Apprehensive Love ¤ Finnick Odair

twenty-four; empathy lessons

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR, EMPATHY LESSONS

Somehow night had fallen sooner than anyone had truly expected, the stir that happened between Katniss and Ella had died down since the evening, Ella had sworn she saw the Mockingjay look rather guilty every time she had seen her face, the brunette looked away. Ella had expressed her annoyance to Finnick moments later who tried to calm her down but no one could possibly understand what Peeta and Ella went through together the days in the capitol, neither Finnick nor Katniss could begin to think the way they had bonded, as strong as blood. 

It was dark in the place that the soldiers were sleeping, Finnick slept beside Ella, her hand on her husbands hair as she stayed sitting up, Boggs had thought it would be a good idea to set Ella's watch with Katniss, he knew that they'd balance each other out but the two girls were very stubborn and so far had refused to talk to each other. Ella White wouldn't speak to her until Katniss realized she was wrong and since admitting it everyone around her at given up trying to get them to talk. 

A ghost of a smile was present on Ella's face as she stroked her husbands face, Katniss watched closely, her built up anger had disappeared as she took note of the serenity Ella was in since her marriage. Katniss sat up straighter when a pang of guilt struck her as she watched the couple, averting her eyes being unable to control herself from speaking up. "I wish I had what you two had."

Ella stayed quiet, not looking up but anyone could see her smile grow brighter before it dropped as he looked at her. "I thought you already had." 

Katniss looked away, knowing instantly what the brunette was talking about, her eyes unintentionally falling on Peeta's sleeping figure a couple of feet away from where she sat. Ella watched her look at her, she knew instantly the way she was looking at her, it reminded her of something her and Finnick shared, the Mockingjay didn't have to admit it for everyone to know how she truly felt about Peeta. Katniss looked back up at Ella, her face straight but not angry, more calm and soft than she ever heard. "He tried to kill me."

"I know," Ella responded in the same tone, looking at wall in front of her, sleeping figures lined up next to it. "He almost died for you."

Ella knew she had struck a nerve in Katniss by reminding her of what the three of them had gone through to make sure Katniss' secret was safe, more Ella than Peeta since she actually knew where they were and more information than the blonde boy. "I'm sorry, I-I always forget everything you did for me-"

"I don't want you to apologize." Ella interjected with a shake of her head. "I just think you should be a lot more grateful of him than you are. I'm not apologizing for basically calling you selfish, by the way."

Katniss shook her head, looking down. "You don't owe anyone an apology."

"You still don't understand what he went through for you, do you?" Ella chuckled humorlessly, now staring right at the girl who remained quiet. "You think the quarter quell was bad? We watched every single hunger games as torture, they electroshocked us, stabbed us, beat us up, starved us, injected us with drugs I didn't know even existed, they allowed us to hallucinate our worst fears for days to mentally kill every piece of hope we had."