Silence had never seemed so loud.
Annie Cresta didn't have a lot of experience with silence. Back home, even if she was by herself, she was always able to hear the soft crashing of the nearby waves or the distant docking of a fisherman's boat. She had always been one to hum under her breath or tap her fingers absently to keep herself occupied.
Here, in a room somewhere deep underground in District Thirteen, no amount of humming or tapping could make the silence go away.
They'd been gone a long time.
She'd wanted to beg Finnick not to go. More than anything, she'd wanted to latch onto his arm and drag him back and never let him leave ever again. But she'd let him go because it was important to him, and important to the rebellion, and important to the families who had lost children to the Hunger Games. There was a bigger picture.
They still weren't back.
He'd promised her that he would come home. "Don't worry about me," he'd said on his way out. "I'm just going to save the world and I'll be back before you know it." That had at least made her laugh a little. After that, they had shared a long kiss before he joined the ranks of other rebels preparing to storm President Snow's mansion in the Capitol.
It really had been a long time.
He didn't know she was pregnant. She'd only found out herself just this morning, and she'd barely had time to digest the news herself before it was time for him to go. She wouldn't have been able to find the words to tell him, and if he had to go, she wanted to do everything in her power to ensure that his mind stayed where it belonged. She couldn't have him getting distracted on her watch.
A heavy metal door opened and closed somewhere nearby. Voices began travelling down the corridor, steadily getting closer.
They were back.
Annie was fairly sure that her heart was going to leap out of her chest and into her throat as they started filing in. She was relieved to see that Katniss and Peeta had returned safely, as had Gale. Only two others limped in behind them. Was this it? Had only these five managed to escape? The seconds ticked by and no one else trudged through the door behind them.
…Had Finnick not come back?
Blood began rushing to her ears and her vision became blurry. No, no, no, no, no. It wasn't true. He had said he was coming home. He had said he was going to be right back. This couldn't be happening.
The floor was falling out from beneath her. She could feel it crumbling into tiny pieces. She needed his voice to call her back out of the hell that was her own mind, just like it always did.
"Annie!"
The walls around her seemed to be closing in, suffocating her.
"Annie! Annie!
Someone was holding her shoulders, saying her name over and over again. She knew that voice.
"Annie, it's okay! It's okay…just breathe, love."
"F-Finnick?" She choked out, hardly daring to believe her eyes, which still couldn't seem to focus properly.
"Yeah, honey, it's me." Slowly, his face swam into view—his wild hair, even more disheveled than usual, his mesmerizing green eyes, and his startlingly attractive face, which appeared to have what looked like scratch marks all over it. He was dirty and his clothes were ripped and he was all scratched up but he was here and he was alive.
"Finnick!" She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around him with all the strength she had, vowing to never let go again. "Oh, Finnick, I thought…I thought you weren't…"
"I know, I know. But it's alright now. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," he said gently. "You can't get rid of me that easily."
Annie buried her face in his shoulder and let out something between a strangled sob and a laugh. "I don't ever want to be rid of you. Ever." She replied. "I almost never got to tell you…"
Finnick gently pushed her back so he could look in her eyes. "Tell me what?"
A smile began to form on Annie's face. "I have a surprise for you…"