Welcome Home by patricia51

(A kiss from Madge wasn't a surprise to Katniss but rather something that had happened before. And it would happen again. Set the night of the return from the Games. Femslash. Katniss/Madge. Obviously book based.)

"So this is my new home," I remark to absolutely no one at all as I wander through the never before occupied building on Victor's Row.

I peek out the windows. There are no lights anywhere around me. Of course given the spotty delivery of electricity to District Twelve that's hardly surprising. Still I thought I might see some candle light flickering through Haymitch's windows or the house on the other side that now belongs to Peeta. I don't suppose he's in a hurry to move in next to me but I was certain his mother would have made an immediate beeline for their new quarters.

Prim and our mother have elected to stay the night at our old house in the Seam. They claim it will take them time to pack and move. But I believe they're a little reluctant to leave our old house. Too many memories. I feel a bit torn too, the last time I saw my father was there. But on the whole I think I prefer starting over.

I'm not using a candle, a lantern nor have I tried turning on the lights. The moon is bright tonight and I have all the light I need. No one is stirring, not even the occasional random Peacekeeper patrols.

I have made one concession to the new house. My boots are at the door so I can feel the carpet under my bare feet and curl my toes into it. Carpet! I nearly squeal in delight at how it feels. And I've never squealed in my life. I had never felt carpet until I went to the Capital. Most residents of District Twelve have wood floors, if they're lucky. Many, especially down in the Seam, have hard packed dirt underfoot in their homes.

My fingers brush over the furniture as I pad from room to room. I'm a bit dubious about the mattresses when I push down on them. I'm not sure any of us can sleep on something so soft. I'm sure I won't be able to.

Part of all of this is to keep my mind occupied with little trivia like beds and lights and stuff like that rather than what's really important. Peeta. Gale. And looming over both of them and everything else is President Snow, blocking out the sun like some terrifying white haired giant. Facing the Careers in the arena was never as scary as what he might do to me and to everyone I care about. But I can't do anything about him and I don't know what to do about the two guys in my life so I am firmly putting it all out of my mind for the rest of the night.

That resolution immediately fails as I hear a faint creak that I identify as the front door opening. For a moment I freeze and then the reflexes I honed during the games take over. I crouch down and move quickly across the floor, blessing the carpet under my feet for smothering any sounds I might make in unfamiliar territory. I follow the wall until I can peek through the archway into the front hallway. Low as I am I shouldn't be outlined against any windows.

Clouds have drifted across the moon, reducing my vision but hopefully also that of whomever I am now sharing my new house with. Unless of course they're wearing a pair of those goggles that I had in the Games. If so I'm screwed.

I take a quick look again. This time I see him. One individual, standing on the middle of the hallway. He appears to be short and slight, definitely too small to be Gale or Peeta but bigger than Prim. No Peacekeeper for sure, the armor would be making too much noise and anyway Peacekeepers are all much larger than this form. And then I see something. The figure is rocking back and forth slightly. He's shifting his weight. He's uncertain and nervous. Not exactly what I would expect of some Capital assassin.

Maybe a thief? But why tonight? And why just standing there instead of looking for something, anything, to take?

I realize that all of this has taken only seconds to take place. Well this is MY house and I m not putting up with intruders. I brace myself. The figure moves closer, close enough for me to spring.

The figure is turning towards me as I rush it. Head down, my arms go around it and we go to the floor. Already on top I use a trick that Clove used on me and pin it down, straddling him with my body weight and my foot pinning down the hand that tried to grab me.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I'm demanding when two things strike me. First, the person is trying to talk but all he can do is wheeze. I've knocked the wind out of him. And second, the softness of a pair of breasts held captive by my imprisoning legs demonstrates that he is no he at all.

I bend forward. Recognition comes just as the girl under me manages to croak my name.

"Kat... niss," she gasps.

"Madge!" I hastily take my foot from her wrist and get up while helping her to her feet. "What in the world are you doing here?"

A soft silvery laugh fills the hallway. "I couldn't sleep. I can see this house from my bedroom window. I saw someone moving and then realized it was you. So I dressed, snuck out my window and came over to tell you welcome home and how glad I am you made it."

"Well you scared me to death," I tell her.

"You? Imagine how I felt when some striking tiger leaped on me out of the darkness. I thought my heart was going to stop."

"Well it would serve you right," I tell her, about half way torn between being really serious and laughing at how I must have appeared to her. When I see her smile the laughter wins out.

"So, are you going to show me your new house?"

"In the middle of the night?"

"Since we're already here why not?"

"Just try not to break anything by running into it," I warn her.

Madge snorts. "You haven't been here in daylight yet. How would you know?"

Okay she's got me there. I try a scowl for effect but it bounces off her even as we walk together through the rooms. Madge knows me and my attitudes don't bother her. So we actually have a nice quiet conversation as we explore the house.

Besides, I have a secret that Madge is a part of. When I kissed Peeta it was indeed the first time I had ever kissed a boy. But that didn't mean it was the first time I ever kissed anyone else. I had kissed a girl. Twice. And it had been Madge. Actually come to think of it three times. Once was the day I was presented with my father's medal of valor and the second was the day of the Reaping when she gave me her Mockingjay pin as a token of the district. Those were just a simple kiss on the cheek though, first from her and then returned by me. But there was one summer's afternoon a couple of years ago when things were different...

It was just a day or two after Gale and I had brought in that deer. There was no need to rush to the woods. After school I walked down towards the meadow and to my surprise found Madge there as well, sitting with her knees drawn up under her chin and her arms around her legs. Moved by a sudden impulse I sat down beside her.

"Hi Katniss," she said without taking her gaze from the Western sky beyond the boundaries of District Twelve.

"Hi Madge," I returned before we lapsed into a comfortable silence together and watched the horizon.

I had always liked Madge. Quiet and self-effacing. People who don't know her might mistake her attitude for superiority since her father is the Mayor. They would be wrong; Madge is not particularly impressed with her father's position.

"Mayor of District Twelve? Not that I don't think the world of my father but it's a pretty empty honor isn't it?"

She's like me in so many ways. She's not conceited she's simply self-possessed. She doesn't need others. Like me. I won't call us close friends or anything like that but I'm comfortable with her.

That afternoon we just sat together. We didn't talk. We didn't need to. It was peaceful, it was relaxing and it was beautiful. As the sun went down we got up and stood next to each other as the last rays of daylight bathed us. And somehow it seemed perfectly natural for her to turn to me and kiss me on the lips. And somehow it seemed just as natural for me to kiss her back.

"Goodnight Katniss."

"Goodnight Madge."

I wonder sometimes about that kiss. Why didn't it freak me out? Why didn't it freak HER out? We've never spoken about it, never repeated it but it didn't change anything between us. It wasn't some looming secret that hung over us. It just happened. So why can't I stop thinking about it now? Especially since we've reached one of the bedrooms; in fact the one that I plan to be mine.

We stop beside the bed, the light coming through the window illuminating her, me and the soft bed beside us. I feel a stirring and I don't know why even as Madge turns to me and takes my hand.

"I'm glad you made it back Katniss. I'm proud that you wore the pin. I think it's wonderful you'll be this close. And I m happy you're here tonight and I was able to tell you all this."

I don't know what to say. Of course I never do. I've become a little more quick talking since the end of the Games and the realization that my life and the lives of others depends on my being able to convincingly demonstrate my undying love for Peeta. It's helped because I really DO care deeply for him but everlasting love? God I don't know. And none of that is a help to me right this moment as I stand face to face with someone who has somehow kindled a fire deep inside me.

As with Peeta in the cave I find that what I can't say I can show. The fourth kiss that Madge and I share is begun by me as I lean closer and bring my lips to hers. And then she's kissing me back as her arms encircle my neck and my arms wrap around her slender waist. She feels so nice against me. It's a completely different feel from Peeta. She's all soft curves and I find my hands running all over those curves as our lips meet again. Her lips part and so do mine and now our kiss is unlike anything I have ever felt before.

I don't know what to do and neither does she. So we let instinct take over. We keep kissing, letting the smoldering heat between us build until it bursts into open flames. I can tell I'm not the only "girl of fire". Then she is pulling my top over my head while my fingers fumble wildly with the buttons on her blouse, She shrugs out of it while I finish yanking my top off and both top and blouse fall beside the bed.

I've always avoided nudity; other people's as well as my own. That's why I made Peeta cover himself while I was trying to bandage his leg. It just, well, it's not ME. But now, with my heart pounding in my chest like a drum all I want is to see all of Madge's slender body and have her see me.

Her hands are at my belt with an urgency matched only by her lips. Then my pants are falling down and I have to stifle a giggle because a moment of jealousy has run through me that I haven't got her slacks off first. I remedy that immediately leaving us just in our underclothing. A brief struggle ensues. It's only a struggle because neither of use wants to stop kissing and touching but we are both determined to get those last remaining obstacles removed. We succeed but our movements topple us onto the bed. Not that I mind that and I'm pretty sure she doesn't either.

Our bodies lock together. My hand finds her breast. It's so warm and soft and the hardness of her nipple only accentuates how good it feels. I can feel her heart beating through my palm and my heart beats in time with it. The round orb feels so good I want more. WIthout a second thought my lips leave hers only to trace a path down her neck and chest until my mouth covers her other breast and draws it in. My tongue rolls the nipple and I feel more than hear her moan. She arches against me, molding our tummies and mounds and even more secret places together.

Four legs have intertwine and strain to keep us together as close as possible. But there is room for her to slip her hand first between us and then between my legs. Her palm cups me and gets wet instantly from the signs of arousal my body is producing. And that flow increases as one and then two slender fingers enter me and her thumb slips under my hood to find my clit, already burning with a sweet, slow fire.

It's my turn to arch as her fingers plunge in and out of me. I release her breasts and find her mouth again with mine, kissing her deeply, trying to possess her mouth as she possesses me. Our tongues duel while one of my hands massages the back of her neck and holds us together. The other races down her back to cup her tight little bottom. I jam my thigh between her legs and pull her onto it as it saws frantically back and forth, spreading her labia and grinding hard against her.

With a burst of strength I couldn't match if I wanted to Madge rolls me onto my back, straddling my thigh and riding it wildly. Her fingers never stop driving me crazy. My internal muscles pulsate, closing on her delicious intrusion and then relaxing to allow her deeper and deeper. She gives up trying to swallow my tongue and rears up. I seize both breasts and dart my tongue madly back and forth from one to the other and back again lashing her nipples and tugging them with pulls from my lips. She cries out my name and falls on top of me ever as my own body releases with an explosion of pure bliss such as my own fingers have never given me.

We rest in the tangle of arms and legs until we regain our breath and our hearts return to at least closer to normal beating. Madge rests her head on my shoulder and snuggles against me with a contended sigh. She twists enough to smile up at me.

"Welcome home Katniss."

I kiss her once more. There certainly is no way to keep track of how often that has occurred now.

"Thank you. Thank you once more for the pin. It s become very precious to me. Oh," and I can't keep the laughter in but it just makes her smile broader, "thank you for the most unexpected and most amazing welcome home present I ever could have imagined."

"You're welcome," she returns and then lays her head back on my shoulder. Her breathing becomes slow and even and I feel my own eyes close.

At sunrise she was gone. I stretch and lace my hands behind my head and contemplate. I have no idea if my life has just got even more complicated or what. But I know I feel very, very good this morning.

Oh and obviously I was wrong about the beds. I like this one quite a lot.

(The End)