Through Ash and Dust (ROTB)

Saphira watched Stratosphere descend from the sky and she hoped he would make a smoother landing than he had in New York. She would hate to see any of the beautiful flora here destroyed by him, as that would not be right. But while she was thinking that, she was also thinking of Bumblebee. She felt tears in her eyes as Optimus walked towards a clearing, and they watch as Stratosphere landed lightly on the ground and began to shut the engines down. Primal walked up beside Optimus as he watched curiously, and he could sense the grief coming from the autobots.

He looked at Saphira with a sympathetic, curious expression. "Is there a reason this autobot did not walk with us to the village?"

Saphira looked at the maximal and nodded. "Yeah. Stratosphere is quite a bit bigger, for one..." She looked back at the autobot as Stratosphere began to transform. "And he's carrying someone we lost recently. A good friend."

Primal watched as Stratosphere was careful while transforming, and his arms moved over his head, and the maximal saw the lifeless body of the yellow scout in the bot's hands. Saphira let out a light sob and Optimus hugged the girl as he approached Stratosphere. "You have my deep condolences for the loss of your friend."

"Thank you, Primal." Optimus held Saphira against him as the girl sobbed softly. "I just hope no further lives will be lost. Though I fear many more have perished, and I could have done something if I had not fled." Primal said nothing and turned to walk away, making his way over to Airazor, and Saphira caressed Optimus's cheek gently. Optimus gazed at Bee's body and sat beside him. "I am still hopeful to return to Cybertron. I believe we can still defeat Scourge, and protect the universe."

Saphira kissed his cheek gently and he glanced at the girl as his optics soften as he gazed at her. "I think whatever happens from now, Optimus, we will do what we can. It's crazy that I am even part of helping to save the entire universe. That's a heavy burden." He smiled and kissed her gently, and she shivered as feeling his metal lips on hers always stirred butterflies in her stomach. "I understand Primal's hesitancy though. He's lost a home, and he doesn't want to lose another. But defeating Scourge is the only to do that."

Optimus nodded and looked at Bumblebee again. He stared at the scout and he sighed deeply. "And unlike Primal, I was defensive when it came to humans. And I hurt you because of it."

"And you know that I completely understood why. Any human government would be quick to destroy you if they learned about you. So it makes sense." Optimus smiled a little before the smile faded quickly. "You can't keep going back to that, Optimus. I know what you did might feel wrong now, but I am not angry at you. What I believe you did was right at the time. Even if I was defenceless at the time, it makes no difference to me. I love you, and I want you to be happy. But it feels like you are trying to do the impossible sometimes." He looked at her in surprise. "Because Primal is right. You might have to make a choice...and I don't want to be one of those choices."

Mirage smirked as he listened to Saphira. "That means you want to be the only choice, right?" Saphira looked at him in surprise and shook her head. The young bot raised an eyebrow in surprise at that for a moment before he realized. "Oh...you don't want to be a choice at all..." Saphira said nothing as she listened to him and Optimus kissed her forehead gently. "That's brave."

Saphira took a deep breath. "Maybe...but...the way I see it...you have more important things in your life than me."

Arcee smiled at the girl, appreciating that she was willing to let them go and not want to be a choice, if things did get to that point. "We are just going to have to wait and see how things go, Saphira. I fear that things are going to get worse quickly before they get better." Saphira nodded in agreement and wiped tears from her eyes. "And you are right about the fact that saving the universe is a heavy burden. We only had one planet to worry about, now we have an entire universe to worry about."