DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME, BUT OC ONES DO
A/N: Katniss's voice will be in bold
Chapter 159-Fate
While waiting for Avery to arrive, Gale takes out Katniss's video message and places it on the dresser. He goes downstairs and prepares breakfast for Juniper, Yari, and Blythe and tells Juniper that Avery is on her way. When Juniper asks him where Cassandra is, he responds by saying that she went back to Red Rocks and that she may have returned to the Capitol.
"May have? You mean you don't know? If she was still close by, I wanted to see if she wanted to meet Cedar tomorrow."
"Another time okay? I do not know what her plans are for the rest of the weekend. I'll be upstairs" and he quickly leaves, not bothering to eat with them.
Juniper stares at him as he leaves the kitchen and heads down the hall. She wonders if the reason Cassandra is keeping her distance is because Avery was coming over.
"Is it weird? That your Dad has a new girlfriend? And that they got a place over in Red Rocks? Yari asks in a supportive manner.
"Yeah, does he ever leave you alone here for the weekend while he's over there with her?" Blythe says, getting the courage to ask Juniper now that Yari has.
"He never leaves me alone, I asked him to stop shipping me off to my Grandmother's on the weekends and he is keeping that promise. It's why they got the place in Red Rocks, so she has to place to stay that's close by. She comes to Red Rocks on the weekdays sometimes, and who knows what they do during the week, I don't want to know. As long as he is home to cook me dinner and be with me, that's all I care about."
"You are 16 now, don't you think if you asked, he would be okay with you staying here by yourself?" Blythe asks and Juniper knows what she is thinking.
"He might, but I am not interested in having a party so don't ask."
"You would be the most popular girl in school-for now" Blythe says teasingly.
She gives a small smile then says, "I know this sounds strange, but ever since my Mom died. I have this fear, that I will lose him too. I know it is silly. But it gives me comfort when he is here at the house with me. And I like hanging out with him, I don't care if that makes me uncool with the other kids at school."
"It's not silly. You are lucky you have such a cool Dad. Everyone in town is still talking about how he went to District 10 just to get Cedar for you. I think a lot of the kids in school are jealous, their parents could never afford to do something like that" Yari says.
Juniper nods and says, "I know I am lucky. I told Charlie Cedar could be used as a meet and greet horse, but I don't think they are planning to use him as one yet." Charlie was one of the stable workers at Silver Lake Stables and Juniper was close with him and always tried to be extra kind to him, for it was easy to see that he was as some would say, 'simple minded.' Juniper wanted Cedar to be used as meet and greet horse when she was not at the stables as a way for the residents and visitors of Silver Lake to get a chance to see him.
"Are you glad your Dad got Cassandra her own place in Red Rocks?" Yari asks, wanting to let Juniper know she was willing to listen if the topic of conversation still bothered her.
"Yeah, its fine. I think my Dad prefers it that way. I've gone to the cottage a few times. It is nice. And Cassandra has been to Silver Lake, but yesterday was her first time at the house. It would be weird having her here at the house, but….I think it is something I will have to accept eventually."
"Do you think someday they will get married and have a kid?" Blythe says.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"Your Dad is too old. He's almost 60! Your sisters will have kids the same age as his." Yari says, refuting Blythe's question.
Juniper laughs and says, "He's 56, not quite 60 yet. And I cannot see Sienna having kids anytime soon. She's too focused on her career. But Avery-maybe-I think she really likes this Levi guy she's been seeing, but we have yet to meet him. I know my Dad does not want any more kids. I hear him tell his friends when he does not realize I am nearby that he cannot wait until he retires so he can travel more with Cassandra, and that he wants to show her other Districts and places in Panem. No way he can do that if he has another kid."
"So, what's the problem?" Blythe asks.
"The problem is that Cassandra is crazy in love with my Dad. We all see it, my siblings and me. And she's in her mid-30's, isn't that when they say the biological clock is ticking? I have this feeling….that as their relationship progresses, she is going to ask my Dad if they can have a kid. And my Dad cannot say no to the people he loves."
"You don't know that, and she might not be the mothering type" Yari says.
"I hope you are right. Not that I wouldn't love my half sibling, but if something happened to my Dad, me and my siblings would have to help raise him or her. My older siblings especially." Juniper does not voice her concern that she is not sure what the future would look like if Avery and Cassandra were stuck in each other's lives forever without her Father to keep the peace between the two of them.
Gale closes his bedroom door and goes over to his dresser and turns on the video message. He smiles as he sees Katniss's holographic image appear before him, her hair just past her shoulders, the same length it was at the time of her death.
Hello Gale. If you are watching this, I trust that this message was delivered to our home in Silver Lake. I know the biggest question you are asking is, why you and the kids are not getting these recorded messages until three years later. After I ended my medical treatment and began smoking and drinking herbal supplements, I thought perhaps I had given myself an extra six months to live. But I lived another three years, and that was three more precious years I had with you, Sienna, Avery, Jack, and Juniper. The time flew by and I cherished every moment of it. When I knew that my time with all of you was coming to an end, despite how hard I kept fighting, I knew I had to begin my plan to say goodbye. I wanted you and the kids, to have something that you could watch, something only for you. I worry-over time-that Juniper and even Jack, may forget certain-things about me. My video for them is longer, for I have so much more to say and want to say to the two of them.
After I lost Prim, I had repeated her voice in my head over and over, so I never forgot what her sweet voice sounded like. With my Father, I only have certain images of him in my head, and I can barely remember his voice now. I do not want that for our children. Sure, they can see go and see my hologram at the Hunger Games museum, but that is not how I want them to remember me. I want them to remember the person I became after the war, not before.
I am sure the last three years have not been easy. And if you are all still struggling, I hope my message helps you move forward. If you have moved forward, then I hope this message reaffirms the choices you have made. Since I had an extra three years with my family, I thought, why not try to find a way to reconnect three years later and say my final goodbye.
It is easy for me to envision Sienna and Avery's future. I see Sienna, working eventually in the Capitol, but somehow helping the other Districts. Whether it be with medical training or traveling to the other Districts to provide medical care. Avery, I see her doing something with fashion and styling, and I think her personality will suit her well to life in the Capitol should she end up there. My hope is that Sienna and Avery remain best friends, as crazy as people thought we were to have two babies under the age of two, seeing the bond they have, made it all worth it.
It is Jack and Juniper I worry more about. I know that you, Sienna, and Avery will be there for them. Please make sure Jack finds a stable path and a job once he graduates, I would hate for him to be in a job that he finds meaningless. Whether he ends up working in lumber in District 7, making medicine in 12, or becoming a lawyer and moving to the Capitol, I just want him to have a job that he enjoys. I said all of this to him in my message but, in case he needs that extra motivation from you and the girls, I would appreciate the help. As for Juniper, I so wish I could have had more time with her, but I am grateful for the time I did have with her. For the last three years I was able to spend more time with her, waiting for her once she returned home from school, the time I spent helping her with her homework, and the endless times she and I spent on the weekends and weekdays going to the lake. The traits of my family, the things that made my Father and Sister such wonderful people, live in her. She is so kindhearted, so gentle, she's an Everdeen to the core. I think it is why my bond with her was different than with Sienna, Avery, and Jack, though my love for all of them was the same. I do not know if she has any of our fire, and I know you will always look out for her, always protect her, all of you. I'm just sorry I cannot be there with you to see her grow up to be the wonderful person I know in my heart she will be. Please make sure she never forgets, how much I love her.
I know you will continue looking after my Mom. I doubt you can get her to leave District 4, but if you can, then you win the title of best son-in-law in Panem. I know District 4 gives her a sense of comfort and security and considering all that she has been through in her life, it is understandable. I try not to have many regrets in life, but I do have regrets with her. When I reached my forties, I realized, that everyone copes in their own way, especially when it comes to loss. While the way she dealt with loss was not the way I would have, considering she had two young children, I now realize she tried to do the best she could, tried to keep on living, for me and Prim. I was too hard on her, I see that now, but my stubbornness still got in the way of giving her a proper apology. I did give it in my video message to her though. I hope she is still around to see it, if not, then it is indeed another regret.
One regret I do not have, is leaving District 12 and going to the wild territory and meeting the tribe. It was the best forced decision I ever made. Being there changed my whole outlook on a lot of things. While Peeta helped me move forward in life, the tribe helped me live it. I figured out what I wanted to do with my life, I made the decision to become a teacher, and being a teacher taught me patience. You know that was never my strongest skill set. I learned to live outside of what I was familiar and comfortable with, which was District 12. I saw the beauty in the wild territory, a land I consider to be the most beautiful place, no place in Panem can match it the wonder of it.
But the greatest gift, was that being in the wild territory brought me back to you. I had no idea when I got there that would happen and our first encounter was not exactly friendly, but we slowly rekindled the bond we had developed in the woods. You started calling me Catnip again, we did the friends thing, until we couldn't. Then you saved me, and despite a bumpy start, we eventually got to the place I know we were always destined to be.
The tribe taught me that a person cannot change their fate. I volunteered for Prim because I did not want to lose her to the Capitol, but in the end, I did. I tried to change her fate, and while I will never regret what I did that day, her fate remained the same.
In the arena, one sometimes has time to think, and the first time I was in the arena, I thought of you a lot. There were so many times I wished you were with me, I needed you so I could confide in you what I was thinking, how I was feeling. But I knew having you in the arena was the worst thing because that meant, that you would have been killed. I know you would have died to save me, to keep me alive. I realized in the arena for the first time, we were more than just friends, what we had, was beyond friendship. Even now, all these years later, yes, we are married, we are lovers, we have four beautiful children, but what we have goes beyond even that. What we have, is so rare, our bond is so great, it is what is written in books. Maybe it is from all the years we have hunted together, but we can communicate on looks alone, no words are needed. Fate brought us together after the mining accident, when I tried to change Prim's fate, it started me down a new path. Perhaps a path I was meant to be on, I do not know. I never wanted to be the Mockingjay, you know that. But I had to be. I guess trying to change fate results in things one does not want to do but has to in order to bring down a regime such as Snow's. Being on my new path, brought me to people who became important to me, and I am thankful for that.
But unfortunately, that path became a roadblock for us. And after Prim died, I had to remove you from my life. It killed me to do it and it worsened my depression. One time, when I was in the woods, I was sitting on the rock, and I longed for you to be there beside me, it was too big of a space with you not there. Years later, I found our tree, the tree that we carved our initials on to celebrate surviving the reaping. I cried when I saw it. I never wanted to end what we had, as I told you in my letter, I held onto to anger and never accepted the truth. The truth about my feelings for Peeta, and the truth regarding my feelings for you.
And yet somehow, despite all that, we were able to overcome all of it and be together. We forgave each other and we grew stronger and stronger. The love that we have, I do not think anyone can ever truly understand it, for no one else had to endure what we did. No one else in District 12 was going into the woods to hunt for food, there were only so many of us that fought in the war, only you and me and Peeta remain from squad 451. While people may try to understand, they did not see what we saw, they did not risk their lives for the Panem we now live in.
I had something special with Peeta, no doubt. But what I had, have with you, is so much stronger. You are my best friend, my confidant, my husband, and the Father of my children. You were the one person I could always be myself around, I never had to explain how I was feeling or what I was thinking when we were together, especially in the woods. I guess that's why we are two peas in a pod.
Tell Hazelle, Rory, Vick, Posy, Layla, Taran, Sander, and Oren that I love them, and that I will miss them. I could not have married into a better family, and I cherished the time we all spent together as a family.
This is now the part I have been dreading, saying my final goodbye to you. Just as fate brought us together, fate has decided it is time for us to part. For now. I may have seen a vision of my own death, but I also, saw and felt, the spirits of the people I have lost. I know that our spirit goes to another place when we die. Maybe it is heaven, the tribe does not call it that. When I first began living with the tribe, I once had a dream, that I was lying in a meadow, you were on one side, Prim the other. I never felt more at peace. I think, reflecting on it, Prim might have been showing me that she was okay. I believe with all my heart, that one day, the three of us will be in that meadow someday, and that you will feel that sense of peace and happiness just as I did.
You may have someone new in your life now, and I want you to know, I want that for you. You have so much love to give, you deserve to be happy. I want you to be happy. When we were out of each other's lives, I harbored jealousy, wondering whose lips you were kissing in District 2. While I don't want to think of you being with someone else, you still have a lot of life yet to live. And our kids need you. I just ask, try to find someone kind, someone who-you think can build a strong relationship with the kids. Juniper may need a strong female figure in her life, I know she has her Sisters and Posy along with her Grandmother's, but it may be nice for her to feel she can turn to a non-family member from time to time. You might have already found this person, but if not, when you are ready, don't be afraid to go out there and begin finding love again. There is no greater feeling, being in love, and you are very good at loving someone and showing them how much you love them. Oh, and I wish you luck dealing with Sienna and Avery, I think it will take them the longest to accept the fact that someone new is in your life, but they will come around, I know they will. I want you and the kids to make new memories, and I know you won't let them forget old ones. I worry that you will not make new memories for yourself, we endured too much sadness when we were young, I do not want that for you now that we are older.
Gale watches as she pauses, he holds his breath, continuing to stare at her hologram as she closes her eyes and continues speaking, refusing to let her tears fall.
Whenever you are sad, or feel lonely, just know, that I am with you, that I'll always be with you. Go into the woods, close your eyes, and feel the wind around you. I will be there with you. People say the ones we love always hold a special place in our hearts, for me, there were many people in my heart and still are. But Prim, had my whole heart. After she died, no one could take her place. Until you, followed by Sienna, Avery, Jack, and Juniper.
She then opens her eyes and looks straight ahead as she speaks.
We will be together again, never forget that, so until then, take comfort in knowing, that I will always love you. And me, Prim, and your Father will be waiting for you.
Goodbye Gale.
She gives one last smile before her image disappears. Her goodbye was said with a sense of hope, not sadness.
The tears begin falling again, while overcome with emotion while watching the video in his lawyer's office, he did not cry. He did not allow himself to cry until he went to bed last night.
To say he would always love Katniss was an understatement, for no words could describe the amount of love he had for her. As she said in her letter, they had been best friends for 38 years, for he too still considered her his best friend during the 7 years they were apart.
While he had begun to finally find happiness again in the last year with Cassandra, there was one thing Cassandra would never be able to do. While she was a wonderful and loving girlfriend, she could never fill the role of his best friend, that was reserved for Katniss and Katniss only. Even when he first arrived in District 2, none of the new friendships he developed even came close to the type of friendship he experienced with Katniss, and he could not achieve it with Dez either.
He realizes Katniss was right when she said fate was the reason their paths came together that day in the woods, and that fate brought them back to each other after the war. That fate was responsible for the incredible bond they had.
As incredible as it was, it was also responsible for the immense amount of sadness he was feeling now.
A/N: I hope Everthorne/Galeniss fans liked this final "goodbye Gale" scene
