A/N: I have not stopped any of my other stories. I just had to get this out of my head.

My first thanks is to all soldiers everywhere. My second thanks is to Sngsngsnyrslp. She has a chapter in her One Hundred Stories that gave me the idea for this longer story. And of course, Belle453, my awesome beta.

Semper Fidelus (Semper Fi) means Always Faithful for those who don't know. It is the United States Marine Corp motto.

"And that, ladies and gentleman, was Maddy May!" Caesar Flickman said. His voice was drown out by the squealing and screaming fans in the Capitol. "Isn't she amazing!"

Maddy walked over, gave Caesar a hug and sat on the hot pink sofa next to his swivel chair. Photos of her latest tour through the Districts were on panels behind them. The spotlights made her feel like she were in District 4. "Thank you, Mister Flickman."

"Every time you come here you call me Mister Flickman. You make me feel so old!" the blue-haired gentleman gasped.

"I was raised to respect my elders, even if they are only a few years older than me." She wanted to say he was old, but didn't. Her father and mother did teach her better manners. As Caesar joked with the audience and extolled her kindness, she knew her smile faltered. Memories of her parents and her lost District did that to her.

"So you're off to visit the troops I hear," Caesar stated. Maddy tried not to look stunned. Her tour of the front line military bases was a secret, but there were still few secrets in the Capitol. "Aren't you frightened?"

"I'm not concerned at all. Our military is the bravest and strongest there has ever been. I go to bring a bit of home to the soldiers risking their lives to squash this rebellion." Maddy was met with resounding applause. She knew that her words sounded like what all singers and performers said regarding the brave men and women fighting the remnants of Snow and Coin's loyalists.

Two years ago they'd banded together and attacked New Panem. They nearly killed President Paylor last year, paralyzing her and rendering her incapable of continuing as president. Many of her top aides were killed, including someone dear to the pop singer.

The recent election of Finnick Odair as President solidified New Panem's resolve to destroy the uprising. He lost many friends that day and would stop at nothing to destroy them.

"So what do you have in mind for your tour of the bases?" Caesar pried.

Maddy pulled herself back into the present and faced her screaming fans. She shook her long silver hair and waved Caesar off. "I'm not at liberty to say."

"I heard from your manager that you're working on a new song. One that you're dedicating to that special someone you never name." Caesar was met with a deafening scream from the audience.

Maddy laughed and waved them off again. She made no secret that her love ballads were all dedicated to the love of her life. No one knew that the love had been unrequited and now lost to her forever. It kept speculations about her and other famous men at bay, which was her desired effect. "I promise that you will be the first televised performance of my new song."

"I guess we'll have to settle for second best. As President Odair says, Whatever can aid our troops in their fight should be given to them. I can't think of anything more effective at raising their morale than a special performance by Maddy May!"

She rose, blew kisses to the audience and then exited the stage to thunderous applause.

In the dressing room, she pulled off her silver wig and ran a hand through her short blonde hair. Maddy May had given up her old identity after she was discovered singing during a university talent contest. From there she shot to fame on the lyrics of her upbeat songs. She never looked back at the life that was stolen from her by Snow. Her aides, Autumn and Seeder, both young girls from District 11, buzzed around. They found jeans and a sweatshirt for her to wear back to the hotel, took her wig and sparkling dress and chattered about the coming trip.

"You don't have to go with me," Maddy said, concern for the twenty and eighteen-year-olds flooded her. "I can put on my clothing. I won't have elaborate costumes."

"We're going," Autumn growled, her brown eyes furrowed in anger. "Our sister died in the Games. We won't be scared by Enobaria and her savages."

"That's right," the more quiet-spoken Seeder agreed. She'd been named after one of the old Victors in District 11.

"Okay," Maddy threw her hands up in the air. "Let's get out of here and pack. President Odair wants to send us off."

"I thought there wasn't going to be any publicity?" Seeder said as she pulled on a denim jacket and passed a black coat to Maddy. Maddy and her small staff always dressed in plain clothing in public. The girls had been orphaned during the war, the same as her, so she guarded their privacy ferociously.

"I could strangle Silvara for telling Caesar about the trip, but she's not going. It's only fair she gets to pout in public." Maddy's manager was given to her by the publicity arm of the entertainment company she worked for. The former District 1 resident knew how to keep Maddy in the public eye. "She won't be at the presidential palace tomorrow with us."

"I love seeing President Odair up close," Autumn gushed as she opened the door to the private elevator.

"He's happily married with four sons," Seeder cautioned. "How could you think of him like that?"

"We are all free to dream and fantasize," Autumn retorted. "No government is going to destroy that ever again."

Maddy nodded in agreement. Fantasies were all she had left. Gale Hawthorne, senior advisor to President Paylor, was dead. He'd been killed during the destruction of the President's motorcade last year and all that was left of Madge Undersee died with him.

"Maddy May is coming here!" Corpsman Rory Hawthorne shouted. The mess hall looked toward the small television set in the back corner and the young men gathered around it.

"Great. A silver-haired, Capitol-sponsored diva," Sergeant Bristol Huntington growled as she took a bite of her military-issued rationed. "The boys'll be horny for months now."

"With beauties like you to look at we're always horny," Sergeant Corvus said, his brows rising as he looked at Bristol as if she were a beautiful woman.

"Next time I meet you in the ring, I'll knock that smirk off your face," she barked.

"I can't believe Maddy May is coming here!" Rory repeated when he dropped next to Bristol. "She's so sweet."

"You are deluded, Corpsman." Bristol hated the syrupy-sweet singer with a passion. "It's all an act. Something drummed by the same folks who brought us the Games, something to keep everyone's attention off the real issues."

"We're not starving anymore. My little sister doesn't have to fear being Reaped. We're free."

"Hear! Hear!" Corvus and his sidekick Patches banged on the table.

"Maybe you should run for President against Odair in four years?" she replied. Bristol had become more and more bitter with each passing year. The destruction of 12 and her family never was far from her mind.

"I might some day," Rory said, his grey eyes flashing. "And I'll have Maddy May as my wife."

"Who are you marrying, little bro?" Captain Hawthorne asked before he sat next to his childhood friend. "I better clear her with Ma first."

"Apparently that bubbly little diva, Maddy May, is coming to visit us troops, sir. She wants to show her appreciation," Bristol huffed. "They must have realized we're not getting enough publicity out here."

"She won't be coming here," Gale replied, digging into his food.

"Why not?" Rory whined.

"Because we're top secret." Gale said after swallowing. "You all knew that when you signed up with the Marines. President Odair said the Ancient Marines were the proudest, bravest…"

"You don't need to sell me again, big bro," Rory interrupted. Everyone had heard Gale extort the virtues of the organization they were going to rebuild many times.

"It's Sir, Corpsman." Gale narrowed his eyes and glared.

"Yes, sir." Rory jumped up and saluted. "May I be excused to go listen to some tunes by Miss Maddy May since I won't get to see her in person?"

"Tomorrow morning you and I will do a couple rounds in the ring and we'll see what a smartass you are then," Gale barked. "Until then, dismissed Corpsman Hawthorne."

"Thank you, sir," Bristol said. "I'm so glad we won't have a media circus around here. With training, folks have enough on their mind."

"I agree. So tell me how the training is coming Sergeant Huntington?"

Gale left the mess hall and headed toward medical. It was time for Rory to give him a check-up. Every time Gale thought of his brother as a future doctor, he chuckled. If he were arrogant, he'd think that it was because of him that Rory could do what he wanted, but his arrogance had died. The death of Primrose was the start. His near death and that of his friend Beetee erased all arrogance from him once and for all.

A slow song was on in the medical center when Gale entered. His brother sat at a desk, feet up, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed. He was humming along to a mournful tune. The girl sang about loving a soldier who never came home.

Her voice and the simple guitar chords resonated with a part of him that died long before his arrogance. The rich harmony with her back-up singers and the emotions in her voice shocked him. Not since he was a teen back in 12 had a voice touched him so deeply.

He found himself sitting on the corner of Rory's desk waiting for the next song. It was a cover of New Panem's national anthem. The power of her voice made his heart pound. As she belted out the impossibly high notes near the end of the song, he felt his spirit soar with her. A newfound love of his nation poured through him. What a wonderful world where we can all share in the beauty of a woman's voice without fear it would ever be stifled.

"She's amazing isn't she?" Rory said softly.

Gale's eyes flew open leaving him stunned because he never remembered closing them in the first place. "I haven't heard a voice that beautiful since…"

"Pa's funeral." Rory finished his brother's sentence.

"You were only… eight.'

"And I still remember Madge Undersee singing that ancient song about angels and heaven." Rory stood and approached his brother.

"I hate to talk about…"

"I know, but you can't deny that Madge Undersee's voice rivaled Katniss's."

Gale closed his eyes at the pain of imagining pretty seventeen-year-old Madge burned alive in her house. And mention of Katniss only reminded him of how foolish he'd been in his youth to pine for her. "She had a beautiful voice."

"And she was a beautiful person," Rory added. "She saved your life."

"I know and I never got to repay her for it."

"You did. You freed Panem. Now all the Maddy May's of the world can sing for us."

"You are such a kiss-ass." Gale had to break the sorrow that hung in the air.

"Come on, bro, let's look at your arm. I need to make sure you didn't overdo as usual." Rory walked toward the exam table.

Gale pulled off his shirt and jumped up on the table. He'd taken a piece of shrapnel through his chest, severing several muscles to his left arm in the process. Capitol medicine helped him heal, but it took over six months. Military leaders and the new President felt it was better for Gale to be dead to most of Panem, since he was a target for the rebels. His mother, sister and brothers knew he lived and his new troops, but all were sworn to secrecy. His family didn't want to see him killed and his Marines were the best of the best. No one else needed to know he was still alive. No one else would even care.

A/N: What do you think? Is this worth continuing? Thanks for the feedback.