Finnick's POV: 1
It's early in the morning and the sound of something hitting my window wakes me from my sleep. It sounds like rain so I roll over and try to ignore it, but it happens again and again at irregular intervals. It isn't until I hear a small voice that I get out of bed.
"Damn it Finnick, wake up!" it says, and then seconds later more things hit the window. I recognize that voice. I would be able to pick it out of the crowd of Capitol woman who usually surround me without any problem. I open the window and a handful of pebbles hit my face.
"Ow Annie, watch it!" I say down to the girl outside my window.
"What are you doing outside after dark? You know that Peacekeepers patrol the District after dark," I say to her. They don't patrol the Victors Village, which is where I live, but the rest of the District is patrolled rather heavily. Tonight is the night before the 70th Hunger Games reaping. Peacekeepers will be out in swarms.
"Come down here, I don't want to wake your mother," Annie says looking up at me. I nod my head, close the window, and make my way down the stairs. I don't want to wake my mother either. She has never been my favorite person. She never liked me much and only tolerated me while dad was around because I'm their only child now. I had an older brother, who was the family favorite, but he died in the Hunger Games seven years ago. Dad was distraught when I was reaped two years after my brother, and died of heart failure shortly after I won. Mom only lives with me because she doesn't have anyone else, but we keep minimal contact with one another.
"Annie," I say, closing the front door behind me quietly. She waits until I've turned to face her and the door is closed before she throws herself at me. I wrap my arms around her.
"I can't sleep Fin, I'm scared," she says. Annie has been my best friend since I was twelve and she's seventeen this year. I remember how she and my dad were the only two who came to visit me when I was reaped five years ago. I've always hated the reapings, but I hate them more every year since I became District 4's victor. Mentoring two children who won't come back from these games, two children who you might happen to know, is the most awful experience for us victors.
"It's okay Annie, you're all right," I say comforting her. She still has this reaping and one more to get through before she's in the clear. Once she turns nineteen she will no longer be eligible to participate in the games. She has never really been scared of the reapings before. She looks up at me her bright green eyes sparkle in the moonlight. I've always loved the color of her eyes.
"What happens if I'm reaped this year Fin?" she asks.
"I don't know. We'd figure something out. I wish I could tell you that you won't be chosen, but you know no one knows until they draw names." Personally, I think that some years the bowls are rigged, but I can't prove that. "I promise I'll do whatever I can do keep you alive if you are chosen," I tell her. I will. I cannot lose her. I don't know what brings me to do so, but I lean forward and kiss her. When I pull away I see the tears in the corner of her eyes. I reach up and wipe them before they fall. She closes her eyes and leans into my hand and I rest my forehead against hers.
"If you get reaped I'll do whatever I can to keep you alive, as long as you promise to try to stay alive yourself. I can't control the other tributes. Come on, let's go inside, you should get some sleep and try not to worry about it," I take her hand and quietly we enter the dark living room.
"I'll get you a blanket," I say as our eyes adjust. She makes her way to the couch as I find the linen closet and pull out my dad's favorite blanket. Mom put it away when he died.
"Fin? Will you stay with me?" Annie asks as I reach her.
"Of course," I say. I lay down and she snuggles against me. "Try to sleep, it's going to be okay," I tell her as I kiss the top of her head.
A few hours later we are woken by a knock on the front door. I glance at my watch. It's nine thirty. The Peacekeepers have come to collect me ready for today's reaping. Even as a Victor I can't escape the Capitol.
"Go back to sleep Annie," I say as I get up from the couch. She lies back down and I wrap the blanket around her. "I'll see you in a few hours." I open the door to tell the Peacekeepers I will just be another moment and then I run upstairs for a change of clothes and some shoes.
It is a very boring day for me. I have the other District 4 victor, Mags, to keep me company. She was my mentor. She's probably in her sixty or seventies now but she still runs strong.
"I hope that maybe this year 4 will bring home a victor," she says as we walk out onto the stage. A crowd is already gathering in the square as the people of District 4 check in and the children move to their sections. It's disheartening to watch parents leave their children. None of them know which two will no longer be a part of District 4 and they are all hoping it's not them. I turn away from the twelve year old section and train my eyes on the seventeen year olds looking for Annie.
"Stop looking," Mags hits my arm. I know she's telling me to stop looking for Annie. The Capitol is vicious to the Districts, but even more to its victors. Anyone who we care about is at risk for death at any given time. Luckily, that isn't how my father died. The Capitol knows my mom and I don't care for one another so they've left her alone. If they did something to Annie though, I don't know that I could be forgiving. It is one thing for President Snow to put me through being a sex toy for women, but it is something different for him to mess with Annie. I've done all I can over the last few years to keep them from knowing about her.
"You look then," I say to Mags. I want to make sure she's all right. Not much sets Annie on edge and the fact that she was near tears on my doorstep early this morning has me worried. I watch Mags scan the crowd. She's good at keeping her emotions in check and not letting the Capitol into her head. I see when she spots Annie because her eyes soften.
"She looks relaxed and calm for now," Mags reports. I don't know if I will be able to refrain from looking for Annie myself when Kelly comes on. Kelly is District 4's Capitol escort. She's tall, skinny, and she has long platinum blonde hair with different colors and patterns done up throughout it. She cakes her face with makeup, like all Capitol people do, and she has bright yellow star earrings hanging from her ears today. Her dress and four inch heels are also bright yellow.
Mags and I continue with small talk while we wait on Kelly and the rest of District 4 to arrive to the square. My thoughts are on Annie and Mags knows this. It's a hot morning already and I don't want to think about how much hotter the District will get as the day progresses. District 4 is on one of the coasts of Panem. We are known for our beaches and fishing skills. By the time you turn two, you've already been taught how to fish and weave a basket. Naturally, it also gets extremely hot here during the summer and into the early fall. All I can think about is when this is over, the Justice Building behind me is full of cool air that soon will envelop me.
"Finnick, you have got to stop daydreaming," Mags says, breaking through my thoughts.
"Sorry Mags, I had a long night," I reply. She raises her eyebrow at me but does not question.
When her eyes look out towards Annie and then they find my face again all I can do is nod. She's good at reading emotions off of others. I know that Annie probably isn't calm and relaxed, but Mags told me that so I would stop worrying. I won't be able to stop worrying until after this is over. I dread the next few hours.
"Hello Mags, Finnick, you're both looking lovely today," Kelly says, as she shakes our hands. The Peacekeepers put the two large glass balls of names on stands to the left and right of where Kelly will be standing.
"Hey Kelly," I say, flashing one of my charming smiles at her. She's one of the few Capitol women who doesn't use me as their sexual play toy.
"Ready to get this over with?" she smiles back. I nod my head. As she steps forward and announces that the Capitol video is going to play, Mags takes and squeezes my hand. I don't plan on letting go. This video gets really old, really fast. It's the same every year. It reminds the Districts of what happened seventy years ago during the Dark Days. The Hunger Games were created as punishment for the uprising.
I look to the screen and my eyes see the video but my brain is focused on so much more. I want this to hurry up so that I can get on with my life. When the video goes off, three and a half long minutes later, Kelly smiles at the crowd.
"Now is the time where we will select one male and one female to represent District 4 in the 70th annual Hunger Games!" she says enthusiastically. I grip Mags' hand even harder and my heart picks up the pace as Kelly swirls her hand around and pulls a slip of paper from the glass ball that contains every female child's name.
"Annie Cresta!" she calls. No. Not Annie. She did not say Annie. I have to be dreaming. This is a nightmare. My worst nightmare.
"Finnick," Mags says calmly, trying to pull her hand out of mine. I let go of her hand and my last source of comfort has left me. I see Annie's face as the crowd moves out of her way and she makes her way toward the stage. It's the same fear that I saw on her face last night. The same fear that compelled me to kiss her just to make it all okay. I think back over all the promises I've made her. From promising to come home from my Hunger Games, to promising we'd figure things out if she was reaped, I've never broken my promises and I wont let this be the first one that I break. She will come back to District 4 alive. I will make sure of that.
Annie walks up on the stage and I see her hesitation and resistance. She knows that the entire Panem is watching us. She knows that everyone is watching her. She wants to look at me but she knows she can't afford to tip the world off that I'm her best friend. If they knew that, it would make the target on her head even bigger than it already is. When she gets to Kelly, Kelly claps her hands together. It makes me want to punch her. Mags places her hand on my knee to help calm me. Internally I'm screaming and killing every single person in the world.
"Michael Williams!" I hear Kelly call. There is anguish in the air as a small, fragile, twelve-year-old boy trudges slowly toward the stage. When he gets there, Kelly welcomes them and congratulates them on representing District 4. Annie and Michael shake hands and Kelly dismisses the District with the trademark, "May the odds be ever in your favor!" we all know they won't be in my favor. She leads Annie and Michael into the Justice Building and Mags and I follow. Annie is in the room on the left and Michael the room on the right. They will now await their family and friends to say their goodbyes. I continue walking past Annie's door. This is not goodbye. I'll have a whole week to say goodbye to her. Mags and I are released to get the belongings we will be taking on this trip and move them into our train compartments. District 4 is an overnight ride to the Capitol.
Once I've put my stuff in my compartment, Mags is waiting for me just outside the train. She takes my face in her hands. I'm much taller than she is so she has to pull me down to her level.
"Listen up Odair, you have to be careful how you go about saving her life. I will help you the best that I can, but if you mess up again like you did with your reaction to her name being called, the Capitol will see to it that she's the first one dead after the bloodbath." Mags says to me. She never calls me by my last name unless she's being serious or she's scolding me.
"Let's go get our tributes," she says, taking my arm instead of my hand.
"I'm sorry about your hand Mags," I say. I must have really hurt her when they called Annie's name.
"It's all right boy, just work on controlling your emotions. Remember that from here on out anything you say to her, anything you do to her, every touch you make, every eye contact you make, will be heard and recorded. They will use it against you." I want to cry. I don't want to mentor my best friend, the girl who I am pretty sure I have fallen in love with. I don't know what I would do without her.
When we finally get the chance to "meet" our tributes, Annie makes a beeline for me. I don't object to her wrapping her arms around my waist and breaking into sobs. Sobs that are so loud and so nerve wracking that Michael begins to cry and even I can't stop a few tears from running down my face.
"It's okay Annie, its okay," I say as comfortingly as I can. I'm not sure who I'm trying to convince more, me, or her. I look up to see Mags glaring at me. I've screwed up again.
"Listen up you two, one if not both of you will not be returning from this trip. Get the tears out of your systems now and do your best to look brave to the cameras that are going to be waiting outside watching you depart District 4," Mags tells us sternly. She's looking at me when she says this. I know I'm included. I'm Finnick Odair for goodness sake, after all I have been through with the Capitol, videos of me crying over this year's tributes would not look good for anyone.
Mags finally sits down with Michael and comforts him until he calms down. I bury my face in Annie's hair and try to stay strong for her. I hold her close and dread the moment I'll have to put distance between us. That moment comes sooner than any of us would like.
Kelly comes in after twenty minutes and tells us that the train is almost ready. She sees Annie and I wrapped up in each other's arms. I've been able to regain my composition and it doesn't look like I was upset at all, but the way that I'm holding her says that I mean more to her than just her mentor. It says that she means something to me as well.
"You have five minutes before the Peacekeepers will be here to escort us to the train," she says looking at me. I know she knows about Annie. Kelly doesn't use me for sex like other women do. She actually protects me when it seems my client base has become too much for me to bear in a weekend. I'd go as far as to say that Kelly and I are good friends. Until I see the shock followed, by sorrow and pity, cross her face, I realize that before this moment she never put together that this, this, is my Annie. The last time Kelly and I spoke about our personal lives, she told me I should capture and keep my Annie safe. Now, the chances of me being able to do so are one in twenty four. I turn back to Annie and put my hands on her shoulders pulling her away from me.
"I have never broken a promise to you. You know that right?" I whisper to her. I rest my forehead against hers and her teary green eyes are looking into my own green ones. I see her think about all the promises I've made and she finds that I'm right.
"I don't plan on this being the first one I break," I tell her. If it weren't for the other three people in the room with us, I might have kissed her. I pull her in for a hug instead before I reluctantly have to let her go.
"Here dear," Kelly says, extending Annie the hand towel that was lying across one of the chairs, "you might want to wipe your face before they get here."
Authors Note: I'm doing this in a Finnick POV and then Annie POV. Annie's POV is going to sound similar to Finnick's and a few places here and there the lines are the exact same (like conversations they had between one another)
I also would like to add, I'm not spending much time doing Annie's games. It's not what i really wanted to focus on
I really like Finnick/Annie so whenever i get around to the Mockingjay part, I'm going to say right now that i cannot kill Finnick off. :/ i love him and their relationship wayy too much to do that. And, its fanfiction. :)
Of course, credit for these amazing and wonderful and lovable characters all belongs to Susanne Collins. While i dont agree with killing Finnick, she still created them and did what she wanted with them.