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    JUPITER didn't want to go back to her house the next day. She had made herself at home in one of Brutus' spare rooms, and had tangled herself into the blankets to procrastinate waking up, her cheek catching the early morning rays of sunlight, eyes flickering open. She had hardly slept, and her eyelashes were almost crusted shut and dry.

    The small cuts she had were stinging, her lip and cheek slightly swollen. Brutus, who said nothing when she had shown up to his doorstep, had encouraged her to at least clean them. Jupiter had spent an hour in a scalding shower making sure there wasn't glass still lodged in her knees, and had had to bandage her hand that she had gripped the shard with.

    Her body screamed for more sleep that morning, but shame was already driving her to wake up. When the anger had faded and her ears were no longer ringing, Jupiter wished she hadn't fought back or threatened her brother or lost her cool. She would have only made things worse, and delaying the inevitable would help no one.

    "You look like shit," Brutus said matter-of-factly as she left the spare room and slipped into the kitchen.

    She sent him a sneer, but only weakly. She felt very flat that morning. Brutus didn't say anything else as Jupiter discarded her blood-stained clothes in the bin and trudged out the door, her former mentor only watching her go with a thinly disguised look of concern.

    Jupiter did not head back to her house. She turned her back to it and left the courtyard behind, her feet carrying her more than her brain did. She was sure she looked worse for wear (she hadn't looked in a mirror that morning), her jaw was still taught from a large bruise, her eyes heavy from sobbing and lack of sleep, and though she had changed from the bloody clothes, there were still cuts crusting on her hands and face.

    But no one seemed to care. No one in District 2 really paid her any mind as she stalked through town, beelining for the warmth of the bakery. The bell tinkled as she opened and closed the door, looking around for her favourite familiar face in her home District.

    "Space girl!" Julius greeted with a smile. Jupiter managed to return the gesture despite how little she felt up to it. His eyes scanned the Victor quickly, realising something was wrong, but he said nothing as he tightened his apron and leaned on the counter. "What can I get you?"

    Jupiter's eyes went to the cabinet. "Two danishes, a cinnamon scroll and– what's the gold one?"

    Julius' eyes darkened slightly. "Oh– it's new. I'm calling it the Mockingjay." Jupiter furrowed her brows. "Well, all the Capitolites are wearing the pin and monetising it. Figured I'd try and join in."

    "Is it any good?" Jupiter asked.

    "I'd be a pretty bad baker if I said no," Julius replied.

    "I'll take one," Jupiter said with a shrug. It was a dainty cake with a glazing, gold glaze and small, golden bird made of sugar perked on top. She assumed it was sweet and could act as a tiny peace offering when she had to return to the house. Julius paused as he packed the order, looking at her expectantly. "That's all," she added simply.

    "No bread?" he asked quietly. Jupiter shook her head. She didn't feel like visiting her father that morning. "Just as well," Julius sighed as he rang her order up. "Everything's gone up recently."

    "What do you mean?" Jupiter asked conversationally as she handed over the money.

    "Costs," Julius mused. "They spiked."

    Jupiter suddenly felt awful. She reached into her pocket again for more. "I can give–"

    "Nonsense," Julius cut off, handing her the paper bag over the counter. Jupiter hesitated in taking it. "You've got your own life, Jove."

    The nickname for the figure she was named after hit her in the face. Only limited people called her that. Jupiter took the bag, and she knew Julius was eyeing the wounds she had on them.

    "It's not fair," Jupiter murmured.

    Julius shrugged. "It is what it is."

    Jupiter left the bakery in a worse mood, if possible, than when she entered.

    She didn't walk home with haste, keeping her footfalls steady. She peeked in the windows of shops, greeted those who stopped her and wasted as much as she could. By the time she reached the Victor's Village path, it was midday and a weak spring sun was beaming down on her.

    Jupiter wondered if anyone in the Village had heard them screaming last night. She suspected they had. But now everything was quiet as she trudged up to the steps, dragging her feet as she reached the door. She blinked up at it, uninjured hand gripping the handle and turning slowly.

    Surprisingly, it opened and swung inwards. Jupiter stayed where she was, waiting for someone to yell or her brother to come back for a rematch, but there was nothing. She was only met with a quiet and dark house, weak light filtering through the blinds.

    She cautiously stepped in and turned the corner into the living area. Her mouth fell open at the sight. It was as if she hadn't left– glass and blood still scattered the floor, the curtains were closed and the TV was still running.

    But Cassia was missing from her usual seat in front of it, and as Jupiter skulked around she saw her mother on her knees trying to clean the glass with her hands.

    Cassia's light eyes widened at the sight of her daughter. "Oh, Jupe," she breathed. "You're home."

    "Is Mars here?" Jupiter asked directly, putting the paper bag on the counter.

    Her mother faltered at the question, swallowing thickly. "No, no, he left early. Haven't seen him since."

    Jupiter only nodded as she removed the coat she had borrowed from Brutus and hung it on the hook on the wall. Her mother looked away from her and went back to trying to scoop up the glass with her bare fingers– Jupiter was sure they had a dustpan or a broom somewhere, but she found she didn't want to help.

    As she scanned the depressing room, she saw the pile of letters still in place. She scowled involuntarily and picked them up, storming back outside where she threw them away in the furthest bin she could find.

    She stumbled back into the house, the door feeling heavier as she reentered. Her mother was still on the ground, but Jupiter could see her cheeks were wet and shiny. Something crimson was streaking the floor as she tried to work.

    "Ma," Jupiter murmured, glass crunching under her shoes. "You're bleeding."

    "No, it's okay," her mother muttered. "I need– need to–"

    Jupiter didn't owe her mother anything.

    Saturnus Marrow wouldn't have let her bleed.

    That was what Jupiter told herself as she used an old sewing kit, sterilised over the stove flame, to stitch her mother's palm back up, the pair sitting in front of the desolate TV screen. It was neat stitchwork, the kind taught at the Academy in case they had access to supplies and needed to effectively suture a wound.

    Jupiter didn't look at her mother's twisted face as she worked, knowing the needle would hurt the gashes in her hands.

    "I'm sorry," Cassia said abruptly.

    "It's okay," Jupiter said, not even looking at her mother. "I hit him first."

    "No, I'm sorry." Jupiter paused at the tone, needle and string raised above her mother's palm. "Jupiter, I'm sorry about everything," Cassia said quietly, but there was a hint of desperation there, too. Jupiter ignored her and continued her stitches.

    "I never wanted this," Cassia continued unprompted. "I never wanted things to be this violent. I never wanted kids that would... kill each other over the right to kill twenty-three other kids."

    Jupiter continued to ignore her, as she finished her work and snipped at the string. Cassia barely looked down at her injury, her eyes fixated on her daughter. "Thank you," she said.

    Her daughter shot her a look. "Just don't split them. There's a dustpan upstairs– and a broom, probably." Jupiter got off the couch with a sigh.

    "I just want your father back," Cassia said suddenly. Jupiter froze with her back to her. It was unusual enough that Cassia was talking so freely, but weirder still that she brought up Saturnus. "I wish things were different," Cassia continued wistfully, but Jupiter felt as if she wasn't talking to her anymore.

    It seemed everything was changing, to Jupiter, who fingered the pearl around her neck as she foraged around the house for something to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

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    DURING the 70th Annual Hunger Games, Finnick Odair gave Jupiter Marrow a pearl. As she took the train out of District 2 after the Reaping, all she could think was that she would see him again. She considered them friends now, despite their kisses in the dark and the moments the camera couldn't see. Jupiter was growing older and more weary now, but her face lit up when she continued to run into him at more and more events.

    She was eighteen now, as old as she had expected her brother to be when he moved out and removed himself from her life. He hadn't. The house she had won for herself still stood cold and feeling empty despite everything, even after two years of Jupiter surviving.

    When Finnick had turned eighteen, it was marked by much celebration and applause in the Capitol by his adoring fans (which was a large portion of the population). Jupiter hadn't received the same applause, thankfully, but it felt weird now. She had made it to eighteen– next year she would be older than the tributes she was expected to mentor.

    This year, Jupiter had put more effort into being an actual mentor, fighting against the bitter taste in her mouth and putting on a better show than when she was younger. Brutus' satisfied smile told her she was doing the right thing as they departed from the train and headed into the Training Centre.

    News of her return spread, and again she was interviewed and photographed, and again she had Capitolites who worked in the centre showering her with affection and praise. The Victor from the previous year, Fawn, had not come back so Jupiter was the next best thing. Every event she felt that she got better at acting like she didn't hate that she had survived, and this was no different.

    "You're good with them," Brutus told her that night after their training debrief. The two tributes had headed off to bed, leaving the two mentors to mull over their odds.

    Jupiter hadn't answered immediately. "Will it be easier next year?" she asked quietly. Brutus' face shifted. "Don't lie to me– I'm not a kid anymore," she added, recognising the look of an adult trying to sugarcoat something.

    "A bit," Brutus told her. "But one day they'll be kids to you, and it won't be any easier than when you see yourself in them."

    Jupiter hadn't said anything else as the pair departed for their rooms. Her shoulders were slumped and her eyes low when she caught sight of the pale bulb in the dim light of the corridor.

    She found a small, white flower at her door, which she carefully picked up between her fingertips. It was accompanied by a note attached with string which read, Meet me where the mermaids go.

    Jupiter smiled at the floor as she turned back the way she had come and headed to the fourth floor. It was dark now, but the city never slept, and as she passed the large windows was still fully illuminated.

    The ceiling of the pool was shimmering as she entered, the smell of chlorine flooding her senses as she closed the door quietly behind her. Finnick turned to her from where he was sitting with his feet in the water, getting to his feet and approaching her. Jupiter let him– not wanting to assume anything.

    "Hi," she murmured as he stopped in front of her.

    "You got my message," he said, softly.

    Jupiter's lip lifted slightly. "Our little secret." Finnick grinned at her memory and kissed her temple. "So, what's going on?" she asked quietly.

    "Maybe I just wanted to see you," he told her simply with a grin that Jupiter was learning to see right through.

    "Finnick," she said.

    His eyes softened slightly and he looked at the tiled floor. Jupiter sighed and took his hand, leading him back to the pool. He stayed quiet as they sat together, feet mingling in the cool water, Jupiter hand staying on top of his as they sat shoulder-to-shoulder.

    Jupiter didn't know what they were. From the day they had kissed, she wasn't really sure. Finnick had never really talked to her about it, and Jupiter was enjoying their time together too much to risk bringing attention to it. To the public, which meant the Capitol, the pair were friends with good sportsmanship. But behind closed doors, on the rare occasions they got such time together, Jupiter felt as if she was on fire.

    She knew why their liaisons were a secret, and she knew there was no realistic future. But for the moment, she would simply enjoy it, she told herself.

    "She's my friend," Finnick said abruptly, drawing Jupiter's attention back to him.

    "What?" she asked quietly.

    "One of the tributes," he said thickly. "Her name's Annie. She's the same age as you." Jupiter only looked at him with dark eyes. "She won't make it," he whispered. "She's so kind and soft spoken– and even if she somehow wins, what will she be then?"

    Jupiter could only frown at his plight, hearing the strain in his voice at saying it allowed. "I know you understand," Finnick added, adjusting his hand to squeeze hers.

    "I do," Jupiter murmured. "One of the Tributes– we were in the same class. He's eighteen." She slumped her shoulders, as if in defeat. "It was the same last year. But next–" she cut herself off. "It just– it's just what it is," Jupiter decided.

    "I don't know if I can do this again," Finnick said. At Jupiter's furrowed brows, he added, "Mentor– send people into the arena in good faith."

    Jupiter didn't tell him the reason she returned despite the pain it caused.

    "I don't blame you," she said with a shrug. He pulled his hand away from hers, and Jupiter tucked it into her lap, pressing her lips together.

    "I got you something," he said, tone shifting from sombre to light in a second. Jupiter looked at him in confusion, watching him fiddle with the bag he had slumped next to him. "So you don't forget me," he said cheerfully as he gave her an unassuming red box.

    It was small and flat, and Jupiter recognised it as something one would keep jewellery in. She took it carefully and turned it over, slowly opening it, aware of Finnick watching nervously the entire time. Jupiter's heart swelled at the sight of a single pearl looped onto a delicate silver chain, gleaming up at her.

    "Collected it myself," Finnick said proudly.

    "It's beautiful," she said softly. "Thank you."

    "I'll put it on," Finnick offered.

    Jupiter pulled her hair to the side and turned her body so Finnick could loop it around her neck. It sat cool against her skin, but before she had a chance to turn back Finnick ran his fingers down her spine lightly.

    "This is new." She could feel his breath against her skin.

    "They're planets," she told him, turning back. Finnick could only see the ones poking out above the hem of her tank top.

    "They look nice," Finnick told her. Jupiter's face broke into a smile, one so genuine it hurt her face.

    In the moment he leaned forward and captured her in a kiss, and she continued to smile into it. She would ask him another time, she told herself. For the moment, she would simply enjoy it– there weren't many things she could say that about these days.

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double update let's go 

figured i couldn't deprive people of finnick content for another few weeks, especially after that last chapter

the next two chapters are straight finnick/jupiter content, and then the one after is the final before we get into catching fire properly. these first 10 chapters have all been intro sort of things to set up conflicts and character and motivations :)