A/N: THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH for all your support for this story! I still can't believe we've passed a hundred reviews! I'm so happy right now :)

I got a LOT of suggestions about bringing Peeta back to life or taking his soul into Gale's body. You guys really do love Peeta that much do you? Not that I don't love him though…

But I'm really sorry to disappoint you… He's gone and he will never come back as a human, and he will not take over Gale's body because Gale's not completely disappeared into the thin air. I'm really sorry, but thanks for all the ideas though! I appreciate it very much.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, and all the lyrics I've put in the chapters. I only own my old, rusty laptop—oh wait, the laptop belongs to my dad, not me. So, yeah. I really own nothing.

If I'm a bad person, you don't like me

Well I guess I'll make my own way

It's a circle, a mean cycle

I can't excite you anymore

Where's your gavel? Your jury?

What's my offense this time?

You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me

Well sentence me to another life

"Ignorance" - Paramore

I woke up early Sunday morning. I slipped into my father's old jacket and left the house before Prim and mom woke up, and I walked straight to the fence for the first time after all these weeks hiding in my bedroom.

Once I got there, I gathered my weapons that were still kept in its hiding place, just the way I left them. I doubt Gale had ever touched them when I was in the Capitol.

Half an hour later, I already shot a few squirrels and a rabbit. After skinning and gutting the animals, I stuff them into my game bag. And that's when I hear the silent footsteps that I know better than anyone else.

The footsteps are light, most people won't even notice that the person is there. But my ears are hunter's ears, even after the Capitol had fixed one of my ears, I still can hear very clearly, if not better. Besides, the footsteps sound familiar to me. It's not hard to tell whose feet are carefully making their way toward me.

"Catnip?"

I stand up from where I was kneeling and turn around to see him. Right after my eyes find his, I look down at my feet. "Good to finally see you," I mutter. And then I turn back to my stuffs, to clean my bloody knife and arrows.

Gale sighs, clearly noticing that I am indeed upset. I feel him taking a few steps closer to me, and then he kneels beside me. "I'm sorry, Katniss."

I don't even look up. I just jerk my head into a slight nod without even pausing what I was doing.

"You just don't understand," he says. "It's hard for me to look at you, and—"

"What? And finally realizing how much of a monster I am?" I snap at him, loosening my grip on the knife before I hurt someone with it. "I get it, Gale. I really do."

He frowns, his eyebrows knitted together. "No. You don't get it."

I'm never good with words, so I just stay quiet. Done with my bag and everything in it, I stand up to make my way back to the fence. I hear him following me behind, but I don't look back when I stumble with my words, "It's good that you finally… see that…," I sigh, stopping in my track, "I'm not… I'm not who I was before the reaping day, Gale. You know that. And maybe… maybe we can't…"

"Stop it, Katniss."

"No, I'm serious," I grunt. "You hate the Capitol. And now I'm one of them."

He lets out a dry laugh. "You're not one of them."

"But I am," I tell him quietly. "You saw what I did. I pleased them, did what they wanted me to. I killed my…" I trail off. My… my what? What was Peeta to me?

He pauses before speaking, his voice barely above a whisper. "Did you love him?"

I don't answer, and it just makes his words sound so desperate.

"Did you, Katniss? Or was it all really just an act?"

Instead of answering his question, I say, "I understand if you don't… If we can't be friends again."

"You can't do that to me," he whispers angrily. "I… Katniss, I'm still your friend. Your best friend. I don't care who you really think you are now, I don't care what they say about you, I don't care about all that. Damn it, you're my friend, Katniss. And it's not gonna change."

"Really, Gale? Tell me you don't mind about all those money that I have now. That I will never have to hunt to feed my family again, not like you. That I can just point my finger on every food I want to eat now. Tell me you don't care about that. And tell me, Gale, that you don't mind seeing me in those silly dresses the Capitol picked for me to wear in front of the whole nation. That I'm just as shallow as them," I hiss angrily. But he just needs to know that it won't be the same. I want him to be sure that he can accept the fact that I'm just a piece of the Capitol's games, and that he, and even I, can't do anything about that.

He stomps over, standing in front of me, and looks dead into my eyes. "Get over yourself."

And then he walks away, but I'm sure he still hears when I whisper, "I have."

After Gale left, I went back into the woods, with rage boiling inside me. I just shot my arrows randomly; some of them lodged themselves into some trees, some of them actually hit a few animals right in their eyes, some of them just flew up into the sky and crashed into the ground.

But I refuse to shed any tears.

I end up sitting in front of the lake where my father used to bring me. He taught me how to swim here. Sometimes he sang as we sat on these large rocks, and I was mesmerized to see the birds actually fell quiet as he opened his mouth to let the tunes fill the silence. I miss him. He would know what to do and say to me. He would understand, but he's not here anymore.

But I have Peeta. Or do I really?

"Where are you, Peeta?" I say quietly into the air.

A voice from my left lets me know that I'm not alone. "Right here."

"He doesn't understand," I say after a few moments of silence.

He doesn't say anything, but from the corner of my eyes, I see him nodding to let me know that he's listening. Of course he's listening. It's the reason why he's here, to listen to whatever crap that's bugging me. He's the only one I'm willing to show my vulnerability to, because he doesn't judge. He understands.

"I'm glad you're here," I say, admitting out loud. "At least I still have someone to talk to. Someone who, I'm sure, won't spill out my secrets to everyone else."

He chuckles. "Yeah. I won't ever tell anyone about whatever you're telling me now."

I put on a small smile on my face, and then I turn to him. "How can you be here but not my father? I miss him. I want to see him, Peeta."

"I don't know," he says softly, his lips turning into a slight frown. "And I'm sorry, Katniss. I can't make him here."

"It's okay. Not your fault," I lift a shoulder into a small shrug. And then, out of curiosity, I ask, "Have you met him up there? You know, in heaven… or wherever you're supposed to be now. I don't understand how afterlife works, sorry."

"No, I haven't," he says, laughing lightly. "I don't understand how that works either, you know. After I died, I found myself standing inside the hospital room where they kept you, and I freaked out. I mean, how could I be dead and still can stand there next to your bed?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Really? You never told me that."

"Well, you never asked," he shrugs. "I didn't want to scare you off at first, so I kept hiding from you. Besides, I didn't think you could see me, because nobody else did. "

"But you did scare me off at last," I roll my eyes and he laughs again.

"Yeah. I just didn't think you'd see me, but then your eyes were fixed on me and your body froze, your face went pale, and I knew you could. I didn't know if I should feel relieved that you could see me or freak out again because, well, you could see me, and you weren't supposed to."

I don't say anything for a while, just scrunching my eyebrows together. "This is all weird."

"I know, right," he says with a grin, and I let myself smile too. At first, I didn't like talking about this, about his death and how he'd taken it so easily. But, well, I eventually got used to it. I mean, I can't mourn forever, right? I should be grateful that I'm still given the chance to see him.

"And," he continues, "I'm glad I'm here, too."

Days come and pass, and suddenly it's only two weeks before the Victory Tour. I feel so old. So much has happened in these past months, a lot has changed since Prim's name was pulled out of the reaping ball. One year ago I was just Katniss Everdeen, sister of Primrose Everdeen, a hunter, a poor kid from the Seam, never been kissed. And then the games happened, and I wasn't a hunter anymore but a tribute. I shared my first kiss with my late fellow tribute in the cave, when he was slowly dying of blood poisoning and I was desperately trying to keep us both alive. And then I came out as a victor, which left me no more worry of having no food to serve on the table.

Everything has changed, and I don't know if it was for the better or worse. Probably the latter.

But at least my family is not starving anymore.

Since that day in the woods, Gale never came to see me, and neither did I to him. He works everyday in the mines, leaves his house at the crack of dawn and comes back when the sun sets. Sunday is his only day off, meaning the only day of the week when he can hunt in the woods, meaning no hunting for me. And so far, never have we walked into each other at all.

Which is good because I have nothing to say to him.

I come to see his family almost everyday, though. When his brothers are off to school, I visit Hazelle and little Posy. Sometimes I bring the games I hunt earlier in the morning. Sometimes I bring some coins for Hazelle to keep—at first she refused, but I insisted she took it, so she did. Sometimes I just come empty-handed, and end up helping her do some chores. We never bring up anything that involves Gale or the games. All we talk about is the weather, Prim and mom, and the younger Hawthornes. Fine by me.

Madge and I grow closer by day. She would come to my house to chat with Prim and mom, and sometimes I would come to hers to learn how to play piano. I found out that every victors have to have a specific talent, and I tried for music, which I completely failed. Singing is a big no—it's something personal to me, something that I wouldn't share to anybody else but my close ones. So, Madge tried to teach me to play piano. At first, I managed to play some simple tunes but eventually I ended up just listening to the old songs that Madge played. We decided that we should scratch music from the list.

But even after she stopped teaching me, we still come to each other's houses a lot. And of course, we don't talk about anything around the games. And apparently, Madge knows me better, and she never mentions Gale at all either. That is why I like her.

A few days ago, when I was still trying to learn piano in her house, she told me that she had never been to the Seam before. I asked her if she wanted to go there, and her face lit up with excitement. So now, here we are, on our way back from the Seam to the town.

We visited my old house and stayed for a few minutes, and then we stopped by at the Hawthornes. As usual, Hazelle and Posy were home, as were Rory and Vick, and Gale was nowhere in sight. Posy instantly liked Madge and said, "I want her to be my sister!" and then Vick quipped, "Well, she has to marry one of your brothers first, Pose," and I swear I saw Madge blush deep red. I felt a little bit uncomfortable at the implication that there was something going on between Madge and Gale during the time I was in the games. But neither Madge nor I brought it up after we said our goodbyes to the family.

Our footsteps soon lead us to the fence, and we stop just a few steps away. Not because we're afraid to get caught being oustide the district—turns out Madge herself has a "rebellious mind" and won't mind going outside, she even said that she wanted me to teach her how to hunt—but because I hear something buzzing. It's the fence. It's turned on, elecrified. And Madge and I don't wanna risk getting barbecued alive, so we take a few steps backwards.

"So, I guess we'll just go back to town now," she sighs.

I shrug, "Why don't we just stay out here for a while?"

She smiles in agreement, and then she finds the perfect spot to sit on. We both sit on the grass and look up at the darkening sky above us. I didn't even realize that sun is already going down.

We both fall into our usual comfortable silence. She closes her eyes and so do I, and a few minutes pass until she speaks up.

"It looks so clear out here. The moon. The stars. Everything."

I peel my eyelids open and nod, "Yes. There are too many lights in town."

She agrees, "Yeah. That totally sucks."

For a moment I feel like the old Katniss. The one who just sat quietly at the lunch table with the Mayor's daughter. The one who sold fresh berries to her along with Gale. The one who didn't have ghosts from the arena, free from the nightmares of mutts and Rue's last wish and Cato's eyes. The one who "only" had to worry about feeding Prim. I can't decide which kind of life I prefer to live, though.

"Hey, Katniss?"

"Hm?"

"Watch out what you guys are saying in your house. I forgot to tell you, but before you came home, I saw people from the Capitol 'fixing' your house. They said they were only re-painting the walls, but I think they were putting surveillance cameras and voice recorders in your house," she says quietly.

I frown, though I can't say I'm completely surprised. Of course they would do that, but, "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know," she shrugs, "to control us?"

Well, if the Victors' houses are bugged, that explains why Haymitch never has his house cleaned. I bet he purposely throws his clothes and his bottles and all his uneaten meals all over his house to cover up the hidden cameras and voice recordes, so that they get nothing from him. Not bad.

I can't help but ask, "Is your house bugged, too?"

"I don't know. Maybe yes. I mean, my dad is…" she trails off and gives me a half-shrug. "But we've always been careful. Especially with the phones—you'll never know who might be listening to your conversations."

"I guess you're right," I say. I'm thankful that I rarely talk about anything negative about the Capitol, nor do ever Prim or mom. But… what if they see me talking to myself in my room?

I decide not to care. They can call me crazy and insane or whatever they have in mind. Maybe I am crazy—after all, I'm seeing a ghost.

I look down at my lap, but my eyes catch the sight of the mockingjay pin that's fastened on my shirt. I always wear it around Madge, to let her know that I'm grateful for her gift. But we've never talked about it. I take the pin off my shirt and lightly brush my thumb on it. "Tell me about this pin," I ask quietly, not really expecting her to say anything.

She falls silent for a moment before gently takes the pin from my hand and smiles. "Well, as you know, this is a mockingjay pin. My mother told me that it's made of pure gold, but that wasn't what makes this pin precious. This pin has been passed through generations of my mother's family, ever since the Dark Days."

"If it belonged to your family… then why did you give it to me?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. I guess it's because you needed something that reminds you of me, of home, of your family. So I gave it to you."

"I've never thanked you before… so, thank you," I say, giving her a small smile. She nods as if saying you're welcome.

"Anyway," she continues and then takes a deep breath. "The last person who wore it before me was my aunt."

Madge has an aunt? I never knew it before.

"Her name was Maysilee. Maysilee Donner," she says softly, her eyes glued to the pin in her hand, her fingers stroking the golden ring.

Maysilee Donner. Mrs. Undersee's sister, as her maiden name was Donner. Her name rings a bell, but I'm not sure where I've heard that name before. And Madge said "was", meaning…"

Upon seeing the confusion on my face, she explains. "She was reaped during the second Quarter Quell."

She got reaped. She was a tribute. The second Quarter Quell. Haymitch's games, and he's the winner. "She didn't make it," I conclude in a small voice.

"Yes," Madge whispers back. "Your mom knew her. I think."

That makes sense since my mom came from town, just like Madge's family. But Maysilee… Madge… a part of her family had been reaped, too, though it was long before we were both born. "I'm sorry."

She gives me a sad smile. "Yeah. Me too." And then she chuckles. "I've always lived in her shadows. You know… Everybody that knew her keeps saying that I look so much like her. Even my mother sometimes forgets that I'm her daughter, not her sister."

I remember how Haymitch accidentally called her "May" a few days ago when she visited the Victor's Village. Now I understand why.

"I just…" she starts, "I just want to be seen as Madge Undersee. I'm not Maysilee, I'm never gonna be her. I'm not strong like her—even though she died at last, she made it to the last five. If I were in the games, I'd probably be dead on the first day."

"Don't say that, Madge," I whisper softly.

"But it's true," she says, looking down at the pin and wipes her eyes. She's been crying. "I'm tired of being compared to someone who I didn't even know."

I've never been good at comforting people, seriously, so it feels kind of awkward for me to sit beside the crying girl. Hesitantly, I lift my hand up and place it on her shoulder, patting it reassuringly. Thankfully, she looks up and smile at me.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I shouldn't be talking about this to you. Let's just… go back to town."

I nod and we both stand up. As we began to walk to town, I'm starting to feel like I can trust Madge with my… issues—not the one that involves Peeta, of course, I don't wanna scare her off. But I think I can talk to her somehow, about the games. She trusts me, so why can't I trust her too?

"They killed his family," Madge whispers carefully, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I look at her, confused, "Hm?"

"Haymitch. They killed his whole family. Have you seen his games?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "No… I haven't."

She takes my hand and leads me to her house. "Watch it with me. My father won't come back until midnight, and he has the recordings of all the games in his study."

I bite my lower lip and ask, "Your mother?"

She smiles. "Don't worry about her."

A/N: Because I love Madge so freaking much, and I want her to be an important part of the story. You will be seeing her a lot ;)

I think our "lovely" President Snow will make an appearance in the next chapter. Or probably the next one after that. You know it won't be a good news, don'tcha? So brace yourselves!

Sorry if I made some mistakes in this chapter. But, leave me some reviews and tell me what you think! :)