AN: I apologize it took me so long to get this one out, it's a long story! Anyway, hope you enjoy it.
Whether or not I fought with Gale, I still needed to fill the pantry that morning. Truthfully, I didn't expect him to come. That being said, I couldn't believe he'd stop hunting without me. It's not the kind of thing he would do.
I rub my eyes as I hunch over in bed, blinking away the sleep. The sleep that didn't come, that sort of hung in a fog above my eyes, but never pulled me into it's depths. It made the morning rituals of getting dressed and choking a few berries down my dry throat even more difficult.
I made it all the way to the forest before I realized I had left too early. I was going to walk to school before I took off to hunt. Waking up before dawn meant I had a couple hours to fool around with.
I took to one of the most trod paths in the forest. Between the two of us, Gale and I had managed to tread down the grass to just the bare rocks and soil. I find myself at Gale and I's meeting spot, where it's painfully empty.
I take to the log, that sits closest to the valley. Gale and I have never ventured into that valley, surprisingly enough. If we were to run off, just the two of us, we could make it down those slopes, into the valley. Right now it's not any richer than the rest of the barren, dry land, but when spring comes around, it's a beautiful sea of green.
"So, you still went out?"
I turn around and sigh happily when it's Gale. "So, you've made a habit of appearing out of nowhere?"
He throws me a signature smirk. "Eh, sure," he replies.
"I'm out earlier than I wanted to be. Couldn't sleep," I sigh again, but it's not as relieved as my initial one.
He takes the seat on the log beside me. "Me neither."
I look back towards the valley. "We could definitely make it."
Gale blinks and meets my gaze squarely as he speaks. "Out there?"
"Yes."
He smiles a bit. "Why do you think that?"
"Long story short," I begin, pausing to pull in a refreshing breath. "I'm sorry that I went off on you last night. Obviously, that's not what I should have done. And if we could — you know, without Hazelle or my mother or any of the kids — go, I would."
"You'd … just leave? If we didn't have them?" he asks me to repeat my answer.
"I'd go. Right now."
He mimics me and turns to face the valley, nodding. "Right now."
"Right now," I repeat.
I can see by the way he looks across the valley that he's lost somewhere out there. He's climbing some tree, tearing through some forest. Maybe I'm there with him. "But, we can't."
"We can't," I answer quietly. "We have people to take care of. We can't just leave them. You— you wouldn't do that."
"No, no," Gale says quickly. "Absolutely not. They've lost enough."
He's still out in that forest. "So have you," I prod.
That seems to have called him back. "And you. I think everyone's seen their fair share of sadness in 12."
"That's sad," I say, quietly again. "It shouldn't be like that."
"And now you're about to start off about how it's the Capitol's fault?" he turns to me, half smiling. He's been adamantly against the Capitol for as long as I've known him. When we get far enough away from town, he loses himself in his rants. I let him go, let him talk himself out, but I never add any wood to the fire. "But, tell me about it. I wonder— I wonder if it's ever been different."
I tap the toe of my boot against the tree root by my feet. "The Capitol did burn all of the history records," I continue. "Remember when they tried to cover it up as an arsonist fire? It was clear they did it. So, it must have been different, at some point. If they went through all of that to cover it up."
"Suppose so," Gale nods. "Then there's the Dark Days."
I'm still caught on the idea of something different. "What do you think it could've been like? Before Panem?"
Gale claps his hands together. "Who knows? I doubt the Hunger Games were in place. And maybe the country wasn't divided into little districts. That doesn't really do any good that strike up competition and rivalry."
"Which is good for the Games," I add.
"Funny," Gale snorts. "It's like the whole country was built around the Games."
I match his snort. "It is a government thing. Created to remind us that the government is supreme."
"That's sad," Gale says. "That there's people who — just because of the money they make and position they hold — get to tell everyone else what to do. Every aspect of our lives. Have the right to put our kids to death every year. That's sad. That's sick."
"What if there was a rebellion?" I ask absentmindedly. "There's got to be enough people willing to end it all."
"And just as many who believe it's right," Gale exhales. "That's the problem. Half of the districts are so cozied up with the Capitol, they believe every lie they tell. And half of us are thrown out in the cold, just making it by. That's just where they want us. Enough of us wanting a better world, but just as many who are fine where it is. Makes us believe we're going to get somewhere."
"Since when do you know everything about the Panem government?" I snicker, stifling a chuckle.
Gale cracks another smile. "Spend enough in the Hob, and you'll have more than enough knowledge, and opinions, stuffed into your head."
I shrug up my shoulders. "Guess so."
"On another note," Gale says strongly. "Got all of that out of the way before dawn."
"Productive," I say simply.
I stand up, stiffly. "Let's go into the valley."
"What? Katniss, we can't go in there," Gale protests. "That's a dumb idea, we can't do that."
I step further towards the slope that leads into the valley. "You scared?"
"I'm not stupid," he states. But, he's standing up anyway, a sort of grin plastered across his face.
I break into a run as we meet the hill, my legs jarring into the ground as it straightens out when we reach the bottom.
Gale's breathless, but it's purely by the sight. "We're out here," he whispers, his eyes starstruck. He slowly turns around, hands frozen in the air, his chest sighing with every breath of air.
"We're out here," I grin. "We're out here."
All of a sudden, he's at a run and crashing past me, sprinting across the forest floor. "And I'm out here!" he calls as he runs.
I'm grinning too hard to answer, so I rile up my legs to follow him, running harder than I ever have before, flying between every branch, feeling the beginning ache at the bottom and sides of my lungs.
Both of our breaths are ragged by the time we stop. Our chests heave as we pull in sweet breath after sweet breath of the rich, full air, dipped with evergreens and the fresh autumn. We ran straight from the slope so it'll be easy enough to get home, but I don't care. It feels so damn good to be out here.
"Look at the birds," Gale manages as he catches his breath, hands on his knees.
I look up, following the fleeting blur of a blue jay soaring through the branches. I'm sure we've both caught our breaths now, but I can't get enough of how full everything is. How free.
I tilt my head and open my mouth to breathe again. "I bet you wouldn't kiss me right now," I dare.
Gale's eyes look just as bold as my request. "Is that a real dare, Everdeen?" he raises an eyebrow.
"You tell me, Hawthorne," I tease. "I mean, you were too scared to come out here. And now you're loving it."
I hear his footsteps moving towards me before I acknowledge him in front of me. His gaze grows from rock to silver, sliding it across mine. It takes just as long for me to acknowledge his lips pressing against mine.
"I was not too scared to do that. And I certainly loved it."
