Yes," she says, her eyes bright with tears. "My dear child, you've done so well.

I think about pressing myself against him, but I can't, because all our secrets would keep a space between us.

Courageous? Courageous would have been admitting weakness and leaving Dauntless, no matter what shame accompanied it. Pride is what killed Al, and it is the flaw in every Dauntless heart. It is in mine.

Killing you is not the worst thing they can do to you," I say. "Controlling you is.

I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different. All your life you've been training to forget yourself, so when you're in danger, it becomes your first instinct

That's what love does. When it's right, it makes you more than you were, more than you thought you could be.

Sometimes I still forget to look for the gentler parts of her. For so long all I saw was the strength, standing out like the wiry muscles in her arms or the black ink marking her collarbone with flight.