She fell and rolled, watching all of this sideways and as if in slow motion. Even over her own coughing and gasping, she swore she felt the loud pop vibrate through her own body when Oxford's arm was violently torn from its socket. Something like that wasn't uncommon in Nine, they came into the apothecary from time to time. Accidents with the sythe or large equipment. If this were Nine, she could fix it right up and help take the pain away.
This was not Nine.
Trembling, she pushed herself to her feet, knife drawn. Oxfords pleas made no sense. She couldn't tell if he actually didn't know what had happened to him, or if he was trying to trick her.
Slowly, she approached the precipice where Oxford dangled. Her breaths rattled between her ribs, as though intentionally reminding her of what he'd did. What he could do.
"I'm sorry," she croaked, then stabbed the knife down into his taut fingers clinging to the railing.
I'm sorry. Sorry for what? Sorry for the choices she had to make to go where she was destined to go? Sorry for the Cornucopia? For the nights they spent apart? The help they couldn't give each other? What was Farina, of all people, sorry for?
And then the blade cut into his fingers. It didn't sever; it hardly even scratched. But it was enough for them to release. He brought his hand in front of his face to look at the small drops of blood that started to float just above his eyesight. He couldn't feel the wind as it rushed past his ears, or hear anything as he fell. He could just look at her, with an expression of stern surprise, as she shrunk smaller and smaller above him.
You're so close, a voice said to him. You're so close, Olly Olly Oxen Free.
His face found its way to a smile. "I know," he replied to the wind.
I'm so proud of you. I'll be waiting for you.
"Okay."
He could feel his sister smile. Flor had always been there, in the Arenas and in the blades. In the guards and in the other Tributes. She would guide him, and he knew it. So when his body slammed, mangled on the tracks, he was not afraid. He felt Flor there, stopping the pain of a snapped leg from reaching his brain. She was with him as his entire body vibrated, the power of the roller coaster shaking his form to the core. And as he turned his head to see the coaster car barreling towards him, he could see her there, too, riding in the front.
Her eyes were soft and warm, the same honey brown he remembered. Her mouth was pulled into a wide smile, showing off the twisted snaggletooth that had always defined her, and her dusty brown hair billowed out behind her in the wind. Her arms were up, and she was having the time of her life. Ox laughed, feeling her joy radiating off of her memory.
She saw him, and he saw her. She smiled wide and nodded, reaching out a hand to him. He nodded back and reached out to her, though he could do nothing but lay there on the track. The cart hit his body head-on and lurched from the tracks, spiraling out into the darkness of the coaster as the first District Nine firework exploded overhead.
But Ox was still on the coaster. He was there as the memory of a cart hurtled down the tracks, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He and his sister, in the front row of the car, their arms waving in the wind as it rushed past. Their laughter bounced around the metal structure as the sun, bright in the blue sky, shone down on them. The coaster turned, spun, and looped, and Flor grabbed onto Ox's arm, shrieking in delight.
He laughed, squeezing his sister's hand. "I've missed you!" he called out over the noise.
"I'm so glad you're here!" she yelled back. "I'm so happy you made it!" The phantom coaster gently slowed to a stop, resting at an empty loading station. "But this is our stop."
He looked at the bare platform, then back at his sister. A mischievous grin pulled at his lips. "One more time?"
Flor rolled her eyes at him, but ultimately gave in. "Fine. One more time, Olly Olly Oxen Free."
With a bright smile, Ox threw his hands into the air. After a moment, Flor reluctantly joined him, and the coaster thundered off again.


















