Sorry for the bit of a wait before this update, I got stuck halfway. I rewrote a few things because I couldn't figure out how I wanted it.

Anyhow, this is the last official chapter of Epoch, the next is simply stating instalments to come and their current stages of development.

Warning: mentions of underage sex.

[I just wanted to get that down—nothing is detailed, only mentioned in a comical way but still felt I had to put a warning.]

o-o-o-o-o

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore be treated with great caution." ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

o-o-o-o-o

Chapter 7: Revelations

Two days had passed, almost agonisingly slowly. Maybe it was because I was right back at square one of when I'd originally been injured, meaning I was becoming cooped up and stir crazy again because I couldn't do my workout routine or other things that needed bodily movements.

I was also frustrated because I'd still yet to figure out what I was forgetting. I had even begun pacing back and forth until Ratchet had snapped at me to: "Sit you aft down right now youngling."

I did, fearing that grumpy doctor trait that every medic seemed to inhabit.

Sides had taken to asking about Earth, using that as a distraction. Which I was most grateful for because it made me think; successfully making me forget about what had been making me frustrated to begin with. Even if only temporarily.

I'd even ended up taking a peaceful nap after lunch, plonking out after some chicken soup and bread. Though I have the odd suspicion that Aria drugged me because I don't sleep well. Period.

After that, I offered a wash to the bots, and although Ratchet protested, I responded with it was this or pacing. To the others amusement, the grumpy Autobot conceded and let me do it.

Bumblebee whirled and crouched as soon as Ratchet had agreed, a grin on his face plate. "Me first!"

I laughed, reaching out to pat Bee's face. "First come, first serve." He chirped and buzzed in excitement and immediately transformed into his alt-mode.

I laughed again and the others all just watched on, amused by the youngest Autobot's actions. I felt all fuzzy inside, it was a bit of an odd reaction to amusement but who was I to deny the warm fuzzy feeling?

I grabbed the hose, leading Bee outside. His entire frame buzzed with excitement, only to get soaked in cold water when I turned it on. He let out an electrical sounding squeal in shock. I burst into laughter.

Suddenly there was a blur of colour and I was tackled to the ground with a yelp and laughter from the blob. I found myself looking into a pair of bright blue eyes that belonged to the face of the sixteen-year-old.

"That wasn't very nice Zelda!" he pouted, and I laughed again.

"But it was funny!"

Bumblebee just grin, standing quickly and it took me a few seconds to realise he'd been reaching for the hose and I let out a wordless shout, scrambling to my feet in an attempt to book it, but he got me anyway.

I squealed as the cold water hit me. "Jesus Christ!"

Bumblebee continued to giggle as I fought in vain to block the water. "Revenge! Now suffer!"

"The horror!" I shouted, unable to keep the grin off my face.

o-o-o-o-o

Aria watched as Zelda and Bumblebee continued to mess around, the original purpose of the hose having been forgotten; it had been a long time since she'd seen her sister acting so free.

It left her feeling relieved and happy because Zelda might laugh and grin, but deep down, Aria knew she was hurting. Hurting and lost, and maybe now she could finally put that part of her to rest.

Meeting the Autobots had already made an impact that was like a breath of fresh air for Zelda—even if her sister hadn't yet realised the difference, she had.

It was the reactions to the Autobots that had caught Aria's attention to begin with—when they'd gone to find Bee in Hoover Dam.

Aria could recall the soft and sweet tone she'd used with Bumblebee—like a mother talking to a child.

But Zelda's reaction to the tiny Cybertronian Sector-Seven had created was another stand out point to Aria, because her heart went out to her sister. Aria wasn't going to pretend that she understood what Zelda had—is feeling most of the time, and her responses varied depending on the severity.

But Aria knew Zelda had related to the poor thing and so she ran on almost instinct when Simmons had murdered it in the belief it had been trying to kill them.

"The All-Spark is their life source, Simmons! You know what that means?" Zelda had hissed. Simmons swallowed nervously and none of them said anything, standing in tense silence. "It means you'd been selfishly using that power to bring Cybertronians to life and then seeing a bunch of organic beings staring at them—they try and escape because they don't understand but you just kill them—you murdered them, Simmons!"

She shoved him into the wall, a feral growl escaping her. "And you wanna know the most heart-breaking thing about that! They were children!"

Aria felt like her heart had stopped beating in that moment—her chest heavy with this deep pressure of horror and sorrow for the life that had been robbed. But her eyes watched her sister's face, the way it darkened, and her blue eyes flickered wildly in anger.

Because the look was familiar—and it scared Aria the most out of everything she'd ever seen or ever would see.

"You and your friends are children murderers, Simmons." She shoved him again, spitting at his feet. "I hope you're happy because I'm disguised to be a human because of people like you."

"I haven't seen Zelda laugh like this in years." Aria finally hummed aloud.

Her words caught the attention of the Autobots, turning to glance down at her form stood beside Ratchet's leg.

"What do you mean?" Sideswipe blinked down at her.

Aria smiled sadly. "Zel's been through quite a lot in her years, but she hasn't really been the same since Adan—" she cut herself off, closing her eyes at the slip up. She quietly cursed herself to Hell for it.

"Adan?" Sunstreaker questioned quietly. Her eyes moved to his, there was a soft questioning look. They all had it when she glanced between them all.

Aria sighed. "He was a former D.A.A. member—he was murdered several years ago. They'd been best friends and—…dating at the time of his death."

Aria's voice cracked at the end—because Adan's death had been the breaking point for her, Zelda had told her in confidence.

The image of a short bleached blonde Zelda with this defeated and exhausted expression had left Aria feeling the most useless she'd ever felt. The recovery would be long—and Zelda still was. It might not be as nearly as bad then when she'd come back to them but healing the mind was a long and complicated thing.

"Recovery of the processor doesn't happen in one night." Ratchet hummed. "But she is happy—and relaxed despite everything that has happened as of late. It's relaxing in on itself."

Aria blinked—how'd he known that, unless he was reading her body language? She shook that off. "That's just Sunbird. I'm not all that surprised—she's very… nonchalant about these things because of everything we've gone through with the D.A.A."

"A warrior." Ironhide added, turning his gaze onto the now playfighting duo. "She's a fighter."

Aria's own eyes returned to Zelda and Bumblebee's holoform. He appeared young—and Ratchet had explained to her that their holoform's took on the look and age of what they would look like had they been born human. It was a bit scary, if she was being honest because Bumblebee looked sixteen.

Young, her mind whispered, and she had to ask. "Bumblebee's holoform." She looked to Ratchet. "He looks so young."

"Indeed." Ratchet sighed. "But that is the way of war. And albeit, he's a lot older than you humans, he is still a youngling to us."

Aria sighed. "Depressing."

She got murmurs of agreement from all four.

o-o-o-o-o

After Bee's and I's play fight came to an end, I got on with actually washing his alt-mode but quickly found that the sun's heat was a little bit too much for me and instead I ended up sunbathing on the ground until Sideswipe had rolled up to me and asked: "What you laying there for?"

"Sunbathing." I hummed, squinting up at him.

Sides laughed and sat down beside me, laying down too.

"What are you doing?" I laughed, shooting him a questioning look.

"Sunbathing." He grinned.

I snorted. "Can you even feel the sun on your plating?" I got to my feet and started climbing up onto his chest, where I sat myself down to continue my bathing.

"Yes." Sunstreaker's voice had me lifting my head up to look at him. "While it wouldn't be to the extend you humans feel, our metal does heat up."

"Cool."

Sides chuckled, I could feel the vibration. I hummed in unison to it, the sound and feeling of it strangely relaxing. I listened as Sunstreaker joined us on the ground—for a moment I'd thought he'd laid down too but a peek at him showed he'd just sat down, one knee bent with an arm resting on said knee. He looked relaxed, posture slouched.

I went back to facing the sky, eyes closed as I felt the sun's rays on my face.

At some point, the other Autobots joined us out in the sun. Aria came pottering over with a blanket and bag with food—and sun cream to which she promptly threw at my head, telling me to put some on.

Mia and Eden come to join us all outside after Aria had pinged them over the comm. Soma declined, something about not risking leaving his computers unattended. I made the argument he could just bring a laptop out with him.

He just sneered—playfully of course—and threw in an extra insult too. I let out a hissy snicker—to the amusement of everyone else.

Mia spent a near five minutes just flicking through songs on her iPod until Eden snapped at her to just pick one, she pouted but did so—I Feel like I'm Drowning began playing and I hummed along with it.

You keep dreaming and dark scheming
Yeah, you do
You're a poison and I know that is the truth
All my friends think you're vicious
And they say you're suspicious
You keep dreaming and dark scheming
Yeah, you do

I feel like I'm drowning
I'm drowning
You're holding me down and
Holding me down
You're killing me slow
So slow, oh-no
I feel like I'm drowning
I'm drowning—

I wasn't a very big fan of 'pop' music—while I admit there were good songs, they just weren't my style. Mia had the same line of thought as I did.

I shuffled and sat up, getting the dry feeling in my mouth. "Bluebell." Aria glanced up from her book. "Throw me a water bottle?"

She snorted but did. It nearly hit my face and I grunted. "How rude."

Mia snickered, Eden smirked as he glanced up from his tablet. "That's what you get for not saying please."

Sideswipe chuckled and I turned to glare down at him. He just blinked innocently up at me, arms moving to cross behind his head. I grumbled as unscrewed the top to take a gulp. "I see how it is." I huffed. "I guess I know when I'm not wanted."

I caught Sunstreaker's smirk from the corner of my eye as I stood and jumped off Sideswipe chest. He released a quiet rumble that made me pause for a nano-second. The rumbling stopped before I could understand what it was, and I was already walking back to the hanger to pay much attention anyway.

I heard someone stand up quickly, rushing up behind me and—

I side stepped in time to see Aria go stumbling. I caught her before she hit the ground and she pouted up at me as she lay slumped in my grip.

"How'd you know what I was doing?"

I smirked, letting go of her when she sat up and struck a dramatic pose to which I got laughter for. "C'mon, Aria. You should bloody know me by now!"

"You have sensitive audio receptors for a human." Ironhide smirked. "A good quality to have."

I grinned and laughed. "And strength!" with that I promptly lifted Aria, she yelped, and I quickly adjusted her and raised her above my head. She protested the entire time.

Bee tumbled backwards laughing at Aria's screech. "Zelda! Put me. The fuck. Down. Now!"

Sideswipes and Sunstreaker joined Bee's laughing. I turned back to Ironhide, who smirked, and Ratchet, who glared at me.

"What's with the glare, Ratch'?"

He sneered. "You're still healing, Zelda! Put her down."

I pouted. "But I'm fine! If I wasn't then I wouldn't be able to lift her up!"

My ribs had completely stopped hurting after lunch and the only issues I had was the slight weakness in my muscles, it was a bit straining but nothing serious—I needed to keep up with my workout somehow after all.

"That doesn't matter!" he rebuffed. "And don't lie to me! I can see your arms shaking!"

"I can feel them too!" Aria chipped in, and I pouted, busted.

I opened my mouth to respond when the sound of a vehicle drew my attention. We all turned to see who it was as Optimus's familiar truck form came around the corner.

There was a slight tug. I frowned in confusion—what? It felt like a physical tug of a rope from my chest—I don't—

"Zelda." Aria chided. I blinked, realising I'd been distracted and quickly lowered her back to the ground. Once her feet were planted, she turned to give me a look. A curious and confused one.

I wasn't one to get easily distracted after all.

I shrugged at her silent question, just as confused about it.

Aria hummed as she grabbed my bicep and began to feel the muscles. They twitched under her massaging.

Optimus had changed course at some point, and instead headed towards us where he stopped eventually. His driver's door opened, and Logan climbed out with a grunt as his feet it the ground. Aria pat my shoulder before moving to greet Logan.

Optimus' form gave an elongated hissssss from his hydraulics as his transformation cycle began. I moved back to the group, this time perching on Sideswipes' leg seeing as he'd sat up at Optimus's arrival.

Aria and Logan shared a kiss.

"Optimus." Ironhide gruffed.

"Ironhide." Optimus returned but my eyes were on Aria and Logan. Hmph, talk about PDA.

Feeling a set of eyes on me, I turned to the owner of said eyes and met Optimus's vibrant blues. He knelt. "I am glad to see you up and about, Zelda."

I felt mushy again—damn, where was all these emotions coming from?

I gave a thumbs up, intending to just ignore the feeling. "Thanks for the concern, big guy."

My eyes turned back to Aria and Logan, who were still kissing. I jeered. "Enough with the buggin' PDA already!"

They jumped apart, blatantly startled. The reaction got laughter from the younger bots and my fellow humans.

Aria glared. "Zelda." Her cheeks burned red and Logan coughed, averting his gaze, suddenly finding the vast desert very much interesting. Actually, saying that, I spared a quick glance in that direction—you could see Adaven, an old ghost town, in the far distance.

"What?" I rebuffed, turning back to Aria with feigned innocence.

"It's completely natural for a couple to engage in kissing." Aria answered drily, not fooled by my response. Logan chuckled. She shook her head, hands on her hips. "Anyway, you were the same with Adan!"

I blinked—viciously ignoring the stab that ripped right through me at the name drop—and scoffed. "We never did it in public! So, hush your mush!"

Mia crackled, falling onto Eden's shoulder as she continued laughing. There was some joke there, something that was currently going over my head.

"What's got you laughing?" Eden asked, we were all looking at in confusion.

Mia whacking her leg several times as she wheezed for breath. It was a bit concerning actually—I would be seriously worried if this wasn't, well, a bit of a common thing for Mia when she got wound up like this.

She finally got a hold of her breath." I'm just remember the time I walked in on you and Adan half naked and—"

I groaned—now I understood what she was fitting about. I buried my face in my hands in mortification.

"—And I knew what I had walked in on!" she screeched in laughter.

"Wait a second!" Aria yelped. I glanced up just as Aria's head snapped to me, eyes narrowed. "How old were you?!"

I let out a sheepishly laugh. "Fifteen."

She screeched like a banshee this time, reaching and grabbing the closed thing to her before lobbing it at me. I let out my own screech in surprise.

"Underage!"

I attempted to shield myself when she continued throwing things—where was she getting it all from?!

"Aria!" I yelped, and wobbled, falling backwards off Side's leg. I hit the ground with a huff. I heard Logan attempt to get Aria to calm down while I blinked, eyes catching Sideswipes'—I noticed his eyes were more on the purple side of blue. It was a pretty colour actually. I wonder if Sunstreaker's were like that.

I blinked and shook my head, turning when I saw a flash of golden yellow.

"What does she mean by underage?" Sunstreaker questioned.

I sat up, giving him a sheepish smile. "Sex."

He blinked twice.

And yeah, it did seem like his eyes were the same as Sideswipes—cool.

o-o-o-o-o

I peeked into the room, going out of my way to avoid Aria after her blow up about my loss of virginity. Thank God, Logan had been there—Eden and Mia would've left me to Aria's rage.

Seeing that the room was clear of blue hair, I stepped in and turned my attention to the Autobots that had called me here in the first place. The first thing I noted was that they were clustered around Jazz's body. I swallowed, feeling a lurch from my heart. I didn't know what it was, but it was more than just sorrow for his death.

The Autobot all turned as I entered, their varying shades of blue eyes bright and focused on me. No matter how friendly they seem, I couldn't help but feel less than them—but in a way it was true, Cybertronians are far superior then humans in more than just height.

Pushing away those thoughts, I turned my eyes to Bee—the closes bot to me and sat beside Jazz's body—and I could almost feel elation radiating from him in an EM field like way.

It freaked me out more than it had earlier because those were just mushy feelings—this was more defined.

"Uh, hi?" I turned my eyes back to Optimus when he shifted. "So, what did you want to discuss?"

"Zelda." My eyes snapped to Ratchet as he knelt, offering his hand. At the silent offer, I moved forward and sat on his palm, legs handing off. I latched onto his thumb when he stood once more, but his movements were deliberate and gentle. He moved closer to Jazz's welded together body so that I was suspended over his chest.

Another lurch tugged at me, only this time it was a lot stronger and I let out a soft but sharp huff at the feeling.

Confused, I glanced to every Autobot and noticed their eyes were centred on me. "What?"

"What do you feel, Zelda?" Optimus prompted, bring my attention onto him.

I paused, unsure if I should—surely these beings, aliens much grander, older, and far more than I could ever be, would think me insane. I bit my lip. "I… you. I can feel you all." It wasn't—I wasn't nearly as surprised then I felt I should be. "It's like I can feel your emotions—imprints of your emotions anyway." My eyes returned to Jazz. "I think I can feel Jazz too, but shouldn't, should I?"

"Try and feel him again." Optimus persisted. His voice snapped my attention back to him and it left me with a dizzy rush from the sudden movement. I exhaled in confusion. "Focus on feeling Jazz. Trust us."

With furrowed brows, I closed my eyes and began to feel along those wires that allowed their emotions to float over. It just a few moments of feeling them, the threads cleared—became more prominent. I let out a shaky breath as I brushed along the a lax yellow one with a hum that sounded suspiciously like a bumblebee—it was warm and bright, it reminded me off a child who wanted to prove themselves but kept a hold of that childhood innocence at the same time. Bee.

The second one was tight—taut—and rough around the edges but unwavering loyal that led to Ironhide.

The third was coiled tightly linked to Ratchet. It was calm and caring but set in his ways.

The fourth—and firth—was unique. Unlike the pervious three, it started as one—it was taut much like Ironhide's. The left became softer in nature—playful and fiercely protective of those he considered family. The right was cooler and aloof but also playful and fiercely protective of those considered family. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker—in that order.

Finally, the last active one was thick but impossibly thin at the same time—indiscernible strength and leadership, and pure and unwavering loyalty. Optimus Prime.

There were others—but I couldn't even begin to count how many. Some were bunched together while others spread far and wide. But unlike those close to me, they were faded and if I reached out, I wasn't able to tug at them like the pervious ones.

However, my attention was quickly grasped by another—it was brighter then the others but nowhere near to the Autobots on Earth. I frowned again as I noticed the way it reached a point and faded, the ends frayed oddly.

I toyed with it curiously. It was full of life—humour and carefree in nature. It buzzed with this odd exhilarating feeling—perhaps the peek of a high would be the best way to describe it.

It took me a moment to realise it was Jazz.

I grasped it and tugged—somewhere between harshly and guiding. It sparked in response—the thread tightened—became more stable. I shuddered when some sort of energy sparked from me in return, it travelled down that line and brought life to that faded thread. I watched as it lit up and reconnected completely with Jazz.

I slapped a hand over my mouth to stop the shout of surprise as emotions blossomed to life from his end. It was the movement of silver from below that made me flinch back. "Holy shit!"

I stared, stunned, as Jazz slowly sat up.

Jazz glanced at me, his visor clear, letting me see his eyes. They were a purple-blue grape colour—violet in colour. But his eyes were shinning with something I couldn't name and so I gently prodded at our connection to find out. Awe, disbelief, and complete gratitude.

I touched at the others, they were the same expect gratitude was something akin to admiration.

I snapped to Optimus and demanded: "Explain."

"Energy cannot simply be destroyed." Optimus rumbled. "That is simple truth no matter where you are within the universe."

I know that, I thought in frustration.

"To simply put it." Ratchet continued—no doubt they felt my frustration. "The All-Spark's power can only be transferred to another."

"Me?" I asked. He nodded. "Why though?" I glanced between him and Optimus. "No offense of anything but there are thousands of people better suited then I am. Trust me."

"It would not have done so, if you were not worthy, Zelda." Ironhide gruffed. I couldn't help the self-depreciating, humourless laugh that escaped and the bots around me flinched at the sound.

"Zelda." At Sunstreaker's voice, I turned to him. His hardened gaze pricing into me. "Don't think so lowly of yourself. You risked your life for us after having only find out we existed that same Earth day."

"Others would have done the same had they been in my place." I argued—it was true!

"Yes, that might be true." Sideswipe interjected, smiling. "But they were not there—it was you."

"You even stood up to Barricade!" Bumblebee chirped, grinning.

I growled. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" Optimus questioned.

"Stop justifying my actions."

Jazz chuckled and I suddenly found myself lifted my Ratchet's hand and cradled in Jazz's. I hissed lowly in surprise as he held me to his chest. "Ah'll r'anstate w'at Sunstreaker said, Z'lda. T'eh All-Spark wouldn'ta chosen ya if ya weren't worthy."

I opened my mouth.

"D'ere ain't any point in arguin' w'eth meh, Lil' one."

I sneered at him, he stared down at me in amusement—in fact, they were all amusement by my response.

"This isn't funny!" Oh shit, my eyes widened. "What the bloody hell am I gonna tell Aria anyway!"

Sides and Bee burst into laughter.

"This isn't funny!"

o-o-o-o-o

So here's the end of the story! I wanted to thank you all for sticking with me, especially after the odd hiatus and entire overhaul that happened.

There will be a short while before the second book will be published, this is because I've not yet finished storyboarding—almost there, however.

I will be posting an author note when it had been posted however.

I hope to see you there when I do!

See you soon,

Sleepless Kueen.