Page 1471 - Enders_Game_Full_Book

"So maybe you're not a Napoleon, Nikolai. Maybe you're just an Eisenhower. Don't expect me to cry for you."
It was Nikolai's turn to laugh.
"I'll miss you, Bean."
"Thanks for coming with me to face Achilles, Nikolai." "Guy gave me nightmares."
"Me too."
"And I'm glad you brought the others along too. It£ [Itu], Ambul, Crazy Tom, I felt like we could've used six more, and Achilles was hanging from a wire. Guys like him, you can understand why they invented hanging."
"Someday," said Bean, "you're going to need me the way I needed you. And I'll be there."
"I'm sorry I didn't join your squad, Bean."
"You were right," said Bean. "I asked you because you were my friend, and I thought I needed a friend, but I should have *been* a friend, too, and seen what *you* needed."
"I'll never let you down again."
Bean threw his arms around Nikolai. Nikolai hugged him back.
Bean remembered when he left Earth. Hugging Sister Carlotta. Analyzing. This is what she needs. It costs me nothing. Therefore I'll give her the hug.
I'm not that kid anymore.
Maybe because I was able to come through for Poke after all. Too late to help her, but I still got her killer to admit it. I still got him to pay something, even if it can never be enough.
"Go meet your army, Nikolai," said Bean. "I've got a spaceship to catch."
He watched Nikolai go out the door and knew, with a sharp pang of regret, that he would never see his friend again.
***
Dimak stood in Major Anderson's quarters.