hELLO! Here I am with another update! Sorry it took so long, I have no excuses. Also, just so you know, I saw Infinity War opening night and am still recuperating, however my sanity is still not completely in tact, so there's that. Hope you guys enjoy and please remember to review what you think, I love reading your thoughts on everything!
Finnick almost never got mad at me, and so when I got back to our floor that night I knew I was in for it the moment I saw him. "What the hell were you thinking?"
Yikes. "Ok, I know what I did was reckless and totally against what we talked about, but just listen to me for one second!" I begged. "I too am very surprised that the fight went that much in my favor, I really thought that guy was gonna kick my ass."
"That's really not helping your argument." Finnick slapped a hand over his face.
"Would you just listen to me, the statement is a two parter!" I complain.
"Well bring on part two because part one isn't making me any less angry here, Kalani."
"I didn't know if I would win or not but that means something to them, I picked a fight with a dude three times my size and was able to take him down because I was smarter than him, not because I was stronger. I won and they're intimidated now, they'll want me in the careers, isn't that a good way to stay somewhat protected for a good portion of the games?"
"Yeah it is Kalani, but have you thought about what that means?" Finnick grabbed onto both of my hands and sat me down in front of him on one of the couches. "Lani, do you honestly think you could play off the big bad career in those games? Killing a bunch of kids? Watching them die right in front of you? Not retaliating against one of the actual careers?"
I didn't answer at all, I just didn't know what to say to him. On one hand, I really wanted Finnick - as well as myself - to believe that I could do what I had to in order to get out of the games; but on the other hand, I knew in my heart that that just wasn't who I was. I wasn't a killer, not a cold blooded one, not one like the Capitol wanted. If it came down to it, yeah I might be able to kill one of the older kids who came at me first, I might be able to kill in self defense and live with myself, but to kill an innocent little kid for no reason other than to save my own skin when they were defenseless and just trying to make it back home like I was...I couldn't, and I knew that I wouldn't.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "But Finnick...I don't know what the best move here is. I'm trying to be smart about everything, I'm trying to make what I think are the best moves, I know I'm in no way the strongest competitor this year, but I can be the smartest, I can try. But I need help, I don't know what's right and wrong anymore." By the end of my little speech I was practically sobbing. Kai hadn't moved up or said anything up until tears began to come out of my eyes. Him and Finnick moved onto opposite sides of me on the couch.
"It's ok Lani, we'll fix this, we'll make sure you're safe in there." Finnick kissed my forehead and kept his arms wrapped tightly around me. "Do you wanna go for a swim? They have a pool next to the training center, we can work on some extra survival and fighting skills for a while and then jump in the water, how does that sound?"
"That sounds like the best idea I've heard all day." I smiled.
A short talk with Kai, an quick invitation to Johanna, and fifteen minutes in order to change was enough time wasted, I was the most excited I'd been this entire trip. The knowledge that I would soon be in the water had me giddy, and it seemed like Kai and Finnick were feeling the same way. Johanna rolled her eyes at all of us. "You're all way too happy to simply be going for a swim."
"Growing up in four, the water is more of a home than the land we live on." Kai explained, sounding genuinely happy for the first time in the last couple of days. "Guess we're all just really excited to get back into it."
Johanna didn't comment on that. The doors opened a couple of minutes later, and we walked through the hall into the training center.
"Oh great, careers. Of course they'd be here." Johanna mumbled next to me. "Maybe we can take the back way, I don't feel like throwing hands with a bunch of teenagers, not tonight at least."
"It's fine, they're too busy training. And besides, Kalani and Kai already proved they belonged in the career pack today. They won't bother us." Finnick told her.
It was true. Along with me, Kai really kicked ass. He'd taken on two guys at once, something about having to look just as badass as I did, apparently I was a tough act to follow. But he won, and it was totally awesome to watch. I felt like a proud mom, even if I was only a year older than him.
We made our way to the opposite side of the training room, almost getting past the careers without them noticing. Key word: almost. It's like I was on Two's permanent radar now, because before walking through the doorway to the indoor pool room - which made no sense because the walls were glass and see through, so there was no real need for them to be there - his eyes locked right onto my own. I decided to let myself have this one, I deserved it after this afternoon. So, I threw him a playful little smirk and a wink before turning back around, almost running right into Johanna who had stopped to stand directly in front of me.
I stumbled a little bit, and my smirk fell while her's grew. "Look at you playing the part of flirty little Aphrodite. Careful goddess, you're all love, and he's all war."
"All is fair in love and war." My smirk returns.
"How poetic." She chuckles.
Finnick is the first one into the water, and he doesn't come up for a couple of minutes. Kai follows suit, and then Johanna. And I'm the last one.
"Fish out of water!" Kai and Finnick scream simultaneously. I laugh at their antics. Fish out of water is a children's game back at home, like Marco Polo, and sometimes the two are conjoined to make one big game. It was my younger twin siblings' favorite game to play. I used to get so annoyed with them wanting me to play it for hours on end, and now here I am, wishing I was home to play it with them from sunup to sundown.
Looking around, I spot a beam, and following it to the end I spot a ladder, probably used to reach the light fixtures. "Let's make this more fun." I run back into the training room, in just my bathing suit mind you - I could practically feel all the careers eyes on me, but I had my own mission to complete, so I ignored them. There was some strong rope at the snares and traps station that I'd seen earlier. Grabbing some, I ran back into the pool room, climbing up the ladder and quickly, but efficiently, tying a strong knot around the beam I'd been eyeing earlier. When I knew that it would hold my weight, and that it was tied as tightly and as best as possible, I put my plan into action.
With one strong push off the wall ladder, I was flying through the air and right over the deep end of the pool. I let go right in time to pull off a perfect dive, if I do say so myself. When I broke the surface a few seconds later, I could hear cheering from Johanna and fighting from Kai and Finnick.
"No, me first!"
"Why do you get to go first!?"
"Because I'm prettier than you!"
"Well I'm the one that might die in a few days, so I think I should at least get this one thing."
Finnick gaped. "Wow, you're gonna milk that the next couple of days, aren't you?"
Kai smirked. "Oh, absolutely." And with that, he began to climb the ladder to the makeshift rope swing I had made.
"Dick." Finnick mumbled.
We all took turns with the rope swing after that, at some point it became a competition of who had the best jump and who looked the coolest while doing it and who could pull off the most flips in the air before hitting the water. Finnick argued that he obviously won all of them, but I beg to differ, I definitely won those.
When we got bored of that, we looked for other ways to feed our competitive natures. "Bet I can hold my breath longer than you under water." Finnick challenged me.
"Bet."
Kai joined in, and Johanna agreed to time us, knowing that she probably wasn't going to win this one.
I knew I would win it before I'd gone under. At the age of ten, I'd gotten caught in a bad wave while learning to surf with my brother. I'd been under for practically three minutes, and it was one of the most scary moments of my life. After that, I'd practiced holding my breath under water almost every single day, until I could breath for at least six minutes. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
When I came up, there was a lot of yelling.
"Dude she's fine!" It came from Kai.
"She was laying at the bottom of that pool for over five minutes! You should've made sure!" That was...Cato?
I rubbed the water out of my eyes and looked over at the edge of the pool where Cato was standing, looking pissed off, which was probably his natural state.
"What's going on?" I asked, not to anyone in particular.
"Brutus with hair was freaking out because he thought you were drowning." Finnick explained. "He wanted us to check on you, and got all pissy when we said you'd be fine."
I looked over at Cato. "I was fine. I can hold my breath longer than that, I come from a water district after all."
"Then why can't Finnick and Kai hold their breaths for that long?" Clove, the girl tribute from two, stepped into the room.
"Because Finn and Kai suck."
"Blow me, Maverick." This prompted a splash fight between the two of us, which turned into an actual fight, which Finnick won by jumping on top of me.
"God, you're so fat!"
"I'm broad and chiseled, you tiny human!"
"No! Cato is broad and chiseled! You're just fat!" I laughed. Nothing makes men more mad than being compared to other hot men.
"Now, that was just hurtful," Finnick frowned, "I'm sensitive you know."
"So you're ok then?" I heard Cato ask from behind me.
"Yeah, now good back to stabbing your dummies."
There was something about the look Cato gave me before he walked out of the room, and the way he didn't bother going back to training after our confrontation. He'd just left, looking tense and irritated. Maybe I'd made him angry with that last comment. But that wouldn't explain the look. It was one that my brother had always given me while growing up, one that Finnick had every time we talked about me going into the games, one that Kai had when we would strategize. A protective one, a look that said I'm here to commit a murder and hide the body if you need me to. Ok, that was a little intense, but nonetheless, I knew that look. I just didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing for me.
I'd woken up early the next morning to watch the sunrise. Kai was supposed to join me, but he decided to sleep in, and Finnick went to Johanna's floor to talk to her about something, so I went alone. Or at least I thought I would be alone. The elevator opened on my floor, and inside it was none other than the angry, beautiful, blonde man that had invaded my thoughts the entire night. I still wasn't too sure about his looks the other night, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to figure them out either.
"Are you coming in or do you just wanna continue to stare at me, because if I miss the sunrise I'm gonna be pretty pissed."
"You're going to watch the sunrise?" I chuckle unbelievably. I stepped into the elevator. "That seems completely out of character."
"Yeah, well it was kind of a tradition to do so in my house on Sundays." He glares at me after. "If you tell anyone, I'll skin you alive in that arena."
"Now that sounds more like you." I rolled my eyes. And the elevator doors shut, leaving me in a confined space with the world's most beautiful future murderer and no immediate exit.
Here we go! Cato and Kalani alone time! Remember, we shouldn't trust Cato completely, he definitely has something up his sleeve. It's important to note that the careers will always want to align themselves with the person they can get the furthest through the games with, it makes for a better end fight, and it can help with sponsors because it makes them look better. Cato might not be so protective over her just because he thinks she's pretty, but because she can benefit him in some way. Or maybe he's just in love with her already. Believe what you will! Remember to review review review!