TRIS

That night we meet up in the dorms and everyone is gathered around us. Tobias is standing behind me and I'm in the center of the room. Everyone is looking at me. And even though I've arranged this meeting, having everyone staring at me is a little unnerving. I take a breath and my eyes find Caleb and Christina who are sitting together on a cot and I can't help but smile a little when I see them. They look good together: happy. I cleaned my throat.

"Okay, so you're all probably wondering what I gathered you here for," I say, slowly. The group nods. "Well…as some of you may know, Tobias and I went back to the city and we stayed for a couple of days. We kept to ourselves mostly, but it was nice Really nice, you know? To have a home again. To not feel like we had to run…or that our lives were on the line." I smile, because that feeling had been nice. Feeling safe…I hadn't felt it so strongly since I was in Abnegation, long before the Choosing Ceremony, long before I turned sixteen and my life awaited me. Things are different now and even though we've been through a lot of shit, I'm glad for it. I'm glad for the challenge; I'm up for the fight. I lick my lips and look around the room. They're all staring at me. Get to the point, I tell myself. I swallow. "Tobias and I…we're going back to the city," I say. "And this time it's for good."

Whispers fill the room as people turn to each other and I hold up my hands. "Hang on, let me explain," I say. They don't stop and the whispers grow louder. "Guys, please…"

"Shut up and listen!" Tobias yells, his voice booming over the group. With him standing behind me, I even wince a little. He certainly has that quality about him. He speaks and people are going to listen to him. I turn to look at him and he offers me that half smile of his that I'm crazy for. He nods at me to continue.

I turn back. "Ever since we arrived here…I felt like something was off…wrong…and I wasn't wrong. The whole thing with damaged genes or perfect genes and all the stupid shit that is going on out here, everywhere outside of the city walls…it's stupid. I don't care what's going on inside of your bodies. Genetically you might be damaged, but that's okay. Because you're still you and you're all still people I care about. Screw the Bureau."

My eyes find Christina and she grins at me and so I take that as a sign that I'm doing okay up here. I never thought that I would have to do the whole "speech thing." Talking in front of people wasn't really and Abnegation thing…nor was in Dauntless. But here I was, Divergent, in front of my friends…my family and I was going to give them a choice. This in turn, would be like another Choosing Ceremony. Choose where you truly belong. Be who you are and not what you think you should be. Didn't Jeanine say those exact words to me once? But that wasn't really a choice. This though, this, was a choice. I wasn't going to force anyone into doing what they didn't want them to do. This is up to them.

"Tobias and I are going back. But for those of who may be a little wary about going back to the city, it's not as bad as it was. And though, like I said we didn't really see a lot of it, but we weren't in any danger. We could go back and make a home. With what we know, the knowledge that we've gained her, we can take it back with us and we can build up another society. A working society where it's based off of who you are instead of who you're not supposed to be. A society can't function like that."

"And who's going to lead us in this new society?" Amar's voice comes from the corner of the room, so I have to turn to look at him. His voice is deep and it fills the entire room. He had run away from a society that had worked against him once before…all of us had. Who's the say that it will not happen again?

"That can all be discussed at a later time. I don't know how it's going to work out, but I know that eventually we can work it out. Because all of us together…I've never seen a more capable group of people," Tobias says coming up next to me and take my hand.

I'm grateful for the save, and for his hand, because I didn't have an answer for him. Not really. Because to be honest, I hadn't even thought about it. I had the idea of going back and recreating a society that would actually work out, but I had no idea who would lead us. I just wanted to go and live and do things right this time. Right by everyone…right by me. I have to at least try.

"Are there homes for us?" George asks. "Are we even safe to return?"

"There's no fight. Those of you who come back, I'm more than sure you'll be welcomed back. People mourned you," I say looking at him. "They mourned the both of you." My eyes find Amar and he nods at me. "Now I'm not trying to force you guys into anything. You're free to make your own decisions. This is your choice. It's your choice if you want to stay or if you want to go." I run my free hand through my hair and shrug. "But we're leaving at the end of the week and you're all welcome to come with us."

I let out a breath and offer a smile at the group before pulling my hand from Tobias' and leaving the room. I don't know if he has anything to add or to say to the group, but I don't. I'm done. I don't like goodbyes. Goodbyes are dangerous. Once I'm outside I shut the door to the dorms and I lean against the wall, letting my heart return to its normal beat. After a few minutes the door opens and Tobias emerges. I look at him and he smiles at me.

"You did great," He tells me kissing my cheek.

"I rambled," I answer.

He chuckles. "It was fine. I especially like the part where you said 'Screw the Bureau.' It was a nice touch."

I laugh and push his arm and he pulls me against him. "Did they say anything?'

"They're deciding," he tells me. "Give them the rest of the week and if they stay, they stay, we can't force them."

"I know," I say resting my head against his chest. "But I want them to come back with us. Losing them….any of them…I don't know how well I'll handle it."

"You're stronger than you think you are, Tris," he says.

I look up at him. "You think so?"

"I know so."

I wrinkle my nose at him and he leans down to kiss me. "Is the end of the week okay?" I ask. "I know I kind of sprung that on you."

He shrugs. "I don't mind."

"Good," I tell him before pulling him down to kiss me again.