Disclaimer: Most stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
They walk hand in hand on the beaches of District 4 with the ocean lapping at their ankles. Gale focuses his attention on the warmth of Madge's fingers twined with his, the cool of the water the drifts up his calves and cools the anxiety that hums in his veins.
The sun is setting. The sky is full of murky reds and purples, swirled together in an impossible beauty.
Madge leans against his arm. Everything feels right. Gale feels brave.
"Can I tell you a secret?" he asks.
Madge looks up at him. She, too, is impossibly beautiful. Her soft blue eyes, her lovely curly hair as golden as a sunny afternoon. Her head tips forward slightly.
"Of course," she says. He hesitates. The words that ache to come out of Gale get caught in his throat. Madge squeezes his fingers. "Don't force yourself," she says. "It's okay."
He sighs. They continue down the beaches of District 4 without another word.
The trees in District 7 are taller than the buildings in the Capitol.
They stretch into the heavens, branches seeking out a brighter tomorrow, fresher air, and Gale is amazed by them. The trunks tell stories of wars fought decades ago, and then wars before that, and wars before that, and Gale knows that there will always be another war to fight.
But between the layers of struggles and fighting, there're times of peace. That's where they are now, Gale reminds himself. A time of peace. Of prosperity.
He hears Madge laugh and he tips his head to find her watching two squirrels chasing one another through the forest. His chest bursts with warmth and he fights the smile from his face. Gale takes four long strides to her side and reaches for her hand, tangling their fingers together.
She looks up at him with a smile. She makes Gale feel strong. "Can I tell you a secret?" he asks.
"Always," Madge answers.
But again, the words don't come.
Gale swallows, trying to get the lump out of his throat. Madge offers him another smile and he sighs, shaking his head slightly. "Sorry," he murmurs, but she shakes her head too.
"When you're ready," she tells him. "I'll listen."
With his other hand he stretches out to brush the bark of a nearby tree. Gale longs for the endurance of this forest.
The streets of District 2 are always busy.
He and Madge wind their way through the crowds, just trying to get to a nearby ice cream parlor. Someone knocks their shoulder into Madge's and she grunts and stumbles, turning to possibly snap at the person, when the other girl instead reaches out and helps steady her.
"I'm so sorry," the girl says, and Gale believes her. Because in these days, people aren't full of rage and fire. Not anymore. "There're just so many people." Madge agrees, and Gale feels his heart stumble.
Before he knows what he's doing he pulls her off to the side out of the rushing sidewalks and presses her against the side of a building. Gale's lips are on hers in an instant. It's not the first time they've kissed, not at all, but every time feels like the first. Madge smiles against his mouth, confused but eager, and her fingers curl against his shirt.
"What are you doing?" she asks with a little laugh.
He likes to feel her below his hands. The softness of her hair, the texture of her shirt against his fingertips. Gale kisses her again and she responds with just as much fervor. God, he could do this forever. But soon he breaks off. Gale kisses her cheek, trails kisses back across her neck.
"Can I tell you a secret?" he breathes.
"You know you can," Madge answers, her voice just as breathy as his.
Like always, he can't find a way to put it into words. Instead he wraps his arms around her just a tad more tightly and buries his face into her collarbone. She toys with the ends of his hair silently, her wordless comfort that she's not going anywhere, that she's here.
They're like that for a long time before Gale pulls back, reaches for her hand, and tugs her back on the crowded sidewalk.
The Capitol will always feel heavy. Not just for Gale, but for Madge too. He thinks it's a mistake that they're here but it was Madge's idea and he can't deny her anything.
There's a darkness in her eyes as they walk the streets. There's still so much destruction around every turn, remains of a war that doesn't always feel like it's completely over. Gale doesn't dare let go of Madge's hand.
But at the same time, there's something hopeful about the Capitol. The fact that it can be bright still. The fact that this is where he found Madge. It wasn't a good place to find her, not at all, shackled to a wall in an underground prison broken and bleeding. But she was alive, and she's still alive, and they went from there.
"You never talk about it," Gale says reluctantly. He doesn't want to be the one to bring it out but sometimes the questions threaten to push through his skin. "About what they did to you."
Madge is worrying her bottom lip. "That's because it doesn't matter," she answers.
They killed her parents. Of course they did. And the tortured her for torture's sake. But Madge remained strong and sturdy. A fighter. Gale never knew, before finding her in the prisons, that the mayor's daughter was a fighter. He knows better now. She's more than pretty curves and breathtaking smiles. She's the embodiment of what Gale wants to be. Strong, and brave. Broken, but also still whole.
Impossible. In so many ways, she's impossible.
The words escape him before he can stop them. "Can I tell you a secret?"
Madge turns to him then, a dip coming between her eyebrows as they furrow together. She nods and he hesitates. He always hesitates. A flicker of sadness crosses her face and Gale feels something inside of him break.
Why can't he just tell her? Because when he tells her that, he can tell he more.
"It's okay," Madge whispers. Gale's mind feels like it's been tackled, heavy and confused. "It's okay," she says again.
But he knows that it isn't.
District 12 is not as painful as he remembers it to be.
In his mind it's nothing but misery. An aching back, broken calloused hands, a stomach that never stops rumbling and begging for more. A shattered heart. The feeling of death around every corner. The suffocation of a dark, small mine shaft.
It's different now.
He knows that as he watches Madge with Posy as they dart across the thick, lush meadow to pick flowers. His mother is by his side, watching the two of them with the same warm affection he feels. She reaches out and rests her hand on his shoulder.
"You love her," Hazelle says, and Gale nods.
It's not even a question.
"Immensely," he answers. Hazelle's smile, the brighter better District 12, it makes Gale feel brave. Like that time they were in District 4. And it makes him feel strong, like when they were in the forest of District 7. And Gale knows, he knows that he can say it, that he can tell her.
That night after dinner with his family, after a night of Rory teasing Madge about silly things that make her smile, after Vick shows her one of his many collections, after she braids Posy's hair with nimble fingers, Gale asks her for a walk. They lace their fingers together like they always do. It's so natural, so easy. They head back for the meadow.
They're only seated for a few moments when Gale asks the same question he always does. "Can I tell you a secret?"
Madge lets out a little sigh. "Gale," she responds gently. There's about to be a follow up. He can feel it. You know you can. Or, absolutely always. Or maybe, will you actually tell me today? Or will you make me wait again?
"I used to think that you weren't real."
Madge turns to him and Gale finds confusion written on her face. "What do you mean?"
He shakes his head and looks up at the sky. The stars are out. It reminds him of a time from before. Before the war had chewed him up and spit him out. Before blood stained his hands. Before he saw himself as a monster. Before he knew Madge. This Madge, this real Madge, not the untouchable mayor's daughter he used to bicker with.
"Thom found bodies in your house," Gale says, and Madge nods. "So everyone thought you were dead until they found you in the prisons." Madge nods again. "And for a while I thought… I thought that you weren't real. That I'd made you up. That you were some… hallucination, or something."
A small smile tugs on her face. "Gale, I'm right here."
"No, I know." Sometimes watching her interact with people, real people, feels like some sort of blessing. Because then he knows she's not in his head. That she's not a dream, or an imagination, or some war-torn vision. "But sometimes it still feels…" the words are thick in his throat. "It still feels like you're impossible. Because I don't deserve someone like you."
"Gale."
"Brave, and strong, and beautiful." He tips his head in her direction, amazed to find her watching him so calmly. God, she's beautiful. So impossibly beautiful. "You find the best in me," he murmurs, "when it feels like there's nothing left."
She reaches out for him then, her warm hands against his cheeks. Gale's eyes fall shut as he loses himself in the feeling of it. Because she's here. Because she's real. Because she's chosen him. He finds himself leaning into the night until his forehead touches hers.
"I love you," Gale whispers. His voice shakes. "I really love you."
He startles when she kisses him. As always, it feels like the first time. "That was your secret?" she asks. "Me?"
Gale's eyes crack open slowly so he can take her in for all that she is. He nods slowly. The look on her face is so magnificent he can't even find the words to describe it.
"Can I tell you a secret?"
Their bed is the safest place in the world. There's nothing but the warmth of the two of them tangled together. The outside troubles don't exist. It's just Gale and Madge, Madge and Gale.
Gale chuckles a little bit and winds his fingers through her hair. "You can tell me anything," he murmurs back.
Madge is pressed against his bare chest. She's tracing patterns on his skin. "I love you too," she says quietly. Gale stills. He feels the air leave him. It feels so good to hear her say it.
Somehow a smile finds his face. "I didn't know that was a secret," he teases. Gale feels her laugh rather than hears it.
She presses a warm kiss to his chest before resting back against him, the both of them feeling completely impossible in the arms of one another. Neither would want it any other way.