Author's note:

I do not own the Hunger Games universe or characters. In fact, in a way, they own me.

Mayor Undersee's first name, Henry, comes from Medea Smyke because she is awesome.

Title: The Past is Prologue

Summary: Three, united. Two, divided. One, alone. The girls who came before Madge Undersee and Katniss Everdeen had their whole lives ahead of them... until the day Maysilee Donner was Reaped.

CHAPTER ONE

In which little Madge goes to her first day of school,
and Deputy Mayor Undersee reminisces

Henry Undersee is terrified.

He shouldn't be. He's been through a lot worse. After six years of Reapings, his girlfriend getting sent to the 50th Hunger Games, and four years with a chip on his shoulder at civil service college, Henry should be used to this by now. Used to the cold dread in the pit of his stomach, spreading outwards until he could feel it in the tips of his fingers, his toes, his scalp…

But this is a different kind of fear, one that he is entirely unprepared for.

"Daddy?"

Little Madge looks up at him with her big, round eyes. They are a clear, pale blue, exactly like her mother's. Her hand feels impossibly tiny in his.

She speaks softly, hesitantly. "Daddy, there are so many people."

It's Madge's first day of kindergarten and they are standing in front of the school, watching anxious parents with children in tow.

Even though he is the deputy mayor of District 12, Henry has no idea what to do or say at this moment. He only knows he must suppress his fear, the fear that comes from knowing that after this, the next milestone in Madge's life is her first Reaping.

So he crouches down, sitting back on his heels and resting his forearms on his knees. He looks his daughter in the eye and hopes that he looks as confident as he sounds. "I know, Magpie. But you're going to make friends and have lots of fun together. I promise."

Madge chews on her lip. She's a quiet girl, always so serene, content to stay at home and watch her mother play the piano for hours on end. Henry immediately resolves to bring up the matter of her socialization to his wife later.

"I don't know anyone," Madge says.

"Sure you do." Henry looks around for a familiar face and finds two: the baker, talking earnestly to his little boy. Even at this age, the resemblance is so uncanny that it looks like Lukas Mellark is giving advice to his past self. "See? There's Peeta and his dad. Remember Peeta from the bakery?"

Madge nods, but she's distracted by the sight of the shoemaker's wife trying to shush her bawling daughter. Henry quickly scans the crowd for a diversion. "There! Remember him?"

Madge's gaze follows her father's pointing finger to a skinny boy standing with a group of second-graders, but already a head taller than them all. Gale Hawthorne's faded clothes are immaculately clean, a rarity for a boy from the Seam. His dark, heavy eyebrows are knitted together as he scowls at nobody in particular.

"Yes," she says softly. "Gale and his daddy bring us strawberries."

Henry presses a kiss to her forehead. "Right you are. He won't be in your class, but be sure to say hi to him later, all right?"

"I will, Daddy." She hitches her school bag higher up on her shoulder. "I think I'm ready."

"Okay, sweetie. I'll be here to pick you up after school." Henry gives her hand one last squeeze and releases it. Madge resolutely walks away and, for a moment, Henry thinks that she's heading straight for the Hawthorne boy. She makes a last-minute detour and uncertainly approaches a little girl with dark brown braids and a red plaid dress.

Henry's heart aches when he recognizes her. Even with dark hair and olive skin, Katniss Everdeen is the spitting image of her mother. The woman who, once upon a time, had been best friends with Henry's wife and her twin sister.

The Terrible Trio, everyone had called them then. In his mind's eye, Henry could see them exactly as they were, all those years ago. Young and blonde and beautiful, with their whole lives ahead of them.

Until the day the unthinkable happened. Until the day Maysilee Donner was Reaped.

What were the odds that little Margaret Undersee, on her first day of kindergarten and with all of District 12 to befriend, would choose little Katniss Everdeen?

Author's postscript:

Apologies if the "first day of school" theme has been done to death. This fic was supposed to be set firmly in the previous generation, but after the Sandy Hook school shooting, I suddenly had a visceral need to write a tender moment between Mayor Undersee and little Madge as a prologue.

This fic will mostly focus on the Donner twins and the soon-to-be Mrs. Everdeen. Almost all of the chapters after this will be set in their teenage years.

In my universe, Maysilee and Mayor Undersee were girlfriend and boyfriend. There is a method to this madness, I promise. You'll find out if you keep reading :)

But there will also be some Haymitch/Maysilee because, after all, it's the 50th Hunger Games.

Oh, and if you want to read about young Mayor Undersee at civil service college, check out another story of mine called "The Mayor and The Gamemaker".

Please read and review!