Disclaimer: Everyone already knows I don't own Transformers Beast Wars or song lyrics and the band that wrote them or brand names of stuff! Why post this?
AN: Well, if you're weird like me and watch Clifford the Big Red Dog on PBS when there's nothing better to do, then you might have seen that one Valentine special... I was inspired by that for this.
And if you're reading Lost Soldiers, then you know about Star and Screechy's little romance. This has nothing to do with the major plot of that story but I've kept some elements.
Lost Soldiers:
Be Mine?
Starfeather was strangely homesick today. She was lying in a grassy patch in her secret garden, gazing up at the lazily passing clouds. She watched enviously as a bright red male cardinal and his less dazzling mate swooped and twirled in the air several feet above her. She let out an annoyed caw and the birds flapped away. She sighed though it sounded more like a growl.
Besides being homesick, she was grouchy. She felt like how she did when she hadn't celebrated a holiday in a seemingly long time. Every ay was blurring together with no end in sight to her problems with her loyalties to her friends and to the Maximals. She wished something would happen to shake to spice things up for just a day or so...
The raven suddenly sat up, exclaiming, "That's it!" She needed to celebrate a holiday! But witch one?
She suddenly put on a scheming grin. She knew which one she wanted to share...
-x-
"What Bird-bot doing?"
"Yike! Waspy! Don't sneak up on me like that, especially when I'm in my room!"
"Wazpinator zzorry, but what Bird-bot doing?"
Starfeather shook her head. She had managed to cut out a heart from a blank page in her diary with one of her throwing stars. She had written 'B.F.F' on one side with a dark blue Sharpie marker she had in a side pocket on her backpack and was coloring the heart shaped paper red with a broken red crayon she found in the pocket of a pair of her jeans.
"I'm making a Valentine card," she answered.
"Valentine card?" the wasp repeated.
"For Valentines day. It's a human holiday that we celebrate," she explained.
"What humanz do on Valentinezz day?" he wondered.
"Well, it's a day when you make or buy something special for someone who is special to you," she said. "Mostly you give cards or chocolate or flowers, particularly red roses, to your friends, family, spouse, or sweetheart."
Waspinator looked at her curiously. "Make Wazzpinator Valentine card?"
The raven smiled. "Of course."
"Yay!" He clapped his hands together. "What other human holidayz are there?"
"Well, there's Christmas, Easter, Thanks Giving, Saint Patrick's Day..."
-x-
It was very early in the morning and Starfeather was slowly tiptoeing down a corridor to her Valentine's door. Once there, she glanced around to make sure no one was around and set the card on the floor right in front of his door and slipped silently back to her quarters. "Mission accomplished," she whispered to herself and laid down on her bed. "Now, if only Waspy will keep his mandibles shut like I told him..." she murmured before falling into recharge.
-x-
Terrorsaur blinked open his crimson optics and stretched his stiff joints, giving a quick yawn. He got up and, after making sure he was presentable, opened his door and was going to get his morning rations when-
Crinkle rustle crackle.
"What the...?"
He looked down where his foot had been and saw a heart shaped piece of paper with the letters 'B.F.F.' written on it. He picked it up and turned it over, hopping to find a signature. There was none.
A knowing smile slowly appeared on his face. There was only one 'bot he knew that would do something random like this. He placed the heart in his subspace and continued on with his original plans.
-x-
"Morning guys," Starfeather yawned as she entered the small cafeteria/lounge like room. She walked up to their favorite table. Waspinator and Terrorsaur looked up from their mostly empty energon cubes. One was set aside for her.
"You're up early," the pteranodon teased.
"Oh, ha ha," she said as she sighed deeply. She then sat in her usual place, between the two, and leaned her elbows on the edge of the table. "So, got any plans for today?" she wondered as she took hold of her cube.
"Wazpinator and Terrorsaur dizcuzzzing that when Bird-bot come."
"Oh," She took a quick sip of the glowing violet liquid. "So what do ya got?"
"Well," Terrorsaur began. "We were wondering where it is you disappear to just about every day."
Starfeather glanced from one to the other. "It's my secret place and it's gonna stay secret until I decide I want to show you," she said, a defensive note in her tone.
The two mechs winced a little at her slightly sharp answer. "No need to get snappy," Terrorsaur assured her. "It's not like we're going to track you or anything."
"Good." She took another sip of her energon. "So what else where you talking about?"
Terrorsaur gave Waspinator a look and the bug left the room shortly. Starfeather looked from where he had disappeared through the door to the red mech to her left. "What was that all about?"
"This," Terrorsaur answered, setting a familiar piece of paper in the middle of the table. She looked at it then up at him like she didn't know what it was. "What is this about?" he asked.
"That?" She began turning a little red. "Well, uh, it's... just a thing I made for you."
He raised an optic ridge. "Any particular reason?"
This was a stupid idea. I'll bet he thinks I'm such a little kid, she thought. "Oh... I was feeling homesick 'cause I missed some of the holidays we celebrated and I wanted to try this one called Valentines Day so I made that for you," she explained rather quickly.
Now he was confused. "Valentines Day?"
"It's a day when you make or buy something special for someone who is special to you," she answered, still rushing. She really wanted get out of here. This was so embarrassing.
"I see..." he trailed off. This got him thinking. Someone who's special to you... I've gotta get her something too. "Well, thanks kid." He put the card back in his subspace. "I need to get going... on a scouting mission Megatron assigned to me. I'll uh, see you later." With that, he got up and left Starfeather in the empty room.
She sat there, still clutching her mostly full energon cube, and watched him leave. When he was gone, she sighed. "He hates it. I just know it."
-x-
If only Starfeather knew how much Terrorsaur really did like her Valentine. And if only she knew how much he wanted to give her one too.
Right now, Terrorsaur was perched on a tree branch over a river. He was thinking about what he could do for her. So far, he had no ideas. Maybe he should've asked what else you did on this Valentines Day.
He was looking down at the water, more out of boredom than anything else. He saw two leaves float along down the river, side by side, then saw something else. Since he was in beast mode, he swooped down, grabbed the object in his beak, and landed on the shore. He dropped it on the bank and found it was a red flower petal.
That was all the inspiration he needed. After scanning the petal's properties, he set off to find a match.
-x-
"I don't see how you find this game fun."
"I don't see how you find shooting at Maximals fun."
"Wazpinator like both."
Waspinator, Starfeather, and Scorponok were playing Uno Attack. The wasp had somehow managed to get the scorpion to try it and he wasn't exactly enjoying it. Probably because he was losing. The raven voiced this thought.
"You're just a big sore-loser," she teased, sticking her tongue out at him for a second.
"Hey!" the scorpion growled.
"Uno!" Waspinator declared, holding up his last card.
Since it was her turn, Starfeather chose a card and set it down in the deck. "Yellow," she announced, as it was a multicolored choice card.
"Arrgh!" Scorponok screeched in frustration, as he had no yellow cards. "I hate this game!"
Now Starfeather's thoughts began to wander. She wondered why Terrorsaur wasn't back yet. After all, it had been several hours since he left on that mission or whatever. She wondered if he had just said that to get away from her. Maybe he didn't like that she liked him and wanted her to stop liking him. They were just friends and that was it.
-x-
However, that is not why Terrorsaur was gone so long. He was just trying to find the most perfect of the flowers he had found to give to her. They were tulips, bright red tulips with pink lacing the edges. It was an interesting sight to an alien robot, a Predacon none the less, picking flowers. People do strange things when they're in love, especially if they don't know it.
So far, he had only found three suitable flowers. This frustrated him but it was growing dark. He had to settle with what he had so he stored them away, transformed to beast mode, and headed back to the Predacon base. He was fighting with himself on why he was doing this in the first place, why he even wanted to do something nice for her in return for something nice she did for him. It made no sense to him what made him want to do these things for her, an ex-human femme.
But, he would admit to himself, there was something different about her. She had this... aurora about her, shedding light everywhere she went. Her smiling face, her beautiful optical pools of sea green, her gentle touch...
-x-
In the end, Waspinator had won the game... three more times. How he had managed that, no one knew. Starfeather, however, was now outside the base though sat on the edge of one of the battered wings of the ship. She was gazing out at the somewhat alien landscape laid before her. She had it all to herself. She was humming Before it's too Late by the Goo Goo Dolls. She really did feel that she had to hold on to this before it was too late. She knew this feeling was there but, like the song said, nothing is real until it's gone. But... she thought that, maybe, it was all that they needed in their lives, all that she needed in her life.
Her last boyfriend had left her because he had to move away. Sure, they sent pictures and letters but... they drifted apart. She had begun to expect that he ask that they brake up so when he finally did, she wasn't too disappointed. She did still miss him, though she had moved on.
-x-
Terrorsaur now arrived back at the base. He transformed to robot form and went looking around for his Valentine. When he couldn't find her anywhere, he went to the only 'bot that might know where she was. "Hey Waspinator?"
The wasp turned around. "What Terrorsaur want?"
"Do you know where Starfeather is?" he asked, nervousness creeping into his tone.
"Umm..." The green mech racked his memory banks for the answer. "Wazpinator think Bird-bot went outside."
"Thanks." With that, Terrorsaur went back out the hatch. Great. She could be anywhere. To his surprise, he easily found her lounging on one of the wings of the Darkside, just gazing out across the plains of the volcanic field. He could see the profile of her face from where he stood. She looked troubled and he wondered why. For the longest time, he just stood silently on the ground, taking her in...
What would she think of him if she was in this state? He knew how she acted when she was upset. She was sharp-mouthed or gave you a really nasty look or ignored you completely, something you wouldn't expect out of someone normally so fun and considerate.
And what about him? Why was he doing this? There was that question again. He had answered it once already. She was different and he, for some unknown reason that he couldn't understand, wanted her to like him like he did... if she would have him.
Finally, he was able to gather up his courage and soundlessly flew up toward her.
-x-
Starfeather heaved a sigh. She was beating herself up inside. She felt so stupid about giving Terrorsaur that card. She just knew he hated it. Why else was he avoiding her? "Maybe I should just leave and they'll forget me," she muttered absently.
"Why would we let you do that?" a new voice spoke.
Starfeather jumped and whirled around. "W-what do you want?" she asked, taking a step back and almost losing her balance because of the angled surface.
Terrorsaur stepped forward, taken aback. Was she afraid of him? "What's wrong?" he wondered, his screechy voice gentle however impossible for him it seemed.
She took another step but met with the edge of the wing. She glanced behind her and saw the ground far below. She knew that if she fell, she could catch herself by flying but she felt her feet frozen to the spot. "Please... I want to be alone right now."
"But I haven't returned the favor," he replied, lessening the space between them.
She looked up at him. "F-favor for what?"
"For your little surprise this morning," he answered, almost laughing.
She blinked. "So you... you liked it?" Was he just being nice or was he serious?
He smiled. "Of course I liked it." A smile tugged at her own lips at his answer. "And I... want to give you something too," he continued.
Her breath caught in her throat. Really? He really did something for her? She watched as he brought three red (albeit slightly wilted) flowers from his subspace and she beamed bright as the sun, which happened to be setting and was bathing them both in a golden glow.
He held them out to her and she carefully took them. "I could only find three that looked good enough..." he started to apologized.
"These are perfect," she said, smelling their pure floral scent. "Tulips are my favorite flower! Oh, thank you!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, showing her appreciation. He wasn't upset with her after all. She was so happy now.
He was stunned but he was strangely content. He hugged her back but he noticed too late that the force of her leaning onto him was teetering them over. Suddenly, she noticed as well but only had time to pull back as he tried to right them but-
They went down, Terrorsaur hit the floor on his back and Starfeather fell with him, landing on his chest. Their faces were dangerously close to one another and the inevitable was unavoidable.
Their optics widened at realizing what had happened and they both scrambled to sit up. They pushed themselves away from each other and both started talking at once and apologizing before their yammering fizzled out and they just stared at each other... and burst out laughing.
"Let's keep this to ourselves," Starfeather suggested, subsiding her giggles.
"Nothing happened at all," Terrorsaur agreed, trying to calm his racing spark.
"We were only talking."
"Yeah, just talking."
"That's it."
"Okay?"
"Okay."
They both stood up and Starfeather awkwardly cleared her throat. Terrorsaur looked out to see the sun just now disappearing below the horizon. The sky and clouds were painted in fading shades of pink, purple, and orange. He looked back to the raven to see her smoothing her fingers over the petals of the flowers she was still holding. She looked up at him and grinned sheepishly. She noticed the sky too and this prompted her to say, "You wanna go for a fly...with Waspy too?"
He nodded. After that 'incident', he didn't want to be alone with her for too much longer. The two then made their way back to find Waspinator, Starfeather taking a side stop to put the flowers in her room, and heading toward the base exit.
Before Starfeather got too far to catch up with Waspinator, who was buzzing on ahead excitedly, Terrorsaur took hold of her arm and pulled her toward him. She gasped as she fell against his chest. She looked up at him with confusion and he grinned. "Before I get too weirded out over what happened back there, I just want to say... happy Valentines Day," he murmured.
She slowly smiled back and leaned into him. "Happy Valentines Day," she replied. They pulled apart, transformed, and took to the sky, following Waspinator.
Maybe it wasn't too late, Starfeather thought, and maybe this was all they needed in their lives.
Little did any of the flyers know that a certain cheetah had witnessed this little exchange. Its neck fur bristled and his bright green eyes shone with jealousy. If you were close enough, you could hear a growl resonating from its throat. It hissed through clenched teeth. "That could be me... It should be me." He then left his place and headed back to the Maximal base in a huff...
AN: Happy Valentines Day 2008! (hugs readers)