To think that she let him go. After all those years fighting together to survive, she just let him go. Gale Hawthorne waited for her to come back to him. Time passed, but she didn't. He waited weeks, months, years, decades, for her to return to him. And even though she never come back, there was a tiny hope in his soul that would tell him to wait. That would tell him that one day she would say "Gale, I need you in my life"
It sad truly. To think that time went by and she never came back. His blue sky turned gray, just like his dark hair turned silver gray. His hope died little by little and so did his will to live. There are many that called him the walking corpse. He showed no emotion, whether it was sad or happy. And at the end, he even refused to talk to people. There was nothing left of the young Gale Hawthorne that once fought so hard to set his Mockingjay free of the hands of the Capital and President Snow.
Those closer to him ask themselves what happened in his life that made him hate his life so much. There was talk of course. His job was too stressful, memories of the war hunt him, the bombing of his district was too much for a teenager to witness. He never talked, so nobody knew of the true source of his suffering. His family knew of course, but they knew better than to talk about her in the house. They never told a soul either. They valued and respected the privacy of the person who worked so hard to keep them alive. So, they kept quiet and watch him throw himself in the arms of so many women.
At the age of 30, he wanted to forget about her. He didn't want to feel pain anymore and came to the conclusion that he needed a distraction, something besides work. He thought that he needed someone to take Katniss out of his head, out of his heart, and out of his life. What a fool. He was so desperate for a normal life that he didn't realize that his mind and heart were in her hands and the source of his pain was that she wasn't in his life anymore. But, since he was not thinking straight, he started hunting again. This time he was hunting a different kind of prey, an easier prey to catch. This time actually, the prey would come to him. He was so handsome and so popular that women would throw themselves at him. There were so many. Tall, short, blond, red hair, blue eyes, green eyes brown eyes, you name it, he had it all. But no one had what he was looking for. Don't get wrong, they were all lovely and his family loved every single one of them. The first time he brought a girl home, his mom was so excited for him. She couldn't stop smiling, thinking that her son had finally forgotten about Katniss and was finally going to be happy in the arms of this girl. But one day he came home saying that she wasn't his type. "too tall" he said. Hazel just smiled. The next one was too short, the next too mean, the next one too nice. And his hunt continued for years. After a while, Gale decided to get his own place. He couldn't take to watch the excitement in his mom's eyes every time he would bring a girl home; or the disappointment in her face every time he would tell her that the new girl was history.
At the age of 40, he was so tired of this game that he gave it up. He focused on his work and his family. He moved back with his mother since his brothers and sister were all married and raising their own families. Gale loved being an uncle. He was the nicest uncle and his nieces and nephews loved him. Seeing his brothers with their kids, make him want kids of his own. He dismissed this idea quickly. After all, there was only one woman that he wanted to have kids with, but she was having kids with someone else. Thinking about that hurt his soul so much. Not that she was happy, but that it wasn't him that was making her happy. When he was younger, living in district 12, he allowed himself to imagine a life with her. He imagined being her husband, coming home from a long day of work in the mines while she waited for him with a dinner that she had caught during the day. He imagined having children with her. He always thought that would happen. But it never did. The Games took her away and Peeta won her heart. Now, she was in district 12 having children with Peeta, while he was in district 2 dying inside. He lost her. No, she was never his to begin with. She was just surviving and he was her allied. There were times that he would tell himself that he was never her best friend. After all, best friends stick together. But there were also so many times were he would convince himself that what they had was special. But most of the time he would just refuse to think about that whole period of his life. It hurt too much.
When Gale was 50, Hazell died. Nobody knows the reason of her death. She went to bed perfectly fine and she just didn't wake up. Her death was devastating for the Hawthorne's, especially for Gale. After this tragedy, Gale just gave up on life. With his brothers and sister grown up and his mother gone, he had no one to take care of anymore. He quit his job two years later. He isolated himself in his house. He refused to leave the house, he ate less, and he stopped taking care of himself. He lost weight, his hair turned gray, his skin was pale, his stormy gray eyes sunk and he forgot how to stand straight. He looked nothing like the war hero that he once was. Friends and his family tried to help him out of his depression but he refused. His past girlfriends who remained his friends would visit him and try to cheer him up. After a while everyone just gave up and they let him be. One of his ex-girlfriend asked him once "who broke your heart Gale Hawthorne, who took your will to live? I Know you cry, but for who? What did she do?" "she didn't brake my hear, she stole it. She has my heart and I want her to keep it" he wanted to answer but he didn't because she would want to know more and he didn't want to explain. Then he stopped talking. No matter who it was, no matter what they say, he didn't answer. Not one word for two years. People stopped coming to his house. The only one who didn't give up was his little sister. "Gale please you are more than my brother, you are my father. I need you please" she would beg him but not even her tears would bring him back. For years she tried to help her big brother, her provider, the most important men of her life, but she was unsuccessful. It hurt her to see her strong big brother like that but she understood that there was nothing she could do or say that would give him what he wanted. One beautiful spring day, after he fed him, she told him "I understand Gale, life has not been fair to you. You were force to grow up and your eyes have seen terrible tragedies, you lost the love of your life after you fought so hard for her. You are broken and you have been fighting to put yourself together for years, but I think it is time for you to let go" Gale looked at his sister who couldn't stop her tears from coming and say "Thank you". They both cried hugging each other. That night, Gale took a long, hot shower, just like he used to do after a long, stressful day of work; went to bed, closed his eyes and never open them again.
He died waiting for his love to return. At first he thought that she just needed time but at the end he understood that it she didn't need him. And on the day of his wake, he gets what he has been waiting for all those years. His love is here with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her hands reach for his faces and her fingers gently caress his face. That face that would only light up in the woods of district 12. Then, her hands move to touch his cold hands and a memory returns to her. A memory of those same hands making the most perfect and complicated snares in the woods of district 12. She falls to her needs and says "I have missed you so much, you don't know how much I needed you in my life". Everyone is looking but she doesn't care. Finally, they all know how broke Gale Hawthorne's heart. "he died waiting for your" Posy says. "and every Sunday I go to the woods to wait for him" answers Katniss.