Chapter 28 – Princess of district 12

When Peeta and I come back to our apartment, Madge takes care of the twins. She smiles at us when she sees our hands connected. We are not fighting anymore. "So, you finally found her then, Peeta?" She says and feeds Acacia with some porridge. "Yeah, after an hour or so," he says and smiles at me. I pick Willow up and sit with her on the bed. The twins have grown so fast. Willow can already sit up by herself without any support. I play bo-peep with her and she laughs at me. I see that Peeta smiles at us from the table where he sits with Madge and Acacia, talking about the rescue of Gale. "So, you mean you can't visit him since he is afraid of you?" she asks him. Peeta just nods sadly. "He is not afraid of his mother or his younger siblings, but he can't stand it when we or Finnick comes to visit. He just screams that we will kill him or torture him and his family." Peeta explains. Madge gets a tear in her eye and comes to the bed to hug me. "I am so sorry for what happened to Gale. I know how much he means to you." She says, and I thank her for being so supportive. "The worst part of it all is that I don't know if there is any way back to who he used to be," I say. "And the feelings of guilt I have. It makes me hate myself and fears what we have accomplished. I am afraid of myself and the revolution Peeta and I fueled." I say. Madge looks at me and takes my hand. "You know what Katniss? Only the future knows what will happen to Gale. But I know that if they can cure him, you will love him like he was your own brother, even if he isn't the same guy you used to hunt within the woods of 12." She says. "I still love you and Peeta and you are not the same as you were when we went to school in 12 either. You were always kind to me when no one else was. They hated me because I was rich and didn't need to take any extra slips in the games. Neither of you is the same. I just know that you two were the only I could talk to and that I love you for it." She says. I never knew this about her. That she was so unpopular because of her father's position. I never thought about it like that. And I didn't know Peeta and Madge were friends before the 73rd annual hunger games either. It makes sense since both of them grew up in town and are the same age. Peeta is always nice to people and he is easy to talk to, so it doesn't really surprise me. Madge is a wonderful listener and always nice to people she meets. "You two talked back in 12?" I ask. And Madge and Peeta both nods. "Who else would I have talked to about my feelings for you? My friends would have laughed at me. I wanted to get to know you, but I was too shy to even talk to you before our first game. And I had to talk to someone you knew, and Gale was obviously not the right person to talk to, so I talked about it with Madge and we became friends." Peeta says and his face turns red. When he is embarrassed he always blushes so hard, that he looks like a tomato. "So, you knew he liked me the whole time? Even before the games?" I ask Madge. She just laughs and nods. "Of cause, I knew." I look at my boyfriend. And he laughs too. "But why didn't you tell me?" I ask her. She just looks at me like I was crazy or something. "Because I promised Peeta to not tell you, and it was way more romantic when he told you himself. Even if he told you in front of the whole nation." Both Madge and I laugh, and Willow laughs with us. I just look at Peeta, who looks a little embarrassed. "You two are such star-gazers," I say and walk over to Peeta, who is cleaning up the mess of Acacia's food adventure and kiss him. "What did I do to deserve these two star-gazers?" I ask and look at Acacia who is still in her chair. She is happily playing with the spoon.

Madge's point of view

I go to the hospital. Katniss's mother sees me. "Hi, Madge. How are you?" she asks me. "I am just fine, Mrs. Everdeen. I am just here to see Gale. I want to see him for myself." I say, and she smiles at me. "Peeta and Katniss told you he is afraid and not who he used to be, right?" I nod, and she shows me to his room at the hospital. I see a few nurses from district 13 in there and I knock on the door before I enter. "Is it a good time for visitors?" I whisper to the nurse when I see that their patient sleeps. She walks out to me, in the corridor. "Who are you, miss?" she asks me. "I am Madge Undersee, a friend of Gale's." I respond. She nods understandingly and let me in. I sit in the chair by the bed. Watching the boy I have always admired and liked in secret. No one knows because I was ashamed for it. A girl from town should not like a boy from the Seam. Not the major's daughter. She was supposed to fall in love with a boy from the town. But I was not the only one who liked him, almost all the girls thought he was handsome and brave. Gale was somewhat an exception from the rest of the boys from the Seam. I liked when he and Katniss used to come to sell me strawberries in the summer. I remember the morning of the reaping almost three years ago. I wore a white dress, and he told me the dress was beautiful. Now I sit by his bed in a hospital in a district we did not know existed. "Mom?" I hear from the bed. He knows someone is in the room. But I am not Hazelle. "No. It is Madge. Do you remember me?" I say gently. His eyes open and I see the grey iris that looks like the coal in the mines. "Yes. I remember you." He says, and I think I can see a little smile on his face. "How are you?" I ask him, and his smile becomes more visible. "I am okay. I get painkillers, which makes the pain go away. And how is the princess of district 12 doing?" he grins. I remember that nickname. "I am just fine. I am happy you are doing okay." I answer. "So, what have my princess done today?" He asks me, and I try to figure out what to say. I can't tell him I was babysitting Acacia and Willow and was with Katniss and Peeta in the afternoon. "I have been at work all day." I lie. I only lie because I do not want to upset him. He is not afraid of me, and I don't want to change that. I must be a pretty good actress because he believes me. "So, even pretty princesses work in district 13?" He asks me sarcastically. And I nod and grin at him. "You look tired. Do you want me to leave?" I ask him politely and stand up. He shakes his head. "No, don't leave yet. Please, Madge" He answers and reaches for my hand. He takes it and I sit back down. "Okay, I won't leave." I say and look at his hand in mine. He blushes a little and let go of it. "It is just so lonely here. I feel lonelier than I have ever felt in my whole life in this hospital." He explains himself. "Don't you have visitors often?" I ask discreetly. "My family came yesterday. And the monsters and the sea monster came too." I see his fear, and the anger in his eyes and I try to change the topic. I don't want to talk badly about Katniss, Peeta or even Finnick, who Gale referred to as the "sea monster". I do not know Finnick but I know Katniss and Peeta do. He seems like a nice man. I saw him in the dining room earlier this day. He and his girlfriend Annie, who also was rescued with Gale, sat by one of the tables and looked deeply into each other's eyes. They held hands and kissed each other. Everyone saw it was not for show. They are so in love, I can't understand how that it didn't show when they were on television together. In district 13 they are more reserved and not even married couples kiss in public. They are not used to this. Married couples might hold each other's hand on the way to the dining room, or maybe to work. I have heard the native teenagers from district 13 talk about the Star-crossed-lovers. In a way, they find it cute and exciting, but in another way, they are disgusted by it. Peeta and Katniss are used to be forced to have a public relationship, and they don't know about anything else. People expect them to kiss each other deeply on televisions and in real life. People expect them to never argue and just be the ideal cute couple all the time. People expect things by them that are not human. No one is perfect. But Katniss and Peeta are expected to be.

Gale finally falls asleep and I kiss his cheek before I go. "See you tomorrow, Hawthorne" I whisper in his ear and I see that he smiles a little when I finally leave. When I am in the corridor I wonder what I should do. Should I tell Katniss and Peeta I visited? Should I stay quiet? Why am I doing this? For myself or for him? Or maybe for both of us?