Apprehensive Love ¤ Finnick Odair

eighteen; reunited

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN, REUNITED

You don't realize that you love someone until it pains you to be far away from them, until you can literally feel their pain, what they're going through. That's how he knew, he had fallen in love with her, despite being so far from her, he had realized how much her presence really mattered to him. Finnick didn't want to get used to living without her, even though he felt so alone, he had so many ways he could profess his love, instead he dreamed of it. 

He couldn't compare his own struggles with her's, though. The Capitol always had a strong obsession with Ella White, she was constantly watched, waiting for her to mess up and make a mistake, simply to give her a punishment, the life of her own parents. She was lucky that her brother had been away on sail, to gather fishes for three days, he had no idea that when he'd return, his family would be gone. 

People always thought that being a part of the games was a treat, a risk that you should take, because it'll always be worth it in the end, the money, the fame, the people; it wasn't. It never was. It never will be. The risk of your sanity, should not be compromised, it was a known fact, so why were people so eager for this to happen, it was psychotic, the whole country was. 

When Finnick got word that the President had sent soldiers, to rescue Ella and Peeta, he didn't react like most people thought he would, they thought he'd finally be happy, smile wide like he did before before all of the events had happened, but he didn't. He was confused, would it really be that easy to rescue three victors from a secure location? It was close to impossible, he didn't want to be the cloud on a sunny day but it was hard to believe so instead of being excited, though he was, he worried, hoping that everyone came back with no casualties. 

After being told the plan and Katniss who was unable to complete the task, he had agreed, to get his mind off his worries, he was instructed to talk to the camera and not stop. "This is Finnick Odair. Winner of the 65th Hunger Games, I am coming to you from District 13, alive and well. We've survived an assault from the Capitol. But I'm not here to give you recent news." 

As he spoke, all the worry he felt flowed away from him, the words he spoke, came from his heart, it was hard to understand that everything he had ever hidden would be revealed to everyone, things only Ella knew. "... If you refuse, he'd kill someone you love. It happened to me, to Ella, to so many more. They watched us mess up like hawks, excited to give punishment." 

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Ella White, had been silent for 11 days. She hadn't spoken properly in days, all she did was calm Peeta who had gotten so much more Trackerjacker Venom then Ella had, he had given up, she knew. It was hard not to, when they were stuck for who knew how long, he couldn't keep taking the beatings, he was weak too. His body was bruised, skin purple, hair matted, the boy always had nightmares, just like Ella, they were not enough for each other to stay sane. 

Ella constantly tried to remind Peeta that Katniss was not a mutt, she wasn't the capitol's spy, but he had started to get violent, he'd shout and scream then cry and apologize. Ella love him like a brother, she cared for him just like she would for Logan, who seemed to be on her mind all the time. Flashes of their childhood always came to her in the middle of the night, she couldn't remember the last night she slept peacefully, it felt so long ago. 

It was dark in the cell that day, the power had been out, with all the Peacekeepers sent to the main entrance for protection, they knew that the victors were too weak to move let alone escape, they had never been so demotivated. Every now and then, eruption of shouts would come through making Ella jolt but then relax when she realized what it was. Peeta was silent beside her, he had his arm wrapped around her shoulder due to the fright she felt every time a shout would echo. 

Suddenly, the sound of multiple heavy footsteps caused both Peeta and Ella to stand up in panic, Joanna stood up too, staring at the cell door, where the shadows of men in black with guns peeked in. Ella and Peeta were hesitant when a three men walked in, one picked the lock and the other two rushed in, the three stood back silent. 

"We have to go fast, okay? We're here to rescue you." A man whispered, still holding his gun tightly, the three remained quiet, reluctant to follow him. 

Finally the person removed his mask slightly to reveal his identity, a younger male with dark brown hair, Peeta recognizing him. "Gale?" 

"We need to go fast, stay close." Gale instructed, putting his mask back up and motioning them to follow him, they obeyed, walking quickly but quietly. 

On their way in, the guards had spotted all the tools the capitol had used on the tributes. Cotton with blood on it from all the injection and needles, the weapons that they used on them, it caused sympathy to rush through their blood. The connection to District 13 had ceased, disconnecting quickly, which meant the power would be back soon and it was, white lights flashed on quickly, which is when they had noticed how bad the tributes looked, drained of color. 

A boom was heard and then silence. 

****

Waiting felt like a pang to the heart, like a rush of adrenaline, but cramps in your stomach. Leg's bounced in anticipation, it had felt like hours since their connection got cut off, with no news from that side, Finnick, Logan and Katniss all sat in the waiting room, hearts racing, waiting for some sort of news. Finnick occupied himself with ropes, tying them in naughts like Mags had thought him. 

The door opened, revealing Haymitch, he nodded. "They're here." 

Immediately the three stood up, so fast they almost fell over and ran through the door and to the main hall, where all the doctors were working on something. Sounds came from almost every corner of the hall, people rushing by, all sorts of medicines being given to them. The three searched for the person they were waiting for, Johanna causing stress on the doctors and that's when Finnick spotted, light brown hair, struggling to stay in bed as the anticipation to see her love swallowed her thoughts. 

"Finnick!" A small voice shouted, her voice cracked, it was so quiet yet so obvious who it was. The girl with bright blue eyes, skinny to the bone, the shape of her head prominent, her cheekbones protruding through her skin, collar bones stood out. 

"Ella? Ella!" Finnick shouted, relief flooding his blood, he ran to her, the girl detaching all the needles from her, she jumped off the bed, tears leaking out of her beautiful eyes, sobs leaving her mouth as she ran straight into his arms. He lifted her, embracing her tightly, tears lining his own eyes, air not passing into his lungs as the thought of this not being some sort of hallucination. 

Ella squeezed her eyes shut, her arms wrapped around his neck tightly, face in the crook of his neck, she moved away to look at him, sobs still falling out of her lips, her small hand, wiped the tear from his face, the touch and warmth she had needed, she had to touch him to know that he was alive for sure, just as he pulled her back in, Ella wrapped her legs around his waist, squeezing him just as tight as he was. "Your safe. I promise." 

They wanted to stay embraced forever, never let each other go, never let the other person out of their sight. "You're real." 

Finnick let out a breathy laugh, nodding his head, mumbling in her hair, kissing her face, he set her down, grabbing her face, he kissed her forehead, then brought her lips towards his, savoring the feeling, Ella placed her smaller hands on his, closing her eyes. She pulled away, looking behind him to see her brother, the person she hadn't seen in what felt like forever. 

He smiled at her, his blue eyes lighting up too, walking forward, embracing her tightly, he squeezed her so tight he was afraid that she'd break with how malnourished she had become, her thick hair, light, it not getting the right nutrients either. Cries left her mouth, and all Logan wanted was to inflict the same pain on who had done this to her, her strong demeanor had fallen and she had gone back to being a scared little girl.

Despite the pain she could still feel, Ella was just glad she was in the presence of people who cared about her too. 

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A;N//

They finally reunited!! Yay, not gonna lie, this made me tear up, can't wait for Part 3!! Hope you enjoyed. xx