That night, for some reason, there is no note from Snow. No address. I think that maybe Haymitch is right. About the hope thing.

I go to find Mags, which is harder than I would have expected. She is not in her room, or the victors lounge. Finally, Woof, another victor, tells me that he saw her leave to go outside, and I find her sitting on a bench in the middle of a small park, looking at the sky.

She doesn't move when I sit down beside her. And when she speaks, her voice is soft. Gentle.

"No place to go tonight, Finnick?"

"No." I respond," Lucky me."

She turns then, and eyes me. It is the same look that she gave me that night, almost ten years ago now, before my first games. That night when she convinced me that I could win, that I could live.

I never understood why she liked me. She was one of the only people, really.

"Are you okay, Finnick?"

I want to say yes. To assure her that I am. That I will be fine. That I don't need her help.

But I do.

And we know each other too well. I couldn't keep a secret from Mags if I wanted to.

"No." I respond.

She turns her head back up to the stars, and it is a moment before she speaks again.

"You see that star, Finnick. The one right above us. To the left of the North Star. The one that seems almost pink."

I nod. I don't know what she is getting at, but I do see the star.

"That star, Finnick, looks the same here or in District Four, or anywhere in Panem. Right?"

"Right."

"Now, here in the Capitol, they are celebrating the end of another very successful Hunger Games. See the lights surrounding the city. As the lights change color, so does the star. It is reflecting back what light it is given."

"Yes." I answer.

"But, does that change what it is, Finnick? If it reflects back a different color light, or even a different shape, does that change the fact that it is a star? Does that change what it is?"

"No," I tell her," Of course not."

"And, if people look it, and think that it is strange, because it is a different color, or that perhaps it is something other than a star, and don't like it because of this, does that change it?"

"No."

"So it is with you, Finnick."

I wait for her to explain, but she doesn't. So it is with me?

And then I understand.

I am Finnick Odair. I am the victor of the 65th Hunger Games. I love Annie Cresta. Here, in the Capitol, they have transformed me into something that I am not. Here I am a victor, yet no victorious. Here I am a lover, but not of Annie. Here I am Finnick Odair, but Finnick Odair is not me.

What Mags is trying to tell me is that no matter what Snow forces upon me, no matter what I must do here, no matter what people think of me, whether here or back home, that does not change who I am.

Only I have the power to change who I am.

"Thanks, Mags. I needed that."

She smiles at me, now. And reaches up to stroke my forehead and tuck a small tuft of hair back behind my ear.

"Don't you ever forget it, Finnick."

"I won't."

"No matter what other people tell you. You are special. There is something different about you Finnick. You are far more than who they make you out to be," she tells me.

I think about this for a moment.

"And why do you like me, Mags. Why are you different from the others?"

Her eyes lighten a bit, and she laughs.

"I knew you before they got a hold of you. I knew the truth, who you really were. And I have taken the time to make sure that that part of you will never leave. Not really. No one who knows you, Finnick, really knows you, can help but to like you."

"And even people who don't know you, Mags, still like you. How did you do it, anyway? Retain who you are. Be unchanged."

Mags considers the question for a moment.

"I had people in my life who loved me, no matter what, and who never gave up on me. Even when I came back. You didn't have that. Your father..." she cuts herself off.

I smile, and reach out sweep her own hair behind her ear.

"I had you. I don't know what I would have done without you. You're one of the only people who actually likes me."

She laughs at that, but she knows as well as I do that it is true. Her and Annie. They are about all that I have. Some of the other victors, too, but even some of them do not know the truth, and the ones that do still act strangely around me. Most of them, anyway.

"Never give up hope, Finnick. Those who have given up on hope, have none. Not really. I love you."

I reach out and embrace her. She means more to me than almost anything. Other than Annie. But they are pretty much on the same level.

When I release her, she kisses me lightly on the forehead.

"I still don't know what I would do without you, Mags."

Mags expression grows grim, now.

"Well, you may have to learn to live without me. You can't always protect me, you know. We made a promise."

And I know she is right. We did. Next year, I have a new responsibility. But I can not imagine leaving her behind.

I couldn't.

"Remember Mags," I chide gently," Those without hope, have none."

I wink at her, and she smiles.

I take her hand then, and we stare at the sky. Watching the colors flash by.

Watching the lights. Watching the stars.