It had always been hard for him to imagine, even in retrospect. He'd always wanted more. He'd wanted to join the Careers, wanted to win the Games and be showered with the promised fame and fortune. He hadn't wanted to be just a fisherman.

It's been a longtime regret that his parents had known that, and a longtime relief that they never knew, before they died, how much he'd hated his life.

"Just ordinary folk, us," he says, slyly, his eyes sparkling to say that of course, there's nothing ordinary about Annie.

"Except apparently still famous." He taps on the box.

He could handle that, he thinks. It seems like a good compromise.