A/n: I do like Gale, so I hope I wasn't too mean to him in this chapter. :/ I tried not to be, but Katniss has to realize certain things in this chapter to get closure, so I can move on with the story. Song for this chapter is "This is Letting Go" by Rise Against.

Gale takes me to their version of the Hob, but it's much bigger here. It's indoors with air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter. They call it a shopping mall. He takes me on a tour of their Academy, the place where in the past, teenagers trained for the Hunger Games. Now, there's a memorial there, with all the names of the deaths from District 2. I look away after noticing the last three names on the list, the ones I recognize. Brutus, Cato, and Clove.

"It's a college now," Gale tells me.

A college. A word familiar to me, but barely. I remember reading about them in history books.

"Yeah, higher education, for people that aren't satisfied working in the district's trade, I guess."

"Is this the only one?"

"No, there's one in District 1 and District 4. They're building one in 13."

Eventually, we get to the Nut.

"Do you want to see my work?" He asks me, and of course I tell him that I would.

They've rebuilt the train tracks leading into the Nut, and when I get inside, it looks completely redone. There are several levels of it, with an elevator directly in the middle.

Gale says hello to a few people he runs into, and I stay behind a bit, pretending to look at the machinery so that I don't get any questions from them.

I follow him to the elevator, and he takes us up to the third floor, when the door opens, my heart sinks.

All around us, are military weapons, but not just machine guns and rifles, missiles. Racks upon Racks of different guns, A few of the men are working on the missile in the middle. It's being constructed. On it, these words are being painted by one of the worksman: "PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF PANEM".

"You…you build…weapons?"

He must see the look of disappointment on my face, or at least hear it in my voice, because he turns towards me and says, "Hey, come on, don't make it sound like that."

"How else should I say it? You still do this? How can you?"

"Katniss, we can't be a nation unprotected."

"I understand that, but you?"

"What about me?"

I can't believe he asked me this. Yes, a country needs weapons in case of an attack from a foreign country. I'm not crazy. I just don't see how Gale in particular can continue to make weapons after what happened in the Capitol that day. All those innocent kids…and my sister….

I try to hold back my anger, but I've never been so good at that. Becoming more angry, I tell him, "You don't feel the least bit guilty about it?"

When the workers all turn towards me in unison, I realize that I've said it too loudly.

"Hey Gale who is this lady you brought in here?" A rather pudgy one of them says.

"She's just…a cousin. I'll get her outta here."

"I think that'd be a good idea."

He walks briskly ahead of me back to his apartment, and as hard as I try to keep up, I can't. I can tell he's angry at me. I'm not used to having to defend myself, Peeta never acts this way with me.

When we reach his house we both step inside and Gale slams the front door before saying, "What gives you the right to judge me, Katniss?"

"Because if it had been me that might have been responsible for building the bombs that killed all those kids I wouldn't get within fifty feet of a weapon!"

"Might have!" He yells, "Might have been responsible. And even if I were, I'm sure as hell not responsible for killing those kids. I wasn't the one who called the order!"

More angry now, I get closer to his face, before shouting, "Doesn't matter Gale! It doesn't matter! Because in the end, my sister is dead, and those bombs killed her!"

Gale begins to yell back but forces himself to calm down once he sees the tears flooding my eyes now. I cover my face and walk out of the kitchen into the living room. Gale follows me.

I sit down, drying my eyes, but it's no use, the tears keep coming. So I cover my face with my shirt and let them come. Gale sits down by me and wraps one arm around me.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I am. But not for what I do. I'm sorry for what happened to her."

I nod my head.

"If there was something I could do to bring her back, I would. You don't know how much I wish I could go back in time to that day and fix it somehow…but I can't do that."

I pull my head up out of my shirt and wipe the last remaining tears from my eyes.

"I know."

We sit in silence for a few minutes.

"I still don't hate you, Gale." I say to him, after awhile.

"I know you don't."

"Just because I don't like what you do doesn't mean I have the right to be upset with you for it. It's your life..and I am happy that your job is enjoyable for you, even if I don't understand why."

"Thanks. That means a lot. That you haven't given up on me."

"I never could. But I have to let you go. I know now why I came here."

"Why is that?"

"To tell you that I love you."

His eyes brighten up. I kick myself for being misleading.

"Not in the same way," I continue, "But I do. But I can't move on with my life when I feel like there was something left unsaid between us. So I came to say it. I don't hate you, and I'll miss you, but I'm happy for you."

Gale takes a moment to collect his thoughts, then he pulls me into a tight embrace. "Thanks for telling me that."

I see a smile on his face before his normal, hardened look returns. "Are you hungry?"

I nod my head, then follow him into the kitchen.

He opens up his pantry and asks if I would like chicken soup or lamb stew. I smile, remembering that even when Peeta was hijacked by the Capitol, he still remembered that I loved lamb stew. Couldn't remember anything about his past, but he remembered a tiny detail about me. Thinking of him warms my heart in a way I don't think I've ever felt, and though it terrifies me, there's a small glimpse of excitement there too.

"Lamb stew sounds good," I tell him.

We catch up on what we've both been doing since we last saw each other.

"You been hunting at all?" I ask him.

"A bit. There's not many places to do it here, but I'll probably always enjoy it."

"I always knew you'd never be able to give it up, even if it were no longer necessary."

"Same with you."

"Yeah, I go all the time. I can think out there, it's like my sanctuary. A place that remains untouched by everything that's happened in the past three years."

"I zone out like that when I'm working and hunting."

I don't respond because I'm not always sure what will come out of my mouth until after the fact and I don't want to piss him off again, not when we're getting along so well now.

I find my thoughts drifting to Peeta. I see him standing in his new bakery, frosting cakes with a concentrated look on his face. His joy when he sees his finished cake, his precision with all the little details on it…

"Katniss?"

I shake my head and realize Gale is staring at me.

"Huh?"

"You okay? I've never seen you smile for so long…"

"Oh, was I smiling?"

"Uh, yeah. So…how's everyone back home?"

I can tell by the way he looks at me that he knows that question was more about Peeta than everyone else. But I play dumb.

"They're all doing okay. Sae still works in the Hob, Haymitch is still a drunk."

"And Peeta?""He's fine."

Again I'm stuck with an awkward silence.

"Has he tried hurting you again?" Gale asks me. He looks genuinely concerned about me, not like he's trying to belittle Peeta, but I, for some reason, get defensive.

"Of course not. In fact he's more himself than ever. He improves every day."

When I said Peeta was fine I was trying to avoid the subject to spare Gale's feelings, but he deserved it with his question.

"Oh…that's good. Are you friends again then?"

"Yeah. We are."

"Is that all?"I know where this question is going.

I could lie, and tell him that no, that's not all, but it's not true and I'd be saying it out of anger. "Yes, Gale, that's all."

For right now. Truth is, I do feel a…certain way about Peeta. I'm just not really sure what that is yet. But I don't know what will or won't happen with Peeta and I down the road.

All I know is that I want him in my life, I don't ever want him to leave again. When he was in the Capitol and in District 4 I missed him more than I thought was possible, and I've only been gone three days and already I miss him again. I defend him the same way I defend myself. The thought of him makes me forget my pain and smile, if only for a few moments.

And none of this makes any sense to me.

"I was just curious."

We both look at the clock at the same time. "Getting close to midnight. You want the bedroom?" He offers, "I'll sleep on the couch."

"No." I say, shaking my head. "It's fine. I don't mind the couch. It's your house anyway."

"Okay. Let me get you some blankets and a pillow."

While he does that, I clean up the dishes that we used tonight. I'm already drying them when he comes back out after making the couch up with the blankets and pillow.

"You didn't have to do that, you're the guest."

"I don't mind. Thanks for letting me stay."

"You know you're always welcome here, crazy girl."

"Goodnight Gale," I tell him, walking towards the living room.

I hear him say it back, just before the kitchen light goes out and I lay down on the couch, ready for some much needed sleep.