It could find me wherever I was: on the Aurora, or here in Paris, or back home with Mom and Isabel and Sylvia. I didn't need to be aloft to find happiness. As long as I could still dream about him, I knew everything would be all right. I was flying alongside the Aurora, and he'd come and joined me, and when I woke up that morning, everything was different.
But then, unexpectedly, one night I'd dreamed of my father, even though I was landlocked. There'd been plenty of times I'd been so lonely and miserable I'd wanted to quit and return to the Aurora. And I missed my father, more acutely than I ever had before. I missed my bunk on the Aurora, and Baz and Captain Walken and all the crew. When I'd first started at the Academy there'd been many bad, sleepless nights. Matt is using the Aurora to outrun the pain of the loss of his father, and it isn't until he goes to the Airship Academy that he's forced to reconcile his love for flying with the inadvertent link it had to his inability to grieve: To a certain extent though, this obsession with being emotionally and physically attached to the ship is a sign of weakness. He knows the ship's anatomy like the back of his own hand-which ends up being pretty darn helpful during the pirate adventures. When there's something interesting going on he always finds a way to be nearby, watching and learning.
And my father always felt nearby, visiting me often in my dreams. I felt like I'd discovered another family aloft. Baz took me under his wing right away-the older brother I never had. Everyone knew about my father, and they were all very kind to me, especially Captain Walken. I'd never been able to tell my mother how comforting it had been to work aboard Dad's old ship. Ultimately, the Aurora (and Captain Walken as the personification of the ship) become a pseudo-father figure to which Matt pledges his undying loyalty: Left facing the responsibility of providing for his mother and two younger sisters, Matt pleaded with Captain Walken to be taken on as a cabin boy in the same ship that decided his father's fate. Need someone to risk his life to save the ship and everyone on it? Matt's your man.Ī lot of this undying loyalty is a type of misplaced love that originated when his father suddenly and tragically died while working as a sailmaker three years ago. Need someone to clean up after the wealthy patrons trash the lounge? Call Matt. Need someone to jump between floating objects while hovering at 800 feet? Ask Matt. There's no job too small or task too daunting: if it benefits the Aurora, or the illustrious Captain Walken, sign Matt up. One of Matt's defining characteristics is his love for the Aurora. Matt Cruse Intrepid Cabin-Boy Extraordinaire
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