A/N: Aaaand I'm back :P Yet again, I meant to update like, two or three days ago, but again, I'm lazy *shrugs*

But anyway, it's here now. Better late than never, right? Am I right? :D

Thought so... T_T

lol here's your chapter :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

Chapter 22: Duck, Duck, Goose~

"Alright, everyone get in a circle!"

Gale sat awkwardly cross-legged next to Johanna, trying his best not to crush the little kid sitting on his other side. He didn't know what they were playing, but he had a pretty good guess.

It was something stupid.

"Okay, everybody, be quiet for a second, okay?" Enobaria's voice rang out through the open field, and of course, all the children listened to the scary sharp-toothed woman.

"Great. Now, we're going to be playing duck, duck, goose."

Gale inwardly cringed. Duck, duck, goose? How much more juvenile could you get? What was next? Freeze tag?

"This is lame..." he muttered.

Enobaria hit his head. "You're lame. Now, here are the rules: You can't choose your own partner to be the Goose, and older kids have to go around the circle twice. If you get tagged by the person that called you Goose, you're out. Last team standing wins. Ready?"

The children all let out a howl of enthusiasm. She may have been standing behind him, but Gale could swear he could hear her smile.

"Great. Peeta, you can go first."

Gale snapped his gaze onto the unfortunate 'duck', already knowing full-well who the puppy-blond was going to choose. As Peeta got up from his spot, Gale looked directly across from him to settle his eyes on his best friend. Katniss sat, cross-legged, next to Cato. She wasn't looking at him, rather at Peeta, which made Gale all the more annoyed at the fact they were playing such a silly children's game.

"Okay, let's see...duck...duck...duck..."

As Peeta called off ducks, Gale looked at Johanna. She was smirking at him, as usual, but the glint in her eyes told him she knew exactly what he was thinking; Katniss shouldn't be sitting that close to Cato, and Peeta was an idiot. One or the other. Or both. He couldn't tell.

Gale looked away, and he had to control himself from wrenching Peeta's hand off his arm and disconnecting it from his body when he tapped his head and said, "Duck,"

After another twenty seconds (it was a pretty big circle) Gale's prediction came true, and Peeta called Katniss to be the Goose. Springing up from her spot with much more fervor than Gale had anticipated, the brunette shot forward after Peeta, a huge smile playing at her lips. Peeta was strong, but he was also slow (and not just mentally), and Katniss was little and fast. She tagged him after getting little more than half way around the circle, not even granting room for a second lap.

Peeta skidded to a halt and went to sit under a tree not far from the circle, and Gale smiled proudly as Katniss took his place – away from Cato.

It went this way for another ten minutes, and Gale still hadn't been picked to be a duck or a goose. Not only was this game long, but it was boring if you never got picked. Gale was ready to fall asleep when Enobaria called out his name.

"Gale, you're the duck!"

Finally!

Gale shot up, all too happy that after nearly thirty minutes, he was finally able to do something. Stopping to briefly stretch his legs, he moved around the circle, lazily tapping everyone's head while calling out, 'Duck...duck...duck..."

He paused briefly when he came to Katniss, inwardly laughing as he saw her stiffen with anticipation. But, at the last second, he laid a gentle hand on her head and said, "Duck," before moving on.

He had bigger fish to fry.

After passing up five or so more kids (including Prim and Rory), Gale reached Cato. Not giving the blond a chance to anticipate his next move (despite the fact that he had probably anticipated it the moment they all sat down to play this stupid game) he tap/smacked him on the head and yelled, "GOOSE!"

Gale ran with all his might, his feet making heavy sounds as they hit the ground. He could feel Cato behind him, could hear his thundering footsteps, but he refused to look back. He had a game to win.

After rounding the second lap Gale knew he was going to taste victory. Johanna sent him an amused smirk as he raced past her, but Gale pressed forward and zoomed ahead of the last half of the circle, sliding into Cato's previous spot.

"You're out, Cato!" Enobaria called, and he couldn't help smile brightly at Johanna from the other end of the circle.

Gale twisted around to see Cato going to join Peeta at the ever-growing Loser's Tree, and although he knew it wasn't smart, he couldn't help gloating his victory.

"Better luck next time, huh, Cato?"

Cato turned back to look at him, smiling himself. "We'll see."

Gale ignored him, turning back to face the remaining kids. He noticed Katniss staring at him, and it made him all the more happy to see that she was trying to hide a playful smirk herself.

Oh yeah. He had this in the bag.

A/N: I'm not gonna bother telling you that Gale won, which he did, because...well...just because :P

Anyway, I'm gonna add an epilogue when this story is finished, and I would like suggestions for Gale and Katniss' daughter. What should her name be? I'm sure I can think of something if no one has any ideas, but I'm totally open to suggestions :)

'Til next time!