Part of a lyric challenge done between myself and Feathered moon wings.

Story is set three years after Transformers Prime: Predacons rising.

Transformers belong to Hasbro.

Ratchet slowly drove towards the well of Allsparks; his mind was once again cluttered with feelings of guilt and regret mixed with the sad knowledge that this is ultimately what Optimus Prime would have wanted.

The roads and highways were almost completely empty of any other transformer, allowing the old medic to focus less on his driving and more on the endless cycle of thought that was going on inside his head.

Today was the third year anniversary that life had returned to Cybertron, it was also the day he had lost his best friend. While most Cybertronians celebrated this event with fireworks, races and many other joyous activates, Ratchet found it impossible to look beyond the fact that today was the day Optimus had died and quickly stopped attending the celebrations.

The old medic didn't resent those who chose to party it up, they had every right to celebrate this day, for so many wonderful things had happened in such a short period of time. Life had been restored to their dead home world, the allspark had been returned to Cybertron allowing for new generations of Cybertronians to be born and the millennia long war was finally declared by over by none other than Megatron himself.

To top it all off, Optimus Prime had forever sealed away the greatest threat to all life in the universe, Unicron. Today was a celebration of all those miracles, the likes of which had not been seen since the thirteen original primes ruled.

But just like those ancient stories this one had a bittersweet ending. While Optimus Prime had indeed saved Cybertron and ensured a peaceful future for countless generations to come, the cost had been his own life. A price that he had been more than willing to pay.

Despite the pleas of his family…

Ratchet stared at the sinking sun in the distance, watching the last of the daylight slowly fade away. Irritated that he was falling behind schedule, the old medic began to accelerate, racing along the empty roads towards his destination.

So often the old medic looked back on that day and wondered if he could have said anything that could have changed Optimus's mind. The last of the primes had been adamant that he could no longer separate his spark from the matrix and the Allspark, forever linking the three separate powers together. And yet Ratchet wondered, if he had been given the time could he have found a way to get around such an obstacle?

Maybe he could have found a way to separate the Allspark from the spark of Optimus, slowly draw it into a new container. It would have taken time, Primus knows how long, given the enormity of the Allspark's powers and properties and Ratchet's own lack of understanding of the mystical, but had he been given the time could he had done it?

Could he have found a way to save Optimu-

Tires screeched to a halt as Ratchet almost missed the turn. Cursing to himself, the Autobot managed to skid to a stop just in time before quickly accelerating down a side path that would take him out of the city. Soon the smooth flat road beneath his wheels faded away as Ratchet began to cross open plains.

In the distance he could just make out the ruin of the once might Decepticon warship, the Nemesis. The wreck still rusted near the well of Allsparks and while Ratchet would have liked nothing more than to see the vile instrument of destruction get melted down and recycled the fact was the small population of Cybertron lacked the full resources and equipment necessary to move the titanic wreck.

As the Nemesis grew ever closer, Ratchet tried to think about something a little more positive. He normally made a mental list in his head of all the advancements and accomplishments that had been achieved since he last visited the well. But things hadn't been going that great for the old medic, the old problems were starting to rise up again, and he doubted it would cheer Optimus up knowing that already a brand new system of rank and rule was starting to take shape.

"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Raf had once said. How true it was.

By the time Ratchet drew close to the great well, the sun had long since set and now the stars above him lit the way. Staying as far away as he could from the ruined Decepticon warship, Ratchet transformed into robot mode and slowly walked towards the well of Allsparks. Taking a moment to observe his surroundings Ratchet concluded that he was alone tonight. In the past a few other Cybertronians had come to the well to pay their respects but as the parties and celebrations stayed in the cities most of the populace would not make the journey to the well, deciding to pay their respects from the comfort of their own homes.

Preferring it this way, the old medic slowly walked over the wells structure trying not to stare into the dark abyss that led straight to the core of Cybertron. Once he was at the very same spot he had stood three years prior he stopped and stared up at the stars.

Ratchet was not deeply religious, he believed in what he could understand and explain through science. But since the war for Cybertron had started, he had learnt to take things on faith, accepting things as they were even without a full knowledge on how they worked. The matrix of leadership for example was all too real and while Ratchet could somewhat explain how such a relic could hold memories and experiences of previous Primes he had no clue how it managed to harm being such as Unicron, another thing that Ratchet knew existed beyond a shadow of doubt and thereby proving in the existence of Primus. But when it came to the allspark, the keeper of life and death for the transformers Ratchet wasn't too certain of anything. Clearing his throat the old medic began talking, hoping that someone was listening.

"Hello Optimus." He said, already feeling stupid as a slight eco made his voice ring out over the empty well and beyond. Grumbling to himself, Ratchet pressed on. "I uh hope you can hear me."

For a moment Ratchet couldn't think of anything further to say and began fiddling with his hands. Every time he had visited he had never been given any sign that his voice had reached anyone, and from the looks of things tonight was no different.

But still Ratchet began to talk, slowly at first commenting on minor things that had happened since his last chat. Nothing very interesting or conversational worthy, but when speaking to nothing it was difficult for the old medic to hold a serious conversation. That is until Ratchet remembered a certain yellow muscle car's promotion.

"A lieutenant no less. Personally I think he deserved more for his efforts but you know politics. Although Ultra Magnus did give him a glowing speech at the ceremony, haven't seen Bumblebee that nervous since-" Ratchet stopped talking as a forgotten memory suddenly surfaced. Optimus, Bumbleebee and himself were about to jump from the burning Ark's escape shuttle, Bee had been terrified and Ratchet hadn't been too fond of the idea either. But they had jumped all the same; or rather Optimus had jumped dragging his two friends with him as the ship began to split apart in earth's orbit.

"We're all very proud of him." Ratchet finished with a small smile.

Clearing his throat once more Ratchet decided to continue updating Optimus on how the rest of the team was doing, finding it easy to talk about, given how each member of team Prime had thrown themselves into the task of rebuilding a better Cyberton.

"Bulkhead has gone back into construction, and if you can believe it, is actually doing pretty well. He's not just fixing up Iacon he's actually improving it. Finally getting rid of those spark forsaken lower levels and getting some decent architecture."

A chuckle escapes Ratchet as he remembered a time when crumbling building and rusting streets were among the worst of his problems.

Going through each accomplishment and change since he had last visited the well, Ratchet slowly gained more and more confidence as he continued talking to empty space. It was getting easier to imagine Optimus was listening to every word he said, politely waiting for the old medic to finish before he spoke, as he had done so often in the past. Finally there was only one bot left to talk about, himself.

"Well I uh. I'm doing fine." Ratchet looked around the empty well, wondering if his lie sounded convincing. It didn't. "Truthfully I've missed how things were back on Earth. I thought that once we came home everything would be perfect again, instead its a fool's paradise."

Ratchet smirked at the idealism he had had on Earth while slowly shaking his head. "It's happening again you know. The politics. Less than a month after you had gone and bots started coming back and asking who's in charge?"

"Then they want to be put in charge, remembering all those old positions on the council and start fighting over them, insisting that Cybertron still needs them."

"Well it doesn't!" Ratchet's voice rang out over the well. "All the squabbling and bickering is how the war started in the first place. Now that Megatron is gone, someone else is trying to take his place; everyone wants to be the next king of Cybertron."

Holding his head up high, Ratchet started at Cybertron's twin moon's dancing far away in the night's sky.

"I'm not happy, not here. I miss how things were on Earth, back then I was- we were fighting for our home. Not that we've got it back suddenly we're being told it's not our home, its everyone's home but that somehow means we can't just keep make decisions anymore. We've got to run it through a system of bureaucrats. Who get to decide what should be done with everyone's voices."

"Ultra Magnus is trying to stop it, but no one seems to want to listen. They keep promising they'll have everything all fixed up in a weeks' time and everyone's buying into it."

"I want to leave. Listen to me, I want to leave Cybertron and go back to Earth." Ratchet snorted to himself, hardly believing the next words that he uttered were coming from his own mouth. "I want to go home."

He stopped talking and slowly moved towards the very edge of the well, peering down the old medic could see a faint blue light that was the very core of the planet. It looked deceptively close, only a mile or so away but the truth was Ratchet could be falling for quite a while before he hit that bright light all the way at the planet's centre.

Slowly lowering himself into a sitting position with his legs dangling into the void of the well, Ratchet tried to think of anything positive to end his visit. He hadn't meant to dump all of his fears onto Optimus's shoulders. He certainly didn't want his old friend to think that he was blaming him for all these problems.

The truth was Ratchet just wanted things to go back to how they were on Earth, back when they were all together, all fighting for a single cause. Back when things had been simple, it had been the Autobots against the Decepticons with the fate of countless worlds hanging in the balance. Now it was becoming more complicated and the enemies from the war were becoming the few who understood what was happening. What was going wrong on Cybertron as the sins of the past once more began to rise up and take control. Ratchet wondered how long it would be until the planet he was born on became as alien and unbearable as Earth had once been.

"I wish you were here old friend." Ratchet said softly staring up at the distant stars in the sky. "I miss you."

Song: The fairest of seasons by Nico.

Lyrics: Now that it's time

Now that the hour hand has landed at the end

Now that it's real

Now that the dreams have given all they had to lend

I want to know do I stay or do I go

And maybe try another time

And do I really have a hand in my forgetting?

A/N: Thanks for reading, I appreciate any and all feedback. Special thanks to Feathered moon wings for giving me this challenge as it has helped get me out of my writers funk.