Heart of Gold • Finnick Odair

-4-

ROSALIE POV

The peacekeeper orders me to go in first.

I push open the large, dark oak double doors, which creak with the action, to see my brother sat on an old red couch with his head in his hands.

Upon hearing the door, his head snaps up. His brown eyes stare back into my hazel ones, the same look in his eyes that I saw in my mothers before she was executed in front of us. The look that says, 'I'm about to die, and I know it.'

I understand the look, and Brook knows it. He stands and I run into his arms which wrap around my small figure.

My eyes begin to water as my mind registers that this could be the last time I see my brother in person, this could be our last conversation. I think back on our lives together, the way we've always had each other's backs, the way he stepped up and took on the role of my guardian, all the times we've laughed til our stomachs hurt. Everyone always said I'm a happy, strong person and I always say the same thing, 'I had a good role model'. Not my dad who was a peacekeeper and executed by Snow, not my mum who cared more for her rebellious group than myself and Brook, but my big brother. My brother is the reason I'm the person I am today, he basically raised me and I couldn't have asked for anything better. He's the only family I need. Sure, I miss my parents sometimes, but Brook has always been good to me and has never given me a reason to feel alone.

We stand there, hugging, wordlessly for a few seconds. "Promise you'll try?"

"Rose, I-"

"I know." I cut him off. "Just promise you'll try, okay? For me?"

He nods, "anything for you, monkey."

A laugh managed to escape my lips through the tears at the nickname he gave me seeing as I climb high in the trees at work.

Some people give their family members a token, for luck, but we have little to nothing to spare. So instead, I take the bobble from my hair, which had previously been holding it in a ponytail, and put in on his wrist. "I'm with you, til the very end, okay?"

He nods in reply, kissing me on the head, then the doors open. I'm dragged out of the room by a peacekeeper. Through blurry tears, I see Apollo and Luna being sent in, Ralph following closely behind, "has anyone come through?"

"No, no one's been in or out her door." Apollo replies, knowing what I was asking, before the door closed.

I turn to a peacekeeper, "can I go see her," I look towards the other closed door. "Just for a minute."

He nods stiffly and escorts me over, a tight grip on my arm.

I don't know who Lily Call is, I might've seen her round the fields once or twice but we've never had a conversation. Maybe i've seen her around school. I might've sent her a smile across the square as I do with everyone but that's about it. We have no relationship or connection whatsoever but I strongly believe that if someone is about to be sent to their death, they should at least have a visitor before they leave. One last conversation before their sent to spend their days suffocating in crowds of Capitol citizens.

I walk inside and Lily looks up, surprise evident on her face. It seems she wasn't expecting anyone either. "Why are you here?"

"I think you should get a visitor."

She's quiet for a moment, "your his sister, right?" I nod. "I see the resemblance. I'm Lily."

"Rosalie."

"I'll look out for your brother, I promise."

Now it's my turn to be surprised, "why?"

She sighs, "I've got no one left, not one person. That's why I've got no visitors, no one left to visit me. He's got you, you shouldn't be left alone. They don't have a right to take your family from you," she spoke bitterly, as if from experience.

"Thank you," I manage to muster up. "Good luck," I have nothing else to give, so I offer a hug, which she takes. It's a quick, but tight, hug, a needed one.

"Oh, Rosalie?" she pauses. "If you ever get the chance, call Snow an asshole for me, okay?"

"You got it," I smile, pulling back from the hug.

The door is opened and the same peacekeeper dressed in white uniform takes me away. I glance back at the girl once and see her softly smirking at me.