(Some spoilers if you haven't read Mockingjay) So I was not very pleased with the ending of MockingJay. I did enjoy the book up until a point and then it went down hill for me; especially with that ending. I know some will agree and probably a lot will disagree with me. Whatever. It's my opinion. I liked Gale better then Peeta, not that I didn't like Peeta, I just liked Gale better. I thought it was cheap how the author created that rift between Gale and Katniss to ensure he'd be out of the picture for Katniss and Peeta to get together. So this is an ending I created up in my mind. So pretty much I took page 385 (about 10 sentences down) and chose to start my Re-write there. Sorry if it seems to short. I hope this is enjoyed. R&R
I think about going to the lake, but I'm so weak that I barely make it to my meeting place with Gale. I sit on the rock where Cressida filmed us, but it's too wide without his body beside me. Several times I close my and count to ten, hoping when I open them he will have materialized without a sound as he so often did. I painfully remind myself he's in District 2 now when a fancy new job, probably kissing another pair of lips. The thought sickened me to no return. I'm reminded of our conversation when he told me when he first realized he loved me. When he minded someone else's lips, like Darius's, touching mine. I guess it didn't matter now if I minded. Which I did. I did mind if some other pair of lips that weren't mine kissed his.
"I mind." I said pathetically to myself. I took a breath and yelled it louder "I MIND!" The birds quickly flew from their nest and into the sky while my voice echoed through the forest. I didn't care. There was no one here but me, my memories, and my misery.
"You mind what?" said an all too familiar voice. I looked up and couldn't believe who it was. I rub my eyes once to make sure I'm not imagining it.
"Katniss," he begins but I can see he's hesitating. Choosing his words carefully, almost as if he's scared. He's about to say something but I'm already across the field and bringing him into an embrace before he can finish his words. We know each other well enough that I know exactly what he say. But I didn't need to hear it. Even though the thought of Prim still tortures me and brings me more pain then anything I faced in the last two Hunger Games and this war, but deep down I know it's not his fault.
His arms wrap around me protectively and I feel complete for the first time since, well, since before all this happened;but even then I don't know if I felt complete.
I pull away briefly to see his face, to make sure that this is real. I see that his face has sunk in a little with sadness and guilt, but I could still see him. I could still see the Gale that I knew. I pull him back into a tight hug and pray he never lets go of me. I don't know how long we stood there hugging but eventually we pull away and go sit down on the rock. We stare into each others faces, not really knowing where to begin.
"I thought I'd never see you again." I blurt out.
"I didn't think you'd ever want to see me again after what happened with." He stops just before her name. I close my eyes and except the pain that rushes in.'
"I don't blame you Gale. In the beginning I think I did. But I always knew deep down it wasn't you." I take his hand into mine. "You would never do anything to harm my family. You'd give your life for theirs." He trys to pull his hand away but I hold tightly onto it. I can see he is ridden with guilt.
"I don't blame you." I whisper into his ear.
A few minutes pass and finally he looks at me.
"So Katniss, I'm curious, what do you mind so much that you had to shout it so loudly?" My face flushes red at the memory of what happened earlier. I try to think of a way to retreat out of this conversation but I can tell he won't let me.
"Ugh. I mind your lips kissing someone else's lips." I can see he wants to smile but almost feels like it be wrong to smile. I can understand. How can you smile or feel like this when so many terrible things have happened.
"I just figured," I continue. "With your nice new job in District 2, you'd have a better life and find someone more worthy of you. Someone not so" I searched for the right word to describe what I am. Broken? Was that the right word? "Broken?"
"Broken?" He questions.
"Yeah. You deserve someone who isn't broken.." He laughs.
"I don't think your broken Katniss."
"Yes I am" I say, starting to feel a little agitated but not really wanting to fight.
"Fine. Your broken. There," He says throwing his hands up in a surrendering fashion. "Happy?"
Not my favorite choice of words but I say "Yes."
"You know what's good about things that are broken?" He asks me. I think for a second then shrug.
"I don't know." I say. He tilts my face toward him and leans in closer.
"You get a chance to put them back together." and then he kisses me. And unlike our other kisses we've had in the past, the ones out of need and guilt, we kiss for the first time as two people who love each other, and genuinely want no else but the other.
Gale had help put me back together, better then I ever thought I could be. Still, I would never be the same Katniss, and he would never be the same Gale, but we grew into who we were together. And even though a part of me always felt bad about how things had turned out with Peeta, how he was tortured because of me, he eventually found his peace with Delly. The first real face he recognized as a friend and not foe when he was coming out of his hijacking. After seeing those two together it was clear she was what he needed. A part of me will always love Peeta, for what he did for me and my family that day when I was eleven and how he was there for me during the Hunger Games.
It was evident though that I couldn't survive without Gale. It's very clear to me today as it was that day in the woods when we met. We both move toward the future together, not knowing what it holds for us, always fearing the worse, but always hoping for the best too.