strong for me, be strong for yourself."
That night, Greyson changed. She saw the world in a brighter light. Everything dark lifted upward. Her frown turned into a smile that soon turned into a grin that reached her eyes. It was no longer fake, it was genuine and pure.
She had realized that she had come too far to give into the darkness. She realized that would be what Snow wanted. She realized she was a survivor, she was a warrior. And she was loved. The darkness was strong, but she was stronger, and so she persisted on.
There was one night she knew everything she had gone through had led up to this one moment; when she was holding their daughter and was standing by the window, watching the snow cover the earth. The fire crackled by her. Peeta, Finnick, and Haymitch were laughing at something most likely idiotic. Katniss reached a finger out to Greyson's daughter, letting the small child wrap a hand around her finger. Greyson watched with contentment, the chaos inside her finally consumed by light. She remembered a time when she was afraid to have kids, even after the war was over. The idea of her daughter fighting in an arena had her mind falling back into the darkness. But as she stared at her daughter's tufts of curly dark hair and shining oceanic eyes, she knew that the world was finally safe. That nothing could harm her family ever again.
