23, 24

It's the kind of perfect day Annie has always loved in District 4, warm with a slight sea breeze, and it's happening so late in the season that she is particularly delighted. The water is just splashing around her ankles, and she's tracing the shapes of the clouds in the sky with her finger. She hears someone in the sand behind her, and she knows it's Finnick, knows it's him in the same way she knows how to breathe and knows that she's been mended with crooked stitches that still allow the occasional leak.

"Annie?" she waits until his arms wrap around her waist to respond, with just a simple sound as she leans back into his chest. "The Quarter Quell announcement is about to come on the television. Let's listen to it together." She turns around and holds his hand, and they walk back, back to her house, where Mags is already waiting. The other four champions from District 4 are there as well, Mags must have wanted them all together for this. She thinks it will be harder for Mags, who has lived through two Quarter Quells already, and the three middle-aged victors who have lived through one, then it will be for she and Finnick and Marina, the only other victor who have seen none of the extreme versions of the Games.

She watches the screen, and when President Snow comes on to make his speech, she flashes back to the time when he made her choose who got to live, and who got to die. She only enters reality again when Finnick pokes her thigh and nods to the screen. The president is opening the envelope, and pulling a crisp ivory sheet of paper from the inside.

"As a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors."

Annie's chest caves so impossibly low as she breathes in that she fears her ribs will crack in half. Finnick has started to tremble on her left, and Mags, on her right, is repeating the words the president has said over and over, as if trying to make sense of them. The others are saying "no," in broken voices that remind her of the way the earthquake broke rocks, and one of them is vomiting, and another one is sprinting from her house. As her breath returns, Annie leaps from the couch. She grabs the dusty crown from her mantle and begins to pound it against the wall, over and over, until it is bent in half. She grabs the trident, the one that Finnick used in his games, the one she took from his house and hid in a fault in her wall, so that he wouldn't have to look at it anymore. She grabs it and flings it through her living room, through the kitchen, through the window. The sound of shattered glass startles Finnick, who has been shaking and crying on her couch, and suddenly he snaps out of it and wraps his arms around her. In her desperation, she fights against him. She's strong enough to give him a bit of a struggle, but he overpowers her, carries her to the bed, and pins her down until she stops struggling against him.

Her tears mingle with his now, and sobs are wracking through both of their bodies, but they don't do anything to stop it, they just hold onto each other. Late in the night, when the tears have slowed, Annie chokes out a horrible thought that has been consuming her for the last few hours.

"Is this because I didn't die at the right time?"

Finnick strokes her cheek, and shakes his head. "It's because of her. Because of Katniss," he whispers bitterly. Annie can see the anger building inside of Finnick, and she knows that they can't blame Katniss, can't blame the girl on fire, can't blame the girl who cried over the death of 12 year old Rue from District 11 whom they all knew was doomed from the start.

"Don't blame Katniss, Finnick. Don't you dare! I watched more of her games than any of the last four, and I know she's not the cause. President Snow is, he always is."

Finnick looks into her eyes, and he looks so scared for her that she knows, knows that he is already ready to fight and rebel, but that he never wanted this to happen until she was safe. She doesn't know details, and she doesn't want to know details, because she's too easy to break, so she puts her finger over his lips as they start to part.

"I know. I love you too."