Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 1

Taiya held her hands behind her back and Finnick mimicked her. She was more familiar with the formalities of the dance than he was. She took slow steps toward him, turning her shoulders with each step.

They lifted their respective left arms and took a step even closers, interlinking their arms, but never touching. They took a step back before repeating the move with their right arm. The intimacy of the near-touch was thrilling. She'd never felt the tension in the move before. Dancing with Seneca just didn't stir up the same emotions in her.

They stood shoulder to shoulder and gently held each other hands behind their backs before slowly moving in a circle and stepping back so they were opposite each other.

Holding each other's hands, they took one step in, and one step out. On the third movement they froze, chest to chest, eye to eye, and for a moment the couple forgot they were dancing, they just stared.

Taiya broke away first as she moved her hands. One of her hands left his and moved up to rest on his shoulder, and her other hand moved their connected ones out to the side. Finnick's arm immediately found its way around her waist, pulling her even closer to him.

He may not have known the initial formalities of the dance, but he did know the dance itself and he immediately took over leading. They'd been best friends forever and it wasn't hard for them to fall into sync, dancing to the rhythm of the waves that were brushing up against the beach.

As they fell more into a rhythm, Taiya couldn't stop the wide smile that spread across her lips.

He was perfect.

The moment was perfect.

He was wearing a loose, button-up, white, short sleeve shirt that complimented his tan perfectly. And the colour of his top matched her dress perfectly.

His eyes matched the water they were surrounded by, and she just couldn't tear her eyes from them.

One thing was for sure, she was head over heels in love with this man, and that would never change.

He turned elegantly and slowly dipped her body down, his movements entirely in tune with the water. Finnick hovered over her for a moment, his eyes running over Taiya's face, committing every curve of it to memory before he slowly brought them both up and continued dancing.

The tension between the two grew more powerful by the second. Taiya's heartbeat grew steadily along with it. Everything was perfect. Their dance was perfect, their breathing was perfect, and they were fully in sync.

Finnick guided Taiya around the pier without ever needing to take his eyes off her. He knew the pier well enough to know exactly where to step. They were in a haze and they were the only two allowed access. It felt like they were floating.

That was the thing about being home, about being together. It was just them. None of their external concerns mattered, they could just be. Right there, right then, they were living. Nothing else mattered except each other.

*********************

Taiya woke up with a violent jolt. She didn't have far to go though, wrist and ankle cuffs held her down.

She lifted up her wrists as much as she could to inspect them. White velcro bands were stuck together holding her in place.

"Welcome back," a voice greeted her.

Her reaction to the sound of his voice was obvious to everyone in the room. She was connected to a heart monitor. Everyone heard the jump, and everyone took note of the increased heart rate.

"I appreciate the good sense you have to be scared," President Snow smiled at her from his seat at her bedside. He reached out to tap her hand kindly. "We've all been wishing for your recovery."

"How long have I been asleep?" she croaked as she looked around the hospital. She was searching for someone.

"We kept you sedated for a week," Snow explained. "For your own wellbeing." He watched her eyes frantically scan the beds in the room.

"Finnick?" she finally asked, turning her desperate eyes to Panem's president.

"I'm so glad you asked Miss Ambersnow," he smirked. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"What?"

"He's gone. Ran away with the rebels," Snow sighed in disappointment. "He abandoned you in that arena. Left you to die. I've always felt a fondness for you Miss Ambersnow, so I ordered your retrieval."

"He left me?" Taiya mumbled in her sedated haze. "He wouldn't do that."

"Oh, but he did. I watched him do it on camera," he smiled softly down at her. "He climbed straight into the rebel hovercraft, he didn't even think to look for you."

"No, no, no, no," Taiya shook her head. She didn't believe him.

"Do you know there were 20 minutes between the rebel hovercraft leaving and our Capitol one arriving? The rebels had time to easily retrieve all the victors," Snow tutted his tongue. "Loyalty only extends so far for the radicals. For them, it is Katniss Everdeen above all else, but you already knew that I'm sure," he stood up to look down on her. "I show loyalty to my friends. You know that Miss Ambersnow."

She just nodded. She could barely see straight.

"I would hope that friends of the Capitol would show the same loyalty in return."

"Of course," Taiya nodded.

"If you tell me where the rebels are hiding, I'll make sure Finnick is brought back here. To you. To be with his Capitol friends."

These last three words are what snapped Taiya out of her daze. She immediately turned to glare at the president. "His Capitol friends?" she repeated, and he merely gave her one nod. "Finnick doesn't have friends here!" she snapped angrily. "Finnick has no friends here!" she sucked in a breath as she looked around. "Where am I?"

"In the Capitol," President Snow replied firmly, all facades of friendship and caring dropped.

"Finnick escaped?"

"Mr Odair abandoned you."

"No! He wouldn't do that!" Taiya yelled in a rage. "He wouldn't do that," she repeated to herself. "Where's Johanna? Where's Peeta?"

"Peeta is right there," President Snow gestured to the bed beside her. She immediately spun her head to see the boy lying unconscious on the cot beside her.

"Johanna? Where's Jo?" Taiya asked, turning back to Snow.

"Miss Mason is... occupied," he refused to answer. "I was almost impressed Miss Ambersnow. I was very curious as to why you did not dispose of Miss Everdeen the moment you stepped into the arena. Of course, Heavensbee is partly to blame, it seems he played us both. All it would have taken was one throw of your knife and both of our worries would have ended," Snow sighed. "I'm sure right now you're wishing that Mr Odair didn't stop you from ending Miss Everdeen in the water. All it took was one arrow being sent into the wrong person and you're loyalty to the rebellion snapped."

Taiya jerked up in her bed. Cashmere and Gloss. "Where are they!"

"In recovery. It was a substantial hole to repair."

Before she could ask any more questions, a pained howl echoed throughout the corridor.

"Johanna," Taiya breathed. She'd recognise the sound of her best friend anywhere. "JOHANNA!" Taiya roared as she fought against her restraints. "JOHANNA!"

"Enjoy your stay Miss Ambersnow," President Snow taunted. "I hope you and I will see eye to eye in the future," he said before he moved away from the bed and towards the screams.

"JOHANNA!"