Sorry! The title of this chapter is supposed to be A Promise is More Powerful Than Any Physical Strength, but I ran out of room!
"Because. She came here with me". I think it took us all a few seconds to figure out who he was talking about, but once I did… well I was on my knees. I had never hated a person so much in my entire life. I was still trying to catch my breath and get my feet back underneath me. There were some gasps, cries, and I think one person actually fainted, but that was nothing compare to the Capitol. Oh gosh, the Capitol audience was unleashed. People were screaming, crying, gasping gasps so loud it sounded like wind. Peeta. In love with Katniss. No, no, no! I knew I should have told Katniss! Crap! Everything was ruined.
Just then, they showed a close up of Katniss. Her head was buried in her magnificent dress. Geez, he didn't even give her a warning. Certainly she didn't feel the same way. I mean, he is a merchant, a baker. A bloody baker! I-I don't even know how to explain what I felt. I remember gaining my feet and walking over to my mother. She was one of the few people who weren't in complete, unspeakable shock. "Darling, I'm sure it's just for the Games. It'll mean absolutely nothing to both of them when they-", she didn't know how to finish her sentence. What was she going to say to me? 'When they die'. No. She would never tell me directly that Katniss wasn't coming home. So what if I was blinding myself from the truth? It was a personal choice I had made. To believe that Katniss would be coming home. "How do you know? Peeta is a freaking baker not an actor and if you ask me, that's pretty good acting", I replied to her. "Well, it's the Games Gale. Who knows what it can make you do? Look at Haymitch Abernathy. He's a drunken, miserable person who has been scarred by the Games. That is what the Games can do to people. It doesn't mean that that is what will happen to…", Once again she doesn't know what to say.
I just left the square. I ran deep into the woods. I didn't know where I was headed, just hoped I would be able to find my way back home. After miles of running I came across a little cement shack and a lake. I had no idea where it had come from, but it didn't look like anyone had lived in it. I walked closer and stepped over the threshold. It had a pile of wood neatly stacked near the little fireplace it had. Next to the wood was a small handmade broom. I was a little spooked at first, but then it felt comfortable. I sat down and placed some woof in the pit. I was able to make a decent little fire. I felt the heat warm my body. Suddenly I longed to have Katniss by my side. I wanted human warmth, not wooden warmth. I wondered if she missed me as much as I missed her. Had she ever found this little place? The lake wasn't one we had ever gone to before.
Because she came here with me. Those words will forever haunt me. Peeta was one damn good actor. I, for some reason, felt like Katniss was always going to be mine. She was like my younger sister, but it was slightly different.
"Hazelle is worried about you". I must have jumped ten feet high when I heard that little voice. It wasn't in my head; it was right in front of me. Prim was standing in the doorway of my new little hiding spot. Prim. At first I thought I was hallucinating. I mean, Prim in the woods. She had never gone a yard in, never mind this deep. I had never even been here. She must have followed the smoke.
She came over and sat next to me. "Katniss'll be fine", I said but my voice cracked on the last syllable, ruining it. "You don't have to pretend to be brave in front of me, Gale. I'm just as worried as you. Maybe you're just a little more worried than I am". Prim of all people was actually comforting me. "Don't worries Prim. Katniss is brave. And strong". "Not as strong as the Careers", this little girl was just as stubborn as her big sister. "Maybe not, but she promised you and a promise to you is more powerful than any physical strength". Prim's eyes swelled up with tears. I gave her a big hug and we stayed in an embrace for a while. Eventually she fell asleep, so I put out the fire and carried her home. I would have to face District 12 sooner or later. I chose sooner.