When All Lights Go Out II (TFP)

Chapter 29

Azura looked at Optimus for a moment before she nodded through her tears. He smiled at her as he gave her a sympathetic expression. She continued to cry for at least another five minutes before she showed signs of calming down and he proceeded to change her out of her diaper to clean her before proceeding to the bathroom to fill the tub with warm water. Azura calmed down a lot more once she was in the tub and Optimus proceeded to wash her body. She has always enjoyed bring bathed, so he knew it would help. And it gave him the opportunity to wash away the tears from her face and Azura finally stopped crying. But she was still very quiet even after he finished bathing her and drying her.

It wasn't until he was putting a new diaper on her that Azura finally spoke. "Why do I have dreams about dark things, daddy?" Optimus looked at her in slight surprise by her question. "I have dreamed about...knights that represent bad things. I have felt the power of dark energon in my system...and now it feels like Unicron is trying to control me in some way. Why does it happen to me so often?"

Optimus immediately felt sympathetic as he knew she hated these nightmares, and now her knew what she might have seen. "I am afraid I do not know. I do know, in part, of who you are. You are going through trials at a very young age, which will prepare you for the future." Azura shuddered as she did not like that. "However, why you see those things, could simply be something else than you believe. I know you are not evil, Azura, even if that could change in the far future when you are older. After all, evil is not something that is born. It is made." Azura nodded slowly as she knew that. Optimus gently lifted the sparkling from the table as he opened the panel on his chassis to bring out the fuel line for her. "I wish I could fully answer your question, Azura. But I cannot. You were made with the wrong intent, but you were still born from a Prime, touched by the Matrix itself and woven with the dragon's DNA. That makes your future uncertain, but important. And while you have dark energon now woven into your system I do believe that it will not be used for evil."

"I hope not. I already get frightened just breathing fire or creating water in the air...I'm petrified of the newer abilities. But...you are right, I suppose..." Optimus smiled as he knew her uncertainty was from a place of fear. "Still...I saw the knights again..." Optimus softened his expression immediately. "But they were still...petrified...stuck in rock. And I think I heard Unicron speaking to me, but I don't know for certain."

"Hmm...it is interesting that these manifestations of human knights are somehow connected. Maybe it is Unicron in some form, since it is his energon in your system. I do believe he has evolved beyond his physical form, so that could explain some things. Even though I do not know where he would be." Azura nodded in agreement as she grabbed the fuel line and placed the tip in her mouth as the low-grade energon filled the line. "I don't believe Unicron can hurt you, Azura. I know the dreams scare you, and I wish I could stop them for you. But you will not be harmed by him. We should be more concerned about the decepticons." Azura nodded in agreement and Optimus walked towards the door. "Onto brighter things, I think Miko is here or will be here soon. Jack has to work, unfortunately, and Raf said he has to stay home to do a school assignment, though he may arrive a little bit later. If you want to spend time with her, you can. And maybe we will work on your walking, too."

Azura smiled slightly as she slowly drank the energon. She had not yet shown Optimus or the others that she could walk fine. It was funny to her that Ratchet was confused as to why it has taken so long, but given they have been happy with her progress Azura has not felt the need to show off yet. But she would soon. She was just trying to find the right moment to do so. Though that may not happen, which was something she has accepted. But that didn't mean she won't try.

At least knowing that Miko would be here pushed Azura's mind about Unicron to the side. She did not know why she heard his voice again in her mind. She had thought she had forced him out, but maybe she has not. Or this was something else, as Optimus suggested. She would prefer it was something else, because that's better than knowing that Unicron wanted to control her, or kill her because of her ancestry and parents. Especially as Azura knew what happened the last time she was controlled by something else. It did not end well.