ODDS

ᴘʟᴀɴꜱ

"𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓶'𝓼 𝓸𝓴𝓪𝔂. It's okay." Peeta repeated, over and over until it could register in Katniss' mind.

I knelt beside Finnick, taking his cheek gently in my hand. He didn't move, still staring at nothing in particular.

"Are you alright, Fin?" I asked quietly, trying to calm any jumpy nerves he might've had.

"I'm fine." It barely came out as a whisper.

"Your fiance's right." I heard Johanna start. My head turned from Finnick to my raven-haired friend.

"The whole country loves your sister. If they tortured her or did anything to her, forget the districts, there would be- riots in the damn Capitol."

I flashed Johanna a look of pity which I could not help, grateful that she had not looked my way. She didn't like anyone pitying her.

I jumped at her sudden outburst. "Hey, how does that sound Snow? What if we- What if we set your backyard on fire?"

My eyes went wide, searching for cameras. Of course, there had to be, but there was no way Snow broadcasted this. But he was listening in nonetheless.

"You know, you can't put everybody in here!"

I was thankful her rant was over with. I didn't know how much more I could handle.

"What?" She directed this at Katniss, who stared at her like she was insane. Honestly, we were all insane. "They can't hurt me. There's no one else that I love."

My attention turned back to Finnick, who'd awakened from his reverie to watch Johanna's fit.

"Do you want to go back to the beach?" I asked him, Johanna hacking her way into the forest for some water. He nodded, giving me his arm to help stand. I winced as I stood, not used to the pain of standing up on my own.

"Are you okay?" Finnick questioned in a low voice. I gave him an incredulous look before laughing.

"You just got attacked by talking birds, and your asking me how I am?"

Finnick shrugged, to which I rolled my eyes. I grabbed his hand, leading him back to the beach, like I'd had for years.

"Come on, fish boy."

I was glad to hear a small laugh come from his throat.

***

I watched Finnick lodge his spear into the water, catching two fish at the same time. He looked up at me, holding the fish up for comments, eyebrow cocked up. I rolled my eyes with a grin on my face, before cupping my hands around my mouth.

"Lame!" I yelled at him. Finnick rolled his eyes at me, failing to hide his smile. He continued fishing as I played with the sand.

That's when I heard it.

"What is it with them two?" Katniss' voice came from further back, closer to the tree line. I stopped myself from turning around, curious to see where this conversation was going.

"Who? Lana and Finnick?" Johanna questioned, apparently back from fetching water for Katniss. I assumed Katniss nodded, because Johanna continued. "Finnick was one of Lana's mentors in her games. Guess they sort of found each other in the process."

"Isn't that a little weird? Mentors and their tributes?" Katniss asked, clearly confused about the two of us. I smiled, squishing a handful of sand in between my fingers.

"Not any weirder than anything else happening in the Capitol." She paused, and I knew she was contemplating her next words carefully.

"Each victor is given a special task after they win the games. Finnick couldn't get out of it, even at fourteen."