Querencia - a place from which one's strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self
Talisa Moreno
Winner of the 72nd Hunger Games
Back Home she thinks she is save. She couldn't have been more wrong. Conf...
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My tributes are once again not very promising. The girl doesn't want to take any advice and the boy has no personality traits that could be useful nor any skills or strength. When we watch the reapings I am surprised by District 12, where a 16-year-old girl volunteers for her little sister. Her name is Katniss and she seems quite promising, as well as her district partner since he seemed to have a strong build.
The little girl from eleven breaks my heart, but Thresh, the boy is going to be one of the strongest contestants this year, after Cato, Clove, Marvel and Glimmer of course.
I am currently overlooking the training and am very much interested in the District 12 tributes. After their fiery entrance at the parade they will have sponsors interested in them and if I can hook at least one of my tributes up with them, they might make it past day one. So I am joining Haymitch, who quite surprisingly isn't entirely drunk.
"If that isn't my favourite little rule breaker", he says grinning and hugs me shortly.
"I won't get your hopes up. Katniss isn't getting allies. She is very stubborn and a fighter. Reminds me of you."
I chuckle. "So she got a chance. What about the boy? Peeta?"
"At the girls heels. You should see him looking at her in the evening. Also reminds me of you and a special somebody..."
I ignore his innuendo. Of course I feel something for Finnick, but acting on it is something else. And do I know what he feels? We are great friends and I love that friendship we have. But maybe I just have to try to do it, act on it, because life is short and cruel. I snap out of my thoughts. "Anyways. I have absolutely no hopes for my girl anyways. Look at her, she is trying to learn to use bow and arrow in two days. If it was a talent it might go okay, but look at it, she doesn't even hit the wall the targets are painted on. She is completely ignoring the survival stations and never listens to my advice", I sigh and brush my hand over my hair, which I braided back on one side so that my ear cuff and the double earring was visible. I wore a black top with mesh arms and black ripped jeans to underline my new found style.
"You are doing your best, so if she dies, that's on her."
"Thanks. Well I am gonna try to set up my boy though." He nods and I leave to talk to some more mentors, but other than the girl from 5, I can't get anybody to be really interested. But Jaken was really nice and we talked for a while after talking about our tributes. He is very smart and uses words I didn't know existed and about gardening as well.
I hope that Clentin makes some more allies by befriending others, because he might survive more than a day.
The interviews are on this evening and I try to teach Alyce as much as I can, but she is either very stupid or doesn't want to listen to me, which is stupid as well. So I send in Silas to do the rest of the job and flee, wanting to go to one of the pools that are really just across the street during the time the tributes get ready, which takes three hours or so. I stop by Johannas' floor, but she is busy yelling at her tributes and I disappear after a short wave and stop by Finnick. He is done with his tributes for the day and joins me for a swim.
As victors we can get our separate pools, with no people around that could watch us or film us or record us.
I am wearing a swimsuit at the moment, mostly to cover up the tattoo at my side. Not that I would really mind Finnick knowing about it, but for now it is my secret, my little rebellion against the games.
Finnick is laughing at me because I cannot dive correctly into the water. I mean who ever said that head first was the way to go was stupid. Well maybe not really, because you are fast and move some distance without using up much energy, but whatever.
"Not funny!", I exclaim and climb out of the pool once again.
"I told you so many times to keep more tension here...", he touches my stomach where I have a little bit of abs showing through the material of the swimsuit, "and here."
Now his hand is on my lower back. With him I always get goosebumps and a tingly feeling. It took some time and a lot of patience and lots of talking, but I had gotten better with people touching me, especially Finnick, since he is the one person I care about most. Lucida I care about too, but I cannot show it without placing her at risk and Johanna I care about too, but I know that she never really wants me to show it, or show that she cares about me as well.
"One more time. Then we practice holding our breaths. Because I am almost as good as you by now", I grin.
"What, did you practice in your big bathtub?", Finnick jokes and brings up a point from the conversation that we had when he first taught me swimming.
"Haha. Afraid of a little competition fishboy?", I tease and jump in. It is a lot better this time, but when Finnick does it, it's like looking at art. Maybe it was only his bronze, perfectly muscled abdomen and chest, that I didn't mind looking at, or the way the muscles in his shoulders moved when he rolled them, but it looked amazing and graceful while I looked like a fish flopping down.
He swims closer towards me and stretches out his arms, me doing the same, holding onto each others forearms, then submerging ourselves in water, each helping the other stay down.
Like every time I get all tingly and I see Finnick watching me in the water, a soft smile on his lips, as far as I can see. I am very convinced that Finnick has supernatural vision or something, because when he judges my swimming, it's like he can see through the water like through air. After a little more than one minute and 30 seconds I signal him to go up. Never breaking from our stare, even when we are treading water. Finnicks hand moves from my arm to my face, looking at me to make sure I was comfortable with it. But me pulling him closer, looking at him like through a daze, signals my acceptance quite well. His fingers trace my jaw, my lips, my nose and my eyebrows, my cheekbones and then my lips again. Pleasant shivers run down my spine. "You are so incredible, you know that right?", he says softly.
"Says you", I mumble and then our lips find each other, like magnets locked together. And for the first time it feels good. It feels good to be touched, to be kissed, to tangle my fingers in hair. It felt right. After some time we break apart, our foreheads touching.
"I care about you so so much", Finnick mumbles and I smile.
"I care about you too", I tell him and give him another short kiss.
"We should probably head back. They will be ready in an hour and so should we."
He nods and we swim to the side, him lifting me out of the pool, followed by very close proximity and more kisses. But we part for the showers. Finnick grins.
