Perspective [Vasco/Katelyn Blitz]

k a t e l y n .

Now the skies have been blacked out
I’ve got to find my way
‘Cos it’s been raining but there’s a drought
And I’m fighting with broken bones

As they always did, the games had taken a toll on her. The 85th quell was a little harder than some others. Not just for who had died and how, but for what had happened behind the scenes, what was expected of her. Of what happened to Opal. She walked into where Vasco was, wanting to unravel, but she couldn’t, not when he looked so happy to see her.

There was too much to talk about and too many ears probably listening in. She tried to smile back, but all she could see was the ruin of Opal's hand. Ky laying in the hospital, beaten within in inch of his life. Opal crying into her shoulder. Crying into Opal's shoulder herself. Riding home with Arabella and Cyro in pine wood boxes. Filling out the paperwork for their funerals.

“It’s good to be back,” she started, struggling to maintain her composure. Cyro’s final request and Olivia’s demands battled for dominance at the forefront of her mind. She swallowed thickly. It had been a good speech. Perhaps too good. In not so many words, he’d talked about standing up for what was right, throwing off the shackles of oppression—

It was very Vasco. She agreed with the sentiment, if not the reality, feeling the weight of the chains tightening around her neck. “How have things been at home? The quell twist was—“ she cleared her throat, letting her eyes wander idly and wondering how many of the walls were bugged. “It’s good to be back.”

k a t e l y n .

Now the skies have been blacked out
I’ve got to find my way
‘Cos it’s been raining but there’s a drought
And I’m fighting with broken bones

Hard to watch didn’t quite vocalize the enormity of it. It was sick. Twisted. Vile and a hundred other synonyms that she was too tired to think about. There was so much work to be done. The funerals. Prepping for the victory tour, getting back in front of the cameras to welcome a girl she knew nothing about to the district. The mayoral election. She toasted Vasco with a wan smile, clinking the glass politely before setting it down on his desk without taking a sip.

Couldn’t let anything loosen her tongue just yet.

New beginnings. The thought made her want to tear up. She’d thought she’d found that. But they were going to make her work for it. And they might take it away in the end anyway. That—that was the life she lived. “A grandfather, you?” She laughed, a tiny bit of the stress melting away as she pictured Vasco with a wispy white beard, rocking on his porch with a pipe. Someday, she was sure. “That’s wonderful, Vasco. I’m happy to hear that your family is doing well. I’ll have to make a cake.” She licked her lips uncertainly.

Work to be done.

She was to spy on him, her best friend and report anything anti-capitol to her new master. The thought made her ill. Especially since his speech might have already applied a new coat of paint to the target on his back. “As for me," she began,"you remember last year I said I was seeing someone in the Capitol?” she said instead of voicing her grief. She had to add something to the conversation. Family.

“But that I wasn’t sure if it would work out?” Well, she still wasn’t sure if it would. If they would let it. “Her name’s Opal. Opal Earnest. She’s a victor from One. You’ve probably heard of her. She’s the one that got married to one of our tributes when she was a teen.” She smiled sadly, Opal's teary words still echoing in her mind.“I’ve never felt like this about someone before.”

k a t e l y n .

Now the skies have been blacked out
I’ve got to find my way
‘Cos it’s been raining but there’s a drought
And I’m fighting with broken bones

Ah, so he did know her. That made talking about her a little easier. Vasco was in high spirits. She wished she could feel the same. But that old fear was gnawing away at her insides. The one that said she was standing on a precipice and there someone behind her ready to push. “You could say that,” she began, wistfully thinking of their walks. “She’s—“How to describe someone like Opal? “She’s a sunbeam. This—this ray of light that brightens my day. So warm and inviting. Gentle.” She looked down at the desk.

“When I’m with her it’s like being a kid again. Or maybe—being the young adult I never got a chance to be.” She was in danger of crying now; she knew that because her vision was getting blurry. Opal’s smile was replaced with a brutalized hand and a seemingly endless rain of tears that broke her heart. She’d been wounded so many times. Physically. Mentally. The Capitol was intent on shredding what was left of Opal’s soul like confetti.

Leaving Katelyn to hold the pieces close to her heart.

“Vasco, it’s been a rough few months,” she said, rubbing at one of her eyes with a hand. “I’m sorry if I’m not all there.” She said apologetically. “But uh, enough about me. I caught most of your speech; train came in late last night. I overslept.” Not that she’d slept well. She’d tossed and turned all night, looking at the other side of her bed and wishing that comforting presence was there to hold onto.

“So what’s next on the agenda, Mr.Mayor?” she said with a brightness that wavered towards being fake. “I think you’re a shoe-in for re-election. Do you even have any opponents?”

k a t e l y n .

Now the skies have been blacked out
I’ve got to find my way
‘Cos it’s been raining but there’s a drought
And I’m fighting with broken bones

Katelyn winced in spite of herself. How was he to know that sort of phrasing meant to her right now, with everything kept so tightly under lock and key. Permission. She closed her eyes, letting him talk and hating herself for the betrayal that was surely in the offing. No other candidates had gained any traction then. How could they? Vasco Izar was a lighthouse. A beacon of hope to so many. Doing his best to keep people from crashing on the rocks of the shore in the night.

And he clearly thought the same of her.

She wiped at her eyes. He didn’t know what he was asking. “Vasco, I’d love to. It means a lot that you think so highly of me. I—“ It was suddenly too much. It was bile and venom churning in her stomach. She’d be in the perfect position to report back anything and everything to the woman who could otherwise make her life and the lives of those she cared about a living hell. She snatched a pencil off of his desk and a blank notecard that he’d probably had for his speeches.


Can we talk? She scratched out hastily. Somewhere where you can sure we won’t be heard? She tossed him the card, her eyes slowly growing more haunted. She did not trust this building. This governmental institution. Surely the phone lines were tapped, but anything in the room could be hiding a bug, or worse a camera. The paranoia that had been slowly eating away at her since Olivia had reduced Opal to less than nothing in a single meeting bit deep.

k a t e l y n .

Now the skies have been blacked out
I’ve got to find my way
‘Cos it’s been raining but there’s a drought
And I’m fighting with broken bones

Once they were in the garden she exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in.

“I—“ she began unsteadily, wringing her hands. He was so happy, and here she was about to rain on his parade. But she couldn’t keep this under wraps, not after what he’d just asked her to do. She couldn’t betray him like that. Not him. Couldn’t be two-faced in his presence. “With Snow gone, the Capitol’s been in more chaos than I’ve ever seen. Anyone with money or a name or both is trying to carve out a piece of power for themselves before the dust settles.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. It was difficult to look him in the eyes for some reason. “There’s one in particular. A crone named Olivia Monferrat. I think she has her eye on taking Snow’s place. I have a feeling you’ll be hearing that name more in the near future.” Especially if he won re-election, which was something he all but had in the bag.


“She threatened me, I gather she’s been threatening any victor that’s from a district she wants to have her fingers in.” She was silent for a moment, forcing herself to look at him. “She wants me to spy on you,” she blurted out. “She thinks you’re a problem for her vision of what Panem should—should be. And if I don’t do this, then people will suffer.” Some people already had. It was hard to voice it, but he needed to know what this wretched woman was capable of.

“She was upset that district one has been doing so poorly in the games when they’re supposed to be the Capitol’s crown jewel. Said it was the mentors fault. Had her thugs beat Opal’s son within an inch of his life. Put him in the hospital for God’s sake.” Vasco had enemies he wasn’t even aware of, that was what she was trying to get across.

“And—and—“ The tears started as she stumbled over her words. “She—she forced Opal to cut off one of her f-fingers to prove her l-loyalty to the Capitol.” Her shoulders shook, whether from rising rage or sorrow she could not say. “I would love nothing more than to help you guide our district to that brighter tomorrow.” She said, her shoulders slumping. There were already storm clouds gathering.

Her voice broke. "But if I do, I’d only be painting a bigger target on your back. I’m a pawn in a politician’s game and I don’t know—I don’t know how to—What if she, what else is she capable of?” The stress she’d been keeping in since she’d kissed Opal goodbye refused to be held back any longer and she went to pieces in front of him, hiding her face in her hands.

k a t e l y n .

Now the skies have been blacked out
I’ve got to find my way
‘Cos it’s been raining but there’s a drought
And I’m fighting with broken bones

She hugged him back and she cried. It was overwhelming, and she’d spent the whole train ride in her head, not wanting to drag the other district eleven victors into this, especially because Olivia wanted her to convince them to willingly become pawns as well. His presence was comforting.

“No, no you can’t talk like that Vasco, the district needs you. I don’t want—“ He was a leader. A true one. A friend. Her best friend. The voice in the wilderness crying out to an unforgiving sky. He was more important to the district than her, just a woman who was famous for killing three people and helping three others to do the same.

A seventeen-year-old that never grew up.

She might have been stronger than most of her peers, better at having more good days than bad, but at her core she was still that wounded, frightened young girl trying desperately not to freeze to death in the snow.

They wouldn’t let her be anything else. Every time she thought she'd put a piece of her past behind her, someone slapped her in the face with it.

I just need Opal, she wanted to say, wincing when he cursed. She couldn’t remember a time when he had, at least not in her presence. “Vasco, no. Look, I—I don’t care what she does to me. I’ve suffered worse. I can bear it. It’s just that Opal—“ she trailed off, feeling selfish. Vasco had loved ones too. And many more than she did. “It was stupid of me to think I could have a life of my own after all this time. After all the times I went off script.” She sniffed, burying her face in his shoulder for a moment before meeting his gaze. Olivia wasn’t the only person that had asked her to do something in the Capitol.

She didn't want anyone to replace him. She didn't think anyone could.

“But you are the person standing up. I don’t know if the district could weather it if you fell. You give people hope, Vasco. And that’s a hard thing to come by. I’ve lost so much over the years, I can’t—I can’t lose my best friend too.”She stared at him through tear stained eyes and wondered how the hell she was supposed to tell him about Xander.

k a t e l y n .

Now the skies have been blacked out
I’ve got to find my way
‘Cos it’s been raining but there’s a drought
And I’m fighting with broken bones

The words were ones she’d never heard. Not from her parents. Not from her friends. Not from the other victors. They weren’t words she had used herself, even when trying to give other people some confidence in their abilities. She’d never truly thought about what she deserved, just took life as it came and tried to make the best of it. And here he was, telling her that she was more than the sum of her experiences. More than her mistakes or her trauma. But figuring it out?

What was there to figure out? How to combat this? She’d tried to play the game Olivia’s way and it had been rigged against her since the moment she set foot in the restaurant. His words were comforting, but she knew he was wrong. He was just so damn humble. He might have been just a man, but that was why people believed in him. He was larger than life and yet so real at the same time. It hurt her to hear him say that his better tomorrow was not coming, not until everyone stood together as one.

He was wrong, one person could make a difference. It didn’t matter if dozens of people contributed to the blaze if one person didn’t spark it first. There wasn’t anyone that she had looked up to before. Over the years she’d gotten used to being a person that others looked up to instead. She’d had no mentor, no teacher, no guides.

Vasco Izar was her hero, she realized.

He’d fight tooth and nail for his district. His people. Till his dying breath if it came to that. They were all his family in his mind, weren’t they? One voice. One people. One love. Katelyn pinched the bridge of her nose, willing the tears to stop, or at least lessen. “I tried to match wits with her,” she said in a small voice. “I was outclassed. I hoped to bide my time, form a plan—“ she trailed off. “It sickens me. It’s a betrayal of everything I claim to stand for. And I’m a terrible liar, Vasco.”

She put her hands on her knees and leaned forward, sighing and wishing she had a seat. She straightened back up. “It’s kind of you to say I’m not a thing, but to most of them, I am.” That was the sad truth of it, a truth she’d tried to deny for so long. “As long as she has leverage I—“ The penny dropped. Katelyn’s face twisted with grief.

“Cyro, he—he wanted—“ the words just tumbled out one after another as her mind was flooded with the other agony that had kept her up at night. “He begged me to adopt Xander if he didn’t make it home. Had this idea that if a victor adopted him he’d live a life where he never went hungry, where he had every need met and I—“ She took a step back, moving her hair out of her face, sniffling like a schoolgirl. “I already failed his father, I can’t fail the kid too. I want to honor that request, but Vasco, I never planned on—“ she bit her bottom lip, gnawing on it grimly. “What happens when he’s of reaping age and they decide to make him pay for the sins of my youth?”

Cyro couldn’t understand that. Or had refused to.

“Either I spit on his memory and doom his child to life he led or I take him in and make things worse. I’m not—“ She shook her head helplessly.

Katelyn Persimmon was many things, but a mother was not one of them.