You Asked For This - Finnick Odair

Girl Talk

"I look over at you and see sunshine."
– Unknown

...

Cora woke up just before sunrise in the Newport mansion. It was about two weeks before the 69th Annual Hunger Games. But she wasn't worried this year. She'd been good. For real this time.

Last night, she had had a sleepover with Annie and Lyra. Like a girls' night. Cora wished Xena could've been there. She just knew that Annie and Lyra would love her, even if they found her a little strange at first.

Sean and Blue had stayed at Finnick's that night. It wasn't a planned boys' night for them, but it only made sense. They invited Crane over too, once they realized they were having a boys' night.

The girls had invited Mags, not wanting to leave the woman out, but she had insisted that it was important to spend time together as young girls, though she appreciated the offer.

Annie and Lyra, who had been asleep on the floor next to her, began to stir.

The older girl tried to sneak to the kitchen, not wanting to wake them. But the two younger girls woke up.

"Is it sunrise?" Lyra groggily asked.

"Almost," Cora quietly responded.

"Can we go to the beach?"

Cora smiled. "Sounds lovely. Do you wanna come, Annie?"

"Did you need to ask?" The redhead smirked.

And so, the three girls quickly brushed their teeth and took their hair out of the braids they had done last night. They didn't bother changing out of their pjs as they left the Newport mansion, not wanting to miss the sunrise.

The cool morning air felt nice on their skin as they walked along the beach, the sun just beginning to peek out from the horizon.

Cora loved mornings like this, they always reminded her of her mom. A little of her dad too, who used to take her out fishing, always claiming that the early mornings were the best time to find fish. He was right, of course. But Cora also thought he liked to watch the sunrise, just like his wife. Which was also true.

"Are you going to marry Crane?" The eleven-year-old girl asked Annie.

Cora smirked at her redheaded friend.

The sixteen-year-old girl's face went red, as usual. "Maybe," she began. "But I think we're too young for that, right now."

She smiled at the thought. She really did like him. Maybe not love quite yet, but she could imagine it wouldn't take long until she did love him. He was funny and sweet. Sometimes, when he got back from his job as a fisherman's apprentice, he would bring her seashells or pretty rocks he found while out ("I thought you'd like them," he'd say.).

He was great with Blue, Sean, and Lyra. Her parents adored him. Mags adored him. Cora and Finnick, who'd only just met him, had given their stamp of approval as well. No, he wasn't perfect. But he was about as close as anyone could get, Annie thought.

"Well, you should," Lyra stated. "I like him. You should name your first child after me."

Annie's face got even redder, which Cora didn't think was possible.

Cora laughed at her friend's reaction. "What if she has a boy?" She asked the blonde.

"Then she can call him 'Lyro.' That's the boy version."

The three tried to keep straight faces, but ended up in fits of laughter after only a few seconds.

"Are you gonna have kids with Sean?" Annie asked. It was common knowledge that Lyra wanted to marry Sean when she grew up.

"Yeah. I want to be like Cora's parents and adopt kids. Sean told me all about much Mr. and Mrs. Newport loved him. He doesn't remember much more, but he wants to be like them. They're the reason he has a family, even if he never got to say 'thank you' for it."

Cora felt tears well up in her eyes at Lyra's words. She didn't think Sean remembered anything about Harp and Evangeline outside of the stories Ocean, Reef, and herself had told him.

It was nice to know that he remembered how loving they were. It was even nicer to know that he wanted to be like them.

Annie was also touched by the preteen's words. Sean and Lyra were two of the most interesting kids she knew.

What other eleven-year-olds would think about that? Sentiments like this weren't usually had until one was at least a few years older.

The sun slowly rose higher in the sky and the girls, hair in identical waves from the braids, found a dry place in the sand to sit. The water ebbed and flowed, making hollow points in the sand where their heels rested.

"What about you, Cora? I have Crane, Lyra has Sean. What about you?" Annie asked as the three stared at the pink and purple sky.

"She has Finnick," Lyra answered confidently.

It was Annie's turn to laugh at Cora.

Cora coughed, sitting up a little more. "Finnick and I are friends, Lyr. Just friends."

The blonde girl smirked, looking more like her brother than ever. "For now..."

"Let's talk about something else," The seventeen-year-old girl deflected. "Like this beautiful sunrise. Just look at all those colors!"

Annie snorted, knowing exactly what Cora was doing.

Lyra just smiled.

Like Cora, she had picked up on the way Crane's ears went red when he interacted with Annie. But, what Cora didn't know, and what no one else seemed to notice, was that she did a similar thing every time Finnick was brought up.

It wasn't a blush of any sort, but rather a very specific smile. It was a sort of downturned smile that was only used when she was talking to or about the golden-haired boy.

That smile is why Lyra believed that Cora and Finnick would've fallen for each-other without the shared trauma of the Hunger Games.

In District 4, school continued until the year one turned twelve. And, around the time Cora and Finnick were both thirteen years old, Lyra had noticed the older girl begin to smile like that (only a little) when Finnick was mentioned.

When she was little, Lyra believed it to be a sign of annoyance. It was no secret that her big brother and Sean's big sister didn't like each-other. But the blonde knew better now. She didn't think Cora knew she had feelings for Finnick back then. But they were there, just buried under the silly rivalry.

Finnick was that way too. Around the same time Cora's downturned smile showed up, Lyra noticed Finnick's expression had changed as well. His annoyed frowns were more strained, as if he were fighting a smile when the strawberry-blonde was mentioned or around.

Now, he didn't have that because there was no rivalry between the two. He didn't have to fight his smile. Now, his smiles were wider where Cora was concerned. He always had this big grin on his face. Even when he was smirking, Lyra could see the softness in her brother's eyes reserved only for Coral Newport.

The girls talked for a little while longer. They talked about everything. Their aspirations for the future, their next sleepover, Lyra's newest design project for a little shed just outside her mansion, the cooking experiment Annie's mom had tried and how terribly it had gone, how Sean and Blue probably could've saved Mrs. Cresta's culinary disaster. Everything.

And then, when the sun had risen, the three walked back to Cora's mansion. They made pancakes for breakfast and a mess in the kitchen during the process. The sun shone through the windows, making the already light atmosphere even brighter.

It was a good morning. And, even if it was just for a couple hours, Coral Newport's life felt like pure sunshine.