Thank you to Odestalovebaby, MsMKT68 and Joe for reviewing! It means a lot :)

Sorry for the delay - I've had a bit of writer's block.

XI. Little Girl

"Come on!" I shout at the girls.

"We're trying, Finn!" Rhea screams back, panting wildly. "We're only human."

They're only twelve. I shouldn't be pushing them to run four miles up and down the coastline, continuously, but I am. I have the fact that they're only twelve and have their limits, but I push them anyway. Their hair is matted down to the foreheads and they are soaked to the skin, drenched in sweat, and they're exhausted. Annie even looks like she's about to have an asthma attack. What is wrong with me?

No, wait. I'm doing this for Maya.

I breathe out a frustrated sigh and say, "Okay, okay. Stop. That's enough training for today."

"Thank God," Rhea huffs out, collapsing onto the sand. "I don't think I can feel any of my bones anymore."

It's been two months since my victory and I have trained the girls every single day. I haven't taught them anything with weapons yet, though. I make sure their strength, speed and stamina grow first. They do push ups, sit ups and plank. They run, swim and climb. They do so until their muscles scream in protest, and I do these exercises with them to make them feel better, I guess. I do in fact, end up waking up with a sore body most times.

"Well, consider this as two lessons in one since we won't be doing anything tomorrow."

Tomorrow's her birthday. She'll be thirteen and not a little girl anymore. Actually, she'll always be a small girl to me; it's just that she'll grow up and become more independent.

"You are so lucky that I'm not as strong as you," she snarls, with a playful glint in her eyes.

I roll my eyes at her, only just noticing that Annie has deserted us, once again. "Where'd she go?"

Rhea shrugs. "Where she usually goes."

"Where's that?"

She raises an eyebrow at me, as if she's trying to say, 'Are you serious?'.

"Over there." She lifts her hand up and points at a tiny silhouette, jumping over rocks and then entering a small cave. "She goes there everyday, ever since you were… reaped. Sometimes, she stays there for hours and doesn't come home until the next day. Haven't you noticed?"

I shake my head in guilt and confusion. You're so stupid, Finnick. How did you not realise? I smack myself in the head. "I'll go talk to her."

She looks at me in doubt. "Are you sure? It probably won't work…"

I run. I run towards the cave, despite my protesting muscles and I am brought back to when I was in the Games again. The natural wildlife surrounds me and the rush of the wind whips at my clothes. I clumsily trip over my own feet a few times and the newfound rush of adrenaline pumps through my veins, once again. I kick small pebbles off the small path, and they skid across the calm water beneath me, creating small ripples every now and then.

I arrive at the cave and I notice how similar it looks to the cave I had hid in during the Games with Maya. I think my heart skips a beat for a moment, before I venture on further, and step inside the cave. Contrary to what I had initially thought, the cave is bright. It isn't dark and wet, or intimidating in any way. It looks like a small hide-out, and I guess that is in fact, what it is.

"Annie?" I call out.

She sits there on the ground, cross-legged, staring out at the sea. Her hair is bedraggled and messed up from all the training she'd previously done. Her vivid green eyes are wide and teary, as they stay fixed on the water. "Come back… please."

"Annie," I repeat.

She lifts her head up and glances at me for a split second, before looking away. Her hair acts like a curtain and covers her face from me.

"Are you okay?"

Silence.

"Come on, talk to me."

Silence.

"Why are you ignoring me?" My voice cracks, like I'm going through puberty again. I don't expect her to reply to me, but I just hope that she will for once, talk to me. The last time she did was when she told me that she hated that fact that I came home. It hurt - a lot - but I had at least, expected for her to greet me every once in a while. But no, she didn't. The only times she would ever acknowledge me anymore was during training, and it would only be listening to me.

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "Annie, would you please say something? I know you hate that I came back but… I need to know you're okay."

I'm stuck in another silence again and I don't know what to do, as I watch her stare off into what seems to be her own faraway land.

My patience wears thin and I release a frustrated huff. "Whatever. It's Rhea's birthday tomorrow and you'd better be there to make her happy."

"I don't know what to do, Mags," I say, "She just won't say anything!"

"It's hard for her to forgive," Mags replies. "Just give her some time and she'll come round."

"And how long will that be?"

"Maybes days, months… Maybe even years."

"Well, gee, doesn't this make me feel good," I say, sarcastically.

"Finnick, dear, even if it does take a long time, she'll forgive you and she'll talk to you again," she advises. "She's only twelve. She's young and she lost her sister. What do you expect her to do?"

"I… I don't know."

It feels as if there's a huge weight on my chest and it hurts. Maybe not physically, but it definitely hurts emotionally. I just cannot help but wonder what the hell is wrong with me. I'm completely out of my mind, because every time my eyes find Annie, I find myself growing incredibly irritated at her. Despite the friendly affection I feel for her, I… dislike her at times - most of the time, actually.

"She's so… annoying," I manage to say and I groan at the thought of her.

I'm rewarded with a painful pinch to the ear and I yelp in pain. How does one old lady just do that? "Don't say that," Mags reprimands me. "That is so rude, especially for a twelve year old girl."

"But I can't help it," I whine. I feel like an immature child but screw that. I'll say whatever I want.

She pats my cheek, affectionately, and smiles a gummy smile at me. "I know. Go celebrate Rhea's birthday. You deserve some fun."

I nod and stand up, kissing her cheek. She returns back to her knitting on the front porch and I walk up with a smile. She and Rhea have grown quite fond of each other and I can't help but feel grateful for this. Even my mother hangs out with her sometimes, when she's lonely.

When I walk in and notice the birthday girl, I charge at her with an almost inhumane speed and lift her off her feet. "Happy birthday, Rhea!" I rub my knuckles against her scalp, affectionately, despite her laughing protests.

"You're growing old," I tease her.

"Says you," she shoots back. "You're older than me."

"Pshh, not by much. What are you doing today?"

She pulls back from me and says, "I don't know… Nothing big. We can stay home and play game by ourselves."

Surprised by her response, I frown. "Really? I thought you'd want to hang out with all your friends."

Hurt flickers across her eyes. "You-you don't want to stay with me?"

I shake my head, rapidly. "No, no, it's not that. I just don't see what's so good about spending the day with me. It's your birthday; you should have fun." I smile at her and kiss her forehead.

"Well, too bad," she says, stubbornly. "I wanna hang out with you."

For the next few hours, we pig out. We raid through our kitchen, and shovel junk food down our throats and we don't mind the fact that there's no cake this year. Mother and Father sit by us, looking after us and smiling along. It feels like nothing had happened over the past few months and I refuse to allow myself to think of Maya, just this once. I know for a fact, that she's worrying about Annie and upset that she still hasn't shown up yet, but she covers it up fairly well.

We reminisce over the old days where we would swim out at the beach, tell each other stories about school, and where we made up our own games. We replay them. We laugh and it is only now that I realise how much I've missed this… Being a part of a family.

At around four o'clock, Annie walks into the house in a timid manner. She cowers slightly, with her arms crossed across her chest. "Happy birthday, Rhea," she smiles at my sister and hugs her.

"Thanks."

I had doubted Annie a lot, but I guess she really did come and for that, I'm not as annoyed at her anymore… Maybe, just a little.

A/N: I thought it'd be nice for Finnick and Rhea to have a nice brother-sister time even at such a young age :) I'll be fast forwarding the next chapter to the Victory Tour. Don't forget to read and review your thoughts!