Énouement

Chapter Nineteen

Picture is how she now looks at seven years old :) Song is played on her desk.

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Little time had passed, and as each day went by I knew the sting of homesickness had lessened on Ender. Which was why when it was finally my birthday, I didn't think of saying anything to Ender. He was just getting over his homesickness. Ender didn't share my concerns.

"Happy birthday Tori." I smiled and kissed Ender's cheek as we sat in my bunk. "Get your desk I made you something." His smile was bigger than I could ever remember it being. I tilted my head and picked my desk up then logged on. I glanced up curiously at Ender, wondering if I should look for his gift.

"So should I open my messages or-" Softly, as if from a dream, a slow serene melody started playing from my desk. My head snapped down as I stared at the screen.

It was the story my mother used to read to me as a girl, Selene and Endymion, and their lullabye. A beautiful girl in a long white luminescent gown sat on a crescent moon. She watched the Earth below her as a man slept soundly. The scene shifted as she floated down, like moonlight with the stars, and kissed the man. He awoke and they started waltzing across the screen and across the night sky and space. They danced past glittering stars and beautifully colored cosmos and galaxies. As the song came to an end, they bowed to each other, shared one last kiss, and Endymion fell back asleep as Selene floated back to the moon to watch over him. Then it started over.

It was quiet around us as the other boys and Petra were curious of the music. I held my hand against my mouth as tears welled up in my eyes. It was my favorite story and song as a child, and Ender had not only recreated the story, but had somehow coded out the song as well. It was like something out of the fantasy game.

"Ender this is... I can't even..." I didn't finish, but I didn't have to. Ender knew exactly what I was trying to say, and how grateful I was.

"I'm glad you like it," He smiled and brought his own desk out. "And no matter what desk you use, if you sign in as yourself, you'll always have it." That was the icing on the cake. Even if I was transferred tomorrow, I'd still be able to keep it. I hugged Ender and he wiped the few tears that had slipped out. I spent the next hour showing a few of the boys nearby what Ender had made me, and telling them the story.

After eating breakfast I was still giddy and humming the song. We had no classes today, and no practice, so Ender and I decided to see Alai and Shen. I had brought my desk along to show them what Ender had done.

"I'm glad you like your gift Tori." I could feel Ender's gaze on me as I skipped down the hall.
"Of course I like it. Its the best gift I've ever had!" He smiled.
"Better than that doll you got for your fourth birthday?"

"The one that looked like an exact copy of me?"
"Down to the freckles."
"Better." I skipped and twirled on the foot the I landed on, and then kept skipping.

"Better than that those pointe shoes you got for your sixth birthday?"
"The ones from that production of Swan Lake?"

"That your dad had the prima ballerina sign."
"Better." I kept twirling happily down the hall. Ender laughed as he jogged to keep up with me.
"Gee how can I top myself next year?"

I stopped twirling and walking. Next year...
"You know, I didn't think about it before, but we're going to be here for a long time. For a lot of birthdays." I laughed bitterly and hugged my desk close to my chest. Ender put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me. I couldn't look at his face.

"Do you think that when we can go home, so much time will have passed, and this place will have changed us so much, that we won't want to go home? Is that how they get people to stay here?"