stop - rewind - play

katniss & gale

( rip out the epilogue )

disclaimer: not mine.

It takes twenty years for him to man up and go see her.

When he steps off the platform at District 12, the memories that he had so painstakingly tucked into the darkest recesses of his mind hit him like a tidal wave.

The bakery - Trading squirrels with the baker for a good loaf of bread, staring at the cakes in the windows, wishing he could afford such a luxury.

The road to the Seam - The Seam is gone now, in a sense, all the tiny houses were never bothered to be rebuilt, and were replaced with Twelve's new standard housing. The Seam is nothing more than a memory, but it's the remembrance of his old home that haunts him the most.

The square - It looks almost exactly like it did when he lived here, except the gallows and whipping post are gone (thank God). That is one memory that he really doesn't want to recall.

The fence - That's gone, just like the Seam, but he can still see it in his mind, the line it followed. He laughs at how bad it was at keeping him inside it's "electrified" walls.

Fire - Just fire. No specifics. Just blazing heat and fearful screams as the Capitol destroyed their home.

The forest - The forest. The forest... Katniss. Katniss.

He shakes himself, as though the movement will clear his head. Enough reminiscing. He scolds himself. Back to business. He starts forward, slowly edging deeper into the place that's been so familiar and become so foreign.

He walks past the bakery and catches a glimpse of Mellark through the window. He tries his best not to sneer (because even after all these years, a part of him still tries to hate him).

He begins to follow the familiar path up to the Victor's Village and braces himself for what he knows comes next.

He rounds the last bend and spies the familiar mansion. But something's different...

There are children playing in the front yard. Surely, surely, they can't be hers.

But then the little blonde boy catches him in his steely gray gaze, and he knows.

"Momma!" The little girl calls towards the house. "Momma, there's a man coming!"

"I'm coming!" He stops in his tracks at the sound of her voice. It hasn't changed at all.

Then she emerges from the house. Her hair is just a perfect mess and her clothes don't match and her face looks so tired and God she's beautiful.

The little girl grabs her brother's hand and drags him up the porch with her. Katniss looks down at her children with a smile and asks, "Now, what was it that you saw-" her breath catches and she stops talking completely because she's looked up and oh God it's him. "Gale," she breathes.

"Hello, Katniss."

And it's one of those cliched storybook moments where she's supposed to go to him and fling herself into his arms and he'll hold her and bury his face in her messy hair and they'll stand there for ages and it'll be like nothing's changed at all.

Except, things have changed.

He walks up the path to her house in long, silent strides. He manages to choke out, ''I've missed you."

She bursts out suddenly, "I married Peeta."

Even though it's obvious, the words still steal his breath. He clears his throat. "I'm, um, married too."

Her eyes flit down to the ring on his left hand. She stares at it for a moment. "Oh... oh," she finishes lamely.

And even after all this time, after all they've both been through, it feels so easy for him to just fall back into what used to be. And he knows that it won't be as easy for her as it's been for him. And a part of him still whispers, She'll never forgive you, never be able to see past what you did.

But you know what? Katniss is just worth it. The friendship that they used to have is worth it. He's willing to work through all of this, this thing between them, all their ugly history and baggage. And he'll make her see. Someday. Eventually.

He sighs, and despite (or maybe because of) the awkwardness, he smiles.

"You've always had a way with words, Catnip."

Her lips twitch upward slightly at the sound of her old nickname, and he laughs.

Well, it's not much, but it's a start.