Muddling Through

by Rose's.wings

You always hear the stories about being with the Autobots. But what about when the adventure's over? How do you deal with normalcy after? Two girls struggle with happiness as Christmas draws near and the hole left by their friends aches more than ever.

n_n; He he, so I finally got it finished. Whew! Sorry about all the lateness, but consider this your belated Christmas Present! Merry Christmas! Yay!

^-^ *You and your good intentions* Mrs. Mittens thinks.

n_n; Yep, me and my good intentions. But at least I got one more story up before the New Year started. (Shameless self-promoting warning!) It's called Bang, Flash, Boom! in case you didn't see it, or knew of its existence. And you should go read it because it's so cute and it's pretty much all about the younglings. Anyway, I hope you all had an excellent Christmas and New Year's! Ours was great fun. I got a speedball carving tool for Christmas! YAY! I wanted one so bad. They're used to carve printmaking blocks in case you didn't know and I've already got some itsy bitsy linoleum blocks to try it out on. It's going great! ;D

*IMPORTANT NOTE!* If you don't know already, this is an alternate universe that's connected with my longer story I Lost A World!But if you haven't read it already, you don't strictly have to since this is pretty much self contained. I mean you should read it of course, but you don't have to to understand this one. Just know that Aria (my oc) and her sister were transported to Cybertron, made friends and enemies, and then made it back. There. You have the general gist of the basis of this story. However this is an alternate ending/sort of parallel universe thing, so any differences between this one and the longer one can be chalked up to that as well.

I can't wait to know what my previous viewers thinks of this. If it goes well I might do some more stuff in this alternate universe too. So be sure to tell me what you think! And maybe put in some advice on if I should cut this up at the breaks into shorter chapters instead of this really long oneshot?

You should also know that this story comes with a song. Neat! It's Judy Garland's version of 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', which is, consequentially, the first version ever sung. I would highly recommend you listen to it as you read this. Or you can use whatever other Christmas music you want to get in the mood. *Sigh* I miss that Christmasy feeling already...maybe you will leave me reviews as late Christmas presents? *raises eyebrows hopefully* Anyway, hope you love it!

...

Muddling Through

The December air was muffled with low hanging clouds that day as a crisp winter wind blew through the scrub brush that grew in the Texas hill country. Despite the wind, it wasn't all that cold. It was Texas after all – winter never fully sank in until late January – but it was cold enough that the people of New Braunfels were walking about in scarves and jackets along with their usual jeans and boots.

The town was quiet, it being too cold to attract the tourists that usually came to laze in the river or plummet down from the heights of Schlitterbahn in between school semesters, but the town was still moving. Christmas was coming and everyone was smiling through their scarves or knitted caps as they went about talking to neighbors and buying last minute necessities like turkey basters and stocking stuffers.

Well, almost everyone.

Farther down the river's winding banks, set back from the swampy land that surrounded the Guadalupe River, stood a small cabin. It wasn't immediately visible since it was surrounded by the tall evergreen trees that always grew in the area. They sheltered it like sentinels from the gravel road running nearby and made it practically invisible to the two lane highway about fifty feet up the road.

Usually the cabins around here were used as vacation spots during the summer, but recently one family – a man, his wife, and their two daughters – had taken up a more long term residence there. They were in the process of decorating for the holiday and the soft alto voice of Judy Garland could be heard from every room in the tiny building.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight,"

Judy's famous voice curled through the different rooms, seeping into each person she found. It wrapped around Mrs. Catherine Johnson and made her hum, somewhat in tune, where she stood at the kitchen sink washing off her mixing beater so she could start making Christmas cookies after dinner.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away,"

Out in the small yard, Mr. David Johnson was oiling the well rusted stand that would hold the Christmas tree. They had picked one out this morning from the tree lot in town. It was still there, waiting for him to come back with the truck so he could bring it home. He smiled and murmured the only line he knew from the song as he wondered where the ornaments they had brought with them had ended up. He wanted to get them out tonight so they could decorate the tree soon. Christmas was only a week or so away now.

"Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were near to us
Will be dear to us once more,"

In one of the two small bedrooms – the one the girls shared – the Johnson's youngest daughter, Serafina, was sleeping fitfully in her bed. She was a pretty thing with her ocean gray eyes and her lithe form, and from her looks appeared to be at least fifteen years old. But she was uneasy. Her golden hair was scattered all over the white, lacy pillow from her tossing and turning and a line between her eyebrows, which were drawn together in fear even in her sleep, had permanently etched itself into her skin over the past few months that the girls had been home.

But the music worked its magic on her too, soaking deep into her tangled up subconscious mind and easing some of her worries, soothing long years of tension and temporarily erasing nightmares that no girl should be made to endure.

Sera sighed almost musically as Judy Garland sung softly in her ear. Her quiet breath carried away her tension and she relaxed into her bed, falling deeper into a more restful sleep.

"Someday soon, we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now."

As Judy's voice drifted away on the notes of the accompanying harp, she reached the last occupant of the house. Aria Johnson, the eldest daughter, paused as the song ended and receded back into her mother's CD player.

"Hey Mom?" Aria called into the adjacent kitchen at her mother, "Was that a new version of the song? I've never heard it sung like that before."

Her mother laughed slightly as she came into the main room, which served as the living room in the little cabin. "No dear, it's the original version, from Judy Garland's movie 'Meet Me in St. Louis', I think. Actually," her mother gave another little laugh, "It's the rewritten original. I read somewhere that the man that wrote the song made it very depressing the first time around. Something about 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last,' in the first line or something like that." Her mother laughed and shook her head. "It just seems so morbid." She said as she placed a large bowl of unflavored popcorn on the table.

Aria gave a little nod. "Yeah, you could say that." She said at the obviousness of her mother's remark. "It makes me wonder what kind of Christmases that guy had."

Her mother just shrugged as she sat down at the table and picked up a thick sewing needle and some sturdy, white thread she had managed to pry out of her rarely used sewing basket. "Now, you ready to help me make some popcorn and cranberry strings for the tree?" The older woman asked excitedly.

Aria shrugged and found half of a smile for her mother. "Sure," she said, reaching for another sewing needle lying on the table, "but if you don't mind my asking, why are we doing this again? Having Christmas out here in the middle of nowhere?" She asked, trying not to sound rude about it. It wasn't like this was the first time they had spent a major holiday away from populated cities. Just a few years ago they had visited the more northern middle of nowhere, or as it was also known, Nebraska, but at least Aria and Sera's grandparents lived out there. Out here there weren't even any neighbors, much less family.

Catherine gave her own little shrug. Her face didn't change, but Aria still caught the wilted edge around her mother's smile. Her shoulders sunk as the guilt set in immediately.

"No reason really dear, we just wanted to spend time with you and your sister for awhile. You know, just the four of us." Her mother said as she picked up a piece of popcorn and gave it an expert little poke with her needle. Then she was quiet as she pulled the fluffy white food onto the string until it sat next to a bright red cranberry the size of a small marble farther down.

Aria didn't say anything as she picked up her own piece of popcorn. She tried to stick it with the needle, but it just broke in two and fell to the table to join the other pieces and cranberry juice drops on the table beneath her. The light from the window hit the juice straight on, making them look like blood for an instant.

Aria shook her head as the sun disappeared back behind the clouds. "Get a grip girl. It's just juice."

Next to her, her mother took a stuttered breath. "And besides," she said, her voice a good octave higher then before, "after, after what happened, I don't think it's such a bad idea to, to get away for a little while."

"I never said I thought it was a bad idea." Aria said softly, remembering 'what had happened' all to well. Then in an effort to lighten the mood, she lifted up her pitiful excuse for a popcorn and cranberry string and said with a weak smile, "I just don't understand why we couldn't use real Christmas decorations. I think I'm going to have an easier time of poking a hole in my thumb then through these cranberries." She said, holding up her thumb, which she had been using to push the end of the needle through the unripe berries. A tiny red dimple was her only sign of success so far.

Catherine Johnson gave her own weak and watery smile as she turned back to her much neater string coiled in her lap. "We brought a few you know, but the garlands took up too much room in the car. So-"

"We're improvising," Aria said, her grin a little truer now. Her mother liked to improvise. That's how Aria had gotten her name actually. Her parents had planned to name her Carolyn in accordance with Catherine's family's tradition of giving the first daughter a name that started with the first letter of her mother's name. But then they had actually met her and Catherine immediately said, "She look's like an Aria."

So they named her Aria instead, a fact that Aria was continually grateful for. She had never felt like a Carolyn anyhow.

The back door opened, letting in a gust of chilly air along with Aria's father.

"Whew," David said as he stomped his feet on the rug even though there wasn't any snow within a hundred miles to shake off of his boots. It was an old childhood gesture he had never managed to shake from growing up in Nebraska on his parents' farm. Aria smiled to see him do it again. Lord, it had been so long since she had seen them. Even longer then her parents knew. They thought it had only been two years since their daughters had been taken from them, snatched up by slavers of the modern age and shipped off to Siberia to be sold to one sick and twisted person or another. Only Aria had been rescued, against all odds, by a group of Robin Hood-esque men that didn't agree with the men selling children on the black market.

But Sera had been left behind, held hostage in an attempt to hinder the kind hearted men that had saved her older sister. Of course Aria had refused to leave her there, so she remained in the frozen wastes of Siberia with the group of rebels/outlaws until she had gotten the chance to rescue her sister and return home.

At least, that was what Aria had made her parents believe. Aria was just grateful that her parents didn't keep up with current affairs enough to see all the holes in her story.

"So honey," David said back in the little warm house as he took off his gloves, but didn't bother removing his coat, "you ready to go get the tree?" He asked.

Catherine set her needle down, dusted her hands, and nodded. "Yep, just let me go wake Sera and we can all go." She said, starting to rise.

"No!" Aria nearly leapt out of her chair to snag her mother's sleeve.

David and Catherine looked at their eldest daughter with suddenly wide eyes. They looked frightened by the sudden near-panic in Aria's voice.

"Why? What's wrong?" Catherine demanded, looking wildly towards the cracked open door of her girls' bedroom. Sera's golden-blonde hair was just visible through the inch between door and doorjamb.

"Nothing's wrong," Aria quickly said, trying to calm down, "it's just, why don't you let Sera sleep? She didn't sleep well at all last night. I can stay here with her." Aria offered, glazing over the reason for her sister's sleeping problems.

Her parents looked at each other, her mother's wide, worried eyes briefly meeting her father's steady, anxious ones. They knew why their baby girl wasn't sleeping well. They just didn't know what to do about the horrible nightmares that plagued Sera's sleep just as often as the flashbacks plagued her waking hours.

"No," Catherine said instantly, "absolutely not. We can't leave you two here on your own. We can just go get the tree tomorrow if you think it's best not to wake up Sera." Aria's mother said, automatically deferring to her daughter's sense on the matter.

Aria hardly noticed. After so much time worrying over her sister, it had become second nature to just look after her, whether their mother was around or not.

David made a noise, catching the ladies' attention. "The lot's closed tomorrow. Stephan and his family are going to his mother's for Christmas, remember?" He told his wife. "If we want this tree we're going to have to either get it now or break into the lot tomorrow after dark," he said, trying to joke.

Aria's mother refused to smile. "Well then we'll just have to do without a tree this year." She remained stubborn.

Aria sighed and tried not to role her eyes at her obstinate mother. "So this is where I get it from." She thought. "Mom, it's alright, really. You and Dad go get the tree. We'll be fine." Aria tried.

Catherine stared at her oldest daughter. Over the past four months since her daughters had just reappeared in one of Houston's many hospitals, she had never been more then a room away from them. Aria knew she was just terrified of losing them again, but she still couldn't help but feel irritated with her mother's smothering anxiety. Everything felt too small as it was without her mother always being a stone's throw away in this ridiculously tiny cabin. She needed space.

"Cathy," David said into the tense silence, "Cathy, let's let Sera sleep. Aria can watch her while you and I go get the tree."

Catherine whirled her head around to look at her husband with astonished brown-blue eyes. "But David-" she started to say.

"We'll only be gone half an hour, forty minutes at the most," David interrupted her smoothly, "and they're not going to leave this house, are you Aria?" The middle aged man looked over at his daughter. His sharp eyes, also blue but clearer then his wife's, plainly laying out the terms for them leaving their beloved girls at home alone for the first time since they had been reunited.

Aria instantly accepted them. "Yeah, right," she nodded looking over at her mother, "we'll be fine Mom."

Catherine still did not look convinced. She looked anxiously between her daughter, to her husband, to her youngest girl's bedroom door. For an instant Aria thought that her mother would remain unmoved, but then Catherine Johnson sighed.

"Alright, fine," she nearly cried before turning on her eldest daughter, "but you don't let anyone into this house for nothing! And if you set even one foot out of it, even to go to the river, I will ground you until Easter, understand?" Catherine demanded anxiously.

The river was only twenty feet in front of the house, but Aria nodded anyway. "Yes Mom." She said obediently.

Catherine nodded, but her eyes were still frightened.

"Now honey, don't worry so much," David said soothingly, laying a comforting hand on his wife's back. "It's not like the girls will be alone. Magnus will be with them."

All three of them looked over at the corner of the room where a great monster of a dog lay on his even bigger dog bed. A mix between a German Sheppard and some kind of small bear, Magnus looked up at his people without raising his head off of his crossed paws. He crooked a fuzzy ear at them, as if asking what they expected him to do about anything.

Aria just smiled and shook her head. Everybody in town knew that despite his wolfish size and long teeth, Magnus was a great big softie.

"Great," Catherine said flatly, "I feel so relieved."

David just chuckled softly and kissed his wife's cheek. "Now don't be that way, you know he'll protect our girls. He loves them almost as much as we do."

Well, that was true.

But Catherine still sighed as if she wasn't truly convinced as she went to go get her coat. The sun was already setting and it would be freezing by the time they got to the tree lot.

Aria smiled at her father. "Thanks Dad," she said gratefully.

David nodded slowly and stepped over to hug his eldest daughter. They had always been more alike, just like Sera was more like her mother. He understood her better, knew that she needed some time – even just the forty minutes it would take them to get the tree – away from her mother.

"Make sure to lock the doors and windows after we've gone." He murmured to her, his own concern showing in his voice as he hugged Aria tightly. "And don't open them until we get back. Even if Magnus has to go out. We'll deal with him later."

Aria gave her dad an extra squeeze, remembering how he had insisted when they were searching for a loyal, protective, guard dog, that he had to be house trained.

"I will Dad." Aria said into her Dad's shirt as she hugged him just as tight. She had missed them so much.

They stepped back after a moment, both of their eye's a little red.

"You be careful too." Aria said as she passed over her eyes with the back of one hand, "Don't hit any deer while you're driving or anything."

David nodded with a crooked smile, although it was a decent concern way out here in the country.

Catherine came back, her bright red coat buttoned over her sweater. She gave Aria the same instructions David had, plus a little more, and then she hugged her daughter tightly before leaving.

Aria locked the door behind them. Then just to be sure she walked by all the windows, even though she had seen her mother lock them earlier.

With a sigh she plopped back into her chair. She sat there for a moment, hands between her knees, wrapped around the edge of the seat, as she stared off into the distance at nothing.

Sensing the memories that were swirling behind her vacant stare, Magnus hauled himself to his paws, gave himself a shake that made his collar jingle, and then slowly padded over to his girl.

Aria didn't notice the great, big dog until he stuck his head in her lap. She gave a little start before noticing his large, beseeching brown eyes that were staring up at her as if asking, "What's wrong girl?"

Aria half smiled before reaching out and rubbing Magnus' large head, her fingers sinking up to the first digit in his winter fur. "Nothing's wrong Magnus, I was just thinking is all."

Magnus blinked up at her and twitched one of his soft ears so that Aria's fingers could scratch behind it.

"Oh, about nothing really," Aria answered his silent stare, "It's just," she paused, frowning slightly, "Mom looked, well, older then I remember." She admitted. "She's never looked old before, not even when Great Grandma Camilla was in the hospital with her broken hip and they had to do surgery. Mom was worried and she didn't sleep well, and quite frankly she looked kinda sick, but she didn't look old."

Magnus gave a muffled whoof.

"I know that people get older Maggie, but it's only been two years, Earth side anyway. People don't just age like that in two years."

Aria stared off at nothing again as she gently rubbed her dog's skull. She remembered the thin lines that had surrounded the corners of her mother's eyes when Aria had said she and Sera could just stay here alone in the house. They were nothing less then frightening.

Magnus snapped her out of it by pushing his head farther into her lap so that she could reach his itching spot, the one that made his tail thump and his back leg start to scratch.

Aria smiled at the great dog. "You know I named you after a friend of mine right? Well, I did. I was going to call you Orion, or Prime, or something like that, but you acted more like Magnus instead, all big and tough and fearless," she scratched his favorite spot until his back leg gave out and his rump hit the floor. The dog gave a great sigh of pleasure.

Aria laughed softly. "Although you're much easier to please then he is." She told him. "Aren't you Magnus?" She stroked his head, "Mags," she murmured to him, "Maggie," she kissed his broad head. "I would never call the other Magnus that of course, but I secretly always wanted to," she whispered to her dog.

Magnus just looked up at her with his big brown eyes and let his tongue loll out of his mouth in a doggy smile.

Aria gave him a more human one as she leaned her head against his. "You're so funny." She told him.

Magnus licked her face, glad all this trouble was sorted out now so they could eat.

"Well come on then," Aria said as she stood up and headed to the kitchen where they kept the dog food. Magnus bounded after her, tongue flying like a banner.

She sat down in her chair again once Magnus was loudly chowing down near the door. She shook her head as he created more of a mess then he ate, and then turned back to the thread and bowl of popcorn sitting on the table in front of her. She should probably finish off the string, but...

She frowned at the needle as she picked it up and stuck it into the pin cushion her mother kept. "Nasty little thing," she muttered as she dragged her laptop over from the other side of the table, still angry about the dimple left in her thumb.

"I now know why we use sparkly, plastic garlands instead of making these things every year. Our thumbs would be permanently pockmarked!" She groused as she opened up a search engine in Explorer and typed 'Judy Garland's Christmas lyrics' into the search bar. She was curious about what a depressing version of 'Have Yourself A Merry Christmas' would look like.

She soon found out. Clicking on the just-trusted-enough Wikipedia entry, she scanned through the original lyrics of the song, written by someone named Hugh Martin.

"Let's see," she sighed as she read down the page, "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last, well isn't that nice, apparently we're all going to die next year, although it will be 2012," she mused before reading on, "Next year we may all be living in the past. Neat, time travel. Have yourself a merry little Christmas, pop that champagne cork/Next year we will all be living in New York. Hmph, well I can see why that part was left out. Songs should not put emphasis on the sound 'ork'. It just does not work." She muttered to herself, scrolling down.

She read the next set of couplets in a more song like voice. "No good times like the olden days, happy golden days of yore,/Faithful friends who were dear to us, will be near to us no more."

Aria snapped the computer lid shut with a sharp tap.

The young woman swallowed hard, tears suddenly springing into her eyes no matter how many times she blinked them away. Images of her life before August 12 flashed before her eyes. Old friends, none of them human but all of them beyond her reach, appeared in her mind's eye; laughing, leering, teasing, playing, explaining, translating (there had been an awful lot of translating), lifting her, helping her, saving her.

Waving goodbye to her.

Aria leaned her head on the tabletop with a thunk. She had kept the memories at bay for so long so she could try and move forward with her life on Earth again, but tonight, the first time she had been left alone, they broke the dam she had built around them and flooded her senses fast enough to merit a flash flood risk on the local radio.

She sat there, hunched over, breathing heavily as she tried to keep from bawling outright altogether. The truth was staring at her, refusing to let her look away.

She wanted, needed to talk with her friends, needed to know they were alright, that they were still functional and kicking. She needed to know if Optimus was alright after his fight with Megatron, how Hound was doing with his injured leg, if Wheeljack had managed to keep himself in one piece like he had promised he would, if Val was alright after Treads had died, if Ariel had ever figured out that she did, in fact, like Optimus as more than her friend, if Chromia and Ironhide were still, well, themselves, if Moonracer was still tripping over everything despite the fact that she could shoot a turbo-rat off of a signpost halfway across the planet, if Ratchet was still throwing things when someone ticked him off, if the twins (either pair) were still causing obscene amounts of trouble, if Prowl had ever fixed that logic glitch, or if Jazz had ever pushed him over the edge just to see if the fix had worked.

She needed to know how 'Bee had taken her departure.

Aria buried her face in her arms thinking of the little yellow bot. The last time she had seen him he was standing in the Hall of Records, clinging to Ariel as he watched his guardian and his sister leave.

If she had known that would be the last time she would see him, Aria would have hugged him and told him she loved him one more time. She and 'Bee were more then just friends, they were family.

And she would never see him again.

That thought broke Aria's heart even more then her endless list had, so she tried to shove it away before she really started crying. Already a few tears had fallen onto the table to join the cranberry juice.

Oh God, why had she even left?

A small whimper cut through the silence of the house. Aria turned to see her sister turn over in her sleep through the crack in the door. She whined again before settling down.

Aria gave a shaky sigh. That was why. Her sister needed her too, much more then Aria needed her friends, or her di di. Aria could go on living without them, but Sera couldn't survive without Aria. She was the only one that could even try and understand what Sera had been through.

The truth was that they had never been taken to Siberia; they hadn't even been kidnapped. At least, not on purpose. As they had been driving along that darkened road in 2007 towards the movie theater, they had been picked up by a flash of light from something known as a Space Bridge-

-and been transported more then halfway across the galaxy to another planet known as Cybertron.

The two sisters had been separated almost immediately when Aria went to try and find help and passed out from a low blood sugar. She had woken up only to find herself with one of the natives of Cybertron; a robot looking creature named Orion Pax.

And then through a whole slew of interesting, if not a little messy, instances, Aria suddenly found herself caught up in the fractioning of the whole darn planet into civil war. Despite that though, things had gone rather well.

But for Sera it had been an entirely different matter.

While Aria had been safe (relatively) with the Autobots – led by a newly dubbed Optimus Prime who was not out to own the world and conquer the galaxy with brutal force and demonic megalomania – Sera had found herself on the other side of the war, held by the Decepticons and regarded like a new exhibit in a carnie freak show. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, Megatron had lost interest in her and handed her over to his mad scientist Shockwave; who hardly lost interest in anything.

Aria still didn't know exactly what he had done to her, only that it involved taking Sera apart and putting her back together again, over and over again. It made her shudder furiously every time she thought of it, but what was worse was that she had the distinct impression that that had only taken up a part of Sera's time on his lab table.

It made her sick to think about it. And if she had such a visceral reaction then what must Sera feel?

Aria breathed in deep, her nose stuffing up almost instantly, and leaned back in her chair, drawing one knee up to her chest. She sniffed thickly as the closed computer and the unfinished popcorn string sitting on the table blurred from the water collecting in her eyes.

She knew they'd have to talk about it sometime, for Sera's sake, as much as for hers; but she was hoping distance from the event would help ease some of her baby sister's grief first. Seeing that tousled blonde head through the crack in the doorway, Aria couldn't bring herself to regret the choice she'd made, even if thinking of her lost family made her heart ache painfully.

But if she was so sure of her decision, then why did she feel so lost?

...

A few days later the tree was trimmed, the house was decorated, and Christmas hung so thick in the air that even Sera, with her continuing nightmares, smiled with the feeling.

It was good to see her smile, Aria felt. And then seeing her baby sister laugh at Magnus sulking in his reindeer head band a day or so after their parents had brought the tree home helped to loosen something in Aria's chest, even if it was only a tiny, little laugh.

But she still couldn't shake the claustrophobic feeling when she was inside the rented cabin. After so much time living among giants and all there fearsome, sweeping architecture, Aria felt like she was trapped in a box barely bigger then she was. It was like coming in from a wide meadow, where there was nothing to mar the horizon line, and then climbing into a coffin. So when her mom said she was going to get some cinnamon for the Christmas morning coffee cake they had every year, Aria literally jumped at the chance to escape.

"I'll go get it!" She offered, raising her hand like a first grader who knew the answer to a question. "Magnus can come too. He needs a walk anyway and I always get lost outside with all these trees. Oh please Mom?" Aria begged, looking at her mother with big, puppy dog eyes. Hey, it worked for Sera and Magnus. Why shouldn't it work for her?

Catherine hesitated, clearly unsure, but she had already taken the hardest step when she had left her girls home alone that other night. This was just a trip to the grocery store and there would be lots of people in town on a beautiful day like this. They would notice if some stranger just up and tried to kidnap her daughter, especially when Magnus started with his howling and baying like a wolf hound.

"Alright," Catherine said slowly, "but be back in an hour at the very least! Especially if you want to help me make the cake."

Aria hardly heard her as she jumped up in the air before racing to get the truck's keys and Magnus' leash. "Right Mom seeyalaterbye!" Her words ran together as she and Magnus bolted out the door.

Catherine shook her head at the loud smack of the screen door against the frame, quickly followed by the distant roar of the old truck's engine. She waited until she couldn't hear the sound of rubber on gravel anymore before she offered up a silent prayer for God to protect her daughter, as well as let her own self get through this separation anxiety with her sanity intact.

"And please don't let her run over anything," she added as an afterthought. Aria's driving skills had only gotten worse (and they hadn't been all that great to start with) from her lack of practice. "Honestly, it's like she hasn't driven in centuries!" She murmured as a way to distract herself when she went back into her bedroom to wrap presents.

The flat land of Texas sped past Aria once she reached the paved highway that led to the more populated New Braunfels. Her elation at finally being let out of the house quickly fled with it as she watched the dreary winter browns of dead grass and bare trees fly past her.

Unable to hold onto her happiness, Aria sighed. She was alone in the cab, Magnus was in the bed behind her, and in an effort to distract herself from thinking, she turned on the radio.

"-bells on bob tails ring, making spirits bright-"

"No," she said pushing a button.

"-g0, laughing all the wa-"

"Uh-uh,"

"Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open-"

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Aria groaned before turning off the radio with an angry exhalation.

She sat there in the silent cab for a moment, but the wind was whistling too mournfully past the windows for her liking, so it wasn't long before she pulled the CD case she had brought with her out from under the middle seat belt.

Maybe she had grabbed it on accident when she had snatched up the keys. Or maybe there was still a part of her that was just out to revel in self pity. Either way, Aria had ended up taking the Judy Garland CD with her.

She fed it into the CD player while keeping one eye on the straight road in front of her. After a handful of staticky seconds, Judy's alto voice started drifting through the old truck's speakers.

The same words as before surrounded Aria. She didn't know what she had expected; something lighter, some kind of change that would tell her, "Don't worry Ariah. Everything will be alright in the end. You'll see."

Aria shook her head. Great, now she was even pretending that her old friends were talking to her. Didn't that technically count as delusional?

"Nah, that's only if you start seeing things. I think…" She thought glumly to herself.

The rest of the CD played before she made it to town, not bad considering there were only eleven songs on the album. She parked at almost the opposite end of town from the grocery store, planning to walk Magnus there and back. She also hoped that the clean air would help clear her head too.

She shut the truck door with a moderate slam before calling in a subdued voice, "Well come on Mags."

Magnus was more then happy to oblige and leapt out of the truck bed in one go. Then he waited patiently at her feet, tongue lolling as he panted, as Aria tethered him to his leash.

For the first few blocks Magnus let Aria set the pace. Even he could tell that his girl was upset over something. Besides, there were so many new things to smell here! It he went to fast, he would miss something.

Aria slowly followed her large dog as he plowed forward, nose to the ground like a bloodhound on the scent. Although Magnus wasn't as focused as that right now. He just wanted to smell everything, even some of the people, much to their surprise and Aria's embarrassment.

She had just managed to pull him away from the front window of the butcher's shop when Magnus' broad head suddenly snapped up, his ears held straight forward and his nose quivering in excitement as something even more interesting than a window full of meat abruptly crossed his nose.

"Magnus what-" Aria tried to ask.

But she didn't get any farther as Magnus suddenly bounded forward with a tremendous bark. Aria could only manage a strangled, "OOF!" as she suddenly found herself being dragged across town by a dog half her size but with twice as much muscle mass.

"Maggie!" Aria yelled as she darted around a woman wearing a red scarf and carrying an umbrella, "Mags what, eep!" she ducked under a low hanging store flyer, "Wh-what are you doin-AHH!"

Aria barely had time to register the boy's look of supreme shock before she plowed into him. There was a mix of shouts as they both went down and hit the ground hard. Behind her mask of mortification, Aria could hear Magnus barking like crazy.

For a moment all Aria could think of was regaining her breath and wondering if her aching wrist had actually been broken by Magnus trying to yank her hand off.

A different groan reminded Aria that she wasn't the only one down here lying on the pavement.

Eyes going wide, she lifted her head to see the young man she had briefly glimpsed when Magnus had pulled her into him.

"Uh, hi?" The boy asked, clearly not sure what he was supposed to say to a girl that had flattened him to the ground and was now lying on him.

Aria felt her face flush as she tried to get off of him. All she managed to do though was shove her hand in his stomach and bang his chin with her head before she rolled off of him.

"Sorry," she whimpered as she got to her knees and looked down at the poor guy. Quickly she wondered if it was possible to displace someone's stomach by sitting on them.

"It's alright," the guy groaned as he held his chin, "no problem, I'm fine." But then he groaned and rolled over onto his side.

"Here, let me help you up," Aria said trying to make up for accidentally punching him. Twice.

The boy held out a hand rather quickly. "No! No offense, but no thank you. I got it." Then with another groan he managed to sit up.

He looked over at her kneeling next to him as he rubbed his chin. "You've got a hard head." He commented flatly.

Aria sank deeper into her embarrassment.

She would have sat there wallowing in her new found misery if the boy – well, teenager, she corrected as she took in his lanky build and physical awkwardness – hadn't looked at something over her shoulder and asked, "Hey isn't that your dog?"

Aria spun around. "Magnus no!"

He had his front paws up on the side of a military-like jeep where two men were sitting in the front seats, and was in the process of barking at them as if they were slathered in meat sauce, topped with bacon, and smelled of liver flavored perfume. The man in the driver's seat drew back from the wolfish head trying to shove itself over the top of the door (but even Magnus wasn't that tall), but the one in the passenger side, the younger one, just grinned at the frantic dog.

"Lady, control your dog!" The older man, who was maybe in his late twenties to early thirties, said and then nearly hit his head on the rear view mirror when he threw himself back as Magnus gave a little jump to try and get whatever it was inside the jeep that was driving him nuts.

The younger man, who looked only a little older than Aria herself, just smiled and climbed out of the jeep. "Aw now don't be like that Barnes. He's not showing any teeth." He said as he knelt and held out his hands for Magnus to sniff. The dog did with enough fervent interest that Aria guessed that the man, or whatever he had been touching recently, was what Magnus was after.

"There ya go fella," the man said, his words colored by a mid-western accent, "was this what you smelled?" He pulled a crumpled up bag of jerky out of his pocket and let the dog stick his nose in the empty bag. But Magnus quickly lost interest and went back to furiously smelling the man's oil stained hands.

The man, some kind of mechanic Aria guessed given the stains, hardly noticed as he looked up at Aria and smiled with enough charm to rival a young Harrison Ford. "I spilled it all over the inside of car about half an hour back. I imagine we've been setting off every dog in town," he told Aria with a flirtatious wink.

Aria felt her face turn hot. "Well at least I was right about one thing," she thought as she stared at her stomach-minded dog and the handsome man that was currently scratching the thick ruff around his neck, "it did involve meat."

But even as she thought this she felt that she was missing something. The man was covering for something; something that she suddenly wanted desperately to know.

But she was quickly distracted from this small, but insistent, desire when the man stood up again and held out his hand to her with another one of his crooked smiles. "Derek Morris, at your service." He told her with a wink.

Aria felt her face heat up as she shook his head. "Hi." She said, and then privately wondered if all this humiliation had shorted out her brain. "Hi? That's all you can think to say?" She demanded hotly.

Derek Morris just smiled at her. "And your name would be…?" He gently prodded her in the right direction.

Aria blinked. "Oh! Aria, my name is Aria."

Derek smiled at her some more as he shook her hand. "Ah, like the music. How very interesting. My granddad was into that sort of thing. Was always going on about Berich Smetana's Moldau, although he could actually never say his name right. Always called him Smehtna." He said with a laugh.

Aria felt her blush creep farther up her neck. "Yeah, well…" she tried to say something interesting, but it didn't work.

She quickly tried to collect what was left of her senses. "So, ah, where are you guys headed?" She tried.

Derek's smile curdled a little at the edges, but otherwise his face didn't change. "Nowhere in particular. Just passing through." He said with a little nod that made a stray strand of his nut brown hair fall across his navy blue eyes. He blew it away with an irritated glance.

"Some friends of ours are supposed to meet us around here. They've got my car, so, ah…"

Aria turned, somewhat startled, to find the boy she had plowed into standing next to her and Derek.

As if on cue, a deep throated thrum suddenly appeared to Aria's left. She turned to see what was making the finely tuned noise, the two men following her example, just in time to see a bright yellow car with black racing stripes appear through the narrow streets. It was obviously a very fine car and Aria was more than a little surprised that it belonged to the teenager next to her. He was probably only just out of high school.

As the car drew closer, Aria saw there was a young woman, probably the same age as her and the guy she had run into, sitting in the driver's seat. She was pretty, with dark hair, fine features, and expertly applied make-up. Aria also noticed that she had a mechanic's grease stain on her left cheekbone. The guy next to her just about lit up when he saw the girl behind the wheel.

The teenager raised an arm and waved the girl in their direction. "Hey Micha-"

And then the car suddenly squealed to an abrupt stop.

Aria blinked as the girl nearly impaled herself on the steering wheel.

"Michaela!" The young man next to her shouted in surprise.

Aria didn't have enough attention to notice how Michaela was as Magnus suddenly strained against his leash, sniffing the air furiously before barking like a mad dog at the bright yellow car that had stopped halfway through the stop sign.

"Magnus what are you doing?" Aria asked without thinking. "What's going on?" She demanded, not expecting an answer.

She still didn't miss the quick look between the teenager and Derek.

"M-must have been a squirrel." The first said too quickly before pointing nervously at the bright yellow car. "I'll just go, um, go make sure she's-" He stuttered before jogging over to the girl behind the wheel.

Aria frowned after him as she held on tight to Magnus' lead. "Squirrels don't come this far into town." She thought.

Derek quickly tried to distract her. "Well would you look at that. It looks like Michaela made it alright for the most part. I was a little worried; her driving all the way from California by herself, but it looks like everything's turned out just peachy."

Aria looked up at him. "Right, let's pretend that wasn't weird at all." She thought to herself.

Out loud she said, "But I thought you said you were meeting a few friends here? Are the others still coming?" She asked.

Derek hesitated a moment too long before laughing. "Well knowing them they probably made themselves late with arguing over which road to take."

Aria raised her eyebrow to show what she thought of his poor excuse.

The man coughed slightly. "Well, we really must be going now that Michael's here and all. We'll just meet up with everyone else somewhere closer to home. It was really nice meeting you Aria. I hope you have a merry Christmas." He said charmingly as he held out his hand for her to shake.

Aria did so, slowly. "Yeah, you too."

With another lopsided smile, Derek Morris turned back towards the jeep, saying something to the other man, Barnes, when he got in.

Aria carefully made her way to the sidewalk, passing the jeep and squeezing between the two cars parked on the side of the road. Conveniently, she also passed right by the yellow Camero on the way there, much to Magnus' enjoyment. As soon as they were close enough, he stuck his nose against the bright yellow paint and refused to stop no matter what Aria said.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Sam whispered anxiously through the window as they passed them. "I thought the point of this was to not draw attention to yourself?"

Aria frowned at his words, wondering what he was talking about.

The girl in the car didn't even pretend to answer the boy leaning through the window, just murmured, "Sam," to get his attention. When he looked up at her, she pointedly stared over his shoulder at Aria.

Sam instantly looked up at her awkwardly. "Just," he smiled uneasily and pointed to the dark haired girl sitting in the driver's seat, "just talking to my girlfriend."

Aria raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh-huh, right," she said, not believing a word of it. Instead of trying to pretend she hadn't been listening to his, very weird, conversation, Aria bent over with a smile at the girl through the open window. "Hi," She said cheerfully enough, "you'll want to be careful driving on these roads. They tend to ice up around this time of year. Hope you have a safe drive."

The girl grinned back, sincere as any other stranger Aria had met. "Thanks, and merry Christmas."

Aria smiled again before straightening up and stepping over to the sidewalk.

"M-merry Christmas?" Sam called after her, sounding very confused about what had just happened.

"Well that was weird." Aria murmured as she turned back to her dog, eager to get away from these people. "Well come on Magnus. Let's get out of here before Mom thinks we've been abducted again."

Magnus just strained against his leash, nose sniffing the scent coming off of the boy's bright yellow car. He barked twice before Aria yanked him away. "Cut it out Magnus! You've caused more than enough trouble already." She hissed at him.

Behind her, the car's engine suddenly thrummed, sounding loud and urgent. Aria turned to see what was going on now, but Magnus started barking so loud that the only way she could get him to stop was to quickly pull him farther down the street towards the grocery store to get her mother's cinnamon.

...

That night, Aria's breath came hard and fast in her throat as she ran. She was running through a violent map of bright, blue-white light and deep, night-black shadows that twisted and turned around her like some kind of monster trying to swallow her whole. The ground was sharp but level under her feet as she pumped her legs as fast as she could. Next to her she could just barely hear the steady thump-thump-thump of her sister's feet as Sera ran next to her. Before them lay the Space Bridge, burning blindingly bright in the middle of a ring that was clear of everything but them.

Aria stared at the beam of light that was the Space Bridge until its image burned itself onto her brain.

"C-come on Sera!" Aria yelled, her voice coming out distorted, like a bad movie, before echoing away into emptiness, "We're almost there!"

They were almost there, only a few feet more. But then those few feet turned into ten that turned into a mile that turned into an endless infinity that grew each time Aria took another step.

Aria reached out a desperate hand. "No! Wait! Stop!" She pleaded with the rules of the universe. They were cheating now.

The distance abruptly disappeared as normalcy snapped back into play. Aria suddenly skidded to a stop in front of the low, metal ring that surrounded the bridge. Her shins banged smartly against the ridge and she nearly fell over it.

For a second she stood there, breathing hard, staring into the light of the Space Bridge.

Sera was suddenly by her side, looking small and tired and scared. "Come on Aria! Let's go home!"

But Aria slowly started to shake her head. "N-no," she mumbled, "no this isn't right. Something's wrong."

No sooner had she spoken then the Space Bridge's light turned in on itself and became a great sucking maw.

Aria stood her ground, one hand clinging to her sister's arm and one covering her face as the horrid picture of her eyes being sucked right out of her head popped into her mind.

Sera kept pulling at her arm, not even noticing the black hole before them. "Come on Aria! Let's go home!" She said again.

Aria shook her head wildly in fear. "No!" She screamed above the shrieking wind as air was pulled un-exhaustively into the black hole. "I don't want to go! I don't want to go! Optimus!" She shrieked as loud as she could.

But no one came to save her.

The wind grew steadily stronger, and soon Aria felt her feet sliding toward the black hole, her strength useless against the inverted Space Bridge.

And then, inevitably, she tripped over the low wall still surrounding the black hole and fell, screaming, into its depths along with her sister.

"NO!" Aria cried above the wind as she fell, the dim light of Cybertron shrinking rapidly above her as if she had just fallen down an abnormally long hole.

And then just as abruptly, Aria shot straight up in her bed.

She sat there for a haggard moment, breathing too fast as she stared at the floral comforter that had come with the rest of the cabin's décor.

"It was a dream," she realized quickly, "all of it, just a dream."

Unfortunately, the screaming was all too real.

For a moment she thought it was her screaming, like it had been in her dream, but memory quickly reasserted itself and with a little gasp, Aria tossed aside the warm blankets of her twin sized bed and practically leapt across the room.

Even in the thick night of rural Texas, Sera was white enough that Aria had no trouble seeing her in the dark. Her hair was damp with sweat and she shook under her own comforter as tears streaked down her face.

"Sera!" Aria yelled as she climbed onto her sister's bed. But when Sera didn't wake up, Aria grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "SERA!"

With one final scream – the high pitched sound of a terrified little girl – Sera's eyes opened wide and she stared into the night at her older sister's worried face.

Her eyes darted around the rustic room as she lay there breathing hard. Finally her eyes found her sister's face in the dark.

"Aria?" She gave a frightened little whisper.

Aria just nodded, trying not to cry at how rough Sera's voice was from all that screaming. "I'm right here. It's alright. It's alright I promise."

Sera hiccupped once before more tears starting flowing. Her pale face crumpled up like old paper and Sera reached her arms out towards her sister. "Aria-" she moaned before her crying became too much for her to speak.

Aria wrapped her arms around her sister and did what she could to comfort her. She hushed and rocked and smoothed her yellow hair away from her wet face. Sera cried until the shoulder of Aria's pajamas was soaked through. Eventually she stopped, but it was still hours before Sera felt anywhere near safe enough to fall back asleep.

Aria sighed as she looked down at her little sister and gently pushed another strand of hair out of her drawn face. Her face was still white and drawn. Aria sighed as she leaned her head back against the headboard with a muffled thunk. Sera had been having these nightmares since they had gotten back home. Mostly she just tossed and turned all night and woke up in the morning looking like a zombie, but occasionally Aria still woke up to the sound of screaming. Aria took it as a sign. Yet another reminder that things were different; irrevocably and permanently changed.

Dismally, she wondered if these nightmares would ever end. Aria hoped so, for Sera's sake more than hers. From the way her baby sister screamed every night, Aria had no doubt that Sera's nightmares were much worse than just a freaky Space Bridge turning into a black hole. Aria would have dealt with her own nightmares for the rest of her life if it meant Sera didn't have to.

Turning her head slightly, Aria saw that the sky was turning gray now. The sun was getting closer, but it wasn't there yet.

Feeling the wetness starting to gather in her eyes, Aria slowly squeezed her eyes shut against the lingering dark. "Please," she prayed desperately, "please give us peace this Christmas. Please."

She fell asleep like that, head tilted back, salt dried on her cheeks, blue eyes tightly shut. When their parents found them the next morning, the girls were still holding tight to each other; each anxiously waiting for the sun to rise again so things wouldn't look as bad as they did now.

...

"Go on, really, have a good time." Aria said the next day as she tried to shove her parents out the door as lovingly as possible.

"But it's Christmas Eve Aria. We should be together. As a family." Her mother tried to say for the millionth time.

Aria just rolled her eyes as she propelled her mother towards the door. She kept her hands on her mother's shoulders so she wouldn't crinkle the pretty dress Catherine had put on for the Kroft's Christmas party.

"That's what Christmas day is for." Aria said plainly. "We'll have all day tomorrow to be together, just the four of us. You guys go and have fun at the party. You two get more of a kick out of things like this than Sera or I do anyway. It's no fun when all the other party goers are twice your age at least." She stressed as they finally reached the door. "Besides, if I go to a party, I like the music not to include Dean Martin."

Mrs. Johnson's eyes went a little wide. "You don't like Dean Martin?" She asked, sounding somewhat taken back.

"Well, yes I do," Aria tried to explain herself, "just not for dancing."

"But he's so good for slow dancing with that special someone." Her father said where he was waiting by the door, dressed nicely in slacks and a blue, button down shirt. He smiled at his wife knowingly and Mrs. Johnson giggled.

Aria rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, well, I'd need a special someone first then, wouldn't I?" She tried to say cheerily, but her voice was a little too flat.

She quickly perked up as she opened the door meaningfully. "But don't mind me. You just go and have fun. We'll see you this evening. I have to wrap your presents while you're gone anyway."

Her parents were still smiling at each other like high school kids off to the prom. "We'll be back around eight." Mrs. Johnson said, sounding slightly distracted by the man impatiently jingling the car keys next to her. "And there are those extra pot pies we made yesterday for dinner. Just put them in the oven for about half an hour and they should be-"

Aria opened the door a little wider. "I know how to cook a pie mom. How do you think I made it through high school?" She asked, slanting a grin at her parents.

Mrs. Johnson nodded distractedly. Aria could have sworn that her mom had little hearts in her eyes as she stared at her husband.

"Have fun with the presents Aria." Mrs. Johnson said vaguely as she tripped lightly out the door. But then she managed to snap herself enough out of her lovey-dovey daze to turn around and quickly hug her daughter. "Love you honey. Look after your sister while we're gone."

Aria smiled slightly. "Of course mom."

Catherine looked over her daughter's shoulder to point a stern finger at Magnus. "And you be a good guard dog Magnus or no Christmas bones for you!"

Magnus' large head snapped up and he gave a little whine as if to say, "What? Bones?"

"Aw mom, you just ruined the surprise." Aria mocked moaned.

Catherine smiled and patted her daughter's cheek. "Love you." She said again, "see you tonight."

Aria nodded and waited by the door as her dad offered his arm to her mom and escorted her down the wooden stairs. Aria could hear her mom's heels tapping against the wooden walkway that led to the driveway even after she had closed the door. She had only taken a step away when she heard a smack and her mom giggle before their was the sound of the car door opening.

Aria sighed. "Nothing like a little distraction to make the separation anxiety a little easier." She thought to herself as she tried very hard not to wonder what that smacking sound had been.

With her parents gone, Aria let her little smile evaporate. She really did like Dean Martin, even for dancing, but it was just so hard to shake the little rain cloud that had been following her around for the past few days that she hadn't felt like going to a party.

With a sigh Aria flopped down on the couch. Sera was curled up next to her, feet drawn up under her so that they fit under the wooly blanket she had pulled up to her chin.

"Nice slippers." Aria said when she caught sight of the zebra striped slippers peeking out from under her sister's blanket. They also had bright, neon green cuffs.

Sera gave a small smile, but it was a good one, not a fake. "Early Christmas present from Grandma. I think they're cool."

Aria gave a little laugh. "Of course you do." She said. Then she looked over at the Christmas tree to see a lumpy package with the tag 'To Aria, From Grandma' taped to it.

"I think I know what she gave me too." Aria said casually.

Sera grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yup, I got a pony."

Sera gave another little laugh and Aria suddenly got the urge to sing 'Silver Bells'.

"Hey wait a minute," Aria said sitting up a little, "why did you get to open Grandma's present early?"

Sera gave a little pout as she pulled up the edge of the blanket to show the slobber marks on her new slippers. "Because your dog," she said stressing the 'your', "chewed on my present."

Aria sighed and rolled her head to look over at the great dog lying on his bed in the corner. "Magnus…" she groaned. "Really?"

Magnus slowly got to his feet and padded over. With a pitiful little whine he shoved his head under Aria's hand. He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes as if to say, "But they smelled so good."

Aria sighed and patted the couch on her other side. "Alright get up here." She said.

His tongue lolled out of his mouth in a doggy grin and he licked her foot before hopping up on to the couch and shoving his head in Aria's lap.

She scratched his thick fur with one hand. After awhile even Sera gave him a few pats before she suddenly shot to her feet.

"Oh! They're gone!" She said as she let the blanket fall to the ground.

Aria slanted her sister a look. "Did you just realize this?" She asked teasingly.

Sera ignored her. "I'm going to our room and you," she said pointing a finger at her, "can't come in." She said with a little girl's grin.

Aria rolled her eyes but had trouble hiding her smile. "You left your presents till the last minute again didn't you?"

"I know, I know, you think I would have learned." Sera said, itching the back of one leg with one zebra striped slipper. "And I don't have to do all of my presents," she said, looking away, "just yours." She muttered.

"Gee, thanks." Aria said.

"Well it's not my fault you're ridiculously hard to buy presents for." Sera said, but then perked up, "But don't worry. I've got a solution."

"Which is?" Aria asked looking up at her sister as she propped her elbow up on the back of the couch and leaned her head on her fist.

"I'm just not going to buy you anything." Sera said happily.

Aria laughed. "Thanks a lot. I'm taking your present back then."

Sera pouted. "You will not. Just like you won't come into our room until I say so." She ordered.

Aria rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oh alright."

Sera bounced happily. "Yay!" And then she grabbed her colored pencils, hid them behind her back as if Aria hadn't seen them in the first place, and darted into the little bedroom they shared.

Aria heard the click of the lock and chuckled. "Silly Sera." She grinned.

She stole Sera's fuzzy blanket and sat there watching Hallmark Christmas shows for a little while. She had just gotten up to get herself something to drink during the commercials when Magnus' head suddenly shot up. Aria glanced over briefly at her dog before turning back to getting a glass.

"What is it Magnus? Those squirrels teasing you again?" She asked without turning back around.

Magnus' ears pricked up sharply.

"Mean old squirrels." Aria said in a babyish voice.

Magnus darted toward the window with a small woof. He stood up on his back paws, immense body nearly blocking out the light from the window.

Aria finally figured out that something was off when Magnus started howling like a hound from Baskerville. She dropped her glass with a little shriek and it shattered into a million shiny pieces at her feet. She hardly noticed as she spun around to see what was going on.

"Magnus what-?" She tried to say, but she didn't get to finish as Magnus started barking madly and scrabbled at the window in an attempt to get whatever it was that was outside.

Sera appeared in the door of the second bedroom, suddenly looking very scared. "Aria what's going on?" She asked fearfully as she clutched the doorjamb, present forgotten.

Aria felt her heart clench at her little sister's pale white face. Worried, but determined to try and keep it to herself, Aria held up a finger for her to wait a minute. Then she hurried over to the window.

"What is it Magnus?" She asked quietly as she peered out the window. "What do you see out there?"

Magnus' whine turned into another growl as he scratched at the window again, leaving little gouge marks in it with his nails. Aria didn't have to ask again when she saw the familiar bright yellow form of the car she and Magnus had seen a few days ago in town. As she watched from the window, Sam, Michaela, and that man, Derek Morris, got out of the car. Michaela said something to Sam, who gave a little shrug, as they shut the car doors, but Derek inspected the cabin. He gave a little start when he saw Aria and Magnus standing in the window, but then grinned and waved at them, somewhat embarrassed.

Behind him, more cars started appearing in front of the cabin. A black truck quickly followed by a flaming semi, then a hot pink motorcycle and a silver corvette behind them. If she leaned her head against the very edge of the window, Aria could just barely make out the bright, electric yellow of some kind of truck, but it was concealed by the large trees that lined the driveway, so she couldn't tell what kind of truck it was.

Aria just held tight to Magnus' ruff and did not wave back as a tiny, little alarm bells started going off in her head.

"Something weird's going on here Magnus. And I'm not sure if I like it." Aria murmured to her faithful dog.

"A-aria?" Sera squeaked, "There's some kind of ambulance on the other side of the house."

Aria turned away from the window to see Sera shivering as she peered out of the bedroom window Aria couldn't see. "Well that would explain the neon yellow," Aria thought fast as the dark haired woman on the motorcycle swung off the pink bike and winked at whoever was in the black pickup.

"Are," Sera stuttered, "are they going to hurt us?"

"I guess that would be most logical explanation." Aria thought, but decided that that was also the last thing she should tell Sera.

"Stay inside." Aria ordered her sister with a stern finger. "I'll be back as soon as they're gone. Magnus," she said sternly to the dog, "stay with Sera."

Magnus looked up at her and sneezed his affirmation. Then he quickly trotted over to the shaking girl and planted himself in front of her, hackles rising as he growled low in his chest, dark brown eyes never leaving the window.

Sera clung to his ruff for comfort as Aria went and opened the drawer in the little used bookcase. A new pistol lay in the drawer.

"So like mom." Aria thought as she picked it up and checked it. "Dad gets a guard dog. Mom gets a gun. Go figure."

Aria was just glad her granddad – the one that had served in the navy, not the one that farmed in Nebraska – had taught her how to use it.

"I'm better than a grandson any day." She thought cheekily, but it didn't scare away all of her nerves.

With a deep breath, she opened the door and went outside.

Derek was already on the stairs. One foot paused on the topmost stair as he stared up at her in slight confusion. Scowling at him unpleasantly, Aria stepped out and closed the door firmly behind her.

"Oh," he said as she crossed her arms over her chest, the gun quite visible against her pajama pants, "why hello again Aria. I didn't know you lived here. We, uh, we," he tried to say as he gestured loosely to the three other people and the numerous cars whose drivers hadn't stepped out yet.

"You what?" She asked coldly. Then when he didn't answer she looked over at the others standing in the gravel yard. "Who're your friends?" She asked with a jerk of her chin at the people she couldn't yet see.

Derek turned his head to see who she meant. "You mean you don't know them?" He asked sounding confused.

"Should I?" Aria asked coldly.

"Well," Derek stuttered, "I thought-I mean, they said-"

Aria stared at Derek, tired of this. "What," she asked carefully, "do you want?"

Derek's mouth dropped open to say something, but he couldn't remember what. Behind him, the girl with the motorbike gave a little laugh, getting both of their attentions.

Aria only turned to look at her once Derek had turned around. The woman with the dark hair grinned over at Aria as she reached into her jacket and pulled out a little silver box.

"For you." She told her.

Aria blinked at the prettily wrapped box, suddenly very confused, as well as suspicious. "A present?" She stuttered as the woman handed off the little wrapped box to Derek, who handed it to Aria with a shrug. He didn't know what was going on either.

The woman winked at Aria as she took the box. "Merry Christmas Aria."

Confused – and wondering slightly if there was something like sleeping gas or a bomb under the shiny, gold bow – Aria carefully took one of the ribbons between her fingers and pulled.

The ribbon fell away with no boom or blast and Aria opened the folded up box with one hand. Inside was the usual amount of packing peanuts, but nestled nicely on top of them all was the last thing Aria had ever expected to see again. It was pink, but lighter than the strange woman's motorbike, and it had all the scratches and smudges of ash on it that she remembered.

Aria felt her eyebrows furrow. "My Ipod?" She asked no one in particular. "But I lost it."

On Cybertron.

Just to make sure, Aria picked up the scuffed, pink, Ipod and turned it on. Sure enough, her old playlists greeted her, along with the pictures she had downloaded a few years ago.

Aria's eyes went wide as she took this all in. "But that's impossible." She murmured in shock. "I lost it." She told them again.

And then, realization finally dawning, Aria looked up at the strange vehicles parked on the gravel lawn, eyes going wide.

She barely dared to breathe. "…guys?" She whispered.

The semi gave a low laugh. Then it started to shift in every direction as parts rotated and folded into new alignments, revealing a new form.

The other vehicles started transforming as soon as the semi was halfway through, but Aria hardly noticed. Her eyes were glued to the now standing, red and blue frame directly in front of her.

The familiar mech smiled as he crouched down in front of the small, backwoods house.

"Hello Ariah."

Aria dropped the present and the gun wordlessly as she stared, half of a smile frozen on her face. They fell to the ground harmlessly. Fortunately the silly girl had forgotten to take the safety off on the pistol.

"Optimus?" She finally managed to whisper.

Optimus Prime chuckled again. "Yes Ariah. I told you we would see each other again."

Aria gave a breathless laugh. "You're here." She mumbled. Then even giddier, "You're here!"

Then she bolted forward, skipping all of the steps, before flying at Optimus with an almost hysteric laugh.

He leaned down far enough that his chin almost touched the ground as Aria threw her arms out as wide as she could to try and hug him. She bit her lip to try and keep from crying as Optimus curled a careful hand around her back.

"I thought I'd never see you guys again." She confessed quietly so only he could hear.

Aria felt the vibrations as Optimus laughed before he drew back far enough so he could look at her. "Have a little faith Ariah. I told you before we'd meet again." He gestured to the other bots standing around them. "And here we are."

Aria breathed sharply, smiling from ear to ear as her eyes filled with tears. "Here you are." She agreed.

She quickly wiped her eyes and stepped back to see who else was here. She grinned widely when she saw them. "Ironhide! Ratchet! You guys haven't changed one little bit. How'd you find electric yellow down here even?" She asked excitedly looking over at Ratchet.

The old mech shrugged. "It appears that the signs that signal medical emergencies in both our cultures can be remarkably similar." He told her, but she saw the small signs of relief etched into his face plates when he looked at her.

"It's good to see you too Ratch'."

Before Ironhide got the chance to do more than laugh at her, a high pitched shriek made them all flinch, and even Aria didn't miss the way Derek's hand flinched toward something strapped to his hip.

But she was distracted by the golden blur streaking towards the silver corvette she had seen earlier.

"Sideswipe! Sideswipe!" The young girl screeched excitedly as she ran down the stairs and slid across the corvette hood to wrap her arms against the clear windshield. She had barely come to a stop against the glass when the car started transforming into the familiar silver form of Sera's closest friend from Cybertron.

Sideswipe grinned cockily down at her as she appeared in his scarred up hands. "Softie!" He said, obviously relieved to see her. "Look at you. You've hardly changed."

Sera gave a little laugh, her zebra striped slippers kicking excitedly over the edge of his palm. "That's because it's only been a few months. How much do you expect me to change in half a year?" She asked.

Sideswipe looked over at Prime in surprise before turning back to Sera. "A few months?" He asked loudly. "Maybe for you Softie. Try a couple hundred vorns for us."

Sera's mouth dropped open.

Aria had never been as good with Cybertronian time as Sera had, but even she knew that a couple hundred vorns could well encompass the beginning, middle, and end of the Earth.

"C-couple hundred vorns?" Aria gasped, then leaned over slightly to get a better look at the mech shuffling nervously just beyond Ironhide's shoulder, "then that means you're…"

Aria felt her jaw drop.

She took a step forward and Ironhide grinned knowingly as he moved out of the way. Aria watched the yellow mech a moment as his optics flicked uncertainly between the gravel at his feet and Aria staring at him, as if he was afraid she wouldn't recognize him.

She did, but she could still hardly believe it.

"…Bumblebee?" Aria whispered.

Bumblebee looked at her and nodded hesitantly.

Aria's mouth moved soundlessly for a moment. "Look at you!" She finally gasped out. "You're all grown up," she laughed, "and still yellow!"

Bumblebee straightened up a little proudly and flicked a nonexistent speck of dust off his shoulder to show how sharp he knew he looked.

Aria grinned at him. "You are like, the only mech I know that can pull that off." She told him, quickly walking up to him, eager to see that her di di was safe and whole. "How've you been? How did you guys even get here? When did you get here?" She asked, insanely curious now.

'Bee knelt down closer to his organic sister. There was a brief burst of static before some movie actor followed by some kind of magician said, "Well it took us awhile but…ta-da!"

Aria felt her smile faltered. "'Bee? What's wrong? Why're you talking with the radio?"

Bumblebee made a downcast little click and looked down at the dirt again. Aria stepped closer to try and comfort him when she saw the scars. They spread across his throat, deep and angry like a Halloween spider web. They were extensive, but old, so she wasn't surprised that 'Bee didn't flinch when she trailed a gentle hand across his neck.

"Oh 'Bee…" Aria trailed off. "What happened?" She asked, her heart aching for her di di.

There was another split second of static before another voice came through the radio, from some kind of day time TV show Aria guessed from the almost annoying-chipper quality. "You always were a worry wart…we can talk about it later," and then he sang with Nat King Cole's voice, "Merry Christmas to you!"

Aria managed to twist out a smile for him, but only because it was Bumblebee. "Merry Christmas to you too Bumblebee."

Things were silent for a moment as Aria worriedly touched her brother's cheek. Bumblebee just tousled her hair with a large finger.

Aria laughed, however weakly.

A new voice gave a humoring snort behind them and Aria turned to see the pink femme that had been the motorcycle. "What? Don't I get some love too?" She asked Aria with the typical human gesture of putting her hands on her hips.

There were few enough femmes in existence that Aria had little trouble figuring out who was standing in front of her, although she was just as surprised as when she had seen Bumblebee.

"Arcee is that you?" Aria asked in amazement as she looked her meimei up an down. "You're all grown up too. When did that happen?" She asked looking between Arcee and Bumblebee. "I mean, you guys were all old to start with," Aria said looking at Optimus, Ratchet, and Ironhide, "but the last time I saw you two you still weren't out of your first frames even. And now look at you," Aria said, pulling back to get a good look at the pair of them.

In spite of everything, Arcee and Bumblebee were still embarrassed as Aria looked them up and down.

Sera's little melodramatic sigh brought her sister out of her memories. "Gosh Aria you sound like Great Grandma talking about her old college friends. Let's just go inside already. It's freezing out here!" She said, huddling closer to Sideswipe's warm shoulder.

Aria looked up at her sister. "Like you're not happy to see them too. And besides, how do you suggest we get them inside? We can barely fit." Aria pointed out.

The bots each gave a little laugh. "Give us some credit Aria." Arcee said. "We've picked up a trick or two about blending in here." She said, and then with a mischievous grin, the dark haired woman from earlier appeared at Arcee's feet. She had a sharp face with dark eyes and the same sneaky smile Arcee was currently giving her.

Aria looked between Arcee the femme and Arcee the human a moment. "Whoa." She finally breathed. "That's so cool. Is it like a hologram or something?" She asked walking around the dark haired human.

She just about squeaked in surprise when the woman slung an arm around Aria's shoulders without phasing right through her.

"You're real!" Sera said from where she had been watching.

Arcee the human grinned up at her. "Real enough." She told her. "It's called holomatter. Very useful."

Aria was still having trouble assimilating this when another holoform human, this one with bright yellow hair and a strong athletic build, appeared on her other side and wrapped one arm around her other shoulder. He smiled cheerily, but didn't say anything as he mussed up Aria's hair.

"How is it you're always taller than me?" Aria mumbled as she looked at Bumblebee's holoform.

The blonde man rolled his blue eyes at her as he turned her around and shoved her towards the front door. "And that's the first thing that comes to mind? Really?" Some TV show actor asked for him.

Aria gave a fake little pout. "It's just not fair is all. I had to wait eighteen years to be this tall and all you have to do is tweak a piece of code."

The young man from yesterday snorted a laugh, for the first time gathering Aria's attention to him and the young woman next to him.

"Oh! Real people!" She cried. "I forgot about you. Why didn't you say anything?" She asked as 'Bee's holoform continued to shove her towards the stairs, just 'cause he could.

"We didn't want to ruin the moment." The woman with dark hair said quickly, giving Aria a small smile and half of a shrug. She held out her hand when Aria reached the stairs. "We never really met. I'm Michaela." She told her in a friendly fashion.

Aria escaped 'Bee's impatient shoving with an expert little twist that sent the holoform careening towards the stairs. Before he could hit them, the blonde man fizzed out of existence. Aria just shook Michaela's hand. "Aria," she introduced herself, "it's nice to actually meet you. I guess you know guys know about them too huh?" she asked, only now wondering how that had happened. Behind her, Bumblebee's holoform reappeared and glared at her.

"Yeah," the young man next to Michaela said slowly, eyeing Aria and Bumblebee uncertainly, "but it's kind of a long story."

Aria grinned at him. "I can understand that." She told them.

The boy just nodded and held out his hand to her as well. "M'name's Sam. Sam Witwicky."

"Nice to meet you," Aria said. Then with a slight frown she turned to face the only other actual human there; the confounding Derek Morris.

"You I unfortunately already know." Aria told him flatly.

Derek grinned sheepishly and rubbed awkwardly at the back of his head. "Yeah, okay, so I wasn't on my best behavior. But if I had known you actually knew them I wouldn't have lied to you like that. I mean, the whole point was so that you didn't find out about them. Top secret stuff and all that, but I guess that's a bit moot at this point." He said nervously.

Aria just stared at him flatly. "Uh-huh." She muttered, not looking away from him. Then she suddenly turned back to everyone else, deciding to ignore him for now.

"So who wants apple cider?" She asked, clapping her hands together.

Michaela laughed at her. "That sounds great." She said. "My mom used to make apple cider every year the day after Thanksgiving. A little taste of home sounds nice."

Aria stopped suddenly on the stairs, one foot still in midair. "Wait a minute," she said turning back to the group of people and bots behind her, "you guys are staying for Christmas? Really?" She asked, excitement growing as she looked up at Optimus.

Ironhide laughed. "Well it's a little late to go anywhere else now, isn't it?" He pointed out.

"'Sides," Sam muttered more to himself than Aria, "Mom and Dad should be halfway to Hawaii by now."

"As long as it's alright with your parents of course." Optimus put in, sounding more father-like than Aria's own dad.

Aria beamed up at him. "Of course they'll be okay with it."

"They had better be." Sera grumbled as Sideswipe put her carefully down on the ground. "I'm leaving with you guys if they're not."

"Such an impetuous little Softie," Sideswipe said as a silver haired man appeared out of thin air to mess up Sera's hair. "Now get inside before you start changing colors." He told her in an almost brotherly fashion.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Aria whispered to Optimus once Sera and the other humans had stepped inside to thaw. "The holoform things. I mean, the real you is still out here in the cold, right?" She asked, still trying to wrap her mind around this new idea.

Optimus chuckled as he collapsed back in on himself, once again revealing the flame painted semi. "Yes, it's fine. We have been warned that it might be best for us not to reveal our true forms when out in public."

"No sense in causing a panic like in Mission City." Ratchet muttered as he too turned back into his alt mode.

Aria's jaw dropped, old memories of half listened to news reports coming to mind. "That was you guys?" She demanded, shocked. "But that happened back before Sera and I even left. How long have you guys even been here?"

Optimus chuckled again as a man with a mustache and wearing a white cowboy hat and a red, plaid shirt stepped out of his cab. "That was when we first arrived here. We followed the Allspark, and eventually it led us here." He told her.

"Go figure." The pink motorcycle that was Arcee said. Her holo-human was leaning against her real body, arms crossed over her chest.

The trucker man grinned at Aria, his mustache twitching upward. "A lot has happened since you left us Ariah. We have much to tell you, but all of that can wait until later. For now," he said, wrapping an arm around his young friend's shoulders, "why don't we go inside and you can give us some of that cider." He suggested.

Aria looked up at him. "These things can drink too?" She asked, poking the holoform's shoulder.

"Well," The tall, yellowed haired man wearing an off duty paramedic's simple clothes said, "no, not really."

"But the smell is still nice." Optimus told her.

Aria nodded. "Ah," She said in understanding, but then she gave the real bodies of her friends another look. "Are you sure you don't mind staying out here?" She asked again.

Ironhide expelled a great gust of air. "Quit fussing Aria," the strong man with salt and pepper hair said before his legs had even fully formed, "it's for the best, really. And besides," he said, coming to wrap an arm around Aria as well, "it's very interesting being your size. I've never been this small before." Ironhide said as his human form stepped back and looked down at itself.

Aria rolled her eyes, but smiled at them all the same. "Well alright then. We've got a few hours until Mom and Dad get back from their party. Maybe you all can tell me what you've been up to the past hundred vorns or so. Are you guys the only one Earth-side?"

"No," Ironhide said as Aria led them inside, "there are a few others. Skids and Mudflap arrived with Arcee and Sideswipe, but they've been confined to the base for the moment."

"Thank Primus," Ratchet breathed behind them, "as if we need those two running amuck. They can't even go around the island without breaking half of it." He groused.

Aria laughed, more then happy. "I'm glad to see you haven't changed a bit Ratchet." She told him again as the screen door closed behind them with a clack.

The girls' parents were very surprised when they arrived home that evening to find their temporary home filled with a bunch of strangers. Mrs. Johnson had almost called the police before Aria explained that these were the people that had rescued them from the men in Siberia. They were working with the U.S. military now and had stopped by to check in on her and Sera. And the cars outside? Well they were all a tad eccentric about cars…

Later that night, after Arcee and Michaela had charmed the worry out of her parents, Aria stepped out onto the porch. Pulling the blanket she had brought with her higher up over her shoulders, she sat down on the top step, a steaming cup of apple cider in her hands.

The others didn't speak, but it was alright. The air was crisp and chill against Aria's bare skin and she was grateful for the warm cider as she took a short sip. She fiddled a little with the cup's decorative handle.

"Merry Christmas guys." She whispered to them, her quiet voice not breaking the still night air.

She felt more than saw their smiles, although Optimus Prime's chuckle could still be heard over the laughter coming from the cabin. "Merry Christmas Ariah." He whispered back.

Aria sighed happily. Finally the tangles in her soul felt soothed, and for the first time since she and Sera had left Cybertron, Aria knew that everything was going to be alright.

It felt so wonderful to know where she belonged again.

That and the cider really did smell nice.