Bit of a time jump, hope you don't mind. Enjoy!

Somewhere in the Capitol:

He walked up to the house, careful for any traps that might spring. His father was just as careful when it came to people not being welcome, especially unannounced. His father would set up the traps until the Reaping and then take them down. After the Reaping, he would put them back up and they would stay up for another year. He had come to the house alone even though there was a small squad of soldiers from Panem with him. It had been a year since Katniss won the Games and earned peace for her people, and safety from the Games. She wanted to come with him, saying that it would have been better for the two of them to be there instead of just him. The only reason she hadn't come was because, as queen, she was needed in her country to play nice with the ambassadors who came from the Districts and the Capitol. The Districts wanted an alliance to take out Snow and his Games for good. The Capitol was delivering its promised provisions and attempting to spy on the young queen. At eighteen, Katniss was proving to be just as cunning and calculating as her father. She played their game and saw through it at the same time. They wanted the peace between the two countries to continue. Katniss was allowing it for now, but word had reached her that the tributes from the Capitol and the Districts would be increased to make up for the lack of tributes from Panem. That was four more tributes from each country, and a greater chance of his siblings going into the Games. That was why he had come back. He needed to get his family out before the Reaping. The next day, his father would be taking down the traps so the Peacekeepers could get to the house. He wanted to get them out before the dawn.

Carefully, he stepped through the door and looked around. There was nothing that he could. He groped around the floor for a candle and found only a stick, but he had no matches. He signaled to the men hidden and one of them quickly brought him a lamp. His name was Finnick. He had been sent to sponsor Katniss last year. He was also the one who had caused Haymitch and Katniss to have to flee after he had found them two years ago. That was when he had left his family to stay with Katniss. Gale lit the lamp and looked around. The only furniture in the room was a small chair in the corner. Fearing the worst, he searched the house. His family was gone. He sat on the chair and looked at the floor, shocked. His dad had always boasted that the family would live and die in the house they grew up in. He looked up at Finnick. He was married to a girl named Annie and they had one son.

"Why would they leave, Finnick?" Gale asked.

"I'm not sure, Gale. But I doubt they did it to punish you. Something must have happened after you left. Where would they go?"

"I don't know. But if they thought I would ever come back, they would have left word with someone. There's this old woman in town, a little crazy, but trustworthy. Her name is Greasy Sae. Mom would have left word with her. Mom always knew that I came home, no matter how long I was gone. Wait with the men. I'm going into town to talk with her. Maybe she knows where they went."

"I can't let you. The queen will kill me if anything happens to you."

"No she won't. She wants them safe just as much as I do. Wait here. I should be back by dawn. The Peacekeepers shouldn't come by the house at all. But to be safe. Over that rise is the house the queen and Haymitch stayed in. Take your men there. I'll meet you in the morning."

Panem, Katniss's POV

I sit and look at old maps in boredom. Right now, it's the only thing I can stand to try to occupy my mind. Two weeks ago, Gale took Finnick and a small squad into the Capitol to retrieve his family. The ambassador from the Capitol let it slip that four extra tributes would be coming from each the Capitol and the Districts to make up for the loss from Panem. I wanted to go with him, but my duties as queen kept me from going. Dad is outside, getting into better shape with some of the older Royal Guard members. The moment I stepped off the train last year, they shed their black armor in exchange for their gold armor which was emblazoned with the Mockingjay, the symbol of my country. My pin was been exchanged for a medallion which I am required to wear around my neck.

"Majesty, there is a woman here to see you." One of the servants announces and I sigh and put away the maps before nodding my readiness. I thought I was done with visitors for the day. Oh well, might as well get this meeting over with and then try to get some sleep. I haven't slept since Gale left.

"Majesty," a familiar voice greets. I shoot to my feet and draw the knife from my belt. Standing before me, her steel gray hair perfectly in place up to her shoulders, is President Alma Coin.

"What are you doing here?" I snap. The last time I saw her, she was getting ready to execute my then fiancée so she could force me to marry Peeta Mellark, the prince of the Districts. She raises her hands in surrender.

"Peace, Majesty. I came to make peace. While you were away, your fiancée,"

"Husband,"

"Husband," she corrects, "came to me and offered me a deal. In exchange for my sponsoring you in the Games, I might try to earn your goodwill by dropping the false charges against him. He also wanted me to publicly apologize to my people. Now, my advocate did not get to the Capitol in time to sponsor you, but I am fine with that. I came to ask for an alliance between the two of us to fight Snow. Together, you and I can—," I hold up my hand and she shuts up.

"After the hell you put me through while I was in Thirteen, you expect me to forgive you just like that." I whisper. "You tried to kill my husband and force me to marry for an already broken promise. You tricked me into the Games, the Quarter Quell no less, by rigging the Reaping."

"I am sorry for that, Majesty. But I was hoping—"

"Hoping for what, Coin? That I would be naïve enough to forget what you've done? Stupid enough to the point that I would make you an advisor to me in this war. Maybe if you had more to offer me, I would consider it. But from where I'm standing, I have to do all the work. I have to convince the king of the Districts to ally with me after I refused to marry his son. He knew he had partnered up with you. He knew that Peeta's death is your fault. If you hadn't been so stupid, we could have worked it to where it benefited everyone. Right now, you've got nothing to offer me, Coin. I have the most to lose. You have nothing." I walk over to the door and open it, the signal for her to leave. She does without a word and I slam the door shut and cross the room to the balcony. Minutes later, I watch her leave the castle and then the city and got into the woods beyond. Not once did she turn around to look at me. Not once did she let her shoulders sag. Maybe we could be allies, if I can get the Districts to forgive her of Peeta's death.

The Coalmines in the Capitol

He leaned against the wall of the house and waited for the Peacekeepers to leave. They had brought back the children they had taken from the woman inside. He had counted them. They were all there, Posy, Rory, and Vick. They looked sicker than when he had left. They were too thin. He knew his mother would be the same way. Finally, the Peacekeepers left and Gale went to the door and knocked. The door opened and he was pulled inside by a suddenly teary eyed Hazelle.

"Oh Gale, you're safe." She cried. The children hugged his legs and he couldn't move if he had wanted to. Finally, Hazelle let him go and Gale looked around for Edgar, his father.

"Mom, where is Dad?" He looked at her and she looked at the floor. The children let go of his legs and went back to the table. Hazelle motioned for Gale to sit and sat down next to him.

"Not long after the three of you disappeared, the Peacekeepers came looking for Katniss and Haymitch. We don't know why, but they did. About a month or two after that, word reached us that you never showed up at the mines to do your work. Your father had to come and work to make up for it or be jailed for his son's failure to comply. He died in a mining accident right after the Games ended. I can barely make ends meet doing other people's laundry. I can't properly feed the kids."

"How soon can you get packed, Mom?" He asked earnestly. Hazelle looked at him. "I'm taking you out of here, tonight. It's a long journey, but it's worth it."

"Where are we going, Gale?" Posy asked, excited to be moving again.

"Gale, we just can't pick up and leave. They won't allow us to without a head of household." Hazelle said and Posy's face fell. Gale looked at his mother as he picked up his sister.

"We are not staying in the Capitol. I am not going to risk the kids being one of those extra tributes." He went to the door and whistled. A minute later, Finnick was walking in the door. "He is Finnick, Captain of the Royal Guard of Panem. Katniss sent him with me to bring you safely into the country."

"Gale, we need papers to get out. And I don't have the money for them. And you've no doubt been seen with Katniss if that's the case. Even if I did have the money, they wouldn't allow us to leave."

"We're not going to use papers. Mom, this is the only way I can ensure your safety. In Panem, you'll be safe and cared for as the queen's family." The kids looked at Hazelle. She looked at their gaunt faces and sad eyes. Before they moved, those eyes had been full of life. She couldn't bring herself to force them to live the way they were living.

"Rory, Vick, Posy, choose one thing that is special to you. Hurry." Gale put Posy down and the children scampered away. Hazelle went to her bedroom and returned with a few family photos and Edgar's bow. The bow she handed to Gale. "He wanted you to have this, if you ever came back." Gale nodded and smiled. A few minutes later, the children returned with their item. Gale nodded and Finnick produced black cloaks which Hazelle and Gale wrapped around the children. Once everyone was ready, they stole into the night.

Panem

He watched as his foster daughter paced the study she had claimed as her own. Gale had been gone for a long time now. The timeline had been a month and a half, maybe two. He had been gone for closer to six months now. Haymitch feared that they had been captured stealing through the countryside. He knew he should have gone. Or pushed for Katniss to go. She was a victor. Anything she said was supposed to go in the Capitol. It was a standing rule, unless Snow had changed it. Regardless, it was too late now. If she were to go and demand their release, it would be seen as an act of war as she had not gotten permission to send a group into the Capitol. He sighed and walked into the study.

"Katniss,"

"What, Dad?" She asked, looking out the window again.

"He's alright. Maybe Edgar and Hazelle moved their family."

"Edgar swore to never move willingly. He knew there was a chance that Gale would go back." She stopped and looked out the window. "What if something's happened to them, Dad? What if they've been captured and taken the President's City? What if one of the children were Reaped this year?"

"They haven't been."

"How can you be sure? We stopped broadcasts from the Capitol the moment I came home last year. We won't see the Reapings. We don't know—" he held up a hand to stop her rant and then pulled her into a hug.

"Majesty, he has returned." Katniss lifted her head and looked at the servant and then at her father. "They are waiting in the courtyard."

Katniss's POV

I didn't have to be told twice. I let go of Dad's neck and ran out the door, my single guard trying to keep up with me. He would insist on me not running headlong into an unknown situation. But I don't care. Gale is back. That's all that matters. My husband, my best friend is back. The servants barely get the doors open in time for me to run straight into my husband's arms. He catches me and we almost fall, but he falls against the horse next to him.

"I should go away more often if that'll always be the welcome I get." He joked. The only thing that kept me from swatting him was my being tackled to the ground by three not so little children.

"KATNISS!" Rory, Vick, and Posy call out cheerfully. I hug them a moment and then Hazelle is helping me up and pulling me into a tight hug. I hug her back. She was the mother that I never had. The mom that was taken from me before I could even walk. I pull back and she wipes a tear from my face. I wait a minute, taking her in, expecting any moment for Edgar to come up behind me and pull me into a hug of his own. But he doesn't and I look around for him. My eyes fall on Gale and he looks at the ground. I pull myself from Hazelle's embrace and walk over to my husband and hold him close. He won't have to tell me now. He may never tell me how he feels about his father's death. But I'm sure Hazelle will give me the details later. I keep Gale next to me as I look at my captain.

"Finnick, was there any trouble?"

"No, Majesty. Unless you count Gale getting into a scuffle in town protecting a woman's honor." I sneak a look at Gale and see him smirk from the corner of my eye. Hazelle has her arms crossed.

"What took so long?"

"The family moved to the coalmines, Majesty."

"Majesty?" Hazelle interrupts and I turn me and Gale to look at her and nod. "Last I heard, you were the princess. At least, that's what Haymitch told us."

"I freed my people, Hazelle. They are my family as much as you are and Haymitch is and my dead family." Hazelle smiled.

"Does that make my son a king?" She whispered and we laughed. The children started pretending to be nobles and it almost killed my laughter when I saw how thin they were. The only thing that kept me laughing was the thought that they would be crushed if I did stop in the middle. Once the laughter dies down, I point to a servant.

"Take Hazelle and her children to get cleaned up and then make sure they get plenty to eat."

"Yes Majesty." Hazelle and the kids are ushered inside and I turn to Gale.

"They are safe. That's what counts." I say as I wipe a tear from his face.

"And now, we have to make the rest of the people safe, from the Games." He answers and we walk inside.

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