The dawn sun makes Finnick's bronze hair look like it's dancing in a fire with its warm reds and oranges. It's the first thing Caroline notices when she opens the door, and the next is the trident in his hand.
"Don't we usually train at night?" She groggily asks as she blinks the sleep from her eyes.
Finnick's face breaks out into a sly smile. "We're cross-training today."
She isn't used to this man. He's usually at ease, so sure of himself in his skin. Even at work, he's more serious but oozes confidence. Occasionally, she's seen the barrier break down, and his trauma peaks through, reaching for daylight, but he always shuts that down. But today, he's excited, with almost childish glee. She has to say it's a good look on him. Caroline forces that thought out of her head as she welcomes him. She notices there's another trident next to the door and a cooler.
Finnick helps himself to a cup of coffee before turning to her. "We're going spear fishing today."
She's never used a trident, only pole spears.
"And if you beat me, you'll get a present." His tone challenges her.
That wakes her up. "What kind of present?"
He smirks, "I didn't get one. You won't beat me."
The competitive side of Caroline wakes up. "Is that so?" She now has to beat him.
They eat a light breakfast before heading to shore.
Finnick leaves the cooler on the shore and motions for her to follow him. They stop knee-deep. The last time she went spearfishing was with Stefan. Caroline pulls herself from the memory before tears form.
Caroline hands Finnick one of the tridents. The setup is similar to pole spears, but the weight feels off.
He swings it in a circle, and the trident moves with Finnick as if it's a part of him. "Okay, we're going to warm up with a few exercises and motions. You probably won't use this in a fight, but you never know."
"What fights am I getting into?" Caroline awkwardly tries to get into a fighting stance.
Finnick laughs. She's unsure if it's what she said or how she's holding the trident. "I don't know, but you're stance screams that you get into fights a lot."
She feels her cheeks warm with embarrassment. Finnick notices and takes a different approach. "Hypothetically, this is the only weapon at your disposal; it's good to know how to use it. Now watch me." Finnick motions as if he's going to use it as a spear.
Caroline tries to mimic him, but she's so used to a spear that she keeps dropping it. Finnick takes a few steps closer and adjusts her stance. "Like that."
He steps away, "Now, let's practice throwing it."
They do about 30 reps before Finnick ends it. "I think that's enough practice for one day."
Caroline follows him to a dingy, and they put the tridents in it. Finnick motions her to the other side, and they pull it out in the water until it's about knee-deep. She hops in, and he follows. Finnick grabs the oars and begins to paddle them to sea. Caroline is excited; they've avoided the reef due to her panic attacks in the water. She didn't want to cut herself on coral or damage any habitat. Caroline looks over her shoulder when Finnick stops; this is the farthest she's been out to sea since she's returned. She's a little nervous, but the excitement outweighs that.
Finnick pulls the oars into the boat. "You ready?"
She smiles at him, not hiding her excitement. He reflects her smile back. The sky is clear, and the water is sea-glass green. She can see to the bottom. There are about 30 meters of water until they reach the reef, with dozens of fish below. He moves closer to her, shaking the boat in the process. "You've been spearfishing before. I won't go into too much detail. But nothing smaller than this." He holds his hands apart, and she nods.
"Any questions?" He asks.
"Can we get in?" She picks up a trident.
His eyes widen, "I forgot. Do you want dive weights?"
"Please." Caroline always floats to the top without them.
He hands her goggles and dives weights. He gets into the water first and surfaces, "There's a small reef shark."
"That's fine." She gets in the water. At first, it's cold, and goosebumps rise all over. She opens her eyes and watches the bubbles race toward the surface. Caroline looks down and sees the reef shark off to their right, about 20 meters away.
Caroline surfaces and finds Finnick taking a deep breath before duck-diving below.
It's been a few months since she's free-dived, so she takes a few practice dives before she starts to fish. The fish here aren't scared of people; only victors use this cove. On her second surface, she finds Finnick putting a fish in the bucket. "One zero." He smirks.
She decides she's had enough practice and dives the 25 meters to the bottom. She lays on the sand and looks up, seeing Finnick floating at the top. She rolls back to her stomach and moves toward the reef, trying to find a fish. She has to surface before she catches anything. Caroline breaks through the water and calms her pulse; she can't stay down as long as she used to, afraid she'll begin to panic. Finnick surfaces next to her, leaning on the boat, and this time he's empty-handed.
Finnick winks at her before diving. She follows, not wanting to fall too far behind. Caroline finally spots one that's appropriate size and moves after it. She almost hits Finnick in the process, as she misses the fish. He gets the fish. She beats him by a minute to the surface. "Taking me out does not mean you win." He throws his fish on the boat, missing the bucket. Finnick pulls himself into the dingy and fixes it.
Caroline takes this opportunity to dive again. She notices a new shark as she reaches the reef. This one is a little bigger but still shies away from her. She surfaces without a fish, and Finnick joins her in the water. He catches a third fish while she has five unsuccessful dives. "Three to zero." He uses the boat to partially lift himself out of the water and then places the fish in the bucket. He drops back into the water. "We've been in the water for about two hours."
She's not ready to give up. Finnick sees it in her eyes. "One more dive. We still have to paddle back."
Caroline nods, determined to get one this time. Finnick follows her.
She finds one and aims. This time she gets the fish, and it darts off. It takes some effort to pull it back, but soon she wraps her arms around it and begins to surface.
"Biggest one of the day," Finnick says as they surface. "But I still win."
She rolls her eyes and throws her fish in; she misses the bucket. She didn't realize how tired her arms were.
"Need help?" His goggles are around his neck as he hangs off the boat.
Usually, she would refuse, but she knows she won't make it. "Yes, please."
Finnick gracefully pulls himself onto the boat and extends a hand to help her. She hates to admit it, but she's not sure she could have done that without help. "Thank you." She mumbles as she lies in the boat with her legs dangling off.
"No problem." He chuckles as he makes sure their catch is secure.
Caroline sits up and watches as he picks up the oars and places them in the water. "Do you need help?" She offers.
"I'd like to make it back before dusk." Finnick begins to paddle.
She drifts off to the smell of salt and the sound of the oars moving through the water. She suddenly wakes to a splash. Finnick goes into the water to pull the boat to shore. She hops into the water and helps him. "Thanks, sunshine." He says as they pull the boat over the sand, out of the tide's reach.
They take the tridents out of the boat, and Caroline washes them in the ocean. Finnick places their catch into a cooler and unzips the top half of his wet suit.
Caroline pays him no mind as she sits in the ocean; the water is maybe 2 inches deep. It ebbs and flows with the waves. She's happy that her lungs didn't demand air when she went under. Finnick's been training her for the past month and has made a point to go swimming.
"Hey," Finnick says.
She looks up at him as he sits next to her. He washes the blood off his hands in the ocean. "I'm going to be gone for a week. Maybe two. I have some Capitol business to attend to."
"Is it tour related? Should I come?" Caroline asks, even though she's not ready to go back.
He shakes his head. "It's not. No, you need to stay and continue to get ready. Mason will take over in my absence."
Caroline feels the panic begin to bubble in her chest. Finnick has been a constant in her life this past month, the only person she talks to outside of her brief conversations with Bonnie.
"Mason?" She's embarrassed she couldn't get a sentence out. Even though it's mostly work, it chases the loneliness away.
Finnick understands her question. "Alaric isn't really in the best state of mind. Mason might be going to the games with you, so it would be good to start working together." He hesitantly looks at her.
She hasn't really interacted with Mason. They've been around each other before, and she knows he's easygoing on the outside but has that Lockwood temper and victor trauma.
"Ready to rest, now that you brought a victor home?" She teases.
Finnick's eyes momentarily show vulnerability, but he shuts that off before she can try and understand what it means. "Something like that." He offers her a lazy smile.
She wakes up on the bench seat swinging; she almost falls off in surprise, but someone catches her.
"Sorry, sunshine. Didn't mean to scare you." Finnick is sitting at the other end of her porch swing.
Her legs are curled under her while his legs rest on the railing. He's gently rocking them back and forth. Caroline starts to drift off.
"Also, I brought food." His voice snaps her awake.
Caroline sits up and notices her notebook is on the ground. She reaches for it and remembers what she found. She bites her lip before asking, "So I noticed you have the addresses of the tributes' families. Can you get anyone's address?"
Finnick looks at her as he brings the bench to a stop. "Probably. Why?" He stands and stretches.
She looks away, understanding the magnitude of what she's about to ask. "I'm looking for my dad."
He places his palms on the railing as he leans on it, keeping his arms straight and forcing his shoulders towards his head. He bows his head, and for a moment, Caroline sees a lanky boy trying to find his way in the world. Then he finds his words and becomes the man the Capitol formed. "Did you try your mom?"
She shakes her head. "She doesn't like to talk about him."
Finnick nods. "In my experience, people who don't want to be found are better left alone."
"I want to hide, yet you can't seem to leave me alone." Caroline feels the desperation take over and tries to lighten the mood.
He effortlessly falls into it. "You're just lying to yourself. You want me to find you." He invades her personal space before disappearing into her house.
She follows him, and soon they fall into an easy banter of not talking about anything serious while eating lunch. Then Finnick switches gears to work, "Before we get started on District 7, I want to warn you that Elena has an identical twin sister."
Caroline leans into herself before opening Elena Gilbert's folder. She finds a picture of the family. Elena and her sister look exactly alike; the only difference is their style. Their little brother looks similar to them as well.
"The sister, Katherine, is a little rebellious. She might try and confront you." Finnick warns.
She puts the picture down, "Let her."
He shakes his head, "I don't think that's a good idea."
She sees arguing with him won't get them anywhere. "What did District 7 get out of an alliance with Stefan?"
"What do you mean?" He doesn't mind the subject change.
"I didn't hear anything, but I got the vibe they were banking on Stefan winning." Caroline realizes Finnick did not have a hand in that deal.
"I want to honor it," Caroline says when Finnick remains silent.
He nods, figuring as much. "I'll find out. Why don't we end here?"
He stands to leave, "Oh, I forgot, we're throwing a bonfire on the beach tonight. I invited the other victors."
"We?" She's not thinking of District 7 anymore; Finnick is good at redirecting.
He smirks, "Yeah, we caught a lot." He waves before leaving.
Mags, Erin, and Mason join them on the shore for their bonfire. It's then she realizes how Mags fills a familial role for Finnick. She feels a pang of sadness, thinking about her own mother. Caroline sits on one of the driftwood logs and wraps a blanket around her. It's an unusually chilly night for early September. She watches the ease of the group from afar. Watching the other victors' content gives her hope that one day she will achieve that.
Soon Mason jokingly complains about being hungry, and Finnick laughs. He throws the marinated fish on the fire and preps the veggies for roasting.
Mags makes her way to Caroline and sits near her on the driftwood. "Hello." Mags greets with a smile. When she smiles, Caroline can see how youthful she remains, despite the decades of horrors.
"Hi," Caroline responds.
Mag's visited her once, while Finnick was away, to check up on her. Caroline was foggy back then; she doesn't remember their conversation. "I'm sorry," she starts wanting to apologize for her coldness back then.
Mags shakes her head, "Nothing to be sorry about, dear."
Before they can continue, Erin gathers everyone's attention. "So Mason and I have an announcement to make."
She looks at Mason before continuing, "We've decided to have a small wedding on the last day of summer. We would love it if you could all make it. It will be our families and friends, and we're inviting the other victors."
The three of them clap for the happy couple. Caroline's a bit surprised she gets an invite. She knows Erin and Mason from before the games; they supported her relationship with Tyler. Erin tried to help Caroline navigate the complicated Lockwood family dynamics. They stopped talking when she and Tyler broke up a couple of months before the games, and neither has tried to reach out since she's returned.
Caroline snaps out of her thought when Erin starts speaking. "We'll still have a televised Capitol wedding, and of course, you will all be invited to that as well."
Drake makes his way over from his house, some alcohol in tow. "I heard the news. Congratulations!" He claps Mason on the back.
Easy conversation fills the rest of the night. If you asked Caroline, she couldn't tell you what they discussed. It was the first time in a long time that Caroline could stand in a group of people and not feel like an outsider.
Finnick sits next to her as she watches the embers of the fire. Everyone else has left.
"Stefan and I used to go spearfishing. We'd have bonfires like this, but Damon or I would have to cook this fish. The blood bothered him." She chokes back a sob. She doesn't want to lose Stefan's memory.
He surprises her, "Stefan once told me he wanted to be a vegetarian as a kid but was afraid of his family's reaction."
Caroline turns to him in shock; she did not know that.
"What?" He asks.
"It's nice to learn things about Stefan." She smiles.
He stands up and offer's her a hand. "Let me walk you home."
Caroline takes his hand and stands. Finncik dumps some seawater to ensure the fire is out. They silently walk to his house, where he drops off the cooler and trash. He moves toward her house, but she stops him. "Have fun in the Capitol."
He turns and rolls his eyes. "So much fun."
She waves goodbye and heads home. The irrational part of her, the part that still lives in the arena, thinks she'll never see him again.
Mags sets a time for Caroline to come over, which is refreshing. Finnick comes over whenever he pleases.
"Thank you for having me over." Caroline smiles.
Caroline's house feels staged, while Mags' house feels like someone lives there. She has artwork and family pictures scattered around; Caroline even sees a few of a young Finnick. Mags also has piles of books throughout her house. She even has a cat who is asleep in a sliver of sunshine. "His name is Milo," Mags says. "My husband found him 12 years ago, eating the fish scraps left behind from the day's catch."
At the word Fish, Milo stretches his neck and lazily blinks at Mags. She scratches his chin, "Now he's an old grump." The cat returns to his nap, and Mags leads Caroline into the kitchen. Mags pours them a cup of tea and motions to sit in her built-in breakfast nook. Caroline gratefully takes the tea.
"So Finnick told me you guys started discussing District 6? He gave me his speech." Mags flips through a few pages.
Caroline nods, "Yeah. It's a fine balance between thanks and regret. I can offer condolences, but I have to be grateful to be alive."
Mags hums in agreement.
"This one's different. I knew Elena and Elton. We spent time together; they helped me survive." Caroline wipes tears from her eyes, surprised at the wave of grief that hits her.
"What do you want to say?" Mags asks.
Caroline pauses; she's never thought about that. "How was it? To face the families and Districts?"
Milo joins them and curls up next to Mags as she strokes his back. "It was difficult. You get to live and go home while they never see their kids again."
Caroline nods.
"My tour was a little different. We were almost making it up on the fly. But now, everyone knows what to expect. Even the Districts; they'll be polite and quiet. Try not and disturb the peace."
"Did you meet anyone's family?" Caroline adds.
Mags shakes her head. "No, we didn't get a chance to."
Caroline switches gears, knowing all her other questions will bring peacekeepers to her door. "What did you do when you came home?"
"After the tour? Not much. I tried to lay low until the next games." Mags responds.
"What about school?" Caroline's never asked Finnick this question, knowing he would laugh.
"You don't need to finish school. You'll be working for the rest of your life." Mags watches Caroline's face fall. "If you want, I'm sure you could go back."
Caroline shutters at the thought. "I don't want to see everyone's reaction."
Mags smiles. "Finnick was set to start high school in the fall if he didn't go to the games. He tried to go to high school for a month, but he didn't like being the center of attention. Some people were afraid of him, and others wanted to be his friend for popularity. It was hard on him."
Caroline doesn't say anything. That's not the Finnick she knows. He doesn't shy away from attention. She thinks he does things to seek it out. Caroline looks at the clock and realizes she's been here for three hours, longer than she intended. "I'll get out of your hair. I'm sorry for running late."
Mags walks her to the front door. "You're always welcome here. And good luck with Mason tonight."
Caroline smiles in thanks and heads back to her empty home.
She realizes how much time Finnick took up as she counts the minutes until she needs to leave for the training center. She ends up feeling antsy and leaves early. She arrives 15 minutes early, and Mason is already there setting up.
"Hey." Mason turns to greet her.
She smiles at him. She stays silent, afraid her voice will reveal how nervous she is. Mason is known for being ruthless in the games.
Mason puts a practice dummy in the middle of the room. "So Finnick told me you've been practicing fighting, throwing, and survival skills."
Caroline nods.
"Show me." Mason steps out of the way.
Caroline hits and kicks it. Mason's approach is a lot more hands-off than Finnicks. He'll verbally correct her, while Finnick will either demonstrate or help adjust her stance. It took her weeks to get used to Finnick invading her personal space after the games; she's happy that Mason keeps his distance.
Once Mason is satisfied with her stance, he makes her do 30 reps to try and burn the memory into her muscles. The practice dummy doesn't fight back, granted when she spars with Finnick, he doesn't fight back.
"Good. Now I'm going to try it. I will do it with incorrect form, and I want you to figure out what I'm doing wrong." Mason moves toward the dummy.
She watches as he throws a few punches, "Your arms are a little far apart. It could leave you open."
Mason nods. "Correct, but be more confident. You don't want your tributes questioning you."
Caroline watches his kick. "I don't see it."
He moves a little slower. "Oh, you're kicking from the hip rather than using your whole body as momentum."
They do that for an hour, and Caroline gains a little confidence, thinking she might be able to help future tributes. They cycle through the different stations the rest of the night. Mason has her start by performing the task, and then she moves into more of a mentor role.
Caroline smiles at Mags. "Thank you for having me."
"Anytime." Mags gives her a wave.
Caroline heads back home and see's Bonnie a little ahead of her. Caroline feels a little nervous; Bonnie hasn't stopped by in a week; she had some exams. She takes a deep breath before saying, "Bonnie!"
Bonnie turns around and gives Caroline a hesitant smile. She jogs to catch up to her. "How's school?"
"Good. All my teachers had their first tests last week, but it's finally over." Bonnie sighs. "What about you? How's training going?"
"Mason gave me this upcoming week off, which is nice. And Mags has been helping me." Caroline is vague. She's afraid of oversharing with Bonnie.
They arrive at Caroline's house. "Want to come in?" Caroline asks. She hates the awkwardness that's growing between them.
Bonnie nods and follows her inside. Caroline offers her food and water, but Bonnie politely refuses.
Caroline sits across from her, "What's up?"
"Have you been watching the news?" Bonnie asks.
She shakes her head no. She knows it's all propaganda.
Bonnie seems to mull over her words before continuing. "I'm not sure what's going on with you and Finnick, but he's visited some people at the Capitol."
It takes Caroline a minute to realize what Bonnie is trying to say. "I appreciate that you're looking out for me. But nothing is going on with Finnick and me. He's acting as my mentor for the victory tour." He's a lot more laid back here than in the Capitol. Sometimes she forgets about his playboy tendencies.
Bonnie's face looks like she doesn't believe her, but she doesn't push the issue.
A/N I know there's a lot going on in this chapter. I hope you don't mind the time skip. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.
Thank you littlemsstrawberry for your reviews! They motivated me to edit this chapter faster (: I'm glad you're still reading and supporting this story! It's been a while since I've written for fun, so please let me know if you have any suggestions on how to improve. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
A la prochaine!