"Losing my control
Here it is the day I have to go
Just sit beside me
I can't let this show
How sick I feel to leave you so alone
God I'm terrified
We've lost respect for decency
When one can turn our world into an ant pile
We run circles, no direction do I see
The dust has blinded you, the dust has blinded me
I kissed her on the cheek
And then I waved goodbye
She had the saddest look I've seen in years
A kangaroo cry
A warm pathetic ocean flow we have to live by
We have to live by
Because we have to live
And you choose to break our families
Tell me you've used all precautions known
And I'll stand beside the ones who stood alone
How long will we have to sing until you finally bring our sons, our daughters home?
We'll let the prayers start healing, what time's been stealing
We only want to feel as close as we can be
Use hands for holding on to your precious family
Just believe in all who shine
The light to help you see
Cause if I believe in you, will you believe in me?
I kissed her on the cheek
And then I waved goodbye
She had the saddest look I've seen in years
A kangaroo cry
A warm pathetic ocean flow we have to live by
We have to live by
Because we have to live
And you choose to break our families
Tell me you've used all precautions known
And I'll stand beside the ones who stood alone
How long will we have to sing until you finally bring our sons, our daughters home?
We'll let the prayers start healing, what time's been stealing
been stealin' oh
Keep hanging on
Keep hanging on
Keep hanging on
Keep hanging on
We'll let the prayers start healing, when time's been stealing
Start healing
Start healing"
~Kangaroo Cry, Blue October
Optimus stood in the berthroom in front of the mirror, checking over his armor again. He rarely took it off as of late due to the escalating war, however, this was one of the few chances he had to clean it. As he used a cloth to rub off a few scuffs, he felt gentle hands alight on his back and begin rubbing at his tight cables. He shivered at the touch and huffed at how sensitive his civilian plating had become.
"I can't stay long," he whispered to Sevatia while she worked at loosening taught cables at least a little.
"I know," she sighed after a long pause, "Where are you going this time?"
"The Noxun-Kaon border," he replied.
"Where the fighting is thickest," she murmured half to herself, hugging him around the middle from behind, "When will you return?"
"That depends on how long I am needed. I may need to send for you if it gets any worse," he lifted one of her hands to his lips to kiss it.
"If Noxun wishes to remain neutral, then I suppose I will have to go anyways with the Swifts. We are neutral in technicality," she held him a bit tighter.
"I don't like this any more than you do, Sev. I don't want to leave you or Jyelle. I don't want to fight," he tried to explain.
"It is your duty as a Prime, Optimus. We both understand, even if we hate the war too. I just wish there was a way to ensure your safety when I'm not there to do that myself," she nuzzled between his shoulder blades a bit, pressing a small kiss to his spine.
He smiled softly and snorted a bit, "Help me with my armour?"
"Tisk tisk, an Elite warrior doesn't know how to put on his own armour by himself. What are they teaching these days?" she teased.
"I don't know, you're the teacher," he quipped, "I merely like having you help me. It's a nice excuse to spend some extra time in your care."
"Conniving little turbofox you are," she giggled before helping him with his armour.
Jyelle sat silently at the table, staring at her hands as she listened to her parents preparing her father to leave. Her thoughts boiled in her processor, bringing worry and fear up to the surface that she tried to push back down. Whenever her father stepped out of the house, there was the possibility of him going offline, she knew that, but this seemed so much worse somehow. He had gone to many battles before, but never the front. It was a terrible feeling she had in the pit of her tanks that she couldn't seem to quench. She had experienced some semblance of the feeling before when Sunstreaker and Sideswipe shipped out to the front, but never at this magnitude. She tried so hard to keep her tears at bay, but one managed to slip out over her cheek.
"Jy? Are you alright?" her father's deep, rumbling voice drew her attention.
His face softened from his own worry at her little tear and he hugged her close, "It will be okay, Jyelle."
"Promise me you won't get hurt," she broke down in his warm arms.
"You know I can't do that. Nothing is absolute, darling," he sighed, rocking her slowly, "But I can promise to try my best."
"Then come home. You have to come home," she said firmly, backing away from him a bit.
"Yes ma'am," he saluted her, smiling at the tearful giggle he wrung from his daughter.
"My beautiful Jyelle," Optimus sighed running his hand over the side of her helm and cheek, wiping away her tears, "Train hard for me. Sharpen your skills and your mind and you might very well be your mother's equal. Watch over her for me please?"
Jyelle nodded, "I'll make you proud, Daddy."
"You already have, beauty. I love you," he chuckled, hugging her again and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"I love you too, Daddy," she mumbled into his neck.
He carefully pried her arms from around his neck and stood to say his farewells to his mate.
"Come home safe," Sevatia added to Jyelle's command.
"Yes, dear," he sighed, resting their crests together.
Optimus wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her as close to him as possible. He felt her arms loop around his neck, her long exvents hot on his cheek as she shuttered her optics. Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to her lips, allowing himself to get lost in the feel of the gentle nips and licks. Eventually, however, she pulled away and he chased her lips for a few sparkbeats before remembering he had to go.
"I love you, Optimus," she murmured.
"I love you too, Sev," he hummed in return, his optics half shuttered.
He kissed her one last time before letting her go and walking through the door to the street. The Prime nodded to Kup and Jazz, who were his escorts, and waited for Jazz to give Jyelle a hug.
"Good bye for now," he waved one last farewell before transforming and following behind Kup.
Shipping out for war.