Chapter 29 - Changed

— Tris

Visiting week is always an interesting week.

When I was in initiation the event only lasted a day. Even through my childhood, parents of different factions always came and stuck around Abnegation for a day.

The only real difference is that now there is no need for a single day. On any given day family can visit family, no regard to their faction of housing.

Visiting day was about visiting family after transferring to a new faction.

Visiting week is about possible transfers to the faction getting the opportunity to learn about what they might be getting themselves into. Visiting week is also used for an excuse for members of other factions to visit a given faction for entertainment or curiosity.

Quite honestly, it's a lot of stress for a major waste of time.

The week starts smoothly, I have all of the papers lined up for Ian to distribute, the schedules are posted, the meetings are booked.

The week continued equally as smooth.

"Beatrice, look at you!" My mother exclaims. She wraps me in her arms the moment I turn around. One of the other ambassadors must have given her directions to my office, for it is very much tucked far down the hallway of ambassador offices. "When I saw you at your brother's, you were barely hobbling!" She signs in awe.

"Yeah," I smile, unsure of what to say. "Things are moving along, and so am I, literally."

She smiles. It's a genuine smile that I can reflect.

I don't see my mother as much as I would wish to anymore. Her and I were left most injured after all that has happened, and she was left in a wheelchair over in Abnegation while I was barely mobile in Dauntless.

Now, she and I are both getting around.
I couldn't be happier.

"How are you?" I hold both her hands in mine.

"Oh I'm alright. How are you dear?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

I'm lucky to get the rest of the day to catch up with my mother. Eventually, my father joins us as well.

"How's Tobias?" My father asks as we sit for dinner in the Cafeteria.

"He's doing well. Leader meetings are running all day today so I'd be surprised if I see a glimpse of him until late tonight."

"He's enjoying his profession?" My mother asks, not skeptically, but in a hopeful manner.

"Very much so. The group of leaders they have here are very good at what they do. The compound surely has seen much worse, but it seems to only be going up since hitting rock bottom."

I recognize the footsteps before the person speaks.
I've trained myself to do it.

"Mind if I join you?" Evelyn comes behind me, her hand lightly touching my shoulder.

I would have jumped if I didn't remember her steps.
She drags her feet slightly, just like her son. Her son's steps are much louder though.

Evelyn and I can be easily compared to be similar.
We both know fear.
We both know to be light on our feet.

"Evelyn, how good to see you again!" My mother smiles brightly.

Evelyn takes a seat to my left, directly across from my father who sits to my mother's right across the table.

Randomly, I begin to feel pain in my leg.
I hate how this happens. The pain has a mind of its own, and it begins and ends whenever it pleases.

Tris, you're fine. You're use to it.

I bite my lip, suddenly uninterested in eating the sandwich in front of me.

My parents go on to talk about how they just got a phone installed in their home, my old home. It is a pretty big deal, especially to them, for a phone would usually of been viewed as self-indulgent, but now they feel comfortable enough with the new broken faction system to have a phone for emergency purposes.

I hear the conversation between my parents and Evelyn, but I find myself drifting away, not paying attention to what they are saying.

I hate this.
I wish this week was over.

I know the pain is from being on my feet so much, but I can't help it.
How could I possibly get around carrying tons of papers and needing crutches at the same time?
I shouldn't need my crutches anymore.
I should be able to walk without pain like this.

The meal ends and I force myself to smile through the pain of standing and hugging my parents goodbye.

"If you ever need anything, just call. I'm getting pretty good with figuring how to answer calls on the phone," my mother smiles, holding my face with both her hands. I give her a weak chuckle with a, most likely, unconvincing smile.

How am I going to make it back to my apartment in this amount of pain?

My parents head in the direction of the Main Building and the Pire while I head the opposite way towards home.

I don't make it far until I come across Christina.

"Hey!" She smiles.

"Hi," I lean my back against the wall, removing the weight from my throbbing left leg.

"You remember Rose, right?" She motions to the female standing to her left who has the same skin tone and is the same tall height as her.

"Of course!" I give my best fake smile. "Good to see you again!"

I can't do this.
The pain is too much.

"Did you eat already?"

"Yeah, I ate with my parents. They just left to head back to Abnegation."

"That's nice. How are they?"

"They're good. Learning how to use the phone they just got in their house."

The conversation mildly dulls my pain for the moment, the distraction giving me relief.

"Two stiffs and a phone. Oh lord." She chuckles.

I smile in response also having no faith that this whole phone thing will ever blow over well with my parents.

"How long are you here for?" I ask Rose politely.

Her and I haven't met more than once since the war, and she was pretty strong on her feelings of hatred towards me during the war.

"Just for the night, tomorrow is Friday after all."

I nod, smiling lightly.

A sharp pain springs in my calf and I bite the inside of my lip, a metallic taste touches my tongue.

"I won't hold you both anymore. Enjoy your dinner," I smile genuinely.

"Are you alright?" Rose asks me looking concerned.

Can I lie to a Candor?
Is it correct to even call her a Candor? I mean, worrying about me is an Abnegation trait, but she lives in Candor, but there's no factions anymore, but—

"Tris I've been telling you to keep your leg up this week, you go through this every year, and you can't end up in the hospital for swelling again!" Christina scolds me.

I sigh.

"Come on, we're walking you back to your place. Both of us were talking on our way to the Cafeteria about how we weren't that hungry yet, so don't you dare go doing that whole 'Abnegation guilt' thing," she takes my hand in hers and we slowly make our way to Tobias and my apartment.

"Indy is practically harmless," I warn Rose. "He's massive, but he won't hurt you."

She nods in response, and I worry she actually was hungry and is frustrated that her sister is making her come along to babysit me.

People can change, Tris.
Haven't you?

+ + +

I use one crutch as I make my way onto the ledge in the pit where story time is held every night during visiting week.

Sorry, but it's not a gory, gruesome, heavily detailed gross one this year.

Much of the audience chucked or makes a sad sound in joke, knowing I am known for the gross stories.

It's surreal, looking at so far this city has come, what it's gone through, what we the people have gone through.

To many of your own knowledge, I was taken away from the city during massive change, and I returned to find what it is today, a broken, beautiful system that just works.

Being thrown into this new system is my story, because it is still hard to adjust.

I hear my accent slipping in and out as I talk and I grow paranoid.

This is the first visiting week I've presented with this new memory of this accent slipping in and out of my brain.

I mean, people change, societies change, cities change, we all change.

One day we are taught to see people by how they act, what they wear, and anything outside of that cookie cutter is tossed away and forgotten.

I was taken away from a city that despised outcasts, and I was brought back to a city that treats them as equals.

I was brought back to a city that wears all different types of clothing, that act in all different ways, that choose not to fit in that cookie cutter model.

Think about it for a minute.
Think about how you grew up, then look around today.

I had no idea what I was returning to when I left Erudite Med after being rescued then in intense medical treatment for almost three years of my life.

I had a clue as to what was outside the walls of my hospital room, then I had more of a clue when I got to explore the hospital more and I wanted to know what was outside that hospital.

I found a beautiful city.

I found a city I once fought for; a city that was once divided, a city that was no longer the city I had been taken from and forced to leave behind.

I know it sounds cliché, but it's true.

I found a city worth living in.

-

Hey!

So, I'm back in school now and let's just say I didn't get as much pre writing done as I had planned when I did the twice a week updates over July and part of August...

Because of this, updates will be every other Friday with possibly some surprise exceptions here and there (:

I know there's just a handful of you still sticking around here reading this, but I just wanted to say I love you all and thanks for being here! I don't plan on stopping writing yet, so I really hope you all choose to stick around even if you feel like you're slipping from the fandom... I really love and appreciate each and every one of you ❤️❤️

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All the love,
Kat 💚