A/N: Well, this is obviously a songfic for the most Finnick/Annie song ever:Annie Use Your Telescope by Jack's Mannequin. There will be more chapters and every chapter will be named after a fitting song ^^ sooo drop a review and tell me what you think :)
About this chapter: IKNOWW, Annie's eyes are green. And Finnick most likely was part of the Career alliance. And I didn't even mention Mags. BUT. This is what popped into my head while listening the song so.. no complaints about my headcanon facts :D Oh and since Finnick was 14 in his Games I decided Annie is just under 13 here (b/c I don't want her to be more than 17 in her Games.)
*Edited a few typos/grammar mistakes 12/11/11*
Annie, Use Your Telescope
It started feeling like October
I got stranded on the road
You know where to find me
Anytime you want me Annie,
Annie, use your telescope
My time here in the Capitol has been dream-like. All of the hours spent in the Training Center, all the interviews pulled through with a fake smile, the parades and the banquets… elaborate, but meaningless. The shining, glorious Capitol. It feels as if I'm looking at it through a barely see-through veil. Everything here is hazy and distant. I can't even see the stars from all the light pollution.
I wonder if you're looking at the starry sky right now. Sitting on the highest cliff on the sea strand, letting a sea breeze flow through your dark hair. Just like the night before I left you, Annie. We sat on the outcrop and watched the horizon dissolve. I told you your eyes were blue like the night sky and you told me mine were cyan like the tranquil ocean. We watched the two colors blend as the sky merged with the sea. At that moment, I knew our hearts were bound together for infinity.
"That's where you will always find me. Even if I'll never return from the arena, you'll always know. I'll be looking at you from the horizon, no matter what."
"Don't say that, Finnick! You will return! You will come home to me! And then we'll never be apart again, ever!"
"We're not apart. We are one, remember? Don't you ever forget that. No matter what, I'm always with you."
"Always?"
"Always."
I don't know what horrors tomorrow will bring, but I know for sure that nothing will ever erase the memory of our last, tender kiss from my still trembling lips.
So they made my life into a movie
As if I could forget those years
But I know where the time's gone
Just how well my mind's been wandering
Annie, use your telescope
Telescope
Annie, use your telescope
When it's late, don't stop looking
Where my eyes turn to glass
When it's late, don't stop,
Annie, I will make it.
A giant, golden horn glimmers in the sun. The Cornucopia. Around it stands a girl called Hellerie, who's the second tribute from my district, me, and of course the twenty-two other tributes, my new enemies, all of us anxiously waiting for our cue, our sign to get the bloodshed started. Time to throw away my veil and face the reality. The Games are about to begin.
As the cannon sounds off some of the tributes scurry into the dark green, grim forest. But not me. I dash straight forward, towards the Cornucopia. I run past the futile objects such as pieces of clothing and loaves of bread and somehow make it first to the weaponry. I know I've only got a split second of time before the careers arrive there too, so I grab the longest knives I can see and turn around. The monstrous girl tribute from District 2 is standing right in front of me, grinning. I wave my armed hand towards her, but she easily dodges my attack. I point my knives up towards her to prevent her from getting any weapons, because then I'd be a goner for sure. As I desperately swing my cutters failing to even scratch her with them, the boy tribute from District 1 hits her in the back of her head with a thermos bottle. The girl collapses on me and I tumble down into the Cornucopia. I shove her off myself. I'm not sure if she's dead already, but she's definitely unconscious. This could be an easy kill. And killing gets me sponsors.
The moment I shove my knife through her chest and hear the sound of the cannon, an image of your mournful gaze pops into my head.
"Not now, Annie", I whisper and fight back tears imagining your pain, "I have to kill so that I can come back home to you."
Tears don't fall when I slit the District 1 boy's throat to get out of the golden horn. They don't fall when I slash someone's wrist open to get the backpack he was reaching for. They don't fall when I hear the cannon sound off time after time and see the green marshy land bathing in blood. They don't fall when I see Hellerie lie on the ground, bleeding. I run into the forest, wade through the bog-like land and after hours and hours of wandering, climb into a huge tree. In the shade of the foliage I let out one single tear. It's not for the kids I killed, or even for Hellerie.
It's for you, Annie. Everything I do is for you.
"I'll make it out of here for you, Annie, I promise."
Hello? Is there anybody out there?
Hello? I'm only getting farther, oh.
It started feeling like October
Annie, use your telescope
Telescope
When it's late, don't stop looking
Annie, use your telescope
Where my eyes turn to glass
When it's late, don't stop,
Annie, use your telescope
Annie, I will make it back
You're wearing a white, silky dress and your long hair is flowing freely in the wind. Its twilight, and you're spinning on the sandy beach laughing heartily. You hop towards me cheerfully, take my hand and lead me to the waterline.
I know this scene, it happened almost a year ago. It's the scene of our first kiss. And I know what will happen next: you will swipe the hair from my forehead so that you can look me straight into the eye. Then you will lower your hand and place your palm on my cheek and I will lift your chin up and kiss you. But this time something's out of place. You won't look me in the eye.
I wake up only to find out that I'm in the Hunger Games arena. I look around myself. If I didn't hate this place so much, I think I would like it. Everything here is the same shade of dark green: the deceptive swampy land, the tiny flowers that grow on it, the huge trees and the endless vines hanging from their branches. The Gamemakers have even managed to make the sky look green.
I remember seeing fourteen faces on the sky last night. That means there are ten of us left. Nine will die and one will live.
I will live. I will live to make it back.
Every night I have the same dream. And every time you close your eyes refusing to look into mine.
When it's late, don't stop looking
Annie, use your telescope
Where my eyes turn to glass
When it's late, don't stop,
Annie, I will make it.
your telescope
Several days have passed and I've only heard the cannon once. That means there are eight tributes lurking in the shadows waiting for somebody else to make the first move, just like me.
As I sit in my tree eating the pork stew some sponsor has sent me just like they do every day, the idea almost strikes me off the branch. It's so simple that I can't believe I haven't thought of it before. I'll just have to do what I do the best.
I gather as many vines as I can see and start twining them together. My fishing net would be perfect if I found some rocks to use as weights to tie in the corners, but I haven't seen any. For a moment I feel frustrated but then I remember the meals my sponsors have sent me have all been packed in tin cans, and I attach those to the corners of my brand new human trap.
In some twisted way I have a good feeling about this, but it backfires every time I remember that back home you're watching my every move. My every kill. I turn to face the green sky and speak out:
"Don't you worry, Annie, I'm still me. And I'll be back in no time. Just you wait and see."
I know Capitol will most likely censor your name, if not my whole speech… but, just for now, I don't even care.
your telescope
Annie, I will make it.
I hide in trees, lying in ambush for unsuspecting tributes near the Cornucopia. After stabbing two people to death using my net and the knives I have, another gift from the sponsors arrives.
The trident is made from strong, shimmering, silver-like metal and has golden decorative carvings all over it. At first I just stare at it in amazement. It's so mesmerizingly beautiful, yet deadly. I throw it a few times for a little practice. I never miss the target, it works like a dream. Almost as if it was a part of my body.
After I received the trident everything's felt all dream-like once again. The killing has numbed my feelings. It doesn't even feel bad when I shove the weapon through a little girl's fragile neck. All I can think is what I miss the most, the color of District 4's night sky… the color of your eyes. Those eyes that hide from my glance every night.
I have to get out of this infernal greenness.
Annie, I will make it.
I hear the cannon sound off and I know it's the last time. The District 5 boy tribute's blood glistens on my trident's cool surface. I loosen my fingers' grip and let the weapon drop down. The hovercrafts are coming. They're playing the anthem.
I have won. I have made it out alive.
In the interviews I smile genuinely. I think I really am happy. All the numbness has left my mind. I have left it in the arena and I will never return to claim it back. After my Victory Tour I'll be completely free. Free to be with you, Annie.
But when my feet first touch the ground of my beloved home district, I suddenly feel afraid. What if you still won't look at me? What if something's happened to you? What if I'll… never get to see you again?
And then I know how you must have felt the whole time I was gone. But you won't need to anymore. Never ever again.
When I hear your cry I know this sums up everything. This moment is what I've been living for until now.
"Finnick!"
"Annie!"
And we embrace like never before.
Two parts of a whole unite to a shivering, sobbing entirety.
"Annie, I did make it."