The Last Mockingjay [ON HOLD]

10. Finnick Mellark

'Rue... Oh my gosh, Rue...' I grasp Rue into my arms. Although she is quite thin and nearly taller than me, I can feel rock hard muscle inside the suit.

'What are you doing?' I ask, even before she has a chance to hug me back.

'I... Finnick and I were watching you suffer. We had been planning to do this all along.'

'Do what?' I ask.

'Rescue you, I guess, of some sort. We had to keep you from dying.' I can hear that her voice as started to go wobbly, just like what happens before the tears come on.

I sigh. 'You are in so much danger, Rue.' There's no point in telling no more than this. Other than Peeta and Finnick, Rue is the one person who truly understands me. How I always wake up with nightmares. How I feel the pain even more than Peeta, even though we experienced the same thing. How I never feel like I can stop owing people.

'Wait. Why the cannons? Who died?'

'They were just distractions,' Peeta steps in. 'So that the kids could rescue us.'

'How do you know all this, Peeta? You weren't in on this, right? You should know how dangerous this is.'

He shakes his head. 'I had no idea. Anyway, that's why I was transparent. So that the Gamemakers wouldn't suspect anything. A dummy, actually.'

I nod, understanding perfectly. Of course. The two cannons. Firstly Peeta, and then me.

'Our original plan was to rescue you both while the first cannon was firing. But then you ran away.' I look to the floor, ashamed. I should never have left.

'They know you guys escaped now,' Rue says. 'They saw when you put your hand against Dad's face.'

Peeta smiles at me, and gives me a small kiss on my cheek. 'I would have missed you too. You know me. I can't live without you.' I have no choice but to smile back. Oh, how stupid I must've looked. Those horrible sobs.

'Well, now you know that it's the same for me,' I whisper, and kiss him. We stand there, fully acknowledging the kiss. I know for sure now, that we are officially fighting. We aren't going to make it alive, and each and every kiss might be the last.

Tears start to form in my eyes, when I see that his blue ones are too. For a second we forget. About the mockingjay. About the gamemakers. About Paylor. But only for a second. Because there is a much more important question.

'Rue!' I call her name desperately. She raises her eyebrows, waiting for my question.

'Where's Finnick?' I ask.

She keeps quiet.

'Rue. Where is he?' I can't believe how stupid I had been. Where was Finnick?

'Mom... he stayed back as mentor. Someone had to stay, or they would notice.'

'We're going back,' I say without needing to think for even a second. Finnick is truly the little version of me. I see a lot of myself in him - staying back and sacrificing himself? Reminds me of what I did for sweet little Prim.

'Of course we will, sweetheart,' Peeta replies. 'Might as well, as they know we've escaped.' He jokes.

Wait. They know we've escaped.

'WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO WITH FINNICK?' I ask, bursting into tears. Anyone with information would be tortured. Peeta and I already knew of the punishments way too well. He would... he would be hijacked.

Rue then opens her mouth and says what we are all too afraid to say.

'We can't go back now. They probably already have him.'

'We're going back, Rue.' I say. And there's no changing my mind. We have to at least try. I owe him that.

We stand in silence, realising just how dangerous this may be.

What do you think of this chapter? Too rushed? Sorry! Just wait, it is going to get so much better! Comment and vote. Is Finnick alive? Dead? Hijacked? Write what you think. Thank you for reading! I cannot seriously believe that a thousand people have read my book.