Against the Current (Finnick and Annie)

Finnick~Chapter 26 (version 2)

"There is no pretending, I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I'll love you then." --anonymous.

The beginning is the same as the other chapter 26. If you want you can scroll about 3/4 down and a totally different ending will start.

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I know I need to sleep, but no matter what my mind won't shut down. I don't think it can. I'm back at the root of all my nightmares and suffering. We're alone and being hunted, barely staying ahead of whatever Snow has lurking in the dark.

I might've left the arena, but the games never ended. I'm still here, fighting against the Capitol, and my promise from last time still stands. I'm going to do everything to keep Katniss and Peeta alive.

I don't know why. I don't owe them anything. But I feel like they at least deserve a chance at happiness. I got mine with Annie. But ever since this started almost three years ago, they've gone through nothing but suffering.

Plus I've come to see Katniss as a little sister and I want to see her be truly happy, not worrying about how her next move will affect everyone around her. I also still really like Peeta despite what's happened since he returned. I know the genuine and kind hearted person I know is still there somewhere.

Before I got to know Peeta, I always thought he was weak, only won through luck. But maybe he was the strongest of all of us. He refused to become what the Capitol wanted him to. He refused to give in. He's good and strong and frankly better than any of us.

Even after what the Capitol did to him, they couldn't kill who he was. He might've turned dark and gone berserk every time he saw Katniss, but when no one was looking, his gentleness would always come back.

One time he was in the dining hall and a little boy ran into him. His food fell from his cuffed hands and all over the floor. Food is scarce and carefully partitioned. What you get is it. You don't get more. Anyone would've gotten mad, especially him. The guards were ready but Peeta just smiled, genuinely, and said it was fine. He took the food off the floor and said it was still good. So the Peeta we knew wasn't gone. He was just buried under the lies and deceptions of the Capitol, struggling to get out.

I look at the letter for Annie in my hand. It took me over an hour to write and the words still aren't enough. I was going to give it to Katniss but she's determined to bring the Capitol down at whatever cost. She'll put her life in jeopardy just to do it. And even when all of this is done and if she survives, she may not want to.

People forget Katniss is pretty much a kid. I forget she's barely eighteen. That she was just a kid. A kid who decided to take on the Capitol. A kid who had everyone rally behind her when all she wanted to do was survive. She was forced into a game deadlier than any we were thrown into.

I bite the inside of my lip and turn the folded piece of paper over in my hand. I don't want to do this and hopefully Annie will never have to read this letter. But I'm not stupid and I promised myself I wouldn't be blind by false hope. I know our situation isn't good and with my plan to protect Katniss and Peeta, the odds aren't exactly in my favor. I need to do this so at least Annie may understand and hopefully forgive me.

"Hey Peeta," I call out quietly. I know he's not asleep. I wouldn't be able to after being hunted and back where he was tortured.

He opens his eyes and looks at me wearily. I watch him carefully, trying in the dim light to see if he's in his right mind. Then I realize that's stupid. None of us are in our right minds, but he looks as stable as any of us at the moment.

"What's up, Finnick?" He asks with a careful expression as he sits up.

I slide the letter I wrote to Annie in between us. Peeta stares at me for a second before carefully taking it in his hands. He examines it briefly before looking up at me.