Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

One

Marissa wraps trembling fingers around the warm thermos in her hands. The tips of her fingers are bright red as a result of the chilling winds that whip around her, but she does not care; she only has the thermos with her because Finnick had insisted that she take it. The tip of her nose is flushed, and she sniffles, inhaling the salty air blown up from the waves that crash against the sand she sits on.

She frowns when her red hair blows into her face, obstructing her view of the tide and attempts to push it behind her ears. She silently wishes that Finnick is here with her, and not visiting their close friend Annie Cresta because she knows he would already be pulling her hair into a plait.

She eventually gives up, leaving her hair to catch in the wind and fly around madly because her fingers are too numb to tie it up. She sighs, sipping the tea in her thermos but she feels no relief from the warmth that spreads through her body. She just feels empty.

Marissa adores the beach; it is the only place that provides her comfort. Even her own home, which she shares with Finnick Odair and her younger sister Mira, is a painful reminder of the horrors she faced in the games. Horrors she committed under the control of the Capitol. Her house is just another cruel reminder that Marissa is not safe from them even in her own home. She will forever be a pawn in the Capitols games.

Today it is all she can think about. Today is the announcement for the upcoming Quarter Quell. Marissa isn't sure what she's expecting but ever since Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won last years games, tension has been rising between the Districts and the Capitol. Even District Four, one of the career Districts has started to resent the Capitol. Marissa knows that whoever the tributes are for this years Quarter Quell are going to be suffering a great deal more than usual. President Snow will use this year's Games to punish the districts.

Marissa does not want to mentor this year. It's torture enough without the possibility that these children are going to be punished for their Districts actions. Marissa cannot handle mentoring another child for a week, only for them to meet their demise. She cannot fail to mentor anybody else.

She wipes a single tear from her cheek, pushing away the thoughts of the young children Marissa only got to know for a week before they were slaughtered for the Capitol's entertainment. The thought of it enrages her but she cannot express her discontent for the event without endangering the people she loves. She cannot express her rage without endangering Mira.

Marissa had vowed to protect Mira Johnson at the mere age of ten. Mira had been seven at the time. Their parents were killed in an accident, their mother had fallen from the fishing boat and got tangled in one of the nets and their father drowned when he tried to free her, leaving Marissa and Mira to fend for themselves. Luckily, they were not on their own for very long because Mags Flanagan had heard about the orphaned and starving sisters and had taken them in as her own. Mira had not gone hungry since then, but Marissa had seen her suffer enough in that short time to last her a lifetime. So, Marissa does very little to upset President Snow out of fear that her sister may suffer again.

Marissa, who has been completely lost in her thoughts, jumps when a hand brushes over her shoulder. Her emerald eyes snap up fearfully, but she relaxes when she realises that it is just Finnick. He chuckles at her response, ignoring the red rims around her eyes that suggest she has been crying and settles down onto the cold sand.

"You scared me," she tells him quietly, turning her gaze back to the sea.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," he is still laughing, and Marissa rolls her eyes at him, taking another sip of the tea he had made for her. His laughing ceases and his eyebrows raise when he notices the thick, oversized coat that covers her body. "You stole my coat."