Chapter 3

"Oh Mama," said Maya. "I miss him."

Maya finally returned to her parents, but she returned to the house everyday after school, mostly because Petra demanded that she did. She would stay the night on weekends as well. Petra had really grown attached to Maya.

"I know baby," said Mrs. Skylark. "I even miss him. He was such a sweetie." She stood up. "Well, try to have a nice day, okay? I know it's hard not to think about him."

"Bye," Maya said as she headed out the door.

Jeanine Skylark stood in the doorway as she watched her daughter walk down the street. Her husband stood next to her. She sighed. "Adam, I hate to see her sad."

"Me, too," replied her husband. "I'm her father and I even want her to see him. Fathers never want that."

They both looked at Maya who had her head hung low and a slow pace going about her. Maya was miserable.

When Maya arrived at school, she looked at her classmates. These were the same people that had made Ender dread going to school. Maya was the only one that made him eager to go. Suddenly, so much anger built inside of Maya. She just couldn't stand the way these people had treated Ender. Though if they hadn't treated him bad, then he might not have been the person he was and is, so he might not have defeated the buggers. She sighed. It wasn't fair. These people got away with being mean and in the end it saved them. Ender, you must feel as miserable as I do.

It was Friday. A week had gone by since when she was suppose to see Ender but instead saw all of his friends. Petra was standing outside with Alai and Bean. Maya approached them as though they were family. People around recognized them and wondered why three members of Ender's Jeesh would talk to Maya Skylark. Only a few would remember that she was best friends with Ender, and then they'd make the connection.

"How was your day?" Petra asked.

"The same as usual," Maya answered in a sad voice it hurt Petra to hear.

She grabbed Maya's hand. "Let's go."

Maya felt worse. She felt like a whiney, needy little child. So what if I don't see Ender? Just think of all the more unfortunate people in the world. Maya leaned her head against the window of the car.

"What's wrong?" Petra asked. "Of course it's Ender, but you suddenly look even more sad."

Maya only shrugged. Bean looked at Petra, who also had a sad look on her face. He hated seeing all these sad faces. Yet, he couldn't help admire Petra for how much she sincerely cared about Maya. She really would make a loving mother, he thought.

"We were gonna have a little picnic tomorrow," Petra told Maya once they arrived at the house. "All of us were gonna leave Sunday, so..."

"Where would we have the picnic?" Maya asked, but she didn't really care where it would be.

"Graff has this beautiful place that's really a few yards into the backyard. There are these gorgeous gardens with a stream and...it's just wonderful." Petra could tell Maya wasn't interested. She will be, though, Petra thought.

Petra walked downstairs and sat on the couch next to Bean. She always felt safe with him. He saved her from Achilles anyway, but he was still out there of course, plotting to the assassination of Bean. She worried about Bean, and got paranoid. She told herself not to considering Bean had enough paranoia going through him for the both of them. She looked up at him. "Why don't we get married?" she asked. She knew the reason. "Look at Maya. A girl like her is going to marry Ender, even if she doesn't think so. You know how Ender is. He seems like the boy who would never marry."

"What're you getting at?" Bean asked amused. He knew what she was trying to say.

"You're human enough to get married, you know?" Petra frowned. She decided to pull that sad, puppy-dog look that Maya naturally had. It looked real on Maya. To some it might've been real on Petra, but not to someone as observant as Bean.

He laughed. "Don't give me that look, Petra."

She smiled. "Do you love me?"

He stared down at her. "Yes, Petra."

"Then why won't you marry me?"

"I guess I don't love you that much." He snickered at her furious face.

"I know you're lying because you never guess at anything. Why?"

This time the puppy-dog face was real. Bean frowned but in a sympathetic way. "Because I know that you are determined to have kids if we're married," he stated in a soft voice.

She turned away, not liking what he was saying.

He pulled her close to him, and even though Petra was upset with him, she couldn't help but like it because all the other times she had cuddled up to him, now he was. Plus, just naturally as a teenager she liked it. "I don't want my kids to fall in love with a brilliant girl and then only have a few years with them."

She turned to dace him still in his embrace. "You know I won't stop pestering you right?" she asked.

He smiled. "I know." Then he kissed her.

"Ender, you could be getting laid right now," Dink pointed out.

Ender faced him. "That doesn't matter to me, Dink," he stated flatly.

"It doesn't now. Just wait till you see her." He sighed. "Of course, you could be seeing her now, looking into those crazy eyes as she's screa-"

"Dink," he interrupted. "I bought the ticket didn't I?"

"Yeah, for tomorrow."

"That was a rhetorical question."

"When you see her you're gonna regret not going sooner. You're lucky she didn't turn out to be ugly. God the things I would do to her. I-"

"Dink, you want to stop talking about m- her like that?"

"What was that? Were you just about say 'my?' 'My' what? What were you gonna say? 'My girlfriend?' is that it. No, you were gonna say 'my fiance.' I know you were."

Ender didn't answer. They sat in silence as Dink stared at Ender's profile. Ender sat in front of the ansible. Then Ender turned and said, "Fine. Let's go."

Dink smiled. "We can take my jet."

Maya carried the blanket and couldn't help but feel some happiness in her. She had truly become friends with these people, Ender's Jeesh, Ender's friends. They found a nice spot under a few trees next to a lake. They had all brought swimwear and a lot of food. They were celebrating the rest of their lives. They would live on Earth like everyone else doing something that someone else was probably doing clear across the world. It was boring. They wished that they could all live together or at least near each other so then they could have picnics and go swimming and wouldn't have to worry about foreign trade or the economic problems of the country they ruled. They wanted the Battle School, but without the armies and battles. They wanted to be around the ones they were like.

"All we need is Dink and Ender," Fly said.

"Don't forget Carn Carby," Alai said.

"There's always Rosen, too."

"Rose de Nose; Extraordinary Jewboy," Crazy Tom imitated.

They laughed. Maya only smiled.

Then, they started talking about Ender. They did this on purpose. They wanted Maya to feel lovesick. They spoke about all their favorite memories of Ender, when they first saw Ender, their thoughts about Ender. Maya was really feeling down during these conversations. She figured that they would talk about Ender because they loved him, but she kind of wished that they didn't.

Petra could see the depressed expression on Maya's face, and she was expecting it. As everyone else continued to talk about Ender like they had planned, Petra whispered to Maya, "I can tell you're upset." She squeezed Maya's hand.

"I'm okay," Maya lied.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

She nodded and they stood up. As they walked away, Petra turned and winked at them. Maya and Petra walked through a path of trees in the very beautiful backyard. It reminded her of Ender for some reason. Ender always did smell like the outdoors, thought Maya. Which is weird, since he didn't spend that much time outdoors, even though he liked playing outside. Then he's just as wonderful as this scenery. She sighed. I know I'll see him sometime. I just hope it's not too late. I don't want to be thirty-five married with grown kids when we finally see each other. I wonder if I could even find a man I could marry. can i even fall in love with someone else? I've pictured Ender returning every single day since he left and us getting married. I've held onto this memory for such a long time. I can't imagine myself doing anything else. I don't know what I'd do if it didn't happen.

"Petra?" Maya asked. She looked around for Petra but she wasn't anywhere in sight. She was too busy daydreaming that she didn't realize Petra went away. She continued to walk on anyway, just to have some time to herself. She sat down under a a cherry blossom . It was a little muddy in the back yard due to the air and soil. She had taken her shoes off a long while ago and dug her barefeet into the soft Earth. She shrugged off her cardigan so she was only in her white dress. When Maya was surrounded by nature she wanted to be as natural as possible without being naked. She never knew who was around. She tilted her head up and closed her eyes with a sigh. Ender, she thought, I'm sorry, but I think I've grown over not seeing you. I can move on now.