*Gale's P.O.V*
My heart was racing as I leaned down to kiss her. But something stopped me. I think I wanted to get to know her first before I did anything too stupid, and I was afraid that I might scare her off. But still; it took all my strength and self control to pull away from her, forcing myself to smile playfully. Mercy seemed completely unfazed by my approach-and-retreat actions and smiled right back at me enthusiastically, her whole face lighting up when she did. I turned to pack up my things and when Mercy had collected her doll and knife, hugging the latter tightly against her chest, we headed off.
I was surprised with how well Mercy navigated the forest floors, making less noise even than me; more than once I turned around to make sure that she was still following me. Everytime I did, she would be right behind me, a smile already touching her lips.
Finally we reached the outskirts of the forest, the slums, if you can call any one part of District 12 the slum, visible through the thinning layer of trees. I could almost imagine Mercy stiffening and stopping in her tracks, but it wasn't until I had turned around again that I could confirm it. Mercy stood still as a statue, her jaw set and her eyes wide, almost squeezing the stuffing out of her doll. Feeling confident as usual, I put my arm around her waist and waited for her to look up at me. When she did, I smiled gently and tilted my head towards the fence. She understood very clearly what I was implying, I could see it in her eyes, but she seemed determined to not take another step. I could understand how she felt, so I let her take as long as she needed. She took just long enough to allow me to get worried that someone will see us, then as if she sensed my discomfort she took a steady step forward, her jaw still set, but in a more solid kind of way, and the look in her eyes making her look like she was ready to take on the world at that moment. I shook my head discretely, amazed at how quickly one person could change their state of mind. Not wanting her to have to walk to the fence alone, despite her expression, I walked after her, crawling through the hole after her; a little surprised that she knew where to find it. Of course, everything she did surprised me, and I had only known her for half an hour. Crawling through the hole reminded me of Katniss though, and how she would use that same hole every time she went with me into the forest to hunt. Then the thought struck me that I may very well never see her again, I may never look Katniss in the eyes the way we used to when our conversations got especially intense, may never hear her laugh or see her smile again. And if I did, it could be only through a crappy old T.V, surrounded by walls, not trees.
Mercy must of had a sixth sense or something, because she took my hand gently in her own and looked at me with so much pity and sadness in her eyes that I had to look away before I started crying. So instead I just gripped her hand harder, liking the feel of her marble cold calloused skin in mine, and pulled her down the street towards my house.
I had no idea how my mother would react when she saw Mercy, but I wasn't thinking of that as I dragged her down the street as subtly as possible; I was thinking of Katniss, and what she was doing with that Peeta Mellark boy at that moment...
*Normal POV*