I.
she's eight when she notices him in the pond.
he's thin, his hair glowing in the dim light, he's working so hard, just to prove to his father he does have patience, he can be a good fisher, he can be the best.
she's sitting by the ocean, the sand feels nice on her feet, her toes curl up, some as the waves hit back against the rocks. she closes her eyes and remembers the boy in the pond.
"hey." he had said and when she crept up on him. he looks down on himself and the slightest form of a blush passes his cheeks, he's muddy and bare chested, but annie doesn't seem to mind.
"are you hungry?" she asks, right off the bat, he's too thin to not be. he tries to hide how famished he actually is, but a growl of his stomach betrays him, he looks down.
he hears annie laugh and he looks back up, it's the most beautiful sound ever.
II.
they are both thirteen when the share their first kiss.
they are sitting in the sand, there is a blanket across annie's shoulder but she doesn't really need it, she likes how the cold air from that time of the day that's still day, but slowly transcending to night, the sunset, she remembers, she loves the sunset. she really only has it on for finnick's sake, so he doesn't complain about her being so exposed to the harsh winds, annie just smiles.
finnick can't help it, he's just…well, finnick.
He takes her hand and tangles his fingers with hers, a perfect shape, as if her hands were created to fill his, as if, from the start, they were just born for each others, as the moon and the oceans decrees.
"you know how the moon manages the sea?" she asks one night, lying on a blanket, against his chest, which rises and falls ever so gracefully.
"how?"
"when the moon is too near to the sea, the waves crash, louder, stronger than ever."
"really?"
"really."
she remembers because her father once explained it to her, how the gravity of the moon pulls down the waves, she finds this concept fascinatingly beautiful.
He sits up, his knees up to his chin and she places her head on one of his shoulders. "this is nice"
he places his fingers on her chin, delicately, looking into her deep sea green eyes. "you are my moon, annie." he says and he reaches in his pocket and gives her a black string, right in the middle, there is a beautiful white shell. "every time you are near me, I feel as if I need to show you I'm worthy of it, of you." He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and opens his eyes again. "i love you." and he places his lips on her and its so perfect. his lips taste of salt and her lips tastes like the sea, for they form a perfect wave. She opens her eyes when he stops kissing her and breaths in deep, taking in that this is real.
this is real, he is real, she repeats over and over in her mind. "i love you too, finnick."
III.
from that moment it is exactly one year, two months and sixteen days when he is called to play in the games.
and she wants to kick, scream and cry when she hears his name called out, the speakers are too loud for her, everything is too light and too dim for her, in this very moment, she opens her mouth to scream and to ask to volunteer because they can't take him away from her. but she feels some girls holding her as she opens her mouth but no words come out, just a sob.
"finnick odair."
he walks up to the stadium, with a grim look on his face, his clothes, now damp with sweat, but he has no intention of showing how much he actually is afraid. only annie knows, because annie knows him.
and she wants to cry, weep and beg.
don't take him away, don't take him away, don't take him away.
IV.
before he is sent to the games he sees her, puffy green eyes, red rims and he doesn't want to leave her, he can't let her go.
She gives him the shell necklace he made her when they were thirteen.
"think of me when you see the moon," she says and he smiles because he can't cry. Cameras will be on him at all times and if he cries it's weakness and he shows weakness he's giving an advantage to his enemies. He takes the necklace and puts it on; he wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her.
He whispers against her dark, flowing hair.
"i love you, i love you, i love you."
V.
she sees him every night, in her tiny TV or in the town square, just begging to any god, spirit or entity of faith that might exist or not to just keep him safe.
Bring him back, bring him back to me.
and whatever entity heard her must have had pity because he returns home, as the victor of the 65th annual hunger games.
VI.
"how was it?" she asks, he's sitting by a fire, watching the sunset.
"i told you, annie. i can't relive it."
"i didn't mean that."
he looks up in confusion and she notices she's wearing a beautiful white dress, short and very appropriate for the beach. "what did you mean?"
"how was my necklace of help." And then he wants to slap himself because this is his annie and he suddenly feels the weight of the necklace around him, he wraps it around his hand and closes it tight. "you are the reason I came back." He says and she tackles him against the sand and kisses him.
this is my annie, he repeats. not threat, not someone who wants to kill me, but my annie, always mine.
and he suddenly feels a lot better about everything.
VI.
"annie cresta."
she's exactly eighteen when she is called into the game.
and she wants to scream. But doesn't. she nonchalantly walks up to the stage and accepts it.
VII.
finnick walks into the room and kneels in front of her, pressing his forehead against her stomach.
"i'm so sorry, i'm so sorry, i'm so sorry." he keeps repeating, but annie can't understand him because he is trying not to cry and she began breathing heavy because apparently so did she.
"it isn't your fault, the odds weren't in my favor." She says, trying to sound strong, trying to not let tears run down.
"it might has well been, i refused snow to oblige his demands."
annie blinks. "what demands?"
"those days i was away, annie, snow was selling me, prostituting me." He says and grips her harder; she doesn't pull away but sinks down to the floor with him. "he used my family against me, threading to harm them, he used you." he closes his eyes and he remembers all the degrading, demanding things he was being forced to. "I eventually decided he was bluffing, annie, so I refused. Your name wasn't chosen randomly, annie, it's my fault." He breathes heavy and wraps his fingers in her hair. "it's my fault."
"don't say that." Annie says and kisses him. "i love you so much."
VIII.
on the train, on their way to the capitol, finnick lays down on his bed, he hears a knock on his door.
He opens to reveal a blue shirt and blue underware wearing annie.
"annie!" he says, quickly looking away and trying to find a blanket to cover her, she denies it. she enters the room and locks his door.
"if I am going to die—"
"you are not going to die." He says, cutting her off because he just can bear the thought of annie leaving him alone in this world.
"i want to spend my last moments with you, in peace, and in love." she says and she brings him down to the bed and kisses him, her thighs wrapped around his waist and nothing had ever felt more glorious. He wraps his hands on her hair, just enjoying the moments, savoring them. "make love to me, finnick." She asks and he has to stop to grasp the reality of the situation. This is real, this is annie, your annie.
"are you sure, annie? i don't want to hurt you." He says as he passes his fingers along her face, tracing the curve of her cheeks with his thumb.
"i'm sure, finnick."
he slowly begins to undress her, taking off her shirt to reveal a beautiful blue brassier and he can't imagine this is real. He moves her so he's on top of her, elevating his elbows on the mattress so his weight doesn't crush her. he kisses her neck as she attempts to take off his shirt, which she does and she starts leaving marks and traces down the ripples of his skin. he kisses her shoulder blade and she moans at how hot his lips are against her cold skin. He captures her lips one more time.
they make love, all night, just to escape from reality.
IX.
He watches her every night, on TV, he tries to send her parachutes with the necessary things she needs, but the capitol won't let her, he's begging the same entity that heard annie, to hear him.
Bring her back to me, bring her back, I love her so much, bring her back.
Which she does, as the victor of the 70th annual hunger games, but she isn't the same annie.
X.
she's sitting on the beach, cold air against her back, her eyes are glued into the ocean.
he's sitting beside her, as he's done for the last three months, just being with her is nice, but he misses her laugh, her voice. He misses her.
one day, he comes and brings a flower and places it in her hair, he makes knots and he just wants to feel her beside him.
"hey annie." he says every time and every time there's no reply back. but it's okay, because whether or not she says it, she needs him and he needs her.
He comes, day and night, with a blanket, a flower and a net to sit by her side for hours until she's ready.
"hey, annie."
After a long pause, after he places his flower on her head and starts making knots he hears it and he stops making knots and looks at her.
"hey finnick."
She doesn't smile, she doesn't laugh, but it's so heavenly to hear her voice again.
it's all he needs.