WHO: Oceana Ridgeway and Nick Waters → Annie Cresta and Finnick Odair WHEN: End of June WHERE: Their home SUMMARY: Oceana and Nick see a happy moment in Annie and Finnick's lives, to offset all of the less happy. WARNINGS: The usual Hunger Games stuff gets mentioned
The sun was hot, despite that it was well on its way toward the western horizon, soon to be completing its journey for the day. It hadn't yet started to paint the sky with a sunset, but it wouldn't be long now before the blue sky would be replaced with black, the moon and stars twinkling down from on high. The day had been a hot one, typical of District Four and among Finnick's favorite sort of weather. It was beach weather, which was exactly where he and Annie had found themselves. Much of Four was coast, some beaches monitored more closely by Peacekeepers than others as they watched fishermen on the shores or as they brought in their vessels. There were some beaches, though, that were almost completely overlooked. They were places where the fish had never been plentiful, the environment not attracting the wildlife for some reason or another. The sand was overgrown in some places and there might have been docks jutting out into the water that were slowly decaying thanks to the tide and waves, but that didn't keep the regular folk of District Four from meandering that way.
It was on one such beach that Finnick and Annie had found themselves for the afternoon. There wasn't any specific reason that they had settled on this stretch of sand and coast, but he did find himself feeling at least a bit more at ease. He knew better than anyone that no part of their world was completely free of Snow and the Capitol, but here felt a bit further away than anywhere else.
They had left their sandals on the shore to wade into the water. He was proud of Annie and how she'd eased her way back toward the ocean. He didn't know if he'd have had that same strength, not after what she'd had to endure in the arena. Watching her find that strength, though, and take back something that the Capitol had tried to wrestle away from her made him happy to see. Actually, just about anything related to Annie made Finnick happy, a realization that he'd slowly been coming to with each passing day. His feelings, no matter how complicated, had become so hard to ignore that he'd more or less stopped ignoring them at all. Not that he'd mentioned them to anyone outside of his mind, of course.
Finnick peered over at Annie, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he did. Standing there in the water, wearing comfortable shorts and a loose t-shirt that was as far away from the outfits he was forced to wear during his trips from the Capitol, close enough to her to be able to touch her if he wanted… it felt good. He felt like more himself than he had in weeks, his heart light and mind at a comfortable ease.
So, his mouth turning fully into a smile, he kicked his foot toward Annie, skimming it over the water and sending a splash of water at her legs. Immediately, Finnick let his foot sink back under the surface and he put on a face of innocence, as though there was actually someone else there that could be guilty for the splash.
This was one of Annie’s favorite stretches of beach. Finding shells was easy here if you knew where to look, and no one really ever bothered her if she walked the sand here. She hadn’t seen a Peacekeeper on this beach in two months, and that occurrence had been something of a fluke given that it wasn’t part of the normal patrols. Out here, boats didn’t dock and the fishing was poor. Here, only an idiot would try to escape Four into the fathomless horizon. There was no one to keep in line, and no punishments to be had. Annie avoided the Peacekeepers whenever she could, hating just the sight of them more than she had before she’d won her games. She avoided the hearts of the villages whenever possible, preferring the quiet tranquility of solitary existence that she could find in lesser travelled parts of the District.
She supposed it wasn’t entirely solitary. Finnick was with her most days. His company was steady and safe, and it was his presence that could turn the tides if Annie should slip into some unwanted memory. She had grown to need him in her life more than anyone else. She adored Mags and still held her parents dear despite their not understanding what she had been through, but it was Finnick that she didn’t know how to get through her days without. Somewhere along the way he had gone from her mentor - someone who understood - to someone that she trusted implicitly. They seemed to walk in some kind of constant gravitational pull, never too far away from one another as long as the sun was still in the sky.
She didn’t know how to address the feelings that so often occupied her thoughts. She still wasn’t entirely stable, and she may never be. Annie knew that Finnick had his own demons to battle, even if he was a constant warrior in helping her combat her own. Dedication and friendship did not equal romance, and who would love a mad girl? She knew that they were broken and healed in much the same ways, constantly just a little bit shattered from the hand that life had dealt them. With Finnick, though, Annie felt more like the girl that she thought was lost. She felt like maybe the shattered bits of their lives wedged together to form something whole again. That brokenness didn’t have to be ugly or unwanted because they held each other up when the other lacked strength to do so on their own.
The water rushed and receded, sometimes just at mid-calf, sometimes above her knees. She was close to getting her shorts wet. Her tanned arms were bare, the sleeveless top that she wore a little too big on her frame. It was soft from years of use, snagged in a few places. Her hair was partially gathered back in a braid, keeping it from falling into her eyes. She stared out at the endless expanse of ocean and then...when the water was lower around her legs, a distinct splash made its way up her thighs, water finding fabric to soak into there.
Annie pressed her lips into a line, trying to suppress her urge to smile even though her eyes were bright and focused entirely on him, a brow arched. She could have ignored it or nudged her shoulder to his arm and let that be the end of it. She could have stared back out to the horizon. However, Finnick was her mentor and her best friend. He had taught her a lot of lessons over the course of time, and one of those lessons was to retaliate swiftly when targeted.
She did look back out to the ocean, but only so that she could watch the next wave come in. When it was perfectly timed to give her maximum impact, she bent her knees and dipped, using her arms and the direction of her hands to send more water his way, splashing upwards and managing to soak a good portion of his shirt in the process. She tried for approximately two seconds to pose an innocent face before she burst into joyous laughter and said but one word, breathed on a giggle: “Oops?”
Finnick didn't bother trying to suppress the grin that immediately started to take over his face when Annie moved to return the splash as well as she'd received. He wasn't the least bit bothered as the water soaked into his shirt; this particular shirt had seen plenty of water in its lifetime, as had most of Finnick's clothing that he kept in District Four. Besides, he wouldn't be standing in the water -- or the instigator of a splashing fight -- if he didn't love it.
It made his heart light to see her this way, playful and as silly as he could be. He'd witnessed some of Annie's lowest points, so seeing her happy and with laughter on her face was a treat. There were times where he felt that he might have done anything to be the reason she smiled and laughed, a dangerous thought that he wasn't trying to ignore as much as he knew he probably should have.
Finnick circled around, still grinning as he caught a good bit of water and kicked it up toward her, aiming for her back. When the water found purchase there was laughter in his voice when he repeated, "Oops."
Annie loved days like this one the most. It was when she felt most herself. For a little while, she seemed to be the girl that had existed before the Hunger Games had claimed her future. She knew that what happened in the arena would stay with her for the rest of her life, but she was starting to heal to the point where she felt joy and happiness again. Where she felt almost normal. There was always a bit of white noise in her mind...and sometimes the ocean helped to drown it out. Sometimes laughter did, too. Right now, though, it wasn’t the misplaced laughter that seemed to take over her when the nightmares threatened to steal her away. Right now, it was only Finnick and the water and the sun kissing the her tanned shoulders.
This time when Finnick retaliated, she wasn’t surprised and did not try to pretend that she could let it roll off of her shoulders. The water splashed up her back, soaking the back of her top and the ends of her braid. Annie gave a small squeal as the cold water soaked into her clothes, but her sea-green eyes were alight with mischief as she turned with a half-quirked grin, “You have two seconds to get a head start, Finn. One.” Her eyes were locked on his, and all she could think about were endless summer days. She flicked a little water at him off of her fingertips. Both of their reflexes were refined, both from a lifetime of fishing and memories they would probably both rather forget. “Two.” The weight of the water pressing against her legs made it difficult for fast movement at a run, but Annie gave chase, splashing as much water in his direction as she could as she raced to meet him.
His grin stayed strong as Annie offered him a head start, but Finnick stayed put, holding his ground until the second the word two left her mouth. At that, he took off in a direction, not quite heading to shore right off the bat, but eventually his feet carrying him, and leading her, that way. He had a feeling that he could outrun her if he really wanted to -- it wasn't a challenge he would ever make, especially since his being physical fit was more for the sake of others (and a healthy dash of vanity, he was willing to admit) -- but he wasn't interested in outrunning her at the moment. If anything, he wanted her to catch him, making this bout of playfulness even more fun. At one point Finnick turned, attempting to kick up some more water at her as he ran backwards and mostly failing.
It was moments like these where the darker parts of their world ceased to exist. All that mattered in that moment was them, this beach, and the lightness in his heart. They were moments that he'd only ever felt with a handful of people before -- his sisters, his parents, Mags. Annie had become as important to him as his family, to the point where he considered her as such. It was dangerous, he knew, but how could he pull away from someone that brought happiness to a life that hadn't had much of it before her?
She was happy for the privacy that this stretch of beach offered because onlookers likely would have given them looks for the merriment that they were daring to partake in. She chased after him, splashing his direction when he turned to kick water back at her, and every once and a while she would give a small shout or joyous squeal. He evaded her for a short time, long enough that when she did catch him it was satisfying, even as her breath caught in her lungs a little from her exertion. Annie did catch him, though, and when she did, it was because he had made the mistake of trying to splash her again. She hadn’t intended to knock them both to the ground, but in her excitement, she captured him with a little too much enthusiasm and sent them sprawling into shallow waters and the sand underneath. The waves still rose up to meet them, and she knew that her miscalculation had left both of them hopelessly soaked by the saltwater.
For a moment, with her hands pressed into the malleable sand at Finnick’s sides, Annie found herself laughing into his chest. With her head tucked there beneath his chin, lips near his collarbones, she forgot that she had likely stumbled over some line that they’d drawn in the sand a long time ago. It was with that thought that she realized just how close they were. They were a tangle of limbs, her body resting mostly against his. She could feel the harder lines of his body against her softer curves, and she realized that she probably shouldn’t have, “Oh.” She lifted her head, starting to push herself away even as the current of a wave tried to push her closer. The joy on her features softened, pinching a little in concern instead when she realized she might have made him uncomfortable. She knew how horrible his visits to the Capitol truly were, and she hadn’t intended to put him in a difficult position, “I...I’m sorry, Finnick. I should have been more careful. Are you all right?”
Finnick fell into the water with a soft oof and a splash. He had realized his mistake the moment he turned to try to splash Annie again, having misjudged just how quick she'd gained on him. His clothes were immediately soaked as his body sunk into the wet sand, but that wasn't where his attention went. Instead, he found himself focusing on Annie in his arms, pressed to his body, and the beautiful sound of her laughter at the happiness their being playful had brought them. Too often he found himself shying away from touch, even from his loved ones, because he didn't feel deserving or it struck too close and triggered a memory from the Capitol, no matter how innocent the touch might have been. At that moment, though, he thought of none of that. For a moment, they were just a boy and a girl, having fun at a beach. For a moment, he felt normal.
That bubble began to pop, though, as Annie backed away. He followed her up, sitting up. There was still a smile lingering on his face, her eyes taking in the concern on her own. "It's okay," Finnick assured her. He reached out, tucking her hair behind her ear. Without his permission, his hand lingered, fingers gentle as they brushed her earlobe. "I'm fine, promise."
She wondered, when he followed her into a sitting position, if she were still too close. She had moved just to the side, but even as she faced him, her hip still touched his. She had tucked her legs to the side, leaning slightly towards him as the water still rushed up to meet her back. His smile helped to soothe her, his reassurances brushing the concern that had started to grow to the side. His fingertips were soft against her skin, but it made her heart race even faster than when she had been chasing him just moments before, the soft touch against her ear encouraging a shiver down her spine.
Somehow this small moment felt more intimate than any of the others that they had shared. She knew that sometimes the normal boundaries of friendship blurred between them. It was there in moments when she would take his hand or he would touch the small of her back or she would cling to him too tightly in the middle of some awful memory that only he seemed to be capable of banishing. She found her smile again, and nodded a little too quickly, trying to tell herself what a truly awful idea it was to entertain romantic thoughts of him. He was her best friend, her mentor, her light in a very bleak world. He was the one person that she could not stand to lose. Without him, her life would cease to have these stolen moments of happiness. Without him, Annie was hopelessly lost. “I just never want to hurt you,” she said after a moment, and she reached to find his hand, seeking the connection and stability that she had come to associate with him. She took his hand in both of hers.
Annie knew that at one point, his hands had been rough and calloused like everyone elses in Four. Like hers had been, too, before the Capitol had snapped both of them up and gotten rid of the “imperfections” of their bodies. His hands were still strong, his fingers long and nimble and good for tying knots. She let her fingers trace over the natural lines of his palm. Someone had told her once that they meant something...that they were supposed to tell about your life and your future, but she didn’t know if that was true. The smallest of confessions passed her lips, and she was sure it was foolish, but she said it anyway, “I didn’t want to pull away.”
Finnick felt his gaze drop as Annie took his hand, looking at them as both of hers covered the one of his. When she'd said that she didn't want to hurt him, he felt a tug at his heart. It couldn't have been brought as simply from her not wanting to hurt him physically when she'd tackled him, but there was more than that between them. She was the only one, outside of Mags, who he was honest with about what he went through in the Capitol -- and, even then, he still rarely talked about it. He was just as aware of her own terrors, having had seen them on a screen and then talked her out of them when they revisited her now. There were so many possibilities for hurt on both sides and he couldn't help but think that if anyone was to do the hurting, it would be him.
But then she spoke, making that one, simple confession. Finnick's eyes darted up, meeting Annie's. It was only six words, but they seemed to shift his entire reality. Every charged moment or long touch that he had waved or explained away before played through his mind. And even though he knew that he should have just changed the subject or done anything else, he made his own small confession. "I didn't want you to either."
His returning confession made her smile grow wider, her confidence building. She felt more comfortable in the space that she shared with him, the cool water still pushing at the both of them. Annie kept one hand in his and reached up to brush a golden curl away from his eyes, the strand momentarily trying to wrap around her finger. She let herself enjoy that moment, even as she dropped her hand to his chest, right over his heart. It was the most she had allowed herself to touch him at once, but she always felt more at ease when they were caught up in each other’s gravity. As long as she could feel some mark of his presence, her soul was lighter.
“I know that the Capitol wouldn’t let us...I know that they will have their claws in us, maybe for the rest of our lives. I know I’m...unsteady. For as much as I’ve healed, on my bad days, I don’t know what’s real. But this is real. Every broken piece of me is yours...and I think it has been for a while. I’m very much in love with you, Finnick Odair.” Annie knew that people they loved could die for that; her parents, his family, childhood friends, Mags. She knew that she was less valuable to the Capitol that Finnick. She could suffer some tragic “accident” at the hands of President Snow, and all of Panem would grieve her as a beloved Victor even if they didn’t really know anything about her. But she loved him just the same.
She was right, of course. The Capitol would never allow them to just be together. So long as Finnick had loved ones, President Snow owned him. Surely there would come a time when he would be found less desirable thanks to age and some other poor, younger victor coming along to take his place, but there was no guarantee of when they might happen or if it ever would; they were able to do great things in the Capitol to keep people looking far younger than their year of birth might hint at. So long as the president found a use for him, Finnick could not belong to any one person, especially not a person of his own choosing.
And yet, as he looked at Annie, her sun-kissed face so open and honest, Finnick found himself thinking of himself. It was a risk, but perhaps they could be careful. Perhaps there could be a part of him that he could give to her and only her. He couldn't promise that his body would be faithful, but his heart -- his heart would belong to her and only her. He could be paid in gifts and words to say that he loved another, but it would be a lie that they had purchased. To Annie, there would be no greater truth.
"I love you," Finnick said, the words soft and murmured as he said them for the first time to someone who wasn't family without being prompted or coerced. He reached out, his fingers gentle as they cupped Annie's cheek. "I love you, Annie Cresta. I don't know when it happened, but it did. You have my heart."
She knew that it would be difficult. She knew that there would be times that he would go to the Capitol and they would both know what would happen there. It wasn’t any fault of his. She knew how it stole happiness from his heart, and chipped away at his soul. The Capitol likely would have done much the same to Annie herself if Finnick had been any less honest with her. She was not the most beautiful girl to ever be a Victor, but she wasn’t plain either. She had impressed upon the Capitol that her trauma from her Games had made her excessively unpredictable and often dangerous. It wasn’t far from the truth. Finnick was stronger than her in that way. He could act the part, whereas Annie likely would break down and attempt to harm citizens of the Capitol if put under too much pressure. Her madness kept her safe from the same kind of tether, but it didn’t completely free her. She still had other things that the Capitol held over her head. All of the Victor’s did. They were exploits. The never really won.
But this. They could have this. If Finnick could love her, they would belong to one another in a way that no one in the Capitol could ever understand or take away. It made surviving the Games worth it. It made every struggle and nightmare and waking sorrow seem to fade to a dull ache of a memory because he was all she could see. Finnick and the beach and the sun shining down on the two of them...a perfect day. She leaned her cheek a little into his palm as it pressed to her cheek, letting those words soak into her, savoring them, “It happened in a thousand moments just like this one, Finn...between heartbeats and crashing waves. Not in any one time, I think. Just...all of them together.” Her fingers found the hollow shell that always hung around his neck, the one that she had made for him in the months after her Games...so he always had a piece of her to remind him of home. Her decision was made in the space of a breath, and she leaned in to press her lips to his, gentle and undemanding and tasting of sea-salt. If it was too much - if he needed to - he could pull away, but Annie hoped that she hadn’t overstepped.
She was right, of course. There was no single moment that had put Finnick on the path to Annie. She had crept up on him over the course of so many moments in the water and sand, talking late into the night, exchanging fears. They had seen one another at their very worst, rather than only reserving their best for the other. After years of learning how to guard and hide away his heart, she had taught him all over again what it was like to open himself up to another. Though his life would always be his life, so long as the president, the Capitol, and its citizens orchestrated life in their country, she had let him believe that it was okay to have this -- to have one another.
The kiss surprised Finnick, but not for the right reasons. It had been a very long time since he had been kissed by someone of his choosing and at first he didn't know what to do. But a second passed and he remembered, his hand lifting to cup Annie's jaw as he leaned in toward her and returned the pressure. He was just as gentle, just as undemanding, but it didn't stop his heart from hammering out a fast rhythm in his chest. There would be days when something as simple and chaste as this kiss would be too much for Finnick, but right then, at that very moment, it was perfect.
She had left it up to Finnick as to whether or not he leaned into the kiss or pulled away entirely. It had been a little bit of a risk, and perhaps she should have asked him first, but he had told her that he hadn’t wanted her to pull away before. He had told her that he loved her. Annie knew that there were days where this might not be all right, but she let him control how much pressure and touch would be initiated. Just like that, in a span of a moment as his ocean damp fingers curled against her cheek, she knew that this was worth every risk. They would both have their bad days...days where Finnick couldn’t be touched or days where Annie didn’t recognize the world around her, but they would help one another through it.
Her whole center of gravity seemed to shift as she breathed him in, and just like that, Finnick was the center of everything that mattered to her. No matter what happened next, she knew that this moment alone was enough to bargain the possibility that it could all go awry. Their lives could belong to them just for this, even if everything else was stolen for spotlights. Even as her lips parted from his and she pressed her forehead to his, staying close, her heart was aflutter, her cheeks pinked. “We won’t tell anyone,” she promised, knowing that would be the most dangerous thing of all.
"We won't tell anyone," Finnick repeated, the words almost like a vow. He hated the thought that he would have to keep something like this a secret, but he knew it was necessary. If they were going to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, it had to be this way. Even though, in that moment, all he wanted to do was run through the streets of Four and shout to anyone that would listen that Annie Cresta loved him and he didn't care who knew it -- he did care who knew it. He didn't care if people thought it was strange that Finnick Odair, apparent darling of the Capitol, had fallen in love with Annie Cresta, the so-called mad girl. He only cared that the president didn't find out and tried to punish her for having the audacity to care for his property.
Those were dark thoughts, though. They were the sort of thoughts that would leave Finnick needing to be by himself or taking long, scorching hot showers. So, he did his best to push them aside, which he found easy to do when his eyes took in her pink tinged cheeks and freshly kissed lips. He felt a smile cross his own, then leaned in to take one more kiss from her.
In another world, Nick's mind cleared. He was standing in front of the sink, washing the few dishes that they had made during dinner that couldn't go through the dishwasher. It took him a moment for his head to catch up, the feel of the sand under Finnick's hands and Annie's lips on his all he could focus on, rather than the lukewarm water and the sponge in his hand. But, soon enough, his worlds seemed to separate -- or, at the very least, coexist in such a way that he could focus on them both -- and a smile crossed his face. Dropping the sponge in the water, he turned and called, "Oceana?" as he strode out of the kitchen in search of his girlfriend.
Oceana blinked a little as she heard her name. There was a towel clutched to her chest that she had been folding, but she could still vaguely hear ocean waves and the tingle on her lips of a kiss that she’d waited too long to have for herself. The gritty, familiar feeling of sand seemed to linger on her skin even as she shook off the images in her head and began to remember just exactly where she was. With Nick finishing up the dishes, she had decided to put away what little bit of laundry they had to finish, figuring they could then spend the rest of their evening free of worries or chores, “Nick?” She was still gaining her bearings as she put the mostly-crumpled towel back down onto their bed next to the basket of what she had already folded.
Even as she turned to the door, she caught sight of Nick as he found her. Her smile was part her and part Annie, but she was entirely relieved and happy to see him, “Finnick and Annie?”
"Finnick and Annie," Nick repeated, confirming Oceana's question. If it weren't for her smile, he might have been concerned that she had seen something else entirely. Instead, he didn't hesitate in reaching for her, pulling her toward him as his arms wrapped around her waist. Part of his actions were fueled by Finnick, his joy and happiness of reaching that point with Annie and deciding to cultivate their connection as infectious as the less positive feelings that Nick would sometimes be plagued with. A lot of it, though, was simply because they were being shown a light moment in the lives of the two people whose memories they kept living. So often it was death, despair, or struggle with mental illness and while none of that ever seemed to entirely go away, he was happy to see them get to focus on something else, even for just a moment.
Nick spun Oceana around once before pulling her close enough to press a kiss of his own to her mouth. The memory of Finnick and Annie kissing for that first time was still vivid in his mind, but this wasn't the two of them. This was all Nick and Oceana. When the kiss broke, he smiled. "It was about time for them, I think."
She didn’t hesitate at all when he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. She looped her arms around his shoulders, pulling herself against him even as she breathed him in. It hadn’t been that long since she’d seen him - less than half an hour - but it felt like relief every time and she didn’t know if that was more her or Annie. She could have re-lived that dream for forever. Most of the dreams she had of Annie were difficult...they were hard to bear and harder to talk about. Annie’s life had been a mixture of happy and sad and horrifying things, but most of the ones that stuck out in Oceana’s minds were the trials of her Games and the aftermath that had left Annie fractured in more ways than one. This was the happiest that she had known Annie to be in the After...living as a Victor wasn’t always as fun as everyone imagined. Sometimes Annie’s problems reflected the turmoil in Oceana’s own mind a little too closely, and she worried about their overlap, but this was familiar in the best way. This was a love that she knew well and cherished. It was everything to her.
A small laugh passed her lips as he spun her around, her feet momentarily leaving the ground. His kiss was welcomed and returned as she leaned into him and felt her cheeks begin to flush, “It was…” she agreed, feeling the slightest bit breathless, “I knew how she felt about him. It didn’t surprise me, but I wondered...I didn’t know if they would ever get that happiness. Even for a moment. They deserve every bit of it after everything that has been taken from them. They should get to be happy, even if they’re the only ones that know.”
Nick wanted to say that he hoped that they would get to experience a happiness together that didn't require secrets. That perhaps there would one day be a time when they could just be Annie and Finnick, in love and not caring if anyone knew. That the danger would end and they'd be allowed to settle together, find a house on a beach where they could raise children of their own without fear of a death game and their government coming down upon them. But, he wasn't sure that would ever be in the stars for them. Their lives were complicated and would almost definitely always be as such, robbing them of a normalcy that he knew Finnick craved. Still, what existed between them was simple, in the best of ways. They loved one another and that was that.
"He's loved her for a while now," Nick mused, his arms staying looped around Oceana to keep her close. "He might not have known it, but I could see it. I'm glad that they could have that happiness and just -- be happy." He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her mouth before adding, "Like how you make me happy."
There were times when Oceana wondered if they had been drawn together because of the dreams before they had ever even started. Had they somehow been drawn together by the pull that Finnick and Annie had on one another, even if it was buried so deep that they didn’t know it even existed? She wasn’t certain, but she did think that there was some amount of fate wrapped up in it all. Otherwise, it made little sense that they had found themselves in the right places to find one another again and again.
Even with those considerations, she knew that she would feel the same for Nick without Annie’s devotion to Finnick clouding her mind. She knew that she loved him - just as he was - in their present. They had found their happiness after a lot of trials that kept them apart and wondering. Oceana knew that whatever happened now, they had a place in one another’s lives. They were bound, and it wasn’t by the dreams. It was just their hearts tethered together, beating in time with one another, “Stubborn fools in love, in that life and this one,” she laughed with a grin. It had taken time to admit how they felt about one another in both realities, it seemed, “No matter what happens with them, we have a whole lifetime of happy waiting for us, and I couldn’t ask for anything better. They just reinforce the simple truths...to enjoy every moment - the big and the small - and as long as we have each other, we can do anything.”
"That's right," Nick agreed, leaning in to press a kiss to Oceana's forehead. It had been the plus side to all of this strangeness, he had to admit. Being given glimpse after glimpse of Finnick's life and feeling as though he had lived it himself was more than enough to leave him appreciating the life he did have and the people in it. He and Oceana had a chance in this life that Finnick and Annie might never get and he had every intention to never take it for granted. His moments with her were something to cherish.
Dipping down, he kissed her one more time, quick before he leaned back with a smile. "And I think that we should celebrate that sentiment with ice cream. I bought more than I should have when I went grocery shopping today."
As soon as he suggested that they celebrate with ice cream, a broad grin tugged at the edge of her lips and she laughed, “It just means we have to have a scoop of every flavor, right?” Maybe that wasn’t exactly the case. Maybe they would stand there with the tops off of the cartons and pass them around only eating from them with spoons. Or maybe he’d gotten her favorite and she would forsake all others for only sea salt caramel swirl. Whatever their celebration entailed, she knew that it was just one perfect evening amongst thousands of others that would make up their lives together. They were fortunate to have that kind of time. They were fortunate to have one another, in whatever life they lived.