You Asked For This - Finnick Odair

Grief and Insanity

"I cannot make my anger beautiful. I cannot make my pain sweet."
— Unknown

...

Coral Newport and Finnick Odair trained Annie and Sean harder than they'd trained any other tribute. Harder than Finnick had trained Cora and Reef. Tips and tricks, survival skills, weapons, hand-to-hand combat, working the crowd. Nothing was left out.

When it was time for the tributes to be sent into the arena, they were given tight hugs and told heartfelt "I love you"s. Finnick was the one to see Annie off and Cora to see Sean.

He still hadn't spoken to anyone outside of what was necessary for the games. And so, when he pulled Cora into a tight hug and whispered "I love you" back, it meant something more.

And when, just before Orasta escorted him away, he ran up to Cora and hugged her again, whispering one last thing to her, it meant the world.

Cora dissolved into tears when he left. She was going to lose him. Her baby brother was going to die.

Finnick found her on the floor, looking more broken than he had ever seen her. He helped her up, looked into her bloodshot eyes, and he just couldn't hold it in anymore. A few tears slipped from his own eyes and he broke down.

The District 4 Victors stood there, sobbing into each-other, in a tight embrace for a few minutes. They would've stood there for hours, but they still had a job to do.

So they went back to their apartment, removed all evidence of tears, and went around petitioning rich Capitol citizens to sponsor their tributes.

Neither Annie nor Sean died in the bloodbath. Finnick and Cora sent water and more supplies, saving some money for later in the games. It was a strange desert climate. There was no water, but fossilized sea creatures.

About a week into the games, Cora turned nineteen. She didn't celebrate her birthday anymore, just made a mental note that she was older.

Finnick prepared breakfast for her birthday, but didn't acknowledge it otherwise. He knew it would only upset her.

This day, Cora's nineteenth birthday, was the day Sean Newport died.

Sean and Annie usually stayed hidden, but they were running out of supplies and needed to leave their spot. There was a fight and the brown-eyed boy saved Annie from the boy from District 1. The District 1 boy beheaded Sean Newport. Annie saw the whole thing.

And she just screamed.

It was as if her scream had caused what came next. A giant wave swept through the arena, seemingly coming from nowhere. The rest of the tributes drowned while Annie's reflexes kept her swimming.

Annie Cresta was crowned the Victor of the 70th Annual Hunger Games.

...

When the seventeen-year-old girl had to watch her games all over again, to watch Sean get killed once more, she started screaming again. For all the Capitol to see, she screamed and screamed until she was removed and sent back to District 4.

She did not go on a victory tour. And her parents were killed for her instability. This only made things worse.

She had hallucinations, like Cora used to have, but she didn't know they were hallucinations. She thought every monster, every dead loved one, was real.

Crane was the biggest help to her. He stayed with her, though it all. Annie Cresta's mind might've been broken, but she was still the same girl he had fallen in love with. And he wouldn't leave her. Not when she needed him most.

Eventually, she got better. She didn't heal fully, but she got better. She didn't cook anymore, having developed a severe fear of knives. She always kept some food and water by her bed when she slept, so that she wouldn't have to leave for supplies.

She would ask Crane what was real and what wasn't. And he was always there to answer her, never once making her feel like a burden, no matter how many times she asked. Cora, Finnick, Mags, and Blue also helped with this.

As the months passed by, the youngest and last remaining male Newport, turned ten. He still wasn't close with Cora or Finnick, but he became kinder. Seeing what the games did to Annie made him understand them just a bit better.

...

Sean Newport was buried next to Lyra Odair. When she looked up at the night sky, Cora could've sworn she saw a new star in Lyra's constellation that hadn't been there previously. She liked to believe that that was Sean up there, finally reunited with his love.

Now, when she looked up at Lyra's constellation, she remembered both Lyra and Sean. But she also remembered Sean's last words.

The words he said to her right before he went into the arena. She didn't know how he knew to say exactly what she needed, but he did. He had always been wiser than most.

She never did believe these words, but she tried to. For him.

"It's not your fault."

...

...

...

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A/N

That is the end of this section!

In this next section, Cora and Finnick's relationship will finally deepen and they may or may not realize they're in love. I haven't decided on if they'll realize before the 75th Games comes around or not.

I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next section!