17

FAMILY DECISIONS

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All residents of District 13 had been called to listen to their President, so they did. The whole population of the bunker cramped into the largest area of the compound; making Evelyn's hands shake at her side due to the lack of room to breath freely. Below her, she felt Aeliana hold onto her hand tightly to stop the shaking. But she felt for her daughter who had lost almost her entire family, hauled across the continent without reason and now stopped by every District 13 resident who always tried to stop and talk to the girl. There was a significant lack of children in the bunker, most of whom had died in an outbreak. Aeliana could barely escape the pinches of her cheeks and comments on her beauty. And now, she was trapped between thousands of adults.

Evelyn flinched as a hand rested on the small of her back gently, the two Miracle females noticed that it was Finnick who joined her side. He smiled brightly at his daughter, silently offering to take Aeliana from his girlfriend who struggled to hold her up due to her shoulder still aching. Though Lina looked happy enough to climb over to her father. Evelyn's eyes scanned the crowds for Katniss, Atlas or Elodie. She didn't have to look far to see the girl from District 12 to her right and her mentors directly beside Finnick.

"Good afternoon," President Coin spoke into her microphone to address her people proudly, "Thank you for interrupting your schedules-" but Evelyn couldn't focus on the woman words at all, her mind moving to how helpless Peeta, Annie and Johanna were. Eve felt for them with all her heart and she found it disgusting that they hadn't already made attempts to retrieve them from the capitol, "-And our welcome guests from 11 and 12, Evelyn Miracle and Katniss Everdeen. Katniss has consented to be the face of our cause, to help unite the districts against the Capitol. First, we'll access all opportunities for the extraction of the victors held hostage in the Capitol, Peeta Mellark, Johanna Mason-" Evelyn dipped out of the conversation as there was outrage at the thought of bringing Peeta from the Capitol.

"Finnick, Evelyn," Katniss greeted as she pushed through the crowds to near them, "We made the deal for Annie too."

Finnick's hand snaked around his partner's waist as a thank you, all three of them going back to listening to what Alma Coin had to say. "Once freed, they will be pardoned for any and all crimes they made against the rebel cause," there was more outrage, the population around them shouting at their leader in disagreement of her words.

"Good, that's good, guys," Finnick genuinely smiled for the first time in a while and pressed his lips against Evelyn's temple softly, a blush creeping over her cheeks.

"If Katniss Everdeen fails to complete her duties, the deal will be off. The same goes for Miss Miracle who will be fighting alongside our Mockingjay," this earned a glare from Finnick who had no idea what deal that she had cooked up with Alma and Plutarch and he hated the idea of her leaving the safety of District 13, "Thank you, please resume your daily schedules." 

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"Why didn't you tell me?" Finnick's eyes softened at her, though she knew that behind them there was anger burning, "We should have made this decision together, as a family. That is what we are now, right?"

Evelyn stared in front of her where Atlas and Elodie held either of her daughter's hands and swayed her up into the air, giggles leaving her innocent lips with joy and bringing comfort to her mother, "Because I knew that this would happen, Finnick. You, Lina and I are a family now, yes. But please don't expect me to stay at home and let you do all the fighting for me as I watch over our child, I am not a housewife and I never will be."

"That isn't what I meant, Eve," he took her hands in his own and stopped in the hallway to be with her, "I meant that you need to open up to me and include me in the decision making. What happened back in that arena will never happen again, we can finally live our lives as we have always wanted to. Together."

"But it isn't over, Finnick," she pushed forward forcefully, "This won't be over until Snow is six feet under and Panem is free from his rule. I can't just sit by and watch the Hunger Games carry on; being a bystander is almost as bad as being a perpetrator."

Finnick pulled his arm over hers yet she didn't flinch, not with all the morphling flowing within her and dimming her pain, "I'll join you as soon as I can, but I think I need a little longer to recover and to be with Aeliana, I just got her back and I can't leave her again."

"That's the only reason I was so hesitant to accepting Coin's offer," Evelyn confessed weakly, her eyes falling to Katniss and Gale talking to Effie Trinket in the canteen, "But I'm doing this for her, for her future. She will understand. I'll see you later?"

"I'll be back after I talk with Coin but I promise that we can spend the night together with Lina, okay?" he kissed her passionately, grinning into the embrace before pecking her lips twice and then once more for luck, walking away, "I love you!" he shouted behind him, taking Evelyn back with surprise but he was gone before she could even say it back, though she wanted to.

The Miracle woman joined their daughter's side as she stared knowingly at Katniss who had yet to notice who was looking at her. Evelyn felt Lina instantly scoot over so that her mother could sit down, deciding to perch on Evelyn's legs instead.

"You must be Effie Trinket, it's lovely to meet you," Evelyn offered her hand for the woman. Instead, Effie pulled her into a tight hug and kissed both of her cheeks with a bright smile.

"Thank you so much, Evelyn, for everything you have done in and outside of the arena," Effie almost had tears in her eyes as she directed her attention towards the child, "And you must be Aeliana Miracle."

"Yes," the girl said, a bright grin on her lips.

Katniss looked in shock at the girl and her similarities to Finnick Odair. It was breathtaking how much she took after her father, "Wow, that is weird," she laughed, "You look just like him."

Evelyn laughed along with Atlas, who had since been sober the whole time in District 13 which was as much of a shock to him as it was to everyone else. "She does," she kissed her child's head and turned to Effie, "Sorry for interrupting, please carry on."

"Ah, yes," she pushed a black folder to Katniss, "Which brings me onto this."

Everyone's eyes were on Katniss as she opened the folder to reveal designs for her costume, drawings of feathers, Mockingjay and the metal emblem of the infamous pin that Katniss wears on her chest. A pin that would spark a revolution. "Cinna," the words fell of Katniss' lips gently, "He's dead, isn't he?"

"How about you take Auntie Elodie and Uncle Atlas to get something to eat?" she quietly asked her daughter who nodded and jumped into Atlas' waiting arms. Evelyn waited until they were out of earshot for the conversation to continue.

Evelyn joined the conversation just in time to hear Effie talking once more, a much more gentle tone in her voice, "He made Plutarch promise not to show you this until you decided to be the Mockingjay;on your own. He knew the risks, as we all do. He believed in this revolution. He believed in you."

Katniss continued to flick through the pages to look through the designs, each of them more beautiful than the one before, "It's beautiful," Katniss mumbled quietly, barely audible to anyone.

"They have it," Effie beamed brightly, "They have the Mockingjay suit. There's not much of a prep team here in Thirteen, but we will make you the best-dressed rebel in history."

A cough sounded behind the table and made them all turn, only two people reacted in shock, those being Evelyn and Effie. A gasp left the District 11 victor's lips as she jumped to her feet, tackling Octavius Embers into a tight embrace. Though they had only seen each other merely a few days ago but Evelyn still needed to embrace him, especially after everything that had happened. Yet this time Evelyn didn't have as much of the medicine and drugs pumping through her brain and she could actually enjoy the moment.

"Evelyn-" he croaked out jokingly, the girl pulled back and that's when she noticed it. His eyes had been doused in expired concealer but she could still see the swelling, more importantly, the lack of glitter and colour around his eyes or the purple lipstick that would cover his lips, "Don't look at me, I look atrocious."

He tried to hide his face with his hands but she smiled, "You look better than ever."

"You don't mean that," his face was sad, that's the only way she would have described it. Where his eyes would usually have blue eyeshadow, she found a different shade of blue in the form of a bruise littering down his eye and across his left cheek. His face was swollen and painful; something she had not noticed the last time they had met. The drugs no longer dominated her system and she somewhat found herself , "When they tried to get me out of the Capitol, there were a few protests and riots. I made it out thanks to Gale," both pairs of eyes glanced over to the man beside Katniss who saluted to them with a smirk, "If they hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened to me. They would have killed me just like-"

"Snow wouldn't dare lay a finger on you. If he did he would have me, Jaime and Lina to fear," both smiled but they were both equally forced, a tear escaped his other eye and she wiped it away, "You won't end up like Samurel or Eli. I won't let you, okay?"

He nodded and pulled her back into a hug, he was weary around her shoulder. Both of them continued to think about Samurel and Eli, how they were murdered. Samurel and Octavius got married over ten years ago, several years after Sam had won his own Hunger Games and Octavius had been his designer. They were happy for the longest time until they wanted more. They were troubled by the idea of never having children, so both men decided to adopt. And they did, they adopted a young baby boy called Eli before they lived happily up until their murder. At the age of seven, Eli had been killed at the order from the President himself. Octavius' husband right beside him.

"Uncle Tavi!" Aeliana shouted and ran up beside them. The two adults pulled away as he leaned down to bring the child into his arms tightly, swinging her around playfully before looking at her. "Are you okay, Tavi?"

"I am now," his eyes watered as she pressed a kiss to his cheek lightly before pulling him in for another hug and not letting go, not once.

A hand gently pressed on Evelyn's good shoulder as she watched the two embrace, she turned to see Jaime with a smile. He also watched as his niece jumped down from Octavius' arms and ran back to the table, sitting next to Atlas and eating her food. Evelyn's dimples showed as she turned back to see the two men hugging each other tightly. A few seconds longer than she would have thought and she knew why and she had never been so happy in her life for her brother. He deserved it as much as Octavius.

"What?" Jaime mouthed over Octavius' shoulder, making his sister grin even more at him and wink.

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Octavius has my whole heart