Author's Note: Don't own the Hunger Games. Those of you who are just favoriting and adding to story alert… I see you and am deeply offended that you have nothing to complain about. Oh who am I kidding? I'm flattered. Has this become anyone's headcanon on to what happened to Gale after Mockingjay? I'm curious.

This was a diamond mine.

My eyes darted around the mine, wondering how the diamonds could be shining if there was no sun down here. I suppose it might be my mind playing tricks on me, and Gale's voice popped against the mine. "This is a mine."

"Obviously… but it's shining too much considering how far we should be underground… and… just fascinating, isn't it? Where's the light source?"

I turned to see Gale looking at me rather oddly. I tried to recall what I said that might have been "odd", but nothing jumped out at my head. Then, I saw what he was really looking at. It was my blade, the one I was never apart from in the arena… or during the war. My trusty weapon, named after my sister. Artemis. I grabbed the blade, looking at it curiously. "How did that get here?"

Good question. I lost my knife sometime ago, about ten years back. Just looking at it was enough to bring back all the memories. The ones where I lost my mind, the one where I smelled my family burning with no power to stop it, the memory of being so angry at the Capitol where all I wanted was the strength to destroy it myself. I still didn't have that power, and I still had no way to bring the burnt carcasses back to life. The memory of war, the way the world was on fire. "I… have no answers."

What little answers I did have were things I didn't exactly want to tell him. He was quite nice, but trusting was pretty difficult even now. I knew a relationship required trust. And if I was in a relationship with him, then that means I should trust him, no questions asked. His voice seemed to be more soothing as he talked, the minute I decided to trust him. "Maybe we should look around for something to explain why, then?"

I nodded, my confusion increasing. Maybe I should have figured out already what he was thinking, but it wasn't that easy. My guesses seemed to be accurate, though. Perhaps, instead of trying, I should simply guess. I slipped the knife into my belt, not particularly worried about what would happen if it dug into my skin. I'd had far worst things stick inside my body. "So where do you think we should start?"

It was at that moment I remembered that neither of us had gotten dressed since the lake. He was standing there, his rather impressive body sticking out to me. I flushed, looking away. How rude of me of me to just stare, even though it wasn't like I could exactly help it. I bit my lip, moving forward in the mine. I jumped when he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "We should probably stick together. Just in case."

It was comforting when his hand clasped mine, and I felt at peace knowing he was there. How odd. I knew that him being there wasn't going to fix my mind, drive the hallucinations away, or change anything about my mental state… but him just being there felt right. I knew a lot of things were never going to change, but it was so much safer with him to catch me. I smiled as we walked around, exploring the mine. It was of little comfort to me either way, but somehow having Gale there felt right. I guess that made sense in the weirdest of way. I jumped at the cat and stared at it. Then I realized something. Gale was staring at the cat as well. That wasn't how the cat worked. No but me saw him. The cat's grin became wide as he purred, "Realized your boyfriend there can see me too, eh Venus?"

Gale jumped, and stated (quite obviously), "That cat can talk."

I huffed, slightly furious that someone else could see into my madness. I didn't like it. It wasn't right that someone else saw the cat as well. I nodded, growling, "Cat, I haven't got time for your riddles. How is District 2 connected to this diamond mine, and where is the light source?"

In response, the cat only grinned. I shouldn't have expected an answer, I realized. It wasn't how the cat worked. Then again, I figured since he also wasn't supposed to be visible to other people, that must mean the rules were changing. "Once again, you ask all the right questions, but you know better than me."

I hated that damn cat.