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Marina and I were spending the day with Mags. Since I had gotten to know her, she'd been like a mother to me. I wanted Marina to experience that, too. Marina made Mags laugh, and it made me happy. I didn't think about how I had to go back to the Capitol at the end of the week, or how there was only a few months until the next reaping; I focused on my family. It'd been a few months since my birthday, and from the citizens of the Capitol, I've been rewarded with jewels and money. However, they failed to bring me happiness. We weren't dirt poor before I had won, so the extra money was more than I could handle; and I didn't care much about jewelry. There had been one man who had given me money, and information. He told me that Snow had sores in his mouth that would never heal. He didn't tell me why, but it explained the smell of iron when he crowned me. I wanted to know more. What was wrong with him? Was he dying? When I had questioned Finnick, he had told me that a few of them had told him, that, too.
"Cora, did you fall asleep standing up?" I hear Finnick ask. He must've just arrived. I chuckle and shake my head, staring at the two women who are making each other laugh.
"Marina always took not having a mother worse. When I met Mags, she was kind, and everything a mother should be. I thought it was selfish of me to keep her to myself.Marina deserves her, too." I tell him quietly. Finnick stares at me with a smile on his face.
"What?" I ask, feeling my cheeks growing hot.
"I'm just thinkin'" He smirks, and I roll my eyes. "About?"
"I think you're one of the kindest people I've met. You make sure everyone around you is happy, yet you don't focus on yourself. I also know you saw the present I got you for your birthday before I actually gave it you, and you pretended to be surprised so it wouldn't hurt my feelings."
"Thanks for the new piano, by the way." I could've bought it myself, but I had overheard Finnick speaking to my dad about how badly he wanted to get it for me. I'd also seen it a few days before I was supposed to, so I just pretended I hadn't seen it.
"You should play something!" Marina shouts, and Mags nods, leading me to my piano. As I had no other choice, I began to play. District 4 called it the Song of the Sea. I'd memorized it at a young age, and I was sure people were sick of hearing me play it by now, but it was my favorite. I could tell Mags liked it, her face lit up as I went deeper into the song.
When I'm finished, Mags claps loudly, and pulls me into a hug. It's then that I realize we had both needed this. I had needed a motherly figure, and she didn't want to be alone.
"Beautiful...not quite as beautiful as you." Finnick winks, and I shake my head, trying not to let him see me blush. Finnick was a flirty person, and I never knew when he was joking.
***
"Can I tell you something that may change a lot?" It was just Marina and I now, and I nodded. "Of course. I'm your sister; you can tell me anything." I say.
"I know, I know, it's just that while you were in the Games, I realized something. I told dad and Uncle Fletcher, and I was so terrified that I would never get to tell you. I was going to tell you the moment I got back, but you were so scared and traumatized and I didn't want to bother you." I'm sitting closer to the edge of my seat now.
"I realized that..." She takes a moment. "I like girls." She states, causing me to let out a sigh of relief.
"What?" She asks.
"I thought it was going to be something bad. Marina, that's amazing. I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't come to me. I'm here now, okay?" She pulls me into a hug, and I squeeze back tightly. It had been a while since I had just sat and hugged my sister. Now that I think back, I notice that whenever I thought a boy was cute, she was always indifferent. She did, however, point out Jade Allwell's pigtails, and how pretty her dress was, though. At that time, I had told her that she was just as pretty, and to never doubt that. I realize now that's not what she meant.
"It wasn't your fault, Lia. You've been through hell. I was scared to talk about anything; I didn't want it to make you upset or trigger any memories. I was scared that I was going to break you." She admitted.
"Marina, I am broken. I think I always will be. The Games took every shred of innocence I had. But talking to you makes it better. You will always make me feel better. You're my baby sister." I respond. She wipes a tear away, one that I didn't know had fallen.
"Oh! I got us a new pair of charms." She said, reaching the table next to her, and putting the small piece of metal into my hands. It was a small, silver crown. I placed it between my music note charm and my fish charm. I had quite a few others; the bracelet was beginning to become full. Marina places the charm on hers, and smiles back up at me. These are the moments when I truly feel like a victor. Not because I had murdered someone, or that I was the talk of Panem. It was when I was able to smile and laugh with my family, and make new memories.
