There is an odd sort of peace. It descends around the Hawthorne house at Madge's arrival and sticks around. It flows with the wind. It breezes through the two young stupid kids.

It is their first moment completely together. No walls. No barriers. No masks. And because of that, perhaps they ignore somethings. Madge does not mention that she has to go back to the Capitol soon. She does not mention that she cannot escape her debt to Snow. Gale does not tell her that he will not share her. He does not say that it would kill him to see her in another man's arms now. No. They just sit on his porch, watching the world pass around them. He keeps his arm around her shoulder. She buries herself in his body like an armor she never wants to take off.

The sun sets and they breathe it in together. The Hawthorne children play in front of them. Rory calls Vick a nasty name. Posy jumps to defend his honor. A wild game of chase ensues. Golden sunshine bleeds across Madge's face as she looks up at Gale. She can feel his heart beat. It isn't that the men in the Capitol didn't have heartbeats. They are, after all, human in the loosest sense of the word. It's just that she never let them close enough to feel them. The feeling of Gale's heart against her chest is the most beautiful feeling of them all.

Of course, as Madge and Gale sit, perfectly content in the Seam, they do not know the future. They do not know that Madge will refuse a client one night. They do not know that the day after there will be a freak mine collapse. They do not know that Gale will barely make it out alive. They do not know that Madge will give him up for his safety.

This story has a happy ending. But their story does not.

So, oblivious of the future as two kids should be, Gale and Madge watch the Hawthorne family play before them. The sun disappears behind the horizon. And they kiss under the stars. It is one of those heartbreaking kisses, the kind that lingers far after the kiss is over. It is one of those rare kisses where they look into each other's hearts and aren't disturbed by what they find there. They only see the beauty. They only see the love.

And they are both happy. For one moment in a world ruled by greed, corruption, sex, distress, Gale and Madge are just perfectly, indescribably happy.