Alright, I forgot, so let me do this.

I don't own Ender's Game.

That said, here's the next chapter. I finished it about the same time I finished the first one, but I thought that was letting you guys read it too fast. Well, now I'm paranoid, so go ahead and read it now, kay?

Petra's POV

I turned from the deployment deck and began my trek back to the bunk room for Dragon Army.I sighed at the knowledge that I would have to tell the boys that Ender was... that he left. Heading through the hallways of the ship, I strode in the direction of the Dragon Army dorms.

Nearly to the Dragon bunk room, I stopped to examine a scent in the air. It smelled like smoke, but the fire alarm hadn't sounded which meant that it wasn't an actual fire. But if it wasn't a fire, what could be burning. Shaking my head to clear it, I took a deep breath and continued to the dorm clearing my throat as I entered.

All of the boys turned to stare at me as I came in. I discovered what the source of the smoke in the air was. Bernard and Bean were both holding lighters and on the floor of the room, there was a smoldering pile. They must have been burning the badges they received.

"Yours too?" Bean asked.

I nodded to him and removed my medal, starting to hand it over. Then, I paused and stared at it. It was the only thing I had left from Ender. Aside from the memories of our training and free time hangouts, this medal was all I had to remember him by. As vile as the thing it represented was, it also represented our time together and I couldn't give that up. Sighing, I returned it to my neck and tucked it under my jacket, shaking my head.

Bernard glared at me with hatred. He probably thought I enjoyed having the medal, enjoyed having a heavier weight on my shoulders and around my neck. My weight was bigger than his. I'm the one who shot the MD, so I do have a heavier weight than he does. Alai and Bean shrugged and turned to watch the badges continue smoldering. Dink stared at me in suspicious confusion but I simply shook my head, remembering the badge in my hand at that moment. Taking a deep breath, I moved into the center of their little circle and glanced around at them all.

"Looks like I'm commander now." I said quietly, showing them the commander's badge.

"Where's Ender?" Bean asked, worry filling his eyes.

"He… he left." I kept my head low so they couldn't see the tears, but I felt three hands on my shoulders. I glanced up to see Dink, Bean and Alai giving me sad looks and I simply shook my head. I knew they knew about my feelings for Ender. As often as I woke up sweating in bed and calling out his name during our training to fly the ships, it's almost a wonder they haven't spoken to me about it.

"Is he going to come back?" Alai inquired gently.

"I don't know." I could feel energy building in my throat and I refused to let them see me vulnerable. I needed to find a place to scream in peace.

As if he were reading my mind—or my body language—Dink took his hand off my shoulder and said, "You should head to the commander's exercise room. They have punching bags and lifting weights for the commanders to use in their off time. All ya gotta do is hold up the badge and let the computer scan your eye. It should automatically read Ender's fingerprints and know that he passed the candle to you."

"Thank you, Dink." I nodded to them all and turned on my heel, striding from the bunk room.

Bean's POV

"So, Ender's gone?" Alai murmured, looking around at all of us. I nodded my head, my mind working through the different reasons Ender would be gone and why he wouldn't be back for a while.

"Do you think he quit after that stunt Rackham and Graff pulled?" Dink wondered aloud.

"No." I replied, raising my head to gaze at them all. "He wouldn't do that to us, to Petra. He's up to something. He's got some sort of plan to go against the colonel, but because of the importance of secrecy, he may have had to leave quickly."

"But what could he be up to?" Bernard sighed, finally speaking up. The news had even managed to hit him hard. He was usually impenetrable, even toward Ender, but after finding out that we all just killed countless men and women as well as an entire alien planet, even he couldn't just shrug that off.

"I don't know." I responded with a shake of my head. "But whatever it is, we need to make sure to keep Petra stable for him. We can't have her broken and in pieces when he comes back."

"That's why I told her to go to the commanders' training center." Dink told me. "She looked like she was going to break down and I knew she wouldn't want to do that in front of us. The training center is soundproof so if she decides to scream her lungs out, she can do it without anyone else hearing."

"But they'll be able to see it." Alai muttered. "The training center has a huge window that none of the people going in can see. It's to stop commanders from engaging with each other just because of the privacy."

"Either way, no one is stupid enough to call her on it." Dink moved over to his own bunk and sat down with a heavy sigh.

I stared around at all of the remaining components of Dragon Army, realizing that we weren't the same anymore. In the beginning, we were all ready to be part of the war. We were ready to take on the Formics and keep them from coming back to earth. Alai was the peaceful hopeful one, Bernard was the goofy one that shrugged everything off, Dink was the voice of reason, Petra was the calm cool-headed one that kept us together and I was just along for the ride doing whatever was needed of me. Now, we had all changed. The brightness was gone from Alai's eyes, Bernard was quiet and subdued, Dink looked ready to give up and go back home, I was ready to give up and head back to earth just so I could get away from this place and Petra… I don't think she'll ever be the same again.

Ender had better hurry up and get back. We needed him more than he knew.

How was it? Once again, not caring whether you think I'm making her too soft. My best friend, who believes Petra is suck a badass piece of soldier awesomeness (I believe it too) agrees that any girl in this sort of situation would want to scream and cry. It's too much at once, so review and tell me if you agree or disagree or just don't care and want me to keep writing or whatever else is on your mind.