A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You really cheered me up after a rough week. Thank you also to my wonderful beta reader, Rosalie! This chapter is extremely short, but the good news is that I'll be posting the next one very soon - probably tomorrow.
Chapter 20: Tris – Elections
It feels like this day took forever to arrive, and then just as long to be over. By the end of it, I'm a nervous wreck, waiting anxiously for news that the election was successful in all the voting districts of our new country.
Despite the broadcast that Caleb helped me set up, and its apparent success in rooting out the last remnants of NUSA, I can't help worrying that there are still some former leaders hiding out there. And that they will attack at the last minute.
But my pessimism proves to be unfounded. The election results trickle in slowly, giving numbers for each candidate that indicate virtually the entire population voted. And there are no reports of violence.
By the time I finally go to bed, all of the polling places have closed, and it's clear that the election went far more smoothly than I could have hoped. Caleb obviously did an amazing job with it.
When I get up in the morning, there's a summary of the election results at the foot of my bed. I smile, wondering whether it was Anna or Caleb who delivered it. If there's one thing I've enjoyed the most about the last nine and a half months, it would have to be the time I've spent with both of them. I feel like I didn't appreciate my family enough growing up, but I know better now, and I relish the time I have with my grandmother and brother.
But neither of them is here right now, so I take the opportunity to pore over the paper on my bed. I refused to endorse anyone, since my voice carries enough weight to sway the results, but I'm glad to see that Jessica Andrews won the presidency. She was my first choice – and the person I voted for.
It looks like she'll have a good council to work with, too. I don't know all of the names I see among the results, but I'm pleased to see the ones I do know. And I'm especially glad to see that Anna is now Chicago's representative. She'll do a fantastic job.
Crossing my room to the calendar that I keep hanging on the wall, I cross off another day. The new government will officially take power two weeks from today – almost ten months after Tobias' broadcast. At that point, I'll technically be done with my job, though I agreed to stay for another month or two to help them get started.
After that, I'll be moving back to Chicago. It took me a while to be certain about my choice, particularly since it will be strange to live apart from Caleb and Anna again, now that I've gotten so used to seeing them every day. But I know that things are different in the city than they were when I last lived there. We'll be able to see each other regularly now, even if we live in different factions. Or in Anna's case, in no faction at all.
I stretch before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. I'll give Christina a call afterwards, I think. It's time to ask if I can live in her faction. In Tobias' faction. I'd prefer that to moving back into Dauntless, for more reasons than I care to list, but if he's dead-set against it, then Dauntless is my backup.
His image drifts through my mind despite myself, and I know there's no way to fool Christina when I talk to her. Whether or not I admit it, she'll know that I'm hoping to be near Tobias again. But maybe that's okay. If he agrees to let me move in there, it will tell me a lot about how he feels these days.
I just hope the answer is what I want to hear.
A/N: I know this was quick, but I'd still love it if you reviewed... :-)