Disclaimer: Divergent is the debut novel of its author. This (The Fourth Eaton) is my debut novel, and it's hardly a novel, since it's not properly revised or edited, or published through an official route. Therefore, I am not the author of Divergent, as I have not even finished a single whole book, and Veronica Roth, the actual author, has finished three whole books for this trilogy, plus several more.

A/N: Ohhh, we're getting into the final stages of this book now. After this chapter, there are only six chapters left (well, technically, five chapters and an epilogue)! My goal is to have this done by the end of February/beginning of March. Hopefully I can actually meet this goal - I don't have a very good track record.

Anyhow, we finally had our All-region concert! It was stressful at first - the preparation clinic was three days after the end of break, and I hadn't really practiced over break, so I was frantically learning music over those days. And the preparation clinic was looooong - three and a half hours of near constant playing! But it was all worth it, because the concert was incredible! It was a true honor to work with and be counted among so many talented high school musicians.

On a different note (hah, get it, note? ... I'm horrible, I know), we recently hit 10,000 views! Like, what the heck? Why did 10,000 people choose to click on and read my unoriginal story? What the heck did I do to stand out to you all? Truly, I cannot thank you all enough. All writers, fanfic and otherwise, have dreams of being famous, and I'm no exception (No, I'm not calling myself famous. I'm definitely not famous. But I feel famous). But I'm also a realist, and I really didn't think I'd hit such a milestone so quickly. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Also, shoutout to the 32 people who have followed this story, and the 37 who have marked it as one of their favorites! :D That's such a huge honor, thank you AGAIN! Oh, and the 14 reviewers, of course, too. :)

This is a pretty short update - just under 2,500 words - and I'm really sorry for that. I hope you enjoy the chapter, regardless!

The room lights up. I'm in the middle of the fear landscape room, alone, still trembling like a leaf. Dried tear tracks adorn my cheeks, and I hurriedly wipe them away.

It's over.

My body, as taut as a stretched wire, finally loosens up. It feels like everything that's been bothering me - my divergence, Erudite's plans, facing my fears - just drains out of me. It leaves me a shell. An exhausted, but content, shell.

At the sound of the door creaking open, I turn around, coming face-to-face with my brother, Max, Eric, and the other people I saw in the observation room - the other leaders. Their faces remain stoic, all except for Tobias', who flashes me a warm, genuine smile. His eyes shine with a happiness I barely ever saw in Abnegation.

A memory flashes in my mind - Tobias, eyes shining with tears as he watched me lift a gun to my friends' heads. A shiver runs down my spine at the memory, but I reassure myself by focusing on my brother's current face.

He isn't upset. He isn't crying. He isn't dead by your hand.

"Congratulations, Cammi." It is Eric who speaks. His voice is flat, the words rehearsed, and I'm reminded that I'm not the only one he's had to say this to today. "Your final assessment is complete. The banquet will be held in an hour and a half, and your ranking from the pool of both Dauntless-born and transfer initiates will be announced then. Good luck."

"Thank you." I reply.

With a final nod, Eric and the other leaders turn and begin filing out of the room.

I expect Tobias to go with them, but he waits, watching them file out before starting to walk himself. As he takes the first step, his eyes meet mine, a silent invitation for me to walk with him.

I fall into step with him as we walk out of the doors, into the area still teeming with Dauntless. I don't watch them; instead, I focus on my brother. He's smiling openly, a rare thing for him.

"Were you watching?" I'm the first to break the comfortable silence between us.

"No. I saw your times on the screen, just like everybody else. Only leaders get the honor of watching the full thing." His words, dripping with sarcastic humor, confirm my hunch.

"What a privilege it must be." I match his flat tone of voice. "Don't leave me hanging, then. How did I do?"

His smile grows wider. "Incredibly. Eight fears? According to my knowledge, you've tied the second-fewest number of fears ever recorded. And that's no small feat." His smile morphs into a smirk. "You're second only to me, of course."

I shove him with my shoulder. "Show-off."

"You shouldn't be talking. If you aren't ranked first, then the leaders and I will have words."

"Because I'm your sister?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"No." His face grows serious once again as he meets my eyes. "Because you deserve it."

I nod, struggling to keep a solemn face. I'm not sure if I want to cry, at the unadulterated sincerity in his words, or laugh, at the fact he felt the need to confirm that. As if I'd ever believe he would do that for me. I would go against everything he believes in. "Good. Nepotism wouldn't do any favors for your stunning personality."

"And you love me, personality and all."

I know he's joking; we've joked like this hundreds of times before. And yet, with the memories of the fear landscape still flashing behind my eyelids, I can't bring myself to shove him again and call him a prick, like I might have done before he transferred, before we were forced to spend a year without each other.

"Yeah, I do."

Before either of us can respond to that, the cheering begins.

The glass room has emptied out a bit, since all the landscapes are over, but many people still linger, laughing and talking with their friends, or doing something crazy- no, something Dauntless.

But now, they've caught sight of me, and the room fills with applause, loud cries, and pointed fingers.

The attention makes heat rise in my cheeks, but I don't feel truly uncomfortable until the first clap lands on my back.

I flinch back, closer to Tobias' side, at the heavy touch. My back is completely healed from its last beating, but the memories of the past sixteen years are still raw, especially after the landscape. Suddenly, every hand near me feels like it's coming for me; coming for my back, my face, my ribs-

"Hey." Tobias' voice, as always, grounds me. "Just try to ignore them, okay? We can head to my room for a little while, if you'd like. It'll get a lot better once we reach the first inner hallways."

"Okay." That's all I can get myself to say, between carefully watching every hand that I can see. Watching for a threat.

How did Tobias do this alone, on his initiation day?

He turns out to be right. Once we get out of the Pit, and on the path towards Tobias' apartment, the path grows practically empty.

My throat is still dry, but now for a different reason.

The images from the fear landscape still drift in my head - Marcus, J, the gun pointing at the people I love, them yelling at me with hate in their eyes.

Tobias loves me. He's shown me that in so many ways, big and small. So, my fear is irrational. Even so, some traitorous voice in my head still whispers, this is where he's going to leave you alone.

But now's definitely not the time for an existential crisis. So, I walk beside him, all the way to his apartment door, silence following in our wake.

"So," Tobias sits down on his bed as soon as we walk in. I choose to take up a spot on the corner sofa. "Do you want to talk about it?"

There's no mistaking what it is. I stare at the ground.

"It's complicated. I want to talk about it-" I want him to assuage my fears of what he thinks of me, what my friends think of me. "-But I also don't." I don't want to put another burden on his shoulders. I don't want to struggle for words as I describe my fears. I don't want to touch my memories from the fear landscape room with a ten-foot pole.

He nods. "I get that. The landscape messes with your mind, especially the first time. It took me weeks to gather the courage to go back."

Weeks, as though it isn't incredible that he does it again at all.

"I had to shoot you guys again." I'm unsure of what compels me to speak, after I just told him that I didn't want to talk about it. But the words tumble from my mouth, and I let them. "And J was there. And Marcus, with- with his belt." I stare at my hands. They're trembling. "And- and-"

Tobias exhales, and I notice that it's shaky. "You don't have to tell me now, Cam. In fact, you don't have to tell me ever, if you aren't ready. But, no matter what happened in your landscape, let me tell you one thing:" His words pause for a moment, and I can hear the whisper of the blankets as he shifts. "You are one of the strongest people I know."

At this, I look up. Tobias is sitting on the edge of his bed, leaning forward, and his eyes meet mine as soon as I lift my head.

"To still be able to smile, and laugh, and tease me about anything and everything? To be able to move forward, to be able to pick yourself up every time you fall, even after everything you've seen? That's strength, at its very finest. That's the kind of courage we need more of, not idiots waving their fists around and boasting of being the strongest or most powerful."

My lips curve up slightly, as I think about the idiots Tobias is likely referencing.

"The point I'm trying to make, I guess, is that nothing that was in your fear landscape is going to make me think any less of you. Absolutely nothing. Because I know you, sis. And you're the kind of person many people should strive to be."

By the time he finishes speaking, tears have gathered in my eyes. Normally, they would make me feel weak, too emotional, too distracted.

But I have no goal, no obligation now. Whatever ranking I get is now out of my hands. I have no appearances to keep, especially in Tobias' private apartment, except those I've put upon myself.

So, I allow the tears to stay there; not receding, but not falling, either. I let Tobias see them.

Inadvertently, Tobias has mostly assuaged the fear that I couldn't bring myself to tell him. There's something different about hearing the words come from Tobias' mouth, rather than from my memories.

In fact, he's more than assuaged it. After all, he's repeatedly told me that I'm brave, that I'm tough (even though I've never, and still don't, quite believe it), but one of the strongest people he knows? I'm not sure if that's a title I can live up to. Because how can he see me as strong - that strong - when I often feel so weak?

But Tobias believes it. And that's the important thing, at least right now.

"Thank you." I choke out. I've never felt so grateful for the deep blue of Tobias' expressive eyes, which comfort me just as much as his words do. "Thank you."

"And there's the girl of the hour!"

Ethan's dramatic words announce my arrival to everyone in the transfers' dorm. 'Everyone' consists of Ethan and Lavender, who are sitting with their arms around each other on Ethan's bed, Julia, who sits a respectful distance away on the same bed, Juniper and the twins, who sit on my own bed, and, finally Rowan, who casually leans on the short ladder leading up to Lavender's bunk.

Briefly, I wonder where the other transfers are. Are they participating in the celebrities? Sitting alone and lamenting over their performance on the fear landscape?

But the thought quickly dissipates as my friends turn to me, smiles on their faces.

"More like the girl of the day." Juniper counters. "We all know she's going to get first."

"Come on, we don't know that yet." I can feel heat rising in my cheeks.

Rowan is the one to speak this time. "Uh, yeah we do. Did you see your time?"

"No?"

"Six minutes and seven seconds, Cammi." Rowan's gaze bores into me, with something akin to pride residing in it. "And the fact that you only had eight fears is everywhere. Like, not only did you tie the second-fewest number of fears, you also set the second-fastest time to get through your landscape. That, along with your incredible times from stage 2, practically guarantees you the first-place spot."

I raise my eyebrow at him, willing the red I can feel in my cheeks to recede. "And how do you know my time?" I ask, partially out of genuine curiosity, and partially to deflect the attention off of myself.

"I may have stayed to watch you go through your landscape."

"Really?" I forget about deflecting. My curiosity is piqued. "Why?"

Before Rowan can say anything, though, Chloe speaks up, a strange grin on her face. "So, where have you been for-" She lifts her wrist to check the watch clasped around it. "-The past hour?"

And, suddenly, all the attention is back on me again. My mind races to come up with a believable excuse. "I was just walking around in the more empty halls. After the landscape, I just needed time to think."

They all seem to accept this, except for Rowan, who raises his eyebrow in a mimicry of how I did earlier, but offers me a small smile nonetheless. He knows. That makes sense - since he was there, he could have easily seen me leaving with Tobias.

"Anyways," It's Juniper that speaks up this time. "We have at least twenty minutes before we need to leave for the banquet. Anybody up for a game?"

Everyone is quick to agree. Kian declares the game of choice to be Never Have I Ever (with five fingers instead of alcohol or pickle juice), as many of the other, wilder games would take far too much time.

And that's how twenty minutes practically flies by - us asking each other whether we've done insane things, laughing as we recount the stories behind our truths.

When it's my turn, I don't even hesitate. Coming from Abnegation offers me an advantage; there are many things that are commonplace in Dauntless that I've never been able to do. "Never have I ever sung a song."

Every single one of my friends puts down a finger. They watch me, waiting for me to do so as well, but I don't.

The shock that ripples across their faces once they realize what that means is something I'll never forget.

"No way." Juniper is the first to voice her astonishment. "I mean, I know the Abnegation are selfless and all, but no way do they not allow you to sing songs."

"It depends." I explain. "Abnegation sees music and other arts as attention-seeking, and therefore selfish. The only singing that happened was mothers singing lullabies to their very young children." The thought sends me back in time for a second, to the sound of my own mother's voice, softly crooning in my ear as I hugged her, face stained with tears. I was far too old for lullabies at that point, but neither of us cared.

"Geez." Chloe shakes her head. "Abnegation sounds so bland, no offense to you."

"None taken." I assure her. "I transferred for a reason, after all." With that, we continue.

Only two more people - Ethan and Lavender - go after me, before Kian stands up and declares that it's time to head to the banquet.

We all file out of the dormitory quickly, still laughing and talking eagerly. I walk close to the back, and Rowan does too, walking so closely beside me that our hands occasionally brush.

Unlike the others, Rowan and I walk silently, but the silence is comfortable. I watch my friends with a smile on my face.

This is what I've been working for - this happiness that seems to be expanding in my chest like a balloon being filled with helium. This wonderful feeling of freedom.

I only hope that I'll get to keep it.

A/N: This is probably the shortest chapter I've written in a while. Once again, sorry about that - school is kicking my butt.

Next time, we get to see the final rankings, a few big revelations, and perhaps a big surprise or two... :)

Bien, gracias por leer, mi estrellas, y despedida!