Resurgent

chapter 19

Chapter 19

~Tobias~

•2 months later•

Our first year together has finished. All the initiates took their tests and became either Dauntless or factionless, as per traditional Dauntless values.

Ethan, who was always messing with Tris, ended up going factionless after stage 2. Tris had suspected that I had some malicious intent in dealing his fate, but in all honesty, the kid was terrible.

Not that I was upset to see him go, of course.

Sarah and Rachel, who never got along during training, are now the best of friends living as Dauntless members together.

The two Abnegation transfers, Becky and Andrew both made it into Dauntless. They surprised everyone - everyone but Tris and me, of course. And I'm not going to say there was any favoritism in their scores, but there might have been a little.

Two of the Dauntless-borns, Susie and Aidan, ended up going factionless, while the other two, Mckenna and Mikey, made it.

Matthew, an Erudite transfer, went factionless after round three; he was an outstanding fighter and excelled in hand-to-hand combat, but the fear landscape proved to be his breaking point.

Brenda, who was born Erudite, got kicked out of Dauntless right before the end of training for never following the rules and always getting into trouble. No one was particularly surprised.

And lastly, Jason from Candor. Jason made it. Nothing much to say about him. He always listened, didn't excel in anything, didn't fail in anything. He was just average, but average is good. If everyone is special, no one is really special.

That was it. Five initiates went factionless, and Seven initiates successfully made it into Dauntless.

It's been a month since training ended. Tris and I see our former initiates from time to time, and they seem to be doing quite well. Of course, there isn't much time to focus on them anymore: Tris and I are, after all, getting married.

And that's what today is. Today is the day I get to say I do and kiss Beatrice Prior on the lips; today is the day I can call her mine.

I guess I might see some of the initiates today; Tris insisted on inviting them. Why, I don't know.

Christina is Tris's Maid of Honor and is currently prepping her for our wedding, helping Tris look even more beautiful than she already is. Zeke is my Best Man, and is currently standing in front of me, giving me some pep talk which I'm not even listening to. We're in an annex of a Dauntless "church," but it isn't really a church. It's more of a section of the base that has been carved out to look pretty and somewhat resemble a church. It's where most Dauntless weddings have taken place for years, and Tris and I weren't about to break tradition.

All of a sudden, I see Zeke snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"Hey, is anyone in there?" Zeke playfully asks me.

"Sorry, I just kind of zoned out," I reply, snapping to focus.

"Well, it's time," Zeke says to me with a smile. My stomach knots, but I push it away. There's no reason to be nervous anymore.

I walk out of the annex, and I see so many people waiting. I swear half of Dauntless is here. We didn't invite all of these people, but we also didn't say they couldn't come, so here they are.

As I walk up and take my place in front of everyone, the talking starts to die down. I see Zeke, Uriah, Caleb, and Peter standing to my left. Part of me still can't believe Peter is one of my groomsmen, but he has evolved into a new person.

I also see all the initiates sitting in the second row, and I mean all of them. Even the factionless former initiates have showed up.

Before I could lose myself in watching the crowd, music begins to play. The giant wooden doors open, and there stands my beautiful bride-to-be, looking radiant. Tris wears the most gorgeous white dress. Her hair is curled, and part of her of it is pulled back. She isn't wearing a lot of makeup, which makes her look even more gorgeous.

As she steps into view of the crowd, I can hear gasps and whispers of awe all throughout the room.

When Tris reaches about halfway down the aisle, I realize I have the biggest smile on my face, and I can't get it off. When she reaches me, the music stops and the gazes of the audience are still locked on Tris.

Tris hands Christina her bouquet of flowers, and I then take both if her hands in mine. She smiles up at me, and in that moment, I realize that this was always meant to be. Every step we ever took, every decision we made, led us to this moment.

And I wouldn't change it for the world.

I zone out throughout the service, but I pull myself back to reality just before I get to kiss Tris and claim her as mine, right before she becomes my wife.

I look into her big, beautiful brown eyes, and I hear the priest say, "You may now kiss the bride".

I kiss Tris more passionately than ever before, and I hear the cheer from the audience behind me. I kiss Tris knowing this kiss makes her mine, that no one can ever take her from me. I never want this kiss to end, as this kiss starts a new chapter in our lives.

As Tris and I end our kiss, the kiss that made us one, I look into those brown eyes and smile, then take her hand and turn to the crowd. Tris and I walk down the aisle together, and as we reach the doorway, I stop her and face her, and kiss her once more.

This has to be the happiest moment of my life. The first time I saw her, helped her down from the net after she jumped, I knew she was the one. And here we are, years later, officially married. It's a dream come true, that I could marry my one true love and live happily ever after with her.

I look Tris in the eye, and whisper in her ear, "I love you. I always have and always will." I take her hand and walk out, walking out of our old separate lives, and walking into our new lives together.