"I'm beginning to question your morals."

"Says the man trying to isolate a 6 year old boy."

"You knew how much a letter like that would mean. You could've broken the girl. I'm sure you can forgive me when I call you a heartless bastard."

"I definitely wouldn't dispute you on that. But I didn't break her, and now our two geniuses are right where we need them to be. They look up to each other. They'll push each other forward."

"Until you decide they need to be separated. They'll be crushed."

"They're children. It's not like they'll fall in love."

"You're right, they won't right now. But in 4 years when they start to learn what love is, and Vlara is the only girl his age, then what?"

"Relax. The world doesn't work like old-age romance novels. Besides, if the two geniuses do fall for each other, maybe by then the war will be over with and they can do what they please."

"You and I both know how unlikely that is."

__________________________________________________________________________

The Battle Room was a large open area with 2 gates and handholds lining the walls, ceiling, and floor. Though of course once the children jumped out into the null-gravity, they realized it was impossible to tell which direction they were facing.

Most of the kids, including Vlara, clung to the handholds. Though she quickly noticed Ender, and his attempts to understand how movement worked in null gravity. After a few minutes of studying the area around her, Vlara pushed off of the wall lightly, just enough to send her drifting out into the open, but only drifting. She couldn't change direction, she couldn't stop moving. She only kept going in the same direction at the same speed that she started with.

That was valuable information, but she was stuck. At the rate she was going, she would be drifting for a long while until she hit another wall. Her only hope was if somebody else could hit her. That's when she saw Alai, gliding across the room with ease.

"Alai! I need you to come give me a boost!" She called out to him.

He reached a wall and grabbed onto a handhold, adjusting his trajectory. He launched and glided smoothly through the open air. He managed to catch her hands and pull her to the next wall, landing with a soft 'oof'.

"Thanks," Vlara muttered.

Alai shrugged slightly, "No problem, you kinda looked like some kind of drunken fish floating around there," he chuckled.

"I'll admit, you're doing better than I am," Vlara shrugged, "Though at least getting myself stuck was intentional, unlike the rest of these bozos."

The rest of their group, who had by now attempted to get ahead of Alai, Vlara, and Ender, were now flailing about in the null-g space as if they were attempting to swim through it. Of course it didn't work with the lack of resistance in the air to push them forward, so instead they looked like cartoon characters in the moments before they realized that the cliff that they ran from had ended a few steps back.

"You better go help out your buddy before he figures out that you've been talking to me." Vlara motioned to Bernard, who was now trying desperately to pretend that he had gotten himself stuck entirely on purpose.

Alai stifled a laugh, "That bozo's all talk. Ever since that trick Wiggin pulled with the messages, no one takes him seriously anymore."

"Speaking of Wiggin:" Vlara motioned over to Ender, who was floating towards them. Alai held a hand out to him to take most of the impact and guided him to the wall.

"Huh, we should practice that sort of thing." Ender said as he grabbed onto one of the handholds, "It's much easier landing that way."

"I would love to, but everyone else is turning to butter out there, I doubt we'd get much done." Alai shrugged.

"What happens if we get out there together? Push off of each other?"

As the boys spoke, Vlara could see the unspoken understanding between them. You watch my back, I'll watch yours. It was a connection that the girl had never experienced for herself. Friendship. Her relationship with Ender and Alai was that of comrades, not friends. For a moment, she felt sadness and jealousy, which was something she rarely experienced. Is it so wrong for a soldier to want friends? If her father were here, he would say so. But that's how wars are won, right? Teamwork, not the skill of individuals. The maneuvers that Ender and Alai discovered together out in the center of the room would've been impossible without both of them working together.

After a few minutes, the boys returned to her with Bernard and Shen, a boy that had been the victim of torment which Ender has saved him from.

"We're going to freeze the bozos out there. That's what the guns do. Wanna join?" Alai asked her with a childish grin. He was actually having fun like kids their age were meant to do.

Vlara nodded, removing the blaster from her hip and studying it, "They won't even know what hit them."

With all five of them, it didn't take very long to have everyone in the room frozen stuff and floating aimlessly. The quintet were laughing, clutching at each other's suits to keep from floating off. It was the first time in a while that Vlara had genuinely laughed. It was the first time that she felt truly free. They had made her apart of something by pulling her into their game, and she couldn't be happier.