Broken From a Young Age {Gabriel/Romana}
Feb 2, 2018 11:36:48 GMT -5
Post by kap on Feb 2, 2018 11:36:48 GMT -5
Romana Izar
District Eleven
District Eleven
I'ma say all the words inside my head
It was another Izar, and I wasn't ready. There was no way that I could ever be prepared to see another Izar go into the arena, as every time it's happened so far, they haven't come back alive. I wished that there was a way for me to change how certain their deaths seemed to be, but I knew that there was nothing I could possibly do, no matter how much I wanted to or how hard I tried. I just wanted us all to survive. Seeing someone die was hard enough, but when it was someone you were related to, no matter how little you knew them, it was even more difficult. I had gone through the terrors of losing someone to the Games multiple times and I did not want to have to face it again. Unfortunately, there was likely not going to be an Izar surviving these Games. It was like our family curse: none of us survived when we were reaped. Even if we volunteered for it like Salome did, we didn't make it out alive.
I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh ooh
The way that things have been, oh ooh
When I arrived at the reaping, the most prominent fear in my mind was that I was going to be reaped. After a different female without the Izar name was chosen, however, it lifted a weight off of my chest that had been there for far too long. No one wanted to deal with the nerves that someone they knew was going to go into the Games. That fear was not pleasant. Then again, I'm not sure that I truly found any type of fear to be pleasant.
Second thing second,
Don't you tell me what you think that I can be
I used to believe that the chain of my dear family members going in to the Games was coming to an end. I even thought this at the reaping, when none of us were called for the position of District Eleven's female tribute for this year. I was wrong, though. I was so very wrong. We would never be safe, and I knew that as soon as Gabriel Izar's name came out of that bowl and was read aloud into the microphone that caused the title of Izar to boom across the District Square where all of the reaping eligible citizens waited in anticipation. I recall hearing sighs of relief from some of the boys when they realized that it wouldn't be them this year. There were even some relieved-sounding girls, likely happy that it wasn't anyone they knew who would have to fight in a death match this year.
I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh ooh
The master of my sea, oh ooh
I, however, was not one of the ones in the District Square who was breathing a sigh of relief. Instead, tears were starting to form in my eyes while Gabriel Izar made his way up to the stage with our District's female tribute. My body was shaking in a mixture of fear, sadness and confusion as to what to do, but I tried to hide this as best as I possibly could. When people started to clear out of the District Square, I wasn't headed in the same direction as most. No, instead, I was headed toward the Justice Building. I may have not been extremely close with Gabriel, but we knew one another, even if it was just from a few family gatherings, such as birthdays and holidays where we all got together and socialized as a family. He needed to know that I cared about him. He also needed to know everything that was on my mind, and how much I wanted him to come home alive.
I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
When I made my way into the Justice Building, one of the Peacekeepers who was there led me to the room that Gabriel would be in, waiting for any visitors who may arrive to say their parting words to the boy. I would be one of those visitors. I just hoped I wasn't his only one. I didn't want to have him think that I was the only person that cared about him, as he needed to know that we all did. That was just another thing on my mind that I needed to share with my cousin.
Writing my poems for the few
That looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
When I reached the door to the room that held Gabriel Izar, I took a deep breath as my hand touched the doorknob before I turned it in order to open up the door. When I opened the door, it creaked as one would expect to happen with a door in an old building. The Justice Building had been in District Eleven for longer than I had been alive and likely since the first Hunger Games. Seventy-Eight years and it was still standing with very few renovations ever occurring.
Singing from heartache, from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
As I walked into the room, I made eye contact with Gabriel relatively quickly. I greeted him with a quiet 'hello' and a weak smile across my lips when I looked at him. I wasn't quite sure how to proceed at first, so I stood there for a moment in thought. Then, I realized that my time was limited. I wasn't here with him forever. They'd have to kick me out at some point. That meant that, if I wanted to speak to him about what was on my mind, I had to do it right there, right then. There was no turning back, as I was already in the room.
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the pain
"I care about you, Gabriel. I want you to know that," I told him, taking a seat near him. "You don't deserve to have to go through this and die in that arena. What you deserve is to come home to us alive, okay? Don't forget that I'm cheering you on," I continued. I didn't know what else to say at first, and a tear made its way down my cheek. I brushed it away and spoke once more to him. "Please don't give up. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, and I know this is probably what you expect to hear from anyone who comes in here, but I mean it. I truly mean it, Gabriel, I do. It's not just some recited thing that I'm saying to you..." I trailed off for a moment.
You made me a, you made me a
Believer, believer
"Please just come home to us alive. I wouldn't let anything hurt you if I were able to be there for you. I can't be there, though. This means that you have to be strong."
