By: Jaha Canon
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it.
It really didn't seem like him. This still body was large and clumsy looking.
The short, infant-sized toddlers around his knees staring at him were, as scary as it was, a lot more like him. They didn't stare at him the way children usually stare; these expressions were inquisitive and full of intelligence. As if they were not children of his old friend but clones.
No, not clones, they looked like another old friend from what seemed to be his past life. The images of both of his old friends in these faces made his heart feel even tighter with grief.
Of course, having written a life history on his brother Peter, Andrew Wiggin knew that his old right-hand man from the formic war, Julian "Bean" Delphiki had helped his brother achieve power. He even learned, although it was reduced to a side note by the time the news reached him, about Bean's Anton Key, and how it caused him to grow quickly and suddenly until his heart gave out. Bean was sent into space because of that- this was the extent of what he knew.
Still, he had a hard time connecting this dead giant in his mind with the tiny boy he had once known. He shuddered when he found this reminded him a little of the Mind Game at Battle School.
The small voices around him filled him in on the story. Such as about their caring mother, Petra, who they could only remember from their earliest of early memories (far earlier than most children would remember).
Petra…Andrew thought. He would have never guessed that she would someday marry Bean. In his heart, he could think of no better match. It simultaneously warmed and broke his heart because felt like he should have been there with them- he would have loved to have seen them happy and in love with one another. He should have been there at their wedding, perhaps as Bean's best man. But no, he had purposely forgot in his years away from earth about how many lives dear to him he was missing out on. He thought nothing would come to remind him, but there it was.
Bean was surprised, the mini Beans and Petras told Andrew, when they had landed on this planet and found that Ender Wiggin was no longer a hero, but a cold-blooded murderer. Apparently, he stated that he was actually relieved that Petra was probably not alive long enough to hear their commander spoken of that way. He wished he himself hadn't heard that. But still, despite the fact that he hated what it did to Ender's reputation, he read The Hive Queen. Strangely, this seemed to fill him with a sort of peace in his last days.
Andrew had no idea what he was getting into when he came to this planet. He was nearby and learned that some children wanted a Speaker of the Dead for their late father. He was not interested in becoming a part of this new religion that he unintentionally started, but there was no other Speaker for light years. He had no way of knowing that this father would be Bean of all people.
"You are Ender Wiggin, aren't you, Andrew?" asked one of the children. This one looked and sounded the most like Bean- like how he was when they had first met.
"I was." Andrew replied.
"Then this is for you." The boy said, he handed him a folded piece of paper.
Andrew unfolded it and looked at the clumsy writing.
Ho Ender, it's your little Bean all grown up.
Maybe a little more than you thought I'd be- I was surprised too. I suppose you probably already know the details.
Writing's a pain now, because my hand is so large and clumsy that I have to rewrite over and over to get something that can actually be read so I'll get to the point. I read The Hive Queen and I just wanted to say you did a great job on it. I know it was you, Ender, because no one else has or ever will understand and love the buggers enough to write that. No one understands and loves others like you do, Ender, and I was one of the lucky ones who was able to learn that from you… well, as much as I could, anyway.
I thought that reading that book would make me angry, but instead it filled me with a sense of peace knowing that you were somewhere in space still compassionate and still the person we all loved and respected. Until I read the book, wondering where or how you were was one of my two loose ends in life, so thank you. Now all I have to do is stop feeling guilty over leaving Petra on earth. She, and our other children, are all probably gone now, so I guess I'll see her soon enough for whatever guilt trips she's been preparing for me over her lifetime. Here's hoping heaven has a calming effect.
I am so sappy in this letter; perhaps my oversized brain is finally turning into mush.
-Bean-
"Will you speak for our father?" one of the children asked.
Andrew looked at the letter, feeling tears in his eyes. This was Bean. This was one of his dearest friends who had married one of his other dearest friends. This was one of his friends who returned to Earth and brought it back to order. This was, most likely, the last member of his team fighting against the formics. The last who knew Ender as the young, hurting child who never wanted to hurt anyone and only wanted others to stop hurting him. He was the last person who carried a bit of the burden of having wiped out a race of living beings. Bean's death marked the official death of his old self and it surprised him to see how much that grieved him.
Ender had never formally spoken for a dead person before- other than writing in books.
"I'll speak." He said.
The end!
A/n: Sorry if this goes against anything in the series. It's been a while since I've read it entirely and I don't think it does, but please point it out (NICELY) if you do spot something.