Reawakening

Epilogue

The Navy Pier Restoration Project is a part of the effort to unify the factions, as it is a common place for everyone to enjoy. Today is the day all our efforts pay off and the park reopens for the first time in at least two centuries. I can hardly wait, and I know Uriah is even more anxious than I am. He has big plans for this event.

Tobias and I make the walk from the train to the Pier trailing a ways behind our loud, rambunctious friends, holding hands in companionable silence. When the ferris wheel comes into view, he turns and grins at me before pulling me in with his palm pressed to the small of my back and dipping me backwards as he kisses me. I laugh as he supports my back while I regain my balance.

"You're going to ride that with me today," I inform him.

Tobias scoffs, shaking his head. "Not a chance."

"You're no fun," I pout, but I'm still determined to get him on that thing someday. "Come on." I pull him along to catch up with our friends.

Navy Pier is unlike anything I have ever seen before. The rides have all been restored and freshly painted, and some of them play cheerful music. People in all colors mill around the park, though most are in Candor black and white, Dauntless black, or Amity yellow and red. I pull Tobias along by the hand when I see Al and Myra in line for the carousel and he chuckles at my childish excitement.

Al greets me with a side hug, and Tobias shakes his hand. "It's so good to see you both!" Myra says as she squeezes my arm, their baby is asleep on her shoulder. Myra and Al were married about a year ago, and most of our Dauntless initiation class attended the ceremony. It was beautiful, as most things in Amity are. Al and Myra came to Tobias and my wedding the year before, as well.

"Oh, she is getting so big!" I coo, taking a peek at the baby's face. "And beautiful. She looks just like you, Myra."

"Thank you. If only she slept as well at night as she is here on my shoulder. It's almost as if the noise helps her sleep!" We laugh and talk, then when our turn comes for the ride we wave goodbye as we each pick out a wooden horse to ride.

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I left Tobias chatting with my parents a few minutes ago. They love him almost as if he were one of their own children and over time, he has become more and more comfortable with others caring for him. We see my father often at council meetings-- when Marcus was convicted of spousal and child abuse-- as well as conspiracies and other smaller crimes related to his position of power, which came out during his truth serum trial-- and was sentenced to a total wipe by memory serum, after which he will live out his life factionless-- my father was voted to take Marcus's former position as head councilman. We don't see my mother as often, but we do make a point to have a meal with her at least every month or two.

Tobias turned me down when I invited him to come with Caleb and me on the Wave Swinger, a ride with swings just like at a playground, except for it spins really fast, making the swings fly outward so the chains are nearly horizontal to the ground.

"It's really quite fascinating how these rides work," Caleb says. "For example in this one, at a particular angle, the chain provides the necessary horizontal force..." I tune him out. It's not as bad as his interest in water filtration systems when we were stuck at Amity that time, but still, it kind of takes the fun out of it for me, even if I do have an Erudite aptitude.

I hear someone shout my name and turn my head to see Uriah and Marlene running toward me, grinning, and I can't help but grin back. More slowly, Zeke, Shauna, and their little one-year-old boy, Carson, follow behind them.

Marlene tackles me in a hug before holding out her left hand, showing off a beautiful engagement ring with one white diamond in the center and smaller black stones on either side. "We're getting married!" she squeals and I laugh.

"About time, Uriah!" I tease, punching him playfully in the shoulder. "He's had that ring for months!"

"Thanks for helping me pick it out, Trissy," Uriah grins, putting one arm around Marlene and the other around my shoulders.

Marlene smirks. "That explains it, then." Uriah raises an eyebrow. "I was so impressed that you picked out the perfect ring-- now I know how you did it. You were smart enough to ask Tris for help!"

"And that's why Tris and me are a package deal," Uriah quips. "Can't separate us when we're such a good team." Going through what we did together, Uriah and my bond is unbreakable, and he's my very best friend, besides Tobias. It was a huge relief to us both when Marlene accepted that. Now, Mar is one of my closest friends as well. It's funny to think how jealous she was during initiation.

Zeke and Shauna finally catch up to us, now with Tobias in tow. I raise my eyebrows. "Change your mind? Did you finally become Dauntless enough for the Wave Swinger?"

Tobias scowls. "Well, somebody has to stay back and take care of Carson. It's not a reflection of my Dauntlessness, I'm just being a good friend."

"Dauntlessness isn't a word," Caleb corrects him. "It would be more--"

"I don't care, Caleb," Tobias interrupts.

"Leader vote! Is Dauntlessness a word? All who say yea, raise your hands!" Uriah announces, and his, Tobias' and my hands shoot up in the air. "If Tris, Four and I all say it's a word, then we have a majority of Dauntless leaders even without the other two here. Dauntlessness is officially a word."

"I don't think--"

"Nope, sorry, Caleb," I laugh. "You are overruled."

On the ride, Caleb covers his eyes the whole time while I laugh at him-- he's white as a ghost and appears to be basically frozen in place. Behind me, I hear Zeke whooping and Uriah shrieking out the same strangled cat scream I heard from him the first time we ziplined, with Marlene next to him laughing hysterically. I turn in my seat and raise an eyebrow at her. We can mostly communicate through our facial expressions by now and I know she understands my message-- 'are you sure you want to marry this pansycake?'-- when she laughs even harder and nods her head.

After the ride is over, Tobias and I break away from our friends. We're near the ferris wheel and I notice it has no line. "Please?" I beg. "It's sunset-- the view will be so beautiful. Come on it this once, for me?" Tobias looks like he's about to waver, and then suddenly he stiffens. I turn around, following his gaze, and my eyes widen. Marcus is wandering through the park and he's coming our way. I don't see any sign that he recognizes us, same as the other time we saw him on the street, due to his memory wipe, but that does not stop Tobias from tensing on the rare occasion that we see him, though.

I pull him toward the gondola with me and, desperate to avoid Marcus, he doesn't resist. I'm excited that I got him on here, though, because I know how to distract him from his fear, and I also wanted to tell him something.

As the wheel turns and the gondola rises higher, Tobias groans. "Why did I let you drag me on here?" I laugh and pull him close to me and crash my lips to his. His hand automatically goes to the small of my back, pushing me closer, as I tug at his curly hair. It's longer than it was during my initiation, and I love the way it feels so soft between my fingers.

The wheel stops when we are at the very top, and I pull away, but keep eye contact. "I always felt like this was the place where everything changed," I say softly to him. "That's why I wanted to come on here with you."

Tobias nods. "It was on this ferris wheel that I decided that I wanted to tell you about myself. It's a special place to me, too."

"It's my turn to tell you something," I say nervously. I'm not sure why I am so nervous-- I know he'll be happy. His intense, insistent dark blue eyes stare right into mine. I could still just get lost in those eyes, I feel like I could drown in them. He squeezes my hand, the one he hasn't let go of since we got on this ride. I take a deep breath. "We're going to have a baby!"

Tobias grins and laughs, then crashes his lips to mine. "I can't imagine my life without you, Tris."

I'm so glad I chose to come back to him, chose to live and stay with him. I will always choose him. I lean my forehead against his. "You don't have to."