WARNING - SPOILER ALERT! THIS STORY TAKES PLACE AFTER ALL THREE BOOKS!

CHAPTER 1

It has been fifteen years since the war ended. By now they must have rebuilt Twelve. I didn't know for sure, I haven't been back since i made that propo with her. I work and live in District Two now. I miss her. I wish I could see her. But her mentor, Haymitch, told me it was not allowed. I have not fallen in love with anyone else since her. I miss the way we use to hunt together. I loved how the birds grew silent when she sang. I don't know if Peeta is any better from when I last saw him, but I hope he is treating her right. She has lost so much, and has been through so much more. I am glad i met her. She changed my life. I know that she probably sees me on TV from time to time, if she watches it that is, because I work with the mayor. I wonder if she ever thinks about me. She is always on my mind.

I was at my house in Two when my mother told me that her mother called. She is in Four, working at a hospital she help build after the war. She hasn't been to Twelve since the bombing, and because Prim died, she won't go back. The memories are just too much for her to bear. She says that she always talks to Katniss, and wondered if I have wanted to. When I call back, she tells me Katniss is doing fine; though she always has nightmares about everything. "She doesn't say it, but I can tell that she misses you," she said.

"I want to see her, but Haymitch said I was not allowed to," I told her.

"Maybe he only said that because she wanted you to kill her after she shot Coin."

That would make sense because he probably would think I came to kill her if I ever saw her again. "Maybe," I said. Or maybe he's afraid that I would try to steal her from Peeta if I went back. After another twenty minutes or so, she gave me the number and we said our good-byes.

"Are you gonna call her, Gale?" asked Possy. Possy is my little sister, and she was always fond of Katniss. You wouldn't believe how upset she was when we moved to Two and found out we wouldn't be able to see her. But then again, she was twelve at the time.

"I don't know, Possy. She has probably forgotten all about me by now." She gives me a look that said she didn't believe it. "What?"

"You know there is no way she could ever forget you. You guys were best friends for six years before the war ended," she stated.

I laughed at her. Possy was always hoping that I would marry Katniss, no matter how old she got. "Maybe I'll call her. It's been so long."

"Well you better hurry. If she has waited fifteen years to hear from you, she might just might stop waiting and yell at you when you finally do call," she said in her matter-of-fact tone.

"Okay, okay, I get it jeez. Now hurry up. I think mom is waiting for you to help with dinner."

As she left the room, I headed upstairs to my room. I placed the number I received from my phone call with Katniss's mother on my nightstand and stared at it for a long while. Would I ever be able to get over her? Maybe it was time I visited my home in Twelve.

I would go hunt in the morning. Just to clear my mind and think about all of this some before I go through with it.

"Listen," I heard myself say. "Getting a knife should be pretty easy, but you need to get your hands on a bow. That's your best chance."

"They don't always have bows," she said. Everything started to materialize then. I remembered this instantly. I was eighteen and Katniss just took Prim's place in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games. We are talking in the Justice Building. Why am I dreaming of this now? I thought.

"Then make one. Even a weak bow is better than no bow at all," I told her. She's keeping up that front that she always had around others. She's trying to be strong, for Prim's sake.

"Katniss, it's just hunting. You are the best hunter that I know."

"It's not just hunting. They're armed. They think." She's scared. I could see it in her eyes.

"So do you. And you've had more practice. Real practice," I tried to convince her. "You know how to kill."

"Not people," she said. The Peacekeepers are back to take me away. She clung to my hand and starts to panic. "Don't let them starve!"

"I won't! You know I won't! Katniss remember I––" I yelled, but they yanked us apart and slammed the door shut. Damn. Now she would never know that I love her.

The scene changed and next thing I knew, I was standing in a familiar place: my old home in the Seam.

"And what did you say?" I heard coming from the TV. It's her interview, the one where Peeta confessed his love for my Catnip.

"I swore I would," I heard her say.

"I bet you did," Caesar said as he touches her shoulder. The buzzers go off. It's Peeta's turn.

"Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I could remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping." This was it. Where I get my heart ripped out again. "I don't think it's going to work out. Winning...won't help in my case," he said.

"Why ever not?" Caesar asked him, mystified.

"Because...because...she came here with me."

Then it was like everything went into fast forward. I saw all of that Hunger Game in a flash. Every kiss between her and Peeta was heartbreaking. And then I started screaming.

I awoke face planted on the floor. I untangled myself from the blankets and sat up on the bed. Just a nightmare, I thought. I picked up the phone and dialed the number on the nightstand. Three rings. I held my breath.

"Hello?" said a familiar voice.

"Hey Catnip."

"Gale?" I could almost see the confusion and happiness on her face. I guess I deserved that.

"Your mom called. She's the one who gave me the number. Sorry, I shouldn't have called," I stammered out. "I just wanted to hear your voice." Before she could say anything else, I hung up the phone.

END CHAPTER 1