Chapter 10 Memories that Hold His Heart

'No!" Gale whispered to himself, watching the television. Katniss had risked her life to save the baker's son who was dying of blood poisoning. Gale wondered why, she didn't owe him anything. The girl from District 2 was holding a knife to Katniss' throat, words were exchanged, but Gale couldn't hear what they were saying. Katniss spat in the girl's face and Gale felt proud, she was not going down easy. He lowered his head so he would not have to see her die, Hazelle gently rubbed his back in a comforting manner. His whole family was unusually silent, the whole room was silent. He looked up to see the television had gone blank, the only thought that he had going through he mind was 'what just happened?'

The next memories flashed before his eyes. He could not hear who was talking, but always knew who they were talking about.

"Faulty land mines"

"No survivors"

"Their gone"

"She's can't be dead Gale, she promised"

He woke with a start, these memories had haunted his for years by recently the had become more vivid, like he was living them all over again. Accepting that he wasn't getting any more sleep tonight he dressed and crept to the training room as he often had since arriving at District 13. If anyone who had any power to stop him knew of this, they never did anything about it. Gale quickly fell into his usual rhythm using the punching bag, putting all of his effort into every punch or jab he could.

"It's not going to die Handsome, no matter how hard you hit it" he didn't have to look to see that Johanna had found him. No one else would approach him that why.

"Doesn't mean I can't try" he replied, not stopping his angry rampage on the unfortunate punching bag "Why are you here anyway?"

"Some reason you are" she said indifferently "memories seem to resurface when you nether need or want them" she said this in such a way that Gale turned to look at her. Johanna was leaning against the door frame, studying him with an almost sad expression. He normally hated to be pitied, but he didn't think she meant it that way. Gale thought for perhaps the hundredth time that she would have gotten along with Katniss. He also realized that the two women had a lot in common; both strong, capable, and almost completely independent. But at the same time they were so different; Johanna was abrasive when Katniss was quiet, more bold to Katniss' silent, standoffish demeanor.

"What make you think you knew why I'm here?" he asked

"Why else would you be here in the middle of the night" said Johanna "You lost someone"

She said it so matter of factly that he could not comprehend it for a few minutes, when he finally had control of his voice he replied "Meaning you did too"

"I did" she conformed

"And that's why you fight"

"No" she said "like i said before. It does not matter, he was the only person who believed in me and now he's gone. Killing Snow is not going to change that, I'm not here for him, I'm here for me, for my revenge" she looked at him for several moments before asking "Who was she?"

"Who was he" he parroted back at her, unwilling open up to her.

"Someone to stupid to stay away from me, remember Pretty Boy" Johanna said stepping closer to him, invading his personal space "We all have our secrets, just don't expect those to stay secret" She pressed her lips to his. Unlike the girls he had kissed back home, she dominated the kiss, taking control when he was to shocked to do anything.

"She broke you good" said Johanna as she broke the kiss

"What do you mean?" he asked, still completely shocked over what happened. They stood close, in an almost intimate way. Her wide set brown eyes looking into his Seam grey ones with an unexpected understanding.

"You are never going to look at another girl because she had your heart, still does. Until you get over her you're always going to be looking for some sort of revenge. You and I, we are more alike then you know, we will not be happy until someone pays" She walked away, leaving him thinking that she understood him better then anyone ever had.

Gale watched her leave, still completely in shock over what had happened. He had to admit that Johanna had a point, he was not able to move on until someone paid for Catnip's death. It was this unbelievable force that kept him from living his life and being happy, preventing him from moving on. He had tried several times over the past two years to forget, to move on telling himself that she was gone and that she wasn't coming back. He had even gone as far as wishing that he had never met her, that he had hunted alone all those years and watched he walk to the stage on reaping day feeling pity,but no sadness.

If the Rebellion was successful would he be able to move on? Would he be able to have a fulfilling, happy relationship with someone like Johanna? Or would she always be in the back of him mind, drifting around like a ghost. Not there, but never gone, always haunting him until the day he died. He prayed to a heaven he wasn't sure he believed in that she was safe and happy, but he was sure she was yelling at him some sort of advice on what to do. One thing he had always like about her was the fact that she knew what she thought and would never let anyone convince her otherwise.

With this thought he quickly rushed out of the training room and through the halls until he reached the trapdoor that he had passed through his first day in District 13. The smell of the woods brought back a million memories, some long forgotten. The clear night sky was filled with stars no one had every seen in District 12, he look up at them for several minutes before speaking.

"Anytime you wanna help Catnip, I'll take it" Gale felt childish for talking to someone who wasn't there, but turned and headed back inside feeling that for the first time the odds might be in his favor.

What do you think? I love to hear opinons so please feel free to tell me about Gale/Johanna, guesses to what might happen, and if Cinna should come back, or any other people