A/N: Thank you for the reviews and comments. Below is a chapter with a lot of romance and a little bit of politics.

Thanks, RoryFaller, for your continued support and beta on this chapter.


Gale

"Gale, look at this parachute; I found one in the rubble," Beetee says handing me the distorted and burnt silver object.

I take it from his hand and recognize the glass gas discharge tube I created immediately. I pull it out of the parachute and say, "So, Coin did it and she used our weapons?"

Beetee replies, "Yes and no. She used the design of the parachutes we created, but she didn't use anything else. She used the parachute and gas discharge tube only. She filled the tube with morphling to confuse everyone before she dropped bombs on unsuspecting people. Coin wanted to make sure that everyone in the Capitol saw this as an act of self-preservation by Snow. She wanted to turn his loyal supporters against him by killing their children."

"It's a relief to know that's all she got her hands on. I was afraid she used the other – more lethal designs and weapons we created. We designed these parachutes and this discharge tube for halofexital. It was supposed to quickly knock-out the enemy – not kill innocent people. We designed this so we facilitated it," I say angrily, feeling more guilty than angry.

Beetee stands up to his full height and I've never seen so much anger on his face. I know he is a Victor but he fought in his original games decades ago; I've only seen the gentle side of him in District 13. Angrily, Beetee says, "Now you listen to me, Gale. I've been trained from an early age to design things. I am an Inventor. I design things and people use them for different purposes all the time. Hundreds of years ago, a man named Orville Wright designed aeroplanes. We don't have any aeroplanes now; our hovercrafts are derived from that early technology. He designed those aeroplanes to end a brutal war at the time; he thought they would be the vehicle to end war and bring world peace. But, do you know what leaders of the country used that invention to do - they destroyed entire cities, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Those leaders figured out that through the planes they could drop the bombs from the sky and cause bigger impacts. Do you think Orville Wright designed the aeroplanes to kill innocent people?"

I shake my head and Beetee continues, "Do you think he should be punished for developing that technology?"

"No, but technology in the wrong hands is a dangerous weapon. He never designed that as a weapon, but it sounds like it may have become the deadliest weapon in that war," I say flabbergasted. I don't know much about America's history, but I have no reason to doubt that Beetee knows it. Have people always manipulated science for their wrong purposes?

Beetee nods and says, "You and I invented something to quickly put an end to the war. These parachutes were supposed to put our enemy to sleep so we could arrest them. They weren't designed to confuse people so they could be bombed. Coin came up with that use for these parachutes; she used them in the wrong way; she used this design to kill even though we had designed it for exactly the opposite purpose."

"But all those innocent people died and I can't help but feel responsible. We worked on weapons of mass destruction. We didn't use them, but you and I were wrong to design those. Can you imagine what could have happened if those designs fell into the wrong hands?"

"Our world has had nuclear warfare for as long as I can remember. You and I are not the first to develop weapons of mass destruction," Beetee says defeated.

"That doesn't make it right," I say.

"No, it doesn't. We've done what we've done. Now, we have to ensure they don't fall into the wrong hands," Beetee replies back.

He seems to have resigned himself to thinking that he didn't design it for the purpose it was used. He's found his peace in moving forward in keeping such designs and weapons out of the wrong hands. I can't resign myself to that same peace.

Katniss volunteered for the games to protect Prim, I didn't volunteer with her so I could take care of Prim. Prim was no different to me than Posy; I loved her and now she's dead because of me.

I walk back into Madge's room to find her talking to a nurse. I smile seeing her awake; the doctors had told me they weren't sure when she would wake up. Madge looks up at me and gives me a careful smile. I wait patiently for the nurse to finish taking Madge's vitals. Dr. Kelly was right, Madge is young and she has the willpower to recover. She's recovered twice as fast as the doctors had initially predicted. But then again nothing about Madge surprises me.

I climb in bed with Madge as soon as the nurse leaves. I kiss her forehead and say, "Good morning, beautiful. How do you feel?"

Madge laces her fingers through mine and says, "I'm fine, how are you? The nurse said you didn't sleep all night."

I laugh and say, "I didn't realize the nurses were keeping such close tabs on me; I guess I'm going to have to watch what I do to you."

Madge smiles. "I'm sorry, Madge, that I left you for such a long time yesterday. I don't ever want you to doubt that you're my priority. I just had to see Katniss for myself and it took more time than I thought. By the time I got back here, the nurses told me you were in a lot of pain and they had to give you painkillers and sleeping pills to help you sleep. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you were in pain. I couldn't sleep until I knew you were alright."

Madge rests her head on my shoulder and says, "Is that why you sat up all night watching me sleep?" Before I can answer, Madge pulls me closer by my shirt. She catches me off guard and I almost lose my balance. I catch myself at the last minute and brace my hands on either side of her – on the bed – and lean forward to kiss her. Madge releases my shirt and her right hand moves up to grab the collar of my shirt as she pulls me even closer. I deepen the kiss as she parts her lips for me; the moan that stems from the back of Madge's throat is almost my undoing. It's not easy, but I pull back and open my eyes to my favorite site of Madge – eyes full of passion and need for me and red, swollen lips from my kiss. If I'd been able to pick up my hands then my fingers would've raked through her hair too. Madge leans forward again and I quickly peck her on the lips as I sit back – creating some distance between us.

Madge pouts adorably and I lean forward to kiss her lips and trail kisses all the way to her ear as I softly whisper, "Have patience, my princess. We've got the rest of our life ahead of us." As I lean back, I see Madge pout again. I laugh and run my thumb over her swollen lips as I say, "And you're probably going to want full use of the left side of your body back for what I have planned for you."

This time Madge completely surprises me as she starts crying. Flabbergasted, I ask, "Madge, did I hurt you? Do you want me to get the doctor?"

I'm half-way off the bed when she grabs my hand and says weepily, "Gale, you didn't hurt me. I just…I – I really missed you."

I move closer to Madge and hug her as carefully as I can; she's better but I'm still afraid of hurting her. Madge sobs into my chest. I tighten my hold on her and say, "Madge, you cannot imagine how much I missed you…how broken and empty I felt without you. We're together now and nothing is going to separate us anymore. You are mine." I kiss her forehead, her cheeks and then her lips. The sight of Madge in tears is something I never want to see again.

"Gale, what if I never get full feeling back in the left side of my body? I may never walk again or be able to hug you with both my arms."

I put my finger under her chin and lift it up so her sad blue eyes can meet my hopeful gray ones as I say, "Listen to me, Madge, you've come a long way in your recovery. You're doing better than even the doctors imagined. You're going to get back to normal again. And if you don't, I'll always love you just the way you are. If you can't walk, I'll have an excuse to carry you around everywhere. I love you, Madge, and you're mine. If you think my feelings are going to change for you based on your recovery, I'll prove it to you right now that they won't. We can have a toasting and get married right now."

Her blue eyes get a little shine back to them as she looks up at me longingly and in this moment I can't imagine anything other than marrying her right now. Madge smiles and says, "No, not right now. I want the war to be over, I want your family here, all our friends here and I want to walk on my own and put both my arms around you when you kiss me for the first time as Mrs. Gale Hawthorne."

"Mmmm…I like the sound of that," I say bending my head down to kiss her. "We'll wait if that's what you want. But then you have to promise me to just concentrate on taking care of yourself and let me worry about everything else."

Madge moves away from my embrace a little; she gets that mischievous look in her eyes that I love so much as she asks, "If you're appointing yourself as the head of my household, I think you may have some competition from Haymitch and Corn. They think I'm their responsibility."

I blink for a second as my mind is transported back to the town square in District 12 when Madge had introduced me similarly to the reporters from the Capitol. Madge waits patiently for my response. I take a little pillow and lightly throw it at her as I say, "You're MY responsibility – no one else's."

"Hmph…taking advantage of me when I can't properly fight back?" Madge raises her eyebrow at me playfully, goading me.

"What's the matter, princess; you didn't learn to fight one-handed? And here I thought you were highly trained to fight in any situation."

Madge picks up a pillow with determination in her eyes, but before she has a chance to do anything, I pin her back down to the bed as I capture her lips. I let my hand trace the arch of her back to the curve of her hips; Madge laughs and squeals as she squirms beneath me – two sounds I heartily approve of.

Someone clears their throat and I get up – off Madge – immediately. Madge's cheeks have a gorgeous blush on them. I turn to see Dr. Kelly behind me. I smile apologetically, but laugh at the same time. It's surreal to think that after everything we've been through in this war, here I am feeling like a teenager getting caught making out with my girlfriend. "Sorry about that. I was just trying to…,"

Dr. Kelly puts her hand up to stop me and says, "Don't apologize. It's heartwarming to see your love blossom after the horrors we've all seen in the war. AND it's nice to finally hear Madge laugh."

Beetee walks in as Dr. Kelly examines Madge. He says, "Johanna wanted to talk to you but the phone lines are still being monitored so she couldn't say anything. But whatever it was, it was important enough that she wants you to go to District 13."

"What? What could be so important?" I ask trying to rack my brain, but I trust Johanna and if she says it is important then I know it must be important.

"Gale, you're not leaving are you?" Madge asks panicked.

I take her hand and say, "You know Johanna well enough to know that it must be important if she wants me to go all the way to District 13. BUT, Madge, I meant it when I said that you are my priority. I won't go anywhere if you don't want me to."

Madge tugs on my hand to pull me closer and I sit beside her, on the edge of the bed. Fear is evident in her eyes and I brush some of her hair out of her face and place a kiss on her forehead. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise I'll stay here…close to you."

As Madge goes to her session of physical therapy, I run into Dr. Arthur Aurelius. "Dr. Arthur, would it be alright if I asked you a question about Madge?" He nods so I continue, "Have I done something wrong with Madge? She seems to be reluctant to…,"

He finishes for me, "…to let you go anywhere?" I nod so he continues, "Normally I would not discuss a patient's history with another, but Audra told me I could share with you. Madge is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder right now. She's afraid of losing you."

He takes a deep breath and says, "Gale, you and Madge have spent so much energy and so much of your time on the rebellion and the war that you've both forgotten that you are just teenagers. This would be hard on anyone to handle, remember you are both still very young. She's scared. From everything she told me, ever since the two of you got separated from each other in District 12, you've had a lot of close calls. She told me that you almost made it to her house just before Corn took her out the back door; she sent messages to District 13 that didn't make it to you, the two of you barely missed each other when you rescued Peeta, Johanna and Annie and then again when she and Corn rescued Finnick. When you finally met, both of you were shot and then you left for District 2 shortly after that. That's a lot for anyone to go through in a period of only six months. Can you blame her for being scared to let you out of her sight?"

I shake my head. "I should have never left her to go to District 2," I say angry with myself for making things worse for Madge.

"Gale, you can't second guess yourself. I'd say you did the right thing by going and making her safe; would she have been just as safe had you not gone? Maybe or maybe not. You did what you thought was best. You going to District 2 is a small part of what she feels right now. She's also worried about you. She told me yesterday there's a sadness in your eyes…she's worried that the war broke you. Audra is also concerned about you."

"I'm just worried about Madge right now. I haven't even had a chance to process everything that happened…everything that I had to do and see. I wasn't trained to be a soldier my whole life."

"I know and I understand that right now you're just concerned about Madge. If you would like to talk more about your time as a soldier or anything else, my door is always open for you."

"Thank you, I will," I reply earnestly. Thank goodness Madge's mom befriended both Dr. Kelly and Arthur Aurelius; they've been a great help during this time of confusion in the Capitol.

I turn around to leave when he calls out, "Oh and, Gale, if you don't want to talk to me, you may want to try talking to Madge. She's scared and she needs you, but she's not fragile; she can handle whatever's on your mind."

"I've wanted to tell her things, but I wasn't sure. A long time ago, Madge and I promised to always talk through things and not keep anything from each other. But I've been afraid to add to her worries."

"Gale, you and Madge have a very close, loving relationship. Even months of separation in a war haven't changed that for either of you. If anything, your love for each other seems to be even stronger. Don't let the war change you; talk to her. Saying it out loud will help you and it will give her something other than herself to focus her attention on. You both seem to draw strength from each other."

I smile and say, "I've always considered Madge my greatest strength."

I've never seen him laugh before, but he laughs now and says, "Kelly and I were talking about both of you last night. I know you've had hard lives in the District, but our lives haven't been easy either."

"I'm sorry about your daughter," I say.

He nods and says, "I will never get over her death." Then he smiles sadly and says, "As doctors we had to do a lot of unethical things in the Capitol, but seeing you and Madge together makes it all worth it in the end. If we can give our kids a future full of love and choices then it was worth it. Your love for each other symbolizes hope." He pats my cheek fatherly and leaves. Thoughts of my dad, similarly patting my cheek, bring tears to my eyes.

I carry Madge into the conference room for yet another meeting. Before coming into this meeting, everyone reviewed Mayor Undersee's documents. After some discussion, Plutarch's ideas of assassinating Coin are laid to rest. The group decides that first order of business is to try Snow for his crimes. Even Snow should not be punished without a proper trial. I watch Madge squeeze Corn's hand at the mention of Snow and give him a reassuring smile – her loving, pure heart knows no bounds.

Mayor Paylor says, "We need to announce the elections and give the others a chance to come forth to run in the election for a chance to be the President."

Mayor Dafin says, "One of us…one of the Mayors needs to run because we don't want Coin to win just because she has experience of running a District. I'm sure she'll use that in her arguments."

Mayor Smith says, "I nominate Mayor Paylor."

Dafin glares at him and says, "I was talking about myself. District 2 was a lot closer to the Capitol. I have better experience than any of you in the room. In fact Ohare also has good experience. So if you're interested, Ohare, then I would like you to be my running mate."

"No, it should be Paylor. She understands how to lead and she fought alongside her people during the war. She has the most field experience and that will be necessary in shaping our country," Mayor Sky declares.

Haymitch says, "How about you, Audra? You helped write a lot of these documents. You understand what it takes to lead and plan. Do you have any interest in running?" For the first time I give thought to the opportunities available to all of us – even my mom and especially my siblings. Rory and Vick will never have to go down into the mines; Posy won't have to anxiously wait for her husband to come back from the mines. I smile thinking this was what we wanted to accomplish – a bright future full of opportunities and choices for all.

Mrs. Undersee shakes her head and says, "No. I'm just getting my health back. I don't want to risk taking on too much. Madge is my priority right now." She squeezes Madge's hand.

Madge speaks up, "I nominate Mayor Paylor."

Paylor looks at Mrs. Undersee and says, "I wish Mayor Undersee was here; I don't think there's a doubt in anyone's mind that he would be everyone's choice. I will run; will you run with me, Mrs. Undersee, as my running mate?"

Madge's mom smiles and says, "Thank you. I don't think it's a good time for me to take on that kind of responsibility right now. Madge and I haven't even had a chance to properly mourn her father or everything that happened in District 12 to its residents. I wholeheartedly support you. I think Mayor Mally would make a great running mate for you. I nominate him as your Vice-President."

Dafin speaks up angrily, "We can't have two Mayors from the outlying Districts." More arguments ensue around the table.

After a lot of yelling and planning, it is decided that Paylor/Ohare and Dafin/Mally will run as two separate teams against Coin and her partner. Since Mrs. Undersee, Corn and Madge still can't leave the underground bunker the rest of us will meet with Coin to discuss the elections and Snow's trial. We are all dismissed once again.

That night, when I climb in bed with Madge, I pull her next to me as close as I can bring her. Madge rests her head on my chest and says, "Gale, you must think I'm being childish and selfish keeping you here, right?"

I lift her chin up to face me and I say, "Madge, you're not being childish or selfish. There's nowhere else I want to be other than here with you. I called Johanna earlier and told her to come here; it'll be better this way anyway. I can't tell her about you or Corn on the phone."

After a few minutes of silence, Madge asks, "Gale, are you okay? You don't talk much about your time in District 13 or your role in the war. I had to live with the fear of dying every day here, but you've seen lots of people die. I still can't get the image of Kalani out of my head, when Snow shot her. You must have seen countless deaths. My mom says that you and I fought two very different wars and that I should give you space and time. I don't want that, but if you need it then let me know. For you, I'll…"

"Madge, I don't want space and time away from you. Believe me the last six months away from you were no less than my own personal hell," I say as I bend down to kiss her. I don't want time away from Madge – ever again.

After a few minutes of holding her close I begin, "Madge, I want to tell you everything, but promise me that anytime you want me to stop you'll tell me."

"I promise, Gale."

I settle Madge next to me again and start. Madge and I don't have any secrets; she's already told me everything about her time in the Capitol and now it's my turn – to tell her everything.

I say, "Madge, when I got back from District 12 with your ring, it finally started to sink in that you were gone for real. Until then, I wouldn't believe it. I thought that I'd know if you had died. I started seeing you everywhere. It was weird because it wasn't that my mind was conjuring up old images of you…it was different. You were there with me; we talked about things that were happening in District 13. For instance, Posy had a really hard time without you. She refused to believe you weren't coming back. She screamed for you every night and every night I would tell myself that I will comfort her the next night. I couldn't face comforting her over you when I needed that same comfort myself. YOU were the one to finally make me go to Posy and comfort her."

"I missed Posy too. I can't wait to see her and everyone else. When can we see them?" Madge asks. I wipe the tears that have escaped her eyes.

"Hopefully soon. It's not safe right now…not safe for you or for them to know anything. I spoke to Ma, Rory, Vick and Posy and assured them I'm fine and will see them soon. I told them I am happy the war is over. I think Ma could tell that I was happy about more than just the war."

Madge sits up a little and says, "I'm sorry you didn't know I was alive and you had to go through that and Posy too. I can't even imagine how you made that drive back to District 13 alone."

"I wasn't alone; I had you. It felt so real that I'm still not sometimes sure whether it was just my imagination. I used a motorbike to travel; I drove and you sat behind me – well the imaginary you sat behind me – you wrapped your arms and legs around me and rested your cheek on my back. I don't know if I would've made it back without you."

Madge hugs me and starts crying as she says, "Gale, I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I shouldn't have let go your hand in District 12."

I laugh a little and say, "Madge, now you're apologizing for fate and other people? You were gone, but – in a way – you were still with me. I knew that I'd never stop loving you. I was mad at Snow and at the world for taking you away from me. I wanted revenge and Coin saw the determination of revenge inside me. That's why she hid your messages from me. I basically handed myself over on a silver platter to her. I told her I love you and I would avenge you. I was in the room with her when she received your first message. I saw her rip it up in front of my own eyes. She approved advanced training for me that day. Haymitch helped in his own way. Even Ma and the kids had a family meeting with me where they basically told me that I needed to come to terms with your death. I still remember what Ma said that day to me…You're not the only one in this family that loved Madge. I promised myself to avenge you…avenge us. I got caught up in that drive of revenge. Madge, I also started working with Beetee and together we designed weapons of mass destruction."

Madge sits up a little and whispers, "Gale?"

I search her eyes for hatred…for disgust, but Madge only has love and compassion for me. Love and compassion that I don't deserve. I give Madge a few moments to process what I've told her, but her expression stays only concerned for me. So I finally begin explaining again, "We didn't use those weapons, but I designed them. If used, they could potentially wipe out all humankind. I was so filled with hatred and anger that I didn't care. As long as I got my revenge, I didn't care what happened to anyone else."

Madge hugs me with her right arm and says, "Gale, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I was the reason you designed those. I'm sorry you were ever put into a situation like that."

I take her face in my hands and say, "Madge, don't you dare blame yourself. It was my fault; I was wrong to design them. I have to make sure they get destroyed and no one else uses them. As time went on and I trained, I began to lose myself. I had a fight with the imaginary you and I tried to send the imaginary you away in fear of going crazy. You pointed out to me that Coin was manipulating me and I still let her. I lied for her – something I know is wrong – something I've always known is wrong. I became something I detested; I became a liar."

Madge covers my mouth with her hand and says, "Gale, you're not a liar. You are real; those were extreme circumstances and you just got caught up in them. It could've…would've happened to anyone. You can't blame yourself."

I kiss Madge and ask, "Do you want me to stop?"

She shakes her head so I continue, "Yesterday, in the conference room, you remember I asked Beetee about that bomb we heard before you got shot?"

Madge nods so I continue, "While designing the weapons, Beetee and I had an idea – what if we could put the peacekeepers to sleep and arrest them all? Similar to what we did in District 12 when we got them all drunk. If we did that, it could end the war peacefully and quickly. The scientists in District 13 had designed a sleep agent called halofexital. We used it on the peacekeepers when we rescued Johanna, Peeta and Annie from the Capitol. Beetee came up with the idea of releasing parachutes from a hovercraft filled with the gas. His thought process was that, in the games, those parachutes meant a gift and the tributes were relieved to receive those. So if we dropped those, the peacekeepers would most likely grab them. Next, we needed to figure out a design to dissipate the gas quickly into the surroundings so it would knock out the most number of people. So I designed a glass tube that would do exactly that."

Madge sits up and says, "So Coin used your design - meant to save lives and end war quickly and peacefully - to kill innocent people?"

I nod and Madge continues, "That's what is bothering you? You're blaming yourself for that?"

"Madge, how can I not? Something I designed killed innocent people…it killed Prim."

Madge says, "Gale, that is ridiculous. Be bothered that innocent people and someone you loved were killed. Be angry about that. You can't blame yourself. You didn't design those parachutes and tubes for that purpose. Coin is wrong and she is sick! You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes I did, Madge. You're forgetting I still designed those other weapons."

"But you didn't use them, Gale. You took proper precautions to make sure they didn't fall in the wrong hands."

"Madge, I let anger and hatred rule my thoughts."

Madge's eyes soften immediately and she moves closer to me. Madge puts her hand on my cheek and says, "Gale, you can't judge yourself. You were assigned to create such weapons by others – others who had a much better understanding of what they were asking you to do."

"Madge, I'm not a child; I should've never agreed to work on something like that."

Madge puts up her hand and says, "No, you're not. But you can't go back and change what you did. You have to find the strength to move forward to…to fix it. You can destroy those designs. You can help build a government that won't allow for the creation of such weapons. You can do so much to make our world a better place."

I can't help, but cry. I reach forward to rest my forehead on Madge's and say, "I want to do all that…I want to fix what I've done wrong. I want to move forward for you…for everything we've dreamt for us. I can't do it without you, though."

Madge kisses me as she wipes my tears; I wipe her tears. Madge says, "Gale, I'll always be with you. I love you."

I kiss Madge and continue, "When Haymitch mentioned the bomb and from the faint whispers I'd heard in District 2 I thought it may have been one of my bombs. I was more scared at that moment than I'd ever been. Coin had deployed a powerful bomb to make sure all the parachutes were destroyed too. But Beetee found one. It seems that Coin filled the tubes with morphling and placed it in the parachutes. The children caught the parachutes immediately and the morphling dissipated quickly into the air. It confused everyone and then the bombs were dropped on the unsuspecting masses. Everyone believed Snow did that, even his supporters turned on him and the Capitol fell. Coin sent Prim to the Capitol with the medics' team and she died in that bomb. Coin probably wanted to use Prim's death to manipulate Katniss similar to the way she used yours to manipulate me."

Madge is quiet after that and she has the look of being in deep thought on her face. I give her the time she needs to process everything I told her. Coin may have done something supremely unethical in dropping the bombs the way she did, it was my design that helped her achieve it. I patiently wait for Madge to work through it all in her head.

Madge looks up at me as she reaches out to touch my face with her right hand. I cover her small pale hand with my hand and hold it to my face. I close my eyes enjoying the touch of Madge's warm, soft hand. "Gale, Coin did that. It was her. You didn't help. You have nothing to do with what happened."

"Yes I do, Madge. She accomplished her goal with MY design of the parachutes."

"If she hadn't used that, she would've found another way to do it. She wanted the war to end; she wanted to turn the Capitol residents against Snow. She used CHILDREN to do it! You can't blame yourself."

Madge moves closer and I hug her tight. I need her. Madge still looks at me with love like she always has. I can't stop the tears from falling out of my eyes. I need to cry and repent everything I've done. Madge rests her forehead on my forehead and says, "You and I – we are going to be fine. We'll get through this together. You, Gale Hawthorne, are a wonderful person. You are the most loving, caring, smartest person I know…you have the most beautiful and pure heart."

Madge and I both cry together and hold each other; I just need to be close to her. I hug Madge tightly and tell her about the haunting dreams I have of seeing dead bodies of soldiers I knew and trained with. I admit to her that sleeping next to her keeps the nightmares at bay. She promises me we'll always be together. Eventually we both fall asleep.

I startle awake from a ringing sound. I'm still not used to the portable phones. Everyone in the Capitol had them; we had never even heard of these in the districts. Even Madge's dad didn't have one. Now Plutarch insists I carry one so he can reach me.

I answer it groggily, expecting Plutarch. "Hello?"

"Gale?" a female voice greets me.

I sit up immediately. "Yes," I answer fully awake and on alert, hoping it's not Coin. I don't even want to talk to Coin when I'm near Madge.

"Hi, it's Johanna. Annie and I are on the hovercraft for the Capitol."

"When will you be here?"

"The three of us should be at the hovercraft port in a couple of hours. Will you pick us up?"

"Three?" I question to make sure I heard correctly.

"Yes, pick us up, okay?"

"Okay," I say and hang up.

I look down to see that Madge has also woken up. "Who was that?" she asks.

"Johanna. She said that she and Annie are on their way here. She wants me to meet all three of them at the hovercraft port."

Madge smiles and says, "Finally, Johanna and Annie will come to know that Corn and Finnick are still alive. Dr. Kelly said that Finnick is finally making progress. I have no doubts that Annie's presence will help him tremendously. I can't wait to tell Corn that Johanna will be here in just a couple of hours. Promise me you won't tell them anything until you bring them back here. I want to see their reactions too."

"I promise," I assure Madge. I'm just happy to see her happy.

"Wait, did she say three?" Madge questions.

I nod to confirm. "Who's the third?" Madge asks curiously.


A/N: You'd be surprised how many ways I wrote this chapter. No matter what I wrote - it just didn't make sense. For instance, earlier in my story I breezed through Gale and Katniss' time in District 2 with the Nut. I couldn't write it as it was in Mockingjay at that time and thought I'll address it later. Now, I was going to have Gale tell Madge everything and even now I couldn't do it. In my story, as Gale started to tell Madge about it - I realized that there is no way he would've done something like suggest killing the innocent workers inside the mountain. His dad - an innocent miner - died in an explosion underground - Seriously, can you imagine Gale doing that to others? I don't think he could. So I'm not acknowledging it. In my mind (and in this story) that's not what happened. They used whatever strategies they could to overtake the Nut. And as you've read above, I have a different take on the parachute bombs that killed the children in the Capitol. I also don't think that Gale could've created a bomb/snare that would kill innocent people as suggested in the book. All his life, all he's done is take care of people. Even in District 8, he was worried about the sick assembled in one place because they were an easy target - he wouldn't do that to others. So this chapter is my take on what he designed and why he feels responsible for what happened at the end of the war.

AU or canon...you might ask? I don't know - I can make an argument either way right now. So take your pick - AU if that's how you see it or canon because they're just not addressing everything right now.

Any guesses on what exactly Johanna needs to tell Gale that's so important that since he couldn't go to District 13, she's coming to the Capitol? Who do you think is the THIRD person coming with Jo and Annie?

Ready for Fannie and Cohanna (yes, I've given them a couple name too) reunions next?