Allison's features cracked a little at her reply, flooded with warmth as those small, thin hands tightened around hers with such strength, such certainty she could almost feel it bleeding into her, not hard and steely like Gerard and her mother tried to form in her, but cool and sturdy like stone...smooth lake rocks, sliding under her skin, powerful and unmoving, but malleable under the flow of water and the rush of air through the ages, with a coolness that could be chased away by warmth under the heat of the sun.

Tris's touch gave her the strength of stone, and that promise was pure, radiant sunlight, warming the chill within her.

"Do you really believe that?" she asked softly, no more than a breath kept secret and safe in the air they shared, lost in the quiet thickness of the comforter that kept them warm. "I'm the head of my family now, and you'll lead yours one day in your mother's place...but I don't..."

She lowered her gaze, and in the low light of the room, silent tear tracks glistened on her cheeks.

"How are we supposed to be strong for everyone else when we...when I'm so terrified all the time?"