Ender Wiggin's Last Game

Alai

Ender felt uneasy. he knew he was angry, and rightfully so, but there was another feeling plaguing his days on the ship.

During the day, Ender could feel his heart being weighed by an unseen burden. At night, his dreams were chaotic and horrifying.

He dreamt of awful things. He saw his sister being held at gunpoint while he was forced to make a decision. Only, he didn't know what the right one was.

He dreamt he fought Meiji, but he would lose every time. And when he looked up at the victor, it was not Meiji. It was Peter, it was Stilson, it was Bonzo.

Days passed since he asked for Meiji's help and since then, Ender had become self-sufficient. He made his own food, washed and folded the clothes that were given to him, and entertained himself completely independent of Meiji.

Ender had never gone this long without speaking to another human. Always there had been someone by his side. Someone to talk to, someone to comfort. Never had Ender felt so alone. Even Graff was a better company.

And because Ender had no work to do, he spent his days doing and redoing various chores that had been done just the day before, pondering over ideas that he had long since forgotten, and all of the leftover time was spent in the gym.

His body had not become large with the new work out routine. It had become lean and flexible. The weeks he spent on the ship so far had drastically changed his body.

At one point, Ender began to imitate some of the females in his elementary classes. The ones who did ballet, or gymnastics. He did the stretches and workouts and dances he had seen them do during recess. Ever since then, they had become a regular part of his routine.

He noticed sometimes into the second week with Meiji that he was being watched. Monitored. This was not new, per se, and it did give him some comfort in spite of his dreadful loneliness.

It was his workouts that were being watched. He saw that when he left to make his way to the gym, Meiji would follow. They did not speak to each other. Meiji did not explain himself. He simply watched.

His gaze made Ender uncomfortable, but he refused to complain. Instead, he gave Meiji a show.

Every time Meiji would come to watch, Ender did something different. Changed his routine. One day he would work on purely cardio, another he might perform gymnastics he had seen girls do, another day he might do an elegant ballet that he had watched with his mother.

It was his only form of entertainment, and it was hardly fulfilling. Meiji never reacted. He never said anything and his expression never changed.

Needless to say, Ender was bored. He figured that was the reason for his abrupt change in emotion. The uneasy feeling he had been maintaining for the past few days was simply because he had nothing else to do.

Ender found that the solid steel of the walls did little to keep him sane. It kept him remembering the events in Battle school. Knowing now that he had killed Bonzo, Ender couldn't help but remember his expression as he dealt the last blow. It haunted him. The emptiness in his face. He was dead long before Ender was finished with him.

Today, Ender's feeling of distress was evident. He knew that he couldn't have hidden it for long. Even so, Ender did not address it. He went to the gym as usual and began a dance routine he had practiced many times before.

He noticed halfway in the creak of the door opening and he knew Meiji was here.

There was something off about his presence today. He did not sit in the chair and watch Ender patiently. He stood and watched with an expression that said anything but patience. Ender knew that this time, he would not stay quiet.

And he was right. Meiji watched until Ender finished. Waited until he toweled off his sweat, then caught him at the door as soon as he tried to pass.

"We need to talk."

As confused as Ender was, he complied. He didn't really have much of a choice.

Meiji led Ender back to the living quarters and sat him down. His face showed nothing of what he was about to say.

"What do you need to talk about? I mean, you've gone this long without speaking to me, what could you want now?" Meiji shot him what Ender assumed to be a warning look.

"Don't give me lip." He said, looking at Ender. "I know you're bored out of your mind, so talk. What's pent up in that little brain of yours?"

"Why would I need to talk to you? I'm doing fine without it." He could see Meiji roll his eyes. His apparent disregard for boundaries was always something that threw Ender off.

"Don't lie to me, boy. You've been on edge the past few weeks and I want to know why."

Ender looked away from him. "I've been doing fine." He said again. He heard Meiji sigh.

"Do you know how long we will be staying together?"

"... A while." Ender answered.

"A long while, " said Meiji. "You need to start opening up before you collapse in on yourself."

Ender stayed quiet.

"I was assuming, before I met you, that you were an awful person. Someone who could kill so easily, they had to be. My brother disagreed with me. Do you know why?"

Well, that's easy. Ender thought.

"He thought what I did was heroic. He thought I saved the planet, right?"

"No. He told me you were ignorant. He told me that you never knew when you killed." Meiji laughed.
"Of course, I thought he was just misunderstanding, but now that I meet you, I can see what he saw in you."

Ender looked at him. How could he see that?
"Your brother is wrong. I knew. I always knew deep down. Your brother can't know such things."

"I guess it was stupid of me to think you could make the connection. There was no way you could have recognized me. After all, I am an adopted brother."

"What are you talking about?"

"He would be sad to hear you talking bad about yourself like that, Wiggin." Ender could feel himself getting angry.

"Who would?"

"Alai. Who else?"

___ ___ ___

Hello! Second update because I can. Do let me know what you think of this. I'm not quite sure myself.

This chapter is a little longer and I think I want to keep making them longer in the future.

I have so many things I want for this story!

I've been thinking, and I want to make a book purely dedicated to story ideas and such that I have collected and never used. Good idea? Bad?

Anyways, I might update again, I might not. Hang tight and keep clean during this pandemic!

Have a lovely day, my darlings!