Falling Awake
by SMYGO4EVA
Arcee switched out her blaster back to her servo as everything seemed to be in the clear. She vented out sigh and looked out at the outskirts of Cybertron, as always. Memories of the war for Cybertron, the battle for Earth, and for survival fleeted across her processor. Those who had fallen did not sacrifice themselves, especially her long-lost friend.
It had been a long time since she had thought about Elita-One. Arcee had heard that she was Optimus Prime's sparkmate, even before the Great War. She also heard that Elita had perished during an attack on Iacon, but she refused to believe it. Elita was a strong, fierce warrior and her spark wouldn't go offline that easily. She could have taken the role of Prime if she had to. They never found her body; there were rumors that she might have ventured offworld, or something similar to that.
Her gaze searched the sky for Elita, hoping for a miracle after all that had happened, after Cybertron had been revitalized. Elita could come home and receive a hero's welcome, smile and laugh, the brightness in her optics gleaming, as if she had never gone away.
Arcee lowered her head and placed a servo upon her faceplate, the light almost too much to bear for her at the moment. She had to keep telling herself that her best friend had left for good, which she won't even think of Cybertron as her home anymore.
Who knows? She might have been swept away by all the wonders that the huge galaxy had to offer.
"Arcee!"
The fembot looked up, a voice jolting her out of her reverie. A cruel wind taunted her. It was only the wind, pretending to carry the faint voice of Elita.
"Arcee, is that you?"
Arcee frowned. Usually it was just her name she was imagining.
She turned around slowly, raising her head and her mouth fell open in disbelief. In a bright rosy light, Arcee saw Elita indeed standing across from her, several feet from the Well of the AllSparks.
"Elita?" The fembot uttered, shock and elation bubbling in her chassis and in her own spark.
Elita nodded, smiling. "Yes, Arcee, it's me."
Without a second thought, Arcee ran towards her, almost in a daze, as if it was too good to be true. She skidded to a halt, just a few inches short from Elita, and she blinked her optics a few times.
This wasn't a dream.
"Elita. I-I thought I'd never see you again. They-they thought you had perished, in Iacon." Arcee spoke finally, a smile upon her features, unbeknownst to her, and her servos shook, not in fear, but in joy. It was what she hadn't felt in a long time.
"They were wrong, Arcee. I have been traversing the galaxies for what seemed to be vorns. Once I heard that Cybertron had been reborn, I knew that I had to return, to see you." Elita answered gently and pulled Arcee in an embrace.
Arcee blinked and let her arms return the embrace. All thoughts of this being just a dream ceased at that moment. Her body was warm, her touch was ever present and she felt warm too. "I knew you wouldn't be offlined that easily. I just knew."
Elita gently pulled away from the embrace. "I have that same faith in you, Arcee. You are a survivor and you're a capable fighter, just like your fellow soldiers. If we can survive the coming of death, then we can survive anything."
Arcee nodded. "You're right about that."
Elita took Arcee's servo into her own, and the fembots knew that they were alive, that they existed, and they survived. They were here, in the now, falling awake, and they both believed it.