Snow is dead, but so is Coin and it was Katniss who sent the arrow that killed her. It caused a sense of chaos for a while in 13 as they searched for a new leader and held a trial for Katniss. It was frustrating not to know the state of anything, how Katniss was being treated or what was going to happen to her, she would make multiple requests a day to visit her but prisoners didn't have visitors. The trials allowed some of the public and supporters inside but there was a lot of behind closed doors talk that wasn't being passed around to everyone.
So she waited and wandered around a lot.
Like so many months before Madge wandered through 13 finding it hard to accept as her new 'home' now. Everything was different since 12 was destroyed and both her parents killed, she'd fled into the woods that night following Gale and the rest of their district who made it out. People were nice to her when they spoke with her and pitied her a little even if they'd lost people too. She shared a room with two other teens from her district that had lost their families as well. She didn't know them though, they were raised in the Seam and didn't want much to do with her in either of these worlds.
Madge spent a lot of time with Mrs. Everdeen after Prim was killed, often they didn't talk much but she worried about her being alone so all the time when not in the hospital. Madge missed her own mother terribly sometimes and Mrs. Everdeen helped make the days bearable and would sometimes smile just a little when Madge showed up. She'd show her different remedies and medical supplies used in the hospital to different treat wounds. The all started to look the same to her after a while. When Mrs. Everdeen did talk it would only be for a little while, a story about the last thing she said to Prim, or how Katniss and her late husband used to come home from the woods dragging dirt through her house.
They'd both lost so much lately it only seemed fitting they should talk of these things, that there was once any good at all in this world.
But nothing good seemed to stick anymore.
Gale made certain to ignore her now, to have all his meals with only memebers of his crew and teams and never near her. Any attempts Madge made to speak with him would be met with a stony stare and some excuse why it wasn't a good time. Eventually she stopped trying to talk with him at all, his silence was enough and if he didn't want to speak with her she knew there was no forcing him.
When she'd first come to 13 and he'd visit her often to help her get used to the new place. He'd ask if she was okay, how she liked 13, if there was something she wanted that he could help with. It was the only happy time she had there with his short and sporadic visits whenever he could get away. Now he treated her like a stranger, he hated himself for what had happened in the war and everything painful that had happened. He hated himself because of Prim.
There was a rumor that something he'd been working on during the war sounded an awful lot like the attack on the children in the Capitol. After Coin was killed it all came to light, some people were sure it was the work of the Capitol and that 13 wouldn't dare hurt children after how precious they'd come to be down here, but others viewed the matter differently.
It was another general who let the word slip that Gale would be heading to District 2 to head up his own division and work with the rebels stationed there to help rebuild and work with their forces. Madge tried to hide the shock on her face when she found out but the general saw it before she do anything to stop it and tried to undo his words, but she knew now. He was leaving and wasn't planning on telling her.
Furiously she stormed away to her room, finding it gratefully empty and hot tears slid down her cheeks which she wiped away with the back of her hand. It didn't seem real that she could really loose everyone she ever cared about. When would the pain end? If she spent anymore time trapped underground in 13 without breathing real air she might suffocate.
Slowly she forced herself to calm down and went into the bathroom, grabbing a towel and running cool water over it, dabbing it across her face and neck.
Madge gripped the side of the sink and looked in the small circular mirror on the counter at the girl staring back at her, so much older, so much pain that there was no hiding anymore. She understood why her mom did it now, how bad the pain could feel that it makes everything around you unrecognizable, include yourself.
Inside of her closet was the only thing she'd managed to keep from her old life, the dress she'd been wearing the night of the bombings on 12. They let her keep it as long as she wore the clothes provided in 13 and it was kept away inside of her closet. It still smelt like smoke from the fire but she could sense home in it, feel the soft fabric underneath her fingers and the bow her mother had added to it around the waist. It was a soft purple color, with thin lace around the hem and lilac bow. She undressed from her issued clothes and slid it on, she'd lost weight since being here but it seemed to make no difference on how the dress looked. It glided down smoothly against her skin and she ran her hand over and over the soft material trying to remember the night she planned to wear it, the person she'd bought it for specially because the feel of it was one he'd liked on another dress of hers.
She ignored the schedule planned for her that day with other, much more important, plans. Outside of the rooms she ran down the halls and ignored the people staring as she moved past, but nobody stopped her, they just let her pass them all quietly.
Impatiently she hit the numbers on the elevator and heard it clink towards her, stepping inside and pressing the number to get to the lowest level civilians had access to, being down there a couple times before and knowing that's where military personnel would be meeting after their lunch.
The stares were a little more noticeable down here, everyone in their uniform in the boring and plain 13 style were not used to a girl in a pretty dress. She looked past all their faces and found only one somewhat familiar, a friend of Gale's who often trained with him and she walked over to him.
"Comus, right? I'm Madge," she said hesitantly, offering her hand which he shook carefully. "I need to speak to Gale, do you know where I can find him?" she asked, biting her lip.
Comus looked to be about 20, bulky for someone from 13 but he had kinder eyes than most down here. He shook his head slowly, "No, he's supposed to be getting training but he didn't show up for lunch, I don't know where he is," he said.
Madge sighed, looking back the way she'd come through the long halls and thinking of where he could be, before looking back to Comus. "Look I know he probably hasn't said as much, but were actually friends, well we were, I don't know if we still are. But I need to speak to him and it's really important. If you know anywhere he could be I'd really appreciate the help... I just, I really need to find him," she said.
Something in her words must have convinced him because Comus looked around uncertainly for a minute before leaning closer to speak quietly, "He's down in the command floor, working on plans he said. But I didn't see anyone else go down with him which normally there's a whole team for that sort of thing."
Madge smiled uncertainly, "Thank you, but I don't know how much good that'll do me, since I'm not really allowed to go down there..."
"Not alone you aren't," he said.
"Are you saying you'll take me?" she asked hopefully.
Comus nodded, standing and grabbing his things, "I know all about you Madge, I shared a room with him during training and he might not have said as much awake, but he sure speaks volumes at night."
Madge was stunned by this as he walked past her, leading her out of the room a set of halls. He slid his arm under a scanner and got the elevator for them, it was a different one than the others, built stronger and with extra doors the looked impossibly wide. They were meant to carry much more than just people down below she realized. They rode down for a couple minutes and she wondered again how deep this place really got when the elevator stopped.
"There won't be any guards back for a while since nothings going on down here today, but you'll need Gale to let you back up still and it's probably best if you don't come back the way you came for today. Well not after wearing that," Comus said with a bit of a grin and Madge nodded at him before looking out.
"Where do I go?" she asked, turning again to look back before she was left all alone not knowing where to go.
"Straight to the end, last room on the right, just knock," he said as the elevator slid shut behind him.
There were very few light here and one blinked every now and then, but it was all very military style, to 13's standard anyway. No paint on the walls, no frills, just a long hallway with many doors that were most likely locked and not meant for her.
The end of the hall, first door on the right. The blinds were drawn inside and she took a deep breath, balling up her fist and knocking against the frame a few times, hearing nothing and knocking even louder. Her knuckles were pink by the time she heard movement and a moment later the door was thrust open with an angry, "What?"
His face was dark and his eyes were a little red, but they were still the familiar one's she'd grown used to having glare angrily at her before. Madge watched the look of shock in his face as he registered the reality of her standing there before him. Slowly they fell down and the corner of his lips turned up a little as he asked, "Did you put that on just for me?"
"So now were friends again Gale, only when nobody's around to see it is that right?" she asked angrily crossing her arms.
The grin was gone and he looked irritable again, "How did you even get down here Madge, you could get in a lot of trouble for sneaking down here."
"Well some things are worth the risk," she said.
Gale sighed and looked down for a moment, he didn't bother to hide the fact that he must have been crying from her, just for a moment she thought he'd close the door in her face but he opened it wider and let her come inside.
Madge stepped hesitantly in looking around the room, dimly lit and almost gloomy, filled with maps and charts and an array of paper with intricate sketches hand-drawn sketches all over them. "What are you doing down here Gale?" she asked for the first time, forgetting what she'd been planning to say to him all along.
"Working," he said with annoyance, stepping back to the desk and sitting down behind his mess.
"Clearly, but working on what exactly?" she asked, grabbing a piece of paper and examining it. He snatched the page away from her roughly but it hadn't been quick enough. "I've seen that before, it looks like one of your traps, right? You showed me it once, not on paper but in the woods."
Gale looked at her crossly for a moment, but Madge had never been afraid of that look and met it head on. They'd both been hurt by the other before and now here he was trying to lie to her again. "I showed them to Beetee, during the war, we were trying... trying to use them against the Capitol. I didn't know they'd- I didn't know if- if," he cut himself off when his voice broke and he looked down shaking his head. The words wouldn't come out.
"You didn't know if they used them, to kill her? To kill Prim?" she asked.
It felt strange to say it out loud, the words out there and unable to come back. They had to be said though, had to be there in the open. They were the thoughts destroying Gale. "Yeah," he said, "To see if they killed her."
Madge sighed and stood to the side of him and peered down at the pages, "There was so much going on out there that day, Gale. No one meant for her to die, it was awful but it doesn't mean it was your fault. No one is blaming you-"
"Katniss is, I am, everyone should blame me. It was my idea, my trap, I wanted to make the Capitol suffer as much as everyone else has that I didn't try to stop this. I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway, I killed her!" he shouted.
"You didn't kill her, Gale, it was an accident!"
"STOP IT! Just stop it already Madge, if I wanted to know what you thought I would have asked you alright!"
"Don't yell at me Gale, I'm just trying to help! I'm the only one that's been trying to be your friend and you won't let me anywhere near you! You keep pushing away and hating me because you hate yourself and you need to just stop it! I'm not going anywhere so you might as well give it a rest!" she yelled.
He turned around and Madge caught a glimpse at his flush face, anger in every pore of his body and breathing heavily. He might have been big and angry, but to her he seemed small in his anger, broke and sad. he didn't look like a threat, he hated himself too much these days to really be dangerous to anyone. "What if it is my fault though?" he asked, his hands shaking and face tight with fear. "What if I'm the reason Prim died?" his voice broke then and there were tears now on his face, just a confused and angry boy, that was all he was.
"It wasn't, it might have been your trap but you didn't know they'd use it Gale, it's not your fault," she said with the same soothing voice she used when her mother had her terrible headaches.
Gale shook his head roughly, his hands were shaking as he took deep breaths now and then. Madge carefully walked over, without the lightness of a hunters step but trapped in his gaze all the same. Slowly she raised her hands and gently wiped the tears that had fallen on his face, looking into gray seam eyes that nearly matched her own.
Slowly he leaned down, his lips finding hers with a gentleness at first, careful and slow as they found a steady pace with her own. He lips were warm and gentle but with a fierceness to them that always managed to surprise her. She found her hand drifting behind his head and pulling his hair to draw him closer to her and his hands slipped around her waist and pulled her close to him. He lifted her easily off the ground and their noses bumped into each other briefly before tilting aside and deepening the kiss.
He parted her lips with his tongue and they danced around each other swirling in rhythm, both their hearts beating faster and having the same knowing feeling that this was supposed to be a perfect moment, the kind of kiss that can't be over-thought or perfect but somehow just as wonderful at the same time.
They pulled apart for air and their eyes meeting each other, he lowered her gently to the ground and she felt her swollen lips and could still taste him on her tongue, he no longer smelt like the grass in the meadows but the woods were in his blood and just as much a part of him now. "You smell like smoke," he murmured softly.
"It's the dress," Madge said shyly.
"No, I like it, you smell like... home," he said gently, his hand moving a piece of her hair behind her ear and she reached up and held his palm against her face, cupping her chin gently in his hand. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you," he said quietly.
Madge sighed, "Yeah, I'm sorry too, I've missed you Gale. We were friends and then you just stopped talking to me, I still needed you," she said.
Gale nodded his head and they held their hands together, falling in front of them and not letting go of each other. "It was too hard, after everything that happened. It was easier to loose everyone instead of having you as a reminder of even more people I couldn't save. I couldn't save your parents Madge, I couldn't save a lot of people. And I hurt even more coming here when I was trying to give people something better."
"War comes at a high cost," Madge said softly.
"Yeah, but I don't think I realized that at the time," he sighed. "Did you come looking for me because you heard about me leaving for two?" he asked.
Madge nodded, "I couldn't just let you go, not without an explanation. Were you really planning on just leaving without telling me?" she asked.
Gale looked down for a moment before meeting her gaze again, "Well I was going to leave you a letter or something."
"So no, you weren't planning on saying anything," she said.
"Sorry."
"You should be."
"I am, I am. But that's only because it was going to be too hard to say goodbye, just like it's going to be now."
Madge felt her head spin a little and she held onto his hand a little tighter, "You mean, you're still planning on leaving?" she asked.
"Well yeah, I have to go, I told them I'd be leaving tomorrow. I wanted to leave as soon as possible so I wouldn't have to wait around for goodbyes. They're planning on letting Katniss go, send her back to 12, even though some people aren't happy about it they aren't going to let her rot in there forever."
"That's good to hear about Katinss, but you have to go tell them you can't leave Gale. I told you, I still need you here with me," Madge said desperately pleading with her voice.
He sighed and shook his head, "Sorry Undersee, but I can't do that."
Madge ripped her hand away from him and bit the side of her lip, crossing her arms, "I'm not letting you leave," she told him firmly.
He grinned and chuckled at her a little, looking down with some amusement in his eyes, "And how do you plan on stopping me?" he asked.
"Any means necessary," she told him, leaning forward again and reaching up on her toes to kiss him again.
He kissed her back but only for a moment, placing his hands on her shoulders and pressing her down gently towards the ground, "This is just making it harder," he said with the same gruffness.
"I know, that's the point."
He rolled his eyes and she resumed crossing her arms and staring at him with a mixture of annoyance and fear, "Gale I can't stay here anymore, it's awful. There's no you, there's no Katniss, I just want to go home," she said the last part quietly.
Gale sighed and gave into her for a moment, wrapping an arm around her and letting her lean against him and they both sat on the floor, "Well I'm not sure how you feel about military life in two, you might look good with a buzz cut though," he said with a curt little laugh.
"It's not funny Gale," Madge said with annoyance, although she was smiling a bit too now, she turned her body towards him with her knees propped up and her head on his shoulder. "I just can't imagine it being any worse down here, but with you leaving I guess I'll find out," she sighed.
They'd been like this before, when Madge was the only person who could seem to lighten his mood when he watched the Games the first time, and he'd been able to comfort her when they arrived at 13 even with his busy schedule. Now here they were, with a goodbye looming yet again, only this time it was to each other.
"How long are you going to be gone for?" she asked hesitantly, knowing whatever the answer was it wasn't going to make her happy to hear.
Gale looked uncomfortable for a moment and shifted slightly, "Well, as long as it takes I guess..." he said.
Madge sighed, "You aren't ever coming back, are you?"
He shook his head.
She didn't cry, she just turned her head into his side and he pulled her closer, his arm around her back and she tried to ignore the looming sense of dread over her.
She just wanted to go home and right now home meant Gale.
Madge looked up at him and traced the side of his cheek and jaw with the back of her forefinger, his skin was so bronze even down here away from all the sunlight. He saw what she couldn't say, what she wanted and leaned in to kiss her again.
They kissed and she tried let it be okay, that this was both wonderful and terrible, that she wanted more than anything to be with him even if it was only just this once until goodbye.
He held her carefully and laid her back onto the floor, smiling over her and running a hand along the dress she wore, "Do you remember this dress?" she asked him.
"Yeah," he mumbled softly as he nuzzled into her neck and collar leaving a trail of burning skin where he went.
"I wore it the night of the fire when we planned to meet," she said, though the memories were beginning to blissfully fade as the heat from Gale grew more intense, "The night I planned to tell you something," she mumbled, trying hard now to focus.
"What were you planning on telling me?" Gale asked her, only briefly parting from her to ask before kissing her neck and collarbone once more.
"The night of the bombings in twelve, I wanted to tell you that I loved you that night, before it was too late and I never got the chance," she said quietly, closing her eyes when she felt him stop moving and wanted to stop everything right there for a moment herself. "And I haven't felt differently since then. Not when you ignored me, not when I knew you still loved her too, I just want you to know that I love you too, Gale. I probably always will."
Afraid to look she blinked an eye open, then the other, bracing herself for whatever look he might have. But what she finds isn't regret or confusion, but an actual smile on Gale's face. It was the kind she saw from him in the woods. "You don't say?" he asks with a laugh.
"Well, I think that's what I just did, why are you looking at me like that? I love you and-" and nothing, he kisses her again and with a lot more intensity, parting her lips, biting them and sucking even though they're already so swollen.
He runs his hand along the dress over the silhouette of her body and gently slid his hand along her leg, under the hem of her skirt and she shudders under his touch. His hands feel rough as they move along her soft skin and she's not stopping him. Maddge places her hand over his and encourages him to move closer and further up until his hands around her waist and his other holding him above her while he's kissing her. "You know I thought you might be saying something like that to me one day Undersee, what was it, the strawberries?" he asks.
"No," Madge says firmly, "It was the boy dropping them off, who obviously hated me so much I couldn't help myself but start to care for him. Somehow you actually managed to be a decent human being under all that, who know."
Gale laughs and it sounds deep in his throat and he moans as she presses her hips forward against him. "What do you want to do now, Undersee?" he asks, looking for permission from her.
Madge had never been with anyone before, she'd figured out long ago what it meant to have sex with someone, but never actually had enough interest in any of the boys she know to try. Gale was more than interesting to her and no longer any boy, she knew it was the sort of thing you did with someone you loved and now here they were. "I think you should take off your shirt," she told him, sounding unafraid and confident.
"Always bossing me around," he laughed, sitting back and taking his shirt off, throwing it aside and making Madge laugh.
He kicked off his shoes and reachec out, grabbing the shoes off her feet and tossing them aside as well. When he reaches back for her his hands slide along her legs and up her thighs until he hooks his thumbs on the side of her panties and slides them off as she lifts her hips. With that aside he props her right leg up over his shoulder, running his hand over the smooth skin a couple times and kissing her calf, her knee, the soft flesh of the inside of her leg and Madge closes her eyes and leans back, biting her lip, keeping silent and still.
Her eyes widen as he finds her center, feeling his face and tongue against her and she jerks back for a moment, "What?" Gale asks, looking up and she reaches up to move the bottom of her dress out of his way to see his face.
"What- what are you doing?" she asks breathlessly.
Gale gets a wild grin on his face and laughs, "Trust me," he says, slipping back under her dress.
So she closes her eyes and relaxes and is grateful she does. His tongue is dancing against her and swirling, she feels like fire itself and light as air while her core is wet and being tortured in the most beautiful way.
Suddenly she can't help it, she's moaning loudly and biting on her hand nearly breaking the skin thereto keep from screaming, not wanting to have any possible guard come walking by and stumbling upon this. Gale doesn't seem to mind and continues to suck and lick her not pausing once. He grips her tightly, holding onto her hips as she can't seem to stop shaking and squirming, moaning as the intensity grows and then it's like a burst of magic how she's bucking against him and almost sure she's going to hurt him as he's pulsing his tongue inside of her and she reaches her limit. She moans so loudly and smacks her hand against the floor in triumph as Gale grins up at her, "Satisfied?" he asks.
There is no way she can answer, so breathless and feeling more alive than ever. She laughs and nods, closing her eyes and trying not to feel too embarrassed. "That was... wonderful!" she says excitedly.
"Good, I've been wanting to do that for a while," he says and it's not the first time she's wondered how many girls Gale has been with before. It doesn't bother her, instead she thinks it's wonderful they've taught him so much because she'd never felt something so powerful before.
"Gale I, I don't really know what to do... I don't know how to make you feel... feel that," she says after a moment.
Gale just grins and shrugs, "Trust me, just being with you will make me feel that and more."
Madge smiles but is still uncertain. Sex was already wonderful but so far it had been about her and she wanted it to be the two of them, for just a while at least. Before it was too late she wanted them to come together and share something she knew she'd never forget in their uncertain future. "We'll never know if we never try, right?" she asks.
He nods a little, "Are you sure? We don't have to," he says, but she knows he wants this too, and she can see by the bulge in his pants that he wants to.
She doesn't hesitate."Yes, I'm sure, come here," she says smiling, and he comes forward and they meet with their lips crashing together, Gale helps slide the dress over her and he folds it to lay beneath her head. He kisses her chest, cups the swell of each breast against his warm palm and feels her stiffen as he bites softly on the tender flesh.
She's alive a in a pool of happiness and ecstasy that is somehow taking place in 13. Deep beneath the earth and the life she once knew so well. She'd had a dream of this moment before, pictured herself laying naked in the soft green grass, surrounded by the stars and forest keeping them safe. Somehow this was happening in a world where she's lost so much and so many have suffered, it was this moment fixing part of what had been broken and giving her something she'd once thought lost.
Leaning forward she helps Gale undo his pants and watches him slid them off, seeing him there long and hard, not knowing much except for it was supposed to look like that and it was the right position for sex, up. It meant he wanted her, but she could have told that from the look on his face and didn't need any extra clues. He smiled a little shyly and she tried not to seem alarmed wondering if he would fit. "Are you sure, Madge?" he asked again.
Madge smiled and nodded, with that confirmation he held onto her hand and looked down at her. "Tell me if it hurts, I'll try not to hurt you but... it might, just a bit. Just hold onto my hand and I won't let go," he said.
She nodded, gripping onto his hand and he slowly entered her, the look of concentration on his face and he bit his lip, he went slowly with a little force he was in and it only hurt a little, she didn't cry out just held onto his hand dearly while he continued to slid inside of her and filling her out.
It hurt worse when he pulled out slightly and went in deeper, she grimaced a little and Gale went slowly like he said he would. After several tries it wasn't so bad anymore, she could almost enjoy it, and after a few more the pain was duller and the fire was back that had made her feel so good before. She moaned and it wasn't painful, it felt good, it felt right.
Gale still moved slowly though, careful with each long stroke and trying not to hurt her. He was so big and muscular but his touch was gentle and thoughtful. His eyes were on her, looking at her eyes, swimming with desire and trying not to loose himself. Madge raised her hand and placed it behind his head, pulling on him softly, sliding her hand down his back and holding onto him for dear life. She felt flush and warm as their chests met each other, his face burrowed into her neck and she heard him moaning quietly, she knew he was enjoying this just as much as her.
Madge smiled and she pushed his chest up slightly, he stared down at her until she spoke, "I want to be on top," she told him, earning a wild grin and eager nod from him.
He helped to flip her over and they came apart briefly until she helped to guide him back inside of her. There was almost no pain this way, and she could feel so much more of him deep inside her, feel her walls clench around and gripping onto him tightly. Madge had her hands pressed against his chest and every now and then she'd moan and her nails would dig into his skin. His moans were so loud now and the slow murmmer of her name from his lips, over and over until it filled them both. Every move of her hips were meant with his own, they didn't rush, slow and deep, sometimes a little faster but careful not to cause too much pain for her first time.
The only sounds was their breath and moans, the lights buzzing in the room and the soft slapping of skin against skin.
"Madge, you-" he moaned, gripping onto her arm suddenly, "Just- just stay still for a minute, don't move, I don't want to, uh, I don't want this to end too soon," he said, and Madge nodded until he seemed to grimace a little and she realized he really didn't want her to move at all. It was hard to do so, especially considering the fire between her own legs and her desperation to keep going, to feel on fire again with him, but it wasn't long before he nodded at her that he was ready again.
They laughed a little and started off slowly once more, Gale held his arms up and his hands out, which Madge used to grip onto as she bounced on top of him and moaned even louder this time, feeling full and complete, the heat between her legs making her dizzy and smiling. "Gale I'm- I-" she couldn't speak, couldn't move, she wasn't even in her own body anymore and was grateful he was still moving his hips and bringing her over again and so much deeper this time. Gale moaned and with that she felt him exploding inside of her and she moved her hips a little against him to help him finish and he didn't seem to mind even with the moaning, but it was all from pleasure and the pressure being relieved now.
Finally they were both spent, she slid off him and laid down beside him, his arm underneath her head and she grinned happily up to the boring and no frills ceiling of 13.
Wondering how deep underneath the earth were they and hoping their moans hadn't been able to be heard in here.
Madge turned her head and saw Gale grinning up too, catching his breath until he noticed her, "So are you sure you still want to go?" she asked.
He laughed quickly, "Not at all!"
"But you will, won't you?"
Gale studied her face for a quiet, thoughtful moment, "Yeah."
"Even though I love you? Even after this?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Don't feel too bad, I knew you would," she said quietly looking away as he continued to stare at her. "I just wanted to be with you this once, so you wouldn't forget me,."
"I don't think I could ever forget you Madge, even if this had never happened," Gale said.
"Because you love me too?"
"Because I love you too," he says, leaning over and kissing her temple, moving some of the hair sticking to her forehead back..
She nods and still feels a small sadness in her heart. She knew this was a goodbye, that he was leaving and there wasn't a way to stop it, even if that's what she had been hoping for. "Gale I know you can't stay and I won't ask you to try, but I do need to ask you something..."
Gale looks over at her and with a hint of uncertainty says, "Okay, shoot."
"That when you go out there and find... find whatever it is you're hoping to find away from here that you'll come back for me. That you won't just let me rot in here. I know there's no twelve anymore, but this place is no more my home than it is yours and I just need to know that you'll be back for me someday."
"Now that," he says, "I can promise you."