Please review! Read and review! Enjoy! Some things to remember about this story. Some Mayor bashing.
Watching the games is not mandatory
The Victory tour is held straight after the Games so Katniss and Peeta don't return for about three months.
It's after that that 12 is bombed.
"Now Madge darling you must remember that you are better than everybody else. And you're too good for any one in this district." that's what the Mayor told his daughter when she turned twelve. She believed him. But that didn't stop her from falling in love with Gale Hawthorne.
x x x x x x x
It all started when Madge was sixteen.
Madge walked slowly through the streets. She could see Gale sitting not far ahead, a strange expression on his face. Madge only knew him through Katniss. She brought the strawberries but he was always with her. Now Katniss was gone to the arena he seemed lost. He looked up as she neared.
"Hello." She said nervously. She had never heard him speak before.
"Hello." He replied. She stood there awkwardly for a moment before adding.
"You know Katniss will get out of the Games alive." She reassured him. He gave her a weak smile. She noticed his hunting gear lying beside him. "You going hunting?" she asked.
"Yeah. Be strange though. Going alone. I'm so used to going with Katniss." He said. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Would you like to come?" he asked.
"Me? I've never hunted before." she told him.
"C'mon it's easy. I'll show you." He said walking towards the forest. Madge followed.
That was the start.
x x x x x x x
It turned out Madge wasn't a complete novice. She could use a knife well and even managed a clean kill of a squirrel by the end of the day. Gale was impressed but glad he didn't have to show her to shoot. That would have made her too like Katniss.
"Maybe we should make this a regular thing." He suggested coming up behind her as she skinned the squirrel as she had seen the servants do at home so often.
"Maybe." She said walking away, leaving Gale with the squirrel.
After that it did become a regular thing. Everyday after breakfast Madge would find Gale at the spot where they had first spoken and they would head off into the forest together. Madge never told her father of course. He would demand she stopped and she didn't want that. She had been like a prisoner in her house for so long, now she had some freedom she wasn't willing to give it up easily. She also wasn't willing to give Gale up. She knew she was falling for him. She knew she should stop. But she couldn't.
One day, about two months since they began meeting, Gale was prowling through the forest when he heard Madge scream. He raced towards the source of the sound and found Madge backed up against the wall with a shaggy dog facing her. The dog had to be about a metre tall and had his teeth bared at Madge who looked terrified. Her knife lay two metres away from her. There was blood on her arm which Gale guessed the dog had inflicted.
Gale didn't waste any time thinking about it before he shot dog dead but as he did so the dog pounced on Madge clawing her chest and stomach before collapsing as Gale's arrow pierced his heart.
Gale felt his own heart in his mouth as he raced over to an unconscious Madge. The wound looked awful but it wasn't too deep. He picked her up, holding her small figure close to his body as he brought her to a large flat rock in the middle of the forest.
It was that moment that he realised he loved her.
He cleaned the wound and managed to stop the bleeding just as Madge regained consciousness. Her face was white and she had lost a lot of blood but Gale managed to bandage the wound and some colour returned to her face.
"You okay?" he asked. She nodded.
"What happened? All I remember is the dog pouncing." She asked.
"I shot it." He said simply. She nodded again.
"Well I guess this is the end." She said. He looked at her confused.
"End of what?" he asked.
"This. Us hunting together." She said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because my father will never allow it." She explained.
"He doesn't need to know." Gale said confused as to why this would be a problem now.
"This," she said pointing to her chest. "Could be difficult to hide."
"But I don't want it to end." He said. She looked at him and he could see the pain behind her chocolate brown eyes.
"Neither do I." she said. They looked into each other's eyes. Gale slowly leaned in and their lips touched. They pulled away but stayed in each other's arms until night began to fall and they were forced to go home.
When she arrived home Madge found her father in his study. He looked up as she entered.
"Ah Madge darling! How was your day?" he asked gesturing for her to take the seat beside him.
"It was good." She replied. He asked her numerous questions before she was dismissed. He never even noticed her chest.
The next day Madge found Gale sitting quietly against a tree, his back to her. She crept silently up behind him. She sat beside him giving him a fright.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"My father doesn't know. He didn't notice the bandages." She said and a wide grin broke over Gale's face. He kissed her.
"C'mon. I wanna show you something." He said taking her hand and leading her through the forest until he reached a small lake with a little house beside it. It was beautiful. Gale led her to the house. They sat quietly in the corner. They were quiet, just holding each other's hands, both lost in their own thoughts. At the same time they turned to each other and kissed again. But this time was more gentle but passionate. And one thing led to another…
They lay in each other's arms. Madge worked up the courage to ask something she was worried about.
"Katniss is coming home tomorrow." she said. Gale said nothing. She looked at him. "Do you still love her?" she asked. Gale didn't think about it.
"Not as much as I love you." He said and she smiled. They stayed like that again until dusk when they were forced to go home.
It was the last time they ever saw each other.
x x x x x x x
Madge returned to her house shortly before nightfall. She hoped her father would still be too wrapped up in work to have noticed the time. No such luck.
"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded. Then he saw it. "What's that? Have you been hurt?" he asked fingering Madge's bandage. She winced.
"It was a dog." She said truthfully.
"There are only dogs in the woods. Who were you with?" he demanded. Madge said nothing. "WHO?" he shouted and Madge jumped.
"No one. I wandered in myself. I was curious." She lied. Her father was not convinced but sent her to her room to sleep. That night she tossed and turned fretfully, murmuring Gale's name and the Mayor knew.
The next morning when Madge appeared the Mayor put his idea into action.
"Lovely day out." He began. Madge just nodded. "You know some people around here are a disgrace." He said and Madge's brow furrowed.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well the likes of that Gale Hawthorne for example." Suddenly Madge was filled with dread guessing her father must know. But the words that came out of his mouth were worse. Much worse.
"What did he do?" she asked.
"I saw him kissing some Seam girl down by the Hob. It's disgraceful…" but Madge wasn't listening to him anymore. All she could here was her heart breaking.
x x x x x x x
Gale waited at the forest edge for her but she didn't come. He grew worried after an hour but eventually figured she mustn't have been able to sneak out. It was easy for him but she couldn't always get away. It had happened before.
When he returned home he found Katniss waiting and he knew he had told Madge the truth the day before. He wasn't in love with her anymore.
"Gale!" she cried launching herself into his arms. He hugged her back but she could sense something had changed.
"Where's Peeta?" he asked. Her brow furrowed.
"With his family. Why?" she asked but Gale just shook his head. "Can I talk to you in private?" she asked and he nodded following her out.
"I love you." She told him. He was taken aback. Why now? She looked at him expectantly. "Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked.
"No." he replied.
"You mean… you don't love me?" she asked.
"I do. Just as a friend though." He told her before walking back into the house.
x x x x x x x
In the days that followed Gale continued to return to the forest everyday but Madge never came. When he went to the town he didn't see her either. And the days turned to weeks with no sign of Madge. Finally he was forced to accept that she wasn't coming back.
Meanwhile Madge was being forced to accept another painful reality. She was pregnant. She couldn't believe it. Gale had used her and now she was the one left to deal with the consequences. She stared down at the pregnancy test wondering how on earth she was going to get out of it. She tossed and turned thinking about what she could do. She could get rid of it of course but somehow she couldn't bring herself to even consider it. She knew she had no choice. She must runaway. She could runaway and never be seen again. It was be so easy. Her father rarely left his office and her mother was bedridden. Yes. She must protect her unborn child. She considered telling Gale but decided against it.
That night she packed her bag quickly. She headed down the stairs quietly but suddenly a hand grabbed her.
"Where are you going?" asked the Mayor, a face of thunder on him. He shook her and the pregnancy test fell out of her bag. He picked it up and stared at it for a moment before his hand struck Madge's face.
"YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL!" he thundered making her cower. He grabbed her arm painfully. "You're not going anywhere."
x x x x x x x
It was three months since Gale had last seen Madge when the sirens blared, warning of oncoming bombs. He was with his family and Katniss's when it happened and he immediately evacuated his family to the forest.
In the Mayor's house they too had heard the sirens. Madge, who had been living in fear for weeks made a quick movement towards the door. Her father was right behind her. Suddenly a bomb struck their home and Madge was blown high into the air. Her father turned back to her, horrified at her bloody face and body.
"MADGE!" He screamed turning to run back to her but suddenly another bomb was dropped between himself and his daughter and he was forced to retreat.
Gale had decided he had to go back for Madge. Katniss grabbed his hand.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" She screamed over the sound of the bombs.
"I HAVE TO SAVE MADGE!" He screamed and she looked shocked. A tear slipped down her face.
"It's too late." She said. She lifted her hand and pointed to the far side of the district where Madge lived. All Gale could see was black smoke. He felt his world collapse. "Wait! There's the Mayor!" Gale rushed over to him.
"Where's Madge?" he demanded. The Mayor looked at him.
"She's gone. So is the kid." The Mayor replied his eyes blazing. "I know what you did to her!" he hissed.
"What are you on about?" Gale asked incredulous.
"You! And my… little girl-" with this the mayor broke down.
"We didn't do anything." Gale said.
"Oh yeah? So how'd she end up pregnant?" Gale stared at the man in shock. Madge pregnant? With his baby? It made no sense in some ways but complete sense in others. "You got what you wanted and then you threw her away. Broke her heart." next thing the Mayor knew he was pinned up against a tree.
"I loved her." Gale hissed. "She was the one who broke my heart." He spat in the Mayor's face.
"That's not what she thought."
"What did you tell her?" Gale demanded.
"Told her I'd seen you kissing some other Seam girl down by the Hob." Suddenly it all made sense. Why Madge hadn't returned to the woods or made any contact with him. Why she wasn't seen around. Why she had wanted nothing to do with him. But one thing didn't make sense…
"How did you know? About me and Madge?" he asked.
"I saw her chest. She refused to tell me who was with her though. That night she was tossing and turning whispering your name. Wasn't hard to piece it together." He said.
"Why did it matter so much to you?" Gale asked.
"Because she was all I had. She deserved a proper prince. Not some poor hunter who wanted to take advantage of her."
The last thing the Mayor saw was Gale's fist flying.
x x x x x x x
Katniss and Gale walked slowly through the rubble of what was their home.
"It was because of her wasn't it?" Katniss asked. Gale looked at her confused. "That's why you don't love me anymore." She said and he looked away but she knew it was true. She left it too long. He was Madge's and he always would be.
Please review!