Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Madge tries not to stare as everyone steps off from the hovercraft. Katniss and Peeta are first, Johanna and Haymitch follow. Her eyes dart from person to person trying to find him. The second she spots Gale Hawthorne stepping from the hovercraft a huge weight is lifted from her chest, and she can breathe again.
She makes herself busy by welcoming back Katniss and Peeta with quiet hugs and finding herself wrapped in Haymitch's arms, but her eyes keep darting back to Gale. He greets his family with smiles, throwing his younger sister over his shoulder and spinning her around. He ruffles his younger brothers' hair. And every few moments, his eyes will find hers too.
After everyone is off the hovercraft people start to walk away from the welcoming area. Madge does her best to blend in with everyone else parting but it doesn't work, for in moments her shirt is being tugged backwards and she's being pinned against the wall.
"Where's my hello?" Gale asks, leaning over her in the most nonthreatening way possible. "Trying to run away already, Undersee?"
Madge chews on her bottom lip to suppress her smile. "You seemed busy," she supplies quickly. Before she can help herself Madge throws herself against him, wrapping her arms tightly around his chest. "It's good to see you."
He chuckles, returning the hug with just as much pressure. "I knew you missed me."
"Not even a little," she murmurs against him. Again Gale laughs, loosening his grip on the blonde.
When he pulls away his body remains close. His fingers stretch out and push a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You weren't worried about me at all?" Gale asks.
"No," Madge instantly lies. Over the course of their stay in District 13 he's learned to read her facial expressions, and this is no excuse. Gale quirks one of his eyebrows and Madge lets out a sigh. "Okay maybe once."
"Only once?"
"The TV told us you were dead," she mumbles. Madge had spent plenty of time worrying. She worried after the bombings when she saw Gale's family but not him. She worried when the fighting broke out in District 2. The trek to the Capitol was no exception. "It was scary."
"I told Posy I'd come back," Gale tells her. "And I never lie to Posy." Madge tries to smile but it doesn't last. Gale dips down over Madge and studies her eyes. "I told you I'd come back."
That was true, he had told her that. With her parents out of the picture Madge found herself drawn to the Hawthorne's more often than necessary. And with the Hawthorne's came Gale. They formed a strange bond over their journey to District 13. Not friends, but not enemies either. Allies, almost. Attached. Dependent on one another.
"I know," Madge whispers. But she wasn't sure that promise meant as much to him as it had to her. "And here you are."
"Here I am," he nods, another smiling slipping onto his face. "Your lack of faith in me hurts, Undersee." Gale licks his lips and drops his voice. "I had unfinished business here."
"That so?"
"Yeah," Gale says, nodding again. "You see, I promised myself to stay away until the war was over. Too risky. But the Capitol has fallen. And I don't have to stay away anymore."
Madge blinks in confusion. "Stay away?" But before the entire question is even out, Gale dips down and skims his lips over hers. Her heart nearly leaps out of her chest as Gale pulls her closer, his hands tugging her toward him wherever they can reach.
And when they part he's breathless, and so is she, her lips still warm from the touch. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Gale breathes, leaning down to kiss her again.
A/N: Short, sweet, and totally canon. There is no exception to this. I will fight you. This happened.