Johanna is not surprised when she finally finds Annie sitting at the edge of a dock. The others had gone to check Victor's Island but Johanna had headed straight to the wharf. She walks wordlessly along the beach and kicks her boots off haphazardly, letting them lie in the sand. Padding silently towards Annie, she listens to the other woman whisper words she can't hear. Johanna wonders if she would understand them, anyway.
Annie looks up and smiles brightly as Johanna sits next to her. She's resting a hand on her growing belly, whispering, perhaps to the baby, and letting her toes and the bottom of her long yellow skirt trail in the dark water.
"Everyone's looking for you, y'know," Johanna warns, but makes no move to leave. "They want to leave District 4 before dark."
Annie hooks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "They can wait."
Johanna shrugs and scoots backwards so that her feet are not in danger of being touched by the sea. She watches Annie kick her toes under the water like pale little minnows and can't help but grow curious.
"How can you of all people still be comfortable around water?" She asks Annie before she can stop herself. She knows immediately that it was a poor decision as Annie lets out a panicked cry and clamps her hands against her ears, her feet thrashing in the water.
"Shit," Johanna sighs and waits for Annie to come back.
She does, a moment later, breathing heavily and shooting Johanna an unreadable look that could have been an apology or an accusation. Quick as a viper, Annie reaches out and grabs Johanna's bare arm, her fingernails tattooing purple bruises on tan skin. Johanna cries out tries to twist away but Annie's grip is like iron. Suddenly Johanna recalls watching the Reaping the year before her own, watching Annie Cresta's name get called, watching the girl with the tight ponytail and eyes like the ocean walk up to the stage like she owned it, watching her raise a fist in the air as if she was already promising District 4 a year of glory.
The Games had murdered that side of Annie, but Johanna could still see the Career Tribute in her eyes, in her strong and wiry arms.
Annie doesn't let go, but her grip loosens when she realizes she's on her way to wounding Johanna. "The sea is in my bones, in my blood. They took so much but they couldn't take the salt from my veins. Do you think they could take the trees from your heart?"
Johanna recalls the pine bundle Katniss had once brought to her bedside. "No," she admits. "There are still, um, trees in my heart."
Annie gives her a half smile and looks back out to the water. "No matter how much was taken from us, there were still little things left behind," her hand goes back to her belly as if she's reminding herself as much as Johanna.
The women sit in pleasant silence and stare out at the expanse of water. The few boats that are still docked bump gently against the wood. Johanna shivers and her stomach grumbles; if only she had thought to bring a jacket or something to eat.
"Oh," Annie digs into her jacket and pulls out a small plastic bag. Johanna frowns and leans over as Annie tears a hole in the plastic and pulls out a small, square object. "Sugar cube?"
Johanna's eyes flicker back and forth from Annie's face to the cube in her hands, a strange feeling building up in side of her. Laughter. Before she can stop herself, she begins to shriek with unexpected laughter, and a smile parts Annie's lips before giggles begin to escape as well. The two young women laugh until their faces ache from smiling. Johanna's not sure who starts crying first, but eventually the laughter fades to tears. Annie—silent tears still streaming down her face—pops the sugar cube into her mouth before passing the bag to Johanna. Johanna reaches a tentative hand inside and pulls out a cube, placing it on her tongue. It's disgusting, so much concentrated sweetness, but it makes her think of golden hair and laughing eyes and bloody tridents and the only friend she ever really had.
"I don't even like sweets," Annie whispers to the water. "But he did and I could always taste them on his tongue."
Johanna looks away, not sure if Annie had meant to speak aloud. Tentatively, she reaches her arm out and pulls Annie close, feeling the other woman's tears seep through her shirt.
"I want him back," Annie cries into her shirt.
"I'm sorry," Johanna says, because there's nothing else to say. And because she wants him back, too. She can only imagine the smug look on Finnick's stupid, lovely face if he knew his wife and best friend were mourning him together.
Annie looks up at Johanna, and her eyes are lucid and clear, a rarity, and before either woman knows what they are doing, Annie's hands are in Johanna's short hair and they are kissing. It's unlike any kiss Johanna has had. It's not sexy, or promising anything. It's a kiss as a form of comfort, a desperate need for intimacy. It's an awkward kiss, sitting parallel on the dock with Johanna still keeping her feet out of the water, and the baby that's been growing inside Annie for six months.
But it's nice.
When they draw away, Annie's crying again but a smile tugs at her lips. She reaches towards Johanna and places a hand on her arm, gentle this time. "You're freezing."
"Not all of us were born at sea."
"Is it time to go?"
Johanna looks at the pink and orange light spreading across the sky in the west. "Yeah, we don't wanna get left behind."
"I do," Annie insists as Johanna helps her to her feet. "I hate District 13. I want to stay at home."
"One day you can come back," Johanna promises. "And you can teach your kid to swim and fish and to not be as brainless as Daddy."
Annie smiles and shakes her head, too used to the insults Finnick and Johanna used to trade as terms of endearment. "That's what I'll do. And you'll visit us?"
"Whenever I can."
Annie brushes her lips against Johanna's jaw and begins to walk back to the hovercraft barefoot, whispering to herself again. Johanna pulls on her boots and follows, picking up a few of Annie's words, here and there.
"…Don't worry… back... home again…you're going to be so loved."
Johanna breathes the salty air and wonders again if Annie is talking the baby or someone else.