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Sorry it took so long! They're a little bit short but i needed to set the stage really for the rest of the story which required some spotty fast fowarding. enjoy! Happy reading!

PART TWO

31

Four Years

So now here we are. Over the years Annie's symptoms have become more stable. If she doesn't know what's going on or what is not real, she'll simply ask. It no longer makes us feel uncomfortable or upset, it's easy, like breathing. It's only a big deal if we make it that.

Pearl and Stephen had a second child, a girl, named Kiandra. She's two now, and Kai is four. They're both already the most stunning, adorable hell raisers in the entire district. For the past four years I've gotten to see them as part of my own family.

It's morning and Annie hasn't woken up yet. We did some renovating in my house and got a bed with a canopy so we could drape these thin white curtains to keep out the mosquitoes while leaving the entire left wall open to face the beach. I loved the breeze and the salty air circulating in the room and the full sky of stars above. When it rains, we simply slide the walls closed. The advantage of being far too rich between two Games victors.

Annie stirs and her eyes open, finding me for that moment of reassurance that whatever she'd just been dreaming about wasn't real.

"Did we ever leave this house during the night?" she asks calmly, keeping her eyes trained on me.

"Nope," I say, placing a kiss on her forehead. Her hands slip around my neck and she kisses me on the lips, her hair tickling my cheek. "You know I have to leave today? After the reaping?"

"The Seventy-Forth Hunger Games," she sighs, looking up at the sky. It was tinted pink with the sunrise and radiating off her face.

"Indeed," I agree, falling back against the pillows and cloud gazing with her.

"I guess I'll use the extra time to get some fishing and nets done then." Annie rolls over on her stomach and rests her chin on my chest. "Tell me the truth; did you ever tell me that you think about me when you're gallivanting in the Captiol?"

I bite my lip and look at her. There's no way I'm winning this one. "Honestly? Yes, when I'm walking around and doing normal things. If I'm with a girl, no. It's insulting to you and honestly I don't like to picture myself being with you when I haven't been. So no, I never said that."

She nods and then dives right back in. "Fin, can you tell me what it's like?"

"What what's like?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

I groan and wipe my hand down my face, "Annie, why are we having this conversation right now?"

"I'm twenty-two now Fin and I've been with you for what, five years or so? You experience it on a weekly, maybe daily basis, when I never have."

"Now it's not like we haven't done anything..."

"I'm not saying that's what I want right now," she interrupts, placing a finger on my chin, "I just want to know what it's like. We can have this conversation, can't we?"

I squirm a little inside and then explain, though I'm sure I have before. "I can't really say what it's supposed to be like Annie, you're supposed to only do it with your spouse and be in love and everything. What I do, it's just for their amusement. It's fun I guess, it's exhausting too though. But I'm sort of numb towards the whole act now."

Annie frowns, "So if we ever did you wouldn't enjoy it?"

"That's not what I meant," I correct her quickly, "I'm just saying that with all these nameless girls it means nothing. With you, I am pretty much as clueless as you are."

She laughs and pats my chest with her hand, "I wouldn't say clueless. You've had a lot of practice I'm sure you at least know what you're doing." She leans up and kisses my nose and then sits up and stretches. I sit up and yawn, throwing her a smile.

"I've said it once and I've said it before," I say, "as soon as they let me retire from the Capitol, I'll marry you whether you like it or not."

She smiles and shakes her head, "That could be a long time."

"Hopefully not. If it is...well, we could break a few rules."

I give her a wink and start preparing myself for the Reaping ceremony before Garcia could bang down my door. I went with a blue shirt and black slacks and let Annie pick out any accessories. As always, she slipped the shell bracelet over my wrist with a smile and lets me know how much she loves me. I kiss her and then we go our separate ways. I think Annie is the only girl in all of Panem that isn't required to attend the reaping. The year after she returned they made her go and she caused such a scene they told her never to come back. For the best, really.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

I sit on my beach in silence, holding my hands over my ears to block out the sounds of the anthem and the speaking and the children called up to their deaths. But it still comes, the sound still pierced the inside of my head like a long thin needle.

It's okay Annie, it's not you. You're here, on the beach.

But it's someone. It could be Echo.

I swallow the lump in my throat and tried to push those thoughts out. That's what the man in the suit said to do, visualize myself pushing out the bad thoughts.

Someday it could be Kai, or Kiandra.

I clamp my jaw shut and scream with my lips closed, pushing so hard against my ears I thought my skull would cave in. I am glad Finnick isn't here, I don't want him to see me like this. I try so hard to be as normal as I can when he's near. When I'm alone, it's a relief to let the poison roll out of me and into the ocean where it can disappear with the tide. If it left me here, I'd be okay when he's near. That's the way it works. It was comfortable. Easy.

Easier, anyway.

The tributes left. I heard the clapping and then the voice of Caesar promise to show all the other reapings in just a moment. I sigh and walk into the water, letting the cold waves splash up over my ankles, then knees, then waist, and then my face. Under water there was no voices, just the swishing of the water around my ears and sand tinkling like little pieces of glass being shaken in a jar. I can hear my heart as well.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

I let out my air and watch the bubbles rise to the surface as I sank deeper down, then I push the water beneath me and let my head come up for air. I heard screaming echo over the waves, then a faint, "I volunteer!"

Someone volunteered as tribute. Not uncommon, but they usually don't scream about it. Where was this anyway? Then I hear the unmistakable voice of the ever tenacious Effie Trinket and know it was District Twelve.

Fascinating. Nobody ever volunteered there. They are always too concerned with saving their own asses that they never thought about anyone else. That's part of why nobody likes that district; it's not just their lack of class, style, and skills. It's their utter disregard for heroism. No one in that district ever felt the need to be anything more than a poor dirty coal miner. I didn't like to think of them that way, I don't think it's right to generalize a group of people like that, but so far they haven't shown me anything to prove otherwise.

Well at least until now. I wonder who she is?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Echo, where are you going?" I ask, picking up a basket of fruit from the ground. It was nice having them closer to Finnick's house on Victor's village. After I recovered enough, they let me pick out my house and I let Pearl and the family move in there under my name. Pearl almost cried when she saw how beautiful everything was. I don't think she ever expected to live somewhere as grand as that. There was even a play room for Kai and Kiandra.

She rolls her eyes and adjust her dress in the mirror. "I'm going out."

"With who?"

"With the peacekeepers Annie, who do you think? My friends!"

Echo was starting to become all the rage with the boys, but I think she would rather we didn't know that. Her hair is long and much straighter than Pearl's and mine, but she definitely had the biggest goldfish eyes I ever saw.

"Please be careful," is all I say before she goes out the door. Finnick was coming home tomorrow morning and I couldn't wait. Things have been really tense in the district ever since this Peeta and Katniss kids got out of the arena together by playing up some love story. I don't think the capitol liked it one bit. I tried not to watch the games if I could avoid it, but there was no denying that this was uncharacteristically merciful of them and perhaps even a mistake.

Whatever came of it, I'm sure it won't be taken sitting down.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I don't know Annie," Finnick says, running a hand through his hair, "but something's stirring. I saw it in Snow's eyes the second he set that crown on her head. He's not happy."

"Do you think there's going to be a fight then? Another revolution?"

"Shhhh!" he hisses, putting a finger over my mouth. I look around quickly for any peacekeepers and then pull his finger away. "It's just...I mean, two winners? When there was only supposed to be one? I'm surprised they didn't publically execute them!"

"It's strange," he agrees, looking out at the water, "but I think he wants to use them. As tools against the unrest that they might have caused. But honestly, if they start something, I'm ready for it. After what they did to us I'm ready."

I nod and look out at the water too, "Was it real? Were they really in love?"

He chuckles and shakes his head, "Honestly? I don't know. The boy? Peeta? He's got it bad, I'm sure of that. But the girl? She's the ringleader, I really don't think it was anything more than a survival technique. A good one I'll admit, but not love persay."

He looks at me and then reaches up and kisses me on the lips. "I'm glad we never had to go through something like that."

"Yes we never doubted how much you loved me," I joke, pushing his arm. He makes a hurt expression and clutches his heart.

"Harsh, Annie, harsh."

I smile and shrug my shoulders, "I have to be. Who knows? Maybe they'll all pit us against one another soon enough?"

It's a joke. It's only a joke.