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The Ocean Rolls Us Away

Chapter 13: Part One Annie

I was amazed that Finnick had opened up about his life to me. What made me so special that he had wanted to let out his feelings to me? Was it because we were actually becoming friends, or was there more to it than that? My mind constantly kept thinking back over that as Finnick and I continued to talk. Of course I never told him what I was thinking but I was so inclined to just ask him why he had decided to talk to me. Nevertheless, our conversation continued anyways.

About half way through our conversation, my eyelids began to feel heavy and I knew that meant that sleep was coming for me. But, I was determined to stay awake no matter how tired I was. However, I was overestimating my skills because shortly after I decided to stay awake, I slowly and quietly drifted off to sleep. Before I was really even aware of what had happened, I was waking up to a cool breeze blowing across my skin.

Slowly my eyes began to flutter open, and I started trying to lift my self up from my slumped position. When my eyes had grown accustomed to the light, I saw that someone had laid a blanket over me while I had slept. Immediately I thought that it must have been Finnick who had done it. Or at least I wished that Finnick had been the one who had done it.

Suddenly I was over come with a desire to see him, and my eyes glanced over towards where he had been the night before. But to my disappointment, he was no longer there.

I looked down at my lap, and started contemplating what on earth these emotions were that I was feeling. Until a just a few days before, I had almost been afraid of Finnick, and now I wanted to see him as much as I could. It didn't make any sense unless…no I thought to my self. It couldn't be possible. I didn't have feelings for him, did I?

Suddenly, I felt as if I couldn't think about my feelings anymore, and so quickly I stood up from my chair, and walked back inside the suite. To my surprise, everyone else was already awake. Accept for Finnick, who was not present in the room. Almost immediately I felt an urge to find out where he was, but before I could open my mouth and say anything, I stopped my self. I had no intentions of letting anyone know how much I was struggling internally. Besides, how could I tell them when I didn't even know what I was allowing my self to feel?

So instead of asking about Finnick, I simply said, "Good morning." I looked over at Mags who was sitting on the couch, and I smiled. She smiled back at me.

"Good morning, Annie. How did you sleep out there on the deck?" There was twinkle in her eyes as she spoke, and then a crooked smile hit her face.

"Just fine," I nodded my head as I spoke and continued to smile.

"Well," She paused and gave me a knowing look. "I just hope that you didn't get lonely."

Suddenly my smile started to creep off of my face. Did Mags somehow know that Finnick had been out there with me? Did she suspect that I had romantic feelings for him?

"No," I responded as calmly as I could. "I don't get lonely." I whispered.

Mags must have taken my response as a hint to back off, because she quickly changed the topic as we all gathered at the breakfast table. I found a seat next to Martin, but neither of us said very much. I think that after our father's death, there was still a tension between us that would take some time to heal, or at least scab over.

Finnick still had not shown up when breakfast was finished, and part of me began to worry again. But then Mags told me that Finnick would not be back for an hour or so, and that I should just go down to the training center by my self. When the words, "by your self" had come out of her mouth, I instantly started to panic. By my self? I didn't think that I could handle all of those tributes alone. They would squish me like a little bug between their fingers. Clearly Mags could see the worry on my face because she reassured me that I would be fine, and that I could just practice with my knives until Finnick arrived. That gave me some satisfaction, but I was still frightened. Even if I could throw knives well, it didn't mean that I was a killer or that I could possibly compete with the other tributes. And that year we had a lot of agile tributes. But even so, when I had finished my last bite of breakfast, I rose from the table, and headed to my room to change into my training uniform. When I was dressed, I headed back towards the front room. Before stepping onto the glass elevator, I took in one last look at the room just incase Finnick had suddenly made an appearance, but I only found that he had still not yet returned from wherever he was. With disappointment and equal fear, I stepped onto the elevator and began my descent to the training center.

My elevator ride didn't last long, and soon the glass doors were opening into the training center. Already there were at least thirteen tributes training, and most of them were doing exceptionally well. A shudder ran up my spine as I eyed a little girl cutting of the head off of a dummy that was twice her size.

"She's good isn't she?" I heard the deep voice of a man behind me, and snapped out of my gaze that was locked on the little girl. Quickly my eyes darted up to my left only to find the very tall boy from one. Though I don't think boy was the right word, giant better suited him.

"Yes," I stuttered nervously as I tried not to stare at his bulging muscles.

"But she won't even make it past the bloodbath."

Shocked, I looked up at the giant boy, and my eyes widened. "You really think that she'll die on the first day?" If she would die right away, then what on earth would happen to me?

"Oh sure, she's so small, and," He turned to me and smiled devilishly. "She stole my spear so…" He winked at me and I instantly understood what he was saying. By stealing his spear, she had just put her self on his list of future kills.

My eyes instantly looked away from his sly face, and slowly I began to wring my hands.

"Well, the reason I came over here is because I like you." I slowly looked back up at his face. Was he trying to flirt with me? "Your smart," Of course, I immediately thought to my self. It was because I was smart, how could I have thought that he was flirting with me? "And," he continued, "I want you on my team…if you know what I'm saying." He winked at me again, and my flirting suspicion quickly popped back into my head, but just as quickly as it had come I pushed it away. "I'm Luster by the way." He stuck out his hand and I shook it lightly.

"Annie," I replied nervously.

Then both of us stood silent for a moment because I didn't know how to respond to his request. After a moment, I turned back to face him. "Well, I should probably talk to my mentor." I said quietly.

"You don't need to talk to Finnick," He almost laughed, and then he leaned towards me and whispered in my ear. "You can talk to me." Instantly a shiver ran up my spine as I felt his hot breath on my ear. It was very apparent by then that he was in fact flirting with me, and that made me extremely uncomfortable. Especially when I saw Finnick walking towards us with a very clear look on his face. He was upset, and it was obviously because of Luster.

Chapter 13: Part Two Finnick

I was already angry because Snow had made go for another 'visit' with Birdie. Then when I walked into the training center and saw that hunk of muscle whispering into Annie's ear, well let's just say I started fuming. I wasn't going to let my self believe that I was jealous of the guy, but the thought did pass through my mind and it stayed there for a while too. Then Annie turned around and when our eyes met I could see that she wasn't enjoying her self. That at least gave me some satisfaction, but I was still upset that he would have the gal to try and seduce her at the training center.

"Hello," I said bitterly as I walked up to Annie and the hunk of meat from one. As soon as I spoke, his head whipped around and then he was glaring at me. "Hope I didn't miss anything important." I continued as I glanced over at Annie. I could see clearly by the look on her face that she was uncomfortable. "Well," I started again as I lightly took hold of Annie's arm. "We have training to do, so if you'll excuse us." I nodded my head towards the guy from one, and then I quickly led Annie away from him. As we walked I could hear the loud grunt that came from his throat as he trudged back towards his mentors.

"Thank you," Annie whispered to me once we were far enough away from the guy.

"No problem," I muttered as I let go of her arm and tried to suppress the jealousy lurching in my chest. "So, why were you talking to him anyways?" I turned my head towards her and our eyes met. That suddenly made it more difficult for me to keep my self-controlled.

"Oh," She started to explain nervously as she looked away from me. "He just came over and started asking me if I wanted to be on his team."

That actually surprised me because even though Annie was from four, it wasn't like she was a cold-blooded killer which I was sure that guy was. "You mean he wants to form an alliance with you?" Her eyes darted back up to meet mine as I asked.

"I guess," She paused and then looked away again with an embarrassed expression. "I don't know. At first that's all I thought he wanted and then…well," She paused and then started again with a hurried voice. "It's not important. So what are we doing today?" I was impressed at how well she had changed the subject, and even though I wanted to hear more about the guy from one, I let it go.

"I was thinking," I smiled at her and crossed my arms, "that we could try hand to hand combat."

Annie shook her head nervously, and then looked down at her feet. "I don't know..."

"You'll be fine," I put my hand on her shoulder and her head rose back up. Then with nervous eyes, she looked straight at me. "Come on look at yesterday." I stopped and looked right into her eyes. Then with a quieter voice I said, "You didn't think you could do it but you did."

As I looked at her, she sighed and then admitted sheepishly. "I guess you're right."

"You know I am." I flashed her a cocky grin.

"I know you are." She muttered as a small smile just barely formed at the edge of her lips. Automatically I knew that she was going to give combat a chance.

"Let's go over to the mats." I lightly took hold of her arm, and directed her towards the large red mats on the floor. When we had stepped onto them, we both kicked off our shoes, and then stood straight across from each other. "So," I began as she looked at me timidly, "all I want you to do is block me with your arms and legs ok?" I nodded my head at her and raised my eyebrows.

"Sounds easy enough." She said quietly as she just barely leaned towards me. Then in one movement I stepped towards her and threw a punch with my left arm. Instantly she leaned back and blocked my hit with her right arm. She had done it so easily, which impressed me.

"Nice," I complemented her as we stood still in our last position. "Are you sure you haven't done this before?" I raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.

"Well," She admitted with a small smile of her own. "My father did teach me a little."

"Well," I grinned devilishly at her. "Maybe we should test you and see how much you remember." Immediately I threw another hit at her and she blocked it. Then I grabbed her wrist and twisted her head up underneath my arm in a chock hold. Her hands clenched around my arm. Then to break free she tucked her foot around my ankle, and before I could stop her she had tripped me backwards, making me fall to the ground. As she smiled at me, I reached up and grabbed her arm pulling her down to the ground. Then I rolled over her and pinned both of her arms down with my hands.

I grinned at her, "Apparently you remember a lot."

"I guess so." She grinned back. Then she pulled up her hands and placed them on either side of my wrists. Immediately her hands twisted my wrists causing them to break free of her arm. Then she shoved me and stood up. She started to step away, but I reached out and grabbed her ankle. Her head whipped around and she gave me a look that obviously meant 'you wouldn't dare'. Then I smiled mischievously at her, as if to say 'try me'. Before she could react I had pulled her to the ground. I put my hands on her arms again, but this time she locked her fingers around my biceps.

"So, did you think up any words?" She asked me as she tipped her head slightly. Then she pulled us both over and now she was on top of me.

"No," I smiled as I caught my breath. Then I turned us back over, making her body underneath mine again. "I'm still fishing."

"Well, maybe I can help you." She said as she dug her knee into my side. "I happen to be excellent at catching words." Then she smiled.

"Alright then." I coughed as I tried to regain my breath that I lost when she hit me in the gut with her knee. "Write me a poem about meat head over there." I used my head to gesture towards Luster.

Annie looked up for a moment, smiled, and then started her poem. "You're big and tall, a great big wall that towers over my head. But if I could fly I'd soar into the sky and never look back at you again."

I laughed, "Bravo," and nodded my head in approval.

She smiled, "Thank you. Now," She paused and turned our bodies again making her on top of me, "it's your turn. Write me a poem about Mitchlin."

I laughed because I already knew exactly what words I was going to say. "Oh eyebrows, oh eyebrows," I began, "how I love thee my eyebrows you fashionable hairs on my face. And if you were gone, I'd sing a sad song as I hid from my friends in disgrace." At that Annie let go of my arms, climbed off of me, and burst into laughter.

"Lovely." She managed to sneak in in-between laughs.

"Well," I sat up, catching my breath, "I try."