CHAPTER 11:
They can hear her calling for her, calling for Prim, for her sister. There was no way she was here though, or even that it was her voice she had heard. In this place, with the Gamemakers controlling everything that happened, it could have been anything. They caught up to Katniss, and she just stood there, her face twisted in anger but the panic still there as she cleaned her arrow with a strip of moss.
"Katniss?" said Finnick, his voice careful, unwilling to startle her.
She didn't look at them "I'm okay, I'm fine," she said. It was unconvincing, but they didn't question her. "I thought I heard my sister but-" Another piercing scream cut her off, and Kailani was sure that her heart had stopped. Her head snapped to Finnick, and she watched, unable to do anything as the fear crossed over his face.
"Finnick-" started Kailani, but he was already gone, bolting off after the voice. When it came to do with Annie Cresta, Finnick did not and would not listen to reason. She knew that better than anyone. She didn't hesitate, she ran off after him, trying to keep up but failing. He was too fast for her normally, let alone in this state.
"Finnick, wait!" yelled Katniss. She could hear her following after them, but Kailani didn't have time to look back at her. She ran, the sound of Annie screaming still ringing around the jungle, loud and clear.
"Annie!" screamed Finnick, desperately, "Annie!"
Kailani felt sick, and not because they had just run half a kilometre uphill. She wondered briefly, as Finnick paced the foot of a large tree, the sounds of his beloved emanating from within the leaves, if it would have been easier for him had he known the truth, had Annie not been this vision of the perfect human being in his head. What would the Gamemakers use against him then? Would it be as easy to send him into this state of panic, into this terrified man about to crack under the strain? She didn't know, and she didn't know what she could do to help him. Kailani inched closer to him, slowly, cautiously. He would have been climbing that tree had the first decent limb not begun well out of their reach.
"Finnick," she tried. But he wasn't listening, he was in his own world and Annie's screams probably drowned her out. Those horrible screams of terror and pain, of absolute fear. Katniss began climbing the tree next to it, and finally, Kailani made her move. She grabbed Finnick by the hand, and stilled his movements, forcing him to look at her.
"Annie," he said, again. His voice filled with despair. He tried to reach the tree again, but she was stronger than she looked and held him in his place.
"Finnick, listen to me." Suddenly, the screams stopped and a bird fell at their feet. She glanced down at it. It had an arrow in its neck, but it was clear enough what it was. It was a jabberjay. "Look, see. It's not her, she's at home, she is safe. Annie is not here."
Another sound started up, they were old, broken screams. Kailani stiffened, despite herself. It was her mother. She sounded so hurt, so in pain, like an animal that just wanted to die. Finnick stared at her, his face pained. "No, it's not Annie, it's not Mags," he agreed, "But it is their voices. Jabberjays mimic what they hear, where did they get those screams, Kailani?" She could see all of the colour leave Katniss' face once more, and she swayed dangerously.
"You don't think they…" Katniss trailed off, horrified.
Kailani shook her head. "No, no I don't believe, I won't and neither should you two." As real as it was, she refused to believe that Snow and the Gamemakers had gotten their hands on all of these people, on enough people from each district, connected to each tribute to be able to give the jabberjays their ammunition. It was too much work, even for them.
"They took them, they're torturing them," snapped out Finnick, stubbornly. Katniss sunk down to her knees, staring at the ground. "I know it."
"Stop it, stop this."
"No! No, Kailani! Because it's Annie, I-" A man's voice had started up now as well, and immediately Katniss was on her feet. Finnick grabbed her arm before she could run after it. "No, it's not him." He started pulling her downhill, Kailani along with her. "We're getting out of here!" Katniss struggled, fiercely but Finnick would not relent. "It's not him! It's a mutt!" he shouted, "Come on!" Kailani tried to pull from his grip, she could walk on her own she didn't need help but it was too tight. It would probably bruise by tomorrow. She caught sight of Johanna, Peeta, Gloss and Cashmere hovering by the tree line. They just stood there, not moving. Peeta's lips were moving, but none of them could hear him. The wall between them is so transparent they don't even notice it is there until they smack into it, hard. The three of them bounced back to the jungle floor, and despite herself, Kailani let out a small scream as she fell onto her hand. Beetee behind them all, looked at them sadly. They were so close to camp yet so far, they were trapped in here until the hour was up. She glanced over at Finnick, his nose was gushing blood from the impact but that wasn't what worried her, she wasn't sure he could last the rest of the hour, not in here. The birds began to gather, she could see them lining up on the branches, flying into the trees. And once again, the screams began. There was no way through the barrier, no weapon made a dent and Kailani didn't have to investigate further to know that it would encase the entire wedge they were in. They had no choice but to wait it out, and Finnick gave in immediately. He sunk down to the ground, his back hunched, his hands clenched over his ears so tightly it was as if he was trying to crush his own skull. Kailani could hear her mother amongst the fray, Asher too. There were the children that lived down the road from them, the ones she and Finnick had taught to swim. All of them screaming, crying, all of them in indescribable pain. Katniss fought against it for a little while, she emptied her quiver of arrows killing as many jabberjays she could but there were too many of them. As soon as one fell, another appeared. She stopped trying, and curled up beside Finnick, doing her best to block out the noises. Kailani kept her distance, she couldn't help it, because it wasn't just the sounds of those they loved being tortured. There was something else as well, something meant only for her. The birds sat close by, eyeing her hungrily. The Gamemakers must have known that she had had more sense, if anything that only proved her point, that these noises couldn't have been real but no one was in any condition to listen to her, nor really was she that keen to talk. Not when they began to taunt her, it was no one's voice in particular. It was a cold, neutral sound but it was enough. 'Liar', it said. 'He will hate you for this, for keeping it from him'. Neither Finnick nor Katniss heard anything beyond the screams, the begging for help. 'Liar, liar, liar, liar'. She looked out beyond the invisible wall, to Johanna who knew everything about her and gave her one single defeated look. Kailani would have preferred the screams over this, over the one thing that made her feel worse than anything else. They probably didn't even know what they were taunting her with, but then again, they didn't have too. They knew enough. She took a deep breath, and clenched her eyes closed. It would be over soon, it would be done and the accursed things would be silenced. 'You deceive, you lie, you are no friend to him'. But it was like they were reading her mind, was she really that transparent? No, because otherwise Finnick would have known long ago that something was wrong, that everything was not as it should be. 'Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar'. Kailani flinched. The voices may have been fake, but those words were the truth. She was a liar, she had been lying to her best-friend for years. The woman he loved was cheating on him, he was living a lie all because she didn't have the guts to tell him, he was suffering now, because she didn't have the guts to tell him. She couldn't do this, she couldn't hold out the rest of the hour like this. Exhausted, Kailani slipped to the ground. Johanna tried to get her attention. Her, Gloss, Cashmere, she was the only one left that was still half-aware of what was going on around them, she was the only one left that they could help. But she was too tired to keep paying attention. Kailani wrapped her arms around her legs, and kept her eyes shut. Eventually, the noises stopped and Cashmere was coaxing her too her feet.
"Are you alright?" she asked. That was probably the first time she had ever heard her sound caring. Were they friends? Sure, they were all the same age give or take a couple of years. Her, Johanna, Finnick, Gloss and Cashmere. They got along well enough, they spoke to one another, but normally, it was all just polite small talk. This was the first time she had actually heard some emotion in her voice, maybe she was softening up to them all a bit.
"Better than them," said Kailani, glancing over at Finnick and Katniss.
"I don't know," said Johanna, sceptically. "You look about as bad as they do. I suppose you heard you mother?"
"Of course, but that wasn't what-" She frowned. 'Liar, liar, liar, liar'. The sound still rang through her head. "Finnick heard Annie." Kailani almost scowled at that name, almost gave away how much the jabberjays had affected her. If not for her, if not for what she did- hell, if not for what she was probably doing at that very moment, then everything would be fine. "I think I need to talk him."
Johanna caught the true meaning, her eyes widened and she glanced over at Finnick. "Are you serious? Now? What did those things say to you?"
She lowered her voice, she couldn't let Finnick know anything. "They know I've been lying Johanna, I can't do it anymore, I can't-" She broke off, and ran a hand over her face. Peeta was trying to convince Katniss that it wasn't real, Finnick too. He listened intently, hung on to every word. But it was real for her, the Capitol may have been able to manipulate the voices but it was real for her.
Cashmere shook her head, her blue eyes narrowed. If there was one thing she hated more than anything, it was being out of the loop. "What's going on? What are you two talking about? If this is about you being in love with Finnick-"
Kailani hushed her, and stared at her incredulity. "I don't know what you're talking about but no, that is not what it is."
"It should be." Johanna nodded her head in agreement.
"Fuck off," she spat, "Both of you." Kailani wasn't in the mood for that kind of crap, for them to tell her what she should do. She knew what she needed to do now, there was no point putting it off. Maybe it would ease his pain, just a little bit (or maybe, it would make him feel worse).
It was possible then. Beetee had made it very clear how simple it was too mimic and change voices, to be able to use that against them. Kailani could have been right, Annie could very well be safe at home. Then again, perhaps not. In here, it was impossible tell, all he knew was the he would never get the sound of Annie screaming like that, out of his head. The water lapped at his feet, and he took a deep breath.
"Hey." Her voice was quiet, and sounded odd, but he still recognised who it was as Kailani sat next to him. He would always recognise her voice. Finnick glanced over at her, as the guilt gnawed at him. He was suddenly very aware that he hadn't even spoken to her since she'd tried to calm him down. He may have heard Annie, but she had heard her mother and a great deal of other things as well. It was such a blur, as soon as they had hit that wall he had just sunk in on himself, he didn't know what else to do. He had completely forgotten that Kailani was there too, she'd just disappeared. He remembered Katniss, she had been next to him, but Kailani, he didn't know where she had gone. It was strange of her, not to have been there, to have kept her distance, not like her at all and studying her now, he realised she still wasn't herself. Not that he could blame her, he was the same.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said.
"Don't you be sorry," said Kailani, sharply. She sighed, "I'm the one who should be sorry."
Finnick frowned. That didn't sound right, she had done nothing that warranted her apologising. "What are you talking about?"
She didn't look at him, just stared out at the water. Her body was tense, her hand clenched tightly at her side. Finnick had the sudden urge to grab it in his own, to soothe her, hold her but he held back. Now wasn't the time, there wasn't really any appropriate time to be that affectionate with her, people had enough ideas as it was.
"Finnick, I need to tell you something, I need to tell you something really important." Her voice shook, slightly, and that worried him even more. He tried to keep his face calm though, at least for her sake.
"You know you can always tell me anything."
Kailani winced. That wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for. "This probably isn't the best time. Johanna has been threatening me to tell you for ages, but I just- I couldn't do it but after that, after hearing them. I can't do it anymore, I'm tired. I am always tired, and guilty and I-" She shook her head, to herself more than anything he suspected. "I have kept this from you for too long, but she looked at me with those eyes. You know how hard they are to refuse, and- and you were so happy." Finnick could feel the fear bubbling up in his stomach, the panic seeping through him. This was serious, this was really serious and it scared him to no end. Her face hardened and finally, finally, Kailani faced him. "Annie, isn't who you think she is, Finnick. She's been cheating on you, sleeping with other men."
He didn't know what he was thinking, but in an instant, Finnick was on his feet glaring down at Kailani. Anger pulsed through his veins and he could have sworn, that his vision went red. "You're wrong." Annie would never do that, not his dear, sweet Annie Cresta. It wasn't who she was, even before the Games. And he had thought, that Kailani wasn't someone to accuse her of such things either. It was Annie, for God's sake.
Kailani pushed herself to her feet. "I'm not wrong, Finnick. I saw her."
It was a lie, she was lying. She had to have been. "No, you didn't. You're lying to me." Kailani flinched. "I don't know why, but you are. Annie would never do that to me, she wouldn't-"
"She would!" yelled Kailani. The others, standing by the edge of the jungle, glanced over at them. "What don't you understand about me seeing her? It wasn't just once either, it is time and time again for years now! She is not who you think she is."
Stubbornly, Finnick shook his head. He refused to believe it, refused to believe that his happiness was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. "It's not Annie, Kailani, it's you. You aren't who I thought you were, or you've changed, or something." "
She shook her head, her eyes full of pity. "No, Finnick."
"Yes! BECAUSE IT'S NOT TRUE!" He leaned down and in seconds, had his trident in hand and pointed at her throat. The colour drained out of her face, and he was only vaguely aware of Johanna swearing in the distance, of their companions getting to their feet, inching closer warily. Finnick breathed heavily, his hands shaking. "Stop this," he begged, "Please, just stop, stop lying."
"I have," she whispered. His grip on the trident tightened, his knuckles whitening. "I know I'm just as bad for keeping it from you, and for telling you now, of all times but it's the truth, I promise you that." Slowly, she leaned down to pick up her spear and stepped away. One step, two steps and then she turned around. It was wrong, he knew it the moment he started to position his trident, the moment he started aiming for her back. This was Kailani, his best-friend, or at least, it was. She didn't do these kind of things, she didn't hurt him intentionally. He wasn't sure what his motivation was, but it was wrong. Whatever his brain was thinking, whatever awful things he labelled her as, it was wrong. There was no time to take it back though, as he let go of the trident and it was sent soaring towards her. It was a good thing she was who she was, if it was anyone else, Johanna, Gloss, Cashmere, Katniss, none of them would have been fast enough, would have been skilled enough to stop that trident. But she was. They had been training together their entire lives, using tridents and spears, she could stop it, and she did. Kailani spun around, and knocked away the trident. The look she gave him though, it was something that would haunt him forever. All she had been trying to do was clear her conscience, he knew that, he could see that. As much as he wanted to deny everything that she told him, he knew she would have no reason to lie like that, to hurt him like that. It wasn't what she wanted, none of this was what she wanted. That look, that terrible look of fear and betrayal, it cleared his mind better than anything. Finnick couldn't believe what he had just done. If she had been a second too slow, she would be dead, he would have killed her. And it wasn't the first time her district partner had tried to do something like that. That, was what he saw in the look she gave him. That, and a whole lot of other things. He could deal with what Annie had done later, process all of that later, because there was only one thing on his mind now and that was Kailani.
"'Lani…" he started. Finnick took a step closer to her, to her frozen form but as soon as he did, she began to back away.
"Don't-" Her voice was ice cold, and it hit him like a set of knives. "Don't call me that, and don't come near me." She was shutting him out, him and everything else, just like she had after she had been forced to kill her partner in her own Games. He wouldn't let her do that though, he couldn't.
"Kailani, please. I didn't mean-" But she wasn't even listening to him. She turned sharply on her heel and stalked back to their camp. Adamantly, he ignored the others as he quickly followed behind her. "Kailani!" She snatched up a few rolls of bread, took a sip of water and made for the jungle. Panic flared inside of him, but it was Johanna that got to her first. She grabbed her wrist and held Kailani in her place, giving her a long look.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.
With a fierce tug, Kailani escaped her grip. "I'm leaving." She said it so simply, as if that was all it was, but they all knew better than that. Finnick wanted to throw up, he had done this. He was an idiot, he should have listened to her, taken it all in better. He shouldn't have blamed her.
"You leave, and you die," said Johanna.
Kailani's face didn't change, it stayed cool and collected. That just made it so much worse. "I know."
She knew, of course she knew. Kailani was walking to her death, she was doing it willingly and all because of him. She was doing it to get away from him but he wouldn't let her. Kailani could hate him all she liked, he would deserve it, but he would not let her die.
"Kailani, don't do this," said Beetee, "We need you."
She scoffed, "No, you don't. If anything, it's about time we go a down a number, there are too many of us as it is."
"What about your mother?" asked Cashmere.
Kailani didn't even hesitate. "It doesn't matter anymore." She pushed past Johanna, and began to walk away. She did not run, nor jog, she walked and that made catching up to her a lot easier for Finnick. He was not going to let her die. However, he also knew she was not going to back down easily. She had her mind made up, she was done. He just needed to her stay though, not forgive him, not even look at him if she didn't want too, just stay. He shoved her roughly against a tree, and trapped her there, or at least he tried. Finnick knew the others were watching, but he didn't care. Kailani fought hard against him, and before he knew it, she had kneed him in the groin. He groaned in pain, but he couldn't let her get away, that was all he focussed on. She had picked up her speed now, she just wanted to leave and without thinking, Finnick lunged after her. He knocked her to the ground and still, she struggled. Of course she did, he wasn't surprised, he was prepared. He pinned her down, and crawled on top of her so that he straddled her, using his body weight to keep her from escaping. Not that she didn't try, she did everything she could, swinging at him furiously. Kailani let out a scream of frustration, and he grabbed her wrists, forcing them above her head, doing his best not to jostle her bad hand too much. "That's enough!" he yelled. She glared at him, icily but stilled nonetheless. "Just stop and think about this for a second, think about what you're doing."
"Oh, but I thought you wanted me to stop lying? That's what I'm doing, I'm not lying to you, or myself." He cringed, and his grip on her wrists tightened slightly.
"Please don't do this, please, please." Finnick leaned his forehead against hers, and adamantly, she turned her gaze away, staring off to the side. "I'm begging you. We were supposed to be doing this together, that was all that mattered, remember?" His voice cracked, he couldn't help himself. None of this, was going as they had planned. "Just stay Kailani, please. I won't survive this without you. If I had hit you with that trident, I would have begged them to end me because I couldn't have-" He broke off, and still Kailani glared adamantly to the side. That was fine, as long as she was listening. "Just stay. If not for me, then for all of them, for Mags who is watching us right now. Just think it through Kailani, don't do this for something I did."
She was silent, until finally, Kailani turned her head and looked at him. He couldn't read her anymore, had no idea what she was thinking. His stomach turned, and he didn't even bother trying to hide how pathetic he was sure he looked. Maybe it would convince her to stay but given her mood, given the way she was still staring at him, he didn't think he would. "Get off of me." There was something in her voice this time, something else. Finnick had almost forgotten the position they were in. He was suddenly very aware of Kailani beneath him, but he had to make sure, he couldn't let her go just for her to leave.
"Are you going to stay?"
"Just get off of me."
"Kailani…"
She growled, "Alright! I'll stay, just for the love of God-"
Finnick scrambled off of her, and Kailani got to her feet. She didn't meet his gaze, just brushed past him and stalked back to camp. Without a word, she snatched up a few shells and made back for the jungle. "I'll get water," she said.
"But the jabberjays," said Katniss, speaking up.
Kailani just scoffed and kept walking. Glaring at him, Johanna followed behind her. "Nothing they could do, could beat this," she said, pointedly. Finnick swallowed, thickly but didn't say anything to defend himself, she was right.
Kailani felt like she couldn't breathe. The tree they had found earlier still had the spile stuck in it, and she stared it at it, blankly. Everything was wrong, and she couldn't breathe. She had held herself together before, blocked everything out because it was all she could do not to break down right there, right then. She refused to do it in front of him, never again would she let him see her broken. He never really did see her like that, she'd hidden it away back then as well. Just thinking about Finnick though, it hurt. Tears streamed down her face, angry hot tears that would not stop. All she could feel was the pain, the betrayal. Kailani had never thought he would take it like that, she knew it would be a shock, but she never thought he would turn on her. She wasn't stupid, she knew he regretted what he had done but for the briefest of moments, for just a flicker of a second, he had wanted her dead. She had seen the sun gleaming off of his trident out of the corner of her eye and reacted out of instinct, if not for that, she would have had a trident in her back, the cannon would have gone off and the hovercraft would have come to take her body away. He almost killed her. Kailani let out a scream, she couldn't help it, she had too. She couldn't care less if it brought the other tributes to them, maybe they would put her out of her misery. That was the only thing she knew, pain, so much pain. It was like everything inside of her had become dark and empty, there was no light, no silver lining, nothing. Kailani took it all out on the tree, she didn't care that her hand was broken, that punching the hardened trunk only made it worse, she just knew that that pain was an easier pain to deal with than all of the rest.
"Hey!" yelled Johanna, trying to pull away, "Hey! That's enough!" She tugged her from the tree, and Kailani fell to the ground. But she didn't care, she didn't care about anything anymore. A broken sob escaped her, and that tightness in her chest was back again. She couldn't breathe. Johanna sighed, tiredly and slipped down against the tree, across from her. "I didn't think he would do that," she said.
Kailani shook her head, "I can't do this. Just tell them I lied, just tell them you found me dead or something-"
"No!" She was angry, Kailani didn't have to look at her to know that. "You're just going to fucking give up, really? If I can keep going, so can you. Don't forget, you still have other people out there. I don't. The only people I have left, are in here falling into their own separate deep depressions. Isn't it great?" Johanna sneered, bitterly.
It was a fair point, she supposed. She still had her mother, and even if she didn't want to make it out of here all that much, even if she would have rathered just laid down and died, Kailani at least wanted the others to get out. She could find it in herself to help them do that, and if it came down to it, if someone had to stay behind then she would gladly volunteer. Kailani sat up, and leaned against a tree. That didn't mean it hurt any less though, everything hurt, everything was still wrong.
It was the cannon that brought them all together on the beach again, albeit unwillingly in the case of some it seemed. Cashmere watched as a hovercraft appeared over what they estimated to be the six-to-seven o' clock zone. The claw dipped down five different times to retrieve the pieces of one body. It had been completely torn about, it was impossible to tell who it was, but whatever happened there, she didn't ever want to know. Kailani stared over at the wedge, her face unreadable. She was worried about her, about what she was thinking. She didn't want to go near whatever beast lurked in that section of the jungle, but Kailani, she almost looked like she did. She eyed it with almost a curiosity, until she caught her staring. The tenseness in their camp was almost overwhelming as Peeta added to his map what they knew about the wedges. Kailani was keeping a good distance from everyone else, Finnick weaved yet another basket and a net for fishing, his emotions barely in check. He seemed torn before staring after Kailani, and staring at the ground in shame. Even her brother was unwilling to call him out for what he had done, for damn near killing Kailani in his anger, he was beating himself up enough about it. Besides, he just found out his girlfriend had been cheating on him, the woman who was without a doubt, the love of his life, whether he had yet realised it or not, had become a completely different person in the last few hours, was cold and uncaring, wanted to die all because of what he'd done. Finnick Odair was having the worst day of his life, there was no need for any of them to add on to that. The rest of them just, went about their routine, silently. It was when they were about to settle down for their meal of raw fish, when the anthem begun. The faces of those killed were projected into the sky. Wiress. The female from 5, she couldn't remember her name, it was Cathia or something like that. The morphling woman who gave her life for Peeta. Blight. The man from 10, Wyatt. And Chaff, he must have been the one the beast had killed. Six. That was six people killed. There was barely any of them left now, only Brutus and Enobaria. What was going to happen when they were dead too? It would just be the eight of them, assuming that Kailani didn't get herself killed between now and then. She had the feeling it wasn't about the last person standing this time around though, she and Gloss had had the same ideas, had seen what was going on. Everyone only seemed to care about protecting Katniss, and Peeta by extension. They had heard the rumours, they knew what she represented, she was the mockingjay, she was a symbol of rebellion. Is that what was going on here? Cashmere wasn't sure, and she definitely could not ask. They'd play along with it though, if there was a chance, just the slightest chance that this might end different, she would take it. Yes, District One tended to be ruthless, was focussed more on winning than anything else in the past, but it was bigger than just that now and Cashmere knew that if it came down to just them, Gloss would end his own life for her to live if he had too. She didn't want that, she didn't want to lose her brother.
A parachute floated down to them, a pile of bite-sized square-shaped rolls connected to it. "These are from your district, right, Beetee?" asked Peeta.
"Yes, from District Three," nodded Beetee, "How many are there?"
Finnick counted them, turning each one over in his hands before setting them out in a neat configuration. It was something he had done every time they were sent bread, he was pedantic about it. "Twenty-four," he said, quietly.
"An even two dozen, then?"
"Twenty-four on the nose. How should we divide them?"
"Three each, I suppose," said Cashmere. No one else seemed inclined to answer him, everything was still so awkward and uncomfortable.
They waited until the tidal wave flooded out the ten-to-eleven-o'clock section and the water receded, to make camp on the beach. Theoretically, we should have a full twelve hours of safety from the jungle. There was an unpleasant chorus of clicking coming from the eleven-to-twelve-o' clock wedge and Cashmere shuddered. She did not like bugs, not at all. Particularly not the ones that would undoubtedly attempt to kill her. However, whatever bugs were making that sound stayed within the confines of the jungle, and just in case, we kept off of that part of the beach. Peeta and Katniss offer to keep the first watch, and she isn't one to complain. They were all exhausted, and any chance for sleep is one they have to take.
It was midnight when she started awake again, as the lightning struck the tree it had been every night. Kailani had her eyes open, Cashmere doubted she had ever gone to sleep and Finnick too had woken. He sat up, his back straight, his fingers digging into the sand tightly.
"I can't sleep anymore," he said, "One of you should rest." Cashmere turned her head, and noticed as he did, the position Katniss and Peeta were in. The way they were wrapped around each other, the expressions on their faces. "Or both of you. I can watch alone."
"It's too dangerous," said Peeta, "I'm not tired, I can-"
"No," interrupted Cashmere. She pushed herself up, brushing her long blonde hair out of her eyes. "It's okay, I'll do it. You need your sleep too."
Peeta looked about to argue, but she just shot him a sharp look. His mouth closed and instead, he nodded his head gratefully. He and Katniss wandered over to the others, and settled down on the ground together. Kailani had turned their back on them now, if Finnick noticed, he didn't say anything. Placing herself down against a tree close to him, she took a small sip of water and looked out at the beach. It was deceptively calm, almost tranquil under the light of the moon.
"Does it remind you of home?" she asked, finally. Cashmere didn't look at him, but she figured she didn't have too. They could have spent the night in silence, but there had been enough of that today.
He glanced at her, from the corner of his eye. "A little," he admitted. "It's a lot easier when we're not being attacked by poison fog, but it's not nearly as beautiful as home." Finnick frowned, and despite himself, despite that she wasn't even looking at him, she saw as he glanced back at Kailani. He probably knew she was awake, she was the lightest sleeper of all of them. Home for him, would never be the same.
"I didn't see much of it during my victory tour," said Cashmere, lightly. "Just the boring parts, I suspect."
Finnick smiled, slightly. "You should see it, its paradise. The water is sparkling and clear, the blue is like you would never believe. Even if it gets hot, the cool sea breeze makes it much more bearable. And you will always, be able to find a stretch of empty beachfront if you know where to go." He glanced at her, his face reminiscent. "Its home."
Cashmere nodded, understandingly. That was it, that was what made the different. She missed her home too, there was nothing like it. There was nothing that could ever, or would ever be like it.
It was home.