Tris' POV

"Is he ready for this?" David asks, staring over at Eric.

"He has to be," I say.

The past two days have been filled with all of us training constantly. The Allegiant soldiers have been working on improving the skills we are all going need to if we want a shot in winning the fight coming our way.

Eric hasn't lost his touch, which is good because he's one of the best soldiers the Allegiant have. He's been helping the other men and women for the past 48 hours. The tension is high, particularly among the younger soldiers. Their experience is greatly lacking compared to veterans like Eric and Amar.

"He apologized yesterday for leading Jeanine and Evelyn to us," David comments.

"He blames himself," I reply, cleaning out my gun.

"And you blame me," he says.

My silence speaks for me.

As the leader it was his job to keep his people informed. Instead, he kept all of us in the dark. Now there's an army planning to march on our doorstep any day now. What did David hope to gain by keeping the tracking device a secret?

"Being in charge means making tough decisions," he says. "I'll be the first to admit that I made a bad one."

"You did," I agree.

He laughs lightly. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

I glance up at him. "Should I?"

Sobering, he says, "No."

Fingering the handle to my gun, I look over at Eric. He's sparing with a teenage, sandy-haired boy. "People are going to die," I say.

"It's a part of war, I'm afraid."

"Why didn't you warn us sooner?" I ask him.

Slowly, he sits beside me on the bench. "I had hoped to prevent the people from panicking. Seems to have backfired, hasn't it?"

"Pretending that danger isn't approaching, isn't going to fix the problem, David."

Sighing, he looks out at the men and women littering the massive gym. "I always thought we would be the ones to go charging into battle."

"We might not have the advantage of surprise, but neither do they."

"I am sorry, Tris. You've gone through so much. I should have warned you sooner," he says.

Moving from the bench, I say, "What's done is done."

I nod my head at him and walk away. I'm not nearly as angry at him as I was. I can understand the tough calls he has to make daily, and I respect him well enough. I'm just afraid our lack of time is going to cost us.

Eric's POV

"I'm really good at this," I say.

"You aren't bad," Tris says nonchalantly.

"Not bad? Not bad? Sweetheart, I'm a pro."

Laughing, she sets the crossbow over her right shoulder. "Let's see how the pro compares when the champion steps up to the plate," she teases.

I watch as she delicately pulls the trigger, hitting the target dummy dead in the eye. "Not bad," I say.

This is what I hope we used to be like. We're facing probable death and we're laughing together, learning together. She makes what's happening less scary. I feel stronger with her having my back.

"Not bad?" she asks incredulously. "Sweetheart, I'm a pro."

Unable to contain the overwhelming joy I feel, I set the crossbow down, run at her, and toss her over my shoulder playfully. I twirl us around, enjoying her shriek of laughter. People around us are smiling along with us, and I think this is it - this is what a united people should look like.

"Put me down, Eric!" Tris cries.

Pausing, I ask, "What's the magic word?"

Giggling, she smacks my back. "Bully!"

"That's not it. Sorry," I say, spinning.

"Okay, okay! Please, please, please, let me down."

Grinning, I set her back on her feet. Her face is flushed red, her mouth is turned up in a smile.

I kiss her.

Startled, she gasps, giving me the opportunity to push my tongue into her mouth. Losing control, I drag her closer. For me this is our first kiss. I can't recall ever having kissed her before, which is okay because I have her now.

"Hey, you two!" Christina yells. "Back to work."

Pulling away, Tris laughs, and lays her head on my shoulder. "Well, that was unexpected," she says softly.

"Was it unwanted?" I ask uncertainly.

A breathless chuckle answers my question. "It was very much wanted. You are always going to be wanted," she whispers.

Relieved, I rest my cheek on top of her head. "Was it anything like our first kiss?"

"Close enough," she replies, kissing my shoulder before untangling herself from my grasp.

"About time," Christina mutters. "We're supposed to be improving our ass kicking skills, not slobbering on each other."

Everyone cheers at her words. Chuckling, I gaze down into the eyes that make my life worth living. "So how about we try out those zombie axes?"

She's already moving to the steel weapons hanging on the wall. "Let's see what you've got, Dauntless boy."