SO SORRY for the extremely late update! :( This chapter is rated T because of something just a bit suggestive in Finn and Clair's conversation...
Theme 10: Silence
"Where are you going?" Annie asked.
Finn shook his head. "Nowhere. Just… to Clair's house. No need to worry, Mom; I'll be all right." Seeing the look on Annie's face, Finn added, "I'm thirteen; I'm old enough to walk around Four by myself, aren't I?" Annie opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to argue.
She swallowed instead. "But be very careful, okay, Finn?" Finn nodded. "Don't do anything stupid."
Finn smiled. He looks so much like Finnick, Annie thought. "You know I won't, Mom."
Finn felt guilty as he trudged up the hill leading to his father's grave. "Finn, you shouldn't have lied to Annie," Clair said. "You should have just told her that you were going to visit your dad."
Finn looked at Clair. With her wispy red hair and soft green eyes, she looked nothing like her adoptive mother, Johanna. They differed in personality, too—Clair was shy and quiet while Johanna was… well, quite the opposite.
"Well, if you ask me," Finn replied, "you should have told Johanna the truth, too. Now she probably thinks we're going to do some really suspicious stuff."
Clair raised her eyebrow and grinned. "Oh, really? What kind of suspicious stuff?"
"…Never mind," Finn said under his breath. "Forget I said anything."
"Well, you said something. And besides, the thought of it is just… absurd. I mean, we're just friends, right?" Her cheeks turned a faint shade of pink as she said this. "Maybe even best friends, if you're willing to call it that."
"Sure, why not." Finn handed Clair a bottle of water. "Here, you're obviously thirsty."
"Thanks." Clair uncapped the bottle and took a long sip from it.
"No problem." Finn stopped walking. "Hey, we're here. You know, I really understand now. Why they buried Dad here, I mean." Finn and Clair stared at the scene before them in amazement. Birds chirped happily as colorful flowers dotted the meadow, and the plants that were placed around the grave, which was marked by smooth slab of rock, swayed with the wind.
"Yeah… me too."
Finn walked closer to the grave, and saw that a smooth stone had been placed in front of it. "What's this?" Finn muttered as Clair set down a bouquet of flowers.
"What's what, Finn? It's just an ordinary stone."
"Well… I guess—" Finn turned the stone over and saw a piece of paper stuck under it. "It's not. There's a piece of paper under it, and it looks like someone cried while writing on it."
Goodbye, Finnick. Even though you're gone, my heart always will be yours.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze. The birds stopped singing, and everything was silent.