Epilouge
(Madge POV)
My fingers graze over the delicate, lace fabric and I know this is exactly what I want. This is the fabric that my wedding dress will be made from. Gale proposed last year on my 18th birthday and we've spent the past several months planning out our perfect wedding. Weddings are an extra special event here in 13 and I want our day to be perfect in every way. We'll have a simple ceremony, held in the park area under all the trees there and then there will be a party afterwards with cake, music and dancing. The chef in the dining hall gave me a sample taste of the most delectable wedding cake with almond flavored buttercream frosting. My mouth waters just thinking about how good it was! The flowers will be purple wildflowers, like the ones Gale used to give me back in 12. Thankfully, there won't be a single rose anywhere in sight. There's a beautiful sounding string quartet that plays at all the big events here and I don't think I could've found more talented musicians anywhere in Panem. Gale's even been taking dancing lessons so that he can have a formal first dance with me. He won't tell me who is teaching him to dance but I have a feeling it's actually Haymitch.
Of course Haymitch is going to walk me down the aisle and give me away and I love that he finally is getting to be part of a milestone life moment for me. I'll always hate that he missed out on getting to be an active part of my life as I grew up so it's a little extra special having him give me away. Haymitch and I have become very close and I love that he's my real father. He's forever pointing out ways that I remind him of my mother and that makes me feel closer to her. When Gale decided to propose, he went and asked Haymitch for my hand in marriage beforehand and Haymitch not only gave his approval but he also gave us his ring so we will be using my parent's handmade wedding rings. I felt incredibly guilty about this, about taking his ring, because I know how much it still means to him but he swears my mother would insist upon this. And truthfully, I do love the rings and the sentiment they hold. I legally changed my last name to Abernathy a few weeks after I found out Haymitch was my father. He told me it wasn't necessary but I felt like he deserved to have someone carry his name and I certainly wasn't attached to the Undersee name. The Abernathy name gives me more pride than Undersee ever did. Haymitch has adjusted to life in 13 and evolved into a completely different person than he was in 12. He doesn't drink in excess, fight or make a scene when out in public. I think much of the way he was in 12 was greatly due in part to having to hold such large secrets. Here in 13, he simply gets to live the life he wants and I think he's really glad to finally get to be a father to me, even if I'm already grown up. He hasn't dated anyone but I have a feeling he will eventually and I hope whoever she is, that she loves him as much as my mother did. He deserves it.
Posey is our flower girl for the ceremony. She's talked practically non stop about it ever since we asked her months ago. So much so that Gale wishes we would've waited until the day of the wedding to ask her. I just laugh and listen as she talks. I find it endearing. There's something about her enthusiasm for practically everything that warms my heart. She's so young that she'll likely have very few memories of ever being in District 12 and I hope that helps her maintain her zest for life as she grows up. We decided to forgo having any groomsmen or bridesmaids though if we'd had them, I would've asked both Prim and Pemberly. Prim is doing wonderful and really thriving here in 13 and with the Hawthornes. She's really smart and excelling in school and Katniss would be so proud of her.
Pemberly and I have become very close friends. We grew up in such similar ways that it only makes sense we'd get along so well. I'm so glad she ended up here in 13 with me. She's gotten over the loss of August and for the past 4 months she's been dating Martin. While I'd love to take all the credit for fixing them up, I really can't. That was actually all thanks to plain old natural attraction. Martin saw me with her several times and thought she was beautiful but because of being a former Avox, he was hesitant to approach her. Then finally one day she happened to look up at just the right time when he was staring at her from across the dining hall and their eyes met. He braved giving her a little wave and a smile. She immediately blushed and got all giggly. She pointed him out to me and asked if I knew him and I explained who he was and that he'd been an avox. Turns out Pemberly had a secret skill I never even knew existed. She knew how to speak sign language with her hands and had used it for years to communicate with the avox in her household. Apparently it's a secret language of sorts amongst the avox and when Martin found out she was fluent in the language, all his hesitance faded away and they've become practically inseparable. They make the most adorable couple and it feels really good to see them both so happy and in love.
Drew is still around of course, though I rarely see him much these days. When I do run into him we are cordial with one another but I wouldn't really consider us friends. We'll always have a complicated and twisted history with one another and even though I've forgiven him, and even though he's moved on from pursing me, I'll never be able to be close friends with him. Gale still despises him, as does Martin though they both leave him alone and he leaves them alone. I've heard through Pemberly that he's been dating a girl who is originally from 13 and that they seem to really like each other. Pemberly has been told about all the messy details of what happened with Drew and I and she's taken it upon herself to keep an eye on him when he dates anyone, making sure he doesn't get carried away trying to win the girl's affections. I like that she's keeping an eye on him, he needs that. I feel like if he'd ever had anyone looking out for him before, giving him proper guidance in life, that perhaps none of what happened would've ever happened. And while he and I aren't friends, I do want him to find love and happiness, though in an un-manipulated, organic way of course.
Gale and I will get our own apartment unit assigned once I'm married and I am very much looking forward to that. He has still been basically living in my tiny little room with me, sleeping there every night, but honestly, what I'm looking forward to most is getting a private bathroom. I have never gotten used to using the communal showers on my current floor. And after sharing my little twin sized bed for over a year, a larger bed will be a nice improvement as well. Mostly though, we're both really looking forward to starting a family. We both want a big family and I can't wait to start having children. I want a house full of little ones, boys and girls. They'll have a wonderful life here in 13, free from all the things that were wrong in Panem and I can't wait to watch them experience that life. Gale feels the same way. And though he hasn't said it, I think Haymitch is really looking forward to being a grandpa. And he'll make such a good one!
Escaping here to 13 was exactly what all of us needed in order to live the lives we wanted, the lives we deserved to have. None of us would've found true happiness if we'd continued living the life that the Capitol dictated for us. None of us would know what true freedom and safety felt like. I wish everyone in Panem was free to live the way we all get to. Perhaps one day, they will be.
A/N: Well there you have it, the end of this story! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing it along the way! I am toying with the idea of doing a little companion story to this one that would be written from Drew's perspective. I became a lot more attached to his character than I ever meant to be and I feel like there's a lot of his story that I'd like to write. It wouldn't be as long as this story was, more of a short really. Anyway, not sure if I'll do it but that's where my thoughts are at for the moment.