Title: Sympathy

Prompt: Finnick/Annie's child + Peeta/Katniss's child(ren), bonding over being the children of the contestants.

Note: Uses Calder from The Past Can Shape Us, But It's Not Who We Are as Finnick/Annie's child

Word Count:

Aderyn and Magan didn't know very much about the Games, or what life had been like for their parents when they were teenagers. They'd grown up in a large home with a circle of happy neighbors. Everyone, or as many as could manage, ate together in the courtyard at mealtimes. They worked together to accomplish any tasks. They were a community, and they looked after their own.

Their mother had told them of her life in the Seam, of the Hunger Games and the war. She'd told them what had happened to their father – how the Capitol had destroyed his memories of her. It took a long time for Katniss to open up to them about it, but eventually she did, if very vaguely.

Every time their father would get very angry, Magan would go to his mother and ask why Peeta would ever want to hurt him. Katniss would lift him into her arms and reassure him that his father did not want to hurt him. It wasn't until Magan was fourteen and Aderyn sixteen that she finally told them the truth, during one of their father's flashbacks.

They didn't get many visitors. The only visitor their mother ever looked for never came. His wife and young daughter stopped by once or twice, and his sister came by often, but their mother's friend Gale never came.

Then, one day, Gale's sister Posy came by, with a stranger in tow. Aderyn and Magan got very excited, expecting that it was the mysterious "Gale," but the man turned out to be too young to be their mother's childhood friend. When Aderyn opened the door, she said, "Hi, Posy. Who's this?"

"This is Calder," she explained, smiling. "He's Annie and Finnick's son."

They had heard very little of Annie, but their mother had spoken of Finnick often. "It's nice to meet you," Aderyn said sweetly, offering her hand.

"Likewise," the man answered. "You must be Aderyn."

"That's me," she answered. Then, gesturing to her brother, continued, "And this is Magan."

"Hello, Magan," Calder greeted as he entered their home.

Magan smiled sheepishly before shooting out of the room, supposedly in search of one of his parents.

"I'm sorry about him," Aderyn said. "He's very shy."

"Clearly didn't get his father's talent for speechmaking and camera presence," Calder laughed.

"Magan would much rather hide in the background, remain unnoticed. That's how mom was before the Games."

"Yes, I remember," Posy reminisced. "Well, if you two don't mind, it's been a long journey and I'm exhausted," she continued politely.

"The guest room is upstairs. Turn left, go down the hall, and it'll be the third door on the right. There's an attached bathroom."

"Thanks, sweetie."

To Calder, Aderyn asked, "Should I get sheets for the couch, or…?"

Calder smiled down at her. "Oh…. We're married," he explained.

"I'm sorry," Aderyn answered, blushing. "I didn't know."

"That's all right, kiddo. So, how have your parents been handling things?"

"It's been over thirty years since the war – mom's mostly recovered, although I still hear her shouting for her sister in her dreams; dad slips occasionally, but it's very rare now."

"Good, I'm glad."

After an awkwardly long pause, Aderyn asked, "When did you get married?"

"Just a few months ago," Calder answered. "Took me about seven years to get her to agree to engagement, and then another three to get her to actually tie the knot. Was exhausting, but worth it."

"Congratulations," Aderyn replied genuinely. "…Your dad was Finnick, right? The tribute who save my dad in his second Games?"

"Yep, that was him."

"So, you never even got to meet him?" Aderyn answered quietly. "'Cause he died in the Revolution?"

"No, I didn't. And my mother died when I was fourteen," Calder clarified.

"I'm sorry," Aderyn muttered shyly.

"It's all right. It was a long time ago," Calder said. "Posy helped me get through it."

"Your mom … she really needed your dad, didn't she?"

Calder hesitated, "Yeah, she did. But that was the Games for you. They broke too many people, ruined too many lives, killed too many children. My dad died to stop them, so no one else could be hurt like my mother had been. I didn't understand that when I was your age, or even a little older – I was very angry, and took that out on the people who had tried to save him."

"Like when you punched Gale ten years ago?" Aderyn interrupted.

"Yeah," Calder admitted quietly, staring at his feet. "But I felt abandoned, lost, broken, in ways I can't even explain. The Games broke me, and they ended before I was even born."