Hi All, I couldn't leave this universe alone I hope you all like.

Gale Hawthorne unfurled himself from his seat of the Hovercraft. It landed by the Meadow. The door opened up slowly. He squinted into the bright sunlight. Everything around him was bright and green. He inhaled the old familiar smell of the Meadow and of the Forest. He had not stepped foot in his birth place in a little over fifteen years. The last time he came he was shooting a propo with Katniss.

His security guard looked perplex for a moment before giving him the all clear to move forward.

"Hi welcome back to District Twelve." Thom greeted Gale from the foot of the bay door of the Hovercraft.

Gale blinked he expected a welcoming committee accompanied by some school band playing not Thom who used to work with him on the same shift when he worked in he mines. His two guards planted themselves just behind him flanking his right and left side. They looked ominous juxtaposed against the scene before him. Gale blinked Thom held a baby in his arms and there were two toddlers clinging too his pants. "Thom?"

"Yep" Thom watched Gale Hawthorne walk out in his expensive Capitol made suite. A far cry from the ripped coal miner's uniform they used to wear.

"What are you doing here?" I was supposed to meet the Mayor."

"That's me" Thom nodded.

Gale recalled the old days when Mayor was a Merchant. "I thought…"

"Who were you expecting Gale." Thom said as he looked over his left shoulder. "John I would suggest you not stick the frog down your sister's dress."

Gale looked and saw two more kids a boy who looked to be around seven and a girl who was around the same age. "Are all of these yours?"

A flush crept up Thom's neck. He knew what people said, that he and Delly could not keep their hands off each other. After five children and ten years of marriage you would think people would stop talking about them. He hitched their youngest baby June on his hip. "Yeah they are all mine and Delly's."

"Delly" Gale exclaimed recalling the perky blond who was part of Peeta Mellark's recovery team back in District Thirteen. "You shacked up with Delly Cartwright."

Thom took a serious note to his voice. "Actually she is my wife and the twins back there and these three angels are our children." Thom once more looked over his shoulder "Alyssa, do not listen to your brother, eating worms is not a good way of keeping the monster from under your bed." Thom handed the baby to Gale "Would you mind holding June."

Gale held Thom's baby at arm's length as it drooled on his suit. He had not held a baby since Posey was a small. Reluctantly he brought the dark haired child closer to him. He wondered how easy going Thom become a father of five children. Uneasily he looked down at the two little girls who had parked themselves on the grass. They looked to be no older than two. The baby he was holding had gotten a hold of his watch and was gnawing on it while still attached to wrist.

"Sorry about that, John my oldest likes to pull pranks on Alyssa." Thom explained taking baby June away from Gale.

Never in a million years did Gale think he would come back to District Twelve. Fact was nobody wanted to come here to view the medicine factory. District Twelve in their minds was still a backwards place to live in even fourteen years after the war.

"So shall we get going I know you want to see the factory, I can show you where we grow our own grain and food supply." Thom realized by the appalled look on Gale's face, his friend had changed much.

Gale nodded. His security guards looked lost "Sir?"

Gale knew the men were not needed not here, "Look go inside the hovercraft there is no danger here."

Both men looked disappointed they wanted a chance to catch sight of the Mockingjay.

"Seriously" Gale mumbled under his breath as he watched both men walk into the hovercraft.

Thom had by this time corralled all of his kids. "You ready?"

"Lead on Thom." Gale raked his hands through his hair.

When they reached the horse and buggy he was shocked. "Don't you have a car?"

"It's much easier getting around here on this Gale. People around here like their simple life Gale, I mean we all like modern connivances like electricity and running water but there is something great about enjoying nature in its purest sense." Thom hopped up on the cart.

"Yeah but." Gale knew all about the people and their insistence on staying grounded in the past. This was the only District now known as Provinces that refused to let go of it is old name. Most of the other Provinces of decided to rename themselves Providence, Triumph and Moirai. District Twelve remained just that District Twelve. The residents were still stubborn and rebellious. None of the people in the Capitol understood the smallest of the districts

"There is nothing to it Gale. Besides the Medicine Factory, we are a tourist spot. People like to come down here and vacation here. Johanna moved down here a few years ago and fixed up a bunch of the old Seam shacks by the edge of the woods and made them into little cabins for families or honeymooners to stay at."

Gale did not understand himself, since he no longer considered himself from District Twelve. He lived for the past fourteen years between the Capitol and what was known was District Two. "They come here for her, don't they?"

Thom looked at Gale "Some do but others don't. Most understand that she is a private citizen now, with the full protection of the law. If anyone doesn't understand that then that's where the law steps in."

It was as he mounted on the cart. "You protect her."

"We all do. She was devastated after the war and it was the only decent thing to do." Thom said quietly as they began to move forward.

Gale sat in the cart as it moved along the old path. Thom was reprimanding his son John for pulling on his sister's hair. Gale grinned as he heard the squabble between siblings. He lost contact with his own family, his mom settled in four after the war.

Suddenly he understood why people wanted to walk away from their lives and live a simple life. District Twelve had that same look from when he was a kid. There was an unaffected untamed look about the place that reminded him of its most famous resident. It was then he saw a flash of a long braid as it moved toward the forest in tall grass. Gale uttered "Is that?"

Thom saw where Gale's gray Seam eyes zeroed in on. "Forget it Gale."

"What?"

"I saw your look." Thom said.

Irritated Gale scowled at his former shift buddy. "I thought I saw her."

Thom leveled almost a brotherly territorial look on Gale. "That's her but, you should know, she's more than likely shoot you in the eye if you try something with her."

"Please we were practically dating." Gale harrumphed under his breath.

"Gale now I know you have let all that fancy living get to you. You were never Katniss Everdeen's boyfriend." Thom announced.

"Thom we had something." Gale did want to speak to her. He knew they had to patch things up. They had things to discuss like what happened at the Capitol, his absence and the topic that continuously weighed in his heart and mind. Primrose.

Thom looked at Gale as if he had lost his mind. "What you had were a total of three no four kisses, one of which you kissed her by surprise. The other one she gave you when you were high on morphing. The last two you said your self did not mean anything, because they were done out of pity."

Gale did not want to admit that Thom was right. "We were…"

"Childhood friends, hunting buddies but that ended the moment…"

Gale did not need to hear anything else. He was in denial momentarily. All of his cool political prowess went out the door the moment he glanced at that legendary long braid of hers. "Look I am going to speak to her."

Thom watched Gale jump out of the cart. "What about your security detail?"

"They will be fine I just need to see her." Gale's eyes were trained on the spot where he had seen her. He had not hunted since the war.

"Fine it's your grave" Thom spoke shaking his head. He shouted out as he watched Gale head for the woods. "If you survive I will meet you at Greasy Sea's for lunch."

Gale raised his hands in the air. Some things never changed all of his instincts kicked up. He was able to narrow in and find her trail. It was slight but if you knew what you were looking it was easily distinguishable. Though as he walked deeper into the forest he began to pant and breathe heavily.

Gale considered himself in good shape but he was panting and sweating as followed the trail. He had to stop several times to catch his breath. Gale wondered how he did this when he was younger. He even carried a buck once with Katniss easily. Now he could not even carry his own weight and he was only thirty-four.

The further he traveled into the forest the harder it was to spot her trail. It was hot and he was sweating. He came to a clearing and he bent over in exhaustion.

"Dam" Gale murmured out loud. The wind blew and he was grateful for the breeze. He stood to his full height his gray eyes taking in his surroundings he had no idea where he was. The forest seemed different. He listened for any sounds of life. All he could hear was the sound of his harsh breathing.

Gale was not sure he could go any further. He heard the Mockingjay's in the trees singing to each other. He looked up at the heavily canopied forest and was unable to see the sky. This part of the woods was very dense. He used to avoid it because his snares did not work well here. The plants were too dense. Making a trap took careful planning and consideration.

It was then an arrow swished by his ear and landed in the tree trunk behind him.

"What are you doing in my woods Hawthorne?"

Gale looked at the arrow as he called out into the forest "Catnip!"

"Wrong" Katniss' voice filtered through the air.

Gale jumped when another arrow whizzed by and landed on his left. His reflexes were not as sharp as they used to be. Gale fell backwards.

He could hear the flapping of the wings of the Mockingjay's as they retreated because of all the noise he was making.

"Why were you following me?"

"Catnip…I mean Katniss…I" Gale sat up he looked to where his fingers were spread on the floor of the forest. The arrow landed less than a ½ inch from his fingers. He swallowed thickly.

"No lying Gale, tell me why you were following me and what are you doing here?"

Gale stood looking up toward the trees he had no idea where she was. "I am here to see the medicine factory."

"I don't know if you noticed but this is not the factory. So what do you want?"

"I just wanted to speak to you. It's why I was following you."

"You could have mailed me a letter." Katniss was angry and was at the point what she wanted to do was hit him. "Why would I want to speak to you?"

"Catnip we once were once close."

Katniss remained quiet.

"I was serious about you and me. We hung out all of the time. I told you all the time that I wanted kids. I wanted to have children with you. I used to suggest we should run away together. Don't you remember that?"

Katniss did not speak.

It was eerily quiet in the forest. Gale kept on speaking. "We grew up together. Don't you remember all of the history we had together? How we were out here in the woods. You used to smile. Everyone thought we were a couple."

"We were never together!"

Katniss angrily spouted as another arrow whizzed by him. "Whoa Catnip" Gale exclaimed. "SETTLE DOWN." Gale zigzagged as he averted the arrows. "Is this how you treat someone you cared about?"

"You were never my boyfriend!"

"LOOK I AM SORRY!" Gale shouted as an arrow pinned his expensive suit up against the tree. Another pierced that arrow splitting it in half. "I Am SORRY ABOUT PRIM!" Gale yelled out loud.

Suddenly the firing stopped. All he heard was his harsh breathing in the forest. He had forgotten how good Katniss was with her bow. She used her father's bow, a bow that was made for a man to hunt. It was what impressed him when he first met her in the woods when she was a child.

"KATNISS!"

Gale startled at the commanding voice that broke through the woods right before Peeta Mellark stepped into the clearing. Gale was surprised to see the Baker standing in the woods. He had not heard him arrive until he yelled.

"Go away Mellark this is between me and Hawthorne."

"The hell it is Katniss. I know you are angry and emotional but you need to stop this little demonstration." Peeta shouted out into the densely covered trees. His eyes keenly searched the tops of the trees.

"PEETA" Katniss was frustrated. "He came here into my woods."

"The last I heard the woods were free to everyone. Besides look at him, he is no condition to even be out here. Plus I heard him apologize." Peeta walked over to where Gale was standing. He yanked out the arrows that impaled his old nemesis clothing to the tree trunk.

Peeta was in top physical condition. He was taller, muscular, the man looked better now than when he was a kid. Gale watched Peeta touch a tree then peer into it.

"In your condition you should not be up in that tree! We agreed you could go hunting but this is irresponsible, just think about the example you are setting." Peeta called up into the tree.

"Oh come on Peeta seriously I just wanted to scare him." Katniss grumbled back. She was frightened when she heard the footsteps. Hiding in the trees seemed like a good idea. "Besides he scared me. He sounded like a heard of spooked dear running through the forest."

"Katniss" Peeta warned. "That is no excuse for shooting at him."

Gale sat back never having imagined seeing this side of their relationship. He only recalled the sappy kid who went bananas as result of Snow tampering with his memory. He could never have imagined Peeta Mellark being so authoritative.

"You too missy," Peeta called out into the opposite side of the tree. "I know Katniss is vulnerable right now but you should know right from wrong."

Gale saw a rustling in the trees as booted leg came down.

Peeta easily grasped Katniss as she descended.

"I should have never told you to eat those dammed pears." Katniss uttered grumpily. She was having fun at Hawthorne's expense. She thanks to Peeta and Dr. Aurelius had forgiven Gale, but she could not forget.

Peeta laughed "You would have forced fed me those pears, had I not eaten them. You like being bossy."

A small smile played on her lips as Peeta easily held her tenderly before putting her down on the floor. Peeta was right she Katniss Mellark was extremely bossy. It was how she got pregnant the second time.

Gale was shocked. He could not utter nor form any words as his silver eyes took in his old friend. Katniss was pregnant. Her rounded stomach was encased in a man's shirt, most likely Peeta's.

"How did you know where I was?"

"Thom came into the Bakery to warn me that Gale had gone after you." Peeta mentioned. "I only had seconds to run out, get on the horse and get over here. I could only imagine what you would do in your state."

"You're P…p…Pregnant" Gale stuttered.

Katniss rubbed her swollen belly smiling like the cat who stole the milk. "Yep. Look I forgave you a long time ago." Katniss blushed as she saw the hole in his clothing. "Sorry about that" she pointed to his suit. "I ah got a little angry and I am hungry."

It was then Peeta gently called "You too Kitten, it is time to get down now."

"You mean there is another one." Gale was amazed.

A child's laughter could be heard through out the forest. "Okay Daddy."

Peeta reached out for his daughter.

Gale watched a little girl fly into Peeta's arms. She had dark hair and striking blue eyes. The same eyes her father had. "How…"

"He wanted them…" Katniss said shrugging her shoulders. Smiling proudly at her child and thinking of the one yet to be born. Peeta was always ahead of her. It always took her just that much longer to figure out what he knew. She loved being a mom just like he knew she would. The whole pregnancy thing though she did not like. However shooting at Gale was fun.

"Did I shoot okay mommy?"

"Yes you did Kitten you split the arrow in half." Katniss proudly said.

It was then the two security guards came crashing in through the forest guns drawn. Suddenly they realized who they had their guns pointed to.

"It's the Mockingjay…."

"It's Peeta."

Gale saw his two burly security guards succumb to their idols. They instantly turned into two hyper venting teenage fan girls.

"Can I have a picture with you, I mean…" The one with the lethal looking scar on his neck said blushing slightly "…if possible?"

"You are a legend I have been trying to perfect your goat cheese and pears recipe for years."

"Why don't we all go to my Bakery?" Peeta spoke up. "That way we can all eat and have a nice long chat." Peeta suggested as he pointed looked at his wife. He knew her hormones combined with her emotional response to seeing Gale Hawthorne was going to rule out her sensible side.

"Okay…" Katniss knew Peeta was going to lecture her. But she did not care frankly she was having fun. "Can I have a cheese bun, before you lecture me?"

Gale shook his head wondering when the world turned upside down.

"Can I have a cookie?"

"With a glass of milk and some apple wedges." Peeta said wanting his baby girl to have something more nutritious.

Gale watched the little girl who looked exactly like Katniss give her daddy a hug. As there party began to move out of the forest and toward the Meadow. Peeta put his child down. She hung back to where Gale followed behind. Suddenly she stopped walking and pointed at him with her bow.

Her small high pitched baby voice shouted pointedly at Gale. "You were never my mommy's boyfriend. Only my daddy was." She narrowed her blue eyes at him then gave him a scowl that would rival her mothers "Got it!"

Gale was startled by her little scowl and the flash of steel in her blue eyes. He nodded and agreed he Gale Hawthorne was never Katniss' boyfriend.

The End