Late Night Conversation Between Peeta and Finnick
"Goodnight, Katniss." He kissed her gently on the mouth.
Katniss lowered herself down on the woven mat to try to get some sleep. "Won't you lay with me?"
Even though Peeta wanted to hold Katniss in his arms and maybe finish what they had started, he told her, "I'm not going to leave Finnick to take watch alone."
Sadly, Peeta went back across the sand to sit by Finnick and continue the night watch. Finnick elbowed him when he sat down.
"I'm sorry, man, for interrupting your private moment with her. You do know they have night vision cameras here, don't you?"
Peeta glanced sideways at his good-looking ally. "I know, Finnick." Then he smirked and looked out at the water. "At first I tried to resist her, but…I couldn't for very long. And then I just didn't care about the cameras."
Finnick readjusted his bottom to angle toward the jungle. "No, I don't blame you. It must really be Hell for you to have to be in here with her."
"Yeah. I don't expect it to end like it did last time, though." Peeta brushed some sand off his leg. "I was not lying when I said I've loved her for as long as I can remember. At first she was so mad when I told the whole world I had a crush on her, before I ever told her. Isn't that funny? That I could tell the world, but was too shy to tell her?"
Finnick nodded, then looked at Peeta with a serious face. "At the time, I thought it was just an act, but..."
"It was never an act for me," interrupted Peeta.
Finnick went on, "You got together though, like it was meant to be. No one that watched Katniss totally fall apart when you hit that forcefield, would doubt she loved you….Now you're going to have a baby." Then he realized what he'd said, as soon as Peeta dropped his head. "Oh, sorry, man, so sorry. This might be the cruelest Hunger Games yet."
"Of course, I'm going to try like hell to keep Katniss alive," stated Peeta.
"I'll help you," whispered Finnick.
Peeta turned to look at Finnick, warily wondering what happened to the self-assured, vain, ladies' man he first met. Why did so many victors want to help them? Was it the baby? Then why did the tribute from District 6 sacrifice herself to protect him? And Finnick and Mags…and Johanna helping Katniss? What did Haymitch promise them?
Peeta thought it might be best to get to know Finnick better. "Do you have family back home?"
Finnick stared out into the jungle, silent for a moment. Then he answered, "Just my Annie. Annie Cresta. She's as beautiful as a delicate flower." His eyes filled with tears. "I can't believe they made the victors fight in the arena again. She was a winner, too, a few years after I was. In fact, I would be in the same position you are if Mags hadn't volunteered in Annie's place."
"Annie Cresta. I remember her. She won the year the arena flooded, right?" asked Peeta.
"Right. She could hold her breath like a mermaid." Finnick sighed. "It broke her, though. She was never the same after that. People say it drove her mad, but she's not mad. She's just been traumatized."
"No one is ever the same, are they? How could they be? To be forced to murder someone when they've done nothing to you strips you of all reason," grumbled Peeta.
Finnick nodded. "Don't I know it." He said, keeping his voice low. "Sometimes Annie believes she's back in the arena and gets really frightened. I seem to be the only one who can bring her out of it. Maybe because I understand what it was like. Like you and Katniss."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Finnick thinking of his beloved Annie, and Peeta thinking of Katniss. He cursed himself for not having talked to her when they were much younger, all those years and dreams of a future with her wasted.
Finnick picked up a small stick that was half buried in the sand beside him. Leaning close to Peeta, he used the stick to write DAMN SNOW! in the sand and then swept it away immediately. Peeta saw it though, and nodded.
Finnick spoke quietly. "I am so worried about Annie. With Mags gone and me gone, Annie will have no one. She was expected to be a mentor next year and I can't think of anything that would be more terrifying for her." He sighed and hung his head. "I was going to ask her to marry me and then this happened."
"I'm so sorry for you and Annie," responded Peeta. After a few seconds, he added, "And I'm sorry you lost Mags. Why would she sacrifice herself like that?"
"She did it for me. She thought she was slowing me down, and wanted to give me more of a chance to outrun that poisoned fog. She wanted to give us all a chance." Finnick started sobbing quietly, covering his eyes with his hand.
Peeta wasn't surprised, since he felt like crying himself; he put his hand on Finnick's shoulder. "She must have loved you."
"And I her. She loved Annie, too." Finnick wiped the tears from his face. "Did you know that Mags was Annie's grandmother? She wanted me to live, so I could go back and take care of Annie for her."
Peeta fell silent, because he was thinking how sad it was for Annie that Finnick would have to die, in order for Katniss to live. Finnick sniffed and covered his eyes with his hand again. We are not so different, he and I, Peeta thought. Both of them sharing their grief over losing their loved one, but it was even more that they wouldn't be there for the woman they loved when this was over. That's what hurt the most. He finally believed Katniss loved him and it was too late! Tears sprang to his eyes, too.
Peeta got angry at the injustice, the cruelty, and stood straight up. He spoke loudly, but not too loud, he didn't want to wake the others, but just enough to make sure the microphones would pick it up.
"Are you happy, citizens of the Capital, to watch your beloved victors die? Or to take my baby's innocent life, and sacrifice it for your entertainment, sacrifice it as punishment for a war that was decades ago that he had nothing to do with? Is it entertaining to see those that have already made it through your Games, serving the Capital as your mentors, destroy each other? What reward is that for a victor? What reward is that"….Peeta paused for effect… "for you?"
Finnick, who had been staring at Peeta with something like awe, shushed him. "Don't make it worse for us, man, even though you are completely right. I think you need some sleep. Go on and send Johanna out here."
Peeta had a fleeting warning of Finnick and Joanna being a team and planning to kill Katniss and him in their sleep. But he was too tired to dwell on it, so he just nodded and headed for the shelter, to lie next to his reason for living…and his reason for dying.
President Snow couldn't sleep, so he tuned in to check on what was happening in his Hunger Games. At first he had a hard time making out what Finnick and Peeta were talking about on the beach, but he had no trouble hearing when Peeta Mellark stood up and spoke to the citizens of the Capital. It sounded to Snow like he was trying to incite a riot against the Games by his own citizens!
So…Katniss was just a rebellious girl with guts and an unlikeable attitude. But her partner, this boy, was so likeable he could actually have some influence in a revolution against the Capital. Mellark could potentially be more dangerous than Miss Everdeen, who had finally convinced Snow that she and Peeta were really in love. "Too bad that neither of you will live much longer," Snow murmured to himself. Tomorrow he would get word to Brutus and Enobaria, letting them know where they could find Katniss' merry little band of allies. And if they couldn't dispatch them, he would!
the end