Okay, so, here's chapter 1. I hope you all like it. Big thanks to WatsonandMary4ever & melancholy94 for like the story enough to review.

Now, on to the story!

Tidal Waves Chapter 1; All I See is a Shattered Conscience

Finnick stared out into the crowd as the District 4 escort, Elliot Watts, went on about the Games. He slowly scanned the audience, looking at the all the possible tribunes. His gaze fell on his sister; he smiled as he noticed her staring off into her own little world.

He knew this year, like all the others since Alanis had turned twelve, that she would be safe. He had paid the ultimate price to President Snow himself, just to ensure that his sister would never have to suffer through all the things that he had.

But, he still worried; a District 4 had produced a winner since Annie Cresta, during the 70th Hunger Games, despite his hard effort, and training. Some of the tributes he knew personally, others he didn't know at all, but the second they ended up on the train to the Capitol, Finnick saw his self in them. Every time.

They were scared, deep down, no matter how much they tried to hide it. But, being a former player of the Game himself, he knew the signs. He had seen them enough times to know.

"… And now, with that," Eillot said, snapping Finnick out of his thoughts, "onto the actual reaping!"

"Now, as well all know, this upcoming Hunger Games is the next Quarter Quell," Elliot continued, "so there will be a twist to this year's game…"

With those words, Finnick was reminded that he had not been told what the twist was going to be; there had been much talk about it in the Capitol before the Games had started, but he never really heard about the specifics. He glanced over at a fellow victor next to him, but she looked just as confused as he felt.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, it seems like the twist this year is that the Capitol gets to pick the two tributes this year."

Gasps could be heard from the audience, but Finnick's thoughts were preoccupied by the haunting words echoing in his mind.

The Capitol gets to pick the two tributes this year.

President Snow gets to pick the two tributes from the districts.

"And look here," Elliot said as he held up a small, purple envelope that Finnick hadn't noticed until just then, "I'm being told that the Capitol has already decided, and the names are right here in the envelope so… "

Everyone watched as Elliot slowly opened the envelope, but Finnick's mind was reeling with questions. This had to be some ploy; what did President Snow plan to accomplish? He already had enough control over the Games; why did this have to part of his sick mind as well?

"… The tributes of the 75th Hunger Games are the nephew of the most honorable mayor, Deniz Morwen –"

Finnick barely registered the name as the boy made his way to the stage, questions still rising in his mind. He tried to think of any reason as to why this was happening; Snow couldn't have known any of the children that lived in the districts, other than 1 of course. Well, no, that wasn't quite true; he knew the families of the Victors – Finnick remember talking once with some of the other victors, and them all saying they received a visit from Snow, shortly after their victory. He could remember the day Snow visited him.

It seemed right as the next words left Elliot's mouth, Finnick had all the dots connected; Snow was trying to regain control of the districts. And Snow knew some of the most important people to the districts were their mayors. And victors.

And Snow was trying to get to him.

"– And the lovely younger sister of one of your very own victors, Alanis Odiar."

Finnick could feel his blood go ice cold as he heard his sister's name. This wasn't supposed to happen. His sister wasn't supposed to be the tribute – having one Odiar being thrown into the games was enough. Both children were already suffering plenty.

He heard a loud sob coming from the audience, and when he looked out, he wasn't surprised to see that it was his mother's sob that had filled his ears; she had started crying uncontrollably. His father was by her side, trying to calm her down.

"I'll go," he heard a soft voice call out, "I'll take her place!"

Although Finnick couldn't see whom ever it was that was calling out, he knew the voice. The person who spoke up moved away from the crowd, and the small girl looked straight at Finnick. Avon Cresta.

He had known the young girl for years – Avon and Alanis had always been close friends, and he had watched her grow up just as much as he had watched Alanis, and he knew, either way, it was going to hurt.

"No, Avon," he heard his sister reply, "I-I can do this. I want to go."

Alanis walked out of the crowd, and the two girls were standing together, facing each other. Both had such an intense look in their eyes.

Avon opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, Elliot interrupted.

"Sorry ma'am," Elliot said as he squinted at the letter, "But I believe it says right here that volunteers are not allowed this year. I'm sorry, but Miss Odiar must be the female tribute for District Four."

Avon stared at Alanis - Finnick noticed it almost looked like she was glaring at his sister - but said nothing. Finnick knew, though, she was trying to protect her friend, his sister. He would've acted the same way, if he were in that position.

He watched as his younger sister made her way up to the stage, only pausing for a brief moment to look back at Avon, who was still giving her a dirty stare. Their gaze met, and Finnick could tell – no amount of skill could keep it away from him – that Alanis was scared. The girl that was walking up to the stage was the same girl he comforted ten years ago after he came home from the very same game.

A screamed threatened to escape his lips, but he managed to catch it in his throat.

No, he thought, no this isn't going to happen. It can't happen! I'm not going to let it!

But what was he going to do? Elliot said it himself, no one could volunteer for his sister for the games.

Alanis silently made her way to the stage. Finnick could still hear his mother's wails coming from the audience, and he knew it hadn't gone unheard by her sister. He could tell that behind her sea green eyes – eyes that matched his in every way possible – that the cries of their mother were hurting her just as much as seeing her walk up on stage was hurting him.

He watched as she shook hands with Deniz. He watched as the cameras started flashing. He watched as the groung got increasingly louder; the sobs of the tributes families and friends, the quiet thank-yous to a high being that this year, they were spared, the hushed whispers about the interesting twist, and how Alanis Odiar, of all people, was chosen.

His eyes followed his sister as she and Deniz walked off the stage, followed by a handful of Peacekeepers. He wanted to go with her, but he was bombarded by questions – people from the Capitol wanted to know what he thought of the twist, and how his sister was the chosen tribute. He tried to best, but out of the corner of her eyes, he could see his sister's blonde head stick out, just for a moment, before disappearing yet again.

THEHUNGERGAMESTIDALWAVES

Finnick needed to think. He needed time to come up with a plan to get his sister out of the games. But the Peacekeepers had kept his mind busy, reminding him of his duties as a mentor. He never liked the Peacekeepers of Dstrict 4 much, but today, he found them to be un-human. They were treating it as if this was any other year. They were treating him as if he was mentoring any other tribute. But no, he was mentoring his sister.

Despite all that was going through his mind, he still had been able to come to terms with that. No matter how many times he said it to himself, there was a small part of his brain that wasn't acknowledging the fact. There was a small, miniscule part of him that still hoped this was all some nightmare – another one given to him by the games – and soon enough, he would wake up, and get to relive the day.

He stood at the train station, looking at the train in front of him. In a few moments, the tributes would be entering the train, and it would take them all to the 75th Hunger Games.

"Hey Finn," he heard a soft voice from behind him. Turning around, he saw a small, bronzed hair girl.

"Arielle," he said with a sad smile.

Arielle Delmar, 22 years old, victor of the 68th Hunger Games. Finnick had a specially connection to the young women; nothing sexual or anything like that. They were just two good friends, who knew the roughness of the Games.

He remembered the day she was reaped; she was fourteen, and had volunteered for Jasmine Loftin a young girl whose leg was already in a cast. Arielle didn't know the girl personally, but she knew that Jasmine wouldn't have lasted one day in the games with that injury. It surprised him that Arielle was the only one who wanted to volunteer for Jasmine, but she turned out to be an excellent fighter. She knew her way with a knife, and could easily translate those skills into working with a sword.

She was also incredibly agile, and certainly wasn't a wimp when it comes to killing. It only took a few days for Arielle to win the Games.

He also remembered that she only wanted to see two people before leaving for the games; her little brother, Erik, and a boy named Tyson Vigil. It was clear that the two had been so deeply in love. He would never admit it to anyone, but it was this kind of love, the kind of love that he so desperately wanted for himself (the love he latter found), that made him want to save Arielle in any way possible. It was then that he promised himself that he would make sure that Arielle would win.

And she did.

And ever since then, the two had been close friends; Finnick saw Arielle as a little sister. Their lives were so similar, he felt like he could tell her practically anything. There were virtually no secrets between them.

He looked at Arielle, and she didn't even have to say anything for him to know what she wanted to convey. She wrapped her arms around the waist, and he returned the hug, pulling her close to him.

Neither of them knew what to say, and so they stood like that for a good few minutes. Finnick just wanted the comfort of a friend – some one who knew exactly why he didn't want his sister to be another pawn in the Capitol's chess game.

Finally, she pulled away, and looked into his sea foam green eyes with her own crystal blue orbs.

"She'll get through this," Arielle said, "I know you've been training her for years. She's a strong girl, and we'll get as many sponsors as we can get…"

She was trying to be helpful, he knew. But still, that didn't make him feel any better about the situation. He gave a small smile appreciation anyway.

"You do whatever it is you need to do, okay?"

Another nod.

He seemed unsure about it all, but it seemed to be enough for Arielle, because she gave him another small hug, before heading onto the train, leaving Finnick all alone with his thoughts, once again.

He closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath; with everything that everyone had been telling him, he was frustrated with himself for still not knowing what to do. He wished he could go to the beach; the smell of the sea air, the cool breeze hitting against his face. It was his comfort place. It was the Odiar family comfort place, it seemed. While most people of District 4 had grown up around the sea, Finnick seemed to live in it. His mother always joked that he really was a child of the sea; he had been born on a small boat while his parents were out at sea, and ever since then, it had been a struggle to get him away. As a young child, his mother would always bring him to the beach and wait for his father to finish working. When he was old enough, his father took him out on the boat. Sometimes, he would help his father with gathering the fish, and sometimes he'd just sit, listening to the stories his father told him. He liked to pretend sometimes that he was the hero in the stories fighting off monsters and saving the damsel in distress.

He hadn't even noticed that some one had wrapped their arms around him, until he tried to take a step forward. Looking down, he saw a small brunette tightly latched onto his waist.

Annie Cresta; the girl who crept into his heart.

"I know you would've taken care of Avon," Annie said, staring straight in front of her, "if she had been allowed to go, in Lani's place. You would've made her strong..."

She looked up at him, and stared at him with such intensity … but, of what? Finnick hardly ever knew. But they always seemed so intense, no matter what was going on.

"I don't want Alanis to go."

And with that simple statement from Annie, Finnick felt his world crashing down. Silent tears started falling down from his eyes, slowly making their way to his chin. He wrapped his arms around Annie, and pulled her close. He gave her a small kiss on the head, hugging her tightly. He didn't dare look down; he didn't want Annie to see him crying.

Annie leaned up and gave him a small peck on the cheek, tucking her hand into his.

He felt something cold in between the two hands. He softly pulled his hand away, looking down at the trinket that was now in his position.

It was a small, heart shaped charm. But, the heart was shaped in a way that made it look like two waves were crashing into each other. It was a simple light blue that seemed to have faded with time. He soon realized that the charm actually seemed to open, making it a locket of some sort.

"It's for Alanis," Annie said as he inspected the locket, "to remind her of home..."

The two of them stood in a comfortable silence, wrapped in each others' arms.

"Go talk to her, Finnick," Annie finally said.

"I can't," he replied, almost instantly, like a robot.

Annie just shook her head and smiled.

"She needs you - not as her mentor, but as her brother. You don't have to be strong for her, you just have to let her know that you'll be there for her, no matter what."

He thought about what Annie had said. It was true: Alanis didn't need people to be strong for her. She just needed some one to be there.

"You're right," he replied, "Thanks Annie..."

He kissed the girl goodbye, and then headed towards the direction of the Justice Building, knowing exact what he had to do.

So yeah, the ending kinda sucks; I'm sorry. But, if you want, I give you full permision to complain about it in a review, if you want.