"We are simply ash."
•••
It had been five years since Autumn's Hunger Games. She now lived with visions and voices that haunted her every night, watching her district partner die right in front of her eyes. Only one good thing came out of the Games...
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•••
They all sat on the sand of the beach. Finnick waited, anxiously, for Autumn to return as the others talked.
Autumn's wounds had reopened from the harsh waves of the water and bled through the wrappings. She had to grab more bandages and wash away the blood before she went into the woods to clean herself up.
Autumn returned a moment later, just in time to hear the discussion on what their next move should be.
"So, besides Brutus and Enobaria who's left?" Katniss asked.
"Maybe Chaff," Peeta shrugged. "Just those three."
"They know they're outnumbered I doubt they'll attack again," Finnick told everyone, standing next to Autumn. "We're safe here on the beach."
"What do we do?" Johanna asked. "We hunt them down?"
"Katniss help me!" A surprising voice of a young girl came through the trees. Katniss's eyes widened as she looked into the trees.
"Prim!" She screamed, breaking into a sprint through the jungle. "Prim!"
"Katniss!" Finnick yelled, running after Katniss. "Katniss, wait!" Autumn was about to go after Finnick when Johanna stopped her.
"I promised Finnick," Johanna mumbled as she held Autumn back. Autumn wove her eyebrows together, confused as to what she meant.
"You promised him what?" Autumn asked, stating at Johanna.
"That I'd keep you safe," Johanna huffed our.
"Prim! Prim!" Katniss screamed as she ran deeper into the jungle. Katniss followed the sounds of her sister screaming her name through the jungle, the worst running through her mind.
Katniss looked up into the sky to see the source of the sound. A jabberjay. Katniss fires her arrow, shooting the horrible bird down and silencing its screams.
"Katniss?" Finnick yelled, running up behind her. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
"Finnick!" A voice screamed. But it wasn't just any voice, it was Autumn's.
"No, Finnick!" Katniss tried to stop him but it was too late as he ran off into a sprint.
"Autumn!" Finnick screamed her name, stopping and looking around the jungle to see if he could find her body.
"Finnick, it's not her!" Katniss yelled, running up behind Finnick. "It's just a jabberjay. It's not her, she's back with Johanna and Peeta."
"She could've gotten more water and been ambushed!" He yelled at Katniss, desperate to find Autumn. "How do they make that goddamn sound? Jabberjays copy."
"Katniss!" Another voice called out.
"Gale," Katniss whispered to herself.
The birds multiplied, screaming as they swooped down upon Finnick and Katniss. Their beaks nipped at their skin and their voices drove both tributes insane as they sprinted from the birds.
"Stop, stop, stop, its okay," Peeta yelled from behind the forcefield, but Katniss couldn't hear him. "It's okay they're just mutts then not real!"
Autumn pounded on the forcefield next to Peeta, staring at Finnick through it. He was panicked, standing next to Katniss.
Finnick was screaming, trying to break through the forcefield to get to Autumn. He punched the invisible wall repeatedly, but to no avail.
Autumn saw tears seep for his eyes before he collapsed next to the ground, passing out.
•••
"Finnick," Autumn whispered. Finnick opened his eyes in a startle, looking up and seeing Autumn's face hovering above him.
"Autumn," Finnick's eyes lit up. Within the blink of an eye Finnick had sat up and had his arms around Autumn in a hug. Finnick held her tighter than he ever had before. "I love you. I love you so much." Finnick whispered as he held onto Autumn.
"I love you too," she told him. "It's okay. I'm okay. The screams were fake."
"They sounded so real," Finnick told her, letting go of the hug and looking her in the eye. "I thought you were dying."
"I'm okay, it's okay," Autumn soothed Finnick. Finnick took Autumn's hand and took her to his feet, leading her to the water.
They both walked into the water, standing waist deep in it as the soft waves brushed up against them. Autumn stood in front of Finnick, letting him hold her from behind.
"Never leave me, please," Finnick whispered into her ear, kissing her shoulder.
"You couldn't drag me away," Autumn told him with a smile. Finnick sighed. He had known he loved Autumn for a long time and he had known he would loose his mind if she was taken from him, but he was never out in that type of situation before. Not a situation where he thought he had actually lost her.
Finnick pressed a kiss to Autumn's head before looking up at the sunset, enjoying this moment of piece with his love.
Back on the beach, Katniss sat down next to Johanna. They both stared at Autumn and Finnick who were standing in the water together; both of them stared at the sunset.
"How did they get together?" Katniss asked out of curiosity. She was intrigued by Autumn's and Finnick's relationship. They seemed to be so different and yet loved each other so much. She hadn't seen a couple so in love since her mother and father.
"Finnick was her mentor in the seventieth Games," Johanna began. "She kinda lost her mind durning her Games. And since then, she's only gotten better because of Finnick while Finnick has only kept his life because of her," Johanna sighed as she stabbed her ax into the sand. "Love is weird."
