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    THE THEATRE opening was a rather dramatic thing, with far too much importance placed on it than Jupiter cared for. But she was able to wear a pretty dress and get out of the house, so she supposed it did have some merits. She took the train out the day before and arrived at another hotel, greeted like a celebrity along with her team.

    As she was powdered and styled the night of the opening, Jupiter kept her eye on the news, trying to catch an idea of who she might know attending the opening night. It was moments like these when she realised just how truly isolated the Districts were from each other. Her friendship with Finnick was built off lucky meetings, and most of the other Victors were only from the annual few weeks they spent in the Capitol together.

    She had no way of sending a letter or message of any kind, and so was left with her questioning eyes and the news, which was as dull as always and only reminded her of her mother. Jupiter only sighed and turned away from the screen, dangling earrings swinging as she did so, Lux chastising her for moving while she was working.

    This time, her stylist accompanied her, interested in the costume department of the theatre and the connections she could make. They left the hotel at half past eight and were waiting in line soon after, Lux nervously fixing her hair and looking at herself in her compact mirror. Jupiter was less animated, watching the Capitol citizens go by.

    As the pair were ticked off the guest list and allowed inside, Jupiter accepted the drinks on entry, taking two off the tray and passing one over her shoulder to Lux.

    The hall, which usually would have been cluttered with chairs for the audience to sit in, had been rearranged into a massive dining room. Small tables and booths were arranged throughout, and the stage was illuminated with neon lights and a gratuitous "thank you" sign.

    The party was yet to be in full swing, and in the relative quiet Septimus Creed approached the two women, a wide smile stretching across his face.

    "Welcome, welcome, ladies!" he greeted, bowing to them. Lux flushed at the display, but Jupiter only dipped her head in response. "It is a pleasure to have you here," Septimus told them as he straightened up, tie still askew.

    "The pleasure is all mine," Jupiter assured him. "Thank you for including us on such short notice."

    Septimus shook his head nonchalantly. "Any friend of the President is a friend of mine," he told her joyfully.

    Jupiter could only nod stiffly and press her lips together.

    He soon left them alone, eyes focused on someone else who had entered behind them, and Jupiter let her and Lux be swallowed by the crowd. Being with someone else made the Capitolites far more bearable, as Jupiter let her stylist discuss costumes and makeup, as the Victor herself stood quietly to the side, sipping at the occasional drink or taking a plate of finger food.

    Across the massive hall, Jupiter's golden eyes met sea green. Her expression shifted, and Lux glanced over shoulder to see what her client was so enamoured with.

    "I'll be right back," Jupiter told Lux quickly.

    "No rush," her stylist said with a grin.

    "Order anything you want!" Jupiter said over her shoulder. "My treat."

    Lux only waved at her as she left, the Victor holding up one side of her dress as she moved forward. It was made of a lovely, pale fabric that hugged the middle of her body and billowed out slightly from her hips. The top of it wrapped around her torso chest in a cross, haltering around her neck and pulling her chest taught.

    It was a tad more revealing than she cared for, but Jupiter had gotten used to it over the years. Spectacle was half of the Games, it was one of the first things they were taught in District 2.

    Finnick had spotted her, face lighting up as Jupiter approached him. "Hi, again," she said wistfully, wishing she could hug him like she really wanted.

    "My lady," he greeted politely, bowing to her.

    Jupiter shook her head at his antics. "How've you been?" she asked.

    "Same old," he replied casually, a smile on his face that she saw right through. "You look lovely tonight," Finnick added, pointedly looking her up and down.

    Jupiter tilted her head. "You think?"

    Finnick nodded. "Give us a twirl."

    She obliged, holding her hands up when she was done. "Lux wanted to put me in gold but," she shrugged dramatically.

    Finnick only chuckled. "Everyone loves a rebel," he said. Jupiter paused at the emphasis on the word. The other Victor was drinking a sparkling gold drink, similar to whatever it was Fawn had grabbed off the menu last time. "Besides, gold isn't your colour," Finnick added, drawing her attention back to him.

    The words only made her more confused, not complimented. "You're about the only person who thinks that," she managed to get out.

    "Sometimes that's all you need," Finnick said cryptically.

    Before Jupiter could call him out for being weird(er), an unwelcome and familiar presence sidled up to them, dress practically blinding from the shiny fabric. Jupiter's eyes went to her, and her face fell instantly.

    "Enobaria," Jupiter said dryly. Her shoulders squared, standing straighter than she had moments ago. "I didn't know you were invited tonight."

    The other woman from District 2 sneered. "You're not the only one around here," she said, baring her teeth slightly. Jupiter was unaffected, more than used to the filed-down look that had intimidated her as a kid.

    "Enobaria," Finnick greeted from where he had moved to stand beside Jupiter, the pair facing the newcomer. "Always a pleasure."

    "You, too," she told Finnick in a false tone, grinning widely. Still with an eerie smile on her face, she turned her attention back to Jupiter. "Heard the big man himself was at yours the other night."

    Jupiter hid her expression well, only looking mildly interested by what Enobaria had to say rather than concerned. "Guess I'm special."

    "Special's one word for it," Enobaria said coolly. Jupiter kept her expression low despite the way her heart constricted. "How's your brother?"

    Jupiter shrugged lazily, the fabric hugging against her skin as she moved. "Don't know. I don't ask," she said in one breath.

    "He looks more like Saturnus everyday, it's scary," Enobaria continued.

    Jupiter couldn't stop her jaw from clenching at the mention of her late father. Behind her, Finnick's hand gently lay on the small of her back, but the 68th Victor hardly noticed. Enobaria was giving her a look she recognised– like a predator watching its prey.

    "You won the Hunger Games and genetics are scary?" Jupiter retorted.

    Enobaria ignored the jab with grace, swirling her drink in her hand. "How old is he now?" she asked in a tone of false politeness.

    "Twenty-five," Jupiter ground out.

    "Gosh– I remember when he was born," Enobaria said with a laugh. Jupiter only narrowed her eyes, doubting the toddler-at-the-time would have remembered. "Legacy children. Very rare."

    "Good seeing you," Finnick interrupted.

    "You as well," Enobaria told him, Jupiter's eyes not leaving her. "I'll see you on the train home," she added to her District partner.

    "I sincerely hope not," Jupiter responded coldly.

    Enobaria narrowed her eyes, leaning forward. Jupiter didn't flinch– she refused to.

    "Careful, Jupiter," Enobaria said lowly, teeth glinting in the overhead lights. "I'm not the enemy here."

    Jupiter didn't voice her thoughts further as the other Victor pulled away and plastered a smile on her face before leaving the pair, traipsing over to a male Capitolite who greeted her with lips and arms. Jupiter watched the interaction with a bitter taste in her mouth, but it did not overturn the way her stomach had sunk at Enobaria's words and how she had wanted to fall into the floor and be buried there.

    Enobaria was a part of the Council, and a very outspoken member at that. She was popular amongst the Capitol, too, a woman of glamour and dedication that everyone applauded and welcomed with open arms. After all, what kind of person would shave their teeth into points and then have them inlaid with gold?

    Victor of the 62nd Hunger Games, and a perfect representative for their District who carried her victory in gold wherever she went. She was only six years older than Jupiter, but she had always felt much older during their dealings over the years. Jupiter had tried to understand and play nice – a female Victor coated in violence and moulded into a weapon even after the Games were over – but she hadn't been able to.

    As Lucius said, Enobaria thought she was a disgrace.

    In her eyes, Enobaria was an enemy to her, but the cryptic words were only a few more in a long line of things Jupiter didn't understand.

    "Big man?" Finnick asked after a few minutes of extended silence. It reminded Jupiter he was also a part of that list of things she didn't understand. And Fawn. And the President's concern.

    "It's nothing," Jupiter dismissed, tearing her eyes off Enobaria and the price she paid to be a Victor.

    She was clearly lying and Finnick clearly didn't believe her. "Are you okay?" he asked instead, eyes soft in a way she rarely saw. It was often too dangerous for someone like him to look like that.

    "It's nothing," she repeated, pulling away from him.

    The room suddenly felt stifling now, and her heart was in her throat. Finnick staying behind her didn't help, even if he was trying to, as she headed for a corner of the room.

    "Jupiter," Finnick tried again.

    "Finnick," she mimicked.

    He looked at her like an annoyed parent at the response. "What'd he say to you?" he asked quietly, leaning down slightly.

    Jupiter hesitated, looking around at all the Capitolites, who of course paid them no mind. "He told me to come to this party," she replied simply.

    "Or what?" he pressed.

    She chewed on her lip. "Or nothing."

    "Jupiter," he sighed.

    Jupiter frowned at him, and for a moment he looked younger than he really was. Innocent, bright-eyed, soft– ways she had known him once. But just as the Games had torn her to pieces and given Enobaria pieces of gold for teeth, it had stolen that away from him.

    Maybe Enobaria wasn't the enemy, whatever that meant, but Jupiter knew Finnick was her friend.

    She leaned forward, tucking her head over his shoulder. "I was asking too many questions," she whispered against his ear.

    Finnick's eyes widened as they pulled away, looking down at her with a mixture of concern and intrigue. People continued to move around them, and Jupiter gave him a pointed look not to say anything incriminating right there.

    "Refill?" he said instead, holding up his empty glass.

    "Please," Jupiter sighed.

    Wasting away the hours with Finnick was easier than anyone else. It had always been like that, even when they were teenagers. Sometimes they split apart to entertain guests, pull away to do small interview snippets– a twirl for the camera, a shot of expensive liquor with the owner of a film company, good words for the Capitol's favourite couple.

    Whatever it took to survive the night and make nice, Jupiter and Finnick did it. Just as they always had.

    Jupiter thought of her brother back home, wasting away in jealousy and defeat. She thought of her mother, most likely watching the broadcast with empty eyes as her own daughter suffered the consequences of their District. Jupiter looked across at all the faces swarming her with glee, the exquisite food no one outside of the Districts would ever experience. She thought about anything to pass the time and make it easier.

    Enobaria's words haunted her, Enobaria herself haunted her. The picture perfect Victor, the woman who wore her victory in her smile– the young instructor who had handpicked Jupiter. An honour, an honour, an honour, repeated in her mind. Everything she was supposed to be, everything she was meant to be.

    Or nothing, she had said. A lie.

    The room had filled as the night stretched on, drinks started to spill over glasses, and Jupiter was raking the theatre for a familiar face. Lux, Finnick, another Victor. Enobaria had disappeared into the crowd as Jupiter's eyes scanned everyone she could see in the harsh light.

    "What's the Capitol like?" Jupiter had asked her father as a kid. She had still been wide-eyed and fascinated at that time, staring up at her idol with keen gold eyes.

    Her father had hesitated, in the way adults always did when they had to reiterate something for a child. Jupiter would learn that later in life.

    "It's big," he had told her. His eyes had gazed off, looking far away from his daughter. "And it's loud."

    "Will I go there one day?" Jupiter had said. She had only heard stories of the Capitol, seen it on TV sometimes when her mother allowed it. People at school talked about it as something grand and achievable, but important people went there. People like her dad.

    "I hope not."

    Jupiter had pouted at her father and had dreams of cake and massive dining halls that night, dancing away with someone faceless but warm.

    But in reality, Jupiter was clutching at the pearl around her neck to stay focused on anything but what was happening around her in the Capitol.

    "There you are!" Finnick appeared as if from nowhere, hand brushing her shoulder. Jupiter snapped to attention, lips turned down and eyes wide. "Lost you for a bit," he said lightheartedly. "Jove?" he asked when she didn't match his energy.

    Before she could say anything in response, the lights dimmed. A microphone crackled, and the stage Jupiter had seen upon entering lit up, drawing all the attention in the room. The 68th Victor tore her gaze away from Finnick, but she could still feel him looking at her as she watched attentively.

    "Can everybody hear me?" Septimus Creed asked, voice screeching as it adjusted to the microphone.

    There were a few scattered responses. He looked far more relaxed than earlier in the night, hair slightly out of place and cheeks flushed from alcohol. Jupiter was sure she could also see lip marks on his neck, trailing beneath his collar.

    She wanted to roll her eyes, but with the incoming announcement, cameras were now on and she didn't want to risk a scandal. That and she hoped the recording would keep Finnick from pressing about how she was, as he still looked keen to tell her something, ask her questions. Do more damage.

    "I wanted to thank everyone for coming tonight," Septimus continued, clearing his throat loudly. "It is such an honour to have the opportunities and support to be able to do what I'm passionate about."

    Jupiter wondered if he would have been reaped had he been born anywhere else.

    "So thank you to my esteemed guests, my mother and my brother, and of course my friend in the President who made this possible," Septimus went on, growing more emotional by the moment. "Unfortunately, he couldn't make it tonight."

    The crowd booed, and Jupiter fought to keep her face straight. "But he will be my A-list guest on opening night! August 31st! Save the date!" The applause and cheering almost drowned out the noise. "Thank you everyone!"

    Jupiter clapped unenthusiastically, adding to the noise in the room. Finnick clapped, too, and the pair exchanged glances.

    The lights dimmed again, before returning to normal, Septimus being helped off stage and the chatter and noise starting up again with renewed excitement.

    "I need a drink," Jupiter said, plastering a smile on her face as a group of giggling Capitolites passed them.

    Finnick only nodded and offered her his arm, which she hooked into and let him escort her to where the bar was set up. The bottles on display were almost as colourful as the Capitol guests, and glasses and fruit were hung up in over the top decorations. Everything over the top. Everything.

    Finnick was still watching her wearily, as if he had more to say, but Jupiter didn't want to make them any more vulnerable than they already were. She wasn't stupid– tensions were rising and multiple people seemed to know more than she did.

    Know what, exactly, Jupiter had no clue. And how could she ask about something she didn't know?

    "I don't want to talk about it," Jupiter said abruptly as Finnick continued to gaze at her.

    "Are you okay?" he said instead.

    Jupiter glared at the floor. "I want to go home."

    Finnick frowned at her words, seeing right through her. "Then let's get out of here," he suggested, leaning in so she could hear him above the live music.

    Jupiter shrugged. "I wish."

    His lips cracked into a smile. "Come on, then."

    Jupiter's eyes widened as he moved off, the crowd parting to let the two Victors through. "What? Finnick– wait." She followed after him hurriedly as they broke out of the crowd, the woman barely keeping pace with him in her ridiculous heels. "What about–?"

    Finnick waved his hand dismissively. "They can survive one night without me," he jeered.

    Jupiter's frown deepened. She knew that wasn't true, as they got closer and closer to the theatre's exit, where people were still lining up and fighting with the bouncers to be let in as the night grew older still. Unconsciously her eyes darted around the hall, looking for someone who looked lost, someone who might be searching for the man accompanying her.

    She took a hold of his hand, stopping him as she squeezed it tightly. He looked back to her curiously. "I'm serious," she said tightly, releasing his hand. "I'm okay. Please do what you need–"

    "Let me do something nice," he cut in.

    Jupiter faltered. "Are you sure?"

    Finnick shook his head. "I think we both need a night to forget."

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    WHEN Jupiter Marrow was seventeen she had returned to the Training Centre in the Capitol, the last place she had been before everything had gone wrong. As she walked the halls and fell into her bed, she could almost believe she was sixteen again and about to undertake the highest honour of her District.

    But instead she was returning as a mentor and the latest Victor, the talk of the town, the most interesting thing in the Capitol that year. At least according to her stylist, Gryphon, who seemed much too excited to be dolling her up for her appearances. She couldn't do much other than sit there with her lips clamped shut and her eyes half-closed, hoping soon the excitement would die down and she'd stop being reminded of what she had done to win.

    Of course, that would never happen. But at the time, it seemed possible.

    The two tributes for that year – Jupiter's first in a long line of graves – were both her age. They looked at her with a mix of admiration, fear and disgust. How could she have done that? How did she live with herself? How could she return to the scene of the crime?

    All questions she was sure were running through their heads, but questions she didn't have answers to. Brutus had taken over for her on the train ride over, taking the attention away from her and giving them his signature taste of brutal honesty she had gotten only the year before.

    Maybe this was a mistake, she thought. Ever since Finnick Odair of all people had put the idea in her head, all she could think about was becoming a mentor rather than an instructor. Brutus was both, of course, but the Academy shunned Jupiter and simply thinking about returning made her blood run cold.

    Returning to the Capitol felt warm, in a way she knew shouldn't have been welcome. But in the year since she had won and the parties she had attended and public appearances she had made, nobody had celebrated her survival like the people who had sent her there in the first place.

    Days had passed– Jupiter had drunk herself silly with Haymitch, Brutus had pretty much been her mentor a second year in a row, and the victor of the previous Games had done nothing but keep her head down and wish she could go home. Whatever that meant these days.

    The tributes she was in charge of were her age. She remembered them because she had trained alongside them in the same age range as a child. They were her friends, and it was now her job to give them tips on how to kill. She could see it in the way they looked at her, pleading, desperate, idolising. All things she had had only a year ago.

    Tomorrow she would send them into the arena to die.

    But tonight, she got lost on the fourth floor, hoping by some miracle she would drown in the pool.

    The chlorine stung her eyes, and from the edge, she could just see the city, ignoring her own reflection in the window. She wasn't even sure if she was allowed here. She hadn't wandered much in her Games year, of course, but this time she felt like returning to her room would rot her.

    She had weakly swam laps, before dunking her head over and over, hoping the cold would shock her system and she'd stop feeling like she was floating. It only felt warmer.

    "Fancy seeing you here," came a voice Jupiter was learning to recognise.

    She sighed, still feeling like a child caught doing something she shouldn't have. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye step into the room, which was mostly made up of the pool, which lapped at the windows of the training centre and the view of the city down below.

    "I'll go back to my floor," she murmured, moving to the edge of the pool.

    "Why?" Finnick asked simply. "I was just about to join you."

    Jupiter only raised her eyebrows. She had seen him many more times over the months since her Victory Tour, always a young and familiar face in the crowd that greeted and smiled at her like a friend. Maybe he was a friend, she wasn't sure.

    She looked away as he slipped his shirt off, before he took a running jump, sending water everywhere. Jupiter gaped at him as he surfaced, but he only grinned and sent a splash of water in her direction.

    Jupiter yelped and jumped away as best she could in the water, submerging to avoid the splashing as she heard Finnick's laughter echo in the room.

    "It was peaceful before you came," Jupiter spat as she surfaced.

    "How do you even know how to swim?" Finnick asked instead as he casually swam closer to her, the water rippling between them.

    Jupiter rolled her eyes. "It's taught at the Academy."

    "Do you people even have pools out there?" Finnick jeered.

    "In the mountains?" Jupiter scoffed. "No."

    "I remember 2," he went on. "It was too cold for me."

    Jupiter didn't say anything to the statement, instead asking, "Did you have an Academy, too?"

    "Well, yes," Finnick answered simply. "But we learn to swim way earlier."

    "That's not–" Jupiter cut herself off with a sigh.

    "Children from District 4 are practically half-fish," the boy from 4 continued good-naturedly.

    Jupiter narrowed her eyes. "Is this you confessing to being a mermaid?"

    Finnick shrugged. "It'll be our little secret,"

    Jupiter Marrow had her first kiss that night.

    It tasted like chlorine, and left her feeling colder than she expected once it was over and she realised it would stay a secret just like his scales. But in the moment things had melted away, and for a fleeting second she could believe she had a future that wasn't part of the Capitol or her father's legacy.

    For a moment she had simply been a teenage girl who liked a boy with a pretty smile and brilliant eyes.

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sorry for the wait i started uni and died

does the capitol training building have a pool? probably not and i do not care

i know the kiss flashback comes out of left field but i think it's cute and just adding to how close finnick and jupiter have always been