Énouement

Chapter Fifteen

Bonzo didn't follow me to the barracks and by the time I had showered, he still hadn't come to talk to the army. Many of the boys were huddled around each other, whispering and stealing glances at Ender. I walked over to our bunk and climbed up without saying a word.

"Tori?" I was still angry with him. "What I said earlier..." I sat still in my bunk. "What Peter did-" I flipped down into his bunk and hit him over the head with his pillow.

"What're you a dull bob!" It was easier to pick up the battle school slang now. I kept wacking him with the pillow. "Don't- you- ever- speak- of- that- again!" He didn't try and fight back. Just let me get my anger out.

"I didn't wanna hurt you like that. I was mad at Bonzo and I took it out on you," His voice dropped to a whisper. "And I've never forgiven myself for what happened with Peter."

"I really did that to protect you Ender. so he'd leave you alone. He always taunted Valentine by saying how he would kill you and I-" I couldn't finish. My eyes started welling up with tears. Ender laced our fingers together.

"Let's not talk about this, about Peter, ever again here, okay? That was our past on Earth and we're not here to relive it." I nodded.

"About Bonzo, I tried to talk to him. I don't think he's going to let up on you Ender."
"I know. That score is going to make the other boys talk too. And that's going to just make Bonzo angrier."

The lights out buzzer sounded and I looked around to make sure no one was watching. I kissed Ender's cheek and muttered a goodnight before I climbed back into my own bunk. I didn't need anyone telling Bonzo.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

I knew that Bonzo would come to Ender eventually. The scores were up on the wall in the dining hall, and I was sure it would cause as much of a stir in the commander's mess as it did here. In every game that wasn't a draw every member of the loosing team was either eliminated- totally frozen- or disabled, which meant parts of the body were frozen, but unable to shoot and inflict damage. Salamander was the only loosing at with a soldier in the active but damaged category.

Ender and I ate quietly and didn't say a word. We didn't have to. The other soldiers in Salamander were quick to tell the story. And when other boys came over and asked why he hadn't disobeyed orders and fired, he calmly said, "I obey orders."

After breakfast Bonzo finally looked for him. He was so angry he didn't even acknowledge that I was with Ender.
"The order still stands, and don't you forget it." And he walked away.

"It's going to cost him. his anger is making him a fool." Ender nodded.

"I may not be a good soldier, but I can still help. He's an idiot blinded by his anger and doesn't see that there's no reason he shouldn't let me."

We walked away from the mess hall at a slow pace, not wanting to be with others just yet.
"You know, Bonzo's kuso orders actually have a repercussion."
"What's that?" Ender cocked his head to the side and I linked our pinky's together as we walked.

"You're at the top of the soldier's efficiency list."
"I didn't fire a shot." I shrugged.
"Yeah, but they measure that by how many misses you have, or don't in your case, not whether or not you've fired at all."

"And I wasn't eliminated or disabled."
"So your percentage is totally toguro." He laughed.
"I thought you didn't like the slang here Tori?" I smiled at him.

"I like that they take a bunch of words from different cultures and countries. Like how America was supposed to be this big melting pot, well up here it really is. It's funny isn't it? We no longer have any nationalities, we'll likely stay up here most of our lives, space is our nationality, and yet we grip onto those small ties to our homelands." I mused and used my hands to touch the cold metal walls. "I wish there were windows here." I said sadly and we stopped walking.

"I know you miss home."
"Eemo," I turned and flicked his forehead. "I miss Earth because I miss the sun and the moon and the trees and nature. But I'm among the stars now, and you are my home." He blushed lightly and looked away. I giggled and linked our pinkys before walking away again.

"Tori? Where were you on the board?" I smiled.
"Just below you as always. I didn't miss a single shot." He swung our hands.
"Do you ever get tired of that?"
"Nah, I never wanted to be top dog. Just wanted to be there for you and see you grow up to be great. That's why you were born, neh?"
"Eh." Things were starting to mellow out, and I hoped they would stay that way.

---author's note---

So battle school slang is a lot of improper English (or in this case Common) mixed in with words from around the world. The words are spelled phonetically instead of the way they are in their respective languages, which I think is pretty cool :)