A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and especially for the reviews! I have to apologize for all the typos in the last chapter - hopefully I've corrected most of them. This one-shot includes scenes and dialogue taken directly from Suzanne Collins' work - it's not mine, and this is just my interpretation of her work.

When I hug Ma goodbye, she hold me tightly before allowing me to pull away, and when she releases me there are tears in her eyes. "Ma, it'll be okay," I gripe, "I'm not even going into combat." She nods, pressing her lips together in a thin line, surely holding back the tears. "I'll be back in a few days. I love you," I continue, before swinging my pack up to my shoulder. She places her hands on either side of my face, kisses my forehead, and says, "Stay safe, Gale." I duck my head and step out the door of our unit.

I meet Beetee and the others at the hovercraft that will take us to district two. I'm excited about the trip, but also anxious, for both the war and for seeing Katniss.

When Katniss left two weeks ago, I tried to go with her but she wouldn't allow it. She claimed they needed me here in district 13, but I couldn't help but feel she was pushing me away again. Then I heard Beetee was assembling a group to go to district two and strategize about taking down "the nut," so of course I wanted to go. Beetee's been teaching me so much about strategic analysis and the rebel war. He thinks I have real potential, and I couldn't help but be proud when he picked me to come on this mission. It's a little funny to be lumped in with the "brains." If only my teachers could see this - I wasn't exactly a model student, back in district 12.

But district 13 has given me new purpose, and working with Beetee is entirely different than school or the mines. I'm really learning from the Victor, in our many hours spent in Special Defense. Beetee encourages me and shows me how to apply instinct and my knowledge about hunting and snares to new puzzles and problems. Like those hummingbirds. I'm actually working with these rebels to take down the Capitol - it's what I've dreamed of my whole life, but never thought possible.

Yesterday, after Beetee told me I was going, I immediately thought about Katniss. Before I knew it I was behind the one-way glass in Peeta's hospital room, watching him. He's so changed, it's hard even for me to see him. From what Haymitch has said, Peeta is still completely deranged. The Capitol really messed him up. It's selfish but I couldn't help thinking that I'll never have a chance with Katniss if he doesn't get better. But I know there's nothing I can do. I love her, and I just have to wait and see what she decides.

I'm glad I'll get to see Katniss, though I still don't know how she'll react to seeing me. There's a permanent knot in my stomach that reminds me of how I felt when she left for district two.

When the hovercraft lands in district two, Beetee tells us to take what's left of the afternoon to get settled in and we'll meet in the morning. We're in one of the villages surrounding district two, near an old mine. Immediately I ask around and find Katniss sitting on a log, plucking geese at the edge of the village.

I again remind myself I can't expect anything from her. While we pluck the geese, I admit to her what I thought when I saw Peeta. When she tells me she had felt wrong kissing him because of me, she seems to actually mean it. It's almost enough. But then she says I'm right about Peeta. I know she's been through more than she ever should have to face, and I've committed myself to being here for her, for doing absolutely anything I can for her, no matter what. That doesn't make it any less exasperating how ambivalent she is.

We offer to help collect kindling, and her words about feeling guilty kissing Peeta keep repeating in my head as we wander off together into the woods here in district 2. I think of all those kisses she and Peeta shared in the arena, and her lack of response the one time I tried to kiss her back in district twelve. I'd caught her off guard and unprepared, obviously, when I'd kissed her out of the blue like that. And no matter how natural it felt to me to tell her I love her, that had apparently come as a shock to her too. Now she's had time to think about the idea, and she essentially just admitting some kind of feeling for me, right? She wasn't all Peeta's – there was some part of her that was still mine.

Once we've mostly filled our arms with wood, I suggest a break before we head back to the village, and Katniss agrees readily. The temperature is already starting to drop up here in the mountains. We find a downed tree and I drop to the ground, leaning against it in the fading daylight. "It's getting cold," I say to her, and reach for her hand, pulling her down to sit with me. This time I know she knows how I feel, but I know I still can't expect anything from her.

She's so beautiful. I wrap my arms around her, keeping her warm. I let myself absorb the feel of her warm body so close and her familiar smell. Gently I lower my head and lightly kiss the bruises on her neck. The bruises are fading and wouldn't hurt physically anymore, but I wish I could heal the anguish they've caused her. When we went to rescue Peeta, we had no idea that the Peeta we'd be bringing back was designed to torture Katniss.

When she starts to shift in my arms, I think she's going to pull away again and immediately regret being so selfish, thinking about my needs right now and not hers. But she doesn't pull away. She turns toward me, her gray seam eyes meeting mine, looking lost.

This time I'm the one caught off guard. She leans into me and closes her eyes, and there is nothing that could stop me from kissing her in this moment. This time, she kisses back. I'm lost in the feeling, savoring the kiss, the press of her lips on mine. I keep her wrapped in my arms and pull her into me. My heart races as she responds to my touch and my lips, the woman I love in my arms like I've imagined for so long.

As my shock at her reaction wears off, her earlier ambivalence nags my thoughts. My body says to ignore it. Part of me wants to forget it, to keep reveling in this moment with her, but I can't. This isn't the slag heap, and this isn't just any girl. I realize that somehow, even this close, Katniss still feels distant. It doesn't make any sense to me. Is she still thinking about Peeta? I pull back, looking at her face, which seems devoid of any feeling. She tries to continue the kiss, and I have to force myself to stop her. "Katniss," I say, and she blinks up at me, seeming confused. I shift so she's sitting in front of me. I watch her for a minute, as she seems to remember where we are. She touches her hand to her scar, something she usually does when she's confused by something. I don't want her confused by this.

"Now kiss me" I say. I press my lips to hers again, briefly, forcing myself to keep control. I pull back and examine her face again. I need her to understand her own feelings, whatever they are. I can't accuse her though, or she'll just get defensive. Gently, I ask her, "What's going on in your head?"

"I don't know," she says. She's perfectly willing to kiss me, but it doesn't mean to her what it means to me. If even she doesn't know what she's thinking, I can't take advantage of her confusion.

I sigh sadly. "Then it's like kissing someone who's drunk. It doesn't count." I try to laugh it off, to make a joke of it to hide my hurt, but it's forced. Instead I stand up and start picking up the collected wood. I drop a pile of kindling into her arms, accepting that she's not ready for me yet, mentally returning us both to district two. Me, from my runaway imagination. Katniss, from who knows where.