A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and to my wonderful beta reader, Rosalie! Your reward is to get this chapter sooner than I expected. It's relatively short, but I liked writing it anyway. Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading it.
Chapter 22: Tobias – Preparation
I take a final pass through Tris' apartment in the morning, making sure everything is ready for her. I've spent so much time in this space over the last two months that it's strange to realize I might not be welcome in here after today.
But I don't let that bother me. Instead, I look at the rooms from multiple angles, making sure that the furniture lines up right and that everything works together. It's a nice mix of Abnegation and Dauntless – one that feels comfortable to me. I hope it evokes the same sentiment in her.
My fingers brush over the comforter on the bed as I smooth it out one more time. It's so much like the one I had in Dauntless, and I can't help remembering how Tris looked the last time she was in my apartment there – when I entered and saw her holding the blanket to her face, trying to smell my scent on it. Seeking comfort before she gave herself up to Jeanine to save everyone else….
She'll never know how many times I've sought the same comfort myself, trying to find the last remnants of her scent in the blanket on my current bed. We only spent one night on it together, but it was the best night of my life.
Turning from the bed, I move my eyes over the nightstand, pausing on the photo album that I created for her. It took as long to make that as it did to get the entire rest of the apartment ready, and honestly I'm a little nervous about how she'll react to it. The Abnegation don't take pictures, so it's possible she won't appreciate seeing images of her parents.
But I think she will. I think it enough to have spent weeks tracking down old security footage from the different factions and poring through it to find pictures of Andrew and Natalie. And additional weeks sharpening the grainy images and adding color to them. They turned out well.
With a last look, I head toward the door, glancing at the small kitchen on my way out, and at the cupboard I stocked with Abnegation tea. Maybe, if I'm far luckier than I deserve, Tris and I will sit here together someday, sipping cups of it. I can hope so, anyway.
It feels like a day to work with my hands, so I spend it renovating the apartment building that the new Urban Farming faction will be using. I still have my doubts about that particular theme – it seems like it's basically just a branch of Amity – but enough of the others on the Faction Approval Committee voted for it that it passed.
And really, that's fine with me. When I joined the committee, I promised myself that I'd help every faction that was approved regardless of whether or not I voted for it personally. And I've stayed true to that, so I have no problem spending today building walls for a series of algae tanks. They're actually kind of interesting.
It's difficult to stay focused in the afternoon, though. My mind keeps wandering to Tris, thinking about whether she's arrived yet or not. Christina wanted to be the one to welcome her, and that makes sense for a lot of reasons. But it's still hard not to be there for that first moment.
I finally decide to head home in the late afternoon, unable to wait any longer. Stopping in the bathroom on the way out, I clean up a bit, since I've gotten somewhat dirty and sweaty over the course of the day. At least it was algae tanks today, not sheetrock or paint, so I'm no messier than I was on a typical day in Dauntless. Or pretty much any other time that Tris saw me.
Still, I brush the dirt off my clothes and wash my face, pausing for a moment to look at my reflection. It will probably always feel strange to do that, after spending so many years in Abnegation, but I do it anyway as I run my fingers through my hair. It's the longest it's ever been in my life, though most people would still call it short.
The walk home passes in a blur, my mind too focused on my destination to notice anything I'm passing. I can feel my nerves building up now that the moment is approaching. It's been so long since I last saw Tris, and I have no idea how she'll react to me.
My heart is hammering by the time I walk out of the stairwell onto our floor. She's here, somewhere, within a hundred yards of me for the first time in a year.
I pause, listening, and it only takes a moment to hear Christina's voice coming from the gathering room. My feet start toward the sound on their own, knowing that Tris will be with her. And then I'm in the doorway, watching, as she moves through the room, getting a tour of the faction. Our faction.
Her back is to me, but I watch her familiar form, and the graceful movements that are so deeply imprinted on my brain. Tris.
Her hair is shorter than it was when I pulled her from the net her first day in Dauntless, but longer than it was after she cut it in Amity. And if she has any scars left from the device that NUSA attached to her skull, they're hidden beneath the blond strands.
She's a little taller, too, I think, though it's hard to tell from here, without a reference point. I'll know when we're close. The thought sends a surge of adrenaline through me.
Christina leads her toward the game room, but Tris must see me out of the corner of her eyes, because she turns her head, looking directly at me. I'm pretty sure my heart stops.
Time seems to, also, as we stare at each other. I'm too lost in those bluish-gray eyes to register much, but I'm vaguely aware that my mind keeps repeating the same thought over and over. Beautiful.
Our gazes stay locked as she crosses the room slowly, toward me. It gives my heart plenty of time to start hammering again.
"Hi," she says softly when we're only a few feet apart.
It takes a second for me to find my voice. "Hi, Tris," I finally manage. It's hard to believe that such a simple statement could contain so much meaning.
But a gesture can contain even more. That becomes abundantly clear when she steps closer and wraps her arms around my waist. She presses her ear to my chest, directly over my racing heart. And I freeze.
This is the way we stood when she pulled me out of the simulation.
Pain sears through me at the comparison – a reminder of every time I've hurt her. But it's also the way we stood at Al's funeral, the first time I ever touched my lips to her, and on another half a dozen occasions after that. It's the way we comforted each other, and loved each other. And it sends electricity coursing through every part of my body.
The good associations finally outweigh the bad, and I wrap my own arms around her, pulling her tightly against me. My face drops into her hair, and I breathe her incredible scent for the first time in far too long.
This, right here, is everything. I didn't dare to hope I would have this again, however briefly. And now that I do, I hold her as if it's the last chance I'll ever have, letting her closeness slowly refuel my soul.
Christina's voice finally breaks through my reverie. "Four." Something about her tone makes me think it's not the first time she's called me.
My entire body tenses, not wanting anything or anyone to interrupt this moment, but I lift my head just enough to look at her.
"Ten minutes," she says, somewhat apologetically.
The words take a few seconds to register. Christina thinks I should go for a walk? I have no idea why. I'm not making Tris uncomfortable, am I? Oh God, maybe I am.
But the worry only lasts until I start to pull away. It's obvious from the way Tris tries to hang on that she doesn't want to leave this embrace any more than I do. Still, Christina has steered me well on too many occasions for me to ignore her now, so I reluctantly detangle myself from Tris.
"I'll be back soon," I tell her, and then I'm heading down the stairs, going for a walk for who knows what reason. Maybe I'll figure it out on the way.
A/N: Yay, Tris and Tobias are finally in the same scene! The next chapter is basically Chapter 46 ("Reconciliation") from "Determinant," but told from Tris' point of view. I'm not going to repeat all of the chapters from "Determinant" that way, but I feel I need that particular chapter to transition to the rest of this story. "Prior Rings" will then continue to other scenes that are either hinted at in "Determinant" or are new.
Hopefully, I'll post that chapter by Thursday. In the meantime, please let me know what you thought of this one. :-)