AN: This is my first Hunger Games fic, so I can only hope I do it justice. I started writing this around four in the morning after thinking about THG and have been up the entire night working on it. Also, I don't own anything, except Lorcan. Read, enjoy, possibly leave a review. :)
I.
Annie never met her mother and while part of her wishes that she had been given that chance, years later she realizes that she is glad she never did. It would have been one more person President Snow could use against her.
II.
To five year old Annie, her father is her entire world. It is him that makes her laugh, that holds her after a nightmare and keeps the monsters that hide under her bed at bay. He may have some faults, but she surely doesn't see any.
She spends the majority of her days lying on the deck of the old fishing boat he owns, humming to herself while making necklaces out of shells and rope. At other times, she can be found swimming in the sea, pretending to be the mermaid that her father loving calls her.
Her father always said with a smile that she learned to swim before she learned to walk, and it saddens her later in life that she used to be proud of that.
III.
Her father enrolls her in the local school, telling Annie that she has to go. Seven years old now, Annie crosses her arms across her chest in an act of defiance.
It doesn't change his mind.
She takes to school well, her teachers finding her to be a quick learner and more eager to read than some of the other students. Soon books become her almost constant companion and she reads just about anything that she can get her hands on.
All that changes almost a year in her schooling when Annie meets her first friend; a small, blonde boy with large, brown eyes that goes by the name of Lorcan. The two take to each other instantly and soon she starts to leave her books behind at home.
IV.
The Hunger Games are mandatory viewing and while her father tries his best to shield her from the violence and gore that takes place, Annie sees more of it than he would like.
Unlike most of the children, Annie never spends time training for the games, nor does she find any glory in volunteering.
It is one year after watching a particularly bloody death that Annie turns to her father and tells him that the Capitol is wrong to force such things upon them and asks why no one tires to end the constant killings. Her father takes one long look at Annie and tells her to never speak such foolish words again.
She never does, until after her own games.
V.
Lorcan turns twelve an entire year before her and the night before the reaping, Annie spends most of it crying.
The following day, Annie is silent, to busy praying to whatever God will listen to spare Lorcan. Luck seems to be on her side that day as Lorcan's name isn't the one that is called. Instead, that honor goes to Finnick Odair.
VI.
There is a small amount of time that Annie foolishly thinks she will be one of the lucky few to escape the games. This is all proven wrong the year she turns sixteen and her name is called out over the speakers.
Small and fragile, she moves to stand on the stage, looking out at the crowd. There are familiar eyes, ones that have watched her grow from a little girl to the young women she is today and it pains Annie to notice that those eyes are now filled with sadness. No one will be volunteering for her.
Annie doesn't know which is worse, that she finds herself as a tribute or that it is Lorcan's name that is called out a few minutes later. With wide eyes, she watches as Lorcan makes his way through the crowd to stand beside her.
Part of her almost laughs when the speaker announces their names once again as tributes of the 70th Hunger Games and she wonders why she ever thought luck was on her side.
VII.
The only person who comes to see her off is her father and Annie tries her best to hold back the tears that threaten to spill over when he hugs her and makes her promise to come home alive.
She says she will, but she knows as soon as the words leave her lips that they are a lie. The only thing that will be coming home when this is all said and done will be her remains.
VII.
Annie finds out upon boarding the train that Finnick and Mags will be their mentors. It is the first time she has met either of the former victors and all she can think about is how happy she is that Finnick will be there. He won his games at fourteen after all, how hard can it be to help a seventeen year old like Lorcan?
Another thing that Annie soon discovers is her hatred for trains. The constant jarring motion without the fresh air makes her feel sick and it is after throwing up what little she ate for dinner that night that she goes for some water and finds Finnick going over the tribute videos.
She hesitates, standing in the doorway and wondering if she should just go back to bed when she notices the focused look on his face.
"You'll do your best to keep him alive, won't you?" She asks, her voice breaking the silence that fills the air.
Finnick turns his face towards her, saying that the plan is to do his best for both of them, to which Annie shakes her head, a sad smile appearing on her face.
"No. We both know that Lorcan has a better chance of making it home. Don't waste time getting sponsors for me when you could be getting them for him."
She doesn't give him a chance to respond, instead turning around and going back to bed. Annie has already come to accept her eventual death, it is time others did as well.
IX.
She has heard stories about the Capitol, but none of them compare to the seeing the actual thing. Annie finds the people there odd, with their bodies distorted for what they call beauty, but she keeps the smile on her face regardless.
Hours later, after being left to the mercy of her stylist, Annie finds herself standing in front of a mirror in an outfit that is supposed to resemble a mermaid. She doesn't like this foreign version of herself, that she has to squint and strain her eyes to see the real her underneath all the pounds of product and makeup that has been caked onto her.
She isn't all to nervous about the opening ceremony and interviews that take place over the next few days, instead breezing though them as if her life didn't depend on others liking her.
X.
While she understands that she will most likely perish in the initial bloodbath, Annie tries to learn what she can while in the training center. Throwing knives and spears are out of the question, so instead she practices tying knots and how to hold a knife properly.
By the end, her fingers are almost raw.
XI.
Far too soon, Annie finds herself standing on a metal disk facing the cornucopia. To her left she spots Lorcan, who gives her a brief smile before looking ahead.
At the sound of the canon, Annie is off her disk and moving to the cornucopia with speed she didn't even knew she possessed. She is the second one to reach it, grabbing rope and a knife before darting off to the woods, just managing to duck an axe thrown her way by a tribute from District 1.
XII.
She survives the cornucopia and for two days manages to avoid any run-ins with the other tributes.
The entire time is spent trying to conserve her energy while also keeping out of sight and it is on the third day that she runs into Lorcan.
Annie knows he has been alive all this time, but actually seeing him is too much for her and she finds herself tackling him in a hug.
The two strike up an alliance. Lorcan trying his best to avoid thinking about what will have to be done when they get down to the final two while Annie knows he will never have to make that choice.
It is by luck that she has made it this far, and she learned long ago that luck doesn't always stay.
XIII.
They don't know exactly how many days pass, what they do know is that they are down to the finale six. For the most part, Lorcan and Annie have stayed hidden while the careers picked off the weaker tributes. Now the focus is on them.
It happens when they are resting, the boy from District 1 leaps out of the bushes, swinging his axe towards Lorcan.
The first few blows, Lorcan manages to doge and it is as Annie is trying to find her knife that the axe finally makes contact and Lorcan's body crumbles to the ground, his head rolling a foot or two before coming to a stop.
Horrified, Annie stares at it. She is aware of the canon sounding, of someone screaming and it takes her a few seconds longer than it should for her to realize that the awful sound is coming from her.
The boy from District 1 seems to notice her now and takes a step towards her but not before Annie turns and flees, running deeper into the woods.
XIV.
She knows that she has scratches on her face and arms, small cuts from the tree branches and other various vegetation that she received while she ran. Yet all of that doesn't matter now. Her best friend is dead, and no matter what, for food or for water, Annie finds that she can't leave the safety of the cave she has been hiding in.
In the end, she is forced to abandon her sanctuary as the ground trembles and the trees shake and it isn't long after that that water flows into the area, soon flooding it.
In spite of her weak state, Annie manages to stay afloat and she barely hears the canons goes off one by one as her fellow tributes sink beneath the waves.
XV.
When she comes to, Annie is lying in a hospital bed, IVs and wires hooked up to her. She takes one look at them and goes into a panic, ripping them off until there is blood running down her arms and the doctors and nurses have to restrain her.
By now she is screaming, and it takes five pairs of hands holding her down and an injection of some sort to calm her back to sleep.
XVI.
Annie doesn't want to do the last interview but finds that she doesn't have a choice. She is dressed and made pretty and thrown on stage to be viewed by millions.
Casear tries his best to get Annie to talk but she doesn't say a word. When he finally realizes that she isn't going to speak, a video montage of the games appear on the screen. It is then that Annie finally reacts.
She goes into a fit, covering her ears and doing her best to curl into a ball, her screams echoing over the sound system. In the end she is dragged off stage by security.
The next day, she is pronounced to all Panem as having gone insane.
XVII.
The celebration of her return to District 4 is small and even then the crowd of people at the train station scares her.
Within that week, Annie and her father find themselves living in the new victor's house and even though she is home, Annie can't bring herself to leave her bed.
She stays there, trying to avoid sleep until she can't even function anymore. It is only after the pleading of her father that she manages to get some sleep even though she wakes up screaming from a nightmare a few hours later.
XVIII.
A month passes and Annie thinks that she is getting a little better. She never goes completely back to the person she was before, and the mere thought of being out on the open water puts her in tears, but at least she is walking around and talking.
She tries to go back to school and briefly entertains the thought of becoming a teacher only to find both things impossible in her new life. She has been deemed mad after all and the mere thought of watch children that she taught fight for their lives almost sends her into another breakdown.
Instead, Annie finds herself spending more and more time with Mags and Finnick, that it is easy to talk to people that can relate to her and won't judge her every action or thought.
XIX.
The time for her victory tour arrives and Annie flat out refuses to go.
It is one day after telling them her decision that she gets her first call from President Snow, who goes on to say that it is her responsibility as a victor.
At this, Annie lets out a humorless laugh, her anger finally making an appearance. "No. I played in those Games. I lost my best friend in that arena. You, or anyone else for that matter, don't have the right to ask anything of me."
She doesn't listen to Snow when he says that she should watch what she says, half of her taking it to be an empty threat while the other half simply doesn't care; what else does she have to lose?
XX.
Her father dies two weeks later from what is labeled as a boating accident but Annie knows it is a lie.
She attends the small funeral as a walking zombie, completely oblivious to what is around her. Finnick and Mags are there beside her, leading her here and there and keeping her standing.
Once at home Annie collapses into a sobbing mess on the couch, unable to do anything but think about how she shouldn't even be there, that her games where won by pure chance and that if she hadn't been foolish and naive, her father would still be alive.
It is Finnick who sits with her, holds her hand and tries his best to comfort her.
XXI.
Soon Finnick's appearance at her house is a daily occurrence. It is him that wakes her from her nightmares, him that keeps the monsters and the memories of death and gore away, him that makes her smile and laugh.
They find comfort in each other; Finnick being able to bring Annie back when she goes off into her own little world, and Annie being the symbol of home and goodness for a young man who finds himself constantly being used.
He says he loves her and that he is lucky to have found her, and while Annie never doubts his words, she refuses to let herself believe that luck has anything to do with it.
After all, she learned long ago that luck has a way of changing.