Chapter 1

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"Urgh I'm so sick of her," Kenna complained as she and Taiya lay on the couch. "Boo," Kenna taunted as she threw blueberries at the screen.

"You going to pick those up?" Taiya asked and Kenna just shrugged.

"Have you met her yet?" Kenna asked.

"Nope. I didn't go to the Crowning Ceremony Party. I'll meet her on her victory tour though."

"The boy looks sweet."

"The boy's a pawn," Taiya dismissed.

Kenna laughed. "You're such a sceptic. I would've loved that couple if I didn't have your sour voice in my ear all the time. 'Urgh, they're so annoying, urgh why does she never smile'," Kenna mocked. "I get you're mad that there were two winners, but you can't begrudge them for it."

"I can, and I will," Taiya smirked as she popped a blueberry in her mouth.

"You've got a sparking personality Tay, truly," Kenna teased.

Taiya glared at her friend before giving her a light shove off the couch and onto the floor as the girls giggled.

*********************

"You're going to be nice to them today," Tyler lectured as Taiya paced her living room. The victory tour was arriving at District 4 shortly, and Taiya's contempt for the two victors was still obvious.

"Why?" she scoffed. "It's pretty obvious how 'successful' their tour has been. You all know what it meant when the video from District 11 was cut off. They ignited the crowd, and someone got killed. Everything was fine going fine for us until they came along."

"No. It wasn't," Buck said harshly. "Do think it was fine? Seriously Taiya. How many people do you know that were killed? It was not fine."

Taiya let out a shaky breath as she turned away. Obviously, he was right, but her fear was outweighing the rational part of her brain for the moment. Terror had been flooding her veins ever since she left the Capitol those months ago.

"Give us a minute," Finnick quietly asked the other victors, who nodded and left the house. They were heading for the Justice Building where the victory speech would take place. Finnick came to stand in front of her. "You know when you pace the room like that it's kind of hot," he smirked, succeeding in making her laugh.

"Don't," she whines.

"No I get a real good view of all the angles," he teased as she tapped his stomach in warning. "Look, in all honesty, particularly when the camera is on, you need to act perfectly. The Capitol is already angry that the fishermen aren't sending seafood. We need to be on our best behaviour."

"I know how to act," Taiya assured.

"I know you do," he agreed. "Don't be rude, but you don't need to be friends with them. Just polite ok?"

"Ok," she nodded.

"Brilliant," he kissed her forehead.

Neither of them made to leave the room though, they were stuck staring at each other. "What?" she asked with a smile.

"Have breakfast with me tomorrow."

"We have breakfast together every day," Taiya frowned.

"On the beach. Our old spot."

"We haven't been there in years," Taiya smiled. "I miss it."

"Me too. We'll have a picnic."

"I'm in," she nodded.

"Excellent," he smiled widely before kissing her. "I can't wait."

*********************

"We are all of us united. Both victors and vanquished, and serving a common purpose," Katniss ended her speech.

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