Against the Current (Finnick and Annie)

Chapter 23~Annie

Finnick takes my hand and leads me into the water. I gasp as it washes over my feet. Fear immediately grips my chest and I can feel myself beginning to hyperventilate. Roaring water, dark blue darkness, pain. Finnick squeezes my hand and brings me back to reality. My eyes fly open and I meet his emerald ones.

"You're okay," he says.

I nod, and we go further. Eventually it gets easier but I can't enjoy the swim like I did before. As we get further from shore I begin to start panicking again. The last time I was this far I was almost too far to be saved.

Finnick sees my rising panic. He holds my hands tightly and tells me to get on his back. I follow his instructions. I wrap my legs around his body and my arms around his neck. Then Finnick begins swimming effortlessly the rest of the way there.

"You know, princess, I thought I was your prince but it appears I'm just your gorgeous steed," Finnick jokes.

"No you're my adorable little seahorse," I say as I lean my chin on his shoulder and nuzzle my face into his neck.

"Adorable?" Finnick exclaims in shock. "Finnick Odair is many things: great, strong, charming, and breathtakingly handsome to name a few. But not adorable!"

"Hmm I noticed humble wasn't on that list. I wonder why..." I muse jokingly.

Finnick just laughs and looks at me from the corner of his eye. "I love you," he says. I feel my mind momentarily go blank like it always does every time Finnick says that. "And look we're here!"

Finnick runs on to the beach with me still hanging on to his back. He brings us to our favorite spot underneath the shade of the palm trees. He drops our stuff on the ground and then places me gently on the sand.

We talk and joke for awhile. Then we go for a swim. Or at least Finnick goes for a swim while I just stay in the shallows where the water only comes up to my waist. It's fun watching him swim though. I can see the power coursing through his limbs and the freedom he feels as he breaks through the water. It's mesmerizing to see.

In the afternoon we lounge in the shade of the trees. Finnick ends up falling asleep and I'm quick to follow his example. In minutes I'm falling asleep to the soothing sound of his light breathing.

The sun is beginning its descent in the sky by the time I wake up. I stretch and turn my head to see Finnick staring blankly at the sky.

Without even looking at me he asks, "Do you ever think about the future?"

The question seems kind of random, but I look up at the sky with him and think about it. I think of little glimpses of the future but nothing I plan to put into action. "Not really. It takes too much energy thinking about the present. Do you?"

Finnick shrugs next to me and sighs heavily. "I did, but I stopped. Life is just so unpredictable I stopped seeing the point."

I've definitely seen how true that can be. My life changed more than I could have ever predicted in only a couple of years.

"Actually what I said isn't completely true," I tell Finnick. "I think of the future but not really mine. I think of what Dad will be like or what Luke will be doing."

"I know what you mean," Finnick mumbles. "All I think about now is how every decision will affect people in the future."

I stare at Finnick. He looks tired. Not the usual fatigue we always feel from lack of sleep. It's something else. Something deeper. A tiredness from within that's seeping into every corner of his being. Something happened that month in the Capitol other than the usual.