This wasn't written by me, it was written by my friend Ariana. All credit goes to her.
I first met him when I was 12. He was a 14 year old victor who was on tour after the 65th annual hunger games. You probably know who I'm talking about now, don't you? Finnick Odair.
I dressed nicely as was expected when the victors came through, adorned in gorgeous Capitol garb. He was different though. Unlike most victors who seemed to have an air of either selfish entitlement, or an air of listless abandon, he had genuine caring in his voice. His movements and words conveyed emotion and love. Still, I was only 12 at the time and I couldn't care less about anything more than his gorgeous sea colored eyes.
After the ceremony, I'd kicked around at stones and tried to catch another glimpse of that gorgeous face. Security wasn't so tight that year, they probably thought the kid they had to escort wasn't any type of danger. I remember sneaking into the building and looking around. Suddenly a hand clamped down on my shoulder and a voice spoke.
"You're not supposed to be in here, cutie." I turned slowly, afraid I'd be punished. But what I saw wasn't the cold scary mask of a peacekeeper. It was the beautiful sea eyes of Finnick. He quickly shushed me, and offered me a sugar cube. As I sat there with him, he told me about the arena. Horror stories they didn't air, details that would change people's opinions of him. When he finished, he asked me if I hated him. If I thought he was just as terrible as our leaders. But I didn't. I admired his strength, and he was surprised by that. He had moved me entirely and I had nothing in my mind but his words and the small cube clutched tightly in my child hands. The peacekeepers came to find him and threw me out. That night, and every night since, I replayed his words in my mind. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, months to years. I didn't see him again. Then one year a tragic thing happened. I was reaped. I trained hard, harder, harder! Went into the arena. Came out alive. I kept hoping I'd see him again if I won. And I did. During my tour he visited me in the district 4 justice building. I didn't have a clue what to say, and he knew that.
"So you listened all those years ago... And I always thought you'd forgotten me." He said with a smile.
"How could I forget?" I asked him softly. After that we became close. We would spend hours in the Capitol just roaming and chewing sugar cubes. Talking, laughing, crying with laughter, it was perfect. Eventually we grew apart. He met a new girl, another victor named Annie Cresta. She was cute, I couldn't deny, but she was also a wreck. Those games seemed to have hit her harder than the rest of us. Finnick fell fast, and I just let go. What was I supposed to do? He was happy. His happiness was all I wanted. A few more years passed and we grew farther apart. Eventually I accepted that he was gone from my life, just how my family was. They had nothing left to hurt me with now. More years. More victors. A pair come out alive. Chaos. Rebellion. War. The third quarter quell calls for victors to be thrown back in. As sick as it sounds I wished it would be her. Annie. If I knew for sure what love felt like, I might say I loved Finnick. It wasn't until I was on the train back to the Capitol, back to the arena, that I found out who'd been taken from district 4.
Finnick and his mentor. He took a shining to that victor girl from last year. It pissed me off that she already had someone yet she wanted Finnick too? My Finnick. No... Annie's Finnick. But mine too... A whirl of training and preperation happens. The arena. I do my best to play by the rules, but I'm separated from him again. Days go by before I find him. I can't help but scream his name and run to him. By the way he responds, maybe I haven't lost him afterall. Rescue.
Days into the game some of the victors are airlifted by district 13. The Capitol has me and some others, including- what's her name? Katniss? Yeah. Katniss's lover boy. Finnick was taken by the rebels. Torture. Sick painful torture. Water everywhere. Months pass before rescue happens. Months more of therapy before I can see him. When I finally do, he's married. To Annie. I do my best to accept her. She makes him happy right? Right. Exactly.
Secret missions and training. Bombs. Workouts. Pain. More pain. More training. A team sent to overtake the Capitol. Weeks go by before I hear word of the survivors. I listen to the list several times, I must have missed it. But no, they never say Finnick's name. Never because he's not alive anymore. He's dead. They tell me this in absolute sureness. Rock solid fact.
Months are spent zoning in and out, and finally I understand Annie's mind. We spend a lot of time together now, Annie Odair and Johanna Mason. Who would have thought the one I hated would become my only friend? I help raise her daughter, she helps keep the terror in my mind from consuming me. Together we keep Finnick alive in our hearts. People always ask us what we thought of him. She gets lost in thought and look pained every time. But me? I hold out my sugar cube, the first one he ever gave me. My token in the games, now encased in a super thin hard plastic so it will never melt. My response is always the same.
"Until this cube melts, I'll miss him."