This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. I really love Gale's character and am forever going to be disappointed with how he was treated in Mockingjay. I want him to have a life so that's what this story is going to be about.

I only own Coral and the plotlines of the chapters.

In my head, Coral is curly-haired Anna-Sophia Robb.

I've gotten the nightmares under control enough that I don't wake up screaming anymore. Instead, I shoot straight up like an arrow trying to pull air into my oxygen-depleted lungs. I'm afraid that that's as good as I'm ever going to get, they weren't lying when they said that the Games change you.

My name is Coral Taylor, and I'm the victor of the 72nd annual Hunger Games. I'm from District 4, not that that matters anymore. Ever since Katniss' display in the Quarter Quell, there are no more districts.

Don't think for a second I blame her, it's quite the opposite. I was at the meeting when Plutarch Heavensbee told us about his plan to get her out. That was the main reason I'd volunteered for Annie, that and because I knew Finnick couldn't handle her being there and having to fight against her.

It wasn't hard to be on her side, once you got to know Katniss. She had a hard outer shell, but she was selfless in a way that I greatly admired. She said she fought so hard for her sister, but I knew it was more than that even if she didn't. She fought for everyone that had been used by the Capitol, everyone who couldn't fight for themselves. It was obvious why she was the choice for the Mockingjay.

I was part of Squad 451 with Finnick, Katniss, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, and the others. It was terrible, so much like the games that it made my stomach turn. If it wasn't for Gale, talking to me and talking me through the fears I probably wouldn't have made it through it.

Tonight's nightmare was of Finnick and it was a repeat. He was sitting in a chair with his little boy on his lap, singing a song to him that we'd both grown up with. I could hear Annie in the kitchen, banging pots as she tried to cook. It was so amazing and heartwarming that I almost forgot it was a nightmare… until the mutts appeared.

They yanked the baby out of his arms before they tore him and Finnick to pieces. Annie ran into the room screaming, but they left her alone with the scraps of her family and I realized I was just an onlooker. Even though I was awake, her screams were still rattling around in my head so loudly that I felt them in my chest.

"You're getting better at handling your nightmares," Gale's voice said from the darkness beside me. "You don't leave bruises on me anymore."

I knew it was meant to be reassuring, but it didn't make me feel any better. I didn't know how to make him understand that they would never go away. If they weren't nightmares about Finnick or the Squad, they were from the hospital or the Games. Everywhere I went, the Capitol plagued me even if it didn't exist anymore. I knew the other victors felt the same way, Finnick and I used to talk about it before…

"It's because I know you're here with me," I replied, rolling onto my side and searching for his skin in the dark.

I felt his fingers slid between mine as he brought them up to his lips. Gale Hawthorne and I weren't a couple, but we might as well be. He held me when I woke up screaming, pulling me onto his lap and rocking me like a baby until I stopped without making me feel weak or breakable.

He had his own nightmares, but he handled them better than I did. He never woke me when he had them, but I often times woke up the next morning closer to his side or sprawled out across the entire length of his body. He told me that as long as I was close to him, he knew nothing bad could ever happen again.

"Do you want to talk it?" he asked me, pulling me until there was less than an inch between our bodies.

His free hand was running through my hair and massaging my scalp absentmindedly. A memory from the first time we met made me smile. Gale seemed to notice because he asked me what it was about.

"The first time I met you, I thought you were going to be the biggest asshole in the entire world. I thought you had no emotions and were whipped by Katniss," I told him then flinched as I slid a hand under the back of his shirt and ran my fingers over the welts along his skin. "I'm sorry, that was a bad choice of words."

He laughed and brushed his lips against my forehead. "It's also very true; I even have the scars to prove it. You make my emotions come out, Cory."

I continued to rub my fingers gently over the welts on his skin as my eyes got heavy. It was easy to fall back asleep with him rubbing my head and holding me close. I let his steady breathing lull me to sleep again.

I woke up the next morning to an empty bed, but that happened most mornings. Gale worked in District 2 where he lived, and he was always at work by the time I woke up. I worked in District 4 where I lived and Gale stayed most nights only to travel to 2 for his job.

Now that we no longer had to supply the Capitol, District 4 was very self-sufficient. We had food and one of our smarter inhabitants figured out a way to run our machines on water. I got the job of staying in the nursery with the babies while their parents worked. The main reason I had that job was because Annie wouldn't leave baby Finn with else.

I got up and showered before heading downstairs to make breakfast. I walked towards the kitchen and felt my heart stop beating. There was something different about it, but I couldn't place what it was.

I grabbed the wooden bat that I had sitting against the wall tightly in my hands as I made my way to the kitchen. I was a victor, I could and would defend myself. I stayed close to the wall as I made it to the opening of the kitchen. I held the bat high and brought it down with all my might.

"Whoa, Cory! Whoa, it's me!" Gale shouted, grabbing the bat to avoid having his skull smashed in. "Hey, it's okay. You're not back there, you're here in your house with me and I'm not going to hurt you ever."

"I heard a noise and knew something was different. I got scared, I'm sorry," I told him, dropping the cane and clutching his arm. "I'm so sorry!"

I felt my chest start heaving as dread filled my entire body, a feeling I knew too well. I tried to fight it, but I wasn't strong enough. I was back on that beach with the tribute from 7 over top of me, trying to bash my head in with a big shell. I struck out with every part of my body, hitting every part of him that I could.

"Cory! Cory! Coral!" I heard Gale shouting, but it seemed so distant. "Cory, you're not there anymore. You're back in District 4 with me; you're never going to be there again. Hey, Cory, it's okay, come back to me."

I tried my best to push through the memory, even though it was still as vivid as the day it happened. I could feel the wet air and smell the salt around me; I could even feel the sand giving as my elbows dug into it as I struggled to get free.

I squeezed my eyes shut and remembered where I was. I was standing in my aqua blue kitchen that I'd painted with my parents when I was ten with the little shells stuck to the wall where wallpaper should be. I was in the arms of Gale Hawthorne, the man who put me back together every time I fell apart without any look of disgust on his face.

His eyes that were so deep and brown that they radiated warmth that only I got to see. His rough hands that rubbed over my arms and the skin of my back when I had nightmares. The strong arms that held me together when I so desperately wanted to fall apart. The nimble fingers that helped me knit a blanket for Annie and Finn, laughing and joking with me the entire time with a smile that made my heart skip more than a couple beats.

"Gale," I gasped as the beach memory faded and I came back to the kitchen. I held onto him like I'd held onto my father when he taught me to swim. "Gale, Gale, Gale."

I felt his hands slide underneath me so he could lift me up and sit me on the counter. I reached up to grab his face in my hands and pressed my forehead against his. I forced my breathing to match his as I came back to District 4 and his arms.

"Stay with me, Cory. I'm here and I am so much in love with you," he whispered like he was saying a prayer. "I need you, your flashbacks and nightmares and all. I need your hair wrapped around my fingers and your fingers pressed against my skin. I just need you, please don't leave me."

I just nodded and blindly moved until our mouths were pressed together. He understood what I wanted because he pulled me closer and took the lead. His hands gripped my hips to remove all the space between us so our bodies were pressed together.

I felt the hysterical knot in my chest starting to loosen as the desperation left my body. My arms relaxed against Gale and I slowly moved my mouth from his. Our breathing was ragged, but I was back and safe.

"You deserve someone who's not broken, Gale," I told him tiredly. "You deserve someone who doesn't accidently punch you and hurt you like I do. It's not fair."

"What's not fair is that, when we first got together, I was still in love with Katniss. I was obsessed with her, but you stayed anyway," he said, forcing me to hold his gaze. "I have nightmares at night, too. I can't wake up from them and be okay without you. We're in this together for the long run, Cory."

I didn't know what to say to him so I just relaxed my shoulders and leaned my body forward against his. I looked over his shoulder and saw a glass jar of daises sitting on the counter. That was what was different earlier.

"Gale! You brought me flowers?" I asked, moving away from his body. "Daises are so hard to find right now because it's winter!"

He moved away from me to grab them and hand them to me. "I went to District 3 and traded for them. I know they're your favorites."

That was the side of Gale that only I got to see. Katniss never even got to see this side of him, she would've hated it. He was sensitive and caring for me and it was our little secret. He was afraid it would make people think he was weak.

"I'm so much in love with you, too," I whispered, looking at the white flowers instead of at his molten eyes.

He lifted me off of the counter and spun me around. His laughter was contagious as it filled up my small kitchen. My life wasn't easy nor would it ever be, but with Gale I knew that I could handle it.

These chapters can be read apart or together, they don't follow a set timeline. They're just going to be random moments in Gale and Coral's life. I hope you guys like it :)