Breathe in, Breathe out • F Odair² •

XIX

"I almost died for this,"

•∘♔∘•

*Finnick POV*

Finnick and Athena managed to get a lot done between them as the sun rose slowly and night turned to day. They weaved more grass mats for them to lay on, as well as a mat that was suspended on branches to shield their faces from the sunlight and keep them from getting burned. They weaved three bowls afterwards. Finnick carefully extracted the spile from Katniss' belt without waking her and filled two of the bowls with fresh water, while Athena set to work on catching different shellfish. Once he finished filling the bowls with water, he sat down on the sand and watched as Athena worked on slowly filling the bowl with shellfish, at the absolute stillness of her body as she searched for and watched her target, the concentration and focus on her face as she waited for just the right moment, the swiftness with which she struck when the time came.

Athena had been right to get them to be productive in the time they were on watch. Using his hands to weave bowls and mats felt almost therapeutic in the way tying and untying his bit of rope always felt. He didn't feel better, necessarily, but he felt like he could keep going, which was all they really needed for the time being. They had survived the first of four days. All that was left was to make it until midnight on the fourth night...

Beside him, Katniss was starting to stir. She sat up slowly and looked around her, before her eyes landed on Athena.

"What's she doing?"

"Catching breakfast," Finnick replied, gesturing at the shellfish already in the bowl.

Katniss stared over at Athena for a little. "She's... not what I expected."

Finnick supposed that when all you saw of her were television appearances for the benefit of the Capitol, she wouldn't be what you expected. Katniss didn't say it like it was a bad thing, though.

"Yeah," Finnick said finally, "she sneaks up on you."

"Katniss wanted her after day one of training," came Peeta's voice. "Both did."

"Really?" Finnick said. He hadn't known this; Haymitch never mentioned it. Maybe he hadn't viewed it as important to mention because he knew they were going to be allies whether Katniss and Peeta liked it or not.

Katniss seemed debating confirming or denying anything, until she realized there was no point in hiding it and nodded. It wasn't that surprising. Athena was a good fighter, and she had a way of making people like her, making them want to be around her.

"Katniss has remarkably good judgement," Finnick said. "Which is lucky. I couldn't leave Athena behind." When they stared at him, he provided a safe explanation. "She's one of the few people who actually likes me. You learn to keep those people close."

"Wanted Athena and Wiress and Beetee," Peeta was saying, while Katniss cracked a smile. He looked half asleep.

"Go back to sleep," Katniss told Peeta.

Peeta looked like he wanted to protest, but he was much more exhausted than he tried to let on, and he fell back asleep almost in spite of himself. Finnick and Katniss exchanged smiles at the way he slumped back onto the sand.

Finnick looked back at Athena, still concentrating hard on the task at hand, and a mischievous smile crossed his face.

"Speaking of sneaking up on people..."

Before Katniss could question him, he stood and tiptoed back over to the water, deadly silent, to where Athena stood.

*