A/N:- The stories presented here after are individuals of themselves except for the words that connect them. You will understand it once we are done with two chapters.
Disclaimer:- Again, Me no SC, so me no own Hunger Games Trilogy.
The breeze blew softly, blowing his dark hair out of his eyes. The breeze which is supposedly soothing, carries with itself a sweet smell. He closes his eyes, mesmerized by its sweet smell losing himself for good. And then with sudden realisation his eyes snap open. He recognises it . The evening primroses. The kind that are rarely seen after the rebellion. The rebellion whipped out nearly every primrose there ever was in Panem and now only a few survive.
But he knows that it does not matter. It is of no use that those handful of primroses have survived. The most important primrose of them all has been whipped out. The one Primrose he was meant to protect. The one Primrose that he grew attached to as if it was part of his very own family. And it was all his fault. His fault. He swallowed the growing lump of guilt in his throat forcing himself to forget his miseries. He didn't come here to mourn for all his mistakes. There had been enough mourning in his entire life. He was here to forget it all.
And yet somehow, after sometime he realised that it was not a good idea at all, to come here. He thought that the sweet smell of the breeze, the crunching sound of the fallen leaves and the sound of the rushing water in the nearby river might calm his frantic nerves down, the way they did when he escaped the captivity of the Capitol in those old days.
But yet in every sound, every sight, every noise and every smell he found himself drifting back to those carefree days he spent with his Catnip, hallucinating her laugh in every way possible. Feeling her essence in everything he came across in the woods.
He found himself looking longingly at a tree where he remembered he spent hours ,with Katniss, since the fence was charged.
He turned away from it only to come across the log - the hollow log - where Katniss hid her bow.
Everything was overwhelming him beyond his capacity to control it. Before he knew his feet carried him to the river. The river where he would sometimes fish and swim with Katniss in summer days to ward the heat off.
And without him knowing it, every moment he spend with Katniss came rushing back to him as his feet took him rocketing back and forth in the wood.
Sometimes stopping at their old rendezvous.
Sometimes stopping at the place - a tree where he had built his intricate snare - where he first met Katniss.
Sometimes in the Meadows, the flower field and the valley...
And in the end, the "house" - the one room hut - where she proposed the plan of them running away
The house where he first confessed his love for his Catnip
The house where she denied his love for her.
The house where his dreams of having any kind of relationship crashed to the earth.
The memories of the house was followed by something else. Something, that left a mark on him forever.
The pain he felt from the lashing was way beyond the pain he felt from all these painful memories resurfacing.
That was more than enough for today. He quickly skimmed through the forest floor to reach the hovercraft that was waiting for him on the other side of the fence. He was now the General of the army of New Panem. He had every facility at his doorstep. Everything he needed was within his reach. Gale Hawthorne had received more than he had bargained for. But who knew he would want back those awful days he so wanted to destroy back then. Those days full of protectiveness and hunting, friendship and trust though edged with painful starvation and tearing whips.
His presence in District 12 was known to everyone. Even to Katniss. But as expected she preferred to shut him out of his life. He felt much better that way. He didn't want to go through any more agonising memories. And yet he longed to meet his Catnip. But he knew that he lost his Catnip for good after that 74th Hunger Games. His Catnip no longer existed. He lost her the way he lost many people in the rebellion.
Just before reaching the fence, he came across something. Something bright in this ashen world. It glimmered red like a red light in black background. The strawberry bush was pulling him towards it, with its own gravity.
Plucking a ripe strawberry from the bush, he brought it towards his mouth and teared the soft flesh of it. The sweet juice filling his mouth.
And everything evaded his mind except for one thing.
"Pretty dress,"
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A/N:- YAY! Finally got this one out. Well, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like. Would appreciate constructive critisism!
Next one is ready already and well Mwahahahahahaha I will post it after a few days... :D