When All Lights Go Out II (TFP)

Chapter 1

"I though Jack, Miko and Raf were looking after them. Or are they doing a bad job?"

"They have been doing a good job of taking care of your tanks, Azura. But I do still enjoy looking after them. It is harder to bend down at the moment, so I have left most of the caretaking of the tanks to the children...but they are my responsibility as well." Sure, it was hard for Optimus to look after her fish tanks now, but he was happy to make sure they were still thriving. Though at the moment, Optimus has been renovating Azura's nursery a little. Mostly swapping out the old berth she had been using for a larger berth, knowing she was likely going to be too big for the old one. And he has been taking time to upgrade it, since he still had time to finish it. And in that time, he would check on the fish. "I do believe that Jack is bringing some new filters and stuff for the tanks. You were low on that before."

"Aww, that is good. Well, at least they are thriving. I can't wait to see them when I get out. Speaking of, will I need to relearn how to speak and walk again?"

"Uhh, that is a Ratchet question."

Azura giggled a little. "Can you ask him for me? Since we are probably going to get a check up anyway, we might as well ask."

"I can. Though I am expecting a vague answer, given he won't know until you are out of the gestational chamber. But it will be nice to have some idea. And I am sure you will want to know how long you will be wearing a diaper as well."

"Oh...yeah. I had not considered that." Azura chuckled a little bit, though that was not something she was concerned about. "I guess that part of my system is not going to go away anyway. Well, at least I can know when I can talk and walk again. Talking to you won't be a problem though."

Optimus fully understood why Azura was asking. She was used to being independent, so not being able to walk would mean she would have to rely on the autobots to be moved around. Not talking might not be as much of a problem, but Optimus knew her vocal processor would need time before she would be able to speak. Though it won't take long. As for walking, he was sure that she will be able to walk again very quickly.

At that moment, Optimus walked into the lobby to find Ratchet rubbing his chin while looking at the screen as he had been doing some scans. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were in the Arctic harvesting some energon at this time, and Arcee was in her berth room at this time. Ratchet turned his head and saw Optimus walking in, and he smiled as he saw that Optimus had one hand on his abdomen, and the other on his right side. "How are you feeling, Optimus? I suspect you were purging before."

Optimus nodded slowly. "Yeah. I had hoped to not purge, because I had already ingested threw cubes. Now I am heading towards the energon room to get some more." He caressed his abdomen gently, knowing he had to keeping ingesting energon to feed his daughter. "I don't suppose you know when the purging may stop."

Ratchet chuckled lightly at his commander, knowing that Optimus was feeling discomfort at the moment. But there was little he could do. "I am afraid not. Purging is an unfortunate side effect of carrying, Optimus. And your body has never carried before, nor was it meant to, in the sense you had no natural gestational chamber. Which is why you are experiencing the symptoms to somewhat of an extreme point. But you have been handling it very well."

"I am know. I have enjoyed carrying Azura, but it would be nice to not deal with purging at random times of the day." Optimus glanced at the screen curiously to see if anything had been picked up. "Have you detected any decepticon activity?"

Ratchet shook his head. "I have been scanning everyday, Optimus. There has been nothing, as far as I can tell, for four weeks. For all we know, Megatron could be flying around by the Moon, and we would not be able to detect them." Optimus nodded as he understood and turned to walk away. "And before you go..." Optimus glanced at Ratchet as the medic continued to speak. "When you finish filling your tank, come to the med bay. It is time for the weekly check up."