Wildfire | Johanna Mason

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑒

Once more, they found themselves on a Capitol train. There was no dread this time, no death that awaited them. Daphne watched the trees pass them, the wide oak trees beginning to change to tall pine trees. One knee was pulled to her chest, her arm keeping it there.

She'd just wanted to go home, but now that they were close, she was scared. For so long, she had ignored the reality of what had happened to her father. Especially the fact that she didn't know what had happened.

Of course she wanted him to be alive, but at the same time, what would she do if he was? She'd never been able to turn to him with vulnerable things. She was barely who she had been before, not strong enough to hold herself together for him like before.

"What are you thinking?" She lifted her gaze from the window to Johanna, and despite her mind being so full, she smiled and accepted the cup of tea.

"My father," she admitted as Johanna sat down next to her. "I wonder if he's still alive. Especially what'll happen when he is."

"What would happen?" Daphne sipped the warm tea, resting her chin on her knee with a sigh.

"I don't know," there was more to it, but she didn't quite know how to explain it. "I'm just not who I used to be anymore."

"I bet it's the same with him," Daphne hadn't thought about that. The riots in the districts had seemed so far away. She'd tried not to think about what would await them when the train stopped. What would they do if there was no more district seven? Where would they go? Going home had been all she wanted, what if she couldn't?

Johanna looked out of the window in front of them, and when Daphne followed her gaze, all she could see were tall pine trees. A place she would always recognize. The forest of seven looked as it had before. As if nothing had changed at all. "I guess we'll find out."

Daphne placed her mug down, moving towards the window. It really was seven. She was home. Not even months ago had she dared to dream of this moment. She could already see the trees bending away to make room for the small train station. Daphne looked over her shoulder, despite her worries she was smiling. "We're home."

***

The cool evening air blew inside. Once, the little street would have been lit by lanterns. Most were broken now, despite the almost pristine state the Victor village had been left in.

Goosebumps were rising on Daphne's arms as she stood before the opened window, staring at the house she'd grown up in.

It had been late afternoon when the train had came to a halt, the sky already becoming dark. Daphne wanted to look for her father, but she was tired and just wanted some peace. They'd only checked his home. Though he wasn't there, it didn't look like it had gone through months of neglect. It still smelled like a home.

Johanna had said they could look tomorrow. They were hungry and tired and needed some sense of home. Daphne knew she did.

Perhaps not knowing was a strange comfort too.