The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins, along with Annie and Finnick, but the idea is all mine. Please enjoy!
Blood is pounding. Human cries rip the air. A blade whistles past her ear. Someone is shouting her name, but it's all wrong. Why is he here? She feels him grab her wrist, start to drag her away from the fight. She knows what is going to happen but is powerless to stop it.
His sea green eyes meet hers for a split second, but it's too late. The axe swipes clean through his skin, and suddenly his head isn't there anymore. She stumbless away from his body. His head is on the ground, and he's staring at her. He's staring straight into her soul.
She's screaming now, screaming his name over and over. Something grabs her arms, and she thrash around wildly, eyes screwed shut, hysterical.
"Annie! Annie!" a voice is calling. She knows that voice. She opens her eyes, and suddenly she's not in the arena anymore. But the room is dark and she can't see what is holding her. Her struggling grows weaker and weaker as her strength leaves her, but she's still shouting his name.
"Annie, it's alright," his soothing voice breaks through at last. Her screams turn into choking sobs as she realizes it's all in her head. It's not real. He's alive, he's safe.
She feels his arms go around her and she buries her head in his chest. "You were dead," she whispers.
"I'm here, Annie," he says softly. "I'm here, and I'm never leaving."
She nods, curled up against him in the small District 13 bed. His warmth is comforting, and he rubs small circles on her back.
"I love you, Finnick," she murmurs.
"I love you too, Annie," he says, gazing at her with his eyes like the sea. The last thing she remembers before drifting back to sleep is his lips gently pressing against her forehead.
Weeks later, she wakes with a start in the same bed. But now he is not beside her. The darkness feels close and suffocating. This time it isn't a nightmare that wakes her. It is something much more real.
She feels for the cold spot in the bed where he used to sleep. And suddenly she knows, without knowing how, that he is gone. Gone from this world, gone forever. She is alone. She is never going to see him again. Never hold him or talk to him or let him comfort her terror. The nightmare has turned real.
Her breathing turns quick with panic. She can't do it. She can't live without him! He is the one constant, unstoppable thing in her life – like the sea. He can't just disappear.
She buries her face in her hands, draws her knees up to her chest, and sobs.