Spark to Flame: A Finniss Story

Pt IV: Ending and Epilogue

She wakes to the smell of salt and ocean breeze, and knows she's in district four.

The morning sun shines through the pastel curtains of her bedroom, and she feels at peace - at peace for once in her entire life - before the memories come flooding back. It's been like this for some time now; living day to day, taking things slow because that's what her friends and family want and that's what she needs. Still, she supposes it beats moseying around and trying to find a use for herself, which was what she had done the first week or so she'd been here; there was no use for hunting as Finnick always went out every morning to catch fish, the supply houses were always stocked with whatever they needed and her mother and Prim had taken over household duties, so one can imagine her frustrations. Luckily, she had since found ways to occupy her time, but she'd be lying if she said it hadn't been rough.

She rolls over, not surprised to see the other side of the bed empty. Finnick was always up before her.

Such an early riser, she thinks.

She sits up and stretches her arms, cracks her neck. Things between she and Finnick had been...strange, but also better. She wasn't used to sharing a bed with someone other than her sister, not since Peeta (and even that was only to keep the nightmares away). She'd never known the feeling of waking up to someone you loved in a romantic sense, and said feeling could barely be described with how good it felt.

They still had yet to be intimate in...that way, but after everything she'd been through she just couldn't bring herself to do anything more than kissing. And Finnick understood that, and was willing to wait. And she couldn't even begin to describe how grateful she was for it.

She remembers the events following Coin's death, all those months ago when she had asked Plutarch to send her and her family to Four, remembers Finnick's joy but also puzzlement.

Why Four? He had asked. Wouldn't you rather be back in Twelve? Back home?

It wasn't that she knew Finnick could never live in Twelve, with its ashen remnants and gray skies and lifestyle he'd probably never had. It was that she needed to live in Four. She needed the ocean and the seagulls and the sailors and the life, the presence of something completely opposite of what she'd had in her home district. She'd lost nearly everything up to that point, and with the option to start over - truly start over - wherever she wanted, she couldn't think of a better place than Four.

And now that the violence had died down and she was supposed to just live with herself and all the things she's done, all the people she's killed, it's almost too much. Almost, because Prim and Finnick and her mother are there to help her, to mend the wounds left by the past two years bit by bit.

If it weren't for them, she doesn't know what she would do with herself. She had put so much energy into this fight, this war, that she had forgotten the things that had made her happy and carefree before. Things like hunting with Gale, and laughing with Prim. And now that she is finally here, in the place she feels she was always meant to be, even if just for a moment, she feels as though she can finally have it all back.

And the feeling is phenomenal.

She flips the covers past her legs and stands, soaking in the morning rays. Finnick is probably back from his fishing by now, and she can't wait to greet him like she's done every morning for the past two months.

She trots into the kitchen of their new home, bare feet padding against the wood floors as she catches sight of her mother cooking while Prim washes dishes. Finnick must have invited them in.

Her mother and sister lived in the house adjacent to she and Finnick's, and came over just about every day to chat and help with chores. Katniss loved the company (most of the time), but sometimes, the presence of her family was just too much. This was not one of those times.