Zero.
Zero.
That was a loaded word for Tris.
In some cases it was a cruel tease, meaning that she'd never amount to anything. In others it was an end, a signal that she'd run out of time and now she was going to see if she would fall or fly.
Or it meant that there was no more, that she was out of something.
Like during the war when she realized she had no more bullets to shoot or that one time when she'd been riding in a deployment plane and the co-pilot had coming running out of the cockpit, screaming about how the plane had been sabotaged and the fuel tanks drained, that the gage had just hit zero and the plane would crash.
They, her and twenty other soldiers, had been forced to pull on their parachutes early and jump from the plane into the mits of an Erudite-Candor clash on the edge of Amity territory. Only fifteen including her managed to get to the Amity safe house, both the pilots had died when the plane went down as well.
But zero also had its good meanings, too, she guessed. It was also considered a number of renewal wasn't? And the Faction Peace Treaty had been signed on January 1, 2090 at 0-hundred hours, so there was that…
All in all zero was one of those words that kind of tripped Tris up a little, not that she minded, she kind of liked it when something tripped her up a bit, it kept things interesting.
Tris tiredly brushed a kiss onto the tiny forehead of the small little human she had just, as in mere minutes ago, given birth to. It had been a long road that had got her here, now twenty-nine, the leader of a nation, a war hero, a friend, a saviour, a lover, a wife, a sister-in-all-but-blood and now, a mother, and she wouldn't have traded any of it.
Tris might have been a Dauntless woman, but she'd been an Abnegation girl first and if she'd been taught anything during the war, it was that your upbringing never left you, no matter what it was.
The Abnegation were selfless, undeniably so, but they also knew the worth of things, including scars and wounds.
Both of which Tris had in spades. As did Tobias, who was currently getting his bruised hand looked at now that Tris had finished cutting off the circulation. So did Tori, who was in the waiting room with Zeke (Tris though maybe there was something going on there but she wasn't sure yet.) and Uriah who was most likely trying to keep Shauna, a former military medic who always had a bone to pick with the Heath Care System, from freaking out to much.
They all had scars- some more than others, some more physical than others –and they all had led long, exhausting lives leaving many scratches and dings in their wake.
They were the complete opposite of this little girl Tris now held in her arms, who was just at the very beginning of the beginning of her life, at zero.
Tris smile as the baby- herbaby; god how she wished her mother were here to see this –blinked her tired little blue eyes up at Tris, looking at her curiously reaching her tiny hand up to Tris's finger.
"That's right sweetheart, I'm your mama." She whispered quietly, her eyes tearing a little.
Oh yes, they were all dinged and messed up and scarred, and yeah, Tris did treasure each of her wounds as a way to remind herself that she'd survived it. But now…
But now, holding onto her tiny little girl's small, small hand Tris couldn't help but think maybe they were both at zero now, and it was time again to start making a different journey. One, hopefully, without so much blood.
The baby, who still needed a name, Tris reminded herself, she and Tobias hadn't wanted to know the gender until she was here and name-hunting would only make them want to know more than they already had, giggled gleefully and clasp her little hands tighter around Tris's bigger, rougher one.
Yeah, Tris though drowsily as Tobias entered the room, his hand bandaged but otherwise fine, and sat himself down on her bed, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and the other going to help cradle their child, a look of awe on his face as she giggled at him, too.
Maybe it was a good thing to go back to zero every once in a while.
Wow. I've no idea where this came from. I hadn't even thought about adding a baby but… whatever. It works! And it's not pathetically short! Hurrah!
Anyway, yes. This is the last chapter of A Tattoo's Worth a Thousand Words, it has been fabulous my lovely, awesome, amazing readers but it has come to an end…
Or has it? You see I happen to have one or two little drabbles stuck back in my files, ones that I wrote because of plot bunnies and didn't like enough to post as full drabbles because of a variety of reasons. But, seeing as you've all been begging me to keep writing this… I was wondering. Would you like me to post them on here? Make sure to tell me in your Reviews!
As well as that, what would you like Tris and Tobias's baby girl to be named? The top three suggestion (by my pick) including full, middle and last name will go on a poll on my page in two weeks time, voting will be for however long it takes me to want to write a sequel to this (hint, hint). If I don't get enough likable suggestions than I'll fill in the missing spots.
Anyway, Thanks you to: Awesomet88, WordsAsStrongAsSwords, booksaremylife4ever, samcheese1 and gwood and anyone else who's ever even glanced at this story!
Fare well (for now;) and Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
BlackRoseGirl666