In the middle of the night, I am woken up by Annie.
She has tears running down her cheeks, and is sobbing quietly.
"Annie what's wrong?"
I ask sitting up.
She twists the blanket in her hands, as she answers.
"I...had a...nightmare...I didn't want to wake you...but it was just so awful...I didn't want to be alone."
She covers her face with her hands, and starts sobbing harder. I slide closer to her, and wrap my arms around her.
"It's okay, I'm here."
She curls up as close as she can to me, and rests her head on my chest. I can feel her tears running down my stomach.
I hold her tightly, resting my cheek on her head. I run my hand over her hair soothingly.
"Shhh. I won't let anything happen to you."
I ease into a laying position, pulling the covers over her.
Her shoulders slowly stop shaking, and her breathing returns to normal.
"Don't let me go."
I close my eyes as I answer in a whisper.
"Never."
She falls back asleep, safe in my arms.
I lay awake for a while, listening to her silent breathing. I whisper gently.
"I will always protect you, and I will always be there for you."
Then I fall asleep.
In the morning, I wake up to find that Annie has already left. I lay in bed for a little while, today we will be back in district four, and we'll be having dinner at the mayors house.
I get up reluctantly, and stretch. Dressing quickly in jeans and a teal shirt, I walk out into the dining car.
Bruce is the only one up, drinking a large mug of coffee.
"Morning Bruce."
He nods.
"Morning Finnick. Sleep well?"
I shrug.
"I slept fine."
He raises an eyebrow and sets his mug down.
"Annie?"
I nod.
"She has nightmares?"
I nod again.
"What about?"
I shrug.
"She doesn't talk about them, I know I wouldn't."
Bruce sets his mug on the table, and leans back in his chair.
"Young girl like her shouldn't be having nightmares."
I order some coffee.
"Her mind is fragile, after her brother died, she sort of lost it."
Bruce looks surprised.
"What snapped her out of it?"
"Me, I was able to bring her back to reality. But now I think she has nightmares about the games."
Bruce frowns.
"The games?"
I nod.
"My games I think. Robbert died after I went off to the games, and I think the combined stress of it all pushed her over the edge. Who knows what her mind tortured her with during then."
Bruce thinks for a moment.
"It sounds like an extreme case of shock syndrome. The same thing as the attack you had after the games. One of the only ways I could snap you out of that was to remind you of Annie. It seems that you two are each others strength, you keep Annie strong, and she keeps you strong."
I sigh, and drink some of my coffee.
"I just wish there was some way I could keep her from having nightmares."
Bruce shrugs.
"Well, there is no way. The important thing is to be there when she needs you."
"Don't worry, I will be."
He nods.
"I don't doubt it, I would always have been there when she needed me."
I sit silently. He's talking about my mother.
"Good morning you two. Sleep well?"
Mags asks as she enters the dining car. We both respond, and order breakfast.
In a minute we are joined by Tiffy and Annie.
Tiffy loudly exclaims that she thinks the victory tour went excellent. Annie remains silent, taking her seat next to me quietly.
I slowly catch hold of her hand under the table, and she wraps her fingers around mine tightly.
"You okay?"
I whisper barely audible. She gives the slightest nod of her head.
Bruce is watching us closely, and now I know why, he's watching out for us. I give him a slight nod, and Annie smiles. He relaxes, and we all begin eating a large breakfast of waffles with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Annie relaxes and cheers up during the meal, talking and laughing with the rest of us. I'm glad to see she's feeling better.
"We should arrive in district four fairly early, so you can go do whatever you like until four-thirty, then report to the hotel, there you will be prepped and ready to go!"
Tiffy informs all of us.
Not long after breakfast, our train comes to a stop at the station.
"Prepare for some vultures."
Bruce mutters to Annie and I, Mags explains.
"He means reporters."
Annie giggles, and I grin as Bruce replies.
"What's the difference?"
Sure enough there are several camera crews asking questions when we step onto the station.
"Finnick! How was the victory tour?"
"What did you think of the other districts?"
"Did you see anything new?"
"I had a wonderful time, all the districts were unique and I saw lots of new things."
I answer quickly, then I grab Annie's hand, and push through them. Bruce and Mags follow, and we all board the large car that will take us to the district.
"Bruce and I will see you two tonight."
Mags says as we are dropped off in victors village.
"See you tonight then."
They wave and walk to their houses.
"So, how about we go say hello to your mother?"
Annie smiles brightly.
"Oh yes please! I've missed her a lot."
"I'll race you!"
We take off running, and within a couple of minutes we reach the Cresta's house.
Annie bursts through the front door, and I'm close on her heels.
"What...?"
Annie stops short, and I run into her, almost knocking her over.
The living room is covered in streamers, and there is a big "welcome home" banner. The house smells incredible, and Mrs. Cresta appears in the doorway to the kitchen.
"Oh dear, it was supposed to be a surprise."
Annie runs up and hugs her mother tightly.
"Well I was surprised. I missed you!"
Mrs. Cresta laughs,
"I missed you too. Come here Finnick! I missed you as well."
I grin and walk over, she grabs me in a tight hug.
"Thank you for looking after my little girl."
She whispers quietly in my ear. Then she releases me and turns back to Annie.
"Well, since you've already ruined the surprise, I suppose there's no harm in telling you I'm baking your favorite dessert."
Annie claps her hands excitedly.
"Ooh! Ginger snaps?"
She nods, and taps Annie's nose.
"Yes. Now you and Finnick go off and do something till lunch time."
She pushes us out the door, telling us to go have fun.
"Well, what do you want to do?"
I ask poking her. She pokes me back.
"I don't know, what do you want to do?"
I laugh, when we were little we could carry on like this for hours.
"How about we go talk to all the popular girls about the glory! Of the capitol?"
She wrinkles her nose, and shoves me.
"Yeah, you go do that. I'm going to the beach!"
She takes off at a run, and I shout after her as I follow.
"Wait! Don't leave me with all those girls by my self!"
She slows down to a walk and lets me catch up.
"Aw come on, big strong guy like you. Can't handle a few girls?"
I shake my head, shuddering.
"They terrify me. I'll just tag along with you."
She smiles,
"Suit yourself."
We walk on the beach, and play in the shallows until lunchtime, then we go back to Annie's house for a wonderful lunch Mrs. Cresta prepared. We stayed until four-thirty telling her all about the tour.
We arrived a little late at the hotel, and got a sound scolding from Tiffy, then we were quickly prepped and dressed, and sent on our way.
Dinner at the mayors house went uneventfully, and soon we were on our way home.
Annie and I decided to walk, explaining that we hadn't got enough exersize on the train.
I walked her to her house.
"Goodnight Annie."
"Night Finn. See you tomorrow?"
I nod,
"Yeah, I'll see you then."
She closes the door as I turn and start to walk to my house.
It's going to be weird without her there tonight. I hope she doesn't have any nightmares.
I crawl into bed exhausted, and am almost instantly asleep.
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