When All Lights Go Out I (TFP)

Chapter 17

"I am looking forward to it," Azura said as Bulkhead walked ahead of Optimus. "Hopefully, Ratchet will be okay with it when you do make pieces..." She paused with a light jump as Optimus held the fuel line out to her. She frowned and pushed it away from her. "We aren't in my room."

Optimus narrowed his optics at her in both surprise and disappointment that she would react that way. "I would appreciate it if you did not have a bad attitude about it." Azura sighed a little as she knew she had pushed the line away roughly. "We aren't in the lobby now, and Bulkhead will only be in and out of the room. I know you are uncomfortable, but you will be fine."

"I know...sorry..." Azura looked at the line and took it in her hand. "It was just a stupid reaction."

Optimus did not say anything further with her as Azura placed the line into her mouth to start drinking the low-grade energon. He made his way to her room and smiled as he saw Bulkhead placing the statue onto an empty shelf. The wrecker was rather pleased with what he and Bumblebee had made. Azura was still uncertain about it, but she didn't want to deny it because of how she was still feeling.

"At least you'll have a reminder that you are never going to be alone again," Bulkhead said as he turned to look at Azura. She had almost paused drinking as she listened to him, while curling against Optimus's chassis shyly to try and hide that she was feeding from him. "I guess I better go and annoy the doc while we wait for Arcee and Bumblebee to show up."

Optimus nodded as the wrecker walked out of the room and Optimus looked over at the statue with a smile. It was a lovely statue that Bulkhead and Bumblebee had made. He did not know this was what they would end up making, but that didn't seem to matter. And it was a good thing so that Azura would wake up and have that reminder. But he had sensed she was not entirely pleased with the sculpture, and only accepted it so she wouldn't hurt Bulkhead.

He was aware she was still working out her feelings, and he was there for her. But while he would be patient, he was reminded earlier with how she reacted to him offering the fuel line that he would need to be her parent. It hasn't really sunk into his own processor that he would need to do that. At the moment, he's been more concerned about how Azura is feeling and making sure she is comfortable. And he knows that she is mostly comfortable, she is just trying to figure out her feelings.

"I must admit, Azura...you are lucky that you know me..." She glanced up at Optimus when he spoke and she was instantly curious by what he meant by that. "Believe it or not...I...I lost my own sire and carrier when I was a mere youngling like you." Azura nearly stopped drinking in surprise at his admittance, but she kept drinking as she listened to him. "And I barely remember them now. But it was...Alpha Trion who raised me. When I was old enough to understand, I learned they perished from a contagious disease. I know, as a sparkling, I would not have understood why I was kept from them. But I remember feeling the tether of our bonds snapping when they died. You are lucky to know who I am."

Azura didn't really know how to feel about that. But hearing that Optimus has been through what it really felt like to be an orphan...that was not something she had expected. He was lucky he had someone good to raise him, but she could tell that there was a sadness that Optimus still felt regarding the loss of his parents. The grief hasn't gone away. She didn't know how to feel about this at all.

"Is that how you came to be a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records?" Azura asked curiously before she continued to drink the energon.

"Yes and no. Before I was a clerk...I was...not as calm and stoic as I am now. I used to be rather rebellious as a youngling." That again surprised Azura as she somehow could not envision Optimus being reckless even as a young autobot. "There are not many who know about that. Ratchet does, as he is one of my oldest friends. He was there during my young years too when he graduated and became one of the best medics on the planet." He looked down at her and saw she was listening intently. "There are many things I regret that I did, but that is nothing new. When you are young, you will go through many mistakes and learn from them. That's just what we do. I know some of what I went through was due to the fact I was in pain for a long time about losing my carrier and sire, but their tragedy definitely was not solely to blame for my rebellion."