when we were young; Katelyn + Harbinger
May 8, 2020 1:44:23 GMT -5
Post by charade on May 8, 2020 1:44:23 GMT -5
It had always been different with Harbinger. Kirito and her had understood each other from the beginning. Whereas Kiri had voiced his desire to heal instead of harm, Harbinger had gone into the games demanding they sacrifice him for his district partner. She’d refused. She’d known even then that he had a heart of gold, even if he was being a blockhead about it. Instead of clutching her hand in thanks when she came to visit him in the hospital, he’d screamed bloody murder at her and Kirito for not doing more for his district partner.
She’d told him to cut the self-sacrificing bullshit.
If you really wanted her to live you would have stayed by her and watched her back.
Harb had acted like he had a deathwish, but she had doubted that from the first day. People with deathwish’s didn’t fight back. They didn’t kill their allies. No, what she had thought then was that he’d been afraid. Afraid of what he might do, what he might become, because he wanted to live, but he was terrified of the path he’d have to take to get there. He’d raged about everything, and she’d had an answer at every turn.
I want y’all to have the support I never did. I had to figure this all out by myself and I’m not about to let either of you carry the burden alone.
But she had. Goddammit, she had.
Tough shit, you’re not getting rid of us that easy. Remember who you lost along the way, but let their memory be a strength instead of your weight.
And he’d tried, in his own way. But the Capitol wouldn’t let any of them be. They’d taken Kirito’s cousin for her hubris and Iain had died. Harbinger had blamed himself. His survival. Katelyn had blamed herself for trying so hard to beat them at their own game. She’d known that the lower districts weren’t meant to win.
Arbor Halt had warned her and she hadn’t listened.
Look at District Twelve, that’s our fate, all because of me.
We take care of our own, and we honor them., she’d said in reply.
When had she lost her way? Lost her passion, lost her fire? Her years in prison, in the Capitol had drained her, broken her spirit, and all but doused the flame in her heart. It had smoldered a little after she felt a kinship with Nico Thorne, fluttered when Maya Fel had begged her to bring Jacob home and for the first time since her captivity, for the first time since she’d failed Drake Harvest and Desimae Warble, she’d actually found it in herself to fucking try again, and it had worked. She’d gotten sponsorships for those idiotic jet packs, worked her ass off to get them home, and then that fucking bitch Cricket Antoinette and her cronies had forced her two tributes into a fight.
Jacob Fel had come home in a box.
But Kass had come home alive. The first victor in a decade.
Such an upset could not go unpunished.
They’d taken Asari from the Rhodes the following year, and strongly suggested that it was in everyone’s best interest for Katelyn to stay home and let Kass and the boys mentor instead. So she’d stayed in the district, and watched Milo and Asari die one after the other. It had been painful. The following year proved that the Capitol was still aggravated about Kass, even though they’d gotten a career from one. They’d vented their displeasure on the Mayor, and though she’d tried, there would be two more Izar funerals. She’d been ready to fade away at that point, become just another fixture, another cog in the machine, always there but never seen.
And then Opal had awakened something in her she thought had gone to sleep forever. Brought the color back in a world that was dreary and grey. There were still surprises in life, and sometimes, sometimes they were good. That spark of hope for a better tomorrow was growing back into a roaring blaze. Her heart ached to see the other victor again, but she couldn’t; not until this latest challenge was over with.
And so, she’d found herself on Harbinger’s doorstep only a day after her meeting with Kirito.
What should she say? What could she say?
Like Kirito, he'd grown. And she hadn't been there for a good six years or so. She'd been there for him when they'd lost Weaver, but she hadn't been there to stop Tamron from volunteering, and that hurt her deeply, even now, because she could've made a difference. But Harb had Navya. He had his kids. He too had made a life for himself while her own had been on pause. She was happy for him, that he could still find something good to hold onto, even with a maelstrom surrounding him.
She’d brought him a whole pineapple upside-down cake. He’d thankfully, if grudgingly let her in, and she could see the emotions waging war on his face. He’d never been good at hiding them. If she was a blade, and Kirito a scalpel, Harbinger was a hammer. “Before you say anything, I just want to say that I know I’ve been distant lately. And I can’t promise I won’t be again. Life is strange sometimes.” She set the cake down on an end table. “ But, you’re my brother, and even if life gets in the way sometimes, nothing’s going to change that.“ Katelyn looked down, not wanting to meet his gaze, and then back up wishfully. “I hope?”
There was something else off, but she couldn’t tell what it was. It was almost like he’d been expecting someone to knock, not her, but someone. “It’s quiet, she remarked, looking in the direction of the kitchen.
“Are Navya and the kids out?”
[ DARS ]
