Chapter Text
"The ache of losing his university career returned briefly, but he pushed it away with thoughts of becoming a legendary military leader like his father. Maybe this had been his destiny all along." ~ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins
...
Walking on the road to the hanging tree, Corionalus thinks. Maybe, if maybe instead of him and Lucy Gray running away together, they can go to District Two. It would be a long shot, but when they go together they can leave all of District Twelve behind them.
Lucy Gray wouldn’t have to run because of his actions. He could protect her this way. It would take some time, but if he moves up the ranks quickly to power. He would provide her the comforts the wife of the military general should have. Like his mother.
He thinks of his father and how he was killed somewhere in these woods of District Twelve. Perhaps, it was fate that brought him to Twelve to reclaim what was lost. Maybe it was his destiny all along to become like his father. A military leader for the Capitol. He can bring the name of Snow back to it’s original power through his military career.
Just the thought of everything, Lucy Gray and reclaiming the Snow name made him feel excited from his depressed mood in the hot evening of Sunday.
His reverie broke when he found himself at the hanging tree. His guilt of Sejanus returning, his third murder that summer bringing him back to his melancholy. Corionalus stopped and stared at the hanging tree.
He didn’t think Dr. Gaul would get his message, but Sejanus had payed the price of his rebellious actions. Because of his actions. The jabberjays mimicking his words always replayed in his mind but Corionalus knew he had to keep focus.
If his… when his plan works, the deaths of Mayfair and Billy Taupe were already suspected to be of Sejanus’ actions. And Sejanus’ was hanged for other reasons. It was a necessary sacrifice, he told himself. He and Lucy Gray would be free of everything.
But that leaves one more thing he almost forgot. Despite the rule of having a twenty year contract, Peacekeepers are not allowed to be married or have children unless… Crassus Snow worked his way up the ranks, he married his mother and sired him.
Coriolanus stares at the woods, catching the glimpse of orange in the trees. If the stars were aligning for him to follow his father’s footsteps, he can wield the power to do anything he desires.
He ran past the hanging tree towards Lucy Gray, where she stood with his mother’s bright orange scarf wrapped around her hair in a lovely way. She saw him and dropped her bundle, running towards him to wrap in an embrace.
He kissed her, wrapping his arms around her small body and moved to look at her hairdo. “My Lucy Gray. I like what you did with it,” he said, feeling the softness of his mother’s scarf.
“I’m glad you liked it. Didn’t want you to lose me in the woods,” she said. “You still up for this?”
Realizing what he had originally came out there for, he needed to tell her the news. “There is something I need to tell you,” he admitted, seeing her face break into sadness. “And I have a plan for us. But I need you to trust me on this.”
Lucy Gray clasped her hands with his, looking at him with worried eyes. “Wha-what happened? Are you having second thoughts on this?”
“No, Lucy Gray,” Coriolanus declared. “I took the test for the officers training program and I didn’t have any hope I would get anything, but I did. I got accepted into the elite officers program in District Two and I was told this morning. I would have to leave tomorrow early morning.”
She broke away from him, shock appearing on her face. “You’re leaving me… now?” she broke in disbelief.
Coriolanus could see it, the emotion of betrayal on her face. He needed to take control of the conversation.
“I am not leaving you, Lucy Gray. Not out here by yourself,” he admitted. “I want you to come with me to District Two.” He gathered her hands in with his, pulling her closer to him.
“My plan is I go into that elite officer’s program and move up the ranks. Do what I have to climb the ladder.”
The wind rustled past them, rustling the trees and the sound of leaves blowing in the air. He searched in Lucy Gray’s eyes for signs of understanding. Her face shifted from shock to confusion.
“You wouldn’t have to worry about Mayor Lipp chasing after you. We wouldn’t have to worry about surviving out here in the woods and going up North,” Coriolanus pleaded with her.
“Leaving Twelve? But… what about the Covey? What about-”
“They won’t be harassed anymore by Mayor Lipp if you come with me,” he says. “We’ll be better off to help them if leave tomorrow morning. Come with me.” Be with me
Lucy Gray stepped away from him. The faint scent of roses from his mother’s scarf drifted in the air as a breeze bristled in the trees. He thinks for a moment, Lucy Gray and him would be like how his father and mother were. Giving her freedom and love, anything she would ever ask for if she came with him.
“Don’t you think this is sudden, Coriolanus. Leaving tomorrow at the train station. I don’t think they would let me leave you.”
He tugs on his satchel tightly, gripping it as he says, “They will. I’ll persuade them to let you come with me.”
He watches his sweet songbird ponder back and forth, tugging on her hair as a source of comfort. In his hope, she has to come with him. There is no other choice, they would already be out of Twelve in the morning either by foot through the woods or by train.
Lucy Gray stops and nods to him. A nod that becomes more confident and gives him a small sweet smile. Corionalus rushes to her and sweeps her off her feets, capturing her lips in a possessive kiss.
“I need you, Lucy Gray,” he stated, looking into her brown eyes and meeting their heads together. The smell of roses intermingling with Lucy Gray’s own scent.
She smiles brightly, cradling her arms over his neck. “I need you too, Coriolanus Snow.”
He thinks back to when Lucy Gray once said, “You’re mine and I’m yours. It’s written in the stars.” Perhaps it was fate all along, he and Lucy Gray were meant for one another.
Corionalus has his songbird feeding from his hand. And all he would need is to have his power and influence.
He would make his father proud, he thinks.
...
Years would pass and Lucy Gray would think back to those exact words her husband said to her in the woods. Thinking it was with love and affection.
I need you, Lucy Gray.
What those word truly meant. But all they really meant was to trap her like a caged bird. She would face the inevitable truth that her boy, the mentor she fell for. Who gave her food like a bird in cage was buried a long time ago.