-Sophie thrust her hand out in front of her, desperately trying to reach her cognate who was reaching for her in turn. In the current of two murky black oceans crashing together and ripping apart, they were caught. Everything the waves would mercifully bring them together, give them a moment to clasp onto one another, they would cruelly tear them apart, leaving them to only helplessly reach for one another. Sophie was scared, she couldn't think, she could hardly breathe.

A loud voice from above, undoubtedly a test administrator, said that the waves would only get worse if they didn't hurry up and tell one another their deepest secret. Sophie didn't want to- her secret could ruin everything she had with Fitz. She looked across the room at Fitz, who seemed just as stunned as she felt, just before a huge wave took her under. She heard someone cry out, and found Fitz only a few feet away when she came sputtering to the surface. She watched as he closed his eyes for a moment, and before she could blink again, their hands came together with a snap.

"I know you're scared, I am too," Fitz panted, looking deep into her eyes, keeping her from being able to look away. "But we can do this, we can get through it. If you fall, I fall, remember?"

Those six words gave her courage, but before she could say anything back, the waves came between them and thrashed wildly, setting them apart once more. She lost sight of him and called out as loud as she could, preparing to say the words she never thought she could when she saw him next: I love you.

With the crash of another wave she went under, and held her breath, eyes squeezed shut tightly, arms waving above her, trying to pull her up. Her hair drifted around her like something in the movies, she kicked back up to the surface as hard as she could before she ran out of air. When she was back up again, she gasped for air, water streaming down her face and droplets falling from her eyelashes into her eyes, blurring her vision as she scanned the room for Fitz, who was going under again, his body tumbling like a rag doll's against the powerful waves, making her gut wrench.

"Fitz!" she shrieked for what felt like the hundredth time since they were dropped into the water-filled chamber. Diving under the surface, she swam to him as he began to drift to the bottom of the room. She clutched his arm tightly and shoved him upwards, following close behind him. Fitz grabbed her hand as she let go of him and pulled her up with him before a wave overhead could tear them apart again. He coughed up some water when they were finally exposed to air and she latched onto him, so when the next wave hit, and they spiraled under the dark liquid again, they were together. They only let go of one another to thrash to the surface, but immediately held onto one another again. It felt good to be back in the security of his arms.

"I love you," Fitz shouted over the roar of the currents.

"I love you too," she replied, the words she wanted to say making her throat ache as they crawled to the tip of her tongue, but he beat her to the chase.

"I mean, as more than friends and cognates-" Sophie was so shocked that she loosened her grip just enough for a wave to knock them apart like opposing dominoes. Fitz... loved her? She quickly clamped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from breathing. When she came up for air again, she saw that he was across the room.

The water levels were pretty close the ceiling now, so close that when she reached her hand up, her fingertips grazed the surface. She looked up in awe for a moment, then looked back to find Fitz, who was swimming over to her, looking exhausted. Her expression softened and her heart swelled with love. He looked scared, just as scared as she had been to tell her secret, but his confession gave her the confidence to say, as she treaded in the deepest water she had ever swam in, a place she never saw herself telling Fitz, "I love you too. I've loved you for years."

The boy she loved stopped mid stroke, a hopeful smile of pure joy on his face, "You do-" A wave crashed over him when he wasn't paying attention, and her heart stopped. She dove into the water just as Aurora started to congratulate them over the speakers. Her hands cut through liquid in front of her as she propelled forwards. After a while, she came up for air and went back down again to see him swimming towards her, the water draining quickly to the point where their feet could touch the ground- though only if Sophie stood on her tippy-toes. Exhausted, they crumpled in one another's arms when they were close enough, and the proctors, as well as Tiergan, started to levitate down from the hole in the ceiling. When the water was only thinly on the floor, Sophie and Fitz eased themselves to the floor until they were laying down, not letting go for a moment. Quietly, they were laughing, because it was over, finally over. They had done it!

Sophie's head rested on her cognate's shoulder, her arms around him as tight as she could hold him, one of his arms around her waist, the other holding her head against him. They were crying with relief, joy, and love. She couldn't believe that he loved her back, and could barely process the information or the ideas of what would happen after this. What would they be to one another?

"Congratulations," Aurora gave them a thin smile while the two men flanking her were grinning widely, "you are now officially cognates."

Fitz sat up a little, propping them up on his elbow, using his arm around her waist to do so, though he kept his hand firmly on her back so they could listen to the mini speeches that were undoubtedly coming.

"You two are the youngest cognates we've ever had. Most people spend decades -no, hundreds- of years training to take these trials, but you guys did it in a couple of years, the majority of your training in a couple of months," Harold informed them, "you should be very proud of yourselves."

"I am so proud of you guys and how hard you've worked," Tiergan was crying too, "I've already hailed your parents, they'll be here shortly... though I'm afraid that your mothers are keen on throwing a party later this week."

Sophie groaned quietly, "We can't ever catch a break, can we?"

Everyone laughed, except for Aurora, who's face flickered with a more relaxed smile. Fitz's face started to get really close to Sophie's when she looked up at him, and it took her a second to realize he was about to kiss her. Her heart fluttered and thoughts of how to kiss properly shot through her mind randomly, and she was about to close her eyes when a ray of light shone into the room, depositing Grady, Alden, Della, and Edaline. The newly dubbed cognates sat up, and let their parents rush over, showering them with praise, kisses, and tight embraces. They ended up in one big group hug, the two teens in the middle, and Della pulled Tiergan into the pile. It was a nice moment, even though secretly, all the two cognates wanted at the moment was that one kiss of victory that they sadly wouldn't get... not today.

Sorry it's kind of short, I wanted each trial to be in a separate part of chapter 13