FINALE - WITH LOVE

"But still you smile despite the lines I drew for you

Cause every time I'm slipping away from myself you're the one that moves me like nobody else.

With love."

With Love, Christina Grimmie

Madge Undersee was never the kind if girl to lose her mind over a boy. She had never been the kind of girl who was so reliant on finding a man to settle down, she had always seen herself as independent; but this man that sits across from her has a hold on her heart, she can't let go of him. She doesn't want to let go of him. She bites her lip through a smile, love and devotion wearing in her eyes as she watches him play with their daughter.

They've been through so much together. They've shared pain and fear. Battles and hope. She's lost everything except for him, and through her mental breakdowns he was there for her. When she was almost ready to give up, he was there for her. They fought in a war together, they rebuilt their lives together. They created a life together.

And now they have three children. Their eldest daughter, Rose Mariana Hawthorne, is the spitting image of her father and a Daddy's girl to boot. At two years old she has that man wrapped around her finger, and everyone knows that she has since day one. Then, came the surprise children when Rose was only 7 months old. Madge found out she was pregnant and her heart stopped. They were still coping with rebuilding after the accident, was another child really going to help resolve their unsettled issues?

No, it hadn't. They were stressed and things were hard, emotionally and physically, but they got through it.

When they learned that Madge was expecting twins everything changed. But the moment that they laid eyes on their two youngest children the small family felt even more complete.

Twin boys was no easy feat. Jeremy and Jacen were a handful. If Madge thought having a toddler was hard enough – a toddler and two newborns was a whole other challenge. But if she were honest, she doesn't think she wants to change anything. At all.

Not the midnight feedings, not the fact that the twins aren't on the same feeding schedule, not the fact that Rose feels jealous of her younger brothers getting more attention than her (it isn't Madge's favorite thing in the world, granted, but she does enjoy the one on one time that she gets to share with the girl because of it), she wouldn't change the man she fell in love with, she wouldn't change the man that she married, and she wouldn't change the man who is now the father of her children.

Several times since Gale's accident all those months ago Madge would inwardly (and a few times to her friends) make comments about how she hated it, how she hated how it strained their relationship. She hated how she felt like she needed to walk around on toes to avoid hurting Gale or triggering something potentially catastrophic. She hated the entire situation, at the time. But in hindsight, as much as she loved that relationship she had with him before everything, she much rather prefers this one, now.

Madge is fairly certain that eventually they would have gotten to the point they were in now without the accident, but she isn't sure when that would have occurred and what they would have had to go through to get there. She's glad that none of her children had to see them so distanced and not fond of each other.

She learned a lot about herself in the months following the accident. She learned how reliant she was on him, how much she depended on him to get her through everything. And that wasn't a bad thing. Some women would tell her that she was too reliant on her husband and she wouldn't know how to get on without him. She begs to differ. Needing your significant other for support was not a flaw: it was not something to be ashamed of. If something traumatic would have happened to Gale, Madge would have been fine to get along with her daughter and be able to proceed happy and healthy lives, though it would have been so hard on them both, but eventually they would be able to do it. But wanting and needing someone for support, and wanting and needing to support someone else whenever either of you go through something rough? Madge fails to see how that is a bad thing.

Most importantly, Madge learned that everything happens the way things are meant to happen. She learned that nothing can be forced, she couldn't force the hunter to fall in love with her, she couldn't force herself to fall out of love with him. She just had to let it be. And it was - and they found their way to each other after everything.

These days Gale's memory of things is still foggy. If asked where he bought Madge's ring or how much he spent on it he couldn't tell you. But he can remember the important things. Like how Posy's favorite color is red, like the flowers that she helped her mom plant outside of their new home in district twelve. He remember that he has Madge by his side, that he loves her and would do anything to protect her. But he couldn't tell you how they got there.

Some years later, their eldest daughter wants to travel back to District Twelve to see where they met. She's starting to learn about the history of Panem, about the games and the rebellion, and they both hate it. Madge more than Gale, as her memories of the war and the violence still give her chills. They don't want to her to know the terrors that they had to endure, but they are also proud of what they had to do in order to make sure that their kids lived in a safe place, away from fear.

The second the family gets off the train back in District Twelve, they're greeted with open arms from Katniss, Peeta, and their toddling daughter, Ereneda.

Madge beams, watching as Ereneda and Jacen try to dance on the sidewalk as the stroll back to the Mellark house, Rose and Jeremy hopping down the side.

If she knows one thing, if there is one lesson that she learned in all her years, is that she's damn lucky to have these people in her life.

IN CONCLUSION ( a too long authors note regarding what comes next….)

Holy mother of pearl…. That concludes the end of "To Make you Feel My Love" and I can't believe we actually got here! Three years in the making. Thank you so much to everyone who has taken time to read, comment, favorite and subscribe. I wrote this story for myself, because I couldn't get the idea out of my head, but your words of encouragement and wonder for the story are what kept me going. Even during my not so brief hiatus from writing, I would read the reviews people left and that's when I decided to take this story on as my NaNoWriMo project for 2016 - I hope that everyone else enjoys the re-write version as much as I do. If not.. Well, deepest apologies. I just couldn't leave it the way it was.

Thank you guys for sticking around with me once again - editing and posting this has become a real pain in my neck because of things that happened since November 2016; but i can't believe i finally got around to finishing it. And now, what's coming next and what I want to work on. I love writing, I love writing Gale and Madge and I have SO MANY story ideas I want to share.

I'm toying with the idea of finishing Menace, the AU story I started shortly after I started this one, which is based off the (now cancelled, wow) ABC show "Castle" - where Madge is a Mystery Novelist, shadowing the cold cut detective Gale Hawthorne. With appearances by fellow detectives, Katniss Everdeen and Thom Jones, NYPD captain Haymitch Abernathy, and medical examiner Peeta Mellark. The full summary of this story is posted on my previous account "stella brillare", which includes the first 5 chapters… absolutely nothing eventful really happens.

I'm also considering writing another story that's been stuck in my mind, a Gadge/Everlark AU, highlighting both couples, instead of just Gadge. Loosely based off the novels "Heir To the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and the Last Command" - also known as the "Thrawn Trilogy". Starring The Last Princess of Alderaan and leader of the Rebellion against the Empire Katniss Everdeen, her cousin, Jedi Knight Gale Hawthorne, and husband, General of the New Republic Peeta Mellark. With appearances by Former Emperor's Hand and current Galactic Trader Madge Undersee and Imperial Grand Admiral and Chiss warrior Alma Coin. Brief synopsis: Five years after the win at Endor and the fall of Emperor Snow, the New Republic is facing a new threat: Admiral Coin, who has commanded control of the Imperial Remnant. From their base of operations in the former Imperial Palace of Coruscant, Katniss works with the Head of State to form strategies of how to implement a political resolution to this problem. Gale Hawthorne, on the search for more information on the former Jedi Order, loses power to his x-wing and is caught by Madge Undersee, who had previously been tasked to kill Gale Hawthrone by the late emperor.

Either project will be written alongside my oneshots for On Behalf of a Grateful Nation. Can I write a solid canon-base story? No. I can't. If you guys have any suggestions, please let me know what you want to see or what you think would be a good read.

Honestly tho updates if I do post anything new will be hella slow, as I don't have a bunch of time because I'm exhausted, as mentioned previously. I work as a bus driver and the shift I am currently on is split shifts, ranging anywhere from 7:00-22:00, usually roughly 10 hours a day. But I'll try my best! I'm rambling and will be quiet now. Find me on the internet if you want to discuss nerdy things like fanfiction stories, or if you have any ideas on what should come next. Twitter darthkota, tumblr organa-solo. Thank you guys so much for all of your support and lovely reviews while I went on this adventure. I formally request you to please leave your fav Gadge stories in a review if you would bc I really want to read more, and I'm having a hard time finding any other stories to read.