That year, Isaac had lost his first tooth, and he had graced each and every one of her mother's pictures that season with his gappy smile. Annie snorted and turned the page. Her mother had decided on matching dresses for her and Georgia for the Reaping the year she turned seven. Little her looked so happy, absolutely beaming for the camera. She hadn't understood then what the Games really meant. They had been a chance to dress up and go into town, a day away from the shop for Mommy and Daddy. When there were extra credits to spare, there was even ice cream in the air-conditioned shop downtown waiting for them once the ceremony was over – but only if they were good. She wished she could go back to that time and enjoy it a little longer.

She jumped at the sound of a voice. "Girl, don't tell me you're spending the holidays all alone." Annie looked up from her memory book and her almost full mug of cocoa to see Rhonda standing in her kitchen.

She set down the cup, and a few drips of liquid dribbled down the side. "I was planning to go out to my parents' house, but with this weather…" She shrugged, "It just didn't seem safe."

"I am seventy-six years old, and this is only the third time I have ever seen snow in my life. You'd think Mother Nature would know better than to spoil the holidays like this. Hmph." She sat down next to Annie. "But still, my point stands. You shouldn't be spending Christmas alone."

"I didn't want to impose." Mags and Rhonda had already done so much for her; she wouldn't dare spoil their merry Christmas with the mood she was in.

"And we didn't want to have a Christmas of two, so I suggest you get yourself on over to our place. Annie, girl, you couldn't impose if you tried." She clapped Annie's thigh. "Come along now, get your coat on. I won't have you freezing on your way over." Rhonda groaned as she stood up. "Joints aren't made for that anymore. You can bring your book along, but Mags is expecting the both of us for dinner in just a couple minutes here, and you should know better than to disappoint her."

"I wouldn't want to do that," Annie agreed, and she rose from the couch. She grabbed her cup and took a few more sips as she hurried towards the kitchen. She winced at the reflection she caught in the window. "And maybe I should change too. I'm guessing Mags won't appreciate my knee-high socks and pajama pants."

"They do make a darling set, love, but you're probably right."


Annie curled her knees up to her chest as she watched the fire flicker, sending warm, golden light dancing through the living room. Between the fire crackling inside and the light dusting of snow that sat over Four like a layer of powdered sugar, she couldn't picture a more beautiful Christmas. "Pretty, isn't it?" Mags said from across the room. "I do love having fires in here. Sometimes, I wish I lived up in Seven or Eight just so I could have that feeling of getting warm when I come in from the cold. We don't get too many chances for that here, do we?" Annie shook her head. Mags smiled over at her. "Are you having a nice Christmas, dear? I know you were looking forward to seeing your family."

"It's been wonderful. Thank you so much for having me over. I really can't thank you enough." They deserved so, so much than a simple thanks for all the help and support they had given her over the past year and a half, but she couldn't think of anything more to give. "Dinner was wonderful."

"Well, any chance to drink, right? It puts the merry in merry Christmas." The red stain in Rhonda's cheeks and her occasional hiccups remained an hour after all the sherry had been tucked back into the cupboard.

Annie laughed. "I suppose so."

Mags rocked back and forth in her rocking chair, and from the way her head rested against the chair's back, Annie wondered if she would soon rock herself to sleep. The old woman's eyes focused on the coffee table. "What's in the book you brought over?"

She looked over at the thick, leather-bound volume. "It's a memory book my mother put together for me after I won."

"May I have a look?"

"Of course." She got up to grab the book, and she was surprised when Mags came over and sat next to the spot she had just vacated. Annie curled her legs underneath her as she watched Mags flip through the first few pages. "That's my parents' first anniversary, before they had any of us."

The woman paused to admire the photograph. She pointed towards Annie's mother. "You look like her. You're both very lovely. And look at that, your father still had a full head of hair back then."

Annie had to laugh. "That goes away pretty quickly here." She guided Mags to a few of her favorites: a group photo of the last big Cresta family reunion before her grandparents had died, a very proud Annie on her tenth birthday, Edmund dangling a fish that couldn't have been more than three inches long off of his first homemade fishing pole. Mags listened patiently to the stories that accompanied the images, only stopping to ask for clarification or tell her how darling a certain photo was.

"This is an incredible book. I didn't know your family had a camera."

Annie understood the unspoken question. I didn't think your family had enough money for a camera. It was a more than reasonable assumption. Out on the islands, even the shopkeepers struggled to get by. "We couldn't have afforded it on our own, but my great-aunt was married to the mayor, and my mother was her favorite niece. When my parents got married, she insisted that she buy them something a bit frivolous and not at all necessary, so Mom picked a camera, and every time we had a few extra credits, she'd get another roll of film and snap pictures of everything she could." She caressed the edge of one page she'd dog-eared, a photo of one of her brothers – she couldn't tell which from this view – splashing in the waves. "I'm glad she did. It's nice to look over it when I'm missing them." Mags settled her hand over Annie's and gave it a gentle squeeze. The younger woman bit down on her lip, trying to think of how to best phrase her request. "Mags? I have a few blank pages at the end. Could I maybe add some pictures of the two of you?" Her words were rushed, and she wondered for a moment if she'd even been understandable, but Mags smiled.

"I'm sure we have a few good pictures somewhere in this big old place," she said.

"Thank you so much. And, um, do you have one that I could take of Finnick? Y'know, for when he's in the Capitol or stuff." There was no reason for her to be blushing right now. None whatsoever.

"He is a very important piece of our little family, and I'm sure he'd be happy to be in that book a second time."

"A second time?"

"Take another look at that picture of you and your sister in the red dresses. I think you're probably eight or nine in it." She hobbled away, leaning on her cane more heavily than usual after a few glasses of sherry, to find the photos Annie had asked for. Left alone with a dozing Rhonda and the book, Annie set about finding the picture. There it is. It was the same one she'd been looking at this morning. Two dark-haired girls in matching red dresses smiled back at her, the taller of the two posing with one foot in front of the other and her skirt fanned out around her. Both girls wore red ribbons in their hair, but the younger one's curls were an absolute mess. Annie remembered her mother trying to coax away her curls for hours, swiftly going between swearing under her breath and ordering Annie never to repeat any of the words she'd just heard, before finally admitting defeat. She'd seen this picture a hundred times or more, but only now did Annie spot the bronze-haired boy in the background. She knew those green eyes and that smile. Annie removed the photo from the page. Mags had said a few days before that Finnick liked getting mail, especially pictures, while he was in the Capitol, and she finally had the perfect thing.


"Hey," he said as he slid into the passenger seat of the silver sports car. The seat was just a little too small to fit him comfortably, but he couldn't help but admire the interior. Shining chrome, dark leather, mahogany, all the extras. Even for a Victor, this sweet little number must have been a splurge. "Christmas present?"

"To me, from me, and it goes from zero to a hundred in under three seconds. Best kind of present there is," Johanna answered. Her fingers caressed the dashboard as she spoke.

"You're in love."

She nodded. "It's my baby, and I will love it and protect it as such."

"And not use it for street racing like your old one."

"Now you're just being ridiculous. I'm sure she'll beat all those playboys, but she's not quite ready for all that yet." She gave Finnick a wink. "I have a few special modifications planned – the kind they can't give you aboveboard at the dealership. She'll be the baddest thing around." Finnick could already see the visions of gunning the engine and squealing brakes dancing in her head. "Not that she can't already do some damage," Johanna added, looking over towards him again. "Wanna see?" Without waiting for a response, she turned the key in the ignition, and Finnick could feel the monster beneath them awaken.

"Johanna? Johanna, don't," he warned. Her grin grew as she stroked the steering wheel, her eyes focused on the traffic light above. He could almost see her counting down the seconds until it turned green. "Johanna -"

His next words were lost as he was pressed back into his seat. The instant the light turned, Johanna floored the accelerator, sending them speeding through one of the Capitol's many thoroughfares. Finnick clutched his armrests as the lights around them blurred into thin bands of brightness. Though it was well past midnight, the Capitol never truly slept, and the streets were far from empty. An orchestra of honks and shouts followed their every move. More than once, a particularly sharp turn or near collision would make Finnick wonder if he would ever step out of Johanna's sleek little speedster alive. Another bump made his heart skip a beat, and he clenched his eyes shut. There was little he could do but hope for the best.

Johanna braked as suddenly as she had accelerated. Finnick hissed as he was sent crashing first into his safety belt and then backwards into his seat. He took a few deep, calming breaths before opening his eyes to glare at Johanna, who was laughing, her eyes still wide with adrenaline. She pushed a sweaty strand of dark hair out of her eyes. "Oh, get your panties out of a knot, Odair. What's the worst that could have happened? I can pay off any ticket they want to give me."

"A ticket? Johanna, we could have died!"

"And what would have been so bad about that?" With anyone else, he would have written off that reply as a joke, but Johanna's tone was serious. She raised an eyebrow and looked over at him.

He shook his head. "I'd like to think there are some people out there who would miss me." Wrong thing to say. "Oh, Johanna, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that –"

She brushed off the comment. "Again, Odair, stop worrying. I'm not the sensitive one here."

A grin tugged at the edges of his lips. "I suppose not." They sat in silence for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts.

"So, that Annie girl. She seems nice."

An interesting change in topic, but he expected that from Johanna. "Yeah, yeah, she really is."

"Cute, too." He nodded, wondering where this was going. "She's not coming out to the Capitol this year?"

"Nah." And that's the way it should stay. Nobody needs this, but especially not her. "Probably not next year either. I guess they kind of want people to forget she exists."

"That's good." She let another long silence stretch between them. "So, do you think I'd have a shot?"

"No."

Johanna snorted. "Defensive much? So, how long have the two of you been seeing each other?" He couldn't find a good answer to that one. "Please tell me that you've at least talked to this girl and haven't just been spying on her from the shadows or some creepy shit like that."

"I've talked to her plenty of times!" He ignored her raised eyebrow and the bemused twitch in her lips. "And no, I'm not interested in her in that way at all. We're just friends. I don't think she's interested in women is all."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's totally all there is to this story. We all know how well you handle crushes, after all. Remember how smooth you were with that singer at Caessa's party a couple years ago? That was legendary."

His cheeks flamed, but he couldn't give in now. "It wasn't that bad, and anyway, this isn't anything like that. How many times do I have to tell you that we're just friends?" Finnick tried to hold her gaze, but eventually, he slumped back in his seat. "Fine, think what you like. I got some letters from home today. Will you read them for me?"

She nodded, and he withdrew the neatly folded envelopes from his breast pocket. With any luck, they wouldn't have sweat on them from his recent near-death experiences. He gave them what he hoped was a subtle whiff before passing them over. Apparently not. Still, since the recipient had been the root cause of that stress, he had a hard time feeling sorry for her. She didn't seem to notice, and quickly unfolded the three envelopes. "All right, we've got Mags, your aunt, and, well, speak of the devil," she said, holding out one for his inspection.

Finnick shook his head. "Annie?"

"You bet. Think it was sealed with a kiss?" she teased, but when he gave her a dark look, she shrugged. "Fine, I'll read it. Here we are.

"Finnick. We had a nice Christmas here in Four. It snowed for the first time that I can remember, so I went over to Mags and Ronda's home instead of spending the holidays at my parents' place, and we had a lovely time. Four looks beautiful covered in snow. I put in a few pictures so that you can see – I don't know when we'll get another chance to enjoy it.

"I found another photo as well, one of me when I was younger. We were wondering if the little boy in the background seemed familiar. I know I was a little surprised.

"I hope you're having a very happy holiday season and having lots of fun in the Capitol. We look forward to having you home again. Love, Annie." Johanna passed him the letter and the pictures behind it. "Love, Annie," she repeated. "Just a casual mention of undying love between friends, right?" She waited for his reply, but Finnick was too busy poring over the photographs with the stupidest smile she'd ever seen on his face. Johanna shook her head. "Alright, Odair, let's get you home before anyone sees you all love drunk."

"Hmm?" He still hadn't looked up from the pictures, and she peeked over his shoulder at one of them. That passed for snow in Four? Wimps.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She couldn't help but be a tiny bit jealous as they started back towards the Training Center.