Disclaimer: I own nothing. the characters and the world belong to Suzanne Colllins
"He's not coming home Annie. Finnick is gone." That is what the people tell her, over and over again. When she shakes her head and brightly replies "No", they usually try to tell her otherwise. Many an argument has occurred on the very subject. Annie doesn't care though. She knows that Finnick is coming home soon.
How they attempt to tell her varies considerably. There are those who ready themselves to comfort her, there are those who tell her that she is in denial, and there is Johanna Mason, who tries something different entirely. None of it can sway Annie's beliefs though, and eventually the person who is attempting to comfort her (or the liars as she thinks of them) will sigh and leave.
After weeks of trying, one curious woman decides to try to understand why the victor refuses to accept reality. "How do you know that Finnick is coming home?" She questions the girl that they call mad.
The widow smiles sweetly and replies without hesitation, "He said so."
Confused, the questioner's curiosity grows at the response. "When did he say so?" She attempts carefully.
"Before he left." Annie chirps. "He told me that he was coming home soon, and asked me to wait for him, because he didn't know how long he would be gone"
Digesting the new information, the woman nods slowly before walking out the door without a word.
After that, the lies stop coming at a steady stream. They still do come once in a while, but when they do, Annie's answer is always the same, "He's coming home. He told me so." Eventually the liars decided to humor her, and shushed anyone who brought up her husband.
Before long, it is discovered that Annie will be having a child. The mother-to-be is overjoyed, and nothing can sway her cherry demeanor. That is, until she finds out that she is having a boy, and everyone has the same thing to say. "Are you going to name him Finnick?" The words seem to come out of the mouths of every person she meets.
Each time she hears the question, she gives the same response: "Why would I do that? I don't want to have two Finnick's in my life do I?" Utterly perplexed at the mere thought of naming her child after her husband, Annie decides on the traditional family name: Tyne.
After Tyne is born, the widow's life falls into a steady routine. Her life revolves around three things: food, sleep, and Tyne. Never leaving her home, the victor never seeks out company, nor does she wish to. Of course the occasional neighbor will check on her to make sure that she's alright, and Johanna will bring her food, but otherwise, she is alone with her son. "She deserves a quiet life." Her visitors tell themselves. And for the most part, they believe it.
Each time a visitor walks through the door, Annie greets them in the same way. "Finnick?" She asks brightly, never growing sad when the foreigner shakes their head sadly. Occasionally, some will attempt to tell her what she knows are lies, "Finnick is gone Annie." And each time she tells them that Finnick is not gone, that he will be home tomorrow to see Tyne, they all change the subject abruptly.
One day, Annie's routine breaks, and two figures enter her room. One smiles brightly while the other crosses her arms and sighs.
"Why are we here again Peeta?" The one with the braid mumbles quietly, going out of her way to avoid Annie's gaze. Absent-mindedly bouncing Tyne on her knee, Annie politely ignores her.
"Hello Annie!" The boy with the grin ignores his companion, "How have you been?"
Taking a moment to ponder his question, Annie looks over her guests. The boy that is smiling still (although she is beginning to question its sincerity) has golden hair and dull blue eyes that look as though they once were bright. In contrast, the young-woman has dark hair, and sharp, questioning grey eyes. Both remind her of a different time, and she looks away quickly.
"I'm doing well," Annie decides, still looking at the floor. "though I suppose I'll be better when my husband gets home." Her comment seems to startle the couple, and the girl walks quickly towards the door.
"That's it." The huntress proclaims. "I can't do this."
"Katniss," The young-man is no longer smiling. "you wanted to do this remember? You said you wanted to see how Annie was doing." But it is too late. The once-spirited girl has left the room.
Sighing, Peeta looks back to the young mother, apology written in his cerulean eyes like words in a book. "She really was worried about you, and I thought that maybe…. Annie?" The adolescent stops talking abruptly when he notices the small woman's demeanor. Hands wrapped firmly around her head, she is shaking violently. Thankfully, the baby is no longer in her arms. The child lies at his mother's feet, a whimper on the tip of his tongue.
"Blue… Eyes… Ocean… No! Stop! I, I can't keep swimming!" Annie mumbles to herself. When Peeta puts his arm around her in an attempt of comfort, her eyes flash open like polished emeralds. "Finnick? I knew you would come back, I told them all Finnick, but they didn't listen! They said…." The woman's voice tapers off as she realizes who she is talking to.
Avoiding her gaze carefully, the boy comforts Annie awkwardly. "It's alright Annie, you're at home, remember? Look, here's Tyne!" A baby is thrust out in front of her, and she takes him carefully. "I, I should be going." The young man manages, "Nice seeing you Annie!"
And before she can muster up a 'goodbye', he is gone.
Years pass, Tyne grows –up and leaves, yet Annie's faith in Finnick never wavers. She still greets visitors in the same hopeful fashion, and is never disappointed when a knock on her door fails to bring her husband home. Ever optimistic Annie continues to remind the liars of Finnick's promise. Only now, she adds something to the end of her statement, "and Finnick has never broken a promise before!"
At age seventy-eight, Annie grows sick. She decides that she doesn't mind though. A lot of good has come out of it. She gets to sleep more (Finnick is always in her dreams), and Tyne visits her faithfully everyday.
Of course, some bad comes out of the sickness too. Annie is delusional, and often believes that her son is Finnick. Not only did this confuse Tyne immensely at first, but it often caused his mother great sadness when she awoke, and he is gone. One night, when Tyne gets up to leave, Annie screams for him to stay. She sobs loudly, before suddenly calming down, yawning, and closing her eyes.
Tyne watches as his mother, the incarnate of peace for once in her life, take one breath before smiling slightly and murmuring one word, "Finnick"
She doesn't breathe again.
A/N- So here it is: my first fan-fiction. I've had this written for a long time, and I would appreciate any feedback that you could give me.
A shout-out to my friends Emma, Natalie, and Aditi, for spamming my inbox with demands that I write something. I don't think I would have ever posted this without your encouragement. Special thanks to Emma, who heard the premise of this, and immediately told me not to write it because it was too sad. Of course, that's the one I ended up writing…
Thank you so much for reading, please review!