Author's Note: So here is the final chapter for Part One of this fic. YAY! Hope you've all enjoyed this fanfc so far. As I said in an earlier chapter A/N, it might be awhile for Part Two to be posted up since this semester is going to be extremely full on - I'm doing the Diloma in Networking, so a heavy workload is to be expected - so I really won't have all that much time to write, though I will try to write whenever I have a free moment, so hopefully it won't be too long await for Part Two.
Anyway, please enjoy the final chapter of Part One.
Chapter Twelve
One more day to go.
I wake to this thought the next morning, curled tightly within Finnick's embrace. I lay there, not thinking of anything, or rather, trying not to. My thoughts are too dark these days and I want to stay as far away from them as possible.
My stomach rolls and I know that today is not going to be a good day.
I struggle out of Finnick's arms, causing him to grunt at my desperate shoves to make him let go of me before I'm dashing for the bathroom, heaving my guts up and throwing up all of last night's dinner down the toilet.
"Annie?" Finnick is kneeling down beside me and is pulling my hair back from my face as I continue to be sick. "Annie?"
"Nerves." I gasp or sob for I can feel tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Is that all?" he asks and I look at him sharply or as sharply as one who is still throwing up last night's dinner can.
"Rich capital food?" I lie, though it is half true. Capital food is far too rich for someone who has spent most of her life living off gruel and the blandest seafood that the Capital itself doesn't want.
This seems to satisfy him, so I take the chance of being relieved that he still doesn't know about my pregnancy. I'm not in the mood to break his heart. I'll be doing that soon enough as it is.
Once he's sure that I'm done being sick, Finnick leaves me to have my shower and returns to his own room before my prep team arrives.
I'm confused as to why they need a full day to get me ready for a three minute interview but Finnick simply winked at me and left me to continue wondering.
Once I've finished my shower, I returned to my bedroom to find that my prep team is already there waiting for me.
Enyia gives me a shy but warm smile while Cersie and Sansia are excitedly babbling about the day to come. Without protest or complaint I surrender myself to their clutches and let them do whatever they want to me to make me look "beautiful" for my interview.
My team works on me for well into the day, not allowing me to leave my room at all, having all my meals being brought in for me.
For awhile they talk about dying my skin an ocean blue colour but thankfully Enyia talks the other two out of that idea and instead they decided to leave my skin it's natural tanned, freckled self but keeping with the original ocean blue theme, they stencil patterns on blue, green and silver waves and swirls up and down my arms.
They put fake nails onto my recently destroyed ones and painted those with the same blue, green and silver theme. I wasn't sure how I was going to use my hands with these shovels on the ends of each of my finger tips, but I smiled all the while as they put them on me.
My hair is once more curled into soft waves, with pieces of it braided here and there into an elaborate hairdo at the back of my head, pieces of shell and coloured glass are also weaved into my hair. At first I thought I would look terrible and overdone but by the end I am pleased with the end result.
My face caused a few problems, Cersie and Sansia wanted to paint my lips and eyelids blue while shading my cheeks with green, but once again Enyia won out and my face was left more or less alone, except for some faint blue eye shadow over my eyes and my cheeks are dusted with silver, so that my face sparkles in the right light.
Overall I think I looked quite pretty. Of course, I don't look anything like me, just like with the Opening Ceremony, but that's alright. I don't really want to be me at the moment. I don't mind hiding behind all this makeup and designs and Oh, my dress that Eyria has spent the last couple of days perfecting, as Enyia gravely informed me before giving me a wink and a wide smile that made my more girlish side feel excited about my dress.
And oh, my dress.
Eyria came in with my dress soon after I was finished being prettied up, smiling widely when she saw me as she walked into my room carrying a long grey bag, obviously containing my interview dress.
"Nervous?" She asked me as she looked me up and down and played a little with my hair, getting it just right.
I nod.
She smirked.
"Don't be. Not in this dress." She informs me before commanding me to close my eyes. I do so, all the while trying to keep as still as possible as my prep team removes my robe – leaving me know completely naked – and slip me into my dress.
"Keep your eyes closed."Eyria commands as I'm blindly helped into my shoes which I'm delighted to find are simply a type of slipper with a back to them that covers my heel so that my feet won't slip out of them. I'm sure they're not actually slippers, but they're as comfortable as any of the slippers that I've tried in the Capital these last few days. Just maybe a tad firmer and more walkable.
I feel them fuss around me and add the final details to me and to the dress – it's hard to keep my eyes close when I can hear and feel them all moving about adjusting this and retouching that – but after while – it feels like forever – I feel their hands all leave me and I hear them all take a step back and I told softly by Eyria to open my eyes.
Oh…
"Oh," I whisper as I look at the strange girl staring back at me from the floor length mirror. The girl looking back me is extremely pretty, amazingly pretty, prettier even than Serendipity from District One.
And…
I look like me again.
Somehow, I don't know when, but in those moments when my eyes were closed and I was being put into my dress and the final touches were being made, I turned back into me again.
I wasn't sure if I was happy about that, not when I had accepted and been content with spending the evening looking like Capital Tribute Annie instead of everyday, normal Annie.
I take a step towards the mirror, running my hands over my dress.
It was quite simple really, but oh so beautiful.
It was a soft blue and green gown with gentle hints of silver thrown in. The bodice of it is tight, showing off my breasts and the curve of my waist. The waist is beaded with blue and green gems with thick silver threads decorating and weaving around them. And the skirt is made up of different layers blue and green fabrics, called tulle netting, much like my Opening Ceremony dress, but this one, I like this gown better. It's more me. I would never wear anything like this back home, but I could at least see myself in a dress like this, if there was a chance back home to wear something as exquisite this.
"You look truly beautiful." Eyria says while the rest of my team simply sigh in unison. Cersie and Sansia look close to tears.
I duck my head blushing.
"Thanks. But only because of you guys." I add and Cersie and Sansia actually burst into tears. I send a questioning look at Eyria and Enyia but they both give me returning looks of not to ask.
When it came apparent that Cersie and Sansia couldn't pull themselves together, the two of them were dismissed and Eyria had me walk around my room in my dress and shoes. I have no trouble at all and I feel completely at ease.
"Ready for the interview?" Enyia asked smiling at me.
I looked down at my dress and gesture down at it before I speak.
"This part of me is, can't say about my mouth though."
Enyia laughs openly while Eyria smiles slightly, saying, "I'm sure the mouth part of you will be fine too."
"I hope so. I don't want to say anything embarrassing in front of all those people." And the rest of Panem, since the interviews are broadcast live all over the country.
I absently touch my stomach as I continue to turn this way and that in front of the floor length mirror, still admiring my beautiful gown.
"You won't. You'll be fine. Just remember to smile and just answer Caesar's questions as honestly as you can without betraying yourself." Eyria advises me and I nod.
"Ok."
"Good. Right, well, it's almost time to go down, so why don't we go show you off to everyone else." Eyria says, almost chirpily – a very strange sound compared to her usual husky, sexy tone of voice, but I guess she was just trying to cheer me up.
We meet up with the rest of the District Four crowd in the living room of our apartment. I can't help but grin ever so slightly when I see I've caused several of our previous Victors to do double takes of me and have caused their mouths to drop.
Finnick shot a couple a few dirty looks, but grinned at me, though I detected an ever so slight look of worry in his sea green eyes. I want to ask him wants wrong but I don't get a chance since we are being bustled into the elevator by Stansen who is close to hysterics with excitement.
I glance at Merle, who still looks unhappy but besides from his frown, he looks quite dashing in his dark blue suit and tie, his hair has been gelled to look like he's spent the day down by the ocean. Or I'm guessing that's the effect that they were going for.
I swallow nervously as the doors of the elevator open and we all step out. Stansen herds us to go stand with the rest of the tributes that are being lined up behind stage.
I shoot Grandma and Finnick desperate looks but they both smile back at me encouragingly and I feel, despite myself, a sense of calm pass over me.
We are seated behind stage in order of our districts and then boy girl. I'll be the eighth tribute to be interviewed.
I lean back in my chair listening half heartedly to Caesar Flickerman introducing himself to his audience, his brief speech on the Opening Ceremony and our scores yesterday before he calls Jeopardy Glitterman to take the stage.
Jeopardy looks delighted when his name is called and he shoots the rest of us a cocky, over-confident smile as he struts on to the stage in his black and gold suit. There is a huge cheer for him when he walks on stage, waving and blowing kisses to the audience.
I watch one of the monitors that are set up backstage, snorting as I watch one ridiculous woman with a purple hairdo faints when one of Jeopardy kisses are blown her way.
Jeopardy's angle is charming and confident. He has the whole audience wrapped around his little finger by the end of his first sentence, a talent that I've only ever seen one of person have. And that person is of course Finnick and he doesn't even need to open his mouth to have people – women – wrapped around his little finger.
When it's Serendipity's turn for her interview with Caesar, it is obvious immediately that she is determined to outdo her brother. She received a just as loud cheer from the audience as her twin and she looks gorgeous in her sparkling white and silver gown, her golden curls tumbling down her bare back – the gown has no back to it, only a thin ribbon tied at the back of her neck to keep her dress up. There is also very little front to the gown I might as well also mention, what with the neckline cutting right down her cleavage stopping just before her belly button. You would think with this dress, she would play the sexy angle for all its worth but she doesn't.
She is also charming, like her brother, but a different kind. Her charming is more natural somehow and she has a sweetness to her that makes the audience hang on to her every word. From where I'm sitting I can see Jeopardy pouting at a monitor as he watched his sister interview.
Cole's interview with Caesar seemed to go by very quickly, since it was obvious that Cole didn't want to say much, wasn't interested in saying much, and was happy to simply glare at the audience. Jade interview on the other hand was… bubbly. I've never seen the girl say so much and she said a lot… about nothing. And the more I listen to her and her answers she gave Caesar's questions, how easily she described how she was going to win the games, made me all the more afraid of her. She is huge and menacing but I also think she might be a tad insane.
It's just a feeling, but I've always had this ability, a gift if you will, to sense when there is danger near to me. There are a few times my ability has failed me, but a lot of the time, it hasn't and this gift of mine was raising its head now and was firmly telling me to stay by all means possible away from this girl. If anyone was going to cause my death in these games, it would be this girl.
District Three's tributes are both very quiet and even with Caesar trying to help them along with their interviews, I knew that they would become quickly forgotten – unless one of them wins, but looking at the two, it seems doubtful that they will, but District Three has surprised Panem before so maybe this year…
Merle is as nervous as I've ever seen him as his own interview draws near. I find this odd since I've seen and heard him speak at Assemblies at school and before and after Swimming or Running meets and he was a natural at it, so why now, he would grow suddenly nerves about speaking in front of a crowd was beyond me.
I want to say something, offer some kind of comfort but my own mouth is dry and all possible things that I could say to him all sound hollow and stupid in my head. And besides, he'd probably take whatever I ended up saying the wrong way, so I stay silent and so does he. But when he's name is called for him to head up on stage for his interview, I actually manage to wish him luck and I actually get a small smile in return.
"Yeah. You too." He heads up on stage. I watch his interview far more closely than I watched the others. He is nervous, but he hides it well and it's not long before he and Caesar are bantering away at each other.
His interview goes by way too fast for me and suddenly it is my turn to be up on stage.
I stand up from my chair, hands shaking as I smooth down my lovely gown. I try to walk on to stage with my head held high, but I don't quite manage it, but I do manage to smile at the audience and they cheer loudly when they see me. Too loudly. Everything is so noisy here.
I try blocking out all their noise and simply focus on Caesar who is smiling widely at me as I make my way over to where he stands, holding out a hand towards me.
Even though I am nervous, seeing his face actually calms me, because even though this is the first time I've physically met this man, I've known him all my life, and he gives me a sense of familiarity, even with his wacky appearance. With a face that has virtually stayed completely the same for decades, powdered pure white. The same ceremonial suit that is midnight blue dotted with what look like a thousand tiny light bulbs that twinkle like stars. His hair style has also remained the same throughout all his years of hosting the games, the only change he makes to it is dying it a different colour for each Hunger Game. This year it is a brilliant gold colour.
I shake his outstretched hand and follow his gesture to take a seat in one of the comfy chairs that have been set up on stage.
"I think someone is a little stage-shy." I hear him say suddenly and I feel myself blush while he chuckles good-naturedly.
"It's quite alright. We don't mind, do we?" Caesar calls out to the audience and they loudly cry out back to him 'no'.
"It's adorable, honestly." He says turning his attention back to me with a wide, encouraging smile.
I smile back.
"Thank you." I say, ducking my head a little and hear Caesar chuckle again, before he starts firing off questions at me. Most are simple and I answer them with as much honesty as I can without betraying anything that I'm truly feeling.
However when we're nearing the end of my interview, he throws a rock into the comfortable little pond of water that I had settled myself into during the interview, causing huge ripples within it.
"A pretty girl like you?" he chides lightly as I shake my head forcibly at what he had just asked me, "Not have a boyfriend? Impossible." He looks towards the audience who are all erupt into a sort horrified gasp.
"I don't." I say, but I sound too high and it's obvious to all that I am lying.
I glance desperately towards Grandma and Finnick who both simply smile grimly back at me, gesturing for me to make something up. I tried to remember all the advice Coral gave me yesterday about these sorts of questions; I know we covered them at some point before she became overly frustrated with Finnick and me.
"Oh," Caesar chuckles, "but there's someone you like." he says with a light tease to his voice.
I gulp, forcing my brain to work; only it was making me remember my interview with President Snow from a few days back. Why, oh why was I remembering that at time like this?
Devon Cree.
What? Oh…
Now was the perfect time to start protecting Finnick and the baby for the long-run. If I start dropping hints about Devon and me now, here in this interview, later on when the baby is discovered the Capital and the rest of Panem will assume from this interview - and from any other information that they might find - that Devon is the father of my baby, not Finnick
"Well," I say softly, dropping my head so that I'm now looking into my lap, my facial features becoming sad, "It's complicated."
"Oh?" he asks. He looks the audience and I can hear their sighs of sympathy for me. "How so? Do you feel like he doesn't know that you even exist? I'm sure he does now."
"Oh, it's not that. There's a bit more to it than that." I say, forcing my sadness into my voice.
"Does he have a girlfriend?" Caesar asks gently and I shake my head, thinking carefully as to where I want this whole thing to head. If I'm not careful with what I say here, I could trap myself later on.
I look a Caesar with sober, grief-filled eyes and say in a quiet, but slight choke-filled voice, "he's dead. He died a month ago."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Finnick blink and I actually feel like laughing when he actually yanked his ear as if to make himself believe that he was still walking around with the living. The wince he pulled when he did this was obvious proof to him that he was and now he was looking at me with a questioning gaze.
He didn't look mad, simply curious and a little confused, but not mad. Not yet.
Caesar looks properly stricken and the whole audience give a dismayed, grief-filled sighing gaps.
"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry. We all are, aren't we?" the audience cry back their sympathy and I shoot them a sad, but strong smile.
"It's alright." I say trying to sound strong and yet still trying to appear fragile with grief. I thought I was doing pretty well for myself, since I seem to be making my grandmother and Finnick believe my acting. "I'll always remember him and he'll always be close to me." I say and Caesar pats my hand. He actually looks genuinely sad for me.
I smile at him and say in a small but strong voice, "and I'll always have a part of him with me." Just to add a something for the quicker minded to chew on.
He smiles back at me.
"So you'll be winning for him?" he asks and I nod.
"Yes, I'll be winning for him." I shouldn't have looked at Finnick when I said this. I really, really shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it. And the smile he gave me was worth the very high risk I had just made, the chance that I had just ruined everything that I had just built in this interview to protect him.
"Best of luck to you, Annie Cresta. Best of luck. Annie Cresta of District Four!" Caesar cries as we stand up from the chairs and everyone in the audience cheer loudly. He kisses my hand before motioning for me to exit the stage.
I leave it with my head held high and I don't stumble once, though I feel immediately tired the moment I'm back stage.
"You're a very impressive actress, Miss Cresta. You actually had me almost believing you." I jump about a foot into the air. I hadn't even noticed that on this side of the stage there was no one about. Well, I saw now why.
"President Snow." I'm ashamed to say I squeaked out his name.
He comes to stand in front of me and I'm almost overcome with the desire to gag from the mixed smells of blood and roses.
"Good evening Annie." He says pleasantly enough.
"Was it enough?" I asked and he looks amused. "To protect everyone I care about?"
"You have started a nice place to work with for when your condition becomes known, so I don't see why not." And I start to breathe a sigh of relief just as he adds, "If you can keep to the story."
I look him hard in the eyes, which is hard because his eyes really are snake-like and I want to look away and hide, "I can and I will. I'll do anything."
"I thought as much." He agreed with a smile. "A smart girl like you would. But I'm just wondering just how smart a girl you really are."
"Meaning?" I ask stiffly
"Meaning are you smart enough to do yourself the favour of staying away from him? People, as frustrating as they are, are prone to being curious and ask questions where questions are not wanted to be asked. Do really want to run the risk of someone asking the wrong question to the right person?"
"Finnick's too valuable to you. Why ruin him over something like this?" I asked, wondering if I really was such a smart girl after all.
Snow tilts his head to the side and regarded me through slightly narrowed eyes, as if he was seeing me for the first time, or maybe he was just seeing me in a whole new light.
"I can do worse things to him." He agreed after a moment and I feel cold all over.
"Don't hurt him. Please." I whisper and he looks amused once more.
"Him? My dear, as you've said, he is far too valuable to me, but there are others who are not…" he gave me a look and I feel cold once more, this time in the pit of my belly, where my baby was growing.
"I'll stay by my story for as long as I live." I promise, which I was guessing not very long, if the glint in his eyes was anything to go by.
"Good girl. Well, good night Annie Cresta. Good luck tomorrow and may the odds ever be in your favour." He makes to leave and I'm startled to realise that the only reason he was here at all was because of me.
I stare after him open mouth.
"What was that all about?" I heard a deep, furious voice growl out from behind me and I fought back a groan.
"How much did you hear?" I ask with a sigh as Finnick came advancing towards me, looking quite murderous.
"Enough." He snapped. "Now what was that all about? And don't say you don't know and he was being all cryptic because you seemed to have a pretty good idea as to what he was talking about."
"Can we talk somewhere else?" I beg and we both hear the buzzer for the boy of District Five interview finishing go off.
His mouth set in a hard, straight-line as he drags me out of the building and back towards the Training Centre and our floor.
I don't know what everyone else was thinking, and this is hardly staying away from him as Snow had instructed me to do, but I wasn't sure if anyone actually recognised us, not with all the dressed up people on the street, laughing, drinking, cheering as they watch our interviews on the big screens that are set up on various different buildings.
When we are safely in my room, Finnick all but explodes at me.
"What is going on? Why did he come down to see you, you especially? And what the hell was with your interview? The end?"
"Jealous?" I asked stupidly and he looks so mad I think he might finally snap like I've heard some Victor's doing. They lose what little they have left of whatever holds them sane, lose whatever they have left of their humanity. They lose it and you suddenly have a rogue killing machine on your hands. They, the Capital and Peacemakers, try and keep it all hushed up but snippets slip out around Panem anyway.
"Look," I say trying to calm him down, "it was nothing. I was just trying to divert attention from you, that's all. Did you want me to spill out to all of Panem that I'm in love with you and we have a relationship?" and a baby.
"So you brought up Devon instead?" he snapped.
I blinked surprised he had made the connection. Finnick and Devon weren't exactly what you'd call close. They wouldn't have even spoken to each other if it weren't for them before being friends with me.
"He was the logical choice. He was the only male friend that I had that I was truly close to, besides you, so if anyone asks, people can say that they guessed he and me were in a relationship together, that it was possible that it happened without their knowing. Besides," I add a little harshly that it hurts my own ears, "he's dead now and he has no family, so they can't hurt him in any way."
This seems to cool his head for the time being, but another thought crosses his mind and he looks mad again.
"What did he mean by your "condition"?" he asked in a low growl and I closed my eyes. He really did hear basically everything.
"You're so thick sometimes." I sigh and sit down upon my bed. This would be the last night I slept in it, I realised with a start and I suddenly feel hot tears start down my face.
Why was he yelling at me when tomorrow I would be fighting for my life in the Hunger Games?
"Annie." He's voice softens and he comes to kneel down beside me. "Tell me what's going on."
I shook my head, tears still falling down my cheeks.
"Annie."
"I can't."
"Annie, please, tell me what's going on."
I shook my head again. "I can't."
"Annie." He ran a hand against my cheek, rubbing the tears from my eyes with his thumb. His other hand came to rest upon my waist. I saw his eyebrows forward slightly as he felt the slight swell between my hips though my dress and I hold my breath.
"Annie?"
I just smile sadly up at him and quietly watched his already shattered heart shatter a little bit more as his mind finally connected all the little things he had noticed being strange about me these last couple of months.
"Annie."
And then he was kissing me with so much love that I felt as if my heart would explode, even though I knew both our hearts were breaking.
End of Part One
I was looking for a breath of life
For a little touch of heavenly light
But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh
To get a dream of life again
A little vision of the sun at the end
But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh
But I would need one more touch
Another taste of heavenly rush
And I believe, I believe it so, oh oh oh
And I would need one more touch
Another taste of divine rush
And I believe, I believe it so, oh oh oh
Whose side am I on? Whose side am I?
Whose side am I on? Whose side am I?
And the fever began to spread
From my heart down to my legs
But the room is so quiet, oh oh oh
And although I wasn't losing my mind
It was a chorus so sublime
But the room is too quiet, oh oh oh
I was looking for a breath of life
A little touch of heavenly light
But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh
To get a dream of life again
A little vision of the sight at the end
But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh
It's a long way and it's come to claim her
And I always say, we should be together
I can see below, 'cause there's something in here
And if you are gone, I will not belong here
(Not belong here, belong here, belong here)
And I started to hear it again
But this time it wasn't the end
And the room is so quiet, oh oh oh
And my heart is a hollow place
For the devil to dance again
But the room is too quiet, oh oh oh
I was looking for the breath of a life
A little touch of heavenly light
But all the choirs in my head sang no
Breath of Life by Florence and the Machine
Author's Note: So that's it for Part One. I hope you all very much enjoyed this fanfic as much as I enjoyed writing it. I was thinking I might post up a list of all the Tributes, with their ages and what District they're from if any of you are interested. I've named all my tributes, even the ones who sadly get killed in the bloodbath... Poor kids. I felt terrible killng them off and I expect I will feel even worse when I kill the rest of them off.
Disclaimer: So obviously I don't own the song at the end of this fic, Breath of Life by Florence and the Machine - if you haven't heard it yet, go and listen to it. I think it's a great song to go with this fanfic and for the Hunger Games in general.
Ok, so I'm done... for now. Thanks for reading, reviewing and favouriting, it meant a lot to me, and hopefully I will hear from all of you again when Part Two is posted up.
Bye for now.
SapphireShell91