Wildfire | Johanna Mason

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎

It had been a long week, but Daphne was healing. With a lot of demanding from Johanna's part, she was discharged and agreed to stay with Johanna. She couldn't imagine being alone without her. She needed to see a doctor Garret, who didn't handle the physical body, apparently.

Daphne claimed she did not need it. In fact, life seemed great again, despite having lost her home, despite the trauma she went through, despite feeling so lost breathing seemed like the only thing she knew. Despite everything.

It raised questions with the doctors, with Finnick even. She didn't see many people other than Johanna, but she'd had some visits. Daphne hadn't been close with any of the other victors, and they were dealing with their own thing, anyway. She didn't mind, sometimes even Johanna felt like too much.

Yet she was happy to have her around, even if she was acting... strange. She seemed to be tiptoeing around what happened to her, careful not to mention any of that or ask questions.

She did not want to talk about it, but the silence felt too heavy.

"Are you ready?"

Daphne was clad in the grey 13 clothes. There was little to gather. She had nothing, not even the clothes were hers. "Yeah, let's see where you've been living." She forced a smile on her face and glanced back at the bed one last time before joining Johanna in the doorway.

She had seen some parts of 13 when she was allowed a short walk. There wasn't much to see, and never before had she longed so much to feel the rough stem of a tree under her hand and the soft earth between her toes.

"This is is," they walked into a small room with a bunk bed, a dresser, a small desk with a chair, and another door. It was nothing compared to what they were used, but Daphne had never been happier to see it.

She couldn't stop the words from slipping out as she let her fingers glide over the desk. "I thought of us living together sometimes. Not in a place like this, but still."

She regretted the words, but Johanna casually responded: "We'll build a real home one day," Daphne didn't know what she was hearing. "It'll be all our own."

"You'd want that?" There was nothing more Daphne wanted, but it had never seemed like something Johanna would even think of.

Something crossed her face, her features contracting for just a moment. Had it been longer, Daphne might have understood. "Of course," there seemed to be more coming, but the woman turned away and got a flimsy towel from a drawer. "You should go shower."

Thankful, Daphne took the towel and stepped into the small bathroom, enjoying some real privacy for the first time in a long time.

***
Johanna hadn't been able to fall asleep, too much on her mind. There had been, ever since Daphne was back. There was a lot to ask, but the other woman didn't seem prone to talk about it, which Johanna gladly accepted. It was the easy thing to do. The safe thing for both of them.

A little while ago, the girl beneath her had been shifting and turning in her small and hard bed. It was terribly uncomfortable, but Johanna could no longer blame the stupid beds when gasps accompanied the trashing.

She hopped from the top bed and placed a hand on her arm, the slight light that always seemed present showing the fear and pain on her pretty face. "Daphne-" Johanna whispered, giving her a slight shake, not certain what to do.

The young woman shot up, her eyes wide and her breath uneven, barely enough air reaching her lungs. She looked so terrified. Johanna scooted closer, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hey, it's alright"

She seemed to realize where they were and let out a shaky breath. "I'm fine," she muttered, her muscles still tense under Johanna's hand.

"Are you sure? You didn't sound fine." She asked, moving a bit closer. She didn't know what the boundaries were, what Daphne would appreciate. But once her muscles began to relax, she seemed to sag in Johanna's direction.

She closed her eyes, taking a few more deep breaths before answering. "Yeah, yeah, just... nightmares."

Johanna licked her lips. Now was the time. "Want to talk about it?"

Daphne was silent for a long time. For a moment, Johanna thought she might have fallen asleep. So when she did speak, her voice sounded strangely strong, though her words carried hurt and unexplainable pain. "The Capitol... I just... it wasn't a good time, I'm sorry," she closed her eyes again, now allowing herself to rest her head on Johanna's shoulder. The latter took this as an invitation to take her hand. "I can't pretend as if nothing happened."

"You don't have to, I'm here now," and she meant it. Johanna wasn't going anywhere. While she'd prefer to run from all of this, from facing the consequences... she couldn't. She cared about Daphne so much, loved her. She was all Johanna had left. "You can talk to me whenever you want."

Daphne turned her head a little to give her friend a smile, slowly relaxing further. Johanna could have left it at that, but she was speaking before she could second guess, and decided that for once, she could let her feeling do the talking.

"I'm sorry they got to you," She whispered. "I'm sorry we weren't there sooner." She couldn't stop blaming herself. Couldn't stop but think of what she could have done. Should have done.

Daphne didn't say that it was okay, because while it wasn't Johanna's fault, it wasn't okay. "Can you stay with me, please?" She said instead, laying down on the small bed. "I missed you so much."

Johanna swallowed, giving Daphne a smile as she laid down, too. "I missed you too. I was worried and had no one to bitch to." The latter made her chuckle, Daphne's eyes were growing heavy again, and Johanna couldn't look anywhere else but at her face.

"When they told me you died... I gave up." She whispered, as if the truth was too harsh to be spoken too loud.

"Why?"

It was Daphne's turn to smile. She placed a hand gently on Johanna's cheek, as if to reassure herself that the woman was still there. Was real and breathing. "Because you're the last person alive who cares enough about me to come look for me."

There was little to be said about it. For a moment, Johanna allowed the words to rest between them. She would. She would do whatever it took, and would do it as many times as was needed. "You'd do the same for me." Johanna loved her.

"I would," Daphne pulled her hand back, letting it rest between them with a gentle smile. As if she was at peace. As if the world, the past, everything, had stopped mattering. "Again and again, if I had to."

Johanna chuckled, realizing how close they were. For a moment, just a moment, everything was okay. They were back in district 7, laying in bed while the world wasn't falling apart like it was now. When everything hurt, but not as much as it did now. "You've grown soft, Daphne Westerfall."It was easy to pretend like they were the two girls from before the Quell again.

Daphne responded by inching a bit closer, maybe just to feel human again. When she spoke, Johanna felt her breath on her face, and the hairs on her neck and arms raised. "I really don't care." And the last few inches were crossed. She kissed her like she meant those words, as if they really were the girls they once were, as if everything was okay.

(A/n): hi! It has been awhile. Honestly, I know where I wanna go with this story. Literally every point but I just didn't feel inspired? To that, add spiraling mental health!! Very fun! But I am ok!!! Don't worry! I just didn't force myself to write for this. Anyway! I still haven't solved that problem so I won't be doing weekly updates for now. Yes sad, I am sorry but expect an update in the next 2-3 weeks for sure. Sorry for the wait but I hope you understand!