12-20-11

Transformers Prime

An Autobot's Wish:

Author's Note-This story takes place sometime after the episode "Partners" but before "One Shall Fall". It was probably not winter during this time but please bear with it for the sake of the story and pretend Christmas past before their final big fight. Also I know Nevada doesn't really get that much snow during winter so it is a bare Christmas however I still wanna bring out the Christmas trees and present ^ ^ No snow doesn't mean no Christmas :D Now on with the story lol oh and this is told from Jacks POV.

-December 23rd-

It was already three days before Christmas here in Jasper, Nevada. Although it never really snowed much, (the most snow i've ever seen was like a centimeter in height) Christmas was a holiday that was never ignored. Truth be told, it was my favorite time of the year. I get to spend it with my mother and we would work together to decorate the house with so many ornaments. Of course, the big tree was never left out of the equation. Mom would always make the tree so beautiful. She would wrap it in colorful lights and hanging ornaments. Sometimes she would even add some pictures to the tree to show all the good times. The only thing was that...for the past fifteen years it was only me and my mom together for Christmas. I'm sixteen now. This year is going to be different.

A few months ago, my whole life changed. I was just working in my old job, serving burgers, when I find this really cool motorcycle parked just outside. Who would have thought that motorcycle was a live robot. Better yet, who knew that motorcycle would be my best friend and would lead me to the ones I now call family. Yup, I just called some robots family. They were not just any robots though. They were called Autobots. They came all the way from a planet called Cybertron and found their way here. Now, they protect Earth from the evil Decepticons.

At first, I remember practically freaking out the first time I met them. I wanted to leave and never come back but now...I'm glad I stayed. They're all cool once you get to know them. Optimus Prime is their fearless leader. He would charge into a fight with no fear but still did his best to protect the other humans. He could work on his humor though. Ratchet is the medic of the group. Although he is the oldest, he is definitely wise. Just don't make him mad. Bumblebee is the voiceless scout but my friend Raf could understand him perfectly. They were close. Bulkhead is the powerhouse of the group. Although he is clumsy, he has a big heart and always tries to protect Miko.

Finally, there was Arcee. A tough nut to crack at first because she was so harsh at times, she warmed up to me and I warmed up to her. She is my best friend, my partner. I love her like a sister and my mother sees her as family. She is also the only femme bot of the group but that doesn't mean she gets walked on. She's tough as nails but once you get to know her, she's pretty cool. Only thing is that she lost both of her close partners. I felt sorry for her loss. It made her cold at times but I knew she meant well. Because of that and because I am her partner, she can also get pretty protective of me. She's like a second mom at times but I don't mind.

Anyway! I'm blabbering on too much. So yeah. Three days before Christmas and I told the Autobots, Miko, Raf and my mom that it would be nice to spend it at the Autobot base. Mom, Raf and Miko agreed pretty quickly but it took some convincing for Optimus. After all, Primes don't party. It finally worked out when mom explained to Optimus that it was a tradition here on Earth to celebrate Christmas. She explained to him how families would decorate their homes with ornaments and Christmas trees. She even told them about Santa Claus to my embarrassment. Giving our "Earth custom", as he called it, a thought, he finally agreed to let us celebrate.

I was currently busy helping Miko hang ornaments on the base's walls. My mom had the whole week off and was wrapping up presents with Raf's assistance. Arcee watched from a distance, optics focused on the colorful packages. Bulkhead and Bee were out looking for a promising Christmas tree somewhere in Pennsylvania. Raf did some research and found out they had some good trees over there. Optimus wasn't around. I think he went out for a drive. Ratchet was busy fixing up some tools. I smiled. When everyone got back, I had a surprise for them.

About an hour later, Bumblebee and Bulkhead called up and requested a Ground Bridge back to base. I watched the portal open and they both walked through, a fairly large tree resting on their shoulders.

"Where do we put it?" Bulkhead asked.

My mom pointed over to a corner of the base that was empty.

"Over there." she said.

Taking the tree over to that spot, they both plopped it down. We stared at the tree in awe. It was so big. An excited grin spread across Miko's lips. She raised her hands in excitement.

"Oh yea! This is gonna be a fun tree to decorate right Bulk?"

Bulkhead turned to her and gave her a thumbs up.

"Definitely."

As we admired the tree, Optimus finally rolled in in his vehicle mode. He transformed and greeted us. He looked around, observing the base. I watched his optics glace around at the wreaths and stockings on the walls. He seemed to like a particular stocking that had his name written on it. His gaze went to the small Christmas lights hanging around. He warned us not to put them close to the monitors just in case. Finally, he stared at the tree.

"It's quite large. Are all trees for this occasion of this size?" He asked.

I laughed inwardly. Raf walked up to us.

"Not really. Usually we get them as big as our homes will see fit but since the base is large, it's nice to have a big tree." he explained.

Optimus nodded in understanding. Hanging one final ornament on the wall, I called everyone's attention. Everyone gathered around me. My mom smiled and nodded at me. I nodded back to her.

"Now that everyone is here, I want to take the time to explain our Christmas tradition." I said.

Everyone looked puzzled, except for mom.

"What Christmas tradition?" Miko asked.

Mom took over this time.

"Every year, three days before Christmas, we get the whole family together and give everyone a piece of paper. On this paper we write a letter saying what we want for Christmas. It can be a letter to anyone. Since it's the 23rd, we write the letters tonight and tomorrow, we put the letters in this box."

She pulled out a red box with a small slot to insert the letters in.

Bumblebee let out a small series of buzzes and whirls. Raf nodded and translated.

"He asked, what are the letters for?"

My mom smiled sweetly.

"The tradition for writing the letters is that we write them today and we put them in the box tomorrow so our Christmas wishes can come true on the 25th. Oh and when you write the letter, you cannot tell anyone about it. Usually it's just me and Jack but now that we have all of you together, I thought it would be something nice to try." she explained.

Ratchet rubbed his chin.

"An interesting tradition indeed but they're only wishes. It's impossible to grant them by simply putting them in a box and forgetting about them."

Mom shot him a glare. Ratchet clamped up.

"It sounds like a great idea Ms. Darby." Raf complimented.

Smiling, she went over to the table where there were posted boards and regular paper. She gave me, Miko and Raf the regular paper, while she gave the bots the bigger poster boards. She looked at Optimus, who stared at his "piece of paper" with a raised metal brow.

"I hope you have big enough pens to write with." she told him.

Arcee walked up to me, a stern expression written on her face.

"Don't you think were a little too old to be doing this Jack?" she asked.

I looked at her.

"It's tradition Arcee and you're part of the family. Plus, wouldn't it be nice to get what you wished for?"

Her optics narrowed at my question.

"Letters don't make wishes come true. They just give us a false happiness."

With that, she turned and left.

"Whoa. What got in her system all of a sudden?" Bulkhead asked.

I frowned.

"I have a hunch." I whispered.

False happiness she said. Was she thinking of Tailgate or maybe Cliffjumper? Maybe she didn't want to participate because of that. I didn't want to force her to participate, even if it was tradition.

I decided I was going to apologize to her and tell her that she didn't have to write a letter. My mind set, I headed for her quarters.

Walking down the large corridors, I finally made it to her room. I was about to enter and tell Arcee what I wanted to say but stopped myself. She was sitting on her berth, looking down. She seemed to be concentrating on something. I quietly hid by the door, watching her. Looking closely, I saw her poster board next to her.

I stared as Arcee brought her head back up and turn her gaze towards her paper. I could have sworn I saw a glimpse of sadness in her optics but it quickly faded. Suddenly, her hand slowly reached for the paper. She picked it up and placed the paper on her lap. I heard her sigh heavily.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." I heard her mumble.

I watched intently as she took out one of those large over sized pens and started writing on the paper. I smiled. So, she has a wish after all.

Quietly walking away from her room, I started to get lost in my thoughts. Arcee has lost two partners. Both deaths hit her hard and although she is getting better, I'm sure she still missed them a lot. She smiles more but not enough. An idea hit me. I was going to sneak into her quarters at night, while she was in recharge, and take her letter. Mom would let me stay here for one night. I wanted to make her wish come true this year after everything she's been through. She is my partner after all.

The evening came quickly but before I could set out with my plan, first thing was first. I needed to write my own letter. I knew what I wanted this year.

After a few minutes of writing I stared at the short letter in my hands. It read...

Dear Santa,

It's me Jack. I'm older now. I''m probably getting to old for this but hey...it's good to believe right? I know I have probably asked a lot from you and other people for the past few years but this year, I only want one thing. It is not for me but for my partner, Arcee. My only wish is to see her happy this year. Really happy. I want to see the biggest smile on her face. She's been through a lot. I just wanna see her smile and I think everyone does to. I know she's not exactly human but maybe you could make an exception and find it in the kindness of your heart to grant my wish. Thank you.

~Jack

Satisfied, I folded the letter up and set it aside, heading for Arcee's room.

Approaching her quarters, I peeped inside to see if she was in recharge mode. She was. She was on her berth, backed propped up against the wall with one leg raised. Her head rested on her raised leg. I snuck in as quietly as possible. If I made the smallest hint of noise, Arcee would wake up and kick me out.

Approaching her sleeping form, I walked around to check where her letter was. It was in her hand. Of all things! This wouldn't be easy. The only good thing was that her hand was on her berth. I decided to make my move.

I quietly jumped up onto her bed and crawled up to her hand. Very cautiously, I reached for the letter. Since it was a poster board, I had to grab it with both hands in order to pull it from her grasp. I slowly lifted the letter, watching to make sure she wouldn't wake up. She stirred, making me freeze in place but I resumed when she relaxed again. Finally, i was able to pull the letter free. Hastily climbing back down, I made a beeline for the exit.

I went to the main part of base and sat down on the couch. Placing the board on the floor and praying that Arcee would forgive me for reading this, I opened and read her letter.

Dear Santa,

My name is Arcee and I'm not sure exactly of this tradition your fellow humans like to do but my partners words coaxed me into writing this letter. Jack tells me I have to write a wish so here it goes. Normally, I would wish for you to bring back my partners, Tailgate and Cliffjumper but...that would be asking too much. I know that even with wishing, those that are lost cannot be brought back. I only hope that they are happy now that they are one with the Allspark.

As much as I want my partners back, my biggest wish is to see my sisters. Their names are Chromia and Elita1. I haven't seen them for quite some time. Actually, I haven't seen them since the war destroyed our planet. I don't even know if they are still alive... We were separated. I miss them. They could be anywhere in the galaxy right now but yet a part of me hopes they are within our solar system so I may see them. Is it wrong to hope? Am I asking too much from you? If so, I apologize. I understand if my wish cannot be granted because it is quite far off but...I hope you can grant my wish just this once.

~Arcee

I continued to stare at the letter for a few more minutes. Arcee had sisters? I never knew. Why didn't she tell me? Regardless of the answer, I felt my lips twitch into a sad smile. Not only did she lose her partners but...she was separated from her own sisters. I really wanted wanted to help her now but the question is...how?

I heard some footsteps behind me. I froze, hoping to Primus it wasn't Arcee.

"Jack?"

I relaxed and turned around. It was Optimus. He stared at me with questioning eyes.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" he asked.

I shrunk down in guilt.

"I was reading Arcee's Christmas letter." I admitted.

Optimus was silent.

"I just wanted to grant her wish this year." I mumbled quietly but loud enough for him to hear.

"It was for a good cause?"

"Yes."

Again...silence...

"Why didn't anyone tell me Arcee had sisters?" I blurted out.

Optimus' optics widened ever so slightly. Before he could ask any questions, I handed him her letter. He silently read it over. When he was done, he folded the letter up and held onto it.

"Before Arcee joined me, she lived with her sisters Chromia and Elita1. They were very close and they were strong. Arcee is the youngest of the trio while Chromia is the oldest. I do not know much about their history as siblings since Arcee does not like to speak of such a sensitive topic but I do know that when Cybertron became uninhabitable, they became separated from each other." he explained.

"Is there any way we can find them and get them to come to Earth for one day?" I asked, feeling hopeful.

Optimus looked down.

"It would be a very difficult task Jack. We do not know where Arcee's siblings are. Even if they are in this solar system, we cannot bridge them here from space."

"But can't we send out a message like you guys did with Wheeljack?"

"Yes...but there is no guarantee they will even answer. The universe is big Jack. I wouldn't shoot your hopes too high."

I frowned.

"I see."

"I will see what I can do. Get some rest. I will place this letter back in Arcee's quarters."

With that, he left for her room. I fell asleep on the couch.

-Christmas Eve-

"Alright! Time to put all the letters in the box!" Mom called out.

Everyone gathered around her and started placing their letters in the big box. First it was Bumblebee, Raf, Bulkhead, Miko, me, mom, Ratchet. Even Optimus put in a small slip of paper. I wonder what his wish was. I looked around for Arcee. I was about to ask where she was when I heard her light footsteps. We all turned our heads to look at her. Her arms were crossed but I saw the letter in her hands. She silently strode past us, flashed a small smile at my mom and placed her letter in the box.

We all decided to decorate the tree as soon as we put the letters in the box. Everyone grabbed a bunch of ornaments from the boxes on the floor and hung them on the tree. The bots were able to reach places we couldn't. Bee even gave Raf a lift so he could hang a snow globe ornament near the top. Within two hours, the tree was done. It looked great. Colorful lights were nicely wrapped all around. Pictures that Miko took were printed and placed on the tree along with a whole bunch of other decorations. It looked like a really nice Christmas tree. I never felt so proud with our work. The only thing that was missing was the star.

I saw Arcee take the crystal star from the box, her sapphire and magenta optics admiring its beauty. She was about to put it on top when mom stopped her.

"Wait Arcee! We don't put the star until Christmas, which is tomorrow." she said.

Arcee raised a brow.

"Another tradition?" she asked.

My mom only nodded in reply. Arcee simply shrugged and put the crystal star back in the box. She walked up to me.

"Wanna go for a Christmas Eve ride?" she asked.

I smiled and nodded. She transformed into her vehicle form and I quickly hopped on. As we made our way out of base, I looked back to see Ratchet and Optimus engaged in some serious conversation. I wonder what they were talking about. I decided not to ponder the question as I felt Arcee accelerate in speed. I couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of wind rushing against my face. Riding with her was always a great pastime. There was always something to talk about. I barely noticed how much time had past until it started to get dark. As we made our way back home, I couldn't help but feel disappointed at myself for not being able to grant Arcee's wish.

-Christmas Day-

It's Christmas! Mom, Arcee and I woke up extra early today. By eight o' clock, we were already at base. Everyone happily greeted us as we drove through the entrance. Getting off, I noticed Raf and Miko wearing Santa hats. I also noticed another presence in the room. It was agent Fowler. Looks like everyone was here.

"Time to start the party!" Miko shouted happily.

Before everyone could enjoy themselves, Ratchet suddenly spoke out.

"Shouldn't we put the star on the tree?" he asked.

Remembering what mom said yesterday, I nodded.

"So? Who's gonna put the star on the tree?" I asked.

Bumblebee buzzed loudly. Raf translated.

"Bee thinks Arcee should put it on."

We all looked at Arcee as she groaned in slight annoyance.

"What's with the weird looks?" she asked.

I looked around. She was right. Everyone was staring at her, slightly happier expressions on their faces. I raised an eyebrow. Why were they acting weird today? Is it a Christmas thing?

"Arcee you should put it up dear." my mom coaxed her.

"Alright."

Reaching for the star, Arcee walked up to the tree and gently placed it on top. It looked great.

"How does it look?" Arcee asked, making sure the star would not fall.

It was silent.

"It looks lovely Arcee." a different voice suddenly commented.

I whirled around to see two femme bots by the entrance of base. One was mostly purple. She had optics that looked like they could pierce into your soul but still held some sort of gentleness in them. She was tall in stature and her helmet pronged out into five different parts. The other was more of pink with dark blue outlines. Her helmet was more dome shaped with several sharp areas around. She was taller than the other bot but she seemed more serious. You could tell, just by looking at their eyes that they had experienced the cruelness of war but they seemed more relaxed now and a small smile was plastered on the purple one's lips. They seemed to be oblivious to everyone in the room, optics focused on Arcee.

I heard a sudden gasp and turned around to see Arcee, optics wide in surprise. She had one hand covering her mouth. I noticed her body slightly trembling. Everyone stared at the two femme bots with smiles. Who were they?

"Chromia...? Elita...?"

I stared at Arcee. My eyes widened when I realized what she just said. I looked back at the two femme bots.

"Is that really you?" I heard Arcee ask.

The pink and blue bot smiled softly.

"It has been some time Arcee. We missed you."

Those bots were Arcee's sisters! I can't believe it! How did they get here? Who led them here to base?

I saw Arcee take a shaky step forward, still in shock. She looked like she was on the brink of tears but a smile was on her face. She walked across the room until she was in front of her sisters.

"It really is you." Arcee smiled softly, small tears of Energon tracing down her face.

She enveloped the two bots in a warm embrace. They held her close as if they did not want to let go. I noticed that she was smaller than her sisters and found myself smiling. I saw everyone else smiling at the trio as well. Pulling away from the hug, Arcee asked.

"How?"

The purple bot smiled and suddenly turned to look at me. I panicked slightly. She pointed at me.

"You should thank your little human friend over there." she said.

Arcee looked at me. Optimus and Ratchet came over to us.

"Arcee. Jack read your Christmas letter." Optimus suddenly said.

My eyes widened. Thank Optimus! She's gonna kill me now! He continued.

"He also showed his letter to me and asked if there was any way we could grant your wish. I told him that it would be difficult and not to let his hopes up. I meant it but I wanted to try at least once if maybe there was a small spark of hope that your sisters were within our solar system."

Ratchet stepped forward.

"He came to me and asked if I could help locate and Autobot beacons within our solar system. At first, our results came up at nothing. We did not have enough power to scan any further into the solar system until agent Fowler decided to lend a helping hand." he explained.

We all gawked. Fowler helped them find Chromia and Elita1? Fowler laughed at my shocked expression.

"That's right. The bots came to me asking for help to see if our satellites could increase the frequency of their scanner. When they told me the reason, I decided to help out. We found them just outside of Pluto's orbit on an celestial body we call Quaoar."

The purple sister took over.

"At first we were cautious at the Autobot signal because we had encountered many false ones in the past however, Chromia thought we should take a chance with this one. We never would have guessed we would hear Optimus' voice. He told us the situation and gave us coordinates to your planet." the sister, whose name I finally knew as Elita1, finished.

Realization dawned on me.

"Wait! I never even knew about this. I had no clue you were actually gonna bring them here! Why didn't you tell me guys?" I asked, slightly frustrated.

"Think of it as a surprise to both of you. I told the others to keep their mouths shut." Fowler answered simply.

I looked at Arcee. She seemed to be trying to absorb all the information that was just spoken. Suddenly, she walked up to me and knelt down. She opened her hand and motioned for me to stand on her palm. I complied.

"Arcee...I didn't mean to read your letter. I just want to gran-"

I was cut off when she pulled me up to her chest and wrapped her other hand around me. It was her way of hugging me.

"Thank you Jack. This is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you for bringing us together again."

"Merry Christmas." I whispered.

She stood up and looked at everyone else.

"Thank you all."

She placed me down. The pink and blue bot, who I knew was Chromia, walked up to us. She put a hand on Arcee's shoulder.

"You have quite the human friend there sis." she complimented.

Arcee looked at me and smiled.

"You have no idea."

We all heard the loud sound of a very familiar guitar and turned around to see Miko, a happy grin on her face.

"Now that everyone is here...Let's get this Christmas party started!"

The rest of the day was great. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were playing video games with Miko and Raf. Ratchet enjoyed his talk with Optimus about who knows what. Fowler seemed to be paying special interest in my mom. He even gave her a gift. It was a beautiful necklace. Hmmmm. I was going to keep my eye on Fowler.

"Hey Jack!. Wanna play?" Raf called from the couch.

I waved at him and nodded.

"Yeah. Definitely!"

Before I made my way over to them, I stole one glance at Arcee and her sisters. Chromia and Elita1 could only stay here on Earth for a week because they had some business left back at their home planet but now that they knew where their sister was, they promised to visit at least once every year. Although they wouldn't be staying for very long, Arcee was very happy. I watched as Arcee and her sister were enjoying their conversations. They were catching up on old times. Arcee was smiling and laughing. I found myself smiling as well. I turned my attention to the star on top of the Christmas tree.

"Thank you." I found myself whispering.

Smiling, I made my way to play video games with Raf and Miko, the thought of having my wish and Arcee's wish coming true engraved in my mind and definitely not going to leave anytime soon.

Omg! I am finally! Done! It took me two days to type up this insane oneshot. I know it's a little early for Christmas but hey it's only five days away. This story has been running through my mind for some time now. I'm glad I finally got it out of my system lol. I really hope you like. I don't think I've worked this hard on a oneshot before. The letters are kinda corny I think. My mind went kinda blank at times ^ ^" Hope it's not too mushy. Oh and yes I know Arcee's sister's are from "Revenge of the Fallen" but after reading about them, I really wanted to add them to the story. Bear with it please. And I know Chromia is a blue bot but since Arcee is also blue, I didn't want any confusion so I changed Chromia's color scheme to pink with blue highlights. I wish her sister were part of transformers prime! They're so cool! Merry Christmas guys! And Happy New Year ^ ^ Hope you enjoyed Reading this!