Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

Madge huffs as her mother fiddles with her hair. "Will you stop it?" she says loudly. "I look fine." Queen Undersee steps away from her daughter with pursed lips but nods her head. "It's just Gale, Mother."

"And the public," she counters. "Your people."

Madge rolls her eyes and marches away from her mother, off to find Peeta so they can greet Gale and his family. Madge and Gale have been dating for over a year at this point, and Madge has been forced to go home for the summer. She spent another year at Capitol University, learning and dating Gale with Peeta by her side, before returning home.

And finally, for the first time since they got together, Gale's coming to visit Panem. He's bringing his family with him and they're staying for a few weeks in the Undersee's guest house. Originally Gale detested the idea but Madge insisted. She wanted him to see his home, to meet her parents, and finally he agreed.

"There you are," Peeta calls out, striding toward her as they hurry to the gate. "They just got here."

"I don't want to make a scene," Madge returns as she scampers. Gale hates the media entirely, he hates the cameras and the gossip, and he certainly would hate a big over the top greeting. "I just want their car to be brought in and we can greet them in the back."

She pushes her way out of the front door, her heels clicking across the stone driveway as she rushes out. Madge can see the black car driving through the gate and her heart flutters in her chest. Gale's here. There's a small crowd outside the gate but the guards keep them from entering and Madge waves to them for a brief moment before redirecting her attention.

The black car swings around and instead of following the pathway to the back of the castle and around to the guest house it stops right in front.

"I swear I told them the back," Peeta says as Madge stops hurrying, keeping herself toward the front of the castle. The car rolls to a stop, and Madge takes a deep breath. "Smile, Princess," Peeta quips. "Your boyfriend's here."

Madge smiles, and not just because Peeta's told her so. She hasn't seen Gale in a month or so and she misses him dearly. The back doors open before the driver can get out to open it for them and out springs a chirpy little girl.

"Posy!" Madge calls.

Posy brightens up when she hears her name and sprints in Madge's direction, holding her arms out. Madge bends down and picks her up, spinning her and hugging her deeply. When she lowers her to the ground the rest of the Hawthorne gang climbs from the car, first Gale's two younger brothers and then his mother, and Madge greets them all with smiles and hugs, and then finally Gale.

He's clearly nervous, his eyes immediately darting up to Madge's estate as he straightens out his shirt, and then finally down to Madge. A hesitant smile takes hold of his face and together they start toward one another.

"Gale," Madge breathes, grinning as she reaches him. Her hands cup his cheeks and he bends down at once to kiss her. Madge sighs into his mouth as he pulls her closer. Peeta clears his throat, and in the distance they hear the clicking of cameras, so Madge pulls away. Still, Gale pins his forehead to hers, his eyes darting up and down her face as he takes her in. "You're here," she whispers.

"I'm here," he murmurs back, bending another time to kiss her quickly. They part again and look to Peeta who's standing there with a smile pinned to his face. Katniss couldn't come on the trip, so he feels horribly left out. "Mellark," Gale addresses him with a head nod.

"Good to see you," Peeta returns. "We should head inside. We'll get your stuff to the guest house out back."

"Guest house," Gale echoes gently. Madge squeezes his hand and starts pulling him inside.

First Madge shows the Hawthorne's their way around the castle, trying her damned hardest to make it not seem as though she's trying to be pretentious. And after that she shows them to the guest house and allows them to settle in. Gale claims a bedroom with a balcony before following after Madge, telling his family that he'll be back in a bit.

Madge takes him to the castle garden and he tangles his fingers with hers. "I'm so happy you're here," she says as they start down the winding path. Gale's eyes continuously dart between the flower bushes and giant shrubs. "I know it's a lot, and this is a huge thing, and–" she stops talking as Gale turns to her and they stop moving on the path.

"I love you," Gale whispers. "This is terrifying," he continues, looking around and past her, up toward the castle she lives in and around at the different guards scattered around the grounds. "But I love you, and that's what matters." Madge nods a few times and he tilts her chin up so he can kiss her. "I have to meet your parents tonight," he murmurs. "I was searched and frisked at the airport–my whole family was, and then again before we got into the car, and I'm pretty sure they dug through all of our luggage. And I'm staying in a foreign country I didn't even know existed, with you my princess girlfriend, and I have to meet your king father and queen mother. And I'm terrified."

"Gale," she sighs.

"But I love you. And I'm doing this for you." Madge nods another time and he kisses her again. "And I missed you like crazy," he murmurs against her lips. "If we don't find some time alone while I'm here I'm going to lose my mind."

Madge laughed quietly and pressed herself on her toes to kiss him again. "We'll find some time," she promised with a smile.

"You look beautiful, of course," King Undersee was saying. Madge is fussing over her dress. She'd made her parents swear not to be too dressy but they're struggling. "Where's your crown?"

"Father," Madge sighs.

"Oh," the king sighs too, scratching his head. "Right." He reaches up, removing his own gold crown. "I keep forgetting. I'm sorry." Madge sighs once more and walks over to him, straightening a few badges on his shirt. "I know how important this is to you, Sweetheart. I'm excited to meet your boy." Queen Undersee joins them in the parlor and Madge strides over to her, reaching up to her head to remove her crown as well. "Honey, we're being informal," he says to his wife.

"Right, of course." Mrs. Undersee doesn't seem too thrilled by this, and one of her servants arrives to take the crown Madge has pulled from her head. "You must be… excited."

"You're stressing me out, very much, actually," Madge tells her parents. She guides them to be standing side by side and grabs both of their hands. "I love this man," she tells them. "I love him. And he is rightfully intimidated by you two."

Mrs. Undersee nearly rolls her eyes. "Sounds like he doesn't have a backbone, honey."

"We run a country," she stops her mother with a sharp look. "An entire country, Mother. I'm intimidated by us sometimes, and this is a small country." Her mother sighs and nods her head hesitantly. Peeta, standing off by the entrance way to the parlor, clears his throat. "They're here," Madge says. Her father crosses and kisses her on her forehead. "Oh, God," she takes a deep breath and straightens her spine.

Hazelle enters first with a bright smile, and then there's a flurry of introductions. Posy bows to everyone even though Madge told them she didn't have to, and thankfully her father bows back. "You must in the presence of a princess," he tells the young girl, and Madge smiles in relief.

She greets Gale with a kiss for reassurance before guiding him to her parents. "King Undersee," Gale forces out, extending his hand and giving him a firm handshake. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"You as well, Gale," he returns with a smile. Gale then goes to Madge's mother, greeting her the same.

"You're very handsome," Queen Undersee says gently, and Gale basically blushes. "Margaret speaks highly of you."

"Thank you," he rasps. "I think."

Madge's own nerves are overflowing and she clears her throat another time. "Okay, should we move to, um, move to din… dinner?"

The dinner goes surprisingly well.

Posy seems to have attached herself to King Undersee's side, so much that he even helps her cut up her meat so she has smaller bites. Hazelle, Rory, and Vick spend their time talking to Peeta and Darius who are at the other end of the table. Queen Undersee spends most of the dinner trying to get Gale to break.

But he's steady and strong, and Madge is very impressed.

When things end and Gale's family is escorted back to the guest house, Gale lingers. "I wish to show him my quarters," Madge says to Darius, who grins and winks in response.

They bid everyone goodnight and rush up to Madge's room. The second they're inside Gale's jaw drops.

"Holy shit," he breathes. Her room is bigger than her entire apartment back at Capitol University. Her four poster bed is larger than Gale could've imagined, she has a walk in closet that is bigger than Gale's entire apartment at Capitol, and the balcony to her room has the best view of the Panem coast. "This is… holy shit."

"It's really, it's, big," Madge says, suddenly very self conscious. Gale shakes his head, waving it off, and she shuts the door and locks it quietly. "This is a lot, I know this is a lot, and, wow," she exhales, leaning backwards against the door.

Gale strides back to her with a shaky smile on his face. "Why are you stressed out?" he asks with a little laugh. "I'm the one who had to meet your parents."

"You did excellent," she breathes. "You were excellent. You are excellent." Gale grins, leaning his arm over her and pinning her backwards against her bedroom door. "And I love you. You are so great, and I love you. And I'm so happy you're here."

His grin widens as he bends down to kiss her. His lips meet hers carefully and soon her fingers are tangled in his hair. Madge kicks off her heels and Gale scoops her into his arms, carrying her off to her bed and laying her down gently. He eases his way to her neck and suckles gently across her skin as Madge's eyes flutter shut.

"You are so fucking beautiful," Gale breathes. With her eyes still shut Madge smiles, her hands fisting the sheets beneath her. Soon he eases her dress up her body and disposes of it on the floor.

"It'll wrinkle," she forces out, but Gale laughs.

"Steam it," he tells her. Madge's hands reach for Gale's shirt and she fumbles with the buttons, trying to get it off of him as fast as possible. He helps her get it off and his clothes begin to join Madge's dress on the floor. "Should I stop?" he asks from somewhere between her breasts, and she shakes her head.

"Door's locked. Darius is lookout."

Gale laughs another time and the two of them slip into the night together.

In the middle of the night Madge rolls over to find Gale sitting on the edge of her bed. She yawns and sits up as well. "What's wrong?" she asks.

Gale glances over his shoulder with a smile and shakes his head. "Nothing. I just figured your parents wouldn't be too happy to find me in here in the morning."

Madge rubs at her eyes before crawling across the bed to him, wrapping herself around him and resting her cheek on his back. "You're smart," she murmurs sleepily. He laughs a little, his back shaking as he does so. "I love you."

Gale turns in her arms and she leans back a little. "I love you," he echoes softly. "Get some more sleep, Princess," he teases. It was a nickname Madge used to hate, but she's grown to love it when it comes from Gale now when he says it so affectionately. "I'll see you in the morning."

She crawls back under her covers and Gale gets dressed quickly and quietly. Before he leaves he bends down, kissing Madge on her forehead, and then exits her room making as little noise as possible.

Gale being in Panem is a blessing for Madge. She's excused from her usual duties and lessons by her parents and is allowed to take the Hawthorne's on a tour of the local country. Just outside the gate is the cutest little town, and they spend a lot of afternoons on the ocean side.

After a week, Gale's family heads home, but Gale stays. After an awkward conversation with her father her parents agree that Gale shouldn't be living in the guest house alone, and instead he backs his things and moves into Madge's bedroom. They spend a lot of time with the door locked.

They spend lazy mornings in bed with the door to her balcony open blowing in warm air and letting in sunlight. "Do you miss them?" Madge asks one day, and Gale shrugs.

"They've only been gone for like three days," he tells her with a smile. "And this way I don't have to divide my attention." Gale bends forward and kisses her nose. "What's on the agenda for today?"

Madge takes Gale into the nearby city again. They spend the afternoon walking down the cobblestone streets and waving at citizens who refer to Madge as Princess Margaret. A few people take pictures with the two of them, and Gale always admits how strange it is afterwards.

"My favorite ice cream place is just up the street," Madge says. "They love my there," she tells him.

Gale laughs. "That's because you're the princess, babe."

"Oh, they're allowed to like me because of me too," she says, swatting his chest. Just as they round the corner a swarm of teenage girls appear and Madge turns to Gale. "Give me a minute," she whispers, and Gale nods, now used to this.

Madge is pulled into the group of girls and they're all hugging and cheering as she greets them, and Gale steps back with a smile.

He loves Madge, he really does, but this is always going to be strange to him. Over the past year or so he's gotten used to her princess life. People take pictures of her, and pictures of them, and every once in a while Madge becomes a trending topic on Twitter. It's just strange. He doesn't hate the attention, not like he used to, but he doesn't really like it either.

But Gale ignores all of that because he loves her, and she's made a real effort to keep the princess part of her life out of their relationship as best she can. The problem is that Madge is always going to be a princess, and potentially one day a queen, and it's not something either of them can just ignore.

"You must be Gale," someone says suddenly, and he turns to find a young girl around the same age as Madge standing beside him. She smiles prettily. "Okay, I know you're Gale. How exciting to meet the potential Prince Consort."

He clears his throat, "I'm sorry?"

"Prince Consort," the girl says. "Husband of the Queen who reigns on her own, Princess Margaret of course." Gale shuffles awkwardly. He and Madge haven't talked about marriage yet, but clearly her people seem to think they have. "How do you feel about her parents offer?"

"What offer?" Gale asks.

"To stay in Panem, to rule. They want to anoint her queen on her 25th birthday."

Gale blinks a few times. "That isn't how that works," he rasps. "Right? It's like, her parents die, and–"

"Queen Undersee is ill, and King Undersee wants their time together to be stress-free of kingdom worries." Gale feels himself going pale, and his eyes flicker back to Madge in the midst of the crowd. "And if you marry Princess Margaret that would make you Prince Consort."

He clears his throat. "We haven't talked about it," Gale admits, unsure if he's allowed to be having these conversations with civilians. There're always so many rules to dating Madge.

"Well I, for one, would love to see you in Panem full time."

"Full time," Gale echoes quietly. "Right."

That evening after dinner the two of them retreat to Madge's room to watch the sunset from her balcony. Gale's been awfully quiet and Madge is worried something's happened. He's gripping the stone balcony when Madge returns from changing out of her dinner dress and she gnaws on her bottom lip.

"Everything okay?" she asks quietly.

Gale lets out a deep breath as she slowly starts toward him. "They want you to be queen?" Gale asks. Madge pauses in the doorway. "They want you to be queen," Gale repeats quietly, slowly turning to look at her over his shoulder.

"I was going to bring it up," Madge says, rushing in his direction. "You're still here for another week and a half, I swear, I–" Gale holds out his hands to stop her from talking. She feels like she's going to cry, this is not how she wanted to bring this up. "I haven't agreed, there're like a million contracts and things that need to be discussed."

Gale strides toward her and cups her cheeks, tilting her chin up and kissing her deeply. "You should accept," he murmurs. Now Madge's eyes really do fill with tears. He's about to end things with her. "This is your country, these are your people. If your mother's sick and they need you to take the throne, then you should accept."

"Gale," she rasps. "We–we talked about moving to New York. I can still–"

"You should stay," Gale says again. "And if you want, then I can stay with you." Madge's chin wobbles and tears spill from her eyes. "I love you," Gale carries on. "And–"

"It's years away," she stops him. "It's years away!" His thumbs brush her cheeks gently and she fumbles for words. "It's years away," Madge says another time. "We–we could be, we will be different people, and–and I still want to graduate and, P-Panem, it's so far from your home and–"

"Stop crying," Gale says with a little laugh, brushing the tears from under her eyes. "We can re-evaluate when the time is closer, but I'm telling you now that if you want me to stay then I will."

Madge presses herself onto her toes and yanks him closer, kissing him again. Gale groans into her mouth as they stumble, backwards toward the wall of the balcony. "I love you," she whispers. "I love you. You don't have to–that's huge, Gale, that–"

"I know," he cuts her off. "I know. I've been thinking about it for a long time. And being here," Gale sighs a little. "Being here, in this beautiful place, with you…" he trails off. "I'm terrified, even at the idea," Gale admits. "But I'm never been happier than I am when I wake up by your side." Still, there are tears in Madge's eyes. "And you are never happier than when you're here."

He kisses her forehead, and then her nose, and then her lips another time. "It's still so far away," Madge whispers.

"I know." Gale shakes his head ever so slightly. "I just don't want me to be a reason you turn away from your country. I need you to know that I support you."

"What about–what about you? Your dreams?"

"I could be a nature director here," he says, referring back to his degree. "Help protect the national parks of Panem. I would love doing that."

Madge has to swallow back a sob. "God, I love you," she rasps. She kisses him again, never feeling more relieved than she does in this moment.

In the morning Madge wakes up with Gale's arms around her. Every morning could be like this, she thinks as she watches him sleep. His long dark eyelashes flutter as he blinks himself awake, and they share a smile.

"Morning," she whispers. For the first time in her life, Madge feels like she can have it all. She can have that love she's always wanted, that love with someone who understands who she really is despite being royalty. And she can have her home, her future, her kingdom.

Madge never imagined meeting someone who would meet her halfway, someone who would give up a piece of themselves for her. She loves him. She loves him, no matter what their future hold.

"Good morning," Gale whispers back.

A/N: Queen Undersee is only so rude because she wants to make sure Gale's strong. It can be hard running a country, and she wants to make sure he's up for it! x