Out of the Picture
Annie's POV
After all these times I've been through, the boy with the bread still has his way with words. I make my way through recovery, and Peeta has helped me get rid of bad thoughts. He kept on telling me that Snow and Coin will never find us again. They're dead. At last Panem is at peace, and every person is treated fairly. No more Hunger Games.
I sit on a chair, watching Peeta bake bread. We do this weekly now. He bakes, I watch. In the Victor's Village, it's quite nice, actually. I've managed to live here without screaming my head off.
"Hey, girl on fire," Peeta tells me. "The bread'll be done soon." I manage a smile.
He suddenly inserts something into my hand. The texture felt familiar. It's the Mockingjay pin. "You kind of dropped this outside yesterday. Greasy Sae found it near the primroses." I smile once again. "Thanks, Peeta. Why don't you get the bread? I don't want it burnt... again." He lightly laughs. "Sure, Katniss." He kisses my cheek and goes. Apparently, the burnt bread incident wasn't a heavy subject anymore.
I breathe and look at the pin in my hands. I look back on how Madge Undersee gave it to me before my first Games. It later became the symbol of rebellion. But now, I realize how Madge could've been if she were still here. We've could've been close friends. Maybe she could've found a sweetheart of her own. I know that she could have been more than the quiet girl of District 12.
Would I be fine if she ended up with Gale? I don't really know. I had always suspected something was going on between them. I wondered if something ever happened during my first Games. But Gale's close friendship to me was already out of reach, becoming ONLY a friend, or just a familiar face of the many people I saw in life. I now know that he has a different life now. Without me and Madge.
"Will you wear this?" I remember her ask. Later on, I received it.
Little did I know that this pin helped make my mark in Panem.
I remember Cinna putting it on my various outfits in arenas and many different places. Madge was also one of the reasons why I turned out successful, like Cinna. So far, she only appeared in my nightmares once. And then she was never there. I was buried alive again, because of Madge and Madge only. That late night, I woke up sweaty and terrified, but not screaming. As always, Peeta would come to my rescue and make me feel better with a kiss. And that night, I told him about what happened with her. All of her clothes covered in ash, as she was badly overwhelmed by the power of the Mockingjay. An angry look was on her face, and that was something rare with Madge Undersee. She was always calm whenever she was in The Hob.
Peeta walks in. "The bread's ready, sweetheart." I immediately blush and laugh at the same time. With only just a sentence, he could already change my emotions. "Hello again, Peeta." I continue touching the pin, remembering what I have been through. Poverty, love, bravery, and rebellion. The smile planted on my face slowly fades. In a second, the boy with the bread was eager to cheer me up once again. He passed me the plate of fresh Rye. "Here, whatever's worrying you, the food will make you feel better." I break a piece and kiss him on the lips. "Thank you again, Peeta Mellark." He knew that whatever I thought about was something I would either hide or reveal. And this time, I hide it. It was true that he knew everything about me, and he still does.
Now, I remember a Madge a lot more. I remember her long, blonde hair. She gave me a significant gift. She was quiet. Courageous. She's another person I could add to the ones that would be missed. Prim, my father, Cinna, Finnick, Rue, Boggs, and many others. And then there's Haymitch, Effie, my mother, Peeta, Johanna, and Annie that are still in touch with me, not in life changing experience called death. If only Madge survived, she would've had a brighter future. A happy life, like everyone else who deserves to live longer. She wouldn't be out of the picture. If I had thanked her more, or supported her in every way, it could have made her at least come out of her shell, and not just be quiet. But now that's she's gone, it's just a fact that I have to live with. She never did anything wrong, she never deserved death. This is why the old government, The Capitol, made almost everyone change, become evil, for some. Coin was evil too, despite her looks.