Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
The first time he sees her in the Seam he assumes she's visiting.
Gale doesn't notice the graying color of her once white dress. He doesn't notice her hair no longer tied up in a pretty ribbon, or the fact that she has boots on instead of dainty sandals. He walks past her as though she isn't there.
The second time Gale sees Madge Undersee in the Seam her hair is up and braided like Katniss used to wear when she lived here. Her dress is gone and replaced by a pair of worn shorts. Her shirt is loose and baggy.
This time he wonders why she's here, considering the only person Madge would visit in the Seam would be Katniss and the girl in question has been living in the Victors Village for a few months.
The third time he sees her, he decides to ask.
"Undersee," his voice cuts through the open air. She pauses in her step and turns, not having seen him either. She waits where she is for him to walk over to her, fiddling with the ragged hem of her shirt. "You lost?"
"No," she frowns. Up close he realizes something is wrong. She's got a smidge of coal dust on her cheek and a hell of a lot stuck under her nails. "I'm just going home."
Gale lifts an eyebrow and glances over his shoulder where the Seam/town split is. "You're headed the wrong direction," he mutters, as though it's obvious.
Madge takes a step backwards and narrows her gaze. "Don't be an ass," she snaps. He watches her walk away, her boots too big along with the rest of her clothing, and pushes the encounter from his mind.
Gale pretends as though he hadn't seen Madge Undersee after all, that his mind made it up because of his lack of sleep. He's been zoning out a lot more lately, not really focusing on anything. People don't talk to him anymore, they talk at him. He nods his head as though he can hear their words and laughs as though what was said was funny.
So at dinner when his mother says, "Did you hear about the Undersee's?" he nearly loses it.
He's sure someone's mentioned it before, the fact that the Undersee's went bankrupt and had to move from their fancy mansion. Gale knows someone told him that the old mayor, Mayor Undersee, will be starting in the mines the minute his paper work is all done. It's been the hot topic in the Seam since is happened, Gale just hasn't been paying attention.
So the fourth time he sees Madge Undersee he only finds it right to apologize. It doesn't work out very well.
Gale marches right up to her, blocking her from moving forward and abandoning him. "I didn't know," he says plainly.
Madge cocks an eyebrow. "Everyone knows," she responds angrily. "It's only been the hottest gossip for weeks. You can't tell me that you didn't know." Gale clenches his jaw. "Just leave me alone."
She sidesteps him and goes to walk away, but he's right on her tail. "Not adjusting well to the stench of starvation, are you?" he growls. "Missing your pretty dresses? All your fancy food?"
"You're pathetic," Madge calls over her shoulder. "Grow up."
She veers right immediately and picks up into a quick jog, starting for the closest house. Gale almost chases after her, but at the sight of the crumbling shack she disappears into, he freezes. The stairs are sinking into the ground, the door barely fits inside the frame, and the windows are cracked and could shatter with the slightest shift. Gale runs away from the spot as fast as he can, willing the image out of his mind.
Gale stops counting how many times he sees her because it happens a lot more often than he'd like to admit.
She starts walking Rory home after school because they stay late and she tutors him in math. She stops by to help Hazelle with her laundry business to make some extra cash on the side. Madge Undersee is seen around the corner and down the street and across the block.
She seems to be adjusting just fine.
The first Sunday he finds her in the woods Gale watches her for a moment. The clothing is Katniss's old hunting gear, and it's a bit big on her. Madge is a lot shorter than Katniss, she has to roll the cuffs of the jeans and the sleeves of her jacket.
The blonde fiddles with something in her hands and grunts, cutting her finger and pulling it up to her mouth to suck the blood. Gale shifts by the tree to see what it is. A snare.
"That's knotted wrong," he says through instinct. Madge leaps at the sound of his voice, dropping the wired contraption to the ground and shifting to see him. "It's too high up, the twist needs to be lower."
She stares at him with her electric blue eyes but doesn't try to correct the mistake on her snare.
"I've got it," Madge finally answers. Her voice is sharp. She doesn't retract her gaze. "I don't need your help."
"Evidently you do," Gale mutters. He takes a step toward her. "Or your snare isn't going to work and you're going to be stuck with nothing to eat." His eyes return to the elaborate wiring in her hands. "Where'd you learn to do that, anyway?"
"I don't need your help," Madge repeats sternly.
Gale smirks, his shoulders lifting slightly. "Seam mentality already, I see." Her jaw locks, much like Gale's does when he's irritated. He lowers himself down to the ground next to her and picks up her design from the grass. "It's impressive." With that Madge softens a bit, leaning towards him to look at what she's made. "Teaching yourself?"
"Katniss is too busy to give pointers," Madge says quietly. "I learn by watching replays of the Hunger Games. My fingers keep slipping," she mutters, looking down at her hands.
He doesn't know why but Gale reaches over, pulling her right hand into his own. Her fingers are long and slender, and despite the one little cut she just got from the wire, they're very smooth. Something inside of him twists when he realizes that this life, the hunter one that she's choosing to live now, will ruin her hands entirely.
"I can teach you."
"You don't need to do that," Madge murmurs, yanking her hand back into her own lap. "I can figure it out myself." Gale leans backwards on the palms of his hands, watching her with wide eyes. Madge huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" she sighs.
They're both quiet for a moment. Nothing but the chirping birds in the trees and the distant ripple of a stream.
"How'd you know how to get into the woods?"
Her pale cheeks turn scarlet and she drops her gaze. "I watched you a few times." Gale chuckles at the nervous shaking of her voice, and then all of a sudden she laughs too. Madge shakes her head and fiddles with the wire in her hands, her tiny tinkling giggles falling silent once again. "I have no idea what I'm doing," she admits weakly.
"The knot's just a little high," Gale tells her, gesturing to the wire again. "Just twist it a bit and—"
"No, Gale," she says tiredly, "that's not what I meant." The snare falls from her hands completely as she covers her face, rubbing at her eyes. "I can survive without the dresses and the food and all the luxuries," she whispers. "I don't need any of that. But my mom is sick and my dad can't handle the mines so I'm doing everything I can to keep us going and…" she trails off to suck in a sharp breath, shaking as she does so. "I don't know what I'm doing at all."
Gale leans away slightly, propping his elbow up on his knee and watching her carefully. "You're doing fine." Still, she shakes her head no and sends her loose strands of her golden hair shaking back and forth. "Why didn't you guys stay in town?" Gale asks.
"How could we?" Madge whimpers. "We don't have any money, we don't have a shop to run. The only thing my dad's good at is politics and there aren't any politics out here. We're all virtually useless. And me… I… I'm no hunter, no—no…"
"Quit it," Gale growls. "This is who you are now."
"I can't do this on my own," she croaks, finally dropping her hands and looking up at him. Madge's eyes are filled with tears, her gaze is pathetically sad. She sniffles and wipes at her nose, trying her hardest to stay strong. "I can't."
"No one in the Seam does it on their own," he tells her. Gale grabs for her hand again, squeezing her fingers lightly. "You won't either." And when she looks up at him, Madge smiles. It's so sincere and genuine that Gale can't help but smile back. "I can help you."
The first time Gale gets home from the mines and finds Madge Undersee on his couch, helping his mother with the laundry, he doesn't notice the faded orange of her t-shirt or the smidge of coal dust on her chin. He just sees her.