Disclaimer: I no own Transformers, though I do like occasionally playing God with the toys.
Warnings: Some slash pairings, hinted and blatant, angst

Needed something to write, so here this is. My taste in music is a little obscure at times, so. XD;; Most ended up being songs in Japanese, as that's the majority of my playlist, but hopefully the drabbles work well enough on their own. Those who want to search out the songs, I recommend all of them. :3

LJ Song Meme

#1.) Akatsuki no Kuruma - Fictionjunction feat. Yuuka

It was inevitable, perhaps. They were quite a long ways from their home, after all. Still, it seemed to sweep the Ark like a wave, like an epidemic of human flu. Fitting comparison, given their word for it as well.

Homesickness.

It had taken a few days for it to set in. The new world and its sentient race were new and exciting, and they had been busy fighting the revived Decepticons and trying to get the Ark into full working order as their base. Then, after things settled down for a bit and they had free time, it started. Even stoic mechs like Prowl and Ratchet seemed to be feeling its effects.

Optimus sighed slightly - the human expression had been picked up by them all rather quickly, for its efficiency in conveying a variety of emotions depending on the situation. Such expressive creatures, humans were. He strolled in the forests surrounding the Ark, trying to get rid of his own feelings. Cybertron was far away, and as far as they knew, unreachable. They could not afford to mope about it, not right now, but that didn't stop the need.

It was in this state of mind that he stumbled across Bluestreak and Bumblebee. The yellow minibot and the gunner looked up at him sheepishly, as if unsure that their actions would be considered acceptable or not. His optics flickered in slight surprise at them. "What are you doing?"

It was Bluestreak who answered, of course. The gray Datsun waved his hand a little, something tiny pinched between his fingers. "Um, something the humans call fireworks. Spike brought them for us, said it might help everyone cheer up, so we decided to try them out, and they're fun, but I dunno, they're kind of making me sadder."

The small stick he grasped was sparkling, making a soft hissing noise as it slowly burned down the stick. Optimus watched it as it finally fizzled out, sparks falling to the ground and disappearing.

"Indeed." He murmured, and they said no more.

#2.) Koi wa Thrill, Shock, Suspense - Rina Aiuchi

"This is ridiculous." Prowl hissed at the twins.

"Aw, come on Prowl, live a little." Sideswipe was grinning, as usual. His brother was scowling, scanning the scenery as if searching for any hidden threats.

"Besides..." The red Lamborghini began, smug grin still on his face. "When was the last time you had a break? You're going to work yourself to deactivation, and where would we be without you?"

"In the brig a lot less." Sunstreaker muttered.

Prowl crossed his arms, trying to keep up his stoic facade. The only thing that betrayed him was the faint trembling of his doorwings. "I still have work to do, and this location is unsecured. If a Decepticon attack were to happen--"

"Don't turn into Red Alert on us, one of him is enough." Sunstreaker finally moved from his position of glaring at the surrounding pines. "Everyone needs this once in a while, you included."

"So relax Prowlie...we'll take care of you." His red twin purred as he reached out to pull Prowl into his arms.

#3.) Glaring Dream - Mad Soldiers

The lights of the city sparkled brightly, like thousands of stars scattered across the ground. He had to admit it had its charm - the lights on Cybertron had always been subtle; usually hidden away to provide illumination without being obvious about it. It had always seemed that work was not to be seen - if you were a mech with a normal job, something involving grunt-work, you were always expected to do it without being seen. It gave the illusion of things just taking care of themselves for the nobility. Nothing to be seen to show something as common as work - no, for the privileged, they couldn't be seen, as if they weren't good enough to be seen. Primus forbid that those spoiled mechs even knew the concept of work existed. Giving credit to those who made things happen was practically a sin.

Megatron smiled coldly as he lifted his arm, charging his fusion cannon. He had ripped down those invisible barriers himself, had torn through the walls that had separated everyone.

He would show everyone what he had accomplished, and his works would be known as his, and his alone.

#4.) Ano Hi no Gogo - Okui Masami

"We entered the atmosphere a little to the east of here, didn't we?"

The voice that suddenly spoke up from behind Starscream was a little unexpected, but...not unwelcome. He didn't look behind him - despite the differing factions now, he had nothing to fear from him.

"...Indeed." he murmured, crossing his arms and staring out over Earth's ocean. So much water; it had amazed them when they had first arrived.

Sand shifted, and Skyfire stepped up to stand beside him. "So much time has passed, and yet this view remains the same..." The white shuttle murmured, as if to himself.

"We can't go back to that time." Starscream spoke up suddenly, as if trying to remind himself of that very fact. He seemed surprised he had said it out loud.

"No, we can't." They fell silent for a long moment, before the shuttle turned to leave.

"But just because we cannot go back does not mean we cannot go forward, either."

And with that, Skyfire took off, leaving Starscream lost in thought.

#5.) Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru - See-Saw

Ratchet looked over the mess of a mech that covered one of his repair bay tables and sighed. Ignoring the small group of Autobots who had brought this particular mech in to him, he grabbed a tool and proceeded to try to save the life slowly draining away into puddles of energon on his medbay floor.

They set up a guard around him - several feet back and at a respectful distance for his work, after he had snapped at them a bit - and trained their weapons on the unmoving form. Such an action would be unthinkable, normally, if it were an Autobot under Ratchet's hands.

If it were an Autobot.

He soldered, welded, and fused; cutting apart pieces of armor to reach certain places and sealing them back up again. Soon, the leaks stopped, and the life was saved. It had taken more work than usual; his current patient was bigger than the average Autobot, and Ratchet cursed the fact that he knew little about flier mechanics - the Aerialbots were all the practice he had, and this one differed significantly in several ways. But he was saved, for now.

He sighed as he closed another panel on the Decepticon's second-in-command, and placed his tools down, confident that he would live through the night.

A spark was a spark, and a life was a life, no matter the insignia on the chassis.

#6.) Glorious Mind - ZARD

It was surprisingly quiet in the Decepticon base. No angry shouts or sounds of fighting, no annoyingly loud Earth music blasting from the rec room, no explosions and other pranks.

Skywarp, one-half of the cause of most of these occurances, was currently in the medbay, left to the dubiously tender care of the Constructicons. The teleporting Seeker had had a bad encounter with the Autobot's psychotic twins and their Jet Judo last battle, and was still being put back together.

The other half of the normal chaos, the Decepticon's own set of psychotic twins, were strangely quiet. Most were sure they knew the reason why, and so did not bother them.

Frenzy stood, watching the monitors quietly. Rumble was playing with a human toy nearby - a yo-yo. The normally-loud mech was simply launching it downwards, watching it go up and down with glazed optics.

"You think he'll come back today?" Frenzy spoke up.

"Maybe." Rumble replied. They went back to their respective activities in silence.

The only other thing missing from the base was a communications officer, missing two days past since the last battle between factions.

#7.) ONE - B'z

"Die, Autobot scum!"

"You won't win, Megatron!"

The two leaders clashed, almost ignorant of the rest of the battle around them. Stray laserfire and distant shouts were mere echoes in their processors as they fought, each's attention totally focused on the other, both trying to avoid deactivation and to cause it to their opponent.

Jazz kept an eye on Optimus, ready to jump in at any time if his leader needed help. He absently fired as one of the Seekers flew overhead. Glancing back towards the fight, he felt mildly surprised when he couldn't tell who was who for a moment, dust and smoky char obscuring their colors for a moment. Then everything was clear, and they were separate again.

We're all the same, in the end. Jazz mused as he took a potshot at one of the Constructicons trying to sneak up on Bumblebee. And yet here we are, trying to slag each other as if we have nothin' better to do with our lives than meet Primus.

War was pointless, but they were fighting anyways.

#8.) Wind - Akeboshi

Sometimes, being the youngest and smallest really sucked.

He wasn't all that much use in a fight, and while he was a great spy for his age, most people forgot that fact. He was just cute little Bumblebee, to be protected at all costs because he couldn't take care of himself. His bright yellow paintjob, too, ensured that he practically had "Shoot missiles here" painted on his aft.

He wasn't built to fight, but he was trying his best. He only wished that his best was a little better.

However, he was useful for other things.

He smirked as he popped open the vent into the twin's quarters, his small size allowing him to crawl around the ductwork. He slid out, pulling his equipment along with him, and snuck up to the two figures recharging on their booths.

He shook a can of pink spray paint as his smirk transformed into an evil grin any Decepticon would be proud of. Revenge was sweet.

#9.) Still - Alanis Morissette

His consciousness stretched across the galaxy, attached to each tiny spark of his creations. He saw through each of their optics, knew all of their thoughts, and felt all of their feelings.

For so long, they had been peaceful. But now they were locked into a war, one that would continue until a clear victory was decided.

It would happen again. And again. As their lives changed and shifted, as his creations lived and grew, the endless cycle of peace and war would continue. In times of peace, they built such creations as would make any creator proud, spanning the universe and filling it with goodwill. In times of war, their tore down it all down, and their cruelty knew no bounds. There were no sides in his opinion, for he saw it all. It all had reason.

For when they were torn down by war, that merely meant that the creations that arose would be even more magnificent in the future.

He saw their fights, their victories, their losses, their hopes and fears, and he loved them still.

#10.) Roses Are Red - Aqua

"What a flawless specimen of Rosa chinensis!"

Wheeljack looked over his shoulder, amused. "Just call it a rose, Perceptor."

The scientist nodded distractedly, leaning over as he examined the plant in question. Perceptor was practically brimming with excitement - he loved the chance to study anything new, and the humans had brought over several garden plants today. Something about it giving the robots something to do, learning to care for the plants. Wheeljack half suspected it was so Perceptor and he wouldn't blow anything up. It was impossible for a plant to explode on the two scientists. Well, perhaps with the right application of heat and chemicals...

Perceptor had latched onto the plants like an Earthen leech.

"Remember, we have to keep them alive. Casual observation only, none of your experiments!"

"I recognize the necessity to cultivate this specimen in a satisfactory manner and understand that it has an adverse reaction to negligent upkeeping, but surely removal of a single unit of foilage would not cause a negative reading on its cellular productivity--"

"Observation only, Perceptor. You can study anything that falls off, no cutting off leaves."

"I submit to your recommendation, Wheeljack. I will collect biologically-shed examples only."

Chuckling, the Lancia reached out to pat his fellow robot's shoulder. "If you take good care of it, we'll get you more plants. Be a regular little garden in the lab."

He gave a genuine smile behind his mask as the red scientist practically danced in delight.

#11.) Shoudou - B'z

Sideswipe paused just outside Prowl's quarters. "Why are we doing this again?"

His twin gave him a less-than-amused glare. "It was your idea, you toaster. Don't tell me you're backing out of it now."

"I never back out of anything!" The red twin glared at Sunstreaker, before smiling sheepishly. "...And I'm just wondering why I'm doing this when all it'll get me is thrown out of Prowl's berth and into the brig for a few orns."

A browplate raised, Sunstreaker somehow managing to convey all his disdain for his errant twin in that one expression. "And...why did you even think it would be a good idea in the first place?"

Sideswipe paused for a moment, before grinning. "An impulse."

Confidence returned, he then pulled out the package of toilet paper. "Let's get this party started!"

#12.) Ex-Girlfriend - No Doubt

They were simply too far apart, too different from who they once were, and she knew that the effects of that were finally coming into play. It was in the way he seemed distracted lately, whenever he talked to her. As if she did not warrant his full attention anymore. Even worse was the tone of his voice - professional and friendly, and absolutely nothing like the caring and loving voice he had once addressed only her with.

Instead, that love had diffused. Spread out. He had gone from focused on her to focusing on all of his followers, and she was now just a part of that majority, a subordinate. He loved all of the Autobots, and had no room to love her exclusively as he once had. He had responsibilities--they had responsibilities. They were no longer just a simple dockworker and his girlfriend, and he had moved on.

She understood why, but that didn't mean the realization hurt any less.

#13.) Mushoku - Uehara Azumi

He shuffled through the landscape, surveying the carnage with weary optics. The latest raid by the Decepticons had left quite a few good mechs dead - the rebels were getting more desperate. The energy crisis was getting worse.

He looked down at one of the bodies - with the color leeched from its frame, it was impossible to tell which faction the mech had once belonged to. Optimus did not recognize his face, so perhaps Decepticon. How ironic - take away their colors, their factions, and they were all the same in the end. His lieutenants were silent, picking through the bodies as well.

If only all the fighting just would suddenly stop, Optimus would gladly give his life. But that was not how war worked. So, there was only one solution left - he had to solve the cause of the war.

They had to leave Cybertron and look for energy elsewhere.

#14.) Warriors - Yuichi Ikusawa

They were once the best of friends, but no longer.

It was a rare day that Skyfire joined the fighting. Starscream snarled silently as he ducked laserfire and fired his nullray in return, catching that musical saboteur in the chest. One Autobot down, many more to go. The white shuttle was off elsewhere, Starscream had lost sight of him. Skyfire had merely shot him down, punching a hole in his wing so he couldn't fly, and had left, face blank.

So here he was, ducking behind concrete rubble and trying to pick off his attackers. He normally didn't like it when Megatron called a retreat, but this time he was silently praying for his commander's voice to boom out the order to run. He had lost enough dignity today.

You're not a warrior, Skyfire, you shouldn't even be here! I guess Optimus got tired of you not pulling your own considerable weight. Ha. Making a pacifist fight, some benevolent commander he is.

Starscream hissed as he fired his nullray again, this time at that stubborn tactician who was guarding the fallen Autobot Special Ops commander, all the while ignoring the small voice in his head that told him he shouldn't be fighting out here either. He was just a scientist playing at being Air Commander, after all. But he couldn't go back.

He had lost too much to afford losing even more by giving up his current life.

#15.) Barairo no Sekai - Pierrot

"In a perfect world..." Optimus mused, idly running a hand over his partner's wings. "What would you be doing?"

The other paused, considering that. "Well...on an egotistical day, I'd say ruling the universe. But really...I'd be in a lab."

"You said you were a scientist before the war..."

Red optics tilted up to look at him as Starscream smirked. "True. Who do you think designs all the gadgets the Decepticons use? I assure you, it's not the Constructicons. if it doesn't shoot or blow something up, they can't make it, which makes engineering anything of a non-violent nature the sole responsibility of the only other Decepticon who knows a schematic from a pizza menu."

A deep rumbling laugh. "That would be you, I presume."

"Of course."

"What's your favorite field of study, then? If you're such an excellent scientist?"

The jet was quiet a long moment. "...Xenobiology. it was to be my major, before...the mission. Chemistry was my second choice."

"Xenobiology?"

"You know, the study of alien life. Before the war...organic life was only theorized, you remember. We were so excited when we came across this planet..."

The Seeker fell quiet again, lost in memories, and Optimus realized then why the volatile jet hated humans so much. His theory was confirmed when Starscream spoke his next words.

"If this war had never happened, I would have been the first one throwing myself out there to study them, but now they're my enemy. The only study I get of them is passive observation as I have to blow them to bits."

"Nothing else?"

"Science takes a backseat to war, Prime."

I...blatantly cheated on Perceptor's little drabble. I just couldn't write his dialogue in the time limit, but oh well. XD;;

Leaving the status of this as incomplete, as I might do another one when I get the itch to write.