After the frightening ordeal was over, Optimus fell soundly into recharge. His processor instinctively brought up old memories of Sentinel and Megatron, trying to make sense of recent events. Consciously, Optimus wouldn't have even processed a thought of his mentor or his brother. But unconsciously, deep in Optimus Prime's thoughts he craved an answer from both of them. How could it have come to this? As Optimus Primes memories shuffled around in his head, he came upon one memory that stood out. It was the orbital cycle before he met Sentinel Prime. As much as he wanted to push the memory away, a gentle voice stilled his restless thoughts and whispered "Remember."

(Flashback/Dream)

"Is that all the energon left?" Optimus whined, seeing one empty energon cube in his brother's right hand and another cube in his left hand that was almost full. Megatron sat down in front of his younger brother and gave him the cube in his left hand.

"I'm afraid so." Megatron said. Optimus stopped himself before he could take a sip of energon.

"You didn't get any for yourself?"

"I don't need it."

"Maybe we should go to the overflow together."

"I told you this is all I could get. The rest of the energon has drained down stream and into Cybertron's core." Megatron growled. He stood up quickly. "Now finish that up. We have to walk further than we did the cycle before." Optimus refrained from whining again. He didn't want to make Megatron anymore angry. He drank his energon, regretfully. Every sip of energon he swallowed, he reminded himself, was one more sip he should have shared with Megatron.

Optimus could tell, Megatron wasn't refusing energon just to be the responsible big brother. He was still too upset about the death of Artemis to care about his own wellbeing. Optimus was struggling to cope as well. But hunger began to distract him from his previous fears of living without both creators. Megatron had lead Optimus far away from their home in search of help, and now they faced starvation, hopelessly lost in the energon deprived plateau of nowhere.

When Optimus finished the energon, Megatron grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up to his feet. Optimus bent down to grab his empty energon cube. But Megatron swatted it out of his hand. The cube fell and shattered in front of Optimus. "You don't need to carry that. It will be a long time before we come across energon again anyway." Megatron snapped. Optimus nodded quietly and started walking. Megatron took the lead. They walked on for miles into uncharted territories of Cybertron. Optimus couldn't help but feel alone without the dazzling lights of Iacon bordering the horizon. Now there was nothing to look forward to in the distance except for more lonely wide open space. Megatron knew the odds of he and Optimus surviving long in the environment they were in were slim (though he was too proud to admit it). Even when there was no hope left, Megatron pushed himself to take care of his little brother before himself. He had to honor Artemis and be brave for Optimus.

Then Megatron spotted something. A glimmer of red was peaking out of Cybertron's crust. Megatron approached the object and knelt down in front of it. He tugged at the object's pointed red tip and pulled it out of the metal landscape. Astonished by what he discovered, Megatron hollered for his brother.

"Optimus!" Megatron called. Optimus sprinted to his brother's side and gazed at the shining jewel in Megatron's hand. "Look. An energon star." Megatron explained. Optimus had never seen an energon star up close before. He leaned over his brother's shoulder and scrutinized the flashing red five pointed treasure. Surprisingly Megatron reached over his shoulder and placed the energon star in Optimus' small hand. Optimus gave Megatron a startled look and stepped back. Megatron stood up and presented the energon star to Optimus again. "It will help you grow strong." Megatron said, giving the 'I know what's best for you' look. Optimus didn't want to disobey his brother. He was the only family he had left.

So the youngling gave in and attached the energon star to his chest and let it feed him its power. Forgetting his tiredness before, Optimus ran ahead suddenly bursting with energy. Megatron didn't mind Optimus running in front of him. After all, Megatron only stayed ahead of Optimus most of their journey to let Optimus believe he knew where they were going. But the truth was, Megatron wasn't leading them anywhere, and he didn't know of anyone who could help them. Megatron acted brave to keep his brother's spirits high and to keep him alive for as long as he could. By this time in their journey, almost two orbital cycles on their own, Megatron held a hand over his aching empty tanks, and slowly walked behind Optimus. Megatron assumed that Optimus was catching on to Megatron's cues. He was hungry, exhausted, and they were both totally lost. But Megatron never verbally admitted to it.

Later Optimus asked "Where are we going, Brother?" Megatron internally groaned. He was hoping he'd never have to answer that question. How was he supposed to tell Optimus they were more than likely going to starve to death? "Can we stop for a klick?" Optimus requested when Megatron didn't respond to him. Optimus began to bend a knee to crouch down and rest. But Megatron held onto Optimus' shoulder and pulled him back up. Optimus shot Megatron a desperate look of teary optics. Megatron sighed and hunched over. Since Optimus was so light, Megatron could swing Optimus onto his back with ease. Optimus complied and wrapped his arms around Megatron's neck. When Optimus was comfortable, Megatron continued on with his brother on his back.

"Where we are going, there are so many more energon stars." Megatron told Optimus softly. "There is more energon than you could ever drink; and more energon treats than you could ever consume." Optimus giggled at that part. His optics began to dim as he relaxed his head on Megatron's shoulder and contently listened for the rest of the story. "It is a wonderful place where we'll live happily together with many more younglings."

"I wish we were there now." Optimus sighed. "How much further till we find...?"

"Kaon." Megatron said, still speaking soothingly to Optimus. "It will take some time before we find it. Kaon is very far from our previous home."

"Have you ever seen Kaon?" Optimus questioned.

"No. I've never left home. Same as you. Remember?" Megatron glanced over his shoulder, surprised to see Optimus drifting into recharge. "Recharge well, brother." Megatron mumbled. He peered up at the stars. At first everything seemed peaceful, but then Megatron caught the sight of a bright red haze in the atmosphere. His worst fears were realized. An acid storm was brewing overhead. If the younglings were exposed to the acid rain, it could deactivate them immediately. Since the brothers were still very young, they had little armor to shield their circuitry. A splash of acid rain on the younglings' circuits would be a quick death, nonetheless still an agonizing one.

Megatron had no where to run for shelter and the acid storm was coming in fast. On Megatron's back, Optimus began to stir. He'd caught the distinctive smell of acid rain. Megatron tried rocking his brother gently, persuading him to recharge. But Optimus' curiosity and fear got the best of him. His optics lit up with a startled flash and his neck craned to the stars. He spotted the gathering acid storm clouds and quickly ducked his head down. Optimus tried to nuzzle his head deep into the crook of Megatron's neck, as if Megatron could provide any protection.

"Megatron?" Optimus quivered.

"Recharge." Megatron replied in a softer voice than usual. Without any further hesitation, Megatron marched on in the opposite direction of the storm. Optimus relaxed his head against Megatron's shoulder, but he couldn't recharge no matter how hard he tried. Not with the bitter scent of acid rain following them.