Author's note: So this is it. The last chapter. Then end of this marks where we meet canon with these characters and I feel that it's a good place to stop. Thank you for reading. I'm sorry that it took forever between some updates, especially lately. I have an idea for a new story later that will have an alternate ending to the series and what happens after it. I hope you will look for that in the next few months. I have some other stories that I need to end before I get to it. I also need to figure out some details there.

Again, I thank you for reading. I thank you for reviewing. I thank you for following and favoriting. Thank you for sticking with me to the end.

And, as always, happy reading!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Annie froze on the couch as they watched the announcement together. For the 75th Games, the third Quarter Quell, all surviving Victors would have their names put back into the bowl. There was a chance she would have to go back in. She looked sideways at Finnick who sat resolutely, his jaw set.

Without a word, she stood and walked slowly out the door. She was just stepping into the surf when Finnick called her name. She paused and then pulled off her shirt and threw it behind her. She pushed her jeans down her legs and threw them away too. She glanced over her shoulder a moment at her lover and then continued into the water. She swam until she couldn't see the shore and then rolled onto her back and floated, staring up at the late afternoon sky.

"Please don't shut me out." He said as he met her in the open sea.

"I don't want to talk. I just want to forget. I want to keep forgetting for as long as possible."

"I think I can do that." His hand found hers and they floated along as night fell and the stars became visible.

Annie, still not speaking, made her way to shore. Finnick followed in her wake. As soon as his feet touched, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. He pressed his mouth hard to hers.

She kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Was that salty liquid the water or her tears? Or his She didn't know.

He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. "Let me make you dinner. Then hold you all night. Make love to you in the early hours. And tell you over and over how much I love you."

"I like the sound of that." She said softly. She gathered her clothes and headed on to her house.

She disappeared into the bathroom, turning the shower on as hot as it would go. She stepped in and let the water rinse the sea away.

And then she felt the despair that had been growing in her since hearing the announcement bubble up. It escaped her throat in a strangled sob. She took in a shaky breath. She didn't know when she started screaming or when she fell down to the bottom of the tub, but that's where Finnick found her, looking at her with such deep concern in his eyes.

"I can't do it, Finnick. I can't. I can't do it. I'll never survive this time."

He quickly stripped and climbed in with her, pulling her to her feet. "We're forgetting, remember? Tonight there is no Quarter Quell. There is no President Snow. We're just Finnick and Annie. Two people who have no other obligations in the world but to be together. To love each other."

She clung to him. "I feel the darkness, Finnick. Around the edges."

He rested his forehead against hers. "Stay with me, Annie." He whispered. "Stay here."

"I'm trying." She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths as he stroked her face with his thumbs. She opened her eyes and stared into his eyes, as green as her own. Green like the sea that helped sustain life in all of Panem and most specifically to the livelihood of the people of District Four.

She let out a long breath. "I'm back."

"Good. I hate it when you leave." He rubbed shampoo into her scalp and through the ends of her hair. "I miss you terribly."

"I miss me, too. These last couple years, it was like it never happened. I wasn't reaped. I didn't watch people die. And I haven't had to watch you with other women."

"I asked you not to watch television when I was away."

"I couldn't help it." She rinsed the soap out of her hair. "I just prayed for a glimpse of you. Even if it was with a beautiful Capitol woman hanging off your arm." She stepped out of the shower and started drying off.

"If you think enhancements are beautiful, then I suppose I could see how that could make you jealous." He got out and took down his own towel from the shelf. "But as I don't, you are the most beautiful woman in all of Panem."

She smiled rather demurely and then left the room, the towel wrapped firmly around her. Finnick followed, sans towel, and grabbed her from behind.

He dropped a kiss to her shoulder. "Let me make love to you."

"Okay." She turned in his arms and backed up to the wall, dropping her towel.

He covered her mouth with his, lifting her up. He pulled her legs around him as he deepened the kiss. His hands grasped her bottom, holding her closer to him as he grew harder. She tangled her hand in his hair, her other arm wrapped around his back. She tightened her legs around his waist and moaned into his mouth.

His mouth left hers and she let out a small whimper. He mumbled against her skin as he slid his lips across her jaw and down her neck. His tongue flicked out every so often, still tasting the salt from the sea that hadn't been fully washed away. He slowly slid one hand up her body and buried his fingers in her hair as his lips met hers once more.

"Bedroom?" She asked against his lips.

"Why not right here?" He replied. The desire in his eyes burned into her.

"Well, we never have before, have we?" She smiled.

He took control of her mouth again as he slid inside her. They were still for a long time. She looked into his eyes. She felt the tears again, creeping up from her chest. A small sob escaped her throat.

"It's okay, baby." He soothed.

"I know." She pulled his mouth back to hers. "Move." She demanded.

He did, slowly at first, but his pace very quickly increased. Annie tightened her grip on his hair and urged him on. Her head went back against the wall. He grunted like a wild animal as he pushed into her. He nipped at the skin of her shoulder.

She moaned appreciatively. She slid her nails over his skin. He breathed out a groan of appreciation. "God."

"Finnick?" She panted.

"Annie." He replied.

"Almost."

"Me too."

A few more strokes brought them to their brink at the same glorious moment, their voices rising together loud enough that surely the whole of District Four heard when they climaxed. Finnick leaned against her, panting in her ear.

"Oh, god." She managed after a while.

"Yeah." He breathed. Slowly, gingerly, he let her down, still standing close.

"I think you deserve a reward for that." She grinned up at him.

"And what reward are you thinking?"

"I'll throw something together for dinner. You relax. I've got a lot of wonderful things in mind for the rest of the night."

Finnick gave a satisfied groan and then pressed a hard kiss to her mouth before he let her go.

The short time passed in pure domestic bliss. Finnick and Annie spent a lot of time swimming and disappearing into their cave for days at a time. They spent some days just hiding in the house. They cooked together and ate together and fell asleep together as though they had been married for ten years or more.

They kept pretending. The Capitol wasn't in control, they were. And they planned their days accordingly.

The day before the Reaping, Finnick convinced Annie to take one last walk around their small town. He didn't want to admit it, but he had a feeling he wasn't coming back. So he wanted one last look around the town where he was raised.

She dragged him away when he paused in the square. They were already setting up the stage.

"No." She said softly.

He nodded and continued on to the dockyard where a fishing fleet both their fathers had been in used to take off from and return to. The fleet both of them had joined on school breaks to help bring in just a little more money with the extra hands.

Annie let go of his hand and walked to the end of one of the docks and sat down. Her feet didn't touch the water. She put her face in her hands and started sobbing heavily.

Finnick sat down beside her and wrapped her in his arms. "It's okay, Ann."

"No, it's not okay." She cried into his chest. "I won't make it out this time. I don't even think I'll make it off the podium alive. I still hear the cannons. I still hear the screams of the kids drowning when the arena flooded. I feel the break always right at the edge of everything. The same break that happened in my soul when I saw that boy die in front of me. I felt like his eyes were accusing me."

She moved away and looked back out to the horizon. She sobered. "When I was a kid and I went out to help my father on his boat, I didn't think of anything but the fish and how it would help." She turned to him. "And I remember you, just a couple years older than me, but still so wise. You knew everything about the sea. You knew every fish. Knew what time of day it was and what the weather was going to be by the way the sea moved around our boats. And I knew I loved you then. I didn't even know what love like that was, but I knew it anyway. I knew you'd never love me back, I was this annoying little brat that was always there."

He reached up and wiped the moisture off her cheeks. "You crept up on me, Annie. After you survived, I knew I could love you. But I cared for you when I was reaped, before that even. Every year after, I prayed it wasn't you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come back." He rested his forehead against hers. "You're not going in. Mags is going to volunteer if you're picked. Don't fret."

She sat back and looked into his eyes. She tried to say something several times, but no words came. He knew what she was thinking anyway and pulled her to him.

"Don't, Ann. Just don't." he begged.

"You can't leave me!" She sobbed, clutching at him. "I can't live without you. I can't go on."

"You can. You have to."

She pounded on his chest. "No! I can't. And I won't. If you die, I die too. I'll never be able to live without you to pull me out of the darkness."

"You'll find a way." He said, his voice breaking. "Promise me you'll find a way. I can't fight knowing you would do something to harm yourself." He shook her shoulders when she didn't answer. "Promise me, damn it!"

She watched him a moment, tears still streaming down her face. "I promise."

He nodded and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Let's go home." He stood.

"No." She looked back out to the horizon.

"No?"

"Let's go to the cave. One more night in our cave."

He nodded and hefted her to her feet. He pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers. "I've never liked saying goodbye to you."

"And I've never liked hearing it." She stepped away and took his hand, leading him back to the shore. "Let's have one more night of pretending."

"One more night." He agreed.