A/N: Happy update day! :) Thanks for reading and for all your support for this story.

"You ready?" Mick eyes me impatiently. Apparently waiting five minutes is too much to ask. I'm guessing he's so antsy because he'd planned to go out last night, but stayed in to celebrate with us after Bear's announcement about the hospital.

"Almost," I answer as I tie my shoes. I'm looking forward to hearing the musicians and dancing with Mick and his friends. I feel a touch of guilt, thinking that I'm usurping his scene. Earlier today Rose came to the store and I invited her to join us. Much to my surprise, Bear decided at the last minute to come along too. Only he'd already gotten home late from a long day and now we were a little behind schedule.

I don't know if Rose will actually come. Today was the first time I'd seen her since our dinner. She seemed to be doing pretty well at the store. She came around lunch time and stayed for most of the afternoon to help out, but she still seemed unusually quiet. She didn't seem very interested in anything. I think she's coping okay, but we still haven't talked about Spinner so I'm not sure. We barely talked at all in fact, beyond the basics for work. I thought dancing might give us a chance to connect. We definitely need some girl time.

Mick drops on to the couch with arms crossed as if to suggest Bear and I will never be ready.

"Bear!" I shout. "Come on, or Mick's gonna kill us both."

"I'm coming," he yells back, emerging from our room and giving me an aggrieved look. His well-worn brown canvas bag hangs from a shoulder. I look questioningly from it to him, wondering what he's bringing along, but he just smiles back without a word.

As we follow Mick out of the building, he asks Bear "you decided you like dancin' yet?"

A corner of Bear's mouth turns upward as he answers, "Nah, it's not really my thing. But I'll dance with Maddie if she wants." He makes it sounds like I'm dragging him along tonight, but that's not true.

I glance toward him, wondering what he means. I didn't even ask Bear to come tonight. I like when he comes, but I don't mind if he doesn't. Dancing exhilarates me. It's fun and freeing, and it's a great escape from our regular routine. For me. And for Mick, even more so. Every once in a while, I will ask Bear to come – to humor me and dance with me. He's not the best dancer in the room, but he's not bad. And there's something special about dancing with someone you love.

But tonight I didn't pressure or even ask him so I protest, "You chose to come!"

"I chose to come," he agreed "with my own free will, I have not been persuaded or coerced to come with you tonight." Like a pledge of loyalty. I give him a dirty look.

Mick looks at us both like we're nuts. "So you're coming to dance with Maddie even though she didn't ask you to?"

"Am I not welcome?" Bear jokes. "I'm coming. I didn't say I'm dancing."

Mick looks to me for help, but I just shrug. If Bear wants to be inscrutable tonight, I'm not going to try to puzzle him out.

Instead I ask no one in particular, "Do you think Rose will come? I hope she does – I think a night out would do her good."

"Don't get your hopes up," Bear suggests.

Mick hurries us on our way to the old school building where lively music is already emanating out onto the street. I hesitate at the door, taking a second look down the street for Rose before following them into the building.

Inside a good sized crowd has gathered around the musicians. Mick immediately gets pulled into the crowd of dancers while I stick with Bear and find a couple of empty chairs along a wall. He sits down and leans back as if to relax.

"Are you just going to sit here?" I ask him.

Smirking he answers, "why not?"

"Then why come? You know you don't have to."

"I wanted to."

"That doesn't make sense," I huff.

"If you want me to dance, let me know," he says calmly as he swings his bag off his shoulder.

I imagine that I'll ask him, if he's just sitting here all night. Sure it can be nice watching the dancing – for a little while. It must get old though. He must have brought something to entertain himself, otherwise it would be a colossal waste of time. Probably he brought work along. I know he has plenty to do, now that there's a hospital to be built. I figure I will wait a few songs and see if he seems bored, then ask him for a dance. "Then I guess I'll go join the dancers. If you see Rose send her my way!"

Before I can turn to leave, Bear lifts his eyebrows in expectation, making me pause. From the bag he pulls out a spiral notebook of clean, white pages. Grinning, he admits "I got a new sketchbook. Thought I'd find some inspiration here."

I shake my head at him but can't help but laugh at his silly charade, now that I know why he came. "And here I thought you brought work."

"Nah it was time for a break. Anyway they're sending some consultants from the Capitol next week. Guess we can't be trusted to build a hospital ourselves, but there's not too much to do. For now." Realizing he's now talking work on what is supposed to be a night off, he flips open his notebook and gestures for me to be on my way.

Trusting that Bear will be happily occupied, I join the dancers and let the music flow through me. The partner dances are my favorite. I think of them as a sort of conversation with my partner. Mick is especially fun to dance with. I'm convinced he's the best dancer in the district and he definitely knows more styles of dance than anyone else here. His enthusiasm seems to infect those around him. Several times I notice him teaching some basic pattern of dance steps to one or another of the newer visitors. With the others I dance to song after song from the musicians, taking a few water breaks which also give me the chance to peer over Bear's shoulder and see what his pencils are recreating on the page. Before I know it, my legs ache and I admit my exhaustion. After a quick search I spot Mick dancing across the room, looking as full of energy as when we arrived. Rose isn't around. With a sigh I rejoin Bear.

"Having fun?" he asks.

I grin. "I'm done. No sign of Rose?"

"No. Sorry."

"What are you working on?"

Bear shows me the open page of his sketchbook, on which he's sketched out a sea of lively dancers with musicians clustered in one corner. Looking across the room, I recognize that the crowd has thinned and the crowded dance floor from his sketch is growing sparse in reality.

"We've lost a few along the way I guess. How long have you been working on that?"

"A while. I started it earlier, and came back to work on some detail. Now that it's not quite so chaotic."

"What else have you drawn?"

I lean into him and he flips through the pages. There are several close-ups of dancers in addition to the scene I've just seen. A couple of them are of me. I think it's lucky that my face is already pink from the extended exertion of dancing, hiding my blush.

"They're really good," I tell him.

"They're not done yet." He closes the notebook and tucks everything back into his canvas bag. "Should we see if Mick is ready?"

We wind up waiting for another couple of songs until Mick is ready to go, and walk back together in the cold. I fall asleep so quickly I don't remember my head even touching the pillow.

I stare out at the low clouds hovering over the sleepy district streets. Now that the evening broadcast is over Mick has quietly left for a second night in a row of dancing and music, leaving me alone with Bear. Tonight the broadcast included footage of district 12 rebuilding. Even watching the broadcast I could feel Bear and Mick's eyes on me. It hurt, to see district 12 and to be reminded of my family and everyone who didn't make it. But it wasn't the overwhelming pain that hit me when I first saw district 12 bombed. Those bombs that once shattered my heart have lost their force, and now the hurt is just a dull ache that haunts me.

Nobody said anything but I could feel their question in the air. District 12 is being rebuilt.

"I'm not going back," I repeat quietly. I have no reason to go. My family is gone. Anybody from 12 would just see me as the Mayor's little girl. Everyone who survived had either been in the games, or been rescued by district 13. I am an outsider. At best I'd be seen as the Mayor's daughter – and by Seam standards that would probably be bad enough. At worst, would they think I was a traitor?

Bear wraps his arms around me and I lean back into him. Looking over my shoulder to the darkened street, he presses the issue. "Just because you're from district 12 doesn't mean you'd have to go back. But you could be you again." It's not what I expected. I know Bear won't let me alone to ponder again just how bad it would be to go back to district 12. But becoming Madge again here? Does he think that's possible?

"I am me. The name doesn't change that."

"But you wouldn't have to lie."

Bear knows that I have never been happy about lying to Rose and to Naiya. Still, it hardly seems like telling them the truth is going to help anyone.

It's not that I haven't thought about it. I have wondered how the women would react if I told them the truth. I've wondered what it would mean to the new government. I don't know what was supposed to happen at the end of the war. Any plan that had been in place when I left district 12 had been erased by Capitol bombs. My parents and my aunt, who could have maybe helped me know what to do, are gone too.

I have thought about whether it would matter to anyone, that I survived, or that I escaped. It's the escape that worries me. To survivors in district 12 it could be seen the wrong way, seem to implicate my father and make them think he knew what was coming. Knew and did nothing.

No, it was worse than that. He saved my life. If he had known about the bombing and saved his own daughter, that was worse than doing nothing. I knew my father would never have sacrificed the entire district. If he'd known about the bombing, or any imminent attack, he would have done whatever he could to protect the district, to save people. Not that I knew what he could have done. But I knew he'd have done something.

No, my father couldn't have known what was coming. Not fully. The best I can guess, he thought war was coming and thought I'd be safer as an unknown hideaway in 4 than a target in 12. But who from home would see it that way? All they would see was a Mayor who sent his daughter out of the district days before it was destroyed. And they would blame him. For everything.

The more I've thought about it, the more it seemed that everyone – even people here in district four – would think the worst. I couldn't do that to my father's memory. I would never go back to district 12. I would never let anyone know I'd survived.

I hadn't thought it would even come up. District 4 was big, far bigger than 12 had been, and the war had left far too many people alone in this world, with no family. I blended in just fine here. But now Bear has me worrying all over again. And I don't even understand why.

I ask him, "What brought this on? This isn't just from the broadcast."

Bear doesn't answer, just drops his head toward my shoulder.

"What is it Bear? Tell me."

Reluctantly he lets go of me, walking a few paces to pick up his tablet, and taps on the screen until he's found what he's looking for. Instead of handing it to me, he sits on the couch. "I have to tell you something first."

"What?"

Once I'm sitting next to him, he begins.

"The Capitol had the districts track everyone. They used it for the reapings and tesserae, and other things too. "

"So?"

Bear sighs. "So, there's no Maddie Amelin in the historic records. You're in the new system, but not the old one – and I doubt anyone will go digging, but – they might, I don't know. The thing is, I have access to the old files. If you wanted – we could put you in them."

"But … that sounds serious, Bear. What if you were caught? Wouldn't you get in trouble?"

"We both would. But, they're not using those files, not yet anyway. I could do it without anyone knowing. I'm positive. But … " Bear hesitates.

"But what?"

"You couldn't be both. Maddie and Madge. You couldn't ever be Madge again. It's one thing to use a new name after the war. You could come clean tomorrow, or sometime down the road. Go back, if you wanted. It probably wouldn't be too bad. But if we did this – well, my guess is it would be worse. Maybe a lot worse, I don't know."

"But if I stay here, and they ever use those files, they could figure out I'm not an Amelin."

Bear nods.

"Then we should do it."

"It's not that easy," he counters.

I purse my lips, confident that I'm not going to change my mind.

Wordlessly he hands me the tablet. It takes me a minute to read the screen. It's information about the people from the Capitol coming to help with the new medical facility. He mentioned a team was being sent to lead the effort. Along with some generic information is a list of names. The first two names mean nothing to me. The third name down is Carolyn Everdeen.

"Mrs. Everdeen? She's coming here?"

"She's coming. And from what you've told me –"

Bear has heard enough about my life in district 12 to know that I ate plenty of dinners at the Everdeen's table. It's hard to believe that was only a year ago. Surely she'd recognize me, even here in district 12.

I finish Bear's thought. "She'll know who I am. The minute she sees me." If she sees me. A million questions begin flooding my thoughts.

"That was my thought," he agreed.

I try to think it through. She'd recognize me, right? Of course she would. Do I want her to recognize me? How would she react? Would she be happy to see me? Or would I just remind her of district 12?

"You haven't been Maddie that long. The war just ended. It wouldn't be a huge deal. Maybe it means something," Bear prods gently.

"Maybe," I answer noncommittally.

I look back to the window, this time remembering my own faint reflection. Do I look any different now than when I first came? I doubt the green contacts would throw Mrs. Everdeen. I'm stronger. And uhh, slightly rounder. Curvier, Bear would say. But mostly I look the same to me.

I could change my appearance. Cut my hair short. Maybe even dye it. Shave it off entirely. Would that be too extreme?

I could just wait and see what happens. Or I could say who I really am.

What do I do?

A/N: What do you think will happen? Would Mrs E recognize Madge? Should Madge stay under cover or admit who she is?