Three Sugar Cubes in A Death Match
Rereading pages 304 - 305 of Catching Fire (Ch 21) I was struck, again, by the beauty displayed amongst our sugar cubes (cause let's be real, Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick are complete sweethearts, it's part of what makes them a good team, binds them together like a band of bleeding hearts).
"When I've finally survived the worst...I'm functional enough to help Finnick."
Katniss's first thought once she's functional is to take care of Finnick. Not assess the surroundings or danger level or figure out the next course of action. It's simply to heal him even though she's still spasming. Watching Everlark work as a team to care for Finnick is peak feels. I can just see it in my head how they care for toastbabies when they are sick or just feeling down (drabbles or headcanons are encouraged on this specific topic!). Teamwork, or community, is a strong theme of THG and this is why I headcanon so many ways that Katniss + Peeta participate in post war recovery of 12, specifically with children. @mendontprotectyou shared a great snippet of headcanons on that a few nights ago, nearly identical to my own. Tell us your own!
The line that always moves me the most, nearly to tears is this:
"Finnick slowly begins to revive. His eyes open, focus on us, and register awareness that he's being helped. I rest his head on my lap and we let him soak about ten minutes..."
They've endured so much in less than 24 hours, especially Katniss, and here she is with Finnick's head in her lap, someone she barely knows, that she was put off by in their initial meeting, she has no reason to trust him and yet she affords him the small comfort and dignity of not having to put his head on the ground. It's a blink and you miss it gesture but when you see it, really see it, you see Katniss. This is the kind of person she is. I wonder if any district citizen saw this moment and felt inspired by it, you know, in Mockingjay when they are listing the times that they were moved by Katniss. It's got me wondering how much of an anomaly this action is among allies, all we really know from Katniss is that Careers usually turn on each other at the first opportunity. I doubt they treat each other with tenderness.
Here's another hit in the feels
"We help him sit up and let him grip our hands as he purges his eyes and nose and mouth."
I mean, come on, they did not have to do that. But they did. They held his hands through the worst of it for absolutely no other reason than they are good people and that's what you do for others. And that's what Finnick does for Katniss as best he can in Mockingjay and for Peeta after his rescue.
