Hello, I hoping I can make this into chapters, but I've never really written something like that before. I'm sorry it's a little rough. All reviews would be appreciated. Since I haven't written fanfiction much before and everything please feel free to offer advice and comment on anything you see fit to. Thank you!

The air had a certain heaviness to it as every resident in District Four made their way to the town square. Finnick Odair walked to the front where the crowd was forming. His eyes quickly scanned the crowd of teenagers filing into their designated areas. The roped off section seventeen year old girls was still pretty empty, so by he slowly inched his way closer. If he stood by the entrance, there would be no chance that he could miss Annie arriving. Earlier this morning he had stopped by her house only to find it empty. There were several places he could have looked for her, but it would have been wasting time. Finnick knew she had to show up to the district square sooner or later – it was illegal to skip the reaping.

Reaping days were always difficult to get through with Annie, more so now that Finnick had won the games five years ago. It was because of that fact that the games became more realistic for her. Before that had happened only people that it seemed she didn't know had been reaped. But when it was Finnick, the games suddenly became real for her. She was a mess when he had come back, and since then he had tried to fix it. Things had gotten easier over the years, but she was still an anxious mess on reaping days. For some reason, she still seemed to think he was going to be sent back in the games, even though he was a victor now and his name wasn't entered.

It was only a few minutes until Finnick saw Annie finally emerging from the crowd and headed towards her roped off section. Her long brown hair bounced around in the ponytail she had put it in as she walked over to him. They would only have time to talk for a minute because the reaping was about to start. "You look lovely." Finnick whispered as she ran into his arms. Normally she would giggled at a comment like that, but she was in no laughing mood today. Finnick let go and smiled down at her. She was wearing a light pink dress that Finnick had bought her last year when she was worried about reaping day. Today he'd brought her something else. He reached into the left pocket of his khaki shorts and pulled out a small blue flower.

"Here's for good luck," he said as he pushed the few wild ends of her hair away from her face and slid the flower above her ear. "There is no chance I will be picked." The reminder had always seemed to help. Finnick never bothered to remind her that she wouldn't be picked either because that was something she wasn't afraid of – she was more afraid of losing him. Finnick never worried about it though because he knew that there was no chance of her being picked because of his arrangement with President Snow.

"Fine. I'll do it, but on one condition."

"Name your price." The president almost seemed amused by Finnick's request.

"Her name never goes in again."

There was a long silence that unearthed Finnick's confidence. And then, "Honor our agreement."

Annie Cresta's name had not been entered into the reaping balls for the last four years, and never would be again. Finnick had made sure of that. "I'll see you soon," he kissed her gently on the forehead, "we can have a picnic on the beach tonight like you've been wanting." Annie finally cracked a smile and then wandered into the roped off area for girls her age. Finnick nodded a silent goodbye to Annie and then climbed the four steps onto the stage. As a mentor, he had to attend all Hunger Games Events; as the capitol favourite, it was never given a choice. Within five minutes, the Anthem started playing. It was time to honor this year's tributes.

"Thank you, thank you!" Elize Treaton, the district's escort, waltzed on stage waving his hand wildly. "Thank you so much for being here on reaping day where will choose, perhaps, this year's victor from the crowd." As if anyone in the audience at all had had a choice about attending. "But before we begin, here are a few words from the mayor of District Four."

It was at this point in the reaping that Finnick usually zoned out. His eyes fell upon a few small boys in the fourteen year old area. Just five years ago he had been them and now it was his job as a mentor to try to make sure at least one of them survived. Finnick reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of rope. There was no need to start thinking about all of the horrible things now. Instead, he began to tie small knots into the rope to occupy his mind. He heard the mayor mention his name and he paused for a moment from tying knots to wave at the crowd. And then Elize's voice: "Okay! It's time to select our District Four tributes for the seventieth Hunger Games." Finnick slipped the piece of rope back into his pocket and once again focused his attention on Elize.

The escort's pink tinted skin reflected the sun in a way that made him seem like he was glowing. And when he stepped up to the girl's glass ball, Finnick could see the man's reflection was almost alien. Elize reached a hand into the ball and moved it around inside. It was a moment before the pink fingers finally found a slip of paper and pulled it out.

"Oh, lovely." It was the only remark he made. "Annie Cresta."