When All Lights Go Out I (TFP)

Chapter 88

"I am afraid I do not know the extent of her powers as well, Azura. The fact she came from another world to help the Primes at the time to stop Unicron, it does show the power she might have had. And yes, I agree with what you say about yourself." Azura swallowed nervously as she knew that she was excited, and nervous at the same time. "But focusing on that part of you, is not healthy. After all, there is more to you than just the ability to breath fire and manipulate the natural elements and weather of this planet. I hope you know that." She nodded and Optimus kissed her forehead as he walked over to the tub and turned on the shower head. "Now, let's get this paint off your body so we can go."

Azura did not give Optimus any kind of trouble as he placed her in the tub and took the shower head to spray directly at her side to get the paint off. It was sticking to her a bit, so he had to scrub it off, but the paint was no trouble, and she was clean very quickly. He then washed his own hands and Azura waited patiently until he was finished before he would dry her off. Azura was glad it did not take long at all, even though she still felt bad and stupid for knocking the paint, it was easily fixed and dealt with.

Once she was dry, Optimus brought her back to the lobby where Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Ratchet were waiting. Bee was standing by the controls, even though he did wish he could go, but Arcee was not here yet, and likely won't be until Optimus returned. Azura snuggled against Optimus's chassis as she was still excited and nervous at the same time, and she did not know what to really expect. She knew she was going to be very tired when they come back, but that was it.

Bumblebee looked at Azura. "How are you feeling, Azura? I hope you are not feeling a lot of pressure, because we tried to not give you any."

"No, I don't feel pressure. Just...nervous..." Azura smiled at him. "I just am going to be that I was able to try. If it doesn't succeed today, maybe when I'm a bit bigger and stronger, could try again. Though I don't know when that would be."

"Oh, don't be in a hurry to grow up big and strong, Azura. You got plenty of time." She turned her head as she became shy all of a sudden and hid her face in Optimus's chassis. "None of us here want you to feel that you should feel that way. You are special, we don't doubt that. But you have so much time to enjoy being young. Don't worry about the pressure of things like that. For all we know, we could be back on Cybertron by the time you could reach the energon crystals in the Arctic, and by then, we might not need it. Unless the planet has a hard time producing more crystals for a while."

"That would be nice to dream," Ratchet said with a smile, placing his hand on Bee's shoulder. "But I am in agreement with Bumblebee, Azura." He looked at the sparkling, knowing she was listening, even though she was acting shy at the moment. "There is absolutely no need to feel like you need to grow up so fast. Besides, we are only going to see if you can do it. We will find another energon deposit if it does not work the way you want it to. That is no issue at all."

"I know...still...I am hopeful that I can do it." Azura looked at the bridge tunnel before looking up at Optimus. "Can we go, daddy? I think we should. We have already delayed enough, I think."

Optimus nodded and opened his chassis. "Luckily, the conditions of the Arctic are not as extreme as they were during the scraplet infestation. So there is no huge risk of our core temperature reaching the blue zone."

Azura was still aware that even though the Arctic was okay to visit now, she was still vulnerable. Once she was on the seats, Optimus closed his chassis, as he would shield her from the cold until they were within range of the mine before he would open it partially to allow her to try and create the cavern. Azura rubbed her hands nervously as she waited. She felt Optimus walk forward, and she knew he was walking towards the bridge vortex. Azura placed her hands on the seats and lightly tapped her fingers as she waited patiently.