Summary: You can't choose what stays and what fades away.

"Like a wall of stars,
We are ripe to fall."
Too Late- M83

I twirl a flower by its stem, glaring at the beauty it possesses.

The white petals command my eyes never to break, for if I do, then the bond would flourish. Its sweet aroma tests me as it fills my nose. For a moment, I hold back the urges and stay strong. But then, my wall collapses and I close my eyes as I deeply inhale not only the fragrance but the memories.

I have grown too weak and once again I lost this task, the same, with the girl behind this flower.

My aged hand begins to tremble and I drop the katniss into the lake. Weakly, I rise myself up with the help of the tree behind me, and stare off into the forest that I've called home. This was my haven, so why is it now my personal hell? I shake my head at my foolishness and close my eyes before a tear manages to escape.

Because she was here, with me.

Questions that I've asked myself many times before start to invade my mind. Why didn't I volunteer as tribute? Why was I so guarded and didn't allow my feelings to show? Why didn't I comfort her in her time of need? The list would go on and on, but the real question that haunted me every night in my sleep was, why did she choose Peeta?

I let out a breath that I was holding and watch the sun slowly descend from the sky. Maybe it was because Peeta could help her stay sane, while I couldn't. But, in the back of my mind, I knew that it was because she loved him.

She loved me as a friend, nothing more. I was just a figure in her life that slowly vanished into the background. With my eyes still closed, I gently touch my lips with the tips of my shaking fingers. I could still feel her soft lips pressed against mine and the flutter of her teary eyelashes as they kissed my cheek from the night I lay unconscious on her kitchen table. Hence, she only kissed me when I was in pain; the heartbreak I felt when she returned from her first game, the night on the kitchen table, and on our final trip together back to District 12.

I let my hands grab the tree trunk behind me as I felt my knees give out on me. Sadly, she isn't here to kiss my pain away. My strong armor that I've built to hide my sensitivity finally crumbled and I let my emotions take me for a ride that I couldn't hold on to.

Hunched over, I sobbed into my palms, regretting my youth. If only I could go back and change a few things. I would volunteer for Peeta's place and then be side by side with Katniss. Even if I died trying, her face would be the last for me to see.

"Gale," an eery voice whispered my name. I look up to find not a soul near. The trees were playing a trick on me, letting me believe it was her calling me.

I stand up and look back at the floating katniss I threw into the lake. Tomorrow, I would return and this time I won't fail. I won't close my eyes and allow myself to remember the past that contained her. I will prevail.

Author's Note: This is my first time writing about The Hunger Games. So please, be kind. It's short, that I am aware, but I hope you all can sense the emotion in it. For those that have finished reading the trilogy, what did you think of the end? As much as I love Gale, I somehow feel that in the end Katniss was better off with Peeta because he can help her stay sane from her mental conflict since he has experienced them too. Though, the way the story ended in general was never in my favor. :)