The Life of A Victor || Finnick Odair

CHAPTER 8

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"Of course you did. Yes, it's been a bit of a rough night. Now. What about you? Why are you here alone?" Finnick chuckled, looking at the sand. 

"I had some things to think about. Your turn. Why is it being a rough night for you?" he asked, still with his light-hearted tone. Dove smiled at him and looked back at the sea. 

"I was wondering whether it was all a dream. Whether, if I went to sleep, I would wake up tomorrow having to watch my brother at the games. All over again. . . I guess I just couldn't sleep after that. You? May I know what those thoughts were?" As she finished talking, her eyes landed on his face. His face hardened at her words. He thought that she would be ecstatic at her brother's victory, but it seemed it was just wishful thinking.

He looked at her, meeting her green eyes on the process. "Victor stuff, you'll understand once you're older," he mocked her, making her fake gasp. 

"How dare you? I'm only two years younger than you!" Dove replied, faking anger. 

"You mean I'm a whole two years older than you," she laughed at Finnick's remark. He joined in soon after. As their laughter died down, she looked back at the sea before talking again. 

"I haven't thanked you yet for bringing my brother back alive-" she tried to say before being cut off. "And you don't have to. I made a promise. And it was also my duty as mentor." He reassured her with a smile. Dove looked at him with one too. Maybe Finnick is really not that bad. She thought.

"Why did you approach me? You could have just gone any other way. Why here?" Finnick asked her, concern written all over his tone, even though he tried to hide it with a chuckle. 

"This spot right there where you're sitting is special for me. I couldn't bring myself to go any other way." The reply only confused him even more. 

"Can I know why is it special for you? I'm curious, since we're just near the rocky part of the beach," he asked again. 

"My mother found me right here," as she met the boy's eyes, she could almost hear his thoughts. He looks like he's about to beg me to continue with the story. For some reason, she found it funny. She hadn't explained it to anyone, not that it was needed. Half the people she knew were either there when it happened, or her mother told them hours after.

"This was what my mother told me, OK?" Dove commented before telling the story. 

"Ten years ago, on a chilly December afternoon, my siblings were walking around the beach. I think Melo was collecting shells, while Angel just played by the water. Melo was six years-old and Angel was seven. At some point, my brother ran to this place, saying he had spotted a red fur coat," Finnick laughed at the thought of a young Melo calling his younger sister a 'red fur coat'. 

"Yeah, I know." She laughed, too. She understood her brother was only six, but being called a fur coat wasn't exactly pleasing.

"Anyway, he came running to a passed out me. Once he was near, he noticed I was a person and yelled for mum to get me. After that, Mags checked on me, since no doctor would do it. Mum went around town asking if someone knew of any family who had a child missing, but no one even had the decency to reply." Dove explained. 

"But, as she did that, Melo was too busy comparing me to the Dove shells he had found earlier that day, and gave me that name. He and Angel got affectionate to the poor lost girl, and boom. Here I am. Any questions?" Finnick's puzzled look spoke by itself. He got the major picture, but there were some details he still had to think over.