When All Lights Go Out I (TFP)

Chapter 55

"And I see the sparkling has made a bit of a mess over here," Ratchet comments with a smile as he approached them. "At least it is contained." He looked at Azura as he watched Optimus clean her hands. "I think we should make a start shortly. I know the humans wanted to watch, but I think it is best to not have an audience."

"True." Azura looked at Optimus as he finished cleaning her hands and she looked at them before smiling at him. "Thanks, daddy." She looked back at the mess she had made. It really was not that much, but it was still a mess. "I guess I'll help clean up." She walked over to the palette to pick up before making her way to the stairs. Optimus began cleaning up the paint from the platform floor. "I'll go and rinse this off, and that should allow enough time before we can start, Ratchet."

Ratchet watched as she reached the bottom of the stairs and made her way to the other platforms. He knew she would be heading up to the catwalks to make use of the bathroom sink to rinse the palette. "That is completely fine, Azura. Just know that it won't be intensive. I plan on making it fun, so I don't bore you to death. From what I understand, humans schools can be mundane for a lot of kids, and I don't want to recreate that kind of setting here."

"I mean, I wouldn't exactly mind since it is the only kind of school I know. But I guess I understand, given the fact of me being an infant sparkling." She shrugged a bit as she made her way up the stairs of the main platform. "So I guess I am interested in knowing what you plan on doing. Daddy says I am doing very well..." Ratchet glanced at Optimus who nodded affirmatively, even though Ratchet knew that Optimus would certainly say that about his own sparkling. "So I hope that you agree with him."

Ratchet shrugged as she looked at him curiously. "I really cannot confirm or deny that at this time, Azura. But I will say that you should just do your best. I am not going to grade you, I just want to see where you are at. You need to realize that until you are much, much older, you are only learning the basics. And there is no way I am going through our laws of physics and maths with you at this stage, you would likely get too overwhelmed by their information."

Azura was happy to hear that, so she decided to hurry and run up the stairs to the catwalks to make her way to the bathroom. She was feeling less nervous now that Ratchet has informed her that today was basically to see where she was at and help her. And the fact it was not serious, she could easily relax. She did know that Jack and Raf may not be too happy about not being able to watch and listen in, but Ratchet did intend this to be for her alone.

Once she rinsed the palette, Azura made her way back downstairs quickly. She was able to skip a few of the stairs as she ran down them since she was taller, and the added length in her legs allowed her to skip a few stairs each time. She did make sure to be careful as she didn't want to trip, fall and be instructed not to do that again. She did not need them to have another spark attack like the day before.

Both Optimus and Ratchet were waiting patiently for her as she ran down the stairs. She looked up at them with a big smile. "Alright, I am almost ready. Just one more...HEY!" Azura gasped as Optimus reached down to take the palette from her. "Daddy, I could have done it myself. That palette's fragile, and your fingers are big and strong...so...be careful..."

"I will not break it, Azura." He moved the palette up to her art platform and placed it onto a desk. "As you can tell, I have not damaged it. Now is the time to focus on Cybertronian for Ratchet."

Azura sighed and turned to Ratchet. "Alright, well...I guess I am ready."

"Follow me." Azura could not help but think Ratchet has set up a classroom type room for her. She was actually very curious about it. "I think this will only be about thirty minutes, Azura. It is mostly seeing where you are at, and helping you to recognize and read the Cybertronian letters and words better. I assume you still look back to the English alphabet for aid."