And I'm back with another update for you all! I know you've missed me and I've missed all of you alligators too. How about we celebrate with a wonderful chapter for this? Let's see how Petra's been, yes? Enjoy, my lovely readers!

I made my way to Colonel Graff's office. As I walked, I went over the possible reactions he could have to the news. After all, I had waited until I knew Alai and Bean had a head start before coming to him and that alone would incur his wrath. It didn't matter to me if he was angry at my decision, though. Ender had given me his rank and, even though he had only given me the badge to Dragon Army, I knew that I could use his words as an advantage against anything the colonel would attempt.

Finally arriving at the door to Colonel Graff's office, I paused to stare at it. Behind this door sat the man that had caused all of this pain. He had recruited us, abused us, changed our way of thinking and made us believe that everything not from earth was an enemy. That man had pitted us against not only the alien species that had attacked us several years ago, but also against each other, competing to see which one of us would get the grand prize. Except there was no prize, no glory. The only thing that was awarded to anyone that participated in that battle was a strong sense of guilt, grief and a heavy medal reminding us all of what we had done, the monsters we had become.

I reached up to touch the medal around my neck, reminding me of Ender. Ender wouldn't stand here staring at the door and solidifying his resolve. He would have barged in and demanded to have his way. He would have used tactic to get what he wanted. But Ender wasn't here and I'm not Ender. I don't know how to use tactic as well as he did, I like analyzing my chances, my enemies, any strategies that could be useful. Ender may have trained me, but I trained him first. It was that way of thinking—the way I thought before meeting Ender—that I fell back on now in order to get done what needed to be accomplished. The longer I put it off, the more time would be wasted.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand and knocked three times at the door, waiting for permission to enter the office. After the sounds of shuffling and a soft sigh, a voice inside called, "Permission to enter!"

Opening the door, I took one look at the face of the man that had done this to me and shuddered, lowering my gaze as I felt tears prick my eyes. If I faced him, I knew I would cry. I didn't want to cry or seem weak, but I was powerless to stop those tears. Just the sight of him brought back the horrors I had faced, the memory of what I had lost and the guilt that already weighed heavily on my shoulders. Stepping forward, I walked up to stand in front of the colonel's desk, avoiding looking directly at him.

Graff glanced up as I waited for him to speak. When he saw me, a small smile crossed his lips and he nodded. "Hello, Cadet." He greeted me. "You're looking better than the last time I saw you. I take it all of the trouble has been cleared up?"

"Yes sir." I responded.

"Then what brings you to my office, Commander? Someone in the army giving you trouble?"

"There would be if I had an army left, sir."

The colonel cocked his head in confusion and asked, "What do you mean by that, cadet? Aren't you the commander of Dragon Army?"

I simply shook my head. "Sir, I wish to put Dragon Army on hiatus."

Graff stared at me in shock, his eyes disbelieving. "You want to what?"

"The majority of my soldiers have resigned, sir." I explained, still avoiding looking directly at him. "Even Bean and Alai wish to return to earth and I cannot run a suitable army with only three people. I wish to put Dragon Army on hiatus until its true commander returns." I knew he would probably be angry with me, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to take the right to leave away from Alai or Bean and it was true that I could not have a suitable army with only three people.

"What do you, Bernard and Dink expect to do until then?" Graff growled, standing and glaring at me.

I had been avoiding looking directly at him for a reason. That face, those eyes, the battle. A few tears leaked down my cheeks as I replied, "I am returning to Salamander Army with Dink. Bernard wishes to join us."

"Soldier, you are not going to discontinue this army-!"

"I am not discontinuing it, Sir!" I shouted, keeping in stance, but still glaring at him. "That is not of my jurisdiction to do! I am simply putting it on hold until the commander returns. Because I am surrogate commander until Ender returns, I have the right to put it on hold whether you wish for me to continue it or not. I will not take away the right to leave from two more people." My voice got quiet as I added, "That's your job."

"Where are Bean and Alai then?" Graff huffed, crossing his arms.

"They have already left for earth, Sir." I replied, not an ounce of smugness in my voice. "They left a few hours ago and are most likely landing right about now."

"What? Why didn't you come to me when they were leaving? Or deciding this?"

"Because, Sir. Even though it is your job to take away their right to leave, it is not my job to tell you who is and isn't leaving. They are to tell you themselves and if they wish not to, that is of their own will." I turned on my heel, unable to take looking at him any longer, and began heading for the door.

"Where do you think you're going, cadet?" Graff growled behind me.

"I am moving my things to Salamander Army, Sir. I have already been reassigned there with Dink and Bernard. They will be waiting for me."

"What do you mean, already been reassigned? I didn't give the order-."

"You didn't need to. The admiral himself gave me control of his rank and therefore I am above you. I have made the necessary changes and I have an ally keeping track on Bonzo's condition. He is going to warn me the second Bonzo wakes up so that I can make the necessary arrangements and plans with Dink and Bernard." I continued for the door and called, "Good day, Sir."

Graff's POV

I watched Arkanian walk from my office and stared at the door in utter shock. I've never heard a cadet speak to me that way. Usually, before a cadet gets up here, they're all trained how to act toward their commanding officer and usually any kids that have trouble with authority tend to get removed from the program. While observing Arkanian, I knew she was relatively stable when it came to authority. She's somewhat masculine in the way she acts, seeming to see herself as one of the boys rather than as a girl. But the way she was acting just then, it was reminiscent of Ender's behavior towards Bonzo.

What in god's name do these kids think they're pulling here? I gave the rank of admiral to Ender. Ender left, but he gave his commander's badge to Petra and now she's saying that she's the admiral just because he passed on one badge? I can't believe this. And what was up with those tears of hers? As soon as she caught sight of me, she started crying. This is why girls don't belong in war. They're all too emotionally unstable. One kill and suddenly it's the end of the world.

Checking over the cameras from Ender's time here, I stopped the tapes with a raised eyebrow, noticing something. Moving through all of the footage since Ender met Arkanian, she had spent quite a bit of time with him. Between practicing in the battle room to sparring in the training room, the pair spent a lot of time together. Even when Ender was transferred to a different army, they spent a lot of their time during battles shooting each other's men, almost making a game out of it.

I paused on the very first time they had finished training in the battle room together. The smile on both their faces spoke volumes. If I didn't know any better, I'd think Arkanian had fallen in love with Ender. That would explain why she was so subdued after he left and why she was so adamant about defying me now. It didn't explain the tears, of course, but the loss must be hitting her the hardest.

Either way, she'll grow out of it. If she doesn't grow out of it, I'll have to send her back home. And considering her shooting and training ability, that would be a very bad thing.

Ah, Petra. Our poor, traumatized sharpshooter has her work cut out for her now that Graff assumes (correctly) what happened between her and Ender. Tell me how you liked it in a review and I'll try harder to get the next chapter up soon.