A/N: ***SPOILER ALERT***
For those of you (lovely lovely people) reading my story "If You Only Once Would Let Me" this one-shot is actually part of a later chapter I wrote last year. So if you'd rather not skip ahead then please look away now! Haha.
I know it's odd to post such a random piece of writing, but I publish this in the hopes of retaining readers that are unhappy with the pacing of the romance. I think this little snapshot shows where my story is headed in terms of Gale and Madge's relationship, and I hope it's enough to keep you reading while I develop the characters in (what feels like) an authentic way. It's also a wee thank you to everyone encouraging me to keep writing, not to mention waiting patiently for the next chapter. I'm sorry it's taking so long, which is why I thought of posting this to let you know I'm definitely still working on it!
I hope you enjoy this, as always please sound off in the reviews about any thoughts/suggestions/complaints. I'm crummy at writing serious romantic scenes, so any suggestions you have would help me a lot! Thanks :)
Of Cabins, Starlight and Fire
I emerge, coughing, stinging. The world is blurry round the edges, grey and fraying. I see crowds of people with no voices I can discern from the endless ringing. I wonder briefly if I'm dead, but then figure I mustn't be because I'm upright. Dead people don't try to stand, they lie down.
My vision clears and I begin to pick out panicked faces in the crowd, clamouring to see who's still escaping the destruction. No one meets my eyes, there's no time because they're searching for someone just a little shorter, or a little broader, with a smile that tugs at their soul and eyes and they'd know anywhere. Someone they love.
All I can think of is Her. Her, and the time I've wasted. A split second mistake and she would never have known. Just a tip in the scales and she would never have known that it was always her.
I try my legs but they don't feel like they're there, which panics me until I look down to the familiar sight of the filthy blackened material of my standard issue overalls.
I think of the way she'd smile if she knew, and I try again, sensing the blood coursing through my body renewing my strength. This time strong hands slip beneath my shoulders and yank, and a broad shoulder props me up. It takes me a moment to realize it's Bristel, and that he's crying. For a mad moment I want to laugh at my best friend's blood spattered face because he looks so strange, but when he chokes out our other friend's name as his face scrunches in grief, the moment disappears. Fast. I try to speak but it feels like I've swallowed sand. Bristel leaves, promising to find some water before limping off looking smaller than I've ever thought him to be. I remember Thom's easy grin and clever jokes, the redheaded girl he swore he'd marry one day...and I feel small too.
The crowds are now nothing short of frantic, surging like a raging tide as aching hearts lose patience. I begin to hear a little, immediately wishing I hadn't. All I can pick out are the wails, sharp cries of anguish and loss that - I note vaguely – I will remember 'til the day I join Thom, wherever he is.
Are they happy now? Is this enough? My throat sears as I choke out a bark of what could be accused of resembling laughter. It's never enough.
Somehow in the midst of the chaos, I feel her. Even though raw fear stretches her quiet voice to near screams, I hear her.
"H-Here..." I croak desperately, because her pain feels worse than my head. She's nothing but a flash of brightness in the distance, a dream. She's grasping at strangers who shake their heads and pat her shoulder even as she's moved on to the next stranger, eyes full of questions and hope. The azure fire I love is there, crackling but dim. She stops a few metres away from me, spinning and searching.
I try with every ounce of my strength to move, willing her to notice me...but the eyes I'd know anywhere fill with tears. They spill unabashedly onto her smooth cheeks, matting her wild hair to a face I've kissed every inch of. I smile as she cries because even in the midst of hell, she's beautiful. Achingly so.
"Pr-Princess," I choke again, warmth seeping into my torn seams as her head rises from her slender hands, eyes locking with mine. I trace her face with my weary eyes, trying desperately to memorise the unadulterated joy slowly erasing her despair.
She starts to run and in moments that seem like hours, she's everywhere.
A familiar body moulds itself to mine, her scent overwhelming my frayed senses. She lends me the strength to grip her slender waist and slide my hand into silky curls as she sobs desperately into the crook of my neck. I close my eyes to the horror in front of me and concentrate on feeling her ribs shudder and shake against mine.
I'm alive.
Abruptly the shaking stops, and she pulls back to allow a whisper of space between our noses. The distance is nothing compared to the weeks of silence and bitterness I've endured, but in this moment it's too much.
Tears continue to stream from her eyes as they scan my features so I press my forehead to hers, speaking with her the way we always do – with actions instead of words.
Her tiny fists grip my shirt collar and she whispers my name like a secret, as though I'll be stolen away if anyone should hear. My chest tightens at the sound.
I know what we promised, and I remember why. But right now everything hurts and she's so warm...
It's as easy as breathing to lean forward and taste her. To press my lips to hers the way I've longed to since the split second after our very last goodbye. It takes her heart a moment to catch up, soft lips remaining frozen in surprise for a split second before they begin to tentatively move against my own.
Her hands cling desperately to my shoulders like they did the very first time. My hand shakes against her cheek as I'm overwhelmed by memories...of cabins, starlight and fire.
She must notice because she presses herself impossibly close, catching me off guard by sliding her tongue against my lips. I groan, forgetting where we are as I tip her chin to deepen the kiss.
How we ever convinced ourselves that this was wrong I will never know.
It takes all the strength I have left to stop kissing her, but I'm rewarded by the soft whimper that escapes her pretty mouth when we part. What I need to say weighs heavy on my chest, so I cough painfully to clear my parched throat.
Before I can open my mouth to speak, a sound tugs at my chest from somewhere outside the safety of her eyes. Her golden head whips round to face the owner of the voice as I recognise my name...someone's calling my name. The chaos rushes back, filling my nose with the acrid scent of smoke and my throat with the taste of bile. Death is everywhere. I want to turn away, to pull her back into my arms and forget but she tugs at my sleeve and points. I follow her direction to a collection of familiar faces, figures pushing and shoving through the crowds until I'm enveloped in arms and flooded with cries of joy. My family.
I embrace them one by one, clutching a sobbing Posy to my chest when she scrambles into my arms. Mom gently starts to explain that I need some time to rest but I shake my head to stop her. Holding my baby sister is exactly what I need right now. Vick is shaking like a leaf and Rory is chalk white. My mom just strokes my hair, tears dripping slowly from her eyes as she looks at me like I'm a ghost. I haven't seen any of them like this since Dad died, and I hate the Capitol for putting my family through this again. In the midst of the flurry Rory places a hand on my shoulder, nodding towards the retreating back of my girl with a smirk. I grin back at him, glad to see my little brother's still in there. Mom catches my eye and smiles, brilliantly. Depositing a calmer Posy with a kiss to her forehead I painfully jog the few metres to grab her hand.
She whirls round, eyes darting from my fingers wrapped around her wrist to my family then to the crowds of our kinsmen before landing on mine in clear surprise. Tear tracks run through the light dusting of soot covering her face, revealing the pale translucence of her delicate face. She's perfect.
"Now just where do you think you're going, Princess?" I ask gruffly, ruffled by her attempt to disappear after I just delivered what was clearly my best work.
"I...Gale...what are you doing?" she hisses, trying frantically to yank her wrist from my palm. I let go, only to grip her waist and pull her tight to my chest. Her mouth drops open in shock and it's adorable, so I dip down to kiss her.
I take pride in the length of time it takes her to regain composure and shove me away.
"Gale, we agreed! You were right, it's for the best..." she tries to leave again so I reach out and cup her face in my palms, bending my knees until I catch her eye.
"I won't pretend anymore, Madge. I can't".
At the sound of her name on my lips she looks up, quiet and sure as the day we met.
A/N: DISCLAIMER: These characters belong solely to the wonderful Suzanne Collins. I just borrow them once in a while ;)