A Series of Unfinished Letters

Hey guys! Here's a little oneshot 'cuz I was bored. It was written very, very quickly, (Probably my fastest oneshot ever) so I'm not sure if it's the best. Just some nonsensical fluffy stuff.

Dear Katniss,

I know you already know this, but it feels right to put it in writing and just get it out. I know you like to keep everything secret and bottled up, but we really need to talk.

You've changed, Catnip. I don't know why or how the Hunger Games changed you, but I don't like it. You're not you anymore. You don't want to hunt. Don't want to spend time with me. You don't want to do anything.

I know that you're hurting right now, Katniss, but you have to let me help you. I want to help you. Anything to see you smile again, because you're my best friend and I lo-

The paper was ferociously crumpled up, then stuffed into a wastebasket where it joined over a dozen of its kind. They looked up at Gale with imaginary smirks on their crinkled faces. They all seemed to be mocking him: You'll never finish that letter Gale. You're too much of a coward - Peeta beat you to it.

He gave a heavy sigh, turning away from his failures. It seemed that everything he wanted to say to Katniss came off as too mean or too cheesy or sometimes just unrealistic.

Trying to ignore his blatant frustration, he picked up his ropes and quiver full of arrows, stuffing them into his ragged backpack. He needed to get away, if only for a while - life was becoming full of stress and anger and held back emotions. He needed to think about his family, too. He hadn't been hunting since Katniss came back from the Games two weeks ago, and they were barely getting by on their scraps they had saved.

When he reached the forest, everything seemed to be back to the way it was. The forest never changed, no matter what went on in his life - the lush green trees and woodland animals seemed to be the only reliable constant in his life. He couldn't be more grateful, after all that was going on.

Letting himself breathe easier than he had in weeks, he sat down near his favorite tree and began weaving complicated knots for a trap. Back when he was younger, and their was no Katniss as a hunting companion, it had always calmed him whenever he was sad or nervous about something. The repetitive and safe pattern of the knots made him feel like he was in control of his life again, and everything would go his way - the exact opposite of how his life actually was.

xxx

Katniss Everdeen, at the same time, was having a day of firsts.

For one, she had finally experienced what it is like to get truly mad at Prim.

Prim had been sitting at the kitchen table, eating an apple and staring at Katniss through disapproving eyes as she cleaned the floor. Katniss tried to ignore her, but gave up after ten minutes of being watched sweeping.

"Yes, Prim?" she asked, not masking the hint of annoyance in her voice.

"You need to go hunt," she said.

"What?" Katniss gave a laugh, turning back to her sweeping. "We have all the food we need now - we'll never go hungry."

Prim shook her head. "No. Not like that. Ever since you came back from the Games, you've been…different. You're avoiding everyone - me, Mom, Gale."

"That's not your business," Katniss couldn't help but snap.

Prim looked unfazed, giving a small frown. "You need to open up again - you're no fun to be around."

The broom clattered to the floor, and Katniss looked at Prim with a snarl on her tired face. "You don't get it! You don't get it at all! I'm not the same! What I've seen…" her breath hitched in her throat, "I can never be the same."

Prim looked at Katniss with sad, disappointed eyes. "I know. But that's no excuse to act like this to all of us."

Katniss privately thought that it was a plenty good excuse, but she settled for glaring at Prim.

Prim sighed, turning back behind her to pet a mewling Buttercup. "Can you promise me one thing?"

Katniss didn't respond, waiting.

Prim's eyes pleaded as she spoke. "Just please, please go see Gale. He's your best friend, and you owe him at least that."

Katniss gave a sigh, but headed for the door. "You know what? Sure. But just to humor you."

And with a slam of the door, she headed off toward the Hawthorne house.

When she got there, it seemed empty. But she knew better. At least one person was always stationed in the house, warding away any thieves or troublemakers.

Despite her anger toward Prim, she hesitated at the door, peeking her head cautiously inside.

The kitchen was empty, but just as she'd remembered it. For a moment, her mind flashed back to her and Gale, skinning rabbits at the kitchen table and laughing over something Posy had said.

She couldn't help but feel a sharp pang in her stomach at the memory, but continued on into Gale, Vick, and Rory's room.

It was empty also - the beds were unmade, and trash littered the floor. She was walking around for a moment, savoring the memories of the house and Gale,when she spotted crumpled pieces of paper in the wicker basket that served as a trash can.

It made her curious - the Hawthorne's were never wasteful, yet there were at least half a dozen crumpled balls of paper littering the bottom of the basket. After a slight hesitation, she picked one up and unfolded it.

It was a letter. But even more surprisingly, it was addressed to her.

Katniss smiled weakly as her eyes flicker over the letter. With a second of hesitation, she picked up a pencil from the small, rickety table and began to write on the paper, just below his message.

Dear Gale,

I'm sorry that you feel like that. And I guess everything you pointed out is true. Trust me, I wish it never happened either. And I still want to be friends - its just getting harder and harder each day to pretend to be normal. I'm not the same, and I need you of all people to accept that. I want to see you smile too-

A loud bang reverberated through the room next to the one she was in, and she ran, leaving the unfinished letter on the desk and pencil clattering to the floor, jumping out the window and heading back home.

xxx

Two hours later, Gale returned to his house with two dead squirrels and a handful of strawberries for Posy. I would've gotten more with Katniss, he privately thought, but shook it off immediately. He didn't need her - or, at least, he didn't want to admit that he needed her.

He left his things in the kitchen, heading to his room to take off his hunting gear. When he got there, he spotted the unfolded letter on the table. Quickly he read it, a small smile lighting his face.

So she had been here. She wanted to see him again - she even missed him. For some reason, her even talking to him made him feel a hundred times better.

He scrawled a response quickly across the remaining space on the page, then went out to find Posy.

She was playing behind their house, making a chain of flowers out of the ragged rose bushes that grew outside. She looked thinner and sicker than ever, but still managed to look happy when she saw him.

He removed the small bag of strawberries from his coat pocket, calling out to her.

After seeing the fruit, she quickly hurried over.

"Are those for me?" she asked, looking delighted.

Gale couldn't help but grin. "If you go give this letter to Katniss, you can have all of them."

She gave a laugh, then snatched the letter out of his hands. He handed the berries over, and she immediately sped off toward Katniss' house.

xxx

"Katniss? Katniss, are you here?"

Katniss looked up from her cleaning to see Posy standing in the doorway, cheeks red and some sticky substance covering her fingers and mouth.

"Posy? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, smiling jovially.

"No. But Gale wanted me to give this to you." She handed her the letter, and Katniss opened it eagerly.

Dear Katniss,

I'm glad that you miss me - I honestly thought that you had completely forgotten about me. But I want to sort this out. It feels too weird staying away from you like this. Can we talk lat-

The rest of the letter was covered in strawberry juice, the paper softened to the point where it had seemed to tear off. But Katniss understood, and wrote down a reply before giving it back to a waiting Posy.

Posy quickly hurried back to Gale, handing him the now torn, stained, and crumpled paper.

Only two tiny words dominated the one corner of unblemished space left.

Hunting tonight? it read.

With a small smile on his face, Gale wrote a quick yes, then head down to the Everdeen house to deliver this letter himself.

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