‹ Prequel: Anchored
Sequel: Shattered Seashell ›
Between the Sea & Me
just keep your head above
They say the ocean has no memory, but Annie could remember everything.
How could she ever forget?
The familiar weight of his arms around her, the flavor of sea salt that constantly clung to his skin, the gentle sound of his voice as it coaxed her out of the horrifying array of flashbacks that littered each day, everything about him was so embedded in her thoughts. As she watched the tide churn, the memories seemed to swell, crash, and dissolve all around her. With each passing day, his features became more and more blurry, and Annie felt like she was losing him all over again, tiny fragments of who he used to be slipped through her fingers like the sand beneath her feet.
Every time she saw the ocean, all she could think about were his eyes: green like the sea, forever tumultuous, with more depths than she could ever fathom.
And every time she saw those waves, the tides that reminded her so much of her Finnick, she wanted them to crash over her, to sweep her into their depths and carry her home.
Because this world without him wasn’t her home anymore, and every day was its own struggle. She’d lost the one person who was her anchor to reality, and now, she was left to keep drifting.
Annie was no longer fighting the surf, she was just keeping her head above the water.
“Please, please come back to me,” she murmured the words desperately as she stared out at the vastness ahead. “I can’t do this without you.”
A little boy’s laughter broke through her whispered devotions, and she instinctively turned towards the sound. Blessed with those bronzed curls and his father’s crooked smile, as hollow as she felt, Annie couldn’t keep herself from smiling at the sight of her son, their son, the piece of Finnick the Capitol couldn’t take from her.
“I wish you could see him,” she whispered, letting her eyes fall closed as she relished the smile that cross her lips. “You’d be so proud.”
When she thought she would be swept away, Dylan was the one that kept her treading water.
How could she ever forget?
The familiar weight of his arms around her, the flavor of sea salt that constantly clung to his skin, the gentle sound of his voice as it coaxed her out of the horrifying array of flashbacks that littered each day, everything about him was so embedded in her thoughts. As she watched the tide churn, the memories seemed to swell, crash, and dissolve all around her. With each passing day, his features became more and more blurry, and Annie felt like she was losing him all over again, tiny fragments of who he used to be slipped through her fingers like the sand beneath her feet.
Every time she saw the ocean, all she could think about were his eyes: green like the sea, forever tumultuous, with more depths than she could ever fathom.
And every time she saw those waves, the tides that reminded her so much of her Finnick, she wanted them to crash over her, to sweep her into their depths and carry her home.
Because this world without him wasn’t her home anymore, and every day was its own struggle. She’d lost the one person who was her anchor to reality, and now, she was left to keep drifting.
Annie was no longer fighting the surf, she was just keeping her head above the water.
“Please, please come back to me,” she murmured the words desperately as she stared out at the vastness ahead. “I can’t do this without you.”
A little boy’s laughter broke through her whispered devotions, and she instinctively turned towards the sound. Blessed with those bronzed curls and his father’s crooked smile, as hollow as she felt, Annie couldn’t keep herself from smiling at the sight of her son, their son, the piece of Finnick the Capitol couldn’t take from her.
“I wish you could see him,” she whispered, letting her eyes fall closed as she relished the smile that cross her lips. “You’d be so proud.”
When she thought she would be swept away, Dylan was the one that kept her treading water.
♠ ♠ ♠
I've written some crossovers and I have a couple other oneshots in the works, but this is pretty much the first Hunger Games piece I've ever written. It was inspired by a prompt in the Bread and Circuses ficathon on lj.Seriously, there are some pretty amazing prompts on there.
Anyways, when I was searching for possible names for Annie and Finnick's son, I looked up names that pertained to the ocean, and the name "Dylan" means "son of the sea," so I thought it was fitting.
Feedback is always appreciated.