Disclaimers:

1. Unfortunately, I do not own the Hunger Games.

2. Games are still going, and D12 is the same.

3. Katniss won't be in this at all ):

4. I love little Posy's adorableness, but for the plot in this story Posy is eleven, but everyone else is the same age as always.

Prologue

Strawberry Fields Forever

Nothing is real

And nothing to get hung about

Strawberry Fields Forever

73rd Hunger Games

Madge is in the section with the other 17-year-old girls, watching as Effie Trinket walks slowly and carefully up the steps to the stage in her heels.

Moments pass, and Madge heaves a sigh, knowing it will take a while before she even gets to the microphone. Madge scans the crowd of faces in boredom, stopping on someone in particularly who's already looking at her.

Madge's eyes flick from Gale to the stage and back again meaningfully, before rolling her eyes. Gale's lips twitch upwards in a smile.

Madge thinks about how far they've come. Madge, the mayor's daughter from town and Gale, the illegal hunter from the Seam. What brought them together? Well, she hunts illegally too.

Madge has noticed the past few weeks that Gale has been acting… different. He's never been cruel to her in the years they've known each other, but he's never exactly been all warm and fuzzy either. Now he's smiling a lot. Laughing at her quips instead of just not responding to them. Helping her with little things, like offering to carry the haul or even skinning the animals, which he knows she hates. Because she complains about itall the time. Loudly.

She's not saying the change in him is bad… just different.

Out of all the years they've been spent hunting together, their first meeting in the woods is what Madge remembers more clearly than anything.

Flashback

Madge, 13 years old (69th Hunger Games)

Madge is silent as she walks through the forest, bow at the ready. After nearly five years of hunting in the woods, she's got her routine down. Hunt for the kids at the orphanage, and then pick strawberries just for her. It may be selfish, but Madge never shares her strawberries with anyone.

This morning, though, there's an unusual absence of game. Not one animal is in the forest. She even checks the hot spots, like the stream where the animals go to get water, even throws rocks at the trees but there aren't even any birds. Madge knows it's not her, she's perfected walking silently through the woods. Even her father gets upset when she sneaks up on him, saying that he couldn't hear her coming.

Maybe something is scaring them off. Maybe there's a storm coming. Madge quickly dismisses that idea. Even at 8 in the morning, the sun is shining prettily, the clouds picture perfect.

Something has to be scaring them off, Madge thinks, and she knows it's not her.

After another hour, Madge gives up. She starts walking towards the multiple strawberry bushes that she tends to, making sure they grow properly so she can get her precious strawberries.

Madge's bow is swung on her shoulder, along with her sheath of arrows. As a rule, Madge always has her bow on her when she's in the forest. She hides it in a log and only puts it back when she's on her way back. She learned her lesson when she had to pummel a wild dog with a rock when it attacked her. She had returned her bow to its hiding place before going to pick berries, not wanting to have to carry it.

Madge is frustrated at the lack of haul. She's going to have to go to the orphanage empty-handed. Madge had taken up hunting in the woods out of boredom when she was eight, but when she started perfecting archery and actually killing things, she realized she had all this food that she didn't need. Madge was going to give it to families in the Seam, but remembered that the orphanage in the Seam is in need of well, everything, especially food. She started taking her haul to the orphanage to feed the kids, giving it to the lady who cooks for all of them. Greta is an expert at using every piece of meat and getting it to last a while, even better than Sae, which anybody who knows Sae knows that's hard to do.

With Madge's blonde hair and blue eyes, the kids at the orphanage had taken quickly to the nice 'angel' who brought them goodies and kept them fed.

But now, she's going to have to look in their eyes and tell them they might not be able to eat tonight. No, she thinks. She can't do that. She has money; she can buy soup off of Sae and cart it to the orphanage.

Her mood a little lighter, Madge arrives at the berry bushes, but pauses when she sees one of them completely bare.

What the hell? She thinks.

She knows it's not her, because she doesn't pick one bush at a time, she picks from all the different bushes so she doesn't leave them completely bare, like this one. Maybe it was an animal, she wonders. But upon closer inspection, she notices that the berries would've been nibbled at, not cut clean off. As she's thinking this, she hears a rustle in one of the bushes and spins towards the noise with an arrow ready.

She waits patiently for whatever it is to emerge from the bush. She's mildly surprised when it turns out to be a person, looking down at his own bow and arrow (poorly fashioned arrows in Madge's opinion), not even noticing her.

The boy looks to be a little older than Madge, clearly from the Seam with his dark hair, olive skin and grey eyes.

He startles when he finally does notice her, eyes going wide. "Shit," he hisses dropping his bow when he sees the arrow trained on him. He raises his hands in the air and takes a step back, eyes warily watching Madge.

Madge lowers her bow when she realizes it's just another person. "What are you doing out here?"

The boy relaxes now that he doesn't have a weapon trained on him and raises his eyebrows. "Me?" he scoffs, "What are you doing out here?"

Madge's hackles rise at his tone. She's heard that very same tone many times, mostly from kids from the Seam who looked down on her. Sure, she looks like a kid from town, and yeah, she actually is from town, but that doesn't mean she acts like it, and she never has.

Madge has never seen this boy before, so he shouldn't be judging her just by her looks. And it's not as if she has 'MAYORS DAUGHTER' written on her forehead.

"I actually belong out here," she says indignantly. "I come here everyday and I've not once seen you out here in the past five years."

The boy just studies Madge with a blank face.

"You're the one scaring off all the game in a five mile radius, not me."

"It's my first day, okay? And why would you need to hunt, townie?" He responds, practically spitting the words out.

Madge scoffs, shaking her head. She stomps away; even more irritated with the boy because she didn't even get her strawberries.

"Hey! Wait!" The boy shouts, and she automatically stops and turns around, crossing her arms.

"I need help," he mumbles quietly. "My bowstring is loose and I don't know how to fix it."

Madge debates just leaving the rude boy to fix it himself, since he's so high and mighty. But Madge knows he must be desperate if he's crossed the fence and if he's actually asking for help.

She sighs and uncrosses her arms, walking towards him and ripping the bow out of his hands.

She inspects it, and the string is loose.

"What's your name, anyways?" The boy asks.

Madge's name is Madalyn, but for some reason she gives him her nickname that so few people know. "Madge. You?"

"Gale."

Madge just nods, still looking at the bow. "Jesus, when was the last time you used this? I think its toast. You need a new one."

Gale is first surprised at her using a biblical term, since it's very much treasonous, but then his face falls at her words. "What?" he chokes out.

Madge's head snaps up at his tone, and she instantly regrets being so blunt about when she sees the look on his face. "I mean…" she stutters uselessly.

"That was my dad's," he says quietly, eyes sad. "Are you sure you can't fix it?"

Madge notices his use on the past tense, but doesn't say anything. There was a mine explosion just two weeks ago and she wonders if maybe his dad was one of the ones who didn't make it.

Madge looks back at the bow. "The riser is beautifully made. Hand carved. The limbs of it too," she mutters, more to herself than him. She looks up at him, "I only said that you need a new one because when something happens to mine I just make a new one, but that's just me. Plus it'll be tricky to restring it. Not impossible, though. You just need the right materials."

Madge hands him back his bow and picks hers up to show him, happy that the look on his face is now gone at her words. "Look, see? I used a fishing line as string."

He nods, looking at her bow and hanging onto her every word. "I don't think I have a fishing line."

Madge smiles, and misses Gale's sharp inhale at the sight of it, surprised that he hadn't noticed her beauty until now. She may be 13, but she's already gorgeous, and 14-year-old Gale can't help but take notice. "That's okay. You can use anything really. I've used rawhide before and that works just as well. I just prefer the fishing line myself, it's more flexible and stretches a bit."

Madge hesitates before offering. "I have a whole roll of it back there. You can use some of it."

Gale shakes his head. "No, that's okay."

"No, really, you'll like it a lot more, trust me," Madge smiles, trying to convince him.

"I don't thin-okay," he says, seeing the look on her face when he starts to protest again. "I'll trade for it."

"That's okay, you don't need to trade anything," Madge shakes her head, swinging her bow onto her shoulder.

"I don't need charity," Gale snaps at her, more harsh than he probably should be.

Madge looks down at her feet. "It's not charity. It's just a bit of string," she says quietly, shrugging.

"Fine," he grumbles, throwing his father's game bag over his shoulder. "Where is it?" he asks hesitantly, like he's afraid of her answer.

"This way," Madge points. "Closer to the fence." She keeps it in the log, not wanting to have it at home.

They walk in silence for a few minutes, and Madge can't hold it in anymore. "You're too loud."

"Excuse me?"

"I said that you're too loud. You try hunting with that tread and you'll scare off all the game," Madge points to his feet, avoiding his eyes. "Like this morning," she mutters under her breath.

Madge watches as Gale looks down at his feet, thinking. "Anything else?" he asks sarcastically.

"Actually, yes," Madge says seriously. "You need to stop holding that bow like its glass. It won't break, it's not some doll. I get that it's important to you, but you'll never be able to use it the way you need to if you treat it like its breakable."

Gale doesn't respond, they just keep walking side by side.

Madge can't help but notice how comfortable the silence is. Usually with people she always feels the need to talk, not liking the silence, but now she doesn't. Strange.

"Why do you hunt anyways?" Gale asks, but this time there's not malice in the question, just questioning.

Madge takes a second to think of the right words. "Well, why are you hunting?"

Gale huffs, rolling his eyes. "I asked you first."

"Yes," Madge nods, "but you need to answer first."

Gale hesitates, seeing no logic behind that, but answers anyways. "I'm hunting- well, trying to- to feed my family."

Madge nods at his answer, her assumptions correct. "Well, I've been hunting to feed people too."

Gale pauses at her wording. She didn't say family, she said just said people.

"What do you mean 'people'? What, you don't feed your family?" Despite the words, his tone is just curious.

"My family is fed. I don't need to worry about them. I-" Madge pauses, unsure if she should tell him. "Well, I feed the kids at the orphanage."

Gale stops in his tracks, not expecting that answer.

Gale had already respected the girl for her bravery at hopping the fence. Gale remembers her saying she had been out here everyday for five years, and if she's the same age as him, which would've made her about 8 or 9 when she started. So yeah, he respects her for hopping the fence. Nobody does that, least of all a little girl. That respect grew when she started talking about bows like she's been using them all her life, and he doesn't know for sure, but he would bet she's a perfect shot.

Now? He freaking admires her, and he doesn't even think that that is a strong enough word. It goes above and beyond respect.

The kids at the orphanage have nothing, and there are many deaths each year due to starvation alone. He realizes now, though, that it's been a few years since he'd heard about any. He now knows why.

Gale doesn't even know how to respond. "That-that's… kind of amazing."

Madge just shrugs.

Gale doesn't say anything else. Madge will learn that Gale keeps most of his thoughts to himself if he deems them unnecessary to say out loud. He'll say the bare minimum, mostly just to get his point across.

Madge walks up to the log that she's worked to keep hidden. She digs around until she finds the coil of fishing wire. She pulls out her knife from her belt and wordlessly grabs Gale's bow out of his hands. She measures the amount he'll need and cuts it off.

She holds it out for him to take. "Here you go."

Gale doesn't reach for it, just stares at it. "I-" he swallows, looking Madge in the eyes. "I don't know how to…" he trails off.

"Figures," Madge mutters under her breath, sighing. "I'll do it for you. It might take a couple days."

He doesn't really have a couple days. His family doesn't have a couple days. But Gale nods anyways.

"I'll pay you. Or trade something," He murmur.

Madge really doesn't need anything, but she knows he won't take no for an answer. Madge smirks, "How about this? I'll restring your bow for you, if you give me a portion of my strawberries back."

Gale gives a hint of a smile, surprising Madge. She realizes she hasn't seen any positive expression on his face at all. "Your strawberries?" he teases.

"My strawberries," Madge nods, mock seriously.

Gale holds out his hand, and they shake on it.

"Deal."

End Flashback

Madge smiles at the memory. She wouldn't say it was the start of a beautiful friendship, but it was the start of… something.

Madge had restrung his bow, which she later found out was made and used by his father, who did pass away in the mine explosion like she thought. Gale had four mouths to feed, and when his bow was finished, she had realized that he needed major help. Not only was he loud, but he also couldn't use a bow to save his life.

So, Madge insisted that she teach him how, saying that she couldn't stand by and watch him butcher the art of archery. It took awhile, but he got to be almost as good as her. His real skill was setting up snares, which he taught Madge how to do, but she preferred archery.

They had probably spent two months together, her teaching him how to master archery. When she decreed he didn't need any more help, she realized that they worked really well together. They were both quiet in the woods, using body language or a facial expression to communicate. Their bodies became attuned to each other. They helped each other, and Madge felt that if they separated her hunting would suffer. Madge knew that she'd never find another hunting partner, and despite their strained relationship- with Gale's temper and Madge's bluntness, they worked well together.

Madge hadn't said anything, but Gale was the one to propose the idea that they continue hunting together. That's what started their early mornings in the woods.

Madge didn't even realize she had zoned out while staring at Gale until she snapped out of her thoughts.

Cheeks burning, her head snaps back to the stage, deciding to ignore Gale's teasing smirk.

Effie finally makes it to the microphone, and begins her speech, oblivious to the depressed crowd.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Madge looks back at Gale, finding him watching her already. Again. Madge remembers that very morning joking around with Gale, a first since he was all of a sudden nice. They had imitated Effie's voice and said those same exact words.

"Ladies first!"

Madge doesn't look away from Gale's somber eyes. She can't. She's never seen him look scared before, so the fact that he looks terrified right now is surprising.

"Aster Beaugard."

Madge doesn't notice anything about the name except for the fact that it's not hers.

She watches Gale's features fill with relief, his shoulders dropping infinitesimally. Madge closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath, relaxing, but feeling guilty for it when she knows watches a girl of about 15 walk up the steps, shaking.

Madge tunes out the introduction, biting her nails waiting for the boys' name to be called.

"Now time for the boys!"

Madge's eyes dart back to Gale. He's staring ahead; not even looking worried or scared. Was he only scared for me? Madge wonders, confused at his mood change.

Effie opens her mouth, and Madge can't think of anything but not Gale, not Gale, not Gale.

"Jackson Fraeder."

Not Gale, Madge thinks in relief.

A/N: New story. I love the Gadge pairing, they are my favorite characters in the books. I got this idea and couldn't help but write it out immediately. Pretty please tell me what you guys think!