Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers: Animated, the show, the characters, etc; nor do I own some of the characters in this fanfic. But, I do own other characters that you'll find in this fanfic.
"Spark 2 Spark."
Prolouge Pt. 02. --
"Spread Those Wings & Fly."
"BYE, DAD! SEE YOU SOON?!"
"BE CAREFUL, SARI?!"
"DON'T WORRY SO MUCH, DAD?! I'LL BE FINE!" the human we all knew as Sari yelled as she waved bye to her dad, leaving her home in Sumdac Tower, to go meet her, the Autobots. When she got to their base, she greeted them with a smile. "O.K., we're all ready to go our road trip!"
"I can't wait 'til we get there!" Bumlebee said as he showed off his excitement.
"C'mon, Bumblebee?!" Rachet caught his shoulder in his grip. "We still got ta get on the road fore that happens."
"Give him a break, Ratchet." Bulkhead stepped in. "I'm sure even you're looking forward to going on this trip."
"Bulkhead's got a good point." Prowl said as he pulled Ratchet's hands off of Bumblebee. "Besides, as the humans say, 'No harm, no foul.', right?!"
"Uh-huh!" Sari nodded as she turned my way. "O.K. now: everything's packed, my dad's O.K. with this trip, whenever you're ready, you can give the word?!"
"Oh, O.K.! Autobots?! Transform & roll out!" I called out as everyone transformed into vehicle-mode.
"Let's rough & roll!" Bumblebee yelled.
"That's 'rock' & roll!"
"Whatever?!"
'I wonder if Airazor would have liked to camping trip with us?! She was always a lover of the outdoors. I sure miss her!' I thought to myself.
"Hey, Boss-bot?! Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing, Bulkhead. Just thinking about.....Airzor."
"The girl that owned that one car that I knocked up into a tree?!....."
".....Who climbed said tree to get said car?!....."
".....& who dropped her handbag climbing that very tree, only to have Bulkhead catch it?!....."
".....&, not ta mention, she was also the one who screamed at 'im when he give it back ta her, causing 'im ta scream as well, alertin' us & havin' ya get her & her car outta that tree, when we found that she was that same girl ya saved from that fire, 'bout a week ago?!"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
"Ooh! Optimus' got a crush! Optimus' got a crush!" Sari then began calling out in a 'sing-song' voice, but stopped & looked at Bumblebee & Bulkhead. "You guys do know what a crush is, right?!"
"Uh-huh!"
"I do not have a crush!" I said, trying to deny that fact, but the tone of my voice said otherwise. "& even if I did, it would not matter! She's a human, & I'm.....well, I'm a big mess of parts. It wouldn't work out."
&&&
Once at the campsite.....
"So?! What do you guys think?"
"Not bad for a place filled with organic life-forms all over."
"Nice!"
"Cool!"
"Lovely!"
"Beautiful!"
"Yeah. It's been a long time since the last time I've been here."
"You've been here before, Sari?!"
"Yep! My mom & I went camping here when I was 3 years old."
"What was your mom like?"
"Well, I couldn't tell you much, Bulkhead. She died when I was 5 years old, but she was real nice, & kind, & she always a smile on her face, & she had this warm voice that make me feel safe."
"I'm sorry, Sari. I had no idea!" Sari's story make me think about the story of Airazor's parents & their fate. It made me remember.
&&&
FLASHBACK
I was on patrol, when I'd thought 'pay' Airazor a visit. When she was not around, I found it too quiet. She then jumped me! "BOO!"
"Aaaaahhhhh!!" I screamed as I then realized it was her. "Airazor?! Don't scare me like that! I was so worried!"
"You were worried?!"
"Didn't your creators ever teach you not to sneak on others like that!?"
"My creators?!" "Yeah, the organics who helped bring you into your life?! Your, how did Sari put it, parents?!"
"How dare you talk about my parents that way?!" she just then said to me in an angry tone. "You don't know anything about them!"
"Only because you won't talk about them!"
"Fine. I'll tell you, but remember, you asked for it." she said as she took a breathe & began to explain. "My dad was a mechanic, one of the best, always did things on his own, never took any help from anyone. My mom was a engineer, who excelled in intelligence & kindness, she was her own person, never running with the crowd. Anyway, they met at a technology convention, & after they got to know each other, they fell in love. Years later, they got married, & some more years later, then they had me." with those last words, she hanged her head & sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"When I was born, everyone thought I was going to die, 'cause I was so small at the time, it seemed like it was way too easy for me to get sick, except my family. My parents said I was strong, & I was bold, even as a newborn, so, that's how they knew I would live. They named Anastasia, which means 'one who raise again', or if you want a short definition, 'phoenix'."
"Phoenix?!"
"That's a big firey bird, it can carry heavy loads, it can heal even a machine with it's tears long as they touch it, & mostly importantly, it can be reborn from it's ashes by burning itself in a nest that it builds after living a 500-year 'lifespan'. But I myself, have always thought to a bald eagle in a past life, the ruler of all birds of prey!" she explain as she then just started the human process called crying.
"Uh-huh! Whenever I think about my parents, I think about that day."
"What day!?"
"I must've been 6 or 7 years old when it happened, maybe even 8. It had been raining a lot for some several days, & I was recovered from a cold, that's a virus we humans get; anyway, my parents went to dinner while I stayed home with my granny & my grandpa. I should've insisted that they stay home, I should've! Then they wouldn't have come upon that fallen tree in the path, or scurved off the path, or ram the car into several trees, or drove off a cliff & into the river below. My parents died in the mother of all car crashes!"
"Airazor?! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!I didn't mean to....."
".....Pry?! That's O.K., Opps'!" she replied as she finished my sentence for me & then pressed a finger to the bridge of her nose. "I should've told you sooner."
"Yeah. But there's something that you need to understand." I said as I tried to reassure her. "What happened that day wasn't your fault, you shouldn't go blaming yourself for something that was beyond your control."
"Thanks, Stiff-bolt."
"Anytime, 'Raz, anytime."
"ANASTASIA?!?!"
"Oh?!" she snarled to herself after her grandmother called for her. "I'M COMING, GRANNY?!?!" she yelled back as a response. "Gotta go, Big guy! See ya later, same time tomorrow?!" she said as I then nodded & she ran off into the night.
&&&
END FLASHEND
&&&
"OPTIMUS?! OPTIMUS PRIME?!"
"Sorry?! I.....I must've spaced out again?!"
"You've been doing that a lot lately!"
"I'm fine!" I said, not watching my temper, as my tone & voice rang throughout the campsite. I tried to calm myself down by rubbing my forehead & focusing on the wish to become human. Everything got 'blurry', & I went into statis lock after that!
"OPTIMUS?!"
Shortly later.....
"Optimus?!"
"Mnm?!" when I onlined my optics, I was in for a shock. "Sari?! You grew!"
"I haven't grown a inch, Optimus. You've become a human."
"WHAT?!" I looked at my hands, instead of hard metal, there was soft, removable 'leather'. I was true! I've become a human.
"Darn it, Prime?! What did ya do ta become a human!?"
"I'm not sure, I just rubbed my forehead & focused on the wish to become human, & then it happened."
"Well.....try it again, only this time, you wish you're back to being an Autobot."
"O.K.?!"
I did as I was told, but nothing happened. "I don't think it's working, Sari."
"Darnit!" Sari said as she sat & then 'glared' at me for some odd reason. "Optimus?! I think there's something strange in your pockets?!"
"What?!" I then searched my 'pockets' & I found something -- a truck-trailer with my colors & the Autobot's crest on it. "Let's see something?!" I then lifted the crest & twisted it clockwise -- & I was back!
"Whoa?! 'Ya mind tellin' us how ya jus' did that?!"
"I wish I could, Ratchet."
"Well, that's gonna take some getting used to."
"I guess to get in some practice on this new-found ability of mine, then?!"
Screech!
I looked up as I heard a bird's screech & I saw a bald eagle. "Airazor?!" I muttered under my intakes. "Nah! 'Couldn't be."
"Something else wrong?!"
"It's nothing, Ratchet."
"Eh, young bots?!" was all he said, other than this one thing. "What'cha gonna do?"
"Oh, well?! Look, you guys?!" I then point towards Bumblebee, Bulkhead & Sari. "Me, Ratchet & Prowl are going for a little walk in the woods, so there had better not be any trouble for when we get back. Bulkhead's in charge until we return." I told them. "Understand?!" I asked as they then nodded. "Good. Let's roll out!"
&&&
A couple of hours.....
"Well now, Optimus?!" I heard Prowl speak as I sat down on a rock after two mega-cycles, or hours as humans call them, of 'practicing'. "How do you feel after that!?"
"I feel great! Better than I have ever felt in a long time."
"O.K., then?! Now, can we get back ta camp 'fore it gets dark." Ratchet asked. "I ain't likin' this one bit. 'Feels we're bein' watched or somethin'."
A few minutes later, along the way back to the campsite.....
"Now, I don't see what you're talking, Ratchet?!" I said while we were walking back to camp. "This place seems pretty peaceful."
"I must agree with Optimus, it is remotely quiet around here."
"Yeah. Well, if there's one thin' I've learned, it's that there's more then meets the eye with somethin's."
"Uh.....'more then meets the eye'. Where did you get from? A movie?!" I laughed at him for a moment, but then I heard.....a twig snap. "Keep your guard on -- we're not alone." I listened in, trying to find whatever made that sound, but then.....
"OW! BULKHEAD, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!?!? RIP MY LEGS OFF?!?!"
"I know that voice anywhere." Prowl said.
"Sorry, Bumblebee?!"
"Ahem?!" I got their attention by coughing out loud as Airazor had once showed me. "Aren't you two supposed to be back at camp?!" I discreetly asked them.
"Oh, dear." that was all they could say.
Shortly afterwords.....
"I still can not believe you left Sari alone at the campsite?!"
"Relax, Prowl?!" Bulkhead reassured him. "Bumblebee got stuck in tree. Besides, Sari said she could take of herself."
"Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!"
"We're so busted, right Bulkhead?!" Bumblebee said, pulling out branches from his tailpipe.
"Uh-huh!"
"Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!"
"We'll discuss this matter later." I said, 'eyeing', them for a moment. "Autobots: transform & roll out!" When we got to the campsite, Sari was nowhere to seen. "SARI?!" I called out as we all looked for her.
"Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!" she ran out of the bushes, screaming. "Help! There's a crazy bird after me!" she exclaimed as she hid behind Bumblebee's leg.
"You are frightened by a little earth bird?!"
"Squawk!"
"Uh, Prowl?!" Bumblebee said, staring at the giant eagle, like the rest of us. "That's not so little!"
"Squawk!" it lurged itself into the air at the two. "Wait 'til I get my claws on you! You're gonna get it!" it spoke! With a familiar voice?! I still was wondering how I mannaged to stop it with my ax at the last nano-klick, however, but I didn't think about it much.
"BOSS 'BOT?!?!"
"I'm fine. 'Just making sure it doesn't hurt Sari." I said as I then received a 'slap in the face' from the eagle.
"How dare you?! I'm not an 'it', I'm a 'she'. You know?! A girl! Get it through your thick.....chrome.....blue.....CPU, you.....stiff-bolt?!" the eagle said as 'she' started to 'trill' on 'her' words. "Optimus?! Optimus Prime?!" I let of 'her' & began to back up. 'She' then did something unbelievible -- 'she' transformed into robot-mode -- just like the way we could.
"What the?!"
"Now, I can do this!" I gasped as she hugged me. "I missed you." she leaned in 'kiss' me, only to pinned by Ratchet.
"Squawk!" I finched in shock. "Let me go! Let me go!"
"Well, I ain't gonna let me go, ya parrot!"
"I ain't no parrot, I'm a bald eagle! Got that, Gramps?!?!"
Ratchet was about to say something, when I stopped him from doing so. "Ratchet! Let her go, that's order!" I said as I watch him slowly release her. "Airazor?! Is that you?"
"Only one way to find out." she kissed me!
Stream came out my 'ears' & she chucked a caw-like giggle. "It is you!"
"Uh.....Optimus?! What's going on!?!? Who is this!? & why did she just you!?"
"She's a friend, Sari. Airazor?! You remember my team?!"
"Sure!" I heard her reply as she pointed to each of my teammates & called them out by name. "Let's see?!.....Bumblebee.....Prowl.....Ratchet's the grandpa figure with the strong grip.....& the one who knocked my car up into a tree is Bulkhead."
"Jeez', you sound like he tried to kill you."
"You've got a point there, kid."
"My name's not '', it's Sari."
"My bad?!"
"AIRAZOR?!?!" a unknown voice called out, causing Airazor to strangely turn, as if she she was worried. "Yo, Squawks?!" Out of the bushes came a giant talking rat.
"Not now, Rattrap!" she called out to the 'rat'.
"Youse've better got.....VEHICONS?!?!" as he looked at us, he 'freaked' & ran off.
"Rattrap, wait?!"
"No way, Birdlady!"
"But at least watch out for that....."
Thud!
"Ooooohhhhh!!!!!"
"Urg!"
".....Tree?!"
"Is he gonna O.K.?"
"Unfortunely, yes."
"Do you know him, Airazor!?"
"His name's Rattrap; his parents, Tigatron & PolarClaw, took me in, when my Granny disappeared."
"I'm so sorry!"
"Don't blame yourself! It's not your fault."
"Well, I'd better take a look at your friend & fix 'im."
"Huh? 'You a doc-bot?!"
"Yes."
"Who knew?!"