A/N: Story gonna move fast now!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Veronica A. Roth.


Chapter 12-
Identities

Visiting Day. It feels so unnatural to wake up when the sun is already bright and shining overhead, but I allowed myself to switch off my alarm and sleep in today. It just means less time spent hiding from the world in my flat.

My first Visiting Day, I knew my father wouldn't come to see and well, I believed my mother to be dead, but I sat there by the only part of the chasm with a railing, looking out towards the entrance, hoping against all hope that he would come. And when he inevitably didn't, I got up at seven in the evening and walked back to the transfers dormitory and stayed there until Amar came looking for me when I didn't show up for training the next day.

My second Visiting Day, I refused to step foot outside my house or look at a single person, I stayed holed up in my room all day until the day and the memories it carried with it passed.

I've made more progress already this year although I didn't believe I would be able to. I've dragged myself out of bed, washed and dressed and made it out and about in the Dauntless compound. My feet drag me automatically, back to the same section of the chasm- the one with the railing. I'm thinking about the day two years ago when I stood there, leaning against it, eyes fixed at the visitors entrance and nerves still getting used to the height. I seem to be thinking back to two years ago a lot lately.

Something about the memory, standing at that exact same spot is becoming excruciatingly painful the longer I stand there. I can't start thinking about my father. I can't. I look away from the railing and I'm about to go back to my apartment, thinking this is enough for one day, I've made it this far, when I spot Tris standing at the railing with her mother- Natalie Prior- Andrew's wife. Andrew Prior was the closest thing to a friend my father could have. I've seen him and his family come to our house for dinner while I watched from the top of the stairs, countless times. I realize that in all the time after I recognized Tris, I never wondered where her brother went.

I'm almost glad for the distraction from my thoughts, even if it means talking to someone from my former faction. She won't recognize you, I tell myself. You looked different back then, and she barely ever saw you.

She offers me her hand. "Hello. My name is Natalie," she says. "I'm Beatrice's mother."

Beatrice. It sounds so unnatural said aloud. I half-glance at her. She's glaring at me resolutely. I guess she's still mad at me about the knives. At least the coldness I saw in her eyes yesterday is gone.

I shake hands with her twice, uneasily. I hope she can't tell I was originally Abnegation from my awkward handshake. I've just never grasped the familiarity that everyone seems to associate with handshakes.

"Four," I say. "It's nice to meet you." I almost said Tobias. My former faction is coming back to me, talking to someone in grey clothes.

"Four," she echoes, smiling. "Is that a nickname?" She smiles a lot. And she has a really pretty smile. I can see where Tris gets her beauty from.

"Yes." I say shortly, changing the topic. "Your daughter is doing well here. I've been overseeing her training." She's not, but she'll make it through stage one. And I need Tris to forgive me and this is my little way of showing her that I care about her. I know she's Abnegation. She doesn't want her mother to worry about her.

Tris narrows her eyes and frowns at me. I pay no attention.

"That's good to hear," Natalie says. "I know a few things about Dauntless initiation, and I was worried
about her."

I don't register until much later that the only way she could've known anything about FDauntless initiation at all was if she was originally from Dauntless. I'm too busy comparing them- mother and daughter. Tris doesn't have her mother's soft and elegant features but she has the same set jaw, the same determination lining her mouth and the same sparkle in her eyes. She looks like her mother in all the subtle ways. The ways that make her stand out to me.

"You shouldn't worry." I repeat.

All of a sudden, Natalie tilts her head. "You look familiar for some reason, Four."

Shit. Shit. Shit. She must have a better memory than I anticipated. Fear pulses through me again. "I can't imagine why," I replies, as cold as possible. "I don't make a habit of associating with the Abnegation."

I expect her to be offended but she smiles. "Few people do, these days. I don't take it personally," she says, good naturedly.

She seems to have bought the coldness act. I relax a little. Then I make a quick getaway. "Well, I'll leave you to your reunion," I nod, before she can survey me long enough to remember where she's seen me before.

It's one o clock already; I've made it almost half an hour outside. I call that progress for one day and head back to my flat- I have the initiates' final rankings left to calculate, a better prospect than facing lunch today.

I might go out later again today but for now, I've had one hell of a visiting Day, meeting Tris's mother and nearly getting my real identity exposed. But for some reason, the thought doesn't scare me as much as it should. Maybe I want to tell her- Tris- my real identity. I don't know why, but I think I do.