Aria Kane. Amity born. Now Dauntless. Talk about a U turn! But Aria always knew Amity wasn't for her. Now she must face the wrath if Dauntless training but of course there are hitches. A cruel leader who seems to want to just watch everyone burn and...
(There may be some lines you recognise here. Maybe not 😉)
I got up from the table and went to move but Eric was in front of me. Quicker than I genuinely thought was humanly possible.
"Don't move." Max's voice boomed across the clearing. Four looked up, his face was covered in blood. "Max don't be stupid" Eric responded, clearly seeing the gun in Max's hands. "Stupid?" Max almost laughed.
"What's stupid is seeing you in Amity of all places! Thinking you can change the world just because Jeanine and Frey are dead? Nothing changes Eric. Your little plan failed. We will rid this place of divergence. It's a disease. Don't you see that?" He walked closer with each statement.
"I'm under no illusion that the world doesn't change overnight Max...but sadist thinking like that is what got us in this mess. Now put down the gun and think seriously about this." Eric said, seemingly calm.
Max laughed, a manic, evil laugh, lifting the gun back up and pointing it directly at Eric.
"You a new type of crazy - you know that Eric?"
With that a shot rang out. I had clenched my eyes shut, petrified to open them again. Why could nothing go right? I had only just got him back and now I was going to lose him again.
"Open your eyes little one" the soft voice hit my ears and my shoulders relaxed. I opened my eyes to see Eric standing before me, his hands on my shoulders. I looked round him to see Max on the ground. My eyes flit to the left to see my mother, arm outstretched with a pistol still smoking in her hand.
She lowered it and looked over to me.
"I never trusted that man..." She said and a nervous laugh escaped my lips as I sighed. "It's over. It's finally over." Eric said, pulling me into his arms.
**1 year later**
I had spent the day with the horses. I had loved tending to them when I was in Amity before. They were so calming. Eric appeared in the doorway, picking up a brush as he walked towards where I was brushing one of the beautiful mares in the stables.
"How you doing?" He asked, making me look up. I smiled. "Fine, how was work?"
Eric had taken a position working to rebuild Abnegation after the damage Frey and Jeanine had done. Divergence was no longer a taboo. Dauntless, Candor and Erudite had nearly returned to normal and people were beginning to move on from the violence they had endured. The choosing ceremony for the year had been pushed back until the next year. The faction leaders had felt it wasn't really appropriate for young people to be choosing a new life when so much had changed not so long before.
"All good. It's so close to completion now. I'm just looking forward to getting back to Dauntless now."
I tensed up. I hadn't really thought about going back to Dauntless. I had just kind of assumed we would remain in Amity. It had done us good for the past year.
Eric clearly noticed my face change. "What's wrong?" He questioned. "Nothing! I just kind of figured we would stay here." "Aria, I can't stay here much longer. It's not who I am. I miss fighting. I miss training. I kinda miss wearing all black" he smirked slightly, pulling at the brown and red clothing. I looked back at the mare, running my hand down her neck. He was right. I was wrong to expect him to stay here. He had changed and been so good to me but he would always be Dauntless deep down.
"Why don't you go wash up and meet me for dinner? You could wear that nice new dress your mom made?" He said, before leaving the stable. I smiled at his ability to change the subject so quickly. I lead the mare back into her stall before returning to the house to wash up and change.
I got out of the shower to find a white dress with red flowers carefully embroidered on it, lying on the bed. I had to hand it to my mom, she was a very skilled seamstress.
I pulled the dress on and made my way downstairs.
"Oooo it looks lovely on you honey!" Mom was at the bottom of the stairs. "It's lovely. Thanks mom." I said, picking up Bailey, our fluffy white family dog which was sat at my feet.
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Mum sighed and smiled. "Ooookay" I looked at her confused as to why she was acting so....odd. "Um shall we go to dinner then?" She nodded and we left the house, making our way to the dining area. I saw Lu and Elias sitting at a table across from Oliver and Eric. It still made me smile seeing them sat casually talking. I went and joined them and we talked and ate and laughed. I kept spotting my mom looking over and waving. Ok this was weird...why was she acting so weird. As we finished dinner Eric got up, looking round and smiling as he caught eye contact with mom.
"Wanna go for a walk?" I nodded, getting up and following him out towards the meadow hill. The sunset was beautiful from up there, it was always one of my favourite places in Amity to go and read. As we walked I felt Eric's hand slip into mine, his fingers interlocking with my own. I smiled up at him and he smiled back and turned to me as we reached the top of the hill.
"It's so beautiful up here" I said, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. He hummed a response and I looked at him, his face looking almost pained. I had a feeling this was about the conversation we had earlier. I knew he wanted to return to Dauntless and I guess he knew I would deeply miss Amity.
"Aria, you know I love you" he started and my heart began to sink. "I love you too..." I replied. Please don't let this be over. "Look, Aria" Oh god, he's going to end things. "I can't guarantee that life will be easy. I guarantee there will be tough times." My eyes fell and I felt a tear spill over "But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine...I will regret it for the rest of my life." I looked up only to see Eric below me...on one knee, a beautiful ring in his hands. Oh my god. "Aria Kane...will you marry me?" I squealed and pounced on him, making him fall backward. "Yes! Oh god a thousand times yes" I laughed while kissing him. He laughed and kissed me in return before standing and helping me to my feet, gently placing the ring on my finger. I looked down at it, it's white gold band shimmered in the setting sun while the emerald stone stood proud in its single setting.
"Is this why my mom has been acting so strange all day?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow. "It's a possibility" he smiled back. His arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me towards him, kissing the top of my head. The smile on my face didn't feel like it would ever leave and we watched the sunset below the Amity fields before deciding we should probably go back. Mom would definitely have told everyone what was going on and I kind of felt bad making them wait much longer.
