Emergence - The process of coming into view after being concealed; the process of coming into being, or of becoming important or prominent.

(Tobias)

The ride back to the compound is slow and dark. I watch the moon disappear and reappear behind the clouds as we bump over the ground. When we reach the outer limits of the city, it begins to snow again, large, light flakes that swirl in front of the headlights. I wonder if Tris is watching it sweep across the pavement and gather in piles by the airplanes. I wonder if she is living in a better world than the one I left, among people who no longer remember what it is to have pure genes…

…I have always hated the emptiness that winter brings, the blank landscape and the stark difference between sky and ground, the way it transforms trees into skeletons and the city into a wasteland. Maybe this winter I can be persuaded otherwise.

We drive past the fences and stop by the front doors, which are no longer manned by guards. We get out, and Zeke seizes his mother's hand to steady her as she shuffles through the snow. As we walk into the compound, I know for a fact that Caleb succeeded, because there is no one in sight. That can only mean that they have been reset, their memories forever altered.

"Where is everyone?" Amar says.

We walk through the abandoned security checkpoint without stopping. On the other side, I see Cara. The side of her face is badly bruised, and there's a bandage on her head, but that's not what concerns me. What concerns me is the troubled look on her face.

"Where's Tris?" I ask. My universe holds its breath.

"Tobias…" I hear Tris's still, small voice, laced with an edge of uncertainty and concern.

I see her then, walking through a gap in the wall, the size of a truck. One of the effects of the explosion that killed Uriah. My stomach twists.

Tris steps in from the flurry of snow outside. Her eyes are wide with joy, and something else; worry. And they're dancing with a fire that encompasses her pride over our success. An odd combination, but then, so is she.

"Tris," I say. There's nothing else to say. All of the emotion, the anxiety since I last saw her, the disbelief that we could actually accomplish this, disband the people who lied to us and used us as a piece in an experiment—all of it is expressed in a single word. Her name.

My feet move faster than my mind, carrying me towards her. I wrap my arms around her and relief washes over me. She is small, and pale, and despite having been in the frigid air just moments ago, she is warm.

I stop to look at her face, her eyes still alive with their fire, her hair sprinkled with snowflakes. And then I kiss her, gently, and she kisses me back determinedly.

As so often happens with us, we kiss for longer than we should, considering the circumstances and the fact that we're far from alone.

And as usual, I don't care.