The Hunger Games: Book Four - How it Might Have Been ... Gale.

Page Eighteen

*AN* Sorry my updates have been irregular lately, been working on getting an agent for my real life novels but I'm getting a lot of rejections! All the votes and comments on here really keep me motivated, and I promise that this story is about to get realllllyyyyy good! Thanks, and share it with your friends if you like it!*

Katniss

I sit next to Gale on the sofa staring out at the waking district beneath us. The sun has risen over the Nut, casting a shadow over the people below, but my mind is wandering too much for me to appreciate the view. I'm wondering if what I'm doing with Gale is wrong. I'm married to Peeta now.

But what if my worst nightmare has come true, and Peeta is no more? Or what if this is how it was meant to be? The way I feel around Gale, the chilling familiarity, the deep sense of comfort, the guranteed protection, it feels so natural, so right. Maybe, if I hadn't been in the Games all those years ago, this is how it would have been. Maybe we would have grown old together, and he would finally have convinced me to have kids, get married to him, even. But there would have been no Rebellion, no new freedom for the whole of Panem. But so many lives would have been spared, so much blood left unspilled, so many uncried tears. Is that what I want? Would I have preferred that?

Gale and I would probably have run away, like he said. He would have convinced me in the end. And we would have done it, too. We would have survived. We are a team. I look at him now, the dawn light casting shadows across his face, and there's something about his small smile that still makes me wonder if I could change it all. Erase Peeta from my life. Kuwai and Oeno love Gale. We could do it. We could run away. This time, for real.

As if Gale is reading my mind, he smiles at me knowingly. He's thinking the same thing, but for him to suggest me running from my husband, from the danger, from this life, would be indecent. Instead, he bends down and kisses me, slowly, as if to reassure me he's still there and that this isn't some sort of illusion.

Before Gale can say anything or suggest escape, there is a knock at the door. He raises his eyebrows; he's not expecting anyone at this time of the morning. He gets up quickly, gesturing for me to wait behind, but I don't. Kuwai and Oeno rise too, startled by the loud knocking that has ceased to stop now.

Cautiously, Gale opens the door. A man in all black is standing there, a hood covering his face. He hands Gale a single white rose, a slip of paper attached to it. Gale reads it, aloud. The message chills me to the bone, and I cling to my children.

"You think you can escape. You cannot escape the new Capitol. We will come for you, Katniss Everdeen, and we seek the justice of our ancestors years ago. Escape is impossible; trying is futile." Gale flips the paper over to the other side where the message is continued. "To prove we are not making false promises about the destruction we can cause, look outside. You are not the only one who can cause something great to fall, Ms. Everdeen."

Gale's startled eyes meet mine, and then I flick my eyes to the door. The man has disappeared. "What do they mean, 'you are not the only one who can cause something great to fall?" I ask. The children are shaking.

"The Rebellion," Gale says, but he does not understand either.

Suddenly, a collosal rumbling begins. The house tremors and there is a crashing noise from outside. We run to the window, avoiding the falling plates and pictures on the walls.

"No!" Gale cries, his voice a strangled shout.

Before us is the source of the eathquake. The Nut is falling, the great mountain that was the only constant thing in this District. It crumbles like paper, stone collapsing in on itself.

"No," Gale whispers, his fingers pawing the glass. His company, all his collegues, his work - they're gone.

You are no the only one who can cause something great to fall, Ms. Everdeen.