The Sterling Nightingale ⟷ Finnick Odair/OC

Epilogue

Epilogue

"The rest is silence! Silence and joy for those who had endured so much suffering, yet found at last a great and lasting happiness." Emma Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Suitcases packed, Sil and Finnick stand at the edge of the train station's platform. The sun is cresting into midday high above them, and for the first time either of them can remember, there is no crowd of Capitolite fanatics cheering them off. It's positively normal, standing there clutching his hand in hers as they wait for their train, and it feels stunningly perfect.

Her mind drifts back to the last time they had taken a train together into District 4. Mouth quirking up as she recalls the way he'd lifted her onto the platform and pulled her dramatically into a kiss, Sil glances over at him wryly and can't stop her laugh from bubbling over her lips at the memory. Finnick looks down at her with a questioning expression.

"What is it?" he asks, squeezing her hand playfully as he studies the mischievous gleam of her eyes. He used to deny how his heart would leap at such a sight, but time and understanding has dulled that instinct down. He takes her in with a look of adoration that he doesn't even bother diminishing.

Sil nudges him and chuckles, "I was just thinking about the frankly abhorrent way you kissed me that last time I agreed to travel to District 4 with you." Her tone is as playful as her eyes, and she dramatically shivers as if the memory makes her cringe. Finnick smirks at her and scoffs, amused at her theatrics.

"Well we had a crowd of adoring fans to placate," he reminds her, slanting his eyes over her expression. Then, shrugging, he adds, "Besides, I didn't really want to kiss you back then."

She huffs at him. "Well!" she responds, shoving her nose into the air and edging away from him. Finnick smirks and hauls her back against him before she can wrangle her hand free. He's not letting her go so easily.

"If it's any consolation, the more I kissed you, the more I liked it," he tells her after a beat of silence, wearing his most mischievous smile – the one that makes Sil's heart shaky and frantic.

She makes a haughty sound in the back of her throat and sighs, "It really says a lot about your character, you know darling. The fact that you fell for that version of me is extremely off-putting." She bites back a smirk of her own and slices her gaze into his.

Finnick puts a hand on his chest in mock hurt and pouts, "Most women would find that romantic."

She immediately scoffs, "Please. Even I couldn't stand the person I was forced to play."

It's true. She had played the role of the foppish, idiotic Silver Lamprey Cornelius because she was the right person for the job, and she wasn't just going to hang back and not fight for what she believed in. But every day was filled with a very peculiar torture like none other. Having to don that mask and act like the idiot everyone thought she was for seven long years had been a lot harder than it seemed, at the onset of it all.

Finnick draws an arm around her shoulders and murmurs, "You weren't so bad, sugar." She sends him a look, and he laughs, "Alright, you were pretty bad, but there were moments when I could see the real you. It confused the hell out of me, but I was addicted to trying to figure you out."

Sil snorts but doesn't try to move away from him. Instead she snuggles closer, delighting in the effortless way she can put her arm around his waist and hold him in public without any ulterior motives or pretenses dogging their every move. She hums, "It was hard, hiding myself from you. You didn't make it easy for me."

He looks down at her and smiles. Squeezing her shoulders gently, he thinks back on the dizzying events of the past year. His thoughts linger more specifically on the most recent couple of months spent in separation, and he slowly responds, "I want us to be honest with each other from now on. If you're unhappy, you'll tell me, okay?"

Sil looks up at him, catching his eye. She studies him for a moment, wondering at the serious tone his voice has taken, before she quietly says, "Only if you agree to the same."

Something about the way her voice cascades over the words makes the solemn atmosphere between them shatter. His mouth quirks up, and he can't help but joke, "You'll regret saying that."

Sil laughs. In the distance, the sound of a train whistle can be heard on the horizon. The noise drags her abruptly back into the present and out of the little world they create whenever they're together. At once, she's reminded of what she's about to do. Where she's about to go.

Holding him tighter, Sil whispers, "I'm ready."

She's not sure where the words come from or what, exactly, she's trying to say, but Finnick seems to understand in the innate way lovers often do. He smiles widely and hauls one of her suitcases into his hand as the train slowly pulls into the station.

"Well then, let's go," he tells her, holding out his hand again. She takes it, lifting her other suitcase and following him to the train.

And then, in a rather amusing attempt to recreate a less than stellar bygone moment, Finnick lifts her onto the step, pushes the suitcase after her, and pulls her into a kiss that leaves her breathless and laughing. There are no crowds to witness the spontaneity of the moment. No cameras capturing the press of his hands against her waist or the low hum of happiness that escapes her throat. This scene will not be published in any ridiculous tabloid magazine or aired on any frivolous daytime television show, and Caesar will not ask them about it in their next interview, because this moment belongs to them, and no one else.

THE END

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Woohoo we're at the end finally.  If anyone is interested in reading the short sequel piece I wrote for Finnick and Sil, you can find it over on my Ao3 or FF.net account under the penname CrashingPetals.  I decided against putting it up here on Wattpad because it's basically all smut with no actual plot.  Links to my other accounts can be found on my profile.

Thanks for reading!  Much love,

CrashingPetals