Beyond - Legends Why Does Daddy Have To Go? - An Antilles Family Fic told from Syal's perspective

Title: Why Does Daddy Have to Go?
Rating: G
Characters: The Antilles family (specifically Syal), cameos by Tycho and Face Loran
Timeline: Roughly 20-39 ABY
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters or the fandom. That belongs to Lucas and so forth.
Description: The military life is incredibly taxing, but perhaps no one suffers more than the children of the men and women of the New Republic armed forces. For Syal Antilles, it all boils down to one simple question: why does daddy have to go?

~*~

?Why does daddy have to go??

It was a question that Syal Antilles was forced to pose to her parents all too often. Every time she would ask, her mother would put on a smile and lift young Syal into her arms. At the time, she found her mother?s smile to be reassuring, a gentle message that nothing was amiss and everything would be alright. It would be several more years before she realized what that smile was really there for: to shield Syal from the harsh reality of her father?s line of work.

?Daddy?s going to be away at work for a few weeks, love,? her mother would say as she fought back tears. ?He has a very important job, you know.?

Syal would pout at this point. Daddy always seemed to be leaving just before something important was supposed to happen. He was supposed to take Syal and her younger sister Myri to the Coronet City Zoo tomorrow, and this was something that Syal had been looking forward to this trip forever (even though she had only known about it for a standard week). As she looked out the window and watched her father?s landspeeder cruising away from their little apartment Syal could feel her frustration mounting. Daddy never wanted to spend time with her.

?It?s not fair!? Syal often protested. ?He just likes Uncle Wes and Uncle Hobbie more than me.?

Syal?s mother would cast an admonishing look to her as she suddenly switched from trying to hold back tears to holding back laughter, ?Trust me, Syal. Daddy would much rather spend time with you than with Uncle Wes and Uncle Hobbie.?

?Then why does he always have to go?? Syal couldn?t hide her disappointment.

Her mother?s answer was always the same, ?Daddy has to go to work because he loves us very much.? She would place a kiss on Syal?s forehead as she strengthened the hold on her daughter, ?He loves me, he loves your sister, and he loves you more than anyone else in the world. It?s daddy?s job to make sure that the people he loves are safe from all of the bad people in the Galaxy.?

?Daddy flies his X-Wing to keep us safe??

?That?s right, Syal,? her mother would say as she set Syal back on the floor. ?Now go play with your sister, mommy needs to make a few comm calls.?

As Syal grew older, she became more and more aware of the dangers of her father?s profession. By the time she was eight she had learned to dread the sound of her father stumbling through their home on Coruscant in the middle of the night. His heavy footsteps in the hallway didn?t always mean he was leaving on some urgent assignment from Starfighter Command. More often than not he was simply scrambling to his work terminal to answer an urgent message int he middle of the night. Still, those footsteps always caused a knot to form in the pit of her stomach. He might be getting ready to leave for work. What danger could her father be rushing into this time? Would he be coming back in one piece?

Whenever Syal?s father left the house in the middle of the night, she knew she could count on one thing. From the bunk below her, she could make out the sounds of her younger sister crying. Perhaps this caused Syal more distress than her father actually leaving on assignment. It broke her heart to see her sister so upset. Sure, their father would come into their room and tell them that he was leaving for a while, that he would be back soon and he?d be sure to make up for his absence. Their father didn?t have the time to quell Myri?s tears because a landspeeder was usually waiting outside for him. That was Syal?s responsibility.

?Why does daddy have to go?? M

 

Well, I can still say you never let me down when I read another of your stories.

This one was really good because it reflects what so many children of the armed forces probably feel. Beyond that it was nice how you connected Syal's finally having a full understanding of why her dad was always away with her choosing to take up the same path. Any chance of seeing more from Syal's perspective? She was barely used in profic, but felt like a great character to continue the new generation of pilots. PM me if you write any more on this or start something new, I enjoy your work.

 

I adore how you write the Rogues and Wraiths - and now how you've handled the characters of Wedge's family. Thank you for exploring this very little explored area of the republic back story - more attention should be paid to the characters that "get left behind" and yet it's always the front line action we see.

This was a fabulous expose on what children could possibly feel with such a degree of realism that I was hurting for Syal throughout. I like how you didn't sugar coat it; you covered not only the good of the situation, but the hard stuff - including her resentment for her father and her struggle with her sister's tears.

In wrapping it up the way you did, you brought everything to a nice close and back full circle. Hopefully, Syal will remember what it was to go through this with her own father and better prepare her for dealing with her own children - should she live that long.

fabulous - you never disappoint!

 

Wonderfully written, loved how Face tried to comfort Syal

I like how Syal slowly comes to understand more and more the dangers of Wedges job as she gets older, but doesn't fully understand the reasons why he does it until she decides to join the military.

 

I commented when you posted this on TFN, but wow and wow again!

 

Beautiful work. This is a wonderful tribute to both Syal and to Wedge, for all the sacrifices he's had to make and that his family have made alongside with him. That Syal chooses to follow him into such a difficult and demanding life says a lot about both of them. You've really captured that here. Wonderful job -- I really enjoyed reading this.

 

Jedi Marauder - Thanks! I can't promise anything right now, but I am working on an outline for a new pilot fic that involves Syal in a big way. I'm not going to promise that it will happen, but I am strongly considering it.

Jade Max - Wow, thank you so much! That might be one of the nicest reviews I've ever gotten.

This has been a fic idea I've been thinking about for a while. I'm not exactly sure what inspired me to write it, but I'm very pleased with how this turned out. Writing it was a really big challenge, because I've never done any kind of writing from the perspective of a child before.

Controller - Thanks for the review. It was a lot of fun to write from Syal's perspective.

EmpressJainaSoloFel - I saw that review, thanks!

Knight Aragorn - Wedge has always been a fascinating character to me and I've done a lot of writing using him. Examining his family dynamic considering the dangers of his job really was a great experience. Thanks for the review!

 

Very touching.

 

Wow. This is a beautiful insight into the emotional turmoil military families in any universe face. You touched upon the subject with perfect sensitivity and realism. Wonderful job.

 

This is a wonderful story. It's heart-wrenching to see what Syal goes through while growing up with those questions and the fear of having the school headmaster call her out of class one day for bad news. I loved seeing her grow throughout the story and watching her attitudes and her understanding change over time and with each new experience. Being Wedge's kid sure isn't easy.

Great job!

 

Wow! I didn't expect to see any more reviews! Thank you so much for reading.

I have to give credit to Aaron Allston for doing such a wonderful job flushing out Syal's character in the profic novels. She was an absolute delight to write for this fic and is even more fun in the fic I'm working on now.

Again, thank you for reading and reviewing everyone!

 

I'm always happy to see a good bit of pilot-fic, even happier when I see pilot fic that goes deeper than the surface image, and/or features the pilot's families.

So this... this ticks all the boxes. And then some.

You write Syal's perspective very well. What she's feeling, we can feel as readers. And it's awesome!

I totally agree with this statement.

I would love to see more in this line. Either Syal at the Academy, or out as a pilot after getting his wings, or Wedge's perspective as he watches his little girl graduate...

~Misha

 

DreamingIce - Thank you so much for the review!

Pilot-fic is far and away my favorite subgenre of Star Wars profic and fanfiction. I think I've read the X-Wing novels six times in the last five years. If you're looking for some more pilot-fic stuff, I've got a trilogy that I finished up last year that revolves around an original character pilot in the New Republic and early Galactic Alliance era (Dap Zorvan trilogy, link in sig). Also I can't express how much I'd recommend reading the fics that CarrKicksDoor, RogueInyriForge, and Astro_The_Nutty have shared here. Those three have probably written some of the best pilot-related fic here at TFN.

 

Some of you had asked earlier if I was planning on doing any more fic writing with Syal as the lead character.

The answer to that is a definitive yes! I'm happy to share with you the followup to this little viggie:

X-Wing: Genesis of a Rogue

 

Wow. Really liked this one!

Perfect mixture of emotions in it.

Loved it!

 

HelloKelly - Thank you so much for the review! This is one of the few pieces I've written that I can say I'm actually proud of.

Also, thank you to the folks who voted for this fic in the Beyond fanfiction awards. It's been nominated for Best Child Character (Syal) and Best Drama.

Thank you everyone!

 

?It?s not fair!? Syal often protested. ?He just likes Uncle Wes and Uncle Hobbie more than me.?

awwww

Syal doesn?t leave much good in her little small world on her father. Poor girl to carry such a burden and heavy thoughts.

Was her father dead?

aww

It was Syal?s father.

YAY

?Your father must be the single proudest man in the Galaxy right now,? Tycho said to her as he affixed the wings to the collar of her new uniform coat. ?If you were my daughter I?d probably be doing backflips at this moment.?

Hehe I suppose Syal will understand her father way way better when she got her own family

awesome story

 

Maggy -

?It?s not fair!? Syal often protested. ?He just likes Uncle Wes and Uncle Hobbie more than me.?

awwww

Oh if only Syal knew how just how mature she was compared to Uncle Wes and Uncle Hobbie

Thank you for taking the time to read and review

And, to everyone who has read this, thank you so much! Earlier today I found out this fic won the Best Child portrayal category for the 2010 Beyond the Saga fanfic awards. Given that I was surprised to have even been nominated, I really was not expecting to win it.

I can't thank you all enough. You really made my day today!

~Lane