December 23, 4:00 PM
After doing some simple missions, Thunderbee rolls on to the school's parking lot in vehicle mode and parks in a space that's a little further away from the building's front door. While sitting there, he notices an inflatable snowman in front of one of the school's windows. It is holding a sign saying "Merry Christmas". Since he's been on Earth for years and never explored the planet, he doesn't have a clue what Christmas is. The only holiday he knows about is Halloween and he found out about the spooky holiday by accident. When Raf walked to him, the mech asks him a very rare question.
"Raf, what's Christmas?"
Hearing that question come from a super advanced robot who's from a species that can be very smart makes Raf look at him in disbelief. The boy goes to the passenger side of the vehicle and opens the door.
"Well, Christmas is a holiday that comes once a year on December 25th. On that day, you get and give presents. But its really not about the presents."
"Then what is it really about?"
Raf smiles when he gets in the passenger seat, but doesn't tell Thunderbee what Christmas is really about. "I'll let you find that out on your own."
The mech doesn't try to get the answer out of Raf. After all, he does need to explore Earth more.
December 25, 6:42 PM
The Autobot base is surprisingly quiet, but at times, some of the Autobots chuckle at times as they go back and forth in the hall. Thunderbee is standing in that hall, watching the 'Bots hurry back and forth. He gets tired after a while and goes to the lobby, not noticing one of the doors is slightly open. After he passes it, Bumblebee, Arcee, Jack, Raf, and Miko peek out of the room.
"He didn't see us, did he?" Jack asks quietly while chuckling.
"Judging by his mood, he didn't, thankfully," Arcee whispers with a smirk, but Bumblebee is a little unsure about this.
"(Are you guys sure he'll even like this present?)" The Scout beeps, sounding nervous about Thunderbee's reaction.
"Don't worry, Bee. After the story you told us, we're sure he'll love this present," Raf replies then goes back into the room with them. After an hour, everybody except for Bumblebee and Arcee are in the lobby. Thunderbee is in front of the huge Christmas tree the Autobots decorated with the kids, trying to figure out what the true meaning of Christmas is. It's been on his mind ever since Raf told him about it, but he's not getting any clues. He keeps thinking about it until he hears Bumblebee and Arcee walk in.
"(Oh, Thunderbee. We have something for ya,)" Bumblebee beeps loudly to get the mech's attention. Luckily, Thunderbee isn't deep in thought and turns around to see a long box wrapped in blue and gold wrapping paper in Arcee's hands. He raises an optic ridge and walks to them with curiosity. Arcee has a smile when she puts the box in Thunderbee's hands. The new Autobot doesn't know what to say since nobody ever gave him a present before.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Open it!" Miko shouts in excitement. Feeling a bit happy, Thunderbee gently places his left hand on the wrapping paper and let's his claws rip the paper off as his hand glides down on the surface of the box to get it started. He takes the rest of the paper off and lays the box down on the floor to open the top. It's pretty big and he has to use two hands to take the top off the box. When the item inside is revealed, he couldn't believe it. A dark blue guitar with cyan racing strips is laying in the box. He gently grabs the neck of the shiny instrument and gets it out of the box.
"How...How did you guys know?" His voice has a joyful tone to it.
"Bumblebee told us that Starscream smashed your old guitar back on Cybertron because of the loud noise. Then Miko came up with the idea of building one for you. With Raf's help, you now have a guitar you can play with and record the music you play. It has two speakers on the back of it so you can listen to the music you made. The two small speakers on the front are for when you're playing," Arcee explains with a smile on her face.
"Now do you know what Christmas is about? It's about making people happy and being around friends and family who care for each other," Raf says, making Thunderbee feel a bit warm and fuzzy inside. "So you want to try it out, Thunderbee?"
Thunderbee puts the neck of the big guitar in his left hand and puts his right hand on the strings at the bottom. He has a nervous look on his face, but starts strumming the Jingle Bells song a few times until he gets comfortable.
"Do you guys want me to sing?" He asks them. They've heard him sing before and they know his voice is soft enough to the point where he puts some soul in to songs without knowing. But they shake their heads and just listen to him play the song, letting him have some fun with his new guitar. Loving his new electric guitar, he starts to turn the tone nobs then turns the volume up. He starts strumming a song he loves, making Bulkhead and Miko dance to the music.