"But Daddy, I don't want to go to a flight academy. I wanna be an artist!"

Junior McCloud's glinting green eyes looked desperately at his father; who had been literally shoving the small yellow form into his face all morning. Fox sighed.

"Junior, I know it may not seem that way, but this is what you were born to do. I was the leader of a great flight team, as was your grandfather before me. I don't want to force you into anything, son, but this is your destiny"

"If it's my destiny, why don't I want to do it?"

All Fox could do was shake his head; no matter how much he pleaded, his son remained obstinate in his decision. Disappointed, he placed the form on the carefully organised desk and left. Junior sighed and flopped back onto his bed, thoroughly tired of the situation. This was the third day in a row Fox had been asking him about joining the Cornerian Flight Academy. It had started subtly, brief hints about how they would soon be accepting new recruits, but now he was practically begging him to enlist.

"I want to be an artist, not a pilot. I don't know how to pilot, but I'm great at artisting. Daddy knows that."

Krystal looked up to see her husband looking very disappointed. He sat on the sofa beside her and sighed again.

"He still said no?"

"Yeah. At least he wasn't shouting this time"

"Fox, you know we can't make him do it. He has great talent as an artist, let him do that. He may look like you in every way, but he doesn't want to be your clone"

Junior did indeed look identical to his father. He had his green eyes, his fur colour, and the little light bits in all the same places; well, except for a small heart-like marking on his back. There was virtually nothing of his mother in him, although he swears that under certain lights his eyes look turquoise like hers. As a tribute to her, Junior wore a tiny green jewel, one of the ones she often wore around her head, as a necklace.

"I know, Krystal, but it's always been my dream…"

"But not his. Don't bother anymore; let him lead his own life. He may be ten years old, but he knows what he wants"

Just outside the living room door, out in the hallway, was Junior. He was going to politely ask his father to remove the yellow form from the desk, as touching it was too close to filling it in for his liking. He'd then noticed that the door was slightly ajar and being a curious fox, Junior put a pointed ear to it.

"I thought he'd love to fly, Krystal. His courage, his brains, his sense of adventure. He'd love it."

Dad had never openly complimented him like that before, this wasn't right at all. He pressed closer to the door, pulling back on the handle slightly in case it opened on its own.

"I know he wants to be an artist, but what would bar his way? Remember all of the things we saw in our time? The fields and waterfalls on Fortuna, the shining cityscapes of central Corneria…"

"Well we do live in Corneria"

"And yet he's never even seen central city. This is what I'm talking about; I'd love for him to go outside and explore a bit more."

"He gets outside; you know how he loves to sit in the garden and sketch the plants out there. And remember that time he went off to the forests near Mount Makuru?"

"No no, I mean out into the Lylat System. Remember our adventures on Fichina? And who can forget what happened on Zoness?"

Fox leaned back, thinking of days gone by. "You know, sometimes I miss being down on the front lines…"

"Perhaps" Krystal looked up from her magazine "He doesn't want to be in the fleet because he'd be totally under your thumb"

"He doesn't even know that!"

"What?!" Krystal dropped the magazine in shock "He's ten years old and he has no idea what his father does for a living? You're the General! You're one of the most important people on the planet! And Junior doesn't know?

But Junior did know, well, now. He gasped, but quietly. The General?! No wonder he wanted him to join the fleet, he could keep an eye on him all day!

"I didn't want to make a big thing of it, okay?" Fox mumbled, sheepishly. "I didn't want him to get big-headed, just because his father was the leader of Corneria's military. He knows that I'm a high ranking officer, but nothing specific."

"Well that isn't going to last long if he joins the Academy!"

"I know, I know… I just thought he'd want to go out and see the galaxy. Who knows what he could do? I mean, imagine if he found Sauria? He'd love it there!"
Sauria…hadn't his father shown him pictures of that place once? Junior watched in silence as Fox took the second door from the living room to the kitchen, Krystal followed and Junior crept quietly into the room.

That old picture on the fireplace! Why had he never asked? He picked it up and examined the scenery carefully; clear skies, lots of grass and rivers, loads of trees, and all of the flowers! It looked incredible. That was it! Maybe being a pilot wouldn't hurt his artistic goals! Junior carefully placed the picture back onto the fireplace and hurried to his room. There was the little yellow form, sat alone on his desk with only his Action Dude fountain pen for company. He sat at the desk and began filling in the boxes.

"Name…Junior…Alexander…McCloud. Age…ten…General Academic Performance-I think that's my grades…pretty good…"

After a while, lots of Tippex and a nearly empty Action Dude fountain pen, Junior was finished. The boy slipped the form into an envelope, addressed it to the academy and applied a stamp. He crept downstairs and to the mailbox just outside. If Fox hadn't been moping over a cup of coffee, he probably would've had a terrible shock…