There was a knock at the front door and Renata looked up, her heart beginning to race faster.

"I'll get it!" Polom exclaimed, jumping up from the couch.

"No, me!" Aria whined, chasing him.

Cecil raised an eyebrow, standing as well. "Why don't I get it?"

Renata watched in horror as they went to answer the door, and she breathed a sigh of relief as Leona stopped them all and ordered them to move to another room.

"Have fun," she smiled at Rini, motioning for her to go answer the door without being watched.

She nodded and smiled in thanks, rising from the couch and walking to the front door. She had never felt so nervous before, this made the arena seem like a walk in the park. Well, maybe that wasn't the best comparison. Another knock snapped her out of her thoughts and she opened the door, her eyes widening at the man standing on her front step.

"I was worried you'd changed your mind," Finnick laughed quietly, holding a small bouquet of flowers. His cheeks were slightly flushed, but that was the only boyish feature that one could see. He was wearing a shirt for once, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and it tucked into a neatly pressed pair of trousers. His feet, however, were bare, which made her smile. "You look beautiful," he smiled, his eyes slowly taking her in as he handed her the flowers and held out his hand for her to take.

"Thank you, so do you," Renata smiled and then laughed quietly. "Where are we going?" She let him lead her towards his house, and she wasn't surprised when he led her around towards the back.

"Excuse me for having limited ideas," he chuckled quietly, his heart hammering away nervously. "I promise I'm taking you somewhere that you haven't been." He smiled down at her and stopped at the dock, letting go of her hand and hopping onboard. "Now you have to close your eyes for a minute," He instructed, raising an eyebrow. "No peeking."

She nodded and smiled, shutting her eyes and putting her free hand over them for good measure. "You aren't going to put a bucket of dead fish under my nose and make me guess the smell, are you?"

Finnick merely chuckled in reply, and after a moment he returned to Renata, taking hold of her wrist. "Alright, go ahead and open…" He watched her eyes open and then widen with surprise, her mouth gaping a little as she drew in a breath. "What do you think?"

The multitude of candles in various jars that were placed around the deck casted such a warm and fairy tale like glow in the evening light. "Finnick," She breathed, letting him help him onto the deck and then going to look at the sand filled jars. "It's incredible…I love it," she looked back at him and smiled, having such a loving feeling in her chest.

Finnick smiled back and he untied them from the dock, getting to work on moving the boat to his special destination. He could see Renata at the front of the boat through the broken window as he steered at the back, taking a moment to try and calm his racing heart. He was so uncharacteristically nervous!

"Am I allowed to know where we're going, or is it a surprise?" Renata asked as she came back to him, watching him maneuver the vessel like it was second nature.

"Surprise," He replied with a grin, watching the wind rustle her hair and her dress. "Nice try, though."

She shrugged and went to the edge of the boat, watching the boat glide through the clear water as they sailed alongside the shore. The fishermen who had still been out were turning in for the evening, and people in the market were packing up their goods and heading home. As the sun went down the lamps turned on, but the light of the moon was so bright that they were almost not needed. Renata pursed her lips as she leaned against the railing. Had she noticed the moon when she was at the Capitol? Out of the times she had been there, the lights from the city were so intense that she hadn't seen it. With so many things going on, it was easy to overlook something as commonplace as the moon. She sighed, not wanting to think about when she would inevitably have to go back.

"Do you know how to dance?" Finnick interrupted her thoughts, abandoning his post and wiping his hands on his pants.

Renata listened to his footsteps as he crossed over to her, and she looked up at him when he held out his hand for her. She took it and gasped as he yanked her to him, falling against his chest. Her cheeks flushed and she set her hand on his shoulder, shivering at his hand on her waist. "I was never taught, but I…no," she admitted, blushing deeper when he chuckled.

"Me either," he grinned, beginning to lead her in a slow swaying. "You'd never guess you didn't." He looked down into her eyes, and they both fell silent as they gently swayed back and forth. Finnick's heart skipped a beat when she laid her head down on his shoulder and he could feel her soft breath against his neck. His hand moved to her lower back and he pulled her closer, their dance slowly morphing into an embrace. His lips lingered at their ear and he very softly began humming his mother's lullaby, giving her earlobe a gentle kiss. Johanna had been right; he couldn't spend his time feeling remorse for what had happened to her. It had been beyond his control, and Renata didn't blame him for it.

"What if we took off and never came back?" Renata finally broke the silence.

Finnick bit his lip and he rested his cheek on top of her head. "We can't do that," He murmured, shaking his head. "They'd find us in a second. Plus, they'd punish the ones you love instead of you, and keep using you…"

She swallowed and pulled back to see him and he mentally kicked himself at the hurt look on her face. "You're right," she said quietly, looking at his chest rather than his face.

He let go of her waist and moved his hands to hold her face, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. "I've seen too much, Rini. We both have, they wouldn't let us." He gave her a sad smile before continuing, "Maybe one day, we could. But right now, we're…" This wasn't exactly how he'd wanted the evening to go, talking about their servitude. "We're where we need to be." He swallowed and gently tilted her face up and leaned down to plant a tender kiss to her parted lips.

Renata murmured quietly in surprise, but her eyes fluttered closed and she kissed him in return, her hands grabbing weakly at the front of his shirt. "If you were trying to change the subject," she breathed when he broke the kiss, "you could've just said so." She couldn't help but grin when he shrugged.

"So, how about this weather?" Finnick asked with a laugh, looking up at the sky and taking a deep breath. "Pretty amazing…" He laughed when Renata threw her arms around his neck and he pulled her to him, kissing her again. He felt so wonderful being like this with her. He was happy, and he knew she was too. A slight scraping sound made him pull away and gasp quietly, and he hurried to the rudder. "Sorry," He said sheepishly.

She smiled and shook her head, her cheeks flushed as she caught her breath. "Are we almost there?"

"Go to the front," he nodded, going and tossing the anchor overboard. He followed her and stood beside her as they looked at the secluded area they'd gone to, the pool of water so clear, and with the light of the moon they could see straight to the bottom.

"Wow," Renata whispered, her eyes wide as she looked at the beautiful night scene. "How did you find this place?" When she looked over at Finnick she nearly jumped backwards at the sight of him stripping off his clothes, and as he pulled down his pants, she turned away, her heart pounding. A splash from the water below brought her out of her embarrassment, and she looked over the railing of the boat to see Finnick in the water.

"Oh, did I mention that this is a great place to swim?" He called from below, smiling at her pink cheeks. "Come in, the water is fine." He bit his lip when he saw her hesitation, and he slowly turned away from the boat. "I won't look."

She sighed and then realized how ridiculous she was being. People walked around naked, it was nothing to be embarrassed about. She slowly slipped out of her clothes, abandoning them on the deck with Finnick's before she stepped off the edge of the boat and dropped down into the water. When she resurfaced, Finnick had turned back around and he had a sweet, dimply smile on his face.

"Your hair deflated," He laughed quietly, moving a wet strand of hair off her forehead. His eyes were soft as she laughed shyly, and he let his fingers graze her neck before he pulled back. He swam backwards, keeping his eyes on her as he retreated further towards the shore until his feet could touch the sandy bottom.

Renata smiled and she swam after him, stopping when their chests bumped together and they both laughed. "The water's so warm," She remarked, snorting when Finnick grinned evilly. "I'm getting back on the boat."

He laughed and shook his head, taking hold of her wrist and pulling her back to him. "Nooo, please? Stay with me?"

"Fine," she sighed, but the smile she tried to repress made its way onto her face. She gasped in surprise as Finnick dove underwater and she spun around to find him. He glided through the water with ease, and she watched him for a moment, realizing that he wasn't going to come up until she joined him. She drew in a breath before diving under the water and swimming to meet him. Her eyes stung a bit, but it wasn't terrible as she glided right above the sand floor. It looked like another world entirely under the water, and as she admired a blanket of white water lilies on the sea floor, she felt something caress her back. Renata spun around quickly and found Finnick there, a lily in his hand and a grin on his face. He raised his eyebrows and offered it to her, his smile widening when she took it and pushed off to go to the surface.

Renata gulped in a breath of air, wiping her eyes and smiling at Finnick when he resurfaced a moment later. "Thanks," she smiled.

Finnick swam up to her and he took the flower from her, weaving it into her hair and nodding in approval. "Very lovely. You're the prettiest mermaid I've ever seen."

"How many mermaids have you seen?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

He smiled warmly, tilting her chin up and letting his thumb brush her lower lip. "Just the one."

Renata blushed and she swallowed nervously. Her skin was tingling from where Finnick's skin had touched hers, and she slowly put her hand to his chest, marveling at how perfectly sculpted his body was. He was literally the most beautiful human that she had ever seen, not one flaw on him. She put her other hand to his shoulder and gently let her hands follow the lines of muscles, as if she were memorizing every pattern in his skin. When she looked up at his face, her cheeks burned at the way he was looking at her. His wet hair hung in his eyes and there was a look in his eyes that frightened her, but at the same time…it excited her. "Sorry," She whispered, starting to pull her hands away.

Finnick took hold of her wrist and brought it up to his lips, pressing several soft kisses to it and he slowly moved it up the inside of her arm, each brush of his lips sending shocks through her body. He murmured quietly when he grazed his lips against her jaw and she breathed his name, and he finally couldn't take it anymore and his lips captured hers.

Renata's heart race shot up as Finnick pulled her to him, their bodies pressed right up together, warm and soft and very much naked. His kisses ignited a fire inside her, and with each passionate kiss they shared, she felt more alive. Free. A flash of light made her pulled away and look for the source, but there was none.

Finnick furrowed his brow, but shrugged and he tilted Renata's chin up for another kiss when the light happened upon them again. "It's a lighthouse," he murmured, not concerned in the least.

Rini, however, felt her blood run cold. What if it hadn't been a lighthouse? What if they were being watched? Finnick himself had said that there were spies, that it was very hard to keep secrets from the Capitol. She pushed away from Finnick, sucking on her lower lip as the paranoia grew inside her.

"Rini?" Finnick asked, his face concerned. "What's the matter?"

"Could we go back on the boat?" She asked, her eyes darting around as if she would find someone standing on the shore watching them.

He furrowed his brow but nodded, swimming back to the side of the boat. What had changed? He hoisted himself back up onto deck and then reached down to pull the young woman from the water, both of them sopping wet. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. "Did I do something?"

"No!" She gasped, looking at him and shaking her head furiously. "I was…I'm just paranoid that something bad will happen if we're seen together…like that." She drew her legs up to her chest in an effort to hide her naked body. "I've never had anything like this before."

Finnick smiled and he leaned over to kiss her cheek softly. "We can be careful," He said, slowly wrapping his arm around her as they sat on the deck. "They can't hurt us if we're following orders, and it's not like all of Panem can see us." He brushed her cheek with his finger as he continued, smiling when she looked up at him. "Who ever heard of a kiss causing harm?"

"Haven't you heard people talk getting a kiss from a mermaid?"

"No…"

"Exactly," She said with a smile, and her eyes closed as his lips touched hers.

Yay a whole chapter for Finnata love! :3 man i don't know how rini could handle being so close to a naked Finnick, I for one...nevermind, let's not go there! I hope you enjoy the read, and I'll have the next update soon!

-Kelsey :3