A/N: I've finally given into the Hunger Games hype, and when I read the first book ages ago the relationship between Madge and Katniss seemed as if it could use a bit of development. So, I've decided to take it under my wing. This story is going to be a little slow-going, but I think in the end it will be worth it.
The mayor had two zombies living in his house. The first, his wife, broken beyond repair after the death of her twin sister in the 2nd Quarter Quell. For years he followed her around, trying to pick up the pieces of the woman he loved, hoping to find somewhere the light in her eyes the Capitol stole from her.
He almost found it when Madge was born. For a few months, there was hope. But the eerie silence resumed itself, permeating through the gurgling and giggling of his beautiful baby girl, learning to walk and talk while her mother locked herself in a darkened room. Madge grew used to her mother's "sensitive condition," speaking in hushed tones around the house, the somber mood like a rolling, black cloud over their head threatening to burst over their heads into a torrential fit of rain and thunder at any moment.
It never did.
Madge never had many friends growing up. She was a perfectly normal child. But the mayor knew her silence was unsettling to the other children, constantly humming with energy and flitting about. What upset him the most was that she seemed entirely unbothered by it. As if she didn't know anything else.
That all she knew was loneliness.
When he came to the realization, he too was locked in a dark room. But not in silence. He screamed and threw things, including a glass paperweight from the Capitol. That his child was given this fate was unfair- what had his Madge done to deserve this? He needed to right this wrong. So, as he picked up the pieces of the paperweight and sat at his desk to glue it back together, he formulated a plan.
Whenever his daughter spoke, it was about Katniss Everdeen. Katniss Everdeen, who sang proudly in assembly. Katniss Everdeen, who had all of the passion Madge lacked.
His daughter admired the other girl. It was plain as day. He would never forget the day she came back from school, quietly asking if he knew how to plait hair. Katniss always has her hair in plaits, she said. It always looks so lovely. And so he cancelled his last meeting and sat, fumbling with his thick fingers to braid his daughter's hair. It looked a mess, and when she saw herself in the mirror she could not help herself from laughing.
A door down the hallway creaked open. A pair of tired eyes, with dark circles so deep they seemed permanent, paused at the entrance to his office, squinting to adjust to the light. His wife shuffled toward their daughter, softly combing her fingers through her hair to undo the mess he made. Patiently, with great care, she threaded her daughter's hair together, and for a moment, that stolen light was back in her eyes.
Two days later, Peacekeepers showed up unannounced during dinner. The mayor's heart skipped a beat, fearing the worst. He glanced quickly at his daughter, rolling her peas around her plate, and sighed, relieved. She was safe. He hurried the three men up to his office, bolting the door tightly behind them.
Poachers, they informed him gravely. Poachers were wandering through the woods outside the fence of the District. Should they turn the electric fence back on?
He could not stop himself from laughing. As if they could afford to turn on the electricity! he told them. Aside from that, could they not see how his district was suffering? If anything, more should be allowed to poached from those wild lands in order to keep his sickly people from the brink of starvation! He requested the names of the poachers, for nothing more than allowing the Peacekeepers to still think themselves useful, faithful to the Capitol. The last thing he needed them was sending whispered words of insurrection to President Snow. They struggled enough.
Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne.
Katniss.
He knew what he was going to do. The Peacekeepers were dismissed, and the mayor went back to the dining room, smile on his face. Eat your vegetables, he instructed his daughter. We're lucky enough that we get to eat them every day. She pulled a face and went back to rolling them around her plate, her dour expression quickly resuming its place on her face.
The next day, the mayor watched Katniss Everdeen shuffle around his front step, too anxious to ring the doorbell, for a full five minutes. He finally opened the door to the girl, inviting her in. He made it a point to stop in front of his daughter's room.
"Now, Katniss, I hear you're up to a little trouble outside of the District lines," he remarked casually. He was trying his very hardest to sound stern. The young girl eyed him coldly. "I'm sure you know how the Capitol feels about poaching. I'm afraid I have no choice but to-"
His daughter's door flew open. "No!" she shouted, eyes wild. Her hand flew up to her mouth. She scarcely shouted, and never at her father. He could tell she had been listening to every word, just like he hoped.
"Do you know this young woman, Madge?" he leaned against the wall curious.
"Your daughter and I go to school together, sir," Katniss interjected, all too eagerly. "We-we sit next to each other in music class. I sing loud so she doesn't get in trouble. She-she's my friend!" He looked to his daughter, her expression confused, but there was something else there.
Hope.
"Please, daddy, don't hurt Katniss," she looked at her father, pleading.
He couldn't contain himself any longer. He laughed. "Oh, you two girls do come to conclusions quickly! Katniss, did you bring what I asked?" She fumbled through her knapsack, pulling out a brown box tied shut with twine. He opened it, shutting an eye to peer inside. "Ah, yes, strawberries. They're your mother's favorite, you know." He pulled out his wallet and fished out several coins, handing them to the brunette. "For your trouble. I've spoken to the Peacekeepers, and they're to do you no harm. In exchange-" he paused, looking at her pointedly, "I want a box of these every week. You will be compensated."
The mayor was pushed against the wall as Katniss hugged him tightly, a show of affection he was entirely unused to at this point. "Oh thank you, thank you sir!" she looked at the blonde girl standing next to her. "Madge, who knew your father could be such a tease!" she moved closer and whispered something about a bathroom. His daughter nodded, hesitantly taking the other girl's hand and leading her down the hall.
The mayor smiled to himself, satisfied. Katniss would be good for her.
How good remained to be seen.
Katniss' weekly visits became the highlights of everyone's day to day life. Every morning, his daughter would be vibrating with excitement, words spilling out of her mouth telling her father what she and Katniss would be doing that day. The week before, Katniss taught Madge how to tend to the struggling plants in the garden, and this week the plan was to finally teach Madge to plait her own hair.
The young girl no longer felt the need to ring the doorbell, instead she would come charging into the house, always forgetting to take off her muddy boots. It drove the housekeeper crazy, but even she couldn't begrudge Katniss tracking a little mud into the home. She was giving the entire place life as it had never seen it before.
"Maaaaadge!" she sing-songed, traipsing up the stairs. The mayor smiled to himself and addressed the paperwork on his desk once again. He was struggling through the Capitol's latest newsletter on the proper procedures for shipments of natural resources when a sound rocked him to his core.
"Dear, you're doing a wonderful job," he heard his wife say to his daughter in the next room.
It was the first time he'd heard her voice in three years.