Blair patted Crystalmaiden's back as she rested her head on the keyboard.
Blair: See Crystal, you've finished the chapter.
Crystal: Yes I'm glad too, I had fun with this chapter. Thanks to everyone who put this story on your 'favorites' and 'story alert' and thank you Aerith-The-Evenstar for letting me use her characters and helping me with this story. Anyway, time for the disclaimers.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers: Armada, Swan Princess, or any of the OC characters except Alyss. The other OC characters belongs to my friend Aerith-The-Evenstar.
Well, hope you enjoy the chapter and please, no flames. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it.
Chapter 2
Jetfire didn't know that in the middle of the circle of mountains, Valerie spent her days waiting with her new friends, Billy, Fred, Blurr, and Hot Shot. The two boys and their transformer friends got lost in the mountains on the way to a dinner special at a buffet on the other side of the mountains but ended up going off road and found Valerie the first night she changed from her swan form. After getting to know each other a little more, they became her friends since there wasn't anyway back over the mountains that they know and she didn't have anyone else to talk to and she was still a bit shy around people. Still, they weren't complaining and Valerie made some new friends.
Blurr was a sensible mech who pulled off the serious type act, but was a really good friend. He needed to be when it came to Fred, whose stomach constantly needed food of some kind; in fact it was he who convinced the others to going to the buffet. Hot Shot on the other hand was a bit of a nutcase. He believed he was a commander of a huge successful army of some part of Cybertron, but was under the side effect of a mysterious Energon that kept him from being the leader he should be and the only way to cure it was to have a cute girl kiss him. Their friend Billy encouraged his beliefs since he saved him and Fred when they first met. Despite all this, Blurr and Fred handled their friends and Valerie liked having other people around to talk to.
That night, Hot Shot was once again planning another stunt to make Valerie kiss him while Billy helped him set up as Blurr and Fred watched them from the side lines.
"Again, why are you doing this? This has to be the most outrageous idea you've come up with so far." Blurr said as Hotshot and Billy worked on making two large sticks to help them jump over the river that had a road they thought might lead out of the mountains but was unavailable for use due to Starscream's pet robot sharks.
"Quiet, Blurr. This plan will work for sure." Hotshot said, his optics focused on a small music box that a traveler had dropped while passing through the area. "Once I give her that music box..."
"We know, you'll turn back into a great and powerful leader once she kisses you. We get it." Blurr said, face palming at this.
"Why does Billy get to go first? Can you at least get me a cheeseburger if you make it across?" Fred asked as Billy stared at his friend.
"Fred, I'm only going to act as bait. Then when things get rough, Hot Shot will jump in to save his loyal officer." Billy said proudly as Fred and Blurr stared at each other.
"You do realize that Billy might die?" Blurr asked, but Hot Shot just smirked.
"I'm a commander. I wouldn't be sending my soldier into danger like this without a plan."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Hot Shot came to Billy holding the long stick.
"Are you ready for this?"
"Yes sir!" He said taking the stick and moving far back to get a running start with Fred joining him.
"Hey buddy, if you don't make it can I have your Game Boy?"
"I'm not gonna die! Now watch as I help my leader!" He started running and tried to pole vault over the river.
Sadly, like most things, things didn't go well. One robot shark came to bite Billy, but that was a distraction. The other jumped and broke the pole vault stick with his jaw, sending Billy into the water. In order to keep himself from being shark food, Billy latched himself onto one of the shark's fins and hung on for dear life screaming. Blurr and Fred just watched, a blow of popcorn in Fred's hands, but no one is sure how that happened.
"Did you say anything?" Blurr asked, looking down at Fred.
"No, I thought you did."
"Well, time for me to be the heroic leader." Hot Shot announced, taking the other pole vault stick.
"Just a minute…"
"Here I go!" He yelled and charged.
"How are you guys going to get out of this one?" Blurr finished, startling Hot Shot in mid air.
He didn't recover in time and landed in the water, giving a chance for Billy to swim to shore where Blurr and Fred waited to help him. Hot Shot wasn't so lucky since those robot sharks were just as big as him and he was barely able to punch them away.
"That's it!" He took out his blaster and started shooting at them. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere, the blaster didn't have a place to recharge but still had enough power to send those sharks running.
"Hot Shot!" Hot Shot swam to the shore and someone grabbed his hand and pulled him out.
"Are you alright, Hot Shot?" It was Valerie, looking very surprised and worried.
"Yeah, I sent those things running." Hot Shot announced, trying to cover his blunder.
"Yeah, and they took a piece of my pants with them." Billy said from behind a bush with Fred who had a belt and spare shorts.
"I just need a towel or I'll rust."
"Here." Valerie handed Hot Shot a towel and walked over to Fred and Billy. "Don't worry, I'll try and mend your pants if you want."
"Thanks Valerie." Billy said, handing her his ruined pants.
"What were you guys doing? You know it's dangerous for Billy or Fred to be near those things." Valerie asked looking at Hot Shot and Blurr.
"He was planning to…"
"Shut up." Hot Shot said, interrupting his friend. "I just wanted to get you that music box, I know you miss dancing."
"Oh, thank you Hot Shot." Valerie thanked with a smile.
"He was being sneaky." Blurr said, as Fred nodded.
"Yeah, he was gonna have you kiss him for giving you that music box." Fred said, finishing this popcorn.
"You know I'm under the effect of the Energon." Valerie pointed out to her yellow mech friend.
"I know that, I just thought I could be the one to break the spell." Hot Shot said as Fred shook his head.
"Didn't we already try that?"
"Who asked you?" Billy snapped, coming from behind the bushes with shorts that looked baggy even with the belt.
"The kiss has to be from my sparkmate, and that's Jetfire." Valerie said, thinking about the shuttle mech she grew up loving. "And he…"
"Needs make a vow of eternal love in front of everyone and prove that he truly is your sparkmate. I know that." Hot Shot said, a little annoyed. "What do you think I was doing with those sharks? They bit me in the butt."
"Too much information there, Hot Shot." Blurr pointed out as Valerie went red.
"Guys, can't you explain it to him?"
"Sorry, he's in denial." Fred whispered so Hot Shot couldn't hear.
"How do you even know if he's still looking for you?" Billy asked as Valerie looked up at the night sky.
"I know he is and he'll find me just like he always does." She said with a glowing smile.
Though Valerie wasn't close enough to communicate with Jetfire, she could still feel his presence and his spark trying to find it's way back to her. She was sure Jetfire could feel her heart trying to get back to him and as long as that feeling stayed he'd keep searching for her.
"You really never had a chance there." Blurr said as Hot Shot sighed in slight defeat.
"Still, I'm not gonna give up." He said determined as his friend and Fred looked at each other.
"How'd I know he'd say that?"
"He's never going to give up." Blurr said with a sigh.
Suddenly, there was a scream and a crash from behind them that caused them to look up just in time to move out of the way as a small car and a boy came crashing down.
"What the?" They watched as the car transformed in front of them to reveal a large stick stuck between the plates on this side.
"Are they dead?" Billy asked as Valerie went to check on them.
"No, the stick must have messed up their steering and caused this." Valerie said, now checking on the boy. "And he fainted, but he'll be waking up in a minute."
"We'll take care of this guy, try and bandage the boy the best you can." Blurr said as Valerie nodded.
It didn't take long for Blurr and Hot Shot to remove the stick, but Valerie didn't have much to do since all the boys had for an injury was a bump on his head.
"Seriously, when are these guys gonna wake up?" Billy asked, a little impatient after a couple minutes of just watching the transformer and boy sleeping.
"Hey, wake up!" Hot Shot yelled at the unconscious transformer. It was so loud, the two travelers woke up and made Valerie and the others, except Blurr, jump.
"Hey, what's going on?" The transformer took out his blaster and pointed it at Hot Shot and Blurr while the boy stared at Valerie, Billy, and Fred in confusion.
"Hey, chill! We're just trying to help you." Hot Shot said, holding the stick that was stuck in the transformer and held it to him. "It got caught in your gears somehow but I took it out. Valerie there helped your friend, but it seems all he got was a bump on the head."
"I'm not gonna bother." Blurr said, shaking his head.
"We're glad you're both alright." Valerie said, with a small smile. "My name's Valerie, that's Billy and Fred, and the guys that help you are Hot Shot and Blurr."
"Yes, but you can call me sir." The transformer and the boy looked at each other before looking to Blurr for an explanation.
"He thinks he's a commander from Cybertron." Blurr pointed out bluntly as Hot Shot glared at him.
"Right, I'll just call you bro for now." The transformer said with a grin before straightening up. "Private Sideswipe, reporting for duty."
"And I'm Carlos, thanks a lot for helping us out." Carlos said, grinning at Valerie. "If there's anything we can do, just ask."
"There isn't much you can do. It's the side effect of the Energon I've been exposed to." Valerie said, a sad feeling coming over her again.
"Wait, what do you…" Carlos didn't get to finish as they heard footsteps. The four quickly pulled Sideswipe and Carlos away, leaving Valerie there as Sideways came to her.
"You seem to be having a lovely night." Sideways said, and Valerie could sense the smirk under his facemask as he came closer to her. "Have you finally come to your senses?"
"I'll keep telling you the same answer for as long as I live." Valerie said, glaring at the evil transformer before her. "I'll never let you destroy Earth or Cybertron."
"You know, the sooner you agree to this, the sooner you can return to being only human." Sideways said, but the glare never left her face. For a shy girl, she had every reason to glare at this transformer and she knew Jetfire would be proud of her for keeping strong now. "I'm not worried. You'll soon come around, but it seems you need a little more time to think it over." He looked behind her to see the moon setting.
"Here I go again." She walked to the water, but all she could think about was Jetfire. Every time she turned into a swan, she thought about him and prayed he'd come find her soon. She would cry every time she had to transform back into a swan because that meant to her another day without seeing Jetfire and having to stay under the power of Sideways. She could feel her tears fall as she entered the water and the water began to rise and form around her. It would have been very pretty if it wasn't for the fact Valerie was crying. Sideswipe and Carlos, who was being held back by the others, couldn't help but stare as they watch their friend suddenly get engulfed by water and out popped a swan in her place. They sure as heck weren't expecting this.
"V…Valerie… she just…"
"Turned into a bird."
"Swan." Blurr corrected Sideswipe as the transformer and boy stared at the crying swan on the lake in disbelief before looking at each other.
"How hard did we hit our heads?"
"You're not dreaming." Billy said as Fred shook his head.
"We'll explain it to you." Hot Shot said, placing a hand on Sideswipe's shoulder pad. "But we'd better leave Valerie alone for a bit." They turned to see the poor swan letting her tears fall silently as she looked toward the sky. They nodded and left Valerie alone, feeling she needed this and each feeling sorry for the girl now swan.
Meanwhile, back at the base Astera and Optimus were really tired of planning another party. It's not that they didn't like parties, no it gave the troops time to relax, it was the fact of who they were with. Alyss Ellison, a peace ambassador with a black hole for a heart, wanted to change things the moment Valerie was kidnapped.
"Who cares if the brat isn't here, we can get one of you freaks to marry someone." It was a mystery how this heartless witch got the job. She wasn't happy when the other ambassadors agreed to wait years to bring the two plants together with a marriage. All she really cared about was raising her position as much as possible. She'd been fighting to ditch the idea presented by the Smiths and just force a random transformer (namely Megatron or Cyclonus) into marriage. Naturally, none of them listened to her and she nearly lost her post, but with Valerie kidnapped the peace officials couldn't risk waiting any long.
"I keep telling you, Valerie is out there. Jetfire can sense it." Astera pleaded as Alyss looked through the party list. "Besides, you can't force a transformer to get married anyway. They always have a sparkmate, I had one and so did Optimus. It's something we live by."
"Well, I don't give a damn." Alyss said, glaring at the two transformers. "If it wasn't for the possibility of us using Energon as a clean energy source and you being the only ones to know how to obtain it and clean it safely I won't bother."
"So you've been lying to the public about you wanting peace between our two planets?" Optimus asked, glaring at the female.
"Well, yeah. I could care less about you freaks and your feelings." He knew that there were good humans and bad humans. How one managed to enter the peace system was beyond him.
"You do realize that this base has a security system that records everything that goes on here." Astera asked, thoroughly annoyed with this female. At once Alyss' face went pale.
"Now really, I was only joking." Alyss pleaded, but Astera's glare didn't leave her face. "Okay, I'll let you do this party to find someone for Jetfire and if he finds Valerie it'll be better, just please don't show this to the public."
"Sure." Astera said as Alyss nodded, looking relieved as Optimus looked shocked.
"Good, then I'll leave the rest to you. This is for your son after all." She said getting up and left.
"Astera, are you sure?"
"Of course, the other ambassadors aren't the public." Astera whispered, looking pleased as the door opened and Rad and Alexis, Valerie's friends and volunteers at the base, came in.
"We heard what Mrs. Ellison said. She could've passes as a Decepticon if there were still sides." Rad said as Alexis pulled out a disk, hidden in a pile of papers she was carrying.
"I brought this just in case she went to destroy the evidence."
"Thank you, Alexis." Astera said, looking grateful.
"Just get that lady fired, I can't stand her." Alexis said as Astera smiled. No one at the base liked Alyss; even the former Decepticons hated her and wouldn't even put her on their side if the war between Autobots and Decepticons were still going on
"Have you seen my son by any chance?"
"I saw him in the research lab. He's still looking up about that Giant Transformer those drivers were talking about." Rad said looking a little sad.
"How are they?"
"Sorry Optimus, they're still recovering. The only information we've got was when Jetfire found them that night." Alexis said, feeling sorry for her friend. She really missed Valerie, but she can tell her absence really got to Jetfire, everyone could see it. Even Demolishor, who was a complete idiot, could see it.
"We'd better go to Jetfire and tell him the news." Optimus said as the femme transformer nodded and they left to find Jetfire.
Jetfire at this time was busy looking through old files in the research lab and the only other people there were Megatron and Cyclonus due to another blunder by the helicopter transformer. Jetfire always took time to look through the military database, which had been updated with the history and knowledge from Cybertron, to find out what the drive meant by the Giant Transformer.
After the first act passed by the peace council, every transformer knew that any transformer who wanted to live on Earth needed to install at chip to shrink their size to that of a normal human to make it easier for transformers to live on planet. This made it easier for a large number of transformers to live on Earth without taking too much room. He really couldn't think of anyone who would have done this since almost all the transformers had this chip implanted in them already. Still, he could tell that the driver saw something much bigger than a normal transformer even if they didn't have the chip, else he would have just said something. He knew of only one transformer that could possibly fit this idea, but he was just a myth to the transformers.
"But it has to have a different form. It is a transformer after all." Jetfire said, looking down at his servo at a gold necklace. He was planning to give it to Valerie when she would return from home, but she was kidnapped and he never got the chance to give it to her. He would look at it whenever he needed to think about his lost Valerie. Feeling he got what he needed, he turned to leave with a new plan, only to see Optimus and Astera coming in. "Hey Mom, sorry but I've gotta go."
"Hold it." Astera said, stopping her son. "And where do you think you are going?"
"To find Hoist so we can search for Valerie. I think I've found what the driver meant." Jetfire said and Astera knew she couldn't stop him by the look in his optics.
"Well then, go find her, but be back by tomorrow night. We've got that party." Even talking about it gave her a sour taste.
"Mother, you know I'm not choosing anyone other than Valerie."
"I know, blame Mrs. Ellison for that." She said, looking just as mad as her son, but soon calmed down.
"And speaking of Mrs. Ellison, Megatron, Cyclonus. We need to talk." Optimus said as the two former Decepticons came.
"What is it, Prime?" Megatron asked, thoroughly annoyed with Cyclonus for something he did.
"I just need to tell you that if Jetfire doesn't find Valerie or choose someone else, one of you has to marry one of the humans." Astera said, noticing the looks on their faces that resembled that of someone getting hit with a frying pan in the face. "Hey, it's not my idea. Again, blame Alyss."
"Cyclonus." Megatron said turning to his follower. "You have been a brave soldier. It's time you sacrifice yourself for your leader."
"What? What did I do to deserve this?"
"Maybe nearly killing Valerie when she was four." Jetfire suggested before running out of the room as Cyclonus went psycho and started shooting at random, causing everyone to duck and cover or just run for their lives.
Later on in the day at the lake, Valerie has just finished explaining what was going on with her to her two newest stranded friends, who were still trying to digest what they were hearing. It took a little longer because they had to explain the cure and what a sparkmate was.
"Wait, let's recap. Because of the side effect of that Energon you were exposed to as well as the one in the lake, every time the sun comes up you turn into…" Sideswipe said, gesturing to her, not really knowing what to say or do.
"Yeah and if I want to be human again I've got to be on the lake when the moonlight hits it." Valerie said as Hot Shot sighed.
"Some people have it so easy, I need a cute girl to kiss me to help me." He said but got hit on the back of the head by Blurr.
"And the only way to cure you is with the help of your sparkmate, Jetfire?" Carlos added as Valerie nodded. "Well, this shouldn't be hard. You just gotta fly to him at the base or wherever he is, bring him back here when the moon rises, change back into a human, then," He grabbed Billy and dipped him, "kiss and get married."
"Get off!" Billy yelled, pushing him off, but that wasn't the best idea because he fell hard to the ground.
"Yeah, but I don't know where he is." Valerie pointed out.
"You don't?"
"I was unconscious when Sideways brought me here." Valerie confessed as Fred looked at the castle like base.
"Hey, do you think Sideways has a cheeseburger up there?"
"Can you stop thinking about food for once?" Billy asked, glaring at his friend, but Sideswipe looked up.
"Wait, he must have some kind of navigation system in there." He said and Valerie looked hopeful.
"Oh sure, how are we gonna do that? I don't know about you, but I don't think we've got anymore pants for me to wear if something happens." Billy pointed out.
"I can find it and you get it." Valerie volunteered, looking happy at this opportunity.
"Okay, we'll stay behind and think of a plan." Blurr said as she nodded and flew toward the castle.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Hot Shot asked, looking to the others.
"Sure, what can possibly go wrong?" Sideswipe answered, perfectly calm.
"You haven't seen Starscream yet." Fred said, munching on a bag of chips that seemed to pop out of nowhere.
"Come on, we can take him." Hot Shot said as Blurr shook his head.
"We haven't even been able to charge our blasters. We've only got a few good shots as distractions."
"Then what do we have?"
"Speed." Blurr pointed out and Hot Shot seemed to get it.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sideswipe asked, a little clueless.
"Come on, you haven't noticed we're all cars here. We can even bring the kids with us if they don't do anything reckless." Hot Shot said as Carlos grinned.
"This'll be awesome!" Valerie flew back looking really pleased.
"There is a navigation system. It's in one of the upper room." She said as the others stared at her.
"Which room though?"
"It looked like a monitoring center but I saw Starscream walking around so be careful." Valerie said as the others looked at Billy, who looked ready to run.
"What?"
"Billy, you can't walk on us now." Fred pointed out as Billy crossed his arms.
"Sorry, but I'm not a cat; I don't have nine lives. Starscream has a fully loaded blaster!"
"Come on, Billy. You wouldn't leave your commander waiting." Hot Shot said as Fred grinned at his friend, knowing he couldn't refuse the guy that saved him.
"Fine, I'll give it a shot." Valerie smiled and flew into the air around the castle as they made their way inside. They made it to the monitor room without much problem and they found the navigation system.
"Got it." Hot Shot finally said after removing it from its spot in the monitoring room, where it was recharging.
"Good, now let's get out of here."
"Not so fast!" Sure enough, Starscream stood in the doorway with his blaster at the ready. "You don't belong here, get out!"
"Oh man, now what?" Carlos said backing up slightly as the three mechs stood in front.
"Fire at will!"
They took out their blasters, shooting at random ahead of them and by sheer dumb luck, and maybe the fact that Sideswipe had more energy left in his blaster, Starscream took cover from behind the door.
"Let's get outta here!"
"Transform!" The three transformed and the kids, wasting no time at all, jumped into the miniature cars and drove off for the exit.
"Get back here! Transform!" Fred turned just in time to duck as a laser nearly hit him and almost hit Hot Shot, who was leading the group.
"We've gotta fight back!"
"We can't with the kids with us!" Blurr pointed out as they continued to get shot at by the plane transformer following them, each shot getting closer to hitting them.
"Well, you better hurry and think of something before we get killed!" Billy yelled as a laser blast burnt his hair slightly as they made a sharp turn.
"Guess, we've got one option." Hot Shot looked at a large window straight ahead that was near a turn. Hot Shot suddenly accelerated and Billy looked ready to be sick.
"Bro, what are you thinking?!" Sideswipe yelled, but that didn't stop the transformer from crashing through the window.
"What do we do now?!" Fred screamed, as the two remaining transformers with their boys made a sharp turn.
"We really don't have much of a choice." Blurr said before Sideswipe, Carlos, or even Fred (who was screaming his heart out) followed Hot Shot's example and drove through another window with Fred screaming, "I can't die on an empty stomach!"
"We can't do that too!" Carlos screamed as they turned a corner again and went down the bumpy stairs.
"Don't worry. We're on the first floor. We'll just go through one of the windows here."
"What?!"
With a final laser blast that nearly popped Sideswipe's tires, Sideswipe crashed through another window and drove off into the forest. After a few minutes of working out how to use the navigation system and trying to find the location of the base, they learned that it wasn't too far away from the castle.
"This is perfect, when can I go? Oh…"
She looked up to see Hot Shot, Blurr, Billy, and Fred being tended to by Sideswipe and Carlos. The two boys and transformers looked very banged up with Billy and Hot Shot dripping wet and battered while Blurr and Fred not only looked battered but had leaves and branches sticking out in random places.
"You don't need to leave yet, but we seriously need to help these guys." Carlos pointed out, yanking out some branches from gaps in Blurr's armor.
Meanwhile, Jetfire and Hoist arrived near the same mountain area surrounding the castle, searching again for Valerie again.
"Okay Jetfire, what's this new lead you've been talking about?"
"I've come up with a theory that Unicron is using a different form while here on Earth." Jetfire pointed out as Hoist started at him. "Think about it, Unicron has to be the biggest transformer in all of existence and I'm sure those drivers must have seen us in normal size before, hanging around Valerie and her family."
"That is true, but isn't Unicron a myth."
"It's the only think I can think of and seeing as he's a transformer, he'll be like us." Jetfire pointed out as he took out his blaster.
"Wait, then how are we supposed to tell who's Unicron then if we meet another transformer? He can be anything." Hoist pointed out, taking his blaster out as well.
"That's why we've got to be careful.
A little later, with Valerie and the others, Carlos and Sideswipe finally finished fixing up Hot Shot and the others. Blurr still looked slightly grumpy and Billy was now wearing a pair Carlos's pants and Fred's shirt, looking really annoyed.
"I'm running out of clothes here. Now I've got a new reason to help Valerie."
"Calm down, Billy. Once Valerie and Jetfire plan everything, you can buy all the pants you need. And I'll get a dozen cheeseburgers." Fred pointed out, munching on a random bag of chips.
"How did you get those chips anyway?" Valerie asked, staring up at her friend.
"Well you see…."
"Gentlemen, lady!" They looked to Carlos who stood on a rock. "It's time. You've got a half and hour before the sun sets to bring Jetfire here. If rumor is correct and he's still looking for you so he must be hear by."
"Right."
"We'll wait for you here." Sideswipe said as Valerie nodded and took off to find Jetfire. As she flew pass the mountains, she could feel Jetfire's presence getting stronger.
'He's close by, he has to be.'
Meanwhile, Jetfire was too busy to notice Hoist had gone a separated way. He suddenly noticed Valerie presence was getting stronger.
'Come on Valerie, where are you?' Jetfire thought. He could tell she was looking for him. She was so close now he can hear her thoughts.
{If only he could give me a sign.}
"Skydancer…"
{Jetfire?} It was definitely Valerie. {Jetfire, where are you?}
"Just stay calm, where are you?"
{Just give me a sign and I'll find you.}
He was really confused. If she was able to leave, why didn't she? Still, he aimed his blaster into the air and shot a single round like a flare. Valerie, being up in the sky, saw the blast and flew quickly to the source of the blast. She was so excited, she didn't explain about her current form, so you can imagine Jetfire's surprise to see a swan flying toward him. He could feel Valerie's heart calling to him from the swan but it couldn't be possible. Yet, the swan had the same sky blue eyes Valerie had.
"Jetfire." The mech stared at the swan that flew in front of him. Valerie looked at Jetfire, hoping he'd recognize her.
"Valerie? What happened?"
"I'll explain later, you've got to follow me."
He nodded and transformed to follow Valerie in the sky. For the first time in a while for the two lovers, they felt happy. At long last they were able to see each other, though it wasn't what Jetfire expected. They soon arrived at the lake and Valerie landed in the water as Jetfire transformed back on the shoreline. The sun had set and the moon was slowly rising up. Hot Shot and the others were watching from behind a bunch of rocks.
"Okay Valerie, please tell me what's going on?" Jetfire asked as Valerie checked to see the moonlight hit the waters of the lake. She couldn't respond as the water around her began to rise again. Jetfire stood there shocked, watching as the water covered the swan and when it fell, there stood his Valerie, perfectly human and looking as lovely as ever.
"Jetfire…" She wanted to say more but she was so overwhelmed at seeing her sparkmate again after so long. Jetfire couldn't even say anything, he just ran and held her in his arms and she eagerly returned, tears falling freely now. "I'm so glad you're here."
"I'm sorry it took me so long." He whispered, treasuring the feeling of being close to her again. Even though he wanted to keep hold of her, he needed to know what was going on. "Valerie, you've got to tell me who's done this to you."
"It's Sideways, he's the one who kidnapped me."
"But how did he make you turn into a swan?" He asked, dashing the fact that he was banished years ago.
"It the Energon he exposed to me, it keeps turning me into a swan when the sun comes up. I have to be on the lake and the moonlight must hit the water for it to make me human again." Valerie answered, looking up at Jetfire. Even though she was sad, thinking about turning back into swan, she was happy to be close to Jetfire again.
"There must be a way to cure you."
"There is, I've got to kiss my sparkmate…"
"You don't need to ask for that." He smiled as he covered her eyes and kissed her happily. She kissed back gently and soon broke apart. She looked down as he placed his facemask back on.
"Jetfire…" She blushed and Jetfire couldn't help but chuckle at this sight. "You didn't let me finish. Now you have to declare your eternal love to me in front of everyone."
"Valerie." Jetfire noticed his sparkmate turning visibly pale and knew Sideways was coming. "Let me at him." He growled, but Valerie grabbed him.
"No, you've got to run." She whispered, hoping her captor couldn't hear them.
"Then come to the base tomorrow night. There's a party going on and I'll do it there." He said as he slipped something into her hand and she looked down to see a golden necklace. "I wanted to give this to you, but you got taken."
"Jetfire, it's beautiful. Thank you." She said, trying not to cry as he left.
"There you are Valerie." Sideways said coming from the shadows. How long had he been there? "What are you doing?"
"Oh…nothing." She said as he stared at her.
"You know you can't hide from me, Valerie. How was it seeing your sparkmate again?" He asked, coming to her and ripping her necklace from her fingers. "Did you honestly think I'd let you go to that party tomorrow night?"
"You can't stop me, you monster." Valerie hissed, feeling braver. With the prospect of finally being free and being with Jetfire again, it gave her the courage to stand up for herself. "You'd have to kill me to keep me away for Jetfire."
"I won't have to. If you haven't noticed, there won't be a moon tomorrow night." She turned to look up to see he was right. The moon was a crescent shape and would be a new moon the next night. Sideways just laughed cruelly as Valerie fell to her knees, the feeling of sadness, similar to the night she first arrived, returning to her as she broke down in tears.
Well, that's chapter 2. If you want to see the dress Valerie wears, check out Aerith-The-Evenstar's DeviantArt account.