Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 5

Whilst his lying beside her may keep her heart rate in check, it did not keep the nightmares at bay.

He kept a hand on her at all times, which kept her calm, but she refused to sleep unless he was awake.

It was a good thing no one had tried to give them any District 13 schedules. Taiya had taken to frequently napping during the day. If he was awake, he'd be able to see her first shudder, and he'd immediately reach over and shake her awake before the horrors attacked her subconscious. He always felt horrible waking her and disturbing what precious little sleep she could get. But she begged him to and he could just never say no to her.

"Are you sleeping?" his quiet voice mumbled, breaking the silence she'd lain in for hours.

She didn't want to let him know just how bad her sleep pattern was (he definitely knew), so she tried her best to adjust her breathing, trying to replicate that of a sleeping person.

It may have been too dramatic.

He lifted his head and peered over her shoulder.

"Your eyes are open."

"I was sleeping," she mumbled. "It's fine, go back to sleep."

"Do you want to sleep in shifts?" he offered. "I can keep an eye on you and you can keep an eye on me."

"Trust me, I'm okay," she smiled, rolling over and placing her head on his chest. "See. Super cozy, I'll be asleep in no time."

"Well, you may as well sleep. Because I'm not tired," he said as he tried to stifle a yawn. "I've got you, Ariel," he squeezed her shoulder.

Taiya's head whipped up to look at him. He hadn't called her Ariel in 10 years. The last time he'd called her Ariel was before his Games when they'd said goodbye.

Where would they be if Finnick was never reaped? They'd still be together, that's for sure. That seemed like a fate. Their parents would still be alive, Theo would be alive, and Taiya's dad would still be mayor. They'd be well off. They'd probably already be married with kids, that wasn't unusual for most of their District.

Despite the comfort Taiya had spent her life in, many people in 4 were poor. The only way to survive would be to pool resources through marriage.

Finnick was never well off, though neither was he poor like the Cresta's. But they still would need to marry so he could live in the same comfort Taiya was used to. He'd probably be working on the docks, putting his trident skills to use as he caught fish, no doubt being able to bring some home every night for food for their growing family. She couldn't imagine not being friends with the other victors though. She could only hope they would've linked up and bonded at some point.

Maybe Theo would have fallen in love and their kids would be playing together in the sea while the childhood best friends laughed together on the beach.

All of this Taiya tried her best never to think about it. But hearing the name Ariel come from his lips after 10 years brought this back.

He'd always joked that the mayor, the leader of the District was the equivalent to Triton, and his unruly daughter who loved to mess around with the runts of District 4 was Ariel.

She didn't know whether calling her Ariel was a ploy to make her think of home, but it worked. As her imagination ran through what their lives would have been like, she felt more at peace than she had in days and she gradually drifted off to sleep.

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"NO!" she gasped as she flung herself away from the hands that were shaking her awake, her heart hammering in her chest.