A/N: It's been a while, huh? I thought I might update one of my TP stories...

This chapter focuses on a point in Amelia's childhood...

Life Choices

The rain pelted across her face as she stared up at the raging night sky, before letting her gaze fall once again to the mud covered floor.

Her ears perked up as she heard heavy footsteps echo off the wooden flooring from behind the large over-sized doors she now stood in front of.

The grip on her arm tightened so she couldn't try to escape from the severe punishment she knew that was to come. The large door swung open to reveal a good-looking, tall, well-built felinid whose eyes locked onto the girl who seemed to, at the moment, find her shoes very interesting.

"Is there a problem officer?" Jonathan Smollet asked keeping his angry gazed locked onto his daughter.

"Your daughter was found practicing her acrobatics in the shrouds of one of Montressor's finest ships, Captain."

"Ah, I see" Captain Smollet took hold of his daughters arm and pulled her into the house as the robotic officer let the other arm go. "I'll see that it won't happen again, thank you officer!" He said with a curt nod.

"See to it that it doesn't, Sir." And with that the metal being turned and left, the door closing with a bang after him.

"What shall I do with you Amelia? This is the third time this month!" He said as she finally made eye contact with him.

"You would never have been so rebellious if your mother were here…" he said his voice trailing off to silence as he watched his only child, his little girl for any reaction.

He got none, only a long silence that seemed to last a lifetime, "When will you grow up child, You have a whole future ahead of you and yet you choose not to chase it-"

"A future, you call dressing in frocks and bearing as many children as my body will allow a future?"She yelled her green eyes wide with pain and longing, "That's not what I want father, I have never wanted it."

"Your mother wished it of you."

"Yes she did, but she also understood my need to create my own course. I'm no animal; you can't just put a rope around my neck and hope that I follow your directions." She looked up to her father her arms wide with reasoning, hoping that he'd at least try to understand her position.

Amelia Smollet had always been a free spirit, even as a child she had never listen to her elders. She was born into a high class family, one with which had never suited with her personality. If she was asked to socialize with the other young girls her age she would instead go and play pirates with the boys, always coming back with mud on her face and frock, uncaring to the disappointed stares around her.

The only one she could ever confide in about her reckless behavior had been her mother and she had died two weeks before Amelia's fifteenth birthday.

She was now sixteen, with a father who barely understood her, and hardly acknowledged her, unless to try and put her back in her place. She was a good student in school, a fine sportsman, especially in sparing (she was an excellent swordsman) or acrobatics thanks to her thin and flexible form. But socially, she was a disaster, she was a closed book and unwilling to share or confide her emotions to anyone, an outcast among the eyes of her fellow students..

"Amelia, I…" Jonathon did not have the right words for his daughter, what could he say to her, that he wanted only what was expected of her? That he wanted the best for her? A good husband, a steady income: a family? She'd made it clear that that's not what she wanted a few too many times for his liking.

"Father, I don't want lectures from you, I don't want you to tell me that you just want the best for me either, because I know you do, but giving me a life that I don't want is not what I class as the 'wanting the best for me', in fact it's quite the opposite," her father smiled at her good natured humor, "in fact, father, I've always fancied following in your footsteps…"

She looked at her father hoping that he wouldn't boil over with anger, she had never expressed her interest in captaining a ship, but many years ago after watching her father take command of his ship the 'RSL Legacy', Amelia's mind had been instantly made up.

She wanted to be a captain, and the best one in the galaxy at that.

"Amelia, what are you saying?"

"I want to join the Interstellar Navy, and become a great spacer, a Captain, just like my Father, Sir." she offered. She watched her father pace the room, before he finally came in front of her. He looked her in the eye, and she watched as a small smile played on his lips.

"Are you sure that that's want you want?" he asked placing his hands on her shoulders crouching down so that they were standing at the same height.

"Yes, ever since my first voyage into space," her father nodded, and drew her into a small embrace, "I thought you'd be mad?" it came out as more of a question than a statement.

"How could I be mad?"

"Because this is not how a lady should pursue a future." she said repulsively.

"To be honest my dear, I suppose now I can see that it would be a wise choice for you, your strong, and have the motivation to perhaps become the greatest most talked about spacer in history."

"Good because I've already sent of my application for to the Interstellar Academy."

Her father smiled, "Ever the impatient…you'll probably be wanting a letter of recommendation then?"

She nodded and hugged her father tightly; thinking that maybe this opportunity would give her and her father a chance to, in simple terms, bond.

She knew how hard she would have to work herself to reach her expectations, but she had a feeling that it would be worth it, and maybe, just maybe the experience would give her the chance to have the father she'd always wanted.

Because for young Amelia Smollet; this was only the beginning.