Not real.

Chapter Five: My Hunting Partner

*Katniss*
After all these years it's like Gale hasn't aged from when I left him. He's at least 21 now but still looks 18.
   I found him in the woods on a hunch. I looked for him everywhere but he was no where to be found, and I had no access to get into the Nut. Exasperated, I decided to do a little hunting. As I was aiming at a good sized rabbit from my perch, high in a tree, the snapping of branches drew my aim away from my kill and to this new threat. I almost let the arrow fly but then I saw the scar on his neck. From the mutts. That I stitched. I gasped and thought maybe he had heard me but his guard must've been down because he took no notice of me sitting in the tree next to him.
   He stood gazing at the tree next to me and took out a primrose from his pocket, and laid it at the foot of the tree. I saw the words carved into the bark and tears sprang to my eyes.
Oh Gale...I thought.
He started talking about when he had promised me he'd take care of me and my family. I didn't even notice the tears streaming from my eyes until he started to apologize to Prim.
   He's been living in regret ever since he couldn't get to her. As he fell asleep under the tree I figured that there wasn't a girlfriend or wife to get back home to. All I could think of was how selfish I've been. I sat around and only thought of how miserable I was for three damn years and Gale has thought of nothing but how he had failed me. How he had broken one promise. And from what I had learned from his work, he's put all his effort into making sure that New Panem will never see the same tragedies ever again.
   All at once I find myself forgiving Gale. I blamed him all this time for Prim's death because I was blind to the fact that just because someone creates a weapon, doesn't mean that they are responsible for the damage it causes. Coin killed Prim. Prim has been avenged. Coin wanted my loyalty broken with Gale so that I would be loyal to her. She used him against me. But it obviously didn't work. Coin and Snow were never really that different.
Moves and countermoves Snow once said. They both were playing the game. Using their pieces as it suited them.
   So I forgive Gale. I may not trust him fully like I used to and it will take work but I honestly don't care how long it takes. I refuse to let Coin or Snow or anyone else take him away from me.
   So now I sit across from him. A light snow falls around us but melts in a wide circle around the fire I built. I laugh quietly "Looks like he's stuck with me. Otherwise he would've froze to death out here."  I notice the rabbits on his belt and figure he was emptying his snares. I bet there's a couple more he hadn't emptied yet. I leave my bow on the ground and go to empty and reset the snares.
   I find three more rabbits, and as I'm walking back, frustratedly trying to get the dang rabbits onto my belt, I glance up and see that Gale has woken up maybe seconds ago. He confusedly looks at the fire before having his eyes drawn to my jet black bow. His hands reach out and gingerly caress it. I can see the recognition in his eyes. But then my foot snaps a branch and before I can register it he has me pinned to the ground, a knife to my throat.
"Who are you! Why are you here!" He says in a voice so ferocious I admit it scares me.
"Stealing is punishable by death, or hadn't you heard?" I say rather boldly for my current situation.
"Katniss?..." He whispers. His eyes sweep over my face. So many emotions cross his face, worry, relief, fear, joy, sadness.
"What are you doing here?" He asks almost angrily.
"Well apparently saving your life! You would have frozen to death out here!" I yell.
"Well next time just let me freeze then if it's too much for you to handle! It's what I deserve anyway! Alright quit avoiding the question why the hell are you here!? Shouldn't you be living happily ever after with Peeta or something?" He yells back.
His response hurts a little considering that I came all this way for him. But I remind myself that I knew it wasn't going to be easy and choose my next words carefully.
"What I thought I had with Peeta wasn't real and we both realized it."
Gale looks at me obviously confused.
"I'm here because if I let you go Snow and Coin win. And I refuse to let that happen. I refuse to let them take another person away from me."
In the last part my voice cracks. And I wait for his response.

*Gale*
   This can't be happening. I dreamt of this moment so many times and in so many different ways but...I don't deserve it. It was my fault why can't she see it! She doesn't want to be with me, she'll realize sooner or later that she still blames me for Prim and then where will we be? Her being here makes everything so confusing. I should be blamed for her sisters death so why doesn't she? The guilt consumes me every second I'm looking at her.
"You shouldn't be here. Katniss, things are...different. I'm not worth it. You should just forget about me m'kay? They've already won Katniss...you just wouldn't get it."
I can see a flare of pure anger flash across her deep grey eyes.
"You forget, Gale, that I am responsible for thousands upon thousands of deaths. If I had killed Peeta or eaten those berries in those first games, there would be no need for a rebellion or a war or a bomb that Coin used to kill children. She and Snow have NOT won. And this is because those deaths and our lives led to their demise. But if you let them rip us apart then they can still win. So yeah, I think I get it."
It's true. All of what she said is true. The fact that we are alive right now puts us in the win over Snow and what would be Coin's rule. By simply living we are defying them. And it's also true that if we give in to hopelessness and tension between us that they could still be victorious from their graves. But that doesn't excuse the fact that I broke a promise. If I were to be friends with her again the guilt would drive me insane. I deserve to feel this way and to live this way after what I put her through. I practically took her life away and called it a tactic. A strategy. She SHOULD hate me. She should just leave...
"Katniss," my voice cracks. "Katniss I can't. You don't want me back. I deserve to live with this." I duck my head so she won't see my shame. I want her to leave so I don't have to think about anything anymore. But I know if she does, then I will be irreparable. I built this new life on trying to forget her, but here she is. Reminding me again.
"Hey, hey look at me." She grips my neck and places her thumb under my chin forcing me to look at her. All of this is so confusing, why is she still here! Why does she want me back? Why has she...stayed? Why is she fighting for me?...My thoughts are suddenly interrupted by her voice. Calm but so full of emotion and determination.
"I feel it too. Okay? I live with the guilt every day. But all those people, the people I killed, died for an honorable cause. It's taken forever for me to realize that and even now I don't like saying it. Dying because of me doesn't seem very honorable but dying for a free life does. Prim...she....Prim knew when she signed up to be a medic what she was signing up for. She wanted...she needed a free world. And because of her and all those other people we don't have to be a piece in the government's damn games. Don't you think we deserve to enjoy the freedom they gave us?" Tears have started to pool in her eyes.
"Gale, don't let them take you away from me." She bites her lip to keep from crying, trying to be strong like she always has. A part of my mind clicks into place. She knows that this was her chance. It was a risky one too. She knew I might not let her back in and yet she still came. Her words and actions bring a whole new perspective to me. What am I doing? She came all this way to make sure that we weren't going to end up still being pieces in the game and I'm about to turn her away to so I can live in self pity for the rest of my life? I may not be able to live with my guilt alone but maybe with her...
"Why did you come back for me?"
She smirks a little and looks down at her feet for a second. She sniffs and wipes her tears with her wrists.
"Because good hunting partners are hard to find." Katniss steps back and holds out her hand for me to shake. Gosh I've missed her. A little crazy and stubborn as hell but she's still Katniss.
I shake her hand with a firm grip.
"Hunting Partners." I yank her arm towards me and wrap her in a bear hug that probably is suffocating her but she does the same to me so I don't think she cares. My head drops to her shoulder and I take in the smell of home.
"I've missed you Gale." She says.
"I've missed you too Catnip."