Sunsets. Sunsets that transitioned into stars—aside from the ocean, Finnick was always in love with those. He sighed and sat on the dock, salt sticking to his skin that he hadn't bothered to wash off.

Annie.

Mags had said it was love. Finnick didn't know. He ran his hand through his messy hair, looking out as the sun stained the blue ocean a gradient of pink, orange, and yellow. Finnick had missed home. The ocean crashing over the rocks—a peace no amount of sugarcubes could bring him while he was in the Capitol.

Soft footsteps padded behind him. He looked behind him to find Annie. He smiled at her and she gave him the same half-smile she always did.

"Hey, Annie," Finnick said gently. Everything was gentle with Annie. Unlike the rest of Panem, he knew she wasn't mad. Few people believed him—but she was too normal around him to be crazy.

"Hey, Finnick," she said quietly. Carefully, she sat next to him and held her legs close to her chest.

"How are you, Annie?" he asked as he looked over at her, letting his own legs fall over the side of the dock. She shrugged and looked out at the ocean. Finnick followed her gaze, and then went back to Annie.

"Do you want to swim, Annie?" he asked softly. Her green eyes widened in fear, but he could see the longing in her eyes.

"Yes…but…I…" she stammered out. Finnick nodded.

"You're scared," he finished for her. Annie nodded in reply. Finnick stood and offered her his hand. After a moment or two of staring at it, she took it reluctantly. As they walked off the docks, she laced their fingers together and squeezed his hand. Some space in Finnick's chest warmed.

He led them off the dock to the shore line. His toes sank down deep in the soft sand.

"If you don't want to, Annie, you don't have to. You don't even have to swim. You can just put your feet in the water," Finnick said calmly, reassuring her. "I'm here for you, Annie." Annie looked up at him and nodded. Finnick carefully took a step forward, letting their feet barely hit the tide of the water when came up. Annie shivered, but it wasn't how she shook when she was scared. Something in her eyes brightened. Finnick took another step and Annie followed him. They kept walking, slowly but carefully, until the water was nearly to their waists.

Annie stayed staring out at the ocean. Finnick thought that was as far as she was going to go until she took her hand from his and dove into the water. He watched her swim until she surfaced some amount of feet away from him. Finnick smiled at her and swam out to her.

"I missed this," Annie said as they treaded water next to each other.

"Thank you, Finnick," she said with the widest smile Finnick had ever seen. Before he had the chance to answer, she was back under. Finnick followed her down. Annie swam carefully through the brightly colored coral as Finnick followed behind her. Fish would change paths as Finnick and Annie would dart through, the both of them smiling under water. Annie's dark ebony hair cascaded behind her beautifully, the salt and sea water refracting light through it, making it look as if she was glowing. She glowed to him…

After swimming for nearly an hour, Finnick and Annie retreated to the sand. She let her head rest in his lap and Finnick ran his fingers through her wet hair, trying not to hurt her when his fingers would hit a tangle in her hair. Annie looked like she was in a dream as they sat there. Neither of them said a thing, but Finnick could tell Annie was happy. He didn't want to ruin anything with blabbering on.

Another hour or two later—Finnick didn't care about the time then—Annie was fast asleep on the sand. Finnick stayed there, not wanting to disturb her. After awhile, someone walked up to them. It was Annie's father. He looked at her wet hair and damp clothes, then to Finnick.

"Did she?" he asked incredulously. Finnick nodded.

"Nearly an hour," he whispered. He didn't want to wake her up. Her dad smiled gratefully at Finnick.

"Thank you. For saving her life…I know she's changed—"

"She's perfect," Finnick cut him off. Her dad said nothing but nodded.

"Can you bring her home for me?" he asked. Finnick nodded. As if Annie was the most precious thing in the world, Finnick picked her up in his arms. She seemed so light, so fragile…

Annie's father led the way to his new home in the Victor's Village and Finnick followed dutifully. Her father opened the door to Annie's room for Finnick, and he set her down carefully. A small piece of hair had fallen in Annie's face. Softly, he pushed it behind her ear. He sat by her, not wanting to leave her. Ever. Though, the clock by her bed warned Finnick otherwise. There were calls to rich Capitol women to make.

Silently, Finnick stood. He looked at the sleeping Annie, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. His chest ached to stay there, but Finnick couldn't. Snow's warning of consequences haunted his every moment.

Finnick was walking out the door when he heard Annie's mother say something.

"Oh, Annie's shivering…Someone go get her a blanket," she said. Finnick bit his lip, fighting the urge to go back and hold her like he did that night on the train back to District Four. He hated himself for it, but he had to walk away.

Sometime around three in the morning, when Finnick was done with every call that he had promised for that night, he was getting ready for bed when he got another call.

"Finnick? Are you there?" It was Annie's father.

"Yeah…what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry if I woke you up, but it's Annie. She woke up screaming and no one can calm her down and she's asking for you."

"I'll be right over." Finnick hung up the phone and was running over to Annie's house in the same second. He could hear her screaming while he was still houses down.

Finnick was let in by Annie's mom and he ran down to her room where her dad was trying to calm her down. The second Annie saw Finnick, though, her screaming stopped and she started to shiver.

"Annie, you're safe," Finnick murmured as he sat down next to her. Annie flung her arms around him, still shivering. With his heart breaking, Finnick hugged her back.

"You're safe, Annie," he cooed. She shivered for a long while as Finnick whispered in her ear carefully, trying to calm her down. Nearly an hour later, she stopped shivering, though still clung to him. Her father had left long ago…Annie looked up at him.

"Why? Why you? Why do you make it stop?" she whispered; her voice was breathy as if she was holding back an ocean of tears.

"I can't answer that, Annie," he said, wishing he could give her a better answer.

"Why did you come?" Finnick paused and rested his cheek on top of her head. He came for the same reason he fought for her life in the arena. Finnick had just thought she was aware of how much he cared…

"You don't know, do you?" Finnick felt as if his chest was aching. She had to know. How could she not know?

"You can't come if you're not going to stay…You need to stay…Finnick, don't ever leave, I can't…I can't…don't leave," she choked out before beginning to cry. Finnick rocked her in his arms soothingly, hushing her and stroking her hair.

"I don't want to leave, Annie," he whispered after a long while. She looked up at him and rested her head on his shoulder. He rested his cheek on top of hers.

"I won't leave you, Annie. Not ever."