01-Doing Daddy Proud

by Chronic Guardian

"When you grow up, I want you to do something important. Don't let yourself get stuck in a small, little world like me. Do you understand, Arvinder?" A Lavie-Centric story about a father's love and the legacy he leaves for his children. [Twelve Shots of Summer: Trinity Limit]

-Doing Daddy Proud-

By Chronic Guardian

-§-

Author's Note: Written for Twelve Shots of Summer: Trinity Limit [week 1: Inheritance/Unfinished Business]

!Spoilers! for Planetes episode 18

-§-

It was the last day. The last day of waiting for years on end to finally move up, to finally make something of his career. Everything he was good at would finally pay off and he wouldn't be sending home checks just large enough to keep his family going another month. Technically they weren't his family anymore, and as far as the government was concerned what he sent home was only court-ordered child support; but no amount of legal jargon could blot out the life he'd once had. They were still his children, and he was still their father. Try as he might, the only thing he was looking forward to with his promised raise was sending more back to earth as he struggled to re-define the role he'd been screwing up for the past who-knew-how-long. One more day, one last mission, and he'd be a step closer to making things a little more right.

-§-

Arvind Lavie had always dreamed of being a good dad. Back in kindergarten when other kids were saying things like "Superman" for their future career aspirations, or even elementary school where "Computer Technician" became a popular fallback, he'd always just stuck with "Professional Daddy".

"You can't be just a dad," his teachers would say. "Isn't there something else? What does your father do?"

He didn't actually know the answer to that. Sabjeet Lavie was a quiet man, not at all like Arvind, who took after his mother. He worked in a hotel somewhere on the other side of town. He made enough for a modest existence and a small family of three. "When you grow up, I want you to do something important," he told his son. "Don't let yourself get stuck in a small, little world like me. Do you understand, Arvinder?"

Arvind had foolishly promised what he couldn't deliver. He was no good with numbers. He could fake his way through most tests, but he always froze up when it came to the real deal. Everything he was good at, remembering birthdays, making people laugh, none of it could get him a steady job. Somehow though, he managed to take all his weaknesses and turn them into secrets that he hid behind his jokes and charming manners. He looked qualified on the books, and he worked hard to keep it that way.

It was enough to land him a few weeks at most jobs and, more importantly, a marriage. He knew how to play romantic, how to drum up his sorrows and treat a girl like she was the center of the universe. The particular center of the universe with whom it stuck was named Idai. She was easily won over by his fawning and for a few years of odd jobs and passionate love it looked like things would be okay.

Then Karona was born and he thought he would die of happiness.

Then Haala, and Paramvir and Advik, Musharraf, Saadhiya, and Jahmyyllah. And with each new child Arvind would again say to his wife how happy she made him even as dinner got smaller and wages stretched thinner. He really was making more money by the time Jahmy was born, but he hadn't kept pace with all the growing stomachs around the house. There were days where it felt like all he could do was to prop up Idai's sagging smile as their situation started to weigh on her. They were poor, with many children, and there was no way out. Arvind already spent two hours every day commuting by bicycle and bus, and nobody wanted to give him more hours than he'd already talked them into giving him. He had his dream, but there wasn't enough time to soak it in between work and worry as he fought to keep his family smiling.

It was around that time when Arvind made the first step down a very slippery slope.

-§-

Haala was rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she stumbled after him. "Where are you going, Dad?" It was still dark out as he tried to quietly roll his creaky bicycle out of the alley and into the main street. The rest of the family was probably still asleep. They should've been, anyway.

"Shhh!" Arvind signaled for her to keep her voice down by putting a finger to his lips. He gave her a pleading look and a soft smile that turned up the corners of his dark mustache. "Daddy's going to work." It was partly a lie, he never had shifts this early in the day and in fact one of his jobs had insisted he take the day off to ward off a cold he was catching, but he was planning on making some money somehow today so calling it work fit the bill well enough. Karona's birthday was coming up and he wanted to have enough to get her more than coconut burfi from the sweets shop. She was thirteen now, a young woman. She deserved something special. He couldn't go on treating her like a child forever.

Haala looked back at him in solemn reverence. Her deep, brown eyes, so much like her mother's, seemed to search his soul and for a moment he was afraid she would guess the truth: that her father was struggling to support his family.

Of all the secrets he was hiding under the laughter and sunshine, that was the one he was most afraid of confronting. He could take being called a fool. He'd never been a prideful man, he didn't mind being brought low or treated poorly when he got something wrong. However, if anyone suggested he wasn't doing his duty as a father, that would be the end of it for him. Because even though he tried harder at that than anything else, it was also the part of himself he was the least confident about.

"You shouldn't have had so many kids," his co-workers would tell him. "Haven't you ever heard of birth control?"

Arvind would try to laugh it off as a joke, but inside he was paralyzed at the question of which child he would be willing to sacrifice if he had it to do over again. It was too late, he'd already met them. He was their daddy, and he couldn't back out on that now.

Haala frowned. "I thought you said you had the morning off? We never see you now."

Arvind chuckled to hide his wince. "Oh, you heard?" He remembered saying something about it to Idai last night but not the kids. Haala must have been listening at the door…

His daughter nodded. It wasn't vindictive. Haala was curious and matter-of-fact. She hadn't caught him to say "I told you so," she was just trying to figure out what was going on.

He met her patient stare after a moment and forced a smile. "Well… Daddy's going to try to get something for Karona today. You know it'll be her birthday soon, and it'd be nice if..."

He trailed off as an idea came to him. In his high school years he'd gotten pretty good with street magic. Plus, it was still far away enough from summer that tourists still passed through town. If he had a cute assistant with him he could probably charm his way to a modest sum and still be back before dinner.

"Daddy?" Haala cocked her head. She wouldn't let him get away without a straight answer.

"It's…" He licked his lips. Could he do that? Haala was about eleven. She had a clear voice, and a nice, warm smile. But she was also his daughter. If he asked her to work with him, would that be wrong? Did it go against the unwritten code of fatherhood to rely on his little girl, even a little?

Arvind shook his head to himself and tucked the thought away. It wasn't technically work, he was off the clock. If it was just a little time together where they happened to make some money, then that would be alright.

Looking back up, he gave a big smile as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Say Haala, would you like to come with Daddy today?"

Her eyes got so big and wide that for a moment he thought he might've asked the wrong thing.

"Really, Daddy?" The adoring excitement in her whisper was like sweet music to his ears.

His smile widened as he pulled her in for a quick squeeze. "Yes, sweetie. Just," he nodded back towards the house, "go get dressed and tell Mommy we're going to town to buy a few things Daddy forgot yesterday."

"Sure!" Haala nodded in return and hurried back towards the house. A few minutes later and they were on their way, bumping down the street. Arvind sat on the very tip of the bicycle seat to give Haala enough room. She hugged him tight around the middle and he laughed every time they went down a hill and her long, dark hair went trailing behind them.

Today looked like it would be a good day.

-§-

Haala was a good assistant. Despite her age, she was a perfect little lady and a great foil to Arvind's goofier antics. Really, it wasn't anything she hadn't seen at home already so there was no shame as he pulled frogs out his nose or balanced upside-down on a top hat. After each act they would smile and bow to each other. Then Arvind would tell her the next string of tricks and away they went again.

The money was good, too. Haala counted out almost five thousand rupees before lunch. Arvind hadn't actually been planning on taking a lunch today, but with Haala along he felt obliged to give the tricks a rest and find them something to eat. They packed up their props and started off to find a stall selling something cheap and filling. He'd made sure to set up in the good part of town, both because it got more tourists and because had Haala with him, so unfortunately that meant they had to walk a while before they found something within their price range.

They walked hand in hand through the bustle of the city. Eventually they found an old woman selling steamed rice cakes spiced with curry and tumeric. Arvind bought eight and gave five to Haala. They found a bench that wasn't too dirty and sat down to eat, talking between mouthfuls about what they would buy for Karona and what to do with the leftover money. Haala said there was a new collegian reader that had come out fairly recently. Arvind smiled and thought it was a very merciful that he was allowed to have academic children.

-§-

After they finished their rice cakes, they dropped by a book shop before headed back to where they'd stationed themselves for the morning.

They then discovered Arvind's bike had gone missing.

According to some witnesses it had been mistaken for scrap and had been hauled away by some street cleaners. Arvind fumed, refusing to curse in front of his daughter, and tried to think of how he would get them home now. How much did a new bike cost? He anxiously counted out what they had left after their big purchases: 53 rupees. Not even enough to buy bus fare back home for one of them.

"What are we going to do, Daddy?" Haala asked, her dark eyes wide with worry.

Arvind sighed and tried to swallow his frown. Should they just start walking home? It was safer now than in the dark. But no, without a bike he'd need some money to get to work on time tomorrow. Besides, he still had a late shift he was scheduled to work. He didn't have time to walk home and back at this point. At the same time, he couldn't keep Haala with him. He probably wouldn't be done until well past her bed time and he might even need to stay the night there at that point.

But could Haala walk home on her own? He approached the idea like a man circling a sleeping tiger. He didn't want to let go of her for an instant. And yet, wasn't she growing up? He thought back to earlier that same morning and how she had carried himself as his assistant. A fine young lady, he thought to himself with a smile. Perhaps it was time to trust her a little more.

"Haala?" He asked tentatively, taking his daughter by the shoulders. "Do you think you can walk home all by yourself?"

Haala stared back, but set her lip and nodded bravely. His heart swelled at her maturity. He hugged her close and fierce for a brief moment before letting her go. "I love you so much," he told her. "Tell your sisters and brothers I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Alright..." She slowly pulled away and took a deep breath. Showing her father a reassuring smile, she looked off towards home and took a few wobbly steps, as if she wasn't entirely sure the path was right yet.

"And remember not to talk to strangers!" he called after her. It was just as well she was turned away, he was starting to tear up.

"I will, Daddy," she said over her shoulder.

"And keep on the main roads!"

"Okay."

"And don't push yourself too hard! You'll get dehydrated!"

"I got it, Daddy!"

Even though he'd had a light lunch, he couldn't shake the stone pit setting down his stomach.

-§-

"Where have you been!?"

Arvind flinched as he passed through the door. "I was at work!" he answered, his tone slipping defensive as he tried to figure out what was going on. It was the next day and he'd finally gotten home by hitching a ride with a postal worker.

"Where's Haala?"

The question hit him like a brick wall. He blinked and stumbled back a few feet before he managed to murmur, "She's… not here?" His head felt like it exploded as a hundred worst-case scenarios flashed before his eyes.

Idai's eyes flashed. "You sent her home alone!?"

"I thought she was old enough!" he retorted, clutching his face. "What can we do? Are we supposed to go out and look for her now? Wait! Maybe the police can help!"

"Do you trust the officers to handle our daughter?" Idai said incredulously. "She'd be better off in the house of a stranger."

It was all too much for Arvind. He felt his stomach churning as he hunched over and moaned. "What could have happened to her? Surely she couldn't have gotten lost, I told her to stick to the main road. Why isn't she here? What did I do wrong?"

All through the rest of the day, the question burned in his mind. The funny thing was, he already knew the only answer that mattered: this was his fault. He'd sent her out, alone, when he was supposed to be there for her. He'd disgraced his position as her daddy.

When they eventually found Haala in the next village over, she was frightened and bedridden, but alive. She also had risen the suspicions of a few local middleclassers who were well meaning but far too nosy for their own good.

Apparently, Arvind was to be charged with child neglect.

-§-

The incident ruined him. Once he realized he'd failed to protect his daughter, he couldn't seem to do anything right at work anymore. He missed deadlines and botched meetings. Life at home was even worse. He was given to depression, even though Haala forgave him, and his dreams of being a professional daddy slowly began to wither.

Eventually, Idai couldn't take it and she filed for divorce. Arvind couldn't bring himself to fight the decision. He did what he was good at and took it lying down.

-§-

Shortly after that, he got a job with Technora. After a brief orientation where they verified just how good he was at interviewing, he got shipped out to ISPV-7, one of the orbiting space stations, and began working with their offices there. It was a strange new world that smelled as much like sterilized air as you would expect, but it would at least pay him enough to support the family he'd left behind. He could learn to deal with anti-gravity and brush up on his Japanese if that was what he got out of it.

He spent less than half a week in Control Section before he got shuffled into the Debris Section, or "Half" Section as everyone called it. He was good at office communication and he had a reputation for adhering to company policy a little more than his coworkers. It took him a few days to read up and breeze through the qualification exams for debris hauling. He trained with out dated equipment, but it didn't matter. He still had an office job. He told himself it was a strategic downgrade. Besides, his new position allowed him plenty of time to work on his juggling and other tricks. Most people didn't care about that kind of stuff up there, but he didn't want to get rusty for when he got to visit his kids.

In a way, he also treated the Half Section like family. Chief Meyers, Fee, Yuri, Hachi and Edel. He wasn't their daddy, but they were like the brothers and sisters he'd never had. In a way, he was glad he'd gotten to see this new world.

Still, he never forgot why he was there. He did enough to fill out the requirements of his job and spent the rest of his time looking for ways to move up. He memorized the general information of every big-wig in the company, including birthdays and general preferences, and kept an ear to the ground for gossip on what was going on over his head. Yes, most of it was hopelessly beyond the reach of Half Section's tucked-away corner of ISPV-7, but Arvind didn't think about the odds. He just kept on being charming and hoped someone noticed.

-§-

"Yes, debris collection!" He said with feigned enthusiasm. It was his first call back to earth and he was trying to explain his new job to his kids. "Daddy makes sure space is safe by cleaning up the skies like a big vacuum cleaner sweeping up tacks!"

"Oh, I get it," Karona said, standing in the back so her shorter siblings could see. "You're fighting against Kessler Syndrome."

Advik, Arvind's second son, turned to look back at his sister. His curly hair had gotten longer since Arvind had last seen him. The boy would have to get a haircut soon. "Castler Syndrome?"

Musharraf, the oldest son, snickered while Haala sighed and shook her head. "Kessler Syndrome," Karona chided. "It's when all the little bits of stuff left in orbit hit other things and make even more stuff flying everywhere. It's sort of like knocking over dominoes."

"I knew that!" Advik grumbled. "I just thought he said something else. So you're protecting space, Daddy?"

"...Yes," Arvind paused and licked his lips as he tried to get his mind back into gear. Something about the dominoes analogy felt a little too familiar.

-§-

"You know, sometimes I wonder if anyone cares about them."

Arvind perked up his ears. He was in the mess hall, sneaking in on the tail end of lunch. He liked to keep tabs on the gossip going around ISPV-7, partly because he thought it might come in handy for moving up somehow and partly just because he liked to be in the know.

"Who, the Half Section?" There was chuckle. "I'm not even sure they care about each other sometimes. What, you've got that Hachimaki guy who think's he's gonna buy a spaceship on a Half Section salary, the russian guy who's always checked out, the temp, that lardball of a boss, renegade Captain Smokes, and that Indian clown. It's just a dump for all the people we can't use. 'Garbage in, garbage out', you know?"

Arvind winced and slumped down in his seat. He'd sort of been hoping he'd be excluded from the list, if only because they couldn't remember him.

"Well… yeah, but they also got that new girl too, right?"

"What, the idealist? Trust me, she's going no where. Not until she gets her head out of the clouds and gets her head around the basic facts of life. We're a company, not a charity, and definitely not a family. Watch, she'll get booted for insubordination if she doesn't get lost on one of her EVAs."

"Would they let her out if she's that incompetent?"

"It's the Half Section man, they'll never get their act together. They're a bunch of nobodies doing a job that doesn't help anyone, especially not us."

As the voices faded away, Arvind felt himself protesting inside. Half Section wasn't like that! Sure, things were a little more lax than other parts of the company, but they were still important. They were keeping space safe! Stopping Kessler Syndrom! It was an important job, wasn't it?

Still, part of him agreed. If he wanted to make a difference, he couldn't stay in Half Section forever, he needed to get out. Maybe he couldn't be the father he wanted to be, but he could still find a way to provide for his children and give them a better future. To do that, he needed to move up.

-§-

Somehow, even with space travel and video phones, old fashioned letters never went out of style. Some of his older kids sent letters now and then. They were from Karona mostly. She talked about school as if he could actually keep up with her. She talked about the new things she was learning and the limitations of living in a small village. He was her confidant. Every time she mentioned a new style or trend, he'd spend hours researching it on the network so he could offer intelligent conversation.

Haala wrote too, sometimes. "Daddy? What's it like in space?" That was her most frequent question. "Sometimes I look at the sky at night and wonder if you're passing over our house. Can you see stars where you're at? It's easier here than in the city, but I bet you've got an even better view. Can you tell me what the moon looks like from up there?"

Arvind told her it was a bright and wonderful place that reminded him of her. He left out the part that most of space is just black emptiness. She was looking for stars. If she wanted to know about the empty part, she would've asked.

-§-

He'd been at it a few years when the opportunity he'd been waiting for finally came up. The current division director, Dolf Azaria, was being transferred to a new project so the Third Division chief, Norman Schwimmer, was taking his place. Ever having a nose for opportunity, Arvind seized the shift as his chance to redefine himself. Schwimmer wanted Half Section shut down due to an old grudge, so Arvind would have to transfer anyway. He didn't know if he could start again on earth if they let him go.

He managed to make a good impression with his tricks. Schwimmer recognized his value as an entertainer and promised him a position as a section leader so long as he would organize and perform for company parties. There was nothing easier for Arvind. It looked like things would finally smooth out again. He would finally be able to find his dreams again.

-§-

He broke the news to his family right after the meeting. "No, honest, it's the truth! Pretty soon now, Daddy's gonna be made into a manager!"

The children whooped in excitement on the other side of the phone. Advik cut through with the question Arvind was hoping for. "Does that mean you're gonna get paid more?"

"You bet I am, kids!" Arvind grinned as his voice raised in excitement.

Advik's light eyebrows shot up. "Honest, Dad? Then would you buy us a game?"

The other children quickly chimed in their requests so as not to be forgotten. A soccer ball for Paramvir, a telescope for Haala.

"Telescopes are expensive," Advik rebuked his sister. "If Dad buys a game we can all play it!"

"We'll celebrate Daddy moving up in the world," Arvind cut in. "I'll buy everything you want!"

That brought on another round of cheers. For a moment, it didn't matter that there were thousands of miles between them, Arvind felt like he was right back home again.

Peering in from the back, Saadhiya shouted over her siblings. "Hey, if you got a bigger job, Dad, that mean you'll pick up bigger Dee-brees, right?"

Advik was quick to correct his sister on how to pronounce "debris". Not that it mattered, they wouldn't have to worry about that word again in a few weeks.

"I'll be manager of the General Affairs section," Arvind told them. "So I won't have to pick up debris ever again!"

Suddenly, the bright tone of the call evaporated. Arvind felt his confidence falter as a ripple of confused exclamations echoed through his children. Fimally, Saadhiya spoke up again.

"But… who's going to keep space safe?"

"What?" Arvind stopped short. "Well… I… I'll be in general affairs, so I'll make sure they get good people for the job! Don't worry, kids, Daddy can handle it!"

He didn't tell them that the Debris Section was getting shut down. Today was a happy moment, he didn't want to spoil it.

-§-

There was still one last mission to run though. Schwimmer put Arvind on board the retrieval craft because he thought it might stop the captain from her usual free-wheeling antics. Arvind didn't tell his superior that Fee Carmichael, captain of the Toy Box, responded equally poorly to any sort of authority figure who tried to stop her from doing her job. She was a debris hauler, through and through. It didn't matter if the suits said no or her crew thought she was crazy, she was out to clean space up. Mostly, Arvind just hoped he wouldn't have to intervene.

Unfortunately, that plan fell to pieces when they came across an old debris hauling craft gone derelict. Well, not the vessel itself, so to speak, but more what had made it derelict. Apparently, the ship was being used by an undercover reporter who was digging into the dirty secrets of INTO, the biggest name in space development who had a finger in every pie both presently made and in production. Arvind already felt wary of the situation as he started to grasp just how high above their pay grade they were pushing here.

Then it all went down in flames when they discovered the reporter was on to something. INTO had placed a data mine, disguised as debris, in orbit over a crucial Russian evacuation route. The reporter explained that data mines were essentially strategic disablers used to burn out a ship's flight system as it passed by. Arvind didn't know why INTO would put something like that above Russia, but he did know if INTO put it there then they would have hell to pay if it got misplaced.

He also knew this was exactly the sort of thing Fee wouldn't stand for.

"You are to leave that debris untouched," the controller back at ISPV-7 repeated. "We have strict instructions to leave that item alone."

"If you're going to pretend it's debris, then I can't pretend it isn't my job to pick it up," Fee shot back. She cut the comm channel and turned to her crew. "Alright, so how do we stop it?"

Yuri was the first to pull up a game plan, despite Arvind's protests. "If we can blind it to our approach we can smash it with the recovery arm," the russian answered. "We'd need someone to get close enough to manually link it up with a false NavStar feed though and we don't have any life lines that long. They'll have to make the approach untethered and without suit navigation functions."

Arvind jumped on the assessment. "See? It's hopeless. We'd better turn back now before it gets us. No one could pull that off!" He needed to get them out of here fast before things escalated.

"I can pull that off," Hachi said with a note of finality.

Still, Arvind wasn't done. He wouldn't let his promised future go so easily. "Weren't you listening? That's an 'S' Class maneuver!"

"I know," Hachi assurred him, sounding a little annoyed. "That's why I have to do this. You can't send Tanabe and Yuri's got to link me in once I get there. It has to be me. Prep the spare oxygen tanks."

"No, you really don't have to try so hard," Arvind pleaded. "This is the last day, please just let it go! Don't do this, please don't do this!"

No one was listening at that point though. Fee was shouting orders and Arvind felt himself grasping at sand as that bright light he thought he'd had at the start of the day slipped back into dusk. He clenched his teeth and yelled. "I said stop!"

Finally, Fee turned to address him. "Lavie, there's a lot more to the world than Technora."

"I know that!" he answered. "But… this isn't just for me… My oldest, Karona, is a bright girl, much smarter than me, and I want to send her to a private school if I can. Haala adores space and has been begging me to get her a decent telescope. Musharraf is still little, but you can tell he's got a gift for music and I want to get him into sitar or piano lessons right away. I can't… I can't be with them as their father any more, so now the only thing I can do is earn money for them. So… I'm begging you! Please! I can't afford to be fired!"

There was a moment of silence and it almost looked like Arvind had gotten through to them. Yuri gave him a sympathetic look and Fee pursed her lips. Maybe they would go home and this whole thing would blow over.

"Lavie," Fee finally said in a calm voice. "I know you weren't ready for it, but today we were given a decision of what to do. We can either choose what's easy for us or do what's right for everyone else. Technora can't decide that for us. We're still debris haulers, and we've got a job to do."

Arvind stopped and the world kept moving. Was that the decision he was making right now? Putting himself first before the people he was supposed to be protecting? Suddenly, he was back on earth with a stolen bicycle and pending work shift. He thought of everything he said he was fighting for, each of his seven children, and wondered if it was really the same choice.

Just as Hachi made it to the mine and they began their approac, the lights started to flicker and systems went red. The NavStar feed they'd been using to fool the mine had gone out.

Chief Schwimmer's voice came on over the comm channels. "Listen up you half-wits," he said coldly. "I've cut your NavStar directly from here. Your little ploy is over, you got that? You are ordered to leave that orbit immediately. If you don't, your systems will be fried in a few moments. Of course, you could just stay and become debris yourselves. Now wouldn't that be poetic justice?"

Fee didn't respond. "We'll be running on emergency power in a minute if we don't take out that mine. Yuri, can you operate our arms?"

"No good, Ma'am. They're locking down our systems from head quarters. It must be the new control software we implemented after the SDF raids."

"Allow me to spell this out nice and easy," Schwimmer growled. "You have enough power to disengage or stubbornly cling to that thing like the junk you are. Is this really worth your lives?"

Worth my life? Arvind let the question resonate. He didn't have to go along with Fee's plan. He could just run for one of the escape pods. He could still have that promotion, especially if he showed how loyal he'd stayed to the company. He could still say it wasn't his fault.

But then he thought of finding Haala when he should have walked her home.

Arvind felt a bitter smile surface as he looked down and shook his head. This was the important moment he'd been waiting for, and the decision he made here would define who he was for the rest of his life. He could either be a good employee, or he could be a man his children could be proud of. He was already so far gone... If he died here, would they even hear about what he'd done?

But then he remembered that call that had only been earlier that afternoon and the disappointment in their eyes when they heard he wasn't going to be a debris hauler anymore. "But... Who will keep space safe?" Even if they were on earth, protected by the atmosphere, they still cared about what he did and the difference his job made. Even after he'd promised them all those things that his new job would bring, what they wanted was something they could be proud of. If he abandoned his friends for the promotion, he'd also be abandoning any reason they had left to look up to him.

"Okay," he sighed. He thought of his children, one by one, and silently apologized to them. Maybe he wouldn't be able to leave them money or toys, but that didn't mean he'd be giving them an empty inheritance. They wanted something more than that anyway.

"You got it kid."

He turned and started pulling himself through the Toy Box. They were still linked with the derelict vessel. It was a debris hauler model so it was equipped with a maintenance arm. It also looked old enough that it still ran mostly on hydraulics. Actually, it looked almost exactly like the model he'd trained for back when he was getting certified. The Toy Box couldn't smash the mine now, but that didn't mean they were out of options.

He heard Fee shout down the corridor after him. "Lavie, where are you going!?"

"I've got to do this!" he yelled back. "I'm the only one who can!" For once, he was the person the world needed for the job. As he rushed through the airlocks and settled into the docked ship's control room, he felt his heart pumping wildly. This was it, he couldn't choke up now.

"Let's see now," he croaked, grabbing the controls with shaking hands. "If I shift it from hydraulic to neutral for a few seconds and then..."

"Hey!" Hachi's voice broke through the comm as he realized Arvind had the arm working. "Over here! Smash it over here, Lavie!"

Arvind worked up a smile. "I got it!"

"No, I don't think you do," Schwimmer interrupted him. "If you don't stop this, you won't be moving up, you'll be moving out! Have you forgotten the promotion I promised you? The company is all you people have, isn't it? If you defy us and get thrown out, who else will give you a place where you can belong?"

For a moment, he felt the controls slipping as his hands got sweaty. He gulped and tried to refocus. He had nowhere left to run. This was where he made his stand and faced the truth. "I suppose that's true," he answered the chief. "As a company man, I understand that. But the place I really belong..." He trailed off as he thought of his family. Could he really claim that now? He gave a sad chuckle. He'd been in space too long. He didn't remember what it felt like to live with them, to share their happiness and their grief. If he destroyed the mine, he'd be burning the last bridge that connected them. If he ran away, he'd never be able to face them again. "I really can't win, can I? No matter what I do I can't…"

But no, that wasn't right. There was still something left to do. He could at least leave them a name worth having. He wouldn't let his children be known as the offspring of a coward. He gripped the controls tighter and set his mouth in determination. "I can still… Daddy can still... I'll be a debris hauler who keeps space SAFE!" He pushed forward and sent the arm lancing into the mine.

His aim held. The Toy Box stuttered back to life as the mine shut down and the comm channel filled with cheers. Arvind withdrew the arm and fell back into his seat, exhausted. Despite the trouble he knew he'd be in when they got back, he was grinning. "That one's for you, kids," he murmured to himself. It was the last day, but he'd made it count. He'd done his important job as their daddy.

"I hope I made you proud."

-§-

-Author's Note:-

So… never heard of Planetes? You should watch it, it's good. Seriously, it just so happens to now be my personal favorite anime, and I say that with the likes of Rurouni Kenshin, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Gunslinger Girl on the line.

Although most of this stuff didn't happen in the anime (and Lavie doesn't even exist in the manga!), I really wanted to delve into Lavie's backstory leading up to the events of Phase 18: The Debris Section Last Day. He's among my favorite characters of the show and I really like that episode 18 gave him a moment to shine. The last scenes are pretty closely adapted from the anime but with a few changes here and there to maintain the thematic flow and Lavie's dedicated narrative.

In addition to feeding my inner want to write a Lavie tribute, this was also practice for doing bad things to characters I like as well as some basic research practice. For example, I looked up the names and meanings of Lavi and his named kids as well as looked up a few names for the remaining four he never calls by name in the anime. I also looked up the current exchange rate for the Indian Rupee (it's worth about a penny and a half) as well as did a cursory search on Indian cuisine to add authenticity to the opening sequences.

Of course, I probably could have done more thorough research into a lot of things, but I feel this superficial layer is alright given I was working on a deadline.

Two last things and then I'll be done. 1: This story was written for Twelve Shots of Summer: Trinity Limit, which has just kicked off. I encourage you to go and check out the forum and community if you're looking for some great summer reading or a nice writing challenge to keep the skills fresh. 2: I would like to dedicate this story to Airhead259 who introduced me to Planetes and is one of the most awesome people I know. Please give her stories a read some time!

And with that, I'm officially done rambling. See you next week for my next shot of summer! Until then,

-CG

-Bonus: CG's Research notes!-

-Names-

Arvin [friend of people]

Arvind [Lotus]

Arvinder [Of the God of heavens]

Idai [awakening, love]

Karona(F), [merciful, forgiving]

Haala(F), [Aureole, Halo around the moon]

Musharraf(M), [one who is honored, exalted]

Advik(M), [a gift]

Paramvir(M), [Greatest Warrior]

Saadhiya (F), [Luck, Flower]

Jahmyyllah (F) [Beautiful one]

-Referenced from Bachpan

Rupee Exchange Rate at time of writing: ₹1(INR)=$0.015(USD). Therefore, ₹5,000 = $75.

-Referenced from X-Rates