100 Moments with Kylie—a TFP Fan Fiction Series
Summary: Kylie is a little anxious around the Autobots, so Lily and the other human children try and help her warm up to them.
TFP © Hasbro
Kylie and Lily © Me
~Moment 1: TIMID~
6-year old Kylie wriggled a little in the back seat of the yellow muscle car, which was truly an alien robot in disguise. Just the other day, she, her friend Rafael, and an older boy named Jack had witnessed the aforementioned alien robot, along with a second, battle these darker, evil robots which tried to squish them. The two transforming robots saved their lives and allowed them to escape to safety. Now, after school, she and Raf are headed off to a secret location.
From the constant squirming, Rafael noticed the little girl was feeling nervous. "Don't worry, Kylie," he assured her and held her hand. "It will be okay. You don't have to be scared." He perked up when the car buzzed and whistled, then looked back to Kylie. "He says he's taking us to their base and that we will be safe there."
Kylie blinked at him; if someone else had told her such things she would have instant doubts. But she trusted Rafael because she was his best friend, and she believed every word he ever said to her. She blinked slowly with soft eyes, letting him know she believed him.
After about a 20 minute drive, entering the desert, with a blue motorcycle and two riders behind them, they headed for a large rock formation, running off the road. Kylie whimpered, fearing they would crash, but was relieved when a secret door was opened and they entered a long, curving tunnel. Knowing what would be waiting at the end of the tunnel frightened Kylie a little, and she snuggled into the seat and hugged her backpack.
When they reached the end, the muscle car and the motorcycle arrived at the secret base. It was massive inside, built up from what remained of an abandoned missile silo; on the floor of their base was the insignia each robot bore on their bodies—the Autobot logo. Raf gawked in awe out the window while Kylie kept shrunk down in her seat. There were three other robots inside. One robot of red-orange and white armor glanced awkwardly at them as they passed by. A second—a large, green robot—blinked curiously at them. A third, much smaller and posing a childish appearance, smiled welcomingly; she noticed Kylie through the window and winked, fluttering the pigtail appendages on each side of her head. Still rather shy, Kylie hid her face in her hands. Soon, the two vehicles came to a stop, allowing their passengers to climb off or out before transforming to their robot forms.
Rafael introduced himself to the Autobots, and then introduced Kylie. She clung to his arm and hid behind him, trying to avoid eye contact and sight of the Autobots. They were too large for her comfort, and she didn't like being stared at.
"You're a shy one, aren't you?" she heard a girl's voice from behind say, and Kylie turned to see the child-like Autobot on her knees, hunched over to her level. Kylie yelped and hid her face in Raf's backpack, but faced the young Autobot when she started to giggle. "It's okay," she said. "We won't bite…Well, Ratchet might. He can be a bit crabby."
"I heard that, Lily!" the red-orange and white Autobot snapped, and Lily continued laughing. Kylie shrunk down at Ratchet's outburst, but started to feel herself warm up, seeing how friendly these Autobots can be.
Her thoughts were interrupted when thundering footsteps boomed from behind, and all four of the humans turned to see the largest of the Autobots—their leader, Optimus Prime. He towered 30 feet above them; too tall for Kylie, for when she leaned her head back to try and see his face, she plopped onto her butt with an uff! She felt too embarrassed to get up, but she felt herself being lifted to her feet and turned her head to see Lily helping her. Once she was upright again, she continued to cling to Raf's arm.
The four of them listened to Optimus Prime answer questions they had, talk of his home planet Cybertron's history, and speak of the Autobots' power-hungry foe and leader of the Decepticons, Megatron. Then the Autobots started asking questions to them, from what they had in their backpacks to how it felt to have hair all over their bodies. All had their own unique answers—but only one replied with silence.
Kylie's lack of communication puzzled the Autobots. "How come she doesn't talk?" the motorcycle, Arcee, asked as she gestured to the anxious girl.
"She's probably just really shy," Lily said.
"Well, sort of," Raf shrugged, "but Kylie doesn't talk at all."
"Why?" asked Bulkhead.
"N-No offense, but I don't think Kylie wants me to talk about that."
"But she doesn't have to be afraid," Bumblebee bleeped. "We're the good guys. We won't hurt you."
"I know, Bee," Raf nodded. "It just takes Kylie awhile to adjust to new people…o-or robots."
Kylie tugged at her pink overalls, looked around and saw everyone—humans and Autobots—was staring at her, making her feel unbearably uncomfortable. Overwhelmed by all the attention she was receiving, she began to cry.
"Oh, no," Lily yelped, "please don't cry, Kylie! It's okay." Then she looked up to Optimus. "What do we do, Papa?"
"We do nothing," he replied. "We will allow Kylie to feel more at ease in our presence on her own. We must not force her." Then he knelt down slowly so he wouldn't scare the crying girl any further. "Kylie," he said with a friendly smile, "I know you may be frightened, but please know that we would do nothing to hurt you or the other humans." Kylie sniffled and blinked at him, shedding one tear after another.
Raf looked to her, than all the way up to Optimus. "She says she trusts you. She's just too shy right now."
"You can understand her, even when she doesn't speak?" Ratchet said. "Are you some sort of mind reader, human?"
"No," Raf said with a chuckle. "I can tell what she wants to say by looking at her eyes."
"How can you do that?" Arcee asked.
"Same way I can understand Bee. I just do."
Throughout the day, while Miko hung out with Bulkhead, Jack talked with Arcee, and Raf showed Bumblebee his new toy race car, Kylie sat alone on the couch with crayons and a sketchbook, drawing whatever came to mind.
"Whatcha drawing?" Kylie turned and saw Lily by the rail, smiling innocently. "Can I see?" Kylie wrinkled her nose and hugged her sketchbook close. Lily blinked and tilted her head with confusion.
"Don't take it personally," Raf said. "She never lets anyone see her drawing until she's done with it."
"Ohhh," Lily nodded and turned to Kylie. "Can I see when you're done with it?" Kylie blinked twice lightly, which Raf explained meant a yes. She perked up at the sudden sounds of loud footsteps and turned to see Ratchet and Optimus enter. She felt her shyness kick in and felt she had to get away; she sat her sketchbook aside, got off the couch, and hopped down the stairs. Her foot missed a step, and she was about to tumble the rest of the way down, when a giant hand abruptly caught her. She shakily looked up to see she had landed in Optimus's palm.
"Are you alright?" he asked her as he lowered her down to the floor. Kylie didn't answer and scampered to Rafael, hugging him tightly and crying.
"Hey, it's okay," Raf told her, rubbing her head.
"Yeah, you're not hurt! Optimus Prime just saved you," Miko added. Despite everyone's comfort, Kylie continued to cry for a few minutes before falling asleep in Raf's lap. In that time, all Autobots except Lily had gone off to do their own thing.
"Aw, she's so scared," Lily said sadly, her pigtails drooping.
"Nah, just really shy," Miko said.
"I know Optimus said to let her warm up on her own, but I wish we could help," Raf sighed.
"Maybe we can," Jack pointed out. "We just show her the bots aren't so bad and give her a little encouragement."
"Can I help?" Lily asked. "I know more about these guys than you do, so I can give her info about them."
"Sounds great!" Raf smiled.
Up first to help Kylie warm up to the Autobots was Lily herself; the littlest Autobot suggested they started small, and that she and Kylie had a bit of a growing connection already. Lily crouched down onto her knees, resting her chest against her legs to make herself look small. She wore a friendly smile and made her pigtails bounce in an attempt to humor Kylie.
"I know you already know my name, but I'll still introduce myself. Hi, I'm Lily!" Lily held out a finger to Kylie and waited patiently for her to accept and shake it. "See? I'm not so bad," she said as she adjusted herself to lay on her abdomen, resting her chin on her hands and swinging her legs. "You know, we have some stuff in common. I was shy of the Autobots, too, when I first met them. But I grew to like them because I knew they wouldn't hurt me, and they would protect me. I know you know you trust us, and that we won't hurt you. Say, what's your favorite kind of cookie? I'm gonna guess! Snickerdoodle? Oatmeal raisin? Sugar cookies? Chocolate chip?" Kylie blinked twice. "Those were my favorite, too!" Lily saw the confusion on the girl's face and giggled softly. "Yeah, that does sound strange. But let me tell you a secret. I used to be human." Kylie's eyes widened. "I know! But I had a bit of a…an accident, and the Autobots saved me by giving me this body. It's taken awhile to get used to it, but it almost feels normal now. Although," Lily added, resting her head in her arms as her tone saddened and lowered her gaze, "I do miss being human from time to time…I can only be human in my dreams…So, I guess that's okay…"
Kylie's face saddened as she began to feel sympathy towards Lily. Deep down, she could relate, longing for something but can only reach it in vivid memories. She then walked to Lily and hugged her arm.
Lily giggled. "Aw, you're so cute, Kylie. So, does this mean you're my friend?" Kylie looked up to her and blinked twice, a very tiny smile creeping onto her face. "Yay, we're friends!" Lily cheered as she sat up, carefully scooped the tiny human up, and skipped off. "And we're off to see Arcee."
Indeed, Arcee and Jack were waiting for the two of them. But the second Kylie saw the slender female Autobot, she hid her face in her hands, pretending to be invisible. "Aw, you don't have to be scared of Arcee," Jack said. "She may be temperamental, but she's cool, right?"
"Uh…right," Arcee nodded, "I'm…cool."
But Kylie only peeked through her fingers, still not quite at ease around Arcee. "Arcee," Lily said, "why don't you tell Kylie about yourself?"
"Uh…sure. Well, I…transform into a motorcycle. And…I can go pretty fast. Do you like to go fast?...No? Okay, um…" Arcee stuttered out whatever popped into her head, but Kylie's uneasiness wasn't swayed one bit.
But Lily and Jack weren't ready to give up just yet. Then Lily said, "Hey, Arcee. Why don't you hold her for a second?"
"Hold her?"Arcee repeated. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"I think so," Jack shrugged. "Might help her adjust a little more."
Despite her doubts, Arcee hesitantly agreed and held the tiny human girl in her hands. At first, Kylie was very nervous, trying to hide herself from Arcee, trembling and whimpering. Arcee winced at the child's shaking and reacted by pulling her close to her spark. At that instant, Kylie felt the warmth emanating from within Arcee's chest and became rather curious. Slowly, she perked up and propped herself onto her knees, resting the front of her body over the warmth. Kylie could also hear a soft thumping sound. She found the sounds and warmth comforting, and the tiny girl began to relax.
Normally, Arcee would be a bit iffy about someone with very small hands touching her breast plates over her spark chamber, but she couldn't help but let out a slight laugh at the girl's curiosity. "You know what that is?" she said. "That's my spark."
"That's like a heart, right? But, for Cybertronians?" Jack asked.
"If that is your terminology for it, then yes," Arcee said with a nod. Her focus went back to the short, blonde-haired child against her chest when she felt soft nuzzling. She watched Kylie lightly rub her cheek along Arcee's chest plating.
"Aww!" Lily cooed. "That's so cute!"
"I think she's used to you now," Jack grinned and folded his arms over his chest.
"That just leaves Bee, Bulk, Papa and Uncle Ratchet," the smallest Autobot added, then she took Kylie gently back into her hands. The little human waved shyly at Arcee as they headed off to meet Rafael and Bumblebee, who were passing the time by racing toy cars.
"Hi, Kyles!" Raf said and waved.
Lily knelt down and placed Kylie onto the floor, who then raced over to Raf in an instant and hugged him. "Kyles?" Lily repeated.
"It's a nickname I've always called Kylie," Raf informed her.
"Hmm. Catchy."
Kylie and the speechless Autobot scout exchanged long looks; Kylie blinked and tilted her head, Bumblebee slanted his and whirled his wide, blue, child-like optics. He curiously fluttered his door wings; Kylie didn't have door wings, so she mimicked him by making her arms look like chicken wings and flapped them. This made Bumblebee trill with laughter, cupping his hand over where his mouth would be.
"I know. She's silly, isn't she, Bee?" Raf laughed as well and tousled Kylie's hair. "But you can be pretty silly, too, Bee. Why not show Kylie?"
Bumblebee bleeped as he nodded his helm, then he lowered himself to Kylie's level. He began to make funny noises and odd shapes with his hands; he crossed and spun his optics while his wings flapped to a certain rhythm. At first Kylie appeared confused, but after a while she started to smile and giggle, muffling them with her hands. Pleased with making her laugh, the proud scout sat up and pumped his fists victoriously and made his achievement known.
"So, Kyles, do ya like my big brother, Bee?" Lily asked the little girl; the two Autobots present and male human were satisfied when Kylie gave her head a tiny nod and blinked twice.
Then came the loud sound of heavy grunting and metal banging. "That must be Bulkhead lobbing again," Lily added.
"I'm sure Miko is with him," Raf said.
Lily and Kylie went to the next room, where they in fact found Bulkhead showing Miko about the Cybertronian game of lobbing.
"Woo-hoo!" Miko cheered. "You lob that ball of metal, Bulk!"
Bulkhead chuckled and was prepared to throw the lob ball again when he noticed the smallest bot and smallest human enter. "Hey, you two!" he greeted warmly, petting the top of Lily's helm. Kylie felt a bit unsettled due to Bulkhead's size and wriggled a bit. She was reluctant to accept Bulkhead's finger when he offered it, but after a moment she crawled over and hugged it.
"Who knew Kylie was a finger-hugger?" Miko joked.
Kylie allowed Bulkhead to hold her in his hands. He sat down, laid back on the floor, and placed the human girl on his abdomen. She sat up and crawled about a little, causing him to chuckle, as her tiny hands and feet tickled him a little. The child's eyes shined with curiosity, and she gave his huge belly a brief tickle, giggling herself when Bulkhead bellowed a few guffaws. She then slid down his chest to his chin and rested there, blinking up at him.
"You don't seem so shy now," Bulkhead pointed out, giving Kylie's head a pet.
Kylie blinked, surprised, and then realized he was right. She didn't feel so anxious around him anymore! She giggled softly and hugged his massive chin.
"Yay!" cheered Lily, her pigtails fluttering with glee. "Now the only two left are Ratchet and Papa!"
Kylie's smile and giggles vanished; the two largest Autobots were next? This made her feel like a turtle again and whimpered.
"Oh, it'll be okay. They're gentle giants," Lily comforted her as she took Kylie into her hands. "Well…Ratchet can be a bit snippy, but he's actually a great bot once you get to know him. Come on, it won't be so bad. I promise."
The little Autobot said her goodbyes, as well as Kylie's, to Miko and Bulkhead, and then set off to find Optimus Prime and the medic Ratchet. "Hi, uncle Ratchet!" Lily exclaimed, beaming a smile at the medic while he was tinkering with some of his tools.
Ratchet groaned. "What is it now, Lily?"
"It's your turn to spend time with Kylie, so she can feel easy around you. So you can't be grumpy right now, okay?"
"I do not have time to…bond with the human right now. It'll have to wait."
Lily huffed, pigtails rattling like a snake's tail. "Fine, you big boob. Where's Papa?"
"On patrol."
Her pigtails drooped a little. "Oh…well, then it has to be you now!"
"Lily, I am busy, can you not see that? Besides, I am not interested in playing games with humans."
Kylie blinked as she absorbed Ratchet's words; he didn't want to help her feel less shy? She started getting the feeling he didn't like her and started meekly crying into her hands. Lily was shocked by this and scolded Ratchet.
"Look what you did! You made her cry! You big meanie!"
"I did not make her cry!" Ratchet retaliated.
"You hurt her feelings! Say you're sorry, right now!"
Ratchet continued to bark that he wanted none of this, but it only made Kylie sob more and more. Then, truthfully just wanting the crying to stop, he sighed and agreed to let little Kylie be around him. "But only for a minute!"
The smile returned to Lily's face, and, to Ratchet's relief, Kylie stopped crying. "A minute is all you need!" Lily declared and gently placed the smallest human onto the Doc's work desk, then stood idly by, watching.
Little Kylie sat tacitly on the desk, loosely hugged her knees, and meekly blinked at Ratchet. The medic grumbled softly as he tried to finish the tool he was polishing, and then faced the child. "Alright, then…Kylie," he began, searching around the base as if looking for help out of this situation. "What is it that you would like to know?" The child blinked twice and tilted her head. Ratchet sighed and pinched the ridge between his optics. "I cannot read your eyes the way Rafael can. I do not understand!" Kylie responded by sadly lowering her head.
Lily frowned at Ratchet's frustration and headed off, returning to the room with Raf behind her. "Rafael? Will you please act as Kylie's translator for Ratchet?"
"Uh, sure," the human said with a nod, and then was lifted onto Ratchet's work desk beside Kylie. Ratchet repeated the question so Rafael could hear, then the boy read Kylie's response, and answered, "She wants to know why you became a medic."
Ratchet wanted to scoff, personally thinking that was a dumb question, but he kept it to himself in order not to upset Kylie a second time. "Well, I became a medic because it was my chosen profession. I was made to be a medic, plus it was the more interesting occupation out of a list of them, so I became one."
Kylie blinked while tilting her head a little to the other side; Raf spoke for her, "Do you like being a medic?"
"Of course!" Ratchet said proudly. "Not only do I study the medical field, I also save lives, especially during the Great War. It's a privilege to be able to help out in any way, even though I am just a field medic."
Then Rafael asked for Kylie, "Do you save every life?"
Ratchet's pride vanished in an instant; even Lily got a worried look. The medic avoided contact with the young humans and shifted his gaze all around the room. "N-Now, that is a bit personal, so I will not answer that. I believe Kylie's minute is up, Lily. I think they should leave and let me work."
By studying his face, Kylie could see something, and what she saw made her feel a cramp in her heart. Just before Lily could get to her, she stood up and raced over to Ratchet's hand, hugging it tightly.
"Kylie!" Ratchet exclaimed. "What are you—Get off! Can't you see I am working here!?" But Kylie clung harder, refusing to let go. She nuzzled him and softly hiccupped while the medic just stared at her; he then looked to Rafael to see if he knew what this was about.
"She says," Raf began, "that it's okay…and that she's sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry for what? And what is okay?" Ratchet asked, but Rafael merely shrugged. He then looked down at the girl cuddling his hand and frowned, trying to understand what her wordless message meant. Abruptly, it came to him—was she meaning his efforts? His work? His failures? Was she sorry he wasn't completely successful, or because she pitied him? Was it okay he failed, or was she just trying to comfort him? He didn't understand humans well enough to be certain.
"Uh…I-It's alright, Kylie. I am not angry with you," he said, gently slipping his hand from the little girl. "I, uh, appreciate the gesture, but I need this hand to keep working." Kylie blinked innocent, watery eyes at him; he sighed and focused back on his equipment. "You had better run along. Optimus should be back within the hour."
Kylie made a move to go to him again, but Lily gently scooped the girl into her arms, and the two began to walk off. Kylie peeked at Ratchet, blinking sadly, and silently waved goodbye.
Optimus returned from patrol half an hour later. The base was awfully quiet, so he assumed his Autobots were out and about with the humans, hopefully still within the silo. His sensitive audio receptors picked up the faintest sound of breathing, and that was when he discovered Kylie napping on the couch, curled up into a cute little ball while she hugged a stuffed rabbit. He smiled a little at the adorable sight and remained as silent as possible to not disturb her.
Ratchet entered the main hangar from his lab. He was about to give Optimus his usual greeting, but the Prime stopped him before he could speak and gestured to the sleeping girl. The medic sighed but complied, nonetheless. "Why must we render ourselves for the sake of humans?" he muttered.
"In order to provide protection, old friend," Optimus replied softly, glancing at Kylie, "even silence so they may rest, unless something occurs to disrupt that. Where is Lily?"
"Back in her room, napping," Ratchet answered. "She and Kylie were waiting for you to return so the human may learn to adjust being around you, but they became exhausted while waiting and decided to rest."
"I see. It pleases me to know she is trying to feel more comfortable around us. It seems like an act of bravery, if you look at it that way."
Ratchet sighed again and briefly looked to the small, napping human. He thought back then, to when Kylie had supposedly tried to comfort him. Although he may be underestimating them due to little contact, it was impossible for a human to see through an Autobot. But perhaps, there was in fact more to these human children than meets the eye. "I suppose," he mumbled half-heartedly.
The two Autobots picked up the sound of someone waking up and turned to the couch, where Kylie began to stir and shift under the blankets. Her tiny hands rose to her face and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up, her bunny flopping into her lap. She squeaked a yawn while stretching a little, then looked about. That was when she saw the larger Autobots—particularly, the Prime—and they worried she would become upset.
Optimus remained right where he was, not moving closer or further from Kylie, and put a faint, warm smile on his face plate. "Goof afternoon, Kylie," he greeted softly so his baritone voice wouldn't echo off the walls and frighten her. "Did you have a nice rest?"
Kylie only blinked at him for the moment, looking deep into his blue optics and searching him from head to toe. Then she sat her bunny aside and rose from the couch, let the blanket fall to the floor, and slowly walked to the rail. Optimus Prime remained still, unsure what the child's next move would be. What he didn't expect was Kylie to reach her arms out to him and scrunch her fingers. He blinked, and then asked to try and understand, "Do you want me to…hold you?" Kylie blinked twice, which he had learned meant a yes. He questioned to himself why she would request such a thing; then he considered it was probably her chance to adjust around him.
Slowly and hesitantly, he approached the little girl and held out his hands close to the rail. Kylie climbed over and crawled onto his palm. They exchanged silent glances as Optimus waited to see what her next move was. Then, Kylie cupped her hand similar to the way Optimus was cradling her, drew it towards her chest, and pointed to him. She repeated the gesture a few times to get the Prime to understand. After the fourth time, Optimus seemed to know what she wanted him to do and carefully pulled the hand she sat in towards his chest. That was when she stood up and hugged him tightly.
Optimus tilted his head as Kylie clung to his chest plating and cuddled him. He hadn't had a human interact with him this way since Lily still had her humanity, a little over three years ago. While he did appreciate the affection, Optimus also found it a little awkward. But he didn't have the spark to pull Kylie away and allowed her to hug him.
"She did the same thing to my hand," Ratchet said, "I do not know the reason why, though."
"Really…" Optimus mumbled, trying his hardest to understand the girl's intentions. He recalled to when they had locked eyes; had she somehow seen something in him and felt the need to comfort him?
Lily yawned as she left her quarters and entered the main hangar, meeting the sight of Kylie snuggling Optimus. She fully awoke and pouted. "Hey, you started without me, no fair!" The tiny human looked to the smallest Autobot and smiled a little, showing her that she and Optimus were getting along. Lily couldn't pout after that and softly giggled.
Then the other Autobots and humans entered the hangar, stunned at the sight of a human cuddling Optimus, and smiled. "So, I guess this means you aren't scared or shy of us anymore?" asked Bulkhead.
Kylie didn't need to blink for the others to know her answer.
A/N: Finally, I got one chapter done! ^^ I know some have been asking about when I would actually write the chapters, so I got to work. Hope you like!
