Author's Note: The first portion acted as a prologue and a bit of a way or me to get some rust off. More or less, I'm looking to jump a bit in time and explore where this route took Fox and what happens as a result of it and all that, so expect the chapters to be significantly longer and all that. Thanks for reading!

–

I'm worried that two years ago, I made one of the worst decisions of my life. The ceremony went fantastic, I loved my job, I loved the experience and that all shocked me at first, but I enjoyed it. I wanted to come back each day. I started with 12 students and only a handful of other faculty. I quickly learned that I adored one of the faculty: Fara. One of my students rose above and beyond her rank and station so soon after she came to my class, her nickname was Jinx and she absolutely belonged to be there.

Jinx was a charity case as far as the school was concerned. She lived in a household that couldn't afford to put her through primary school, and she was offered a full scholarship to the Academy in part of a circuit to bring impoverished youth into the schools. She was born on Katina, she lived there until she was about to turn 8 before the Cornerian military came through and discovered her in the crowds. She hasn't seen her family since she started at school, but she hasn't given in. I admire her.

2 months in.

I slipped into the door to my office and let out a soft sigh of contentment. The comm was silent, the office was all to my own, and I needed just a second to catch my breath. A student had come out of each program that my comrades had gone to with one young officer in training being poised to take a further step up as a leader, meant to exemplify all of the programs in one. Their names swam in my head a bit. From the officer corps, there was Erin, James, and Ferris. From the Flight Academy, there was Jinx, Devon, and Norah. From the Engineering Program, there was Ashley, Annie, and Victoria. From the Introduction Program, we received Thomas, Gabriel, and Sarah. There were students from each of my comrades that were under my wing.

In the office, it was easy to maneuver, and I stepped to my desk. Each student had full portfolios, like military personnel, and I found myself peering through them from time to time. I was surprised when all of the students from the Engineering Program were girls, when the program had been dominated by boys when I'd been here at school. The officer program had evolved too, but the Flight Academy was interesting too. Overall, they were showing higher representation of women, something that wasn't too common from the Cornerian military, but it was oddly nice.

The door opened a few seconds later and a soft voice hit the room, "Mr. McCloud," she paused, "Fox. The students are done with their break in a few minutes, did you want me to start with flight instruction for them to give you some more time?"

I turned towards her, the image that I always found myself astonished by, "Fara," I said. I had a picture on my desk, the wedding picture of my Mom and Dad, it was in an old trunk of my father's things that I finally got the nerve to look through. She looked so much like my mom, and I found myself blushing any time I saw her, but I should be professional, "Yes, that sounds fine," I murmured, "Start them with target practice. Help them adapt to the new targeting system that Slippy is implementing into the Arwings."

She nodded, "Of course, Fox," and she smiled before she stepped out the door. Fara was one of the leading instructors in the Flight Academy and she was responsible for bringing the Arwing to common use. She tested it, she was the first one to ever fly it and she worked out the kinks and ensured it was battle ready for us to go into war in them, and she showed that she wasn't just a crash-test dummy every time she got behind the wheel of the Arwing. She was impressive.

I turned back to the portfolio. Jinx was a young tabby cat, she reminded me in some ways of Katt, but she was borderline flunking out of school when she had entered my program. She had risen well above what her scores hinted she was capable of which showed that she was mediocre in tactics and even in flight, her chosen discipline. When she got into the cockpit, she pulled maneuvers in that craft that I'd never seen before. Her real name was Stephanie, but she was called Jinx due to a technique that she used to enter the Flight Academy—shadowing. She used the shadow of one of her squad mates to ambush the enemy team from below. By the end of the simulation, her team hadn't lost a ship and she had comfortably taken down each of them. It was this technique that kept her there even when her scores hovered below acceptance, and that technique that got her greenlighted for this program.

I pressed the comm, the light projecting upwards before I spoke, "General Pepper, please," and it took a moment before I heard it connect.

"Fox. Is there a reason you're contacting me right now?" Pepper was curt, but professional. He was a tired dog of war and he was still wary, to some extent, of my commitment. He had sent Fara, his ace, to my program and he wanted to see results. She was the only instructor that was committed full time to the program of the instructors brought over. An engineering instructor was brought over as well, Ben, but he was only here in the afternoons. I hardly saw him and he never socialized with me between classes, Fara always made sure to stop in when she had a moment.

"Yes, it's about Jinx."

"Is she not cut out for the program?" I winced, he assumed that her scores meant she wasn't capable. He was expecting her to end up flunking out if he went straight there.

"Not exactly, sir," I said back, "I was hoping to make a recommendation for her."

"Oh?" he seemed slightly surprised, but his eyes narrowed in the faint glimmer of the comm, "You're still a new member of our faculty, Fox, I can only carry your recommendations so far. Additionally, Jinx is in danger of losing her position-"

"She's superb. I've never seen a pilot as gifted as her, nor a tactician. This portfolio includes the footage of her entrance exam and that shadowing technique is so much smaller than what I've seen from her. How are these scores obtained, sir?" I knew, though, I had received scores as well. I dropped out of the academy, I turned and taught Falco how to fly and I got caught in the web of that war. I was an ace in school, but I had to leave to acknowledge my own life. If I hadn't left, I wouldn't have amounted to anything that would ever have shown up on Pepper's radar.

"Each student is given standardized assessments. They're taught maneuvers and they're expected to execute them in testing environments given the conditions that those maneuvers would be applicable. When expected to barrel roll, she turned her wing and flew between fire. When expected to shuttle loop, she turned horizontally instead of vertically. She doesn't follow accepted technique."

"Sir, I'll forward the video footage of her performance in the environment for this group. She hasn't been restricted by standardized assessments and she's developed maneuvers and tactics that deserve implementation in the military. Please, look over the footage and make some consideration."

He narrowed his eyes once more before he gave a nod, "Of course, Fox, I'll review the footage that you send to me. I'll bear your recommendation in mind, as well, but what was it for specifically?"

"I believe she should be in the Officer Corps."

"Very well, Fox. At the very least, I will guarantee that she continues to have a placement in the academy. If the footage is substantial enough, I'll have it reviewed by the board and we'll determine her eligibility." The board consisted of my team and some others, but we were expected to be critical and honest. I couldn't push them to vote one way when there were other people there that knew the truth and knew what to vote. I had to convince everyone fairly.

"Thank you, sir." The comm link went dead, and I turned towards the door before stepping back out to take part in instruction.

The Academy trusted me in a position of power, but my word didn't tend to get far. Shortly after I started trying to change the course of the students there with my voice, I saw my past start to slip away. I was glad any time that it did, though, and there was some whispers of Jinx's capabilities. She was starting to garner some respect from her fellow students, but I heard it from the teachers too.

Just a week or so after, some of her guerrilla tactics started to appear in application in the Flight Academy. Students were discouraged, but even without the formal lesson, they were starting to mimic her. I congratulated her on it whenever I heard something new.

5 months in.

There was a ceremony to my father that was to occur, and Jinx's recommendation had gone through far enough that we were to meet as a board and to determine whether or not she was worth the step into the Officer's program. Jinx herself wasn't even aware I'd made the recommendation. I was so worried that she might not even make it this far, that I left it be and I just want to see if she can make it.

We arrived in the atrium, halls pointed towards each of the departments and their constituents. In the center was a massive cube covered in red velvet cloth. Pepper stepped up to the stand, and as I looked around, I realized a great number of students had gathered for this ceremony. The atrium had so much cover that it was hard to tell how many people were there until you were in the center, and I found myself turning as the old dog began to speak.

"We're all here in further recognition of James Senior and Junior," and I found myself flinch again. I turned towards him, fire in my eyes out of the emotions that flared at being called James. That wasn't my name, I wasn't James McCloud, I would never be James McCloud.

"Sir, that's not my name-"

He continued as if he hadn't heard me, which, I had to stop too. I bit back a few words as he continued speaking, "Here we are placing an icon of the war, the ship that allowed James Junior to enter Venom's airspace and defeat Andross." As the words slipped from his lips, I felt my stomach lurch. My Arwing, my father's Arwing, my memories. . . they were trapped in a case of glass. It took everything in my soul to not scream, but the folder in my hand, her future, kept me there for a second. I had to contain myself and that was all that kept me contained in those moments. I couldn't show some immense outburst and hurt her future because I'd made myself out to be deranged. I was a professional now.

I caught myself tuning back into Pepper's speech as he reached the tail end, "-unveiling the ship as an icon to a successful past and to what can be produced in the efforts of the Academy." Pepper gestured to me, and towards the cloth. I stepped forwards, following those steps that Pepper had taken to the stand and I felt sick, it felt wrong, but I grabbed the cloth and revealed a part of my soul to the world. I stared at it, not turning to see the crowd's response, not smiling, not waving, but instead I let out a soft sniffle as I stifled the tears that were coming to me. I had been taught to wear gloves in the Academy, there was so much glass and so many displays. I set my hand on the glass for a second before I steeled myself and turned.

"Thank you everyone!" Pepper shouted to the crowd, "You can all return to your studies." It was then that I realized the other members had begun to appear: Slippy and Beltino; Falco and a young peahen, Rose; Peppy and an old marmot, Betty; myself and Fara; and several trustees and various officers I'd never seen before. Pepper gestured towards the Flight Academy and we took an elevator soon after we reached its complex. We reached a meeting room shortly after we exited the elevator. Each of us stepped in and set with our respective department member. I looked to Peppy and was met with a smile, but the glances I took towards Falco and Slippy were met with a fond nod, but I could feel that we were drifting apart.

Pepper stayed standing, and once everyone had reached their seats, he smiled and turned towards the screen, "File on Stephanie Perot." The screen illuminated as an image appeared in the top left corner. Her scores were on the screen, her personal record, her performance, everything that we needed to know about her was suddenly before us. He glanced towards me after a moment, "Fox, if you would like to come up, you can speak."

I cleared my throat and stood, before I gestured Fara to stand as well. I needed Fara to be up there. She grabbed my hand a moment as she stood up, a reaffirming squeeze, but it looked like a quick brush. She let go and walked in stride with me as I stepped to the front of the room, clutching her supplemental information like a lifeline in my hand. "For the purpose of this presentation, I would like to respect Stephanie and refer to her by the name she has earned in her time in the academy: Jinx." I cleared my throat a second, Fara looking at me expectantly.

"Stephanie Perot's personal history, please." The screen shifted towards some information regarding her past schooling, her home life, and other such circumstance. "Each of you have received Jinx's file and have likely reflected on her assessment scores and other such indicators of capability in terms of how you wanted to vote on her in this nomination. I hope to explain away her low test scores and demonstrate how she has gone above and beyond."

I paused again, I needed water. There was a cooler to the side of the room, and I stepped over to retrieve some. As I was getting water, I could feel eyes on me as I continued, despite not having the material in front of me. "Jinx was raised in an abusive household. She didn't receive any education until she had turned 8 and arrived at the academy. Due to the fact that she was expected to be behind her classmates, she was placed in remedial courses. She excelled in these courses due to their pace, and it was quickly learned that Jinx was a self-teaching student. As she was placed in higher levels, she was expected to demonstrate material she had learned that day and she wasn't able to do that, and as she reached specializations, this only seemed to worsen. She is not a typical student, and her scores reflect her inability to learn like the other students, but," I said, pausing for a second to take a drink as I felt some of the anxiety slip away and fire catch to my words, "She is an immensely talented student."

"Here, I have a clip that, as you note, is time stamped for two Mondays ago. As the Engineering Department is aware, this is the day that the Arwings in our department were replaced for a new iteration."

I stepped back to the screen and pressed a button on my comm, "Project Clip 0153." The screen was replaced with footage of the students getting into the Arwings. They went in groups of 4, modeling after the Star Fox team. As it began, I started to speak over it to point out certain things, "As you know, Ferris leads the squadron Jinx is a part of along with Annie and Thomas. Ferris and Jinx, together, are flying point in an atypical formation," he said, gesturing towards the screen.

In the comm relays on the screen, Jinx distinctly says, "Thomas, catch me," and her Arwing shifts. Slippy had implemented the walker mode, and Thomas swings forward and catches her walker. She quickly anchors herself to the Arwing above and engages her rocket boosts.

"This exercise was a capture the flag style game. As you can see, their team has left no defense but Annie and Ferris are no longer following. They've stationed themselves at the midpoint, and you can see that there's very little cover. Jinx has opted to overcome this with sheer speed and tactics," he said, and as Thomas and her were to be intercepted, she removed her anchor. Thomas Arwing suddenly veered upwards, dodging the blasts as she was on the ground, offering herself a great deal more cover than was available in the air. She had already infiltrated their base down to their flag, and was turning to discover that the other team had taken walker forms as well.

"You'll note that it's 3v1 here, Thomas has fallen back to support his team in any attack on their flag while Jinx handles the problem. Watch here," he said, gesturing towards her walker. It partially shifted back to the Arwing form, stopping mid shift as it was left lower to the ground. It suddenly bolted forwards, vaulting through the laser blasts from the other team before she utilized her lower center of gravity to take on of the legs out on the enemy walker, and immediately pushed through. Using her partial shift, she slipped back to the Arwing form and took advantage of the few extra seconds from that partial shift to make it back to her team and her base.

"As you can see, Slippy has designed for a land and a sky form of the Arwing. This allows for combat in both land and air, but there are distinct steps between land and sky forms. Without having ever used walker forms before, she determined her best bet was to opt for a partial version in an attempt to break through, and she succeeded cleanly. This is not the only indication of her talent."

Fara broke into the conversation as the video clip ended, "Jinx was placed into the Flight Academy due to my recommendation. She wasn't passing, I was worried she wouldn't be able to cut it, but she constantly showed how amazing she could be when we had dog fights, something that was purely instinctual. She's done things I can't even begin to imagine," she said, and she paused before she looked at me, "Fox's recommendation is shared by the entire department and he put it forth because we believe it's the best chance of it being taken seriously. I am certain," she said, before here eyes landed on Falco and Rose, "That she will be more than capable in the officer program."

Fara paused and I resumed playing clips, again and again demonstrating moments of pure ingenuity that not only showed that Jinx was incredible in the vehicle, but that she was more than those scores said. After the final clip played, I found that my hands were on the table. I was still shaken, to some extent, by the dedication, but I was doing okay, I could do this. "Is there any questions?"

It was met with silence, and Pepper nodded a few moments later, "I would like to bring this to a vote now that Fox has made his case."

The vote was unanimously in her favor with the exception of a handful of the trustees. Fara smiled, and I knew in that moment that she had something to do with the way the vote turned out.

I wanted to have a positive effect while working here, I wanted to make sure that I set people out on the course that they deserved to be on. I was glad I gave Jinx that opportunity. I still hadn't even thought to tel her that she had been recommended and the officers stormed her dorm one night to congratulate her. She cried she was so excited and she was given an officer's uniform.

Soon after her promotion, she started to take more and more of a leadership role in her team, an eventually, it was clear that she was the leader, not Ferris. That wasn't a bad thing she just happened to rise to the occasion.

8 months in.

It only gets busier. I miss going out to teach lessons, but the paperwork from Pepper has become too much. He wants each of these students to come out of the program like Jinx had, promoted from their rank and file into a higher level in the military. He wanted each of them pushed, but while they were all impressive in their own regards, Jinx received a recommendation because she was so much more than her portfolio led me to believe. The military had documented well the capabilities of the other students and they only periodically met them. Fara was doing her best to push them, but I don't know if any of the other students should be recommended.

There was a knock at my door and I turned to look towards it, "Come in!" I said, the room just soundproofed enough to force me to be firm with my voice. The door opened soon after and Fara stepped in, closing the door behind her.

"The students are leaving for the day to go back to the dormitories," she said. She smiled. Her hands were held behind her back, and she stepped closer to my desk for a moment before she revealed what she was holding behind her back. It was a carnation and a card, the carnation a strange golden orange that glistened in the light. It was synthetic, but it was pretty, "Jinx got this to thank you," she said, "She just finished her first exam in the officer's program. She's going to be able to go into active service by the end of next year, she'll be graduating a year earlier than anticipated. It was a good thing you did."

I found myself smiling a bit as I looked at the carnation a second more. I set it in front of the portrait of my father and mother before I turned to the card and opened it.

–

Mr. McCloud

I heard that you fought to get me into the officer's program, digging deep into my personal files and doing anything you could. I know Ms. Phoenix played her part too, and I just wanted to thank you both for putting so much confidence in me. I don't know if I would've gotten there if you hadn't recommended me.

Stephanie

–

I thumbed at the card a moment before I turned back towards Fara. She was smiling, she may have read the card, but it appeared that she was holding a card of her own. Once I looked a little closer, I realized she had a carnation in her hair. . . did she put that there just now? She must've gotten thanks as well, in her own way. "Listen, Fox," she said, as she realized I was done, "That's not the only reason I wanted to come in here."

"What is it, Fara?"

"I wanted to get you out of your office. You've been boxed in here for the past few months. You made it out for Jinx's official transition into the officer's program, but I don't think you've been out much. Do you want to grab dinner with me?" she asked. I could hear the anxiety, and I knew that it meant more than just dinner to her.

My ears pressed to the top of my head for a second, the anxiety infectious before I caught my breath and courage and let out a soft exhale. "Sure. What'd you have in mind?" and the words rolled out so easily.

She reflected them with a smile, and she looked towards the door, "There's a little restaurant that overlooks the ocean. I made reservations this past week, just in case, but I figured I'd have to ask you sometime to actually know if you'd go. They're. . ." she checked her comm, whispering for the time, "In a little over an hour, sorry," she said, and she managed to return to the smile. She was pretty, she looked like Mom.

"It's fine, Fara, I'll just grab my jacket, we can start our way over," I said, peering at the open folder before I closed it. In truth, I was nearly a week behind in the paperwork that Pepper had been giving me, and this date guaranteed that I'd be back over the weekend to finish up and try to catch up, but that was how careers were, right? You started and you never really stopped until you dropped dead or someone convinced you to retire before you dropped dead. I thumbed over the papers on my desk for a moment, setting them into a neat pile before I stepped towards the coat rack at the door, grabbing my flight jacket and pulling it back over my frame.

I still got looks now and then for wearing the flight jacket, for still wearing the uniform I wore as a mercenary even though the rest of my team had adopted the proper uniform for the Cornerian military, but the jacket was a warm reminder of what we went through. I looked at Fara for a moment, and there wasn't even the slightest hint of confusion in her eyes, she understood and always had. "Let's go," I said, and she smiled and nodded before we started our way out of the door.

At dinner, we laughed, we smiled, we got to know each other. When we returned to the Academy, I kissed her good night and we went our separate ways.

I didn't want to mix up the memories of the Academy with my personal memories. Every time I thought about the good times, I thought of them as their own entity, because if I ever associated something that I enjoyed with some part of the Academy, it felt like it was tainted. I knew I shouldn't be here, but I also realized I didn't quite know how to get out of this experience.

If I left now, though, it meant leaving Fara behind. She had been there for me even when I hadn't thought there was anyone left looking out for me. Falco and I came here without any real security net anymore, and he was fine. I don't know why I've struggled so much.

11 months in

I stepped back into the office, the first time since we'd left for summer break. I didn't creep back in and try to do work, if I had to, I did it in my room and I stayed away. The paperwork was already neat, the students were to be back today and soon. I kept my jacket on, muted my comm, and stepped out of the room. Set at the front of the field was a single Arwing, and on the opposite side was a set of 13 Arwings, one set aside for Fara. The other instructors took care of other lessons, I didn't see them as much, but whenever we did Arwing work, it was Fara and sometimes me. We had actually picked up two new instructors that were supposed to be here this year. I wanted to be there more this year, too.

As the students came in, they all smiled and laughed as they saw me. It really had been a while since I'd done an Arwing drill, and I hadn't done a single one that I'd been in the cockpit since I've been hre. We had no new students for this year, this program needed to have at least one graduate to determine whether or not it would continue. I looked over them, and I realized I only vaguely recognized them by their true faces, only knowing them by the images I saw so frequently. I should know them, I should've been there with them for a full year at this point. It didn't work out that way.

"As you all can see, there are 14 Arwings here. One for each of you, one for Ms. Phoenix, and one for myself. You haven't seen me fly for class yet, but bear in mind I haven't flown in nearly a year now. If you can't hand my ass to me," I said, some laughs trailing it, "Then we're gonna have to just push you harder this year. You'll be working cooperatively with your team to determine who can knock me out of the sky. Points will be awarded for the amount of damage you deal to my Arwing, for making the final shot. You can also get points for defeating each other, and that increases your odds of catching me, but keep in mind, Ms. Phoenix will be a lone pilot without a team on the opposing side as well. She's flown plenty and she will be quick to dispatch you to guarantee she takes the victory." I smiled a moment as I looked over them, "Everyone man your ships and good luck."

I stepped towards my own Arwing, dragging a hand along the sleek metal of the ship. The plates were meshed well, the shape just a little more rounded than I remember it. "Pilot: Fox McCloud," I said, and my comm lit up before the Arwing responded, the latch popping and I was able to lift it and get into the cockpit. I was making myself a target. I started the comms, "Everyone, please set your ships to Training modes," he said, and he closed the link as he set his own, "Training System: Disabling Lasers." The Arwing sounded around me, shifting to the appropriate mode and my screen was lit with each of the other ships and their status. Eventually, each shifted to a check, affirming that they were set properly.

"I will take off first, and once I take off, your ships will be restricted from take off for 10 seconds. Once those 10 seconds are up, you're free to begin in whatever fashion you deem necessary." I peered over the console, a lot of the buttons shifted and I knew I'd struggle getting it quite right. I started going through the pre-flight checklist: verify fuel, verify power, verify systems are nominal, engage G-Diffuser, engage thrusters, and take off. I felt myself lift with a slight lurch, and I turned my ship easily and started in the opposite direction. The blast door at the end of the room opened at my prompt, and I was out into the practice fields and I quickly navigated into the forest.

For my sanity, I shifted pretty quickly to walker mode as I dashed through the trees, thankfully not knocking a wing off in the process. I could hear commotion over the comms, and Fara had apparently disposed of an entire team immediately. Jinx's team was separating, they knew they couldn't take her on but all they had to do was take me down. The other team, Erin's, was still in the air and maneuvering with Fara. They didn't have the time to worry about what Jinx's team was doing, and they were forced to let them disengage, a sound military strategy for their preservation. I quickly heard Thomas' comm link go silent as well as Ferris', they had stayed and tried to outmaneuver Fara, it seems.

As far as I could tell, all that were left flying were: Fara, Jinx, Annie, Erin, Devon, Ashley, and Gabriel. Gabriel soon went down, his youth just enough of a crutch to give Fara the advantage, and soon after, I could hear two comm links go at once. Fara went down alongside Ashley, and all that was left was Jinx, Annie, Erin, and Devon. At this point, I found myself along the bank of a lake, and I knew that they were tracking me. I quickly retreated into the brush and saw a ship fly overhead, it had to be Annie's. Jinx was certain to be looking for me on the ground. Two ships appeared soon after Annie's and were pursuing her, but that seemed to be a mistake as both were hit cleanly soon after. The only comms left alive were Annie's and Jinx's.

"Mr. McCloud," it came from my comm, "Hide and seek isn't very fun. There's only one team left," she said. It was Jinx.

"You would appear to be the victors then, wouldn't you?"

She laughed a bit, but the voice that replied was Ferris', "Sir, I'm certain that they would rather battle you in a dogfight than just end the drill here."

Two voices of affirmation came, and I emerged back onto the shore of the lake. Within a moment, I returned to flying mode. As I returned to the sky, I could see the Arwings that were returning to our starting point, and in the sky as I emerged were Jinx and Annie. They weren't hiding, they sat easily in line with each other as they held their point in air. I sat there as well, unsure of how to proceed, but the shot from Annie that soon followed showed I had no choice but to engage.

I slipped into a barrel roll and immediately regretted it as I felt as if I would puke. My head shifted to the side a bit from the sheer momentum, but I managed to steady myself and keep my eyes forwards, but I'd lost Jinx in the moment. Annie was approaching as well, and I huffed a moment as I pressed the thrusters forwards again. I expected an ambush, like Jinx had used on the other team earlier, and I was right as fire came from below. I slammed into another barrel roll as I engaged the walker transformation. As I slipped out, I felt a crash in my descent and I used the attachments of the walker immediately and realized I'd attached myself to Jinx's ship. I just heard a "Shit! Annie, shoot, I don't care if you hit me," from her comm.

I fired on her immediately, but the moment had exposed me too. She pulled to the sky as I took my shots to put her out of commission, but Annie had responded immediately. Some of my shots were taken off course and my attachment was severed. I fell and was forced back into Arwing mode, but I saw the shuttle loop above. The fire hit me, and I could hear the soft ding as I reached my limits for training mode. The ship turned back towards the building and I heard cheering, and I couldn't help but smile. Their team had split up to guarantee the success of the mission and Jinx had split off to pursue me. Her direction with Annie, and Annie's lack of hesitation made that possible. They had grown.

As I landed, I turned back to see the two coming in to land. They hugged, and I felt a hand around my waist before I turned to find Fara was standing there by my side. I smiled a moment and she did too as we watched the winning team celebrate. We could review footage to figure out just how well they worked together.

I was so proud to see that Jinx had taken such strong leadership of her team, and when we reflected on the footage, I found out that Ferris and Thomas sacrificed their ships to shield Annie and Jinx. It hadn't been a split, it had been a vote of confidence. The comm noise also revealed the pure camaraderie in their team that was astonishing in a group that had hardly been together at all. It reminded me of being in Star Fox again.

My fingers drummed over the communicator. Sometimes I dreamed of just quitting then and there, opening a link with Pepper and telling him I was done and I would work directly in the military before I worked in an office. I didn't want to be in the military either, we were supposed to do things our own way. This year went so fast.

20 months in

I stepped onto the stage. Each department was meant to speak on departmental honors, and, really, I only had one student graduating from my department so I just had to speak on her, to tell a tale on her behalf. I hated speaking, but I did it often enough I should just get over it.

"Hi, everyone. I started this past year as the head of a new developmental program that's designed to foster and build a team relationship between groups of four members. My first squad will be departing on missions, led by Stephanie Perot. This squad is comprised of three members alongside Stephanie that will work in tandem with the Cornerian military and spend their last years at school learning practically. I would like, now, to have Stephanie stand to be recognized."

She stood, folding her hands together and letting them sit in front of her. Her tail twitched, she looked frightened, but she was there. She wore an officer's uniform, pressed and clean. "You can sit, Jinx," I said, giving a soft smile towards her before I returned to the speech, "Stephanie entered the program as a wildcard recommendation by Fara Phoenix of the Flight Academy. In her time in the Leadership Program, she stepped up quickly and showed herself as innovative. She adapted immediately to new advancements of the Arwing and some of the tactics she has developed through natural intuition are being implemented in the Flight Academy as additional instruction."

I paused a moment, and I looked across the crowd. There was a lot of people, families, friends, the graduates and such. I could feel something swell in me and it wasn't good. We were in the atrium, and positioned behind me was my Arwing. . . my dad's Arwing, and I knew if I looked behind me I would lose all composure I had in front of a crowd of people. My words felt stilted as they continued, but there were few left to give, "I would like to lead everyone in congratulating one of the developing leaders in this new day and age," and I smiled as I lead the crowd in applause. It took a lot, and a few seconds later, "Jinx, could you please come up to the stage," I said, and I turned to retrieve the award from my seat, not daring to look anywhere but there.

Without even looking at the Arwing, I knew it was there, and as I returned with the award to center stage, I realized a few tears were streaming down my face. I missed him. It had to look touching, they probably thought I was crying for Jinx. As she came onto stage, I handed her the award and shook her hand. After the photo was snapped, I wrapped my arms around her in a firm hug, "I'm proud of you," I said.

She murmured a, "Thanks," and I could feel her shake a little as the hug parted. She was crying too, she cared a lot. It made it look better, but as she walked off stage, I found myself quickly introducing the next speaker then excusing myself from the assembly.

I could hear the leaves crunching, someone was trying to find me. I had hidden myself on a bench under some trees in the back corner, and I was still losing it. No matter how much I tried to pull myself back together, I found myself slipping again. My eyes were red and I couldn't just fucking get it back together, and I shivered with frustration. The person that was searching for me appeared: Fara. She stepped over, her lips were open like she meant to say something but she must have seen what was going on. She knew I wasn't holding up well. She stepped over and I sat up expectantly, but she only wrapped me in a hug and held me close.

Out of pity or out of genuine compassion, she walked back with me. She stayed in my room with me while I talked about it, I talked about how hard it was to be here when my dad wasn't. I told her I saw him that day on Venom. I told her I'd had nightmares of losing him almost every single night since I'd seen him on Venom for the past 20 months She sat there a long time, she didn't pry deeper than I was willing to share, and she just held my hand and stared forwards. She told me she loved me, and in a bittersweet moment, we kissed and we made love for the first time that night.

There was a knock on my door and I turned towards the door. Only a few weeks had past, but I saw her almost every day since that night. Fara stepped in, and I looked up to her with a soft smile, but she didn't return it quite so quickly. "Fox, we need to talk about something," she said, and I couldn't tell what it was. "I want to know what you plan to do, I know you went to your old team and talked to them about leaving the Academy. You asked if they'd come with you," her lips were pursed, she looked upset, "You never asked me, Fox, but. . . I can understand why you would ask them over me. They were your team," she said, and the were cut me deep, but it was true, they didn't want to go.

"Fara," I said, and I looked at the other with a soft ease. I had yet to tell her I loved her, I wasn't sure, but I knew it was on her mind now and then. "I've never had as much fun in my time here as that drill we had at the beginning of this past year, where I flew against the students. I love being in the cockpit, and all I do here most days is move papers around and try to meet other people's expectations," I said, and I looked down for a moment, "I accepted this position because if I accepted, Falco would accept and he needed this and wanted this."

"And you didn't?" she asked, and she looked confused.

"No."

"But you've done great things with it. . ."

"Because even in a job I hate, I want to do everything I can to help," I said, and I looked at her a moment. She looked like something had changed drastically for her.

"Okay. . . What do you plan to do?"

"I think I need to leave," I said.

She looked at me a moment, and I knew that question was coming, "What about us? What about me, Fox?"

I closed my eyes a second, and I eventually stood. I gestured for her to sit in the chair, and she did after a few reluctant moments. I stood there for a second, I let her swivel a little in the chair, I let her look over the desk, "I want you to stay here and take over this program," I said.

"But what about us?" she asked, and she was on the verge of crying.

"I'll be back, we can try and figure something out, I don't know, but I need to do this, Fara."

She seemed at peace for a moment, but we both knew we were done. I could feel the lie that had just left my lips, that I would be back. I don't know if I'll ever make it back, I don't know if I'll ever see Fara again. She paused for a second, and thoughtfully looked down, but she looked back towards me after a few seconds.

"Tell me if you get it figured out," she murmured, "I'll stay here, but I'm not going to wait for you because I know there's a chance this is the end." She smiled after a moment, "Thank you, Fox."

"No, Fara, thank you," I said, and I leaned over onto the desk to grab the resignation letter that her hands rested so close to. I turned, I grabbed my jacket, the photograph, the card, and the carnation. Nothing else in here was personal, I could leave with none of it. Everything personal to me was in my room and in that Arwing in the atrium.

I pressed to my comm for a second, there was a person I hadn't yet contacted, and he was on Corneria on shore leave after jobs out of system. If I called him, I may be able to catch him before he gets too busy again, and I had some time to collect my things before I left the Academy.

"Hey."

–

Author's Note: So, this chapter is probably a bit on the long side for the average chapter, but expect something between the prologue and this for most chapters. I wanted to make a connection into the main bulk of the story that used his time in the Academy, but, unfortunately, that's not the focus of the story (or fortunately for people that aren't a fan of straight Fox). I would also like to thank everyone that's read, followed, favorited, and/or reviewed. It's nice to be getting some support, but We'll be moving into some level of plot and moving away from summary in this next chapter.