Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Forty-three

The morning Star Squad is due to ship out is sombre. Finnick and Marissa wake up at the same time, five hours earlier than they need to be up, but they are glad to have that extra time to themselves before they head into the Capitol, where they may face their deaths. They slowly get ready together, showering and helping each other get into their uniforms. Marissa rubs Finnick's hair dry with a towel, and he returns the favour, blowdrying her red locks and then tying them into two dutch braids. Marissa has her bracelet gifted to her by Mira during the Quarter Quell hidden underneath the sleeve of her uniform, but her wedding band, along with a matching band that Finnick wears, have been left with Mags, who has promised to keep them safe for them to collect if they survive.

"Somehow, getting ready for the Reaping was worse than this," Marissa says quietly as Finnick finishes the last dutch braid. He secures it with a hairband and then moves closer to Marissa, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and hugging her tightly from behind.

"Well, we knew at least one of us was going to die in the Quarter Quell," Finnick reminds her.

Marissa sighs, looking down at her boots through teary eyes. "I feel like one of us will die out there."

Finnick releases Marissa from the hug and turns her around. He grips her shoulders and looks her directly in the eyes with a very stern frown. "Don't you ever say anything like that, Marissa Guenivere Odair-Johnson!"

"Well, I do! You saw how dangerous it was, more dangerous than the Games, and I don't know how you, Mira and I are all going to survive out there," Marissa admits. Finnick quickly wipes the tears from her cheeks and shakes his head.

"Marissa, we've both survived the Games twice already, and we've been training for this for weeks now. Mira's been training for even longer. We're ready for anything the Capitol can throw at us. We have our squad too. It's not just us three against everyone," Finnick reminds her. "Besides, we're not even going to be on the frontline like we thought. We're going to be fine, Marissa."

"You really believe that?"

"Of course I do. We're going to win this war, and then it will all be over. We can live peacefully in District Four, and we'll have a proper Honeymoon there, at the beach," Finnick promises her, kissing her on the forehead now. He's actually surprised with how calm hes managed to remain throughout the morning because, despite what hes just told his wife, he's extremely anxious about what awaits them in the Capitol. He has no idea how intense the fighting will be, even if they're not on the frontline, and he doesn't really know who will make it and who won't. He's just choosing not to dwell on the possibility of losing people close to him. "Now, come on. We have to go see everyone before we leave."

They meet Mira, Annie and Mags in their shared compartment. Annie cries for the duration of the goodbye, clinging desperately to Finnick and then Marissa. She refuses to let go for a while, but Mags manages to pry her off the soldiers.

"We're going to miss you too, Annie," Marissa says to the hysterical redhead. "But we'll be back soon anyway. We're only going to shoot promos. We won't be in any danger."

Everyone but Annie knows that she is lying, but Annie finds it comforting, and that is all that matters to Marissa. Marissa hugs Mags one last time, squeezing her as tight as she can without causing any harm and blinks away the tears in her eyes. "I love you, Mags."

Mags kisses Marissa on the cheek, and then the older woman hugs Mira tightly. Saying goodbye to the woman who raised the sisters after their parents died is tougher than they thought it would be, but it's especially hard for Mira. Marissa has already had to leave her loved ones twice, not knowing if she'd ever see any of them again. Mira has only been on the other side of that conversation, fearing for her sister's or Finnick's life. Now, she might die, or Marissa or Finnick and she has to say goodbye, knowing she might not come back.

"I thought you said you weren't going to cry," Finnick teases his sister-in-law when they finally leave Annie and Mags. Mira laughs a little as she wipes away her tears and then hits Finnick on the shoulder.

"Shut up," she responds. "I am going to say goodbye to Johanna quickly. I think Sterling wanted to see you two."

Mira runs towards the hospital to see Johanna, and Marissa and Finnick interlace their fingers as they make their way to Sterling's room.

Their former Capitol escort is waiting for them, and no matter how many times Marissa has seen her in the District Thirteen jumpsuit with her natural hair and no makeup, she cannot get used to it. Sterling holds them both close to her, and her bottom lip trembles when she pulls away to look at them.

"I'm so proud of you two," she says, her voice shaking with emotion. "You give them hell for Chambray and me?"

"We'll give them hell from all of us," Finnick nods, taking hold of Marissa's hand once again.

"I'm truly sorry that this has happened to you both. I wish I could've done something to make it better," Sterling tells them, teary-eyed. Marissa smiles softly and reaches out to place her hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Sterling, you did make it better for us. You've always been there for us," Marissa says.

They hug once again, and Sterling walks them up to Hovercraft, which will take them out of District Thirteen and into the war.

"I'll see you later," Sterling says, waving at the couple. "I'll probably see you in the Capitol when all this is over."

"Probably," Finnick smiles a little, grateful that it's not a goodbye for once, but a see you later, and then they board the hovercraft and leave the safety of District Thirteen behind them. The hovercraft only takes the Star Squad into District Twelve, or what's left of it anyway, and they're transferred into a cargo car full of soldiers. Marissa feels quite emotional seeing the rubble of the District. She had been there before, of course, on both her own and Annie's victory tours and while it wasn't anything remarkable to her, it was home to many. President Snow destroyed a home, and Marissa reckons he didn't even bat an eye when he did it. After all, killing children is second nature to him, and although Marissa isn't particularly fond of District Thirteen or its leader, she knows she has chosen the right side. She's fighting for what's right, and she isn't on the side that murders children unnecessarily. She just hopes she'll never have to pretend to be on that side again.

A/N : Hi, they're going into the Capitol now!! Scary... I wonder who will make it out alive........

Also, the book is nearly finished now and it's a bit sad tbh. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!