Secrets of the Sea | Finnick Odair

- chapter 15 -

CORDELIA

Cordelia sighed. The reaping was today and she was no closer to finding Finnick anywhere. How the boy had gone from being stuck to her side constantly to gone without a trace was beyond her. The clothes she Mags had laid out for him were missing, leaving only Cordelia's reaping dress. That meant he was dressed, that much was obvious. Brushing her hair out from her eyes Cordelia moved to put on the dress. It still fell to her knees, even after a whole year had passed. Careful not to get any hair caught in the bow behind her back, she moved all her hair to flow over her shoulder. It was a struggle to tie the bow evenly and straight, but after three attempts it felt right. A quick glance in the mirror didn't present any red flags so she reset her mind on finding Finnick.

Making her way downstairs she ran into Mags. The woman in a pale blue dress, hair pinned back on one side.

"Good  morning Mags, you're looking lovely today."

"Thank you dear, you look quite nice yourself." Cordelia smiled at the compliment.

"Have you seen Finnick this morning? He wasn't in the room when I woke up."

"Oh yes, he left this morning. I'm not sure where he went." Mags held Cordelia's face and ran her thumb across her cheek. "He's probably stressed. It will be his first year as a mentor. That's a lot of pressure." Cordelia let one of her own hands rest atop the one Mags had on her face, they both shared a sad smile.

"I know, I'm going to miss you both when you're away." Holding back no longer, Cordelia wrapped the older woman into a hug. "I think I know where he is, I'll go get him."

...

˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙

...

Why District Four was still so cold in the mornings, she didn't know. But the figure sitting on the pier. She knew that figure. Walking till she was beside him, she sat down. His pant legs had been rolled up to his knees and the bottom half of his legs were moved around with the current of the water. Cordelia said nothing. Just stared out at the ocean. Finnick hadn't said anything yet either. He looked tired, slight bags under his eyes a visual clue. It was the last few nightmares that helped Cordelia understand his exhaustion. The first night she'd woken to him screaming, calling for her. Her heart raced as she tried anything she could to get him to wake up. When he finally had he just cried. She offered to give him some space which he declined before she could even finish offering. Finnick just held her close, muttering about how he would keep her safe, how he wouldn't let anything hurt her, it continued for another few minutes before he finally fell back asleep.

The nightmares hadn't stopped so Finnick hadn't been sleeping, not sleeping well at least. Cordelia let her head fall to rest on his shoulder. Finnick let his rest on top of hers.

"Do you remember last year?" She asked, Finnick stayed quiet so Cordelia took that as a sign to keep going. "I was sitting out on the pier here, and you told me I was going to catch a cold." She had to hold in her laugh. "When I realised you would be out here I was so ready to throw that back in your face." Finnick pulled back to look at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Yet you didn't, why?"

"Finnick, I'm out here in a dress. I've got nothing to give to you or myself to keep us warm." He laughed at that, looking down at his cardigan, a familiar cream colour and woollen texture.

"Would you like this one again?" His question was playful and Cordelia smiled but declined the offer, shaking her head no.

Letting the peacefulness of the morning stay, Cordelia sat with Finnick watching as the sun rose and reflected all kinds of colours on the surface of the water. He'd moved to be further back on the wood of the pier. His legs no longer reached the water and were left to slowly dry in the sun. The sounds of people going about their mornings arrived. It was still less than usual, many tried not to do anything on the day of the reaping, but daily tasks couldn't be left waiting for some. When the sun was higher in the sky Cordelia turned to look at Finnick.