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Coin sits behind her desk, glaring at me. The silence is stretching into minutes, and I awkwardly scratch at my knee and throw a glance at Madge, who's sitting next to me. She's tightly curled up in her chair, with her legs scrunched up and her arms wound around her knees. Her eyes are trained on the floor, her breathing shallow and quick.
"Soldier Hawthorne," Coin snaps. "What authority do you possess to allow Miss Undersee to walk free?"
"Uh," I rub my neck. "None, I guess? But nothing happened."
Coin takes a deep breath. "You have no idea of the danger you put yourself, her, and other citizens of 13 in letting Miss Undersee out of her quarters. Soldier Hawthorne, you are no longer allowed to visit Miss Undersee before the operation."
"The operation?" I snap. "Is it still taking place?"
"Yes," she replies. "The day after tomorrow, in fact."
"You can't!" I shout. "Look, she's getting better; she hasn't attacked me in two days."
"You have no authority to judge whether or not Miss Undersee's memories are healing. The operation will take place."
"What operation?" Coin and I both look at Madge, who's looking extremely confused.
Coin plasters a tight-lipped smile on her face. "Nothing, nothing. Why don't you go back to your quarters, Miss Undersee? Boggs will escort you back. Mr. Hawthorne and I still have some things to discuss."
Madge slowly sits up and steps out of her chair.
"Bye, Gale," she whispers. As she passes me, her fingers lightly brush my arm and I shiver.
As soon as the door closes behind Madge, I stand up. "You haven't even told her about the operation yet?"
"I see no reason to," Coin says coldly. I slump back in my chair and sigh angrily, running my hand through my hair.
"You run your hand through your hair when you're angry or annoyed," she noted. "I do not," he snapped, running his hand through his hair. She pointed and giggled, and he immediately stopped, his ears turning red. "Miss Undersee, Mr. Hawthorne, stop with the puppy love," the teacher sternly said, and the class laughed as one. She hid behind her golden hair and blushed pink while he leaned back in his seat, growling under his breath and running his hand through his hair.
"We can still stop the operation," I say. "She's getting better, you saw that! Why does the operation still have to take place?"
"It would be better for everyone. You're spending too much time on Miss Undersee and ignoring your military duties. If Miss Undersee's memories are completely wiped, she could regain them without your help. It's a win-win situation. Now, if you'll excuse me." Coin stands up, pushes her chair in, and walks out, leaving me with my jaw clenched tight and fists balled up.
"Gale?" Mom's head pokes through the doorway. "It's almost noon. What are you doing?"
"Nothing," I mutter. I roll over in bed and yawn loudly.
"Gale, something's bothering you. What's wrong?" My mother sits on the edge of the bed and places her hand on my shoulder. Leave it to a mother's instinct.
"It's just…Madge," I sigh. "The operation's going to happen tomorrow, and I can't do anything about it."
My mother is quiet for a few moments. "You really do love her, don't you?"
"The mayor's daughter?" His mother's eyebrows were raised in surprise and suspicion. He nodded, and her eyes narrowed further. "What does she want from you? You have nothing to offer her." "Mom," he complained. "I'm not getting married to her; I just thought I'd let you know." "I don't think it's a good idea, Gale," she said, turning back to the dishes. "She'll hurt you." "You don't know her!" His jaw locked. "Maybe she will hurt me, but I don't care. She makes me happy, and I've never felt like this about anyone before, Mom." He stormed out, but not before catching a glimpse of the wondering look on his mother's face.
"Yeah," I reply. "I do."
"20:00," I read off the schedule on my arm. "Training." It's been a while since I've followed the schedule everyone in District 13 is assigned to. I've been so occupied with Madge, I haven't spent time with neither Katniss nor my family. Even during the night, I'd sleep outside Madge's cell, and I skipped most of my meals.
Katniss and I grab our bows from Special Weaponry and head out. A cool breeze has picked up, and I inhale deeply.
"I don't know why our hunting time is this late," Katniss notes. "I can barely see anything."
"Not true," I say. "My bow has nighttime vision taken care of." As I'm speaking, I shoot and hit a buck skulking near a tree. As I gather the kill, little flashes of lights encircle me. Fireflies. I'm reminded of the dirty jar of fireflies I gave Madge so long ago.
"Katniss," I turn around. "Do you have a jar?"
"Yeah," she replies, confused. She digs a small jar out of the game bag and hands it to me. I unscrew the lid and easily scoop up a dozen fireflies. The lights dance off my skin and I'm forcibly reminded of Madge's scared, wide eyes when I gave her the jar years ago.
"Is that for Madge?" Katniss asks. She smiles when I grunt yes.
"I wish I could do the same for Peeta," she sighs. "But I can't bake bread or anything."
"Why don't you pick him some flowers? Or something he can paint?"
Katniss' eyes light up. "Perfect! Peeta and I used to paint flowers in my family's medicine book."
"For you," he said brusquely as he shoved the flowers toward her. "How polite," she smiled wryly. "Sorry," he muttered. "I've never brought a present to a girl before." She gathered the wildflowers and sniffed them delicately. "Well, they're beautiful. Thank you, Gale." She kissed him at the corner of his lips and walked away. "Tease," he muttered, but he still blushed and smiled in satisfaction.
"Is the operation still taking place?" Katniss asks quietly.
"Yeah," I sigh. "What about Mellark?"
"I don't know," she replies. "I know Coin's thinking about doing the same for Peeta, but for some reason, she wants Peeta left hijacked."
"Here's what I think. Don't trust Coin."
In the library, I pick up the book Madge dropped yesterday.
"Of Mice and Men," I read the cover. I gather the book, along with a few random ones off the shelves and the jar of fireflies, and find my way to Madge's cell. But when I open the door, I find the room empty.
"Why are you here?" I turn around and find a guard glaring at me.
"I'm here to see Madge. Where is she?"
"Oh, the mental patient," he waves it off. "She was taken to the hospital half an hour ago, for some sort of operation."
"Shit!" I shout. I barrel out of the room, knocking aside the guard as I run past him.
AN: Thanks to the reviewer who gave me the idea of Gale's giving fireflies to Madge. Also reached 50 reviews, yay! :) But reviews guys, reviews; I need them! What do you like and not like about this story? I need some feedback here!