The Hunger Games One Shots

Beach day

Finnick and Annie

"Ya, goofball! Quit splashing me with water!" Finnick grinned, watching his son kick the ocean water high in the air. They laughed, the salty backsplash hitting their faces.

Annie sat on the sidelines, a smile wide on her face. Her dark hair was pulled back under her large sunhat and her hands were tracing the yellow beach towel. Since the hype from the rebellion had calmed down, their family had started to get some peace.

She watched her family running on the shore, the tide slowly going down with the sun. The pinks and oranges were blending together, casting beautiful sparkles across the ocean. Never in a millions years would they have guessed this outcome.

"Dada!" He giggled, grabbing onto Finnick's legs. Annie couldn't help but giggle herself as she watched Finnick try to shake their son from his legs.

"You're like a little octopus with your tentacles!" Finnick teased, making the boy's laugh echo in joy. Never in their lives had they heard such a sound. It was filled with so much happiness. So much life.

As she watched, she took this time to admire them. Their bronze hair and sea green eyes. It was a prefect sight, really. A father with his son. They were like carbon copies, only, the tiny one would never have to experience such trauma his parents did. And they were glad. Glad for the rebellion. Glad for this chance for him to truly live a life filled with kindness and happiness.

Finnick grabbed the boy, tossing him high into the air. Their laughs echoed in her ears, causing a large smile to break out on her face. They were melodic, sounding like one of the sea songs she and Finnick grew up singing.

"Momma! Come build a sandcastle with me!" He called, waving his small hand at her.

"Come on, Annie!" Finnick encouraged, sitting down beside their son in the sand.

"Alright, I'm coming." Annie answered, standing up and quickly walking towards them. She gently sat down beside them, watching Finnick help their son build the castle.

"You take the water and pour it on the sand, making it sticky," Finnick explained, handing him the cup filled with the seawater. Slowly, the little boy poured the water over a small patch of sand. "Yeah. Perfect, Fredrick."

"Now you gotta scoop it up." Annie grinned, tapping the wet sand with her finger. Following her instruction, Fredrick scooped the wet sand into his cup.

"Then quickly tip it over!" Finnick cheered, taking Fredrick's tiny hands in his and pulling the cup to the ground. Fredrick laughed, his green eyes lighting up with enjoyment.

"Now we have to tap the sides." Annie giggled, everyone tapping the sides of the cup.

"Tap. Tap. Tap." Fredrick spoke out loud each time he hit the cup.

"Slowly, we pull off the cup," Finnick explained, his tongue sticking out as he carefully pulled off the cup. Fredrick laughed, pointing at his father's face. He thought seeing his tongue was hilarious. "Voilà!" Finnick cheered, showing off the freshly made sand castle.

"Aw," Fredrick frowned, gently poking it. "It's small."

"Don't worry, we can build more," Annie encouraged. "We'll make a tiny kingdom." She continued, tickling his sides. He giggled, squirming away from her.

"Here, why don't you go get us some more water, squirt?" Finnick grinned, handing the cup to Fredrick. The little boy nodded and rushed off to the ocean, spraying sand at them as his feet dug into the sand.

Annie and Finnick turned around, watching their son. He was something special, something truly amazing. "He's so happy." Annie stated as Finnick rested his hand over her's.

"I know," Finnick answered, a soft smile on his lips. "I've never known anyone in this world with such gladness. Even other victors I've meet over the years have never been this joyous."

"Not even some of the more intense ones, the ones bred literally for battle." She nodded, her eyes glazing over as she stared off into the distance.

"I want him to stay this pure, this innocent." Finnick declared, his jaw clenching. Annie glanced over at him, now pulled from her trance.

"Finnick, you know we can't," she whispered. "You know he'll have to know what we went through, what we did to survive."

"I can't do it, Annie. I can't tell our angel about anything before the rebellion. This quiet peace is all he knows and it's all he'll know." Finnick argued, his green eyes studying his face.

"I don't want him to know about the past either," Annie replied. "I want him to stay this sweet. I want him to be trusting and curious. I want him to stay the way he is right now."

Finnick bit his lower lip, processing what she was saying. Annie leaned over, her face inches away from his. "But if we don't tell him, some stranger will. And I don't want that either," she softly spoke. "We don't have to do it now. Actually, we aren't going to do it now. Let's just enjoy this time with out sweet Fredrick."

Finnick nodded as their tiny child ran over to them, some salty water splashing onto their legs. "I got the water." He grinned, holding the cup out to them.

"Nice job, Fred. Way to go." Finnick congratulated, rubbing Fredrick's bronze hair.

"Do you remember the steps?" Annie asked, softly smiling at him. Fredrick eagerly nodded his head, his green eyes bright with excitement. "Can you teach me?" She asked.

Immediately, their little boy dropped to his knees and poured the water on the sand. His mouth was moving at a million miles per hour, rambling about everything that came to his mind as he showed them how to build sand castles.

By the timetable sun had sunk beneath the water, they had a tiny kingdom. Fredrick was very proud of it. Annie and Finnick happily watched him gush over everything they all made together. This was engraved into all of their memories together.

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