ALL RIGHTS TO VERONICA ROTH.

Epilogue

"Another pin pushed in

To remind us where we've been.

And every mile adds up

And leaves a mark on us.

And sometimes our compass breaks

And our steady true north fades.

We'll be just fine."

—West, Sleeping at Last

"Damn, David! I've done this before! I'm okay!"

My doctor rolls his eyes but doesn't take his arm from under my arms. I groan loudly.

"Tris, it's not safe to let you wander like this! You're not fully recovered!"

It's my turn to roll my eyes. I find my mother sitting in the corner of the Recovery Room, with an amused smile on her face. "Mom, can you tell him that I can walk by myself?"

My mother stands up and walks over to David, the doctor/nurse that has helped me and Tobias to recover the movement in our legs, and his arm, after the accident. He's mostly indifferent to us, and I don't like him very much, but at least he has helped me. And he has helped Tobias, and that's what matters the most.

"David, my daughter's fine. She managed to walk around alone yesterday. At least let her show you."

He groans again but takes his arm off. I take a deep breath as I stand up from the chair in the middle of the room. For a moment, once up, my legs feel like jelly and I think that I might fall. But as I take the first step, I get more control over my knees and over my feet. I don't feel the common tickling, and I start to feel confident as I take another small step.

I hear clapping behind me and I immediately know my brothers are here.

"Yes! Trissy! I believe in you!" Uri screams, making me smile and place a foot after the other.

Mom silences them as David starts to speak. "Well, Tris, you're doing fine and you look steady. You just need a little bit more practice." He tries to smile a little and then turns to my mother. "I'll tell the office we're done with her. You may leave now, but come back if anything happens." And with that he heads out.

"God, sister, you're doing so great." Zeke tells me as he approaches me with a grin in his handsome face. "I'm proud."

"Thank you, bro." I mutter and kiss his cheek.

Shakily, I manage to walk towards the door of the room, where my wheelchair is.

"What if we go celebrate with pizza?!" Uri asks to Mom, who nods with a smile as she pushes me down the hall. "And, can we call everyone?!" Mom nods again and he kisses her cheek. "You're the best, Mom."

She laughs as a few nurses say goodbye to us.

"I know, Uri, I know."

…

"Oh, Tris, I'm so happy for you!" Marlene says as she hugs me.

"You, my friend, are a total Dauntless. I'm glad you can walk again." Will tells me from across the table in the pizza place.

"You and your weird selection of words." Christina tells him, amused. He laughs and both of them blush.

A few days ago, they both confessed their feelings for each other. Chris called me screaming and gushing about the boy. I let her rant all she wanted. Kinda sweet, actually, sometimes a little too much. Will's not any better. He spends his classes drooling behind her back. He seems a lot happier since then. It makes me happy, really. But they're not official yet. Will called me yesterday to find a nice way to ask Chris to be his girlfriend and she's taking to the mall and asking in her favorite perfume store. I tell you, a little too much sometimes.

"Can we get pepperoni?" Zeke asks.

Shauna grins at him and shakes her head.

"Your sister should be the one ordering! You always get pepperoni!" She exclaims and my brother shrugs with a smile.

"It's just perfection. I'd marry pizza." He says and his girlfriend laughs. He kisses her cheek. "Don't worry, I'd marry you too."

These days, Shauna and Zeke have been making a lot of jokes about marriage. It actually worries our mother, but he assures everything's normal. Sometimes, it scares me they get married in secret, but now it just seems like an informal topic, almost unreal.

"He's right. Pizza's amazing!" Uri screams, and surprisingly, all the people in the entire place cheer in agreement.

Marlene laughs loudly and grabs him by the shirt to give him a sweet kiss. Lynn grimaces.

"Dude, no PDA. Geez."

I keep my grin to myself.

"Mom, is Four coming?" I turn to the woman, and she shakes her head apologetically.

"He has a session with David. He's making progress with him, apparently. You know he can't miss these things." She tells me. I nod in understanding.

So I focus on my food, on my friends, on Tobias' deep blue eyes plastered on my mind and on the fact that I'm able to walk again.

That's what keeps me going.

…

When Mom and I get home, she rushes to her studio to check if she has new emails from her job. I enjoy my time standing up in the hall and walking to the living room, to my snail pace, of course.

But someone's already there.

"Caleb, hello." I greet him softly.

For the first time in the past months, I see him grinning at me. His eyes illuminate when he sees me standing in my own feet, almost looking hopeful since the last time his – our- mother was alive.

"You…you're walking. That's great news!" His voice is cheerful and kind of contagious, which makes my lips twitch up into an easy smile.

"Yeah, it became official today. I've been trying for a while and my doctor officially released me today…" I look up to find him no longer smiling, but not less positive that he was a moment before. "Caleb, are you alright? Why are you here?"

"I came to say goodbye, Tris. I got a scholarship in Harvard, which is very surprising…"

I don't try to hide my exciment or surprise for him. It would only make sense for him to go; he's brilliant, and has a great future ahead of him. My face breaks into a grin.

"That's incredible! I'm so happy for you!" I walk slowly towards him and wrap him in a hug. When I pull away, a new question pops into my mind, suddenly worrying me. "What about Andrew?"

"We've talked and he thinks this is an opportunity that must not go to waste. He has found a routine here and he seems to really enjoy it, though he misses my mom. We both do."

I take his hand in mine and squeeze it. "Me too."

"But he has promised he'll take care, and if anything happens, I'll be here for him."

"Well, then I wish you the best of lucks, and, who knows? You might go and save the world." I smile to him and he smiles back. "You can always call me…and I really hope we can get to know each other better."

"Me too, Tris. Take care."

"I will."

With a last hug, he leaves my house and I softly smile to myself, trusting that I will see him again.

…

"Tris, you should get some sleep, it's almost midnight." Tobias whispers into my ear, making me shudder.

I shake my head against his shoulder, making my hair fall into his chest as I lay beside him.

"No, I want to be here with you." I say and I can feel him smiling.

"You don't have to be here as I study for my final exam, I swear I'm fine."

I make a pout, knowing he's looking me by the corner of his eyes. "So, you don't want me here with you?"

Suddenly, he turns around and captures my lips with his own, running his sweet tongue over them, making my mouth open. I return his kiss with the same intensity, trying to fight for dominance and losing to his possession. When he parts away he kisses the tip of my nose much softer than a moment ago.

"I'll always want you here with me, but your beauty distracts me and believe it or not, I want to pass and go to college."

"You will pass, we know that." I say with confidence and leave a small kiss on his cheek. "We will go to college, survive it and go on those cool road trips with everyone." I smile at the thought, picturing our friends and us travelling across the country, stopping at night to chase fireflies and count stars.

"And then what?" Tobias interrupts my thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"What happens next? After college and road trips?" There's a hint of hope in his voice.

"What do you want to happen?"

"Well, I would love to see the world, maybe some knife-throwing training," I raise my eyebrows, surprised. "But my main goal is to stay with you, for a very long time."

I smile again, a faint blush over my cheeks at his implication. Because the simple thought of me kissing someone else is unthinkable, of someone else taking my hand or cuddling up with. And even though we are only seventeen, I can picture myself with him for the rest of my life, spending our days together, studying, fighting, crying or just laughing. And the thing is, I don't want us to ever be apart. He's the person that gives me the strength to keep going, no matter how bad I want to quit.

"I love you," I say.

He frowns at me. "Say it again."

"I love you."

He reaches out to cradle my face, kissing me so soft on the lips that I almost think I imagined it.

"I love you too," he says.

And when he kisses me again, he tastes like home.

FIN.

It has been a long time since I first started writing this, my first fanfic ever. I can't put into words how grateful I am to have amazing readers that have been here with me through writing blocks, crappy chapters and apologies over my personal life.

You all mean the world to me, more than you can possibly imagine. Having your support is one of the best things I've ever felt. Thank you for putting up with me and sorry for all those ugly updates.

If I ever made you smile with this story, please leave me a review to hear out your thoughts.

I'm working on a no-war divergent fanfic with a happy ending, and also plan on editing this one and correct mistakes(:

I love you, and thank you for supporting Tris Pedrad.

Sincerely,

Lynn. (yep, changed my username again)