Hey all! Sorry this update wasn't as fast as the one between the other two chapters, but things have been so utterly busy here I haven't had time to breathe let alone write until tonight!

Once again, this is from Gale's POV as is the rest of the story. I don't own anything but my right to use the English language and write fiction that pleases me, and hopefully you, my readers.

Thanks for the comments! The few of you reading this and commenting are great Onwards to chapter three!

Chapter 3: Memories

"Windstorms aren't fragile, you know." Glancing up from where I lay on my hospital gurney I grinned weakly. Annie was standing in the doorway, a look of childish whimsy and nervousness on her face. She was clad in a simple cotton grey dress that went down to her knees and small black slippers, hair pulled back in braids unmistakably weaved by Mrs. Everdeen's hands. I held a shaking hand out to her and she rushed to my side, pressing a kiss to the palm of it before pressing it against her cheek. "They wouldn't let me see you once they'd sedated you, and then Finnick and I started trying to catch up but all I could think about was you in pain while the doctors pulled that trident out of your shoulder…"

"It's alright, everyone bought my excuse about an attacker. You don't have to worry." Her eyes, like the ocean, were flowing with color and wet with tears on the brink about to fall. Reaching up my free hand I ever so gently brushed them aside, swallowing passed the lump forming in my throat. She was so tragic, so sad, and yet so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. How could so many people have mistreated her? "Even if they somehow found out I would protect you, alright? Do you really think I'd just hand you over to the wolves?"

"No," she said softly, "I trust you."

"Good. Friends should trust each other, and we're friends now aren't we?" She nodded, letting go of my hand and standing back as I swung my legs over the edge of my cot. Stretching I watched as a soft tinge of pink blossomed in her cheeks, smirking slightly when she looked away while I put on the shirt hanging next to my bed. "Shouldn't you be with Finnick? He'll be worried sick about you by now."

"He's down with the Beetle looking at special tridents." She said, twirling her finger in her hair. I laughed, thinking of Beetee behind his glasses and how he did sort of look like an exotic bug. Suddenly her face went pale, smile fading as she bit the edge of her lip looking solemn. "He… asked me to stay here, in the hospital, and wait for him. I don't have clearance to go with him into the weaponry. Too crazy, might accidentally hurt someone or ruin something they said. Too much of a risk, they told me... like always, that's me, the mad Hunger Games victor through and through."

"Good thing too, or I never would have gotten you to myself." I winked, grinning ear to ear as her gently laugher filled the room. So often it was filled with screams of pain or sobs of anguish, too often, but now Annie was here to fix all of that. "Would you like to go down to the dining hall with me while you wait? Have you eaten yet?"

"There's food?" She asked in a hopeful voice, a pang of hurt shooting through my heart. In the harsh light of the hospital I took a good look at her face. There was beauty, yes, but under it all were the same signs of emaciation that Katniss had born after the games, that most of the poorer people in the Seam had worn before coming here to District 13. Had they not been feeding her where they had he trapped in her house in Victor's Village?

"Didn't the people who came to visit you in your home feed you?" I asked, half afraid to know the answer. Her eyes stared hard into mine as she chewed on her bottom lip, watching me watching her grow paler by the second as old memories gripped her. She let out a whimper. "Annie…"

"Can't go back… can't let me… No more, please, not again!" She said in a voice so high pitched and breathy it didn't even sound like it should be human, her hands leaping to the sides of her head clutching violently at her braids. Without warning she collapsed on her knees, wailing, tears flooding down her face. Sliding quickly off the cot and onto the ground, pulling her into my arms to try and calm her. Prim rushed in at that moment, no doubt scared by the scream, a sedative needle in her hand ready to jab into some part of girl in my arm's body. My look over the top of Annie's head was the only thing that stopped her, and as Annie began calm and quiet, she nodded to me and headed back out the door.

"Annie, listen to my voice… you're in District 13 with me, Gale, like the windstorm remember?" I said softly and clearly to her, kissing the top of her braids. Slowly she tilted her tear stained face up to mine, eyes full of fear and a distant recognition. Her bottom lip trembled. "What terrified you?"

"The people who used to come visit me… what they did… every time I think about it I want to scream. I get afraid they'll be back with their needles and scalpels and finger pressing deep in all the wrong places…" Her eyes start to grow dark again but I press a kiss to her cheek, calling her back from those dark places I was afraid to lose her to again. She blinked, cleared her throat, wrapped her arms around me and started to speak again. "I don't know the last time they fed me real food. They mostly just filled me with liquids with vitamins, enough sustenance to keep me running but not enough to keep me strong. I can't remember what food should taste like… "

"Then let me remind you." I said, standing up with her in my arms. She pillowed her head against my shoulder, burying her face in my neck, breath hot on my skin as I walked. Annie wrapped her arms around herself, but whether it was to warm herself or to ward off the demons haunting her I couldn't be sure.

"Coconuts used to be my favorites you know." She said suddenly as we rounded a corner. I looked down at her where she lay in my arms absently undoing her braids. Inside I smiled; her hair was much better down. The last thing I wanted was to look at Annie and see Katniss. I didn't want to think of Annie like that. I didn't want to associate her with personal pain and heartbreak. "They remind me of home. They grew on the trees down by the beach where I'd watch the boats and wait for Finnick and the others to return from fishing."

"Maybe they'll serve some here one day." I said, knowing that was a very feeble wish. The rations here were unimaginative most days and tasteless, made to fatten us up and keep us strong. Fruits like coconut with a light and subtle flavor weren't in the cook's vocabularies. I set Annie down on her feet and led her to the line where she took a tray, a few people muttering about her behind their hands as she lifted it up to examine it, eyes sparkling with the flame of curiosity and too much time locked away alone in her torture chamber of a home. I shot the people behind us death glances and they dispersed, coughing loudly.

"You don't have to do that you know." She said suddenly, resting her forehead against my shoulder from where she stood beside me. "Everyone expects me to be crazy, they've heard the rumors. Glaring at a few people won't change everyone's opinions."

"No, but it might stop them from doing it so openly. They should be welcoming you and trying to make you feel good about being here after what you went through, not shunning you and making you feel like an outcast." I said loudly, not caring who heard me. Glancing over my shoulder I saw a few people who stood nearest us looked a bit ashamed of themselves for whispering before I turned back to face Annie. "You're a person, Annie, not a science experiment or a form of entertainment. I just want people to treat you how you deserve to be treated."

"It's part of the human condition not to get what you most want." I stayed silent at that, thinking of Katniss as I led Annie to an empty table. Inside my chest my heart contracted, pained. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." I said, knowing with Annie it was safe to be honest. She looked sadly into my eyes, and for a moment I could see right into her soul before she blinked, and then all I could see was my own agonized face in her eyes reflected back at me. "Have you heard anything about the situation with Peeta?"

"No, security risk, remember?" She laughed softly. Looking down at her food she cocked an eyebrow, poking her pile of mashed potatoes with a finger looking displeased. She wiped her finger on her dress. "What… is it?"

"It's best not to ask questions and just shovel it in before it can bite you back." Looking up I forced a smile as Annie jumped up and embraced Finnick, both of them clutching to one another as though the world would end if they let go. Swallowing I looked down at my food and forced myself to go through the motions even though I'd lost my appetite. "Has Gale been taking good care of you?"

"Yes, he's my friend. He stared down the people that were whispering about me until they left us alone." She said honestly she sat back down to her lunch, her lover shooting me a thankful look as he settled down beside her. My heart plummeted as I watched Finnick and Annie. Together they couldn't help but be the perfect couple, kissing in between bites, Finnick feeding her off her plate with his fork, Annie resting her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed as he hummed to her a love song from their District.

Finally, unable to stand another minute of being reminded how alone I felt I stood to leave, Annie shooting me an almost hurt and frantic look. Her hand left Finnick's and grasped at mine where it clutched the edge of my tray, Finnick looking between us rapidly. I pulled back, clearing my throat.

"I have things I need to be doing now that I'm up and about. Besides you only needed me until Finnick came back and now he's here to take care of you, you'll be fine. I have things I need to go take care of." I said sternly, eyes fixing on a spot on the wall above her head. I couldn't look at her, with her hair fanned out around her face still lightly waved from braids she should never have worn, sea green eyes alive with waves of emotion as she stared me down knowing there was more to why I was leaving her with her lover than what I'd said. "I'll see you all at dinner I'm sure."

"Take care Gale, and thanks for watching after Annie for me." Finnick smiled, holding out his hand to me. I shook it, eyes finally flicking to Annie. She was staring at the floor, and my heart sank, knowing she must be feeling like I was glad to be rid of her what with the way I was acting.

Still I forced myself to toss my tray and leave the dining hall, leave her behind with the boy she's no doubt dreamed out through nights of sleep deprived torture. I headed back to the hospital, sure that was where I would find Katniss watching through the glass as the doctors tried to help Peeta. At least the pain she caused me was familiar to me whereas anything could happen with Annie.

Annie was like a game maker in my own personal Hunger Games.