the lucky one | finnick odair

mastermind

-now playing "Mastermind" by Taylor Swift-

Reaping Day had finally arrived, and it seemed the weather was just as angry as the Victors. Storms had raged the land the entire night, angry waves crashed and tugged at the sand on shore. It was as if the water was trying desperately to wash away the sins of the world.

It was quiet all across the Victor's Villages all around Panem, and especially in District Four.

When Cove had returned home that night to Finnick, she kept her mouth shut about the deal with Wavie. If Finnick would plan behind her back, so would she.

Her husband had greeted her with a tight hug, thinking she had just went for a walk and maybe sat by the shore to cool down until returning home. Cove had just forced a smile and promised she would be fine after tomorrow. Finnick just assumed that meant she wouldn't fight against his plan to protect her anymore.

Oh, how wrong he was.

.

.

.

Cove had curled her hair into soft waves before pulling on a soft silk baby blue dress, one with straps that showed off her shoulders. She had walked out of her and Finnick's shared bathroom to see said man sitting on their bed, seemingly waiting for her.

He was wearing one of his white sweaters, paired with a necklace Cove had made him back when he was selling at the Marina Markets when they were kids. Cove had helped him with his hair before she had started on hers, but both were quiet. Almost too quiet.

"You look beautiful, Covey," Finnick murmured as he stood up from their bed, walking over to his wife softly.

"Thank you, Finny," Cove smiled, tears pricking her waterline as she stared at her husband, memorizing the features of his face in her last moment of solace with him.

"Don't cry, baby. I'm coming back home. And then we can get started on that family we were talking about," Finnick tried to tease, wanting to lighten the mood as he brushed the tears away from her face.

"I know you're coming back home," Cove said quickly, no doubt in her mind.

Finnick nodded, thinking her sentence meant that she knew that he would come back home to her, not realizing that it actually meant she knew he would come back home to District Four, without her.

.

.

.

The lineup on stage was awkward. At least for the Capitol citizens watching it was.

The entirety of District Four was upset, grieving. They had watched all of the Victors grow up and mature before their eyes, especially the Alora family. They had seen Finnick and Cove fall in love, most watching the girl help the boy sell hooks at the Marina Market when they were twelve and thirteen. They knew that either two or one Victor wouldn't come home.

And they were pissed.

Finnick was lined up with the other male Victor, across the stage from the female Victors. The Alora sisters, Mags, Annie, Koi, and Cove were all lined up, dead silent as they all stared at the ground. The crowd was silent, except for the sounds of sobs and sniffles, until the host of the reaping for their district appeared.

Cove had never liked Fauna, she was superficial and only spout pro-Capitol propaganda every time she spoke. But Cove knew Fauna had to have some type of depth within her, seeing as she always had to get drunk after the reapings, hiding within the train car that stored alcohol every year Cove had mentored. Maybe she secretly felt bad and just wasn't allowed to show it?