A/N: So I'm going to cut right to the chase on this one. Harmony, being your typical four-or five-year-old, has gotten separated from her parents at the mall. (Or whatever they have on Cybertron for shopping.) And, being a child after my own heart, ends up having an adventure that lasts the whole afternoon. XP
xxx
Harmony's Adventure
She didn't panic at first. She just lost track of time, that was all.
Harmony looked through the crowd as she walked slowly back the way she had come. Perhaps her parents had gone back that way to look for her.
When she arrived back at the market entrance, she still hadn't seen any sign of them.
Maybe they went home without me? She wondered, glancing over at the nearby transport station. It was the same one they had come out of a few hours earlier. Would the same one take her home?
So, being the calm, (semi) logical child she was, she decided to try it.
xxx
"What do you mean she's gone?!" Audrey cried, Soundwave was just as confused as her.
"She was right beside me!" He motioned to the empty space.
"Weren't you watching her?!"
"Yes! Until we started talking a few minutes ago…"
Audrey gave a distressed wail, looking back the way they had been walking. Harmony wasn't anywhere to be seen through the shifting mass of people.
"She could be anywhere…" She murmured, panic straining her voice.
"We'll find her." Soundwave promised. "She couldn't have gone far."
xxx
Harmony looked around the station, hesitating. Were all the transports going to the same place? She didn't know how to read much, especially when she was learning Cybertronian and English at the same time finally, she recognized a familiar word.
"Tagon Heights," She said aloud. "... I think that's where 'Rion lives. Auntie and Uncle could help me find them."
She looked around again, still unsure. What if her parents hadn't left the market? It felt like it had been quite some time…
"Are you lost?" Asked a voice from behind. Harmony turned to see a bright pink femme looking down at her. Harmony blinked at the stranger, not responding.
"Where are your parents?" The nice femme asked, looking around. Harmony looked around, too. She had been warned not to talk to strangers.
"Um… they're over there." She lied, pointing to a couple looking at the schedule.
"Oh," The nice femme looked relieved. "Well, you should probably stay near them. You could have gotten separated!"
Harmony nodded, hoping she would go away. When nothing happened, she walked towards the couple.
"Bye bye, now. Stay safe!" The femme said sweetly, hurrying off in the opposite direction. Harmony sighed, turning and running back to the transport. She stepped in behind a family with several sparklings her age. No one noticed her, even as she walked to the back of the shuttle.
"Now departing: Transport 039 for Tagon Heights." A voice from the speakers informed the crowd. A ding sounded from inside the shuttle, and the doors slid closed. Harmony took a deep breath, hoping she had done the right thing.
xxx
"All units be on the lookout for a sparkling femme," The security officer said into his comm link. "Her name is.."
"Harmony," Audrey told him.
"-Harmony. If anyone finds her, bring her to the main office."
He listened for a moment, then looked back to the distressed couple. "They'll keep an eye out. But I'm afraid that's the best I can do for now. If you would like to wait in the office, you may."
"I'll keep looking." Soundwave said. "Audrey, you should go there and try to calm down."
"Calm down!" Audrey cried. "Calm down! I just lost my child! How does that even happen?!"
"Trust me, Ma'am it happens all the time," The officer assured her. "It's no flaw in parenting to lose track of a sparkling, especially in a place like this."
Audrey didn't seem to hear him. Anxiety coursed through her veins as she continued looking around from where she stood.
"You wouldn't mind if she watched the surveillance feeds, would you?" Soundwave asked quietly. "It may be the only way to keep her from getting lost."
The officer nodded. "No problem. We do it all the time for things like this. A frantic mother usually does a better job watching those things than whoever's on duty."
xxx
Harmony stared out the window as the marketplace shrank behind them.
I'll just find Auntie Melody and Uncle Rodimus. She thought to herself, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling. They'll know what to do.
After telling herself that a few hundred times, Harmony got bored and started getting tired. The soft hum of the transport and quiet chatter in the cabin lulling her to sleep.
When she woke up, the transport had stopped. People were filing out of the doors, and she quickly got up to follow them.
This station was much less crowded than the other. It was the middle of the afternoon, now.
Not quite sure where to go from here, Harmony followed a group of grown-ups, wanting to avoid another concerned stranger. She knew where she was going… right?
As she looked around, she wasn't so sure. Tagon Heights wasn't like her home. There were big buildings and factories everywhere, and the sky was kind of grey.
Eventually, she stopped following the grown-ups and walked down a street lined with apartment complexes. She was fairly sure Orion lived in an apartment… but it might have been a house. She had only been there a few times.
"Umm…" She murmured, looking around. The farther she walked, the more unsure she felt. Did Orion live somewhere else? Had she read the sign wrong? No… she read it right.
After a few hours, it started to get dark. Harmony didn't dare ask for help, too scared to talk to another stranger. Did little girls get put in jail for leaving their parents? She was only trying to find someone she knew.
Before long, she was hopelessly lost. On the far edge of the city, all she could see was bare land for miles. A few pale lights glowed a little ways out. Houses.
Now that she was fairly certain her kin didn't live in an apartment, Harmony was desperate enough to go and investigate.
xxx
Audrey was desperate. It was getting dark, and she had forced Soundwave to take her to the police and actually talked them into sending patrols through the city.
"First time?" Asked one of the officers. Soundwave nodded, feeling cold.
"Ohh, we have to find her…" Audrey mumbled, pacing around the lobby. She had already spoken to Ultra Magnus twice and had been refused a third time. The mech cared, but everyone had their limits.
"Audrey, maybe you should go home while we wait for them to find her." Soundwave suggested, bringing her to a stop. She shook her head quickly.
"No. I have to be here when they bring her back. Maybe I'll call Vibes and tell her to be on the lookout, too…"
"Vibes is on Earth with Mason, remember?" Soundwave coaxed. "We're going to find her."
"Well, I'm not leaving this station until I have her back." She said stubbornly. She was trembling, now, tears welling in her eyes.
Soundwave sighed, sitting her down beside him.
"I need my baby back, Soundwave…" She whimpered, leaning against him. "I lost her… I'm a terrible mother…"
"Shh, everything's going to be alright," Soundwave told her, trying to reassure himself at the same time. How had Harmony not been in the entire marketplace? Perhaps she had tried to go home on one of the transports. But if that was true… she could be anywhere.
xxx
Now the panic was setting in. Heavy. As she approached the lights, Harmony realized they weren't houses. At least not the kind she remembered Orion living in. There were several low, uniform buildings. Probably old storage units. All of it looked old, and a little spooky.
It was dark now, and Harmony felt the full weight of her mistake fall on her. She stopped walking, tears welling in her optics.
"Mommy… daddy…" She sniffed, "Where are you?"
Finally, she started to cry.
Harmony's cry was the worst possible sound you could hear a sparkling make. Painfully heartbreaking and messy. Coolant tears mixed with saliva dripped over her face and smeared on her hands. She hiccuped, then wailed louder.
A door opened in the building in front of her. She barely noticed through the thick pool of tears. A huge figure appeared in the doorway, staring at her with narrow red optics. Harmony continued to cry.
The mech stepped out towards her, and she shrank away.
"Who are you?" She asked, trying to sound tough even though tears still spilled from her eyes.
"Who are you?" Asked the mech gruffly, staring down at her. "Why are you here?"
"I'm looking for… my mom and daddy…" She said slowly, pausing to swallow and take a breath.
"Well, they're not here." He told her. She started crying again.
The mech shifted uncomfortably. He had seen a great deal of things, terrible things. He had seen the bodies of sparklings litter the ground, but this was somehow worse.
"I can't fi-ind the-em!" Harmony wailed, her cries growing louder by the second.
The mech grimaced, looking around. Of course her parent weren't here. No one ever came near this place. That was the way he liked it.
"Stop crying," He said. She didn't stop.
"I said stop crying."
She wailed louder.
"I'll find your parents if you would just stop crying!" He didn't mean to shout, but it worked. Harmony choked on her last sob and looked up at him in surprise.
"Y-you will?"
"Only if you promise not to start doing that again." He muttered.
"I won't," She promised, quickly rubbing the tears off her face.
He sighed, not quite sure what to do with her now. He glanced back at the open door.
"Come inside." He said finally. "I'll send out a message for whoever's looking for you."
Without another word, Harmony followed the giant.
Inside the building was a roughly furnished living space. Mostly salvaged pieces of scrap from the nearby wasteland, but some of it appeared to be part of the original architecture. A counter, a few storage compartments, a medical berth…
"What are your parents' names?" The mech asked. He was standing in front of a computer screen. Harmony walked carefully over to see what he was doing.
"My mom's name is Audrey." She said. "My daddy… my daddy is…"
She thought for a minute, trying to remember. Being still young, she rarely thought of her parents having names other than 'mommy' and 'daddy'.
"Well?"
Finally, it came to her.
"My daddy's name is Soundwave."
The mech stiffened, digits freezing over the keys.
"... Soundwave?" He said in an unreadable tone. Harmony wasn't sure whether to be happy he recognized the name.
"Do… you know him?" She asked hopefully. He turned and stared at her, studying her.
"What did you say your name was?"
Harmony looked at him, confused. He hadn't asked her name, had he?
"I'm Harmony." She replied. "... Who are you?"
"That doesn't matter. Are you sure your father's name is Soundwave?"
"Yes."
The mech stared at her for a long time.
"I'm not s'posed to be with strangers." She murmured, as if reminding herself she had broken the rule.
"Look, I'm going to send this message," The mech said, turning back to the screen. "But you're going to have to tell me more about your father."
"Why?"
"Because."
"But-"
He tapped in the final command, turning back to her.
"I need to know if your father is really Soundwave. You asked if I knew him, didn't you?"
"Are there other people named Soundwave?" Harmony asked, wondering if that's what he was thinking. The mech looked at her for a long time. She fidgeted, trying another question.
"Who are you, anyway?"
The mech blinked, waiting a moment before answering.
"My name is Galvatron."
"You know my daddy?"
"I knew him once. I… We have not seen each other in a long time."
"Oh! Then it's okay." Harmony relaxed a little. Her father didn't interact with many strangers, so this one must be a friend. Galvatron sat down, motioning for her to join him. She scooted over and settled on top of a storage box.
"Tell me more about your parents."
xxx
Galvatron listened quietly as the child babbled on about her family. She didn't say much about Soundwave, but from what she did say Galvatron knew it had to be him.
After all these years… all that had been done to him, Thought the warlord, He still managed to find happiness.
Harmony looked more like her mother, but she had inherited a few key traits from Soundwave. Her color, for one thing.
It didn't take long to put all the pieces together. Being only a sparkling, Harmony didn't know the full story of how her parents had met, but from what she told him it was easy to envision how it happened. Her mother, Audrey, was one of the hybrid humans Knockout had been so interested in. When she disappeared, everyone assumed she had gone overboard in an attempt to escape. However, according to Harmony, she was alive and well.
It was interesting to have an unbiased conversation for once. Harmony didn't know who he was, and he preferred it remained that way. Frightening her would only make things worse.
Soundwave would be coming soon to retrieve his daughter. What then? Galvatron knew all too well the anger that the mech must be holding against him. It was understandable.
"Your parents will be here soon," Galvatron said, glancing out the window. "You should wait outside for them to find you."
The sparkle in Harmony's optics suddenly drained.
"... Out there?" She whimpered, "Alone? In the dark?"
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"It's scary!"
Galvatron stared at her. Fear was a rare phenomena to him. There was nothing dangerous about nighttime.
"You'll be fine." He told her, looking away. "Go, now. They should be here any minute."
"But… won't you come with me?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I don't like people to see me."
"But-"
"Just go!"
Harmony scrambled to her feet, hesitating before moving slowly towards the door. Galvatron ushered her out.
"And don't start crying again," He muttered. "I can't stand it."
"Will you stay by the window?" Harmony asked timidly, still afraid.
Galvatron sighed, then nodded.
"Fine."
xxx
Audrey shot out of the transport while it was still inches above the ground. Soundwave followed close behind.
A message had been received at the Tagon Heights station, which was relayed to where Ultra Magnus was able to send a patrol to retrieve her.
Harmony was sitting against the wall of a low building. Soundwave thought he saw a shadow inside, but it quickly disappeared.
Audrey crashed into her daughter, gathering the sparkling into her arms. Soundwave knelt beside them, succumbing to a wave of relief.
"My baby," Audrey sobbed. "I was so scared!"
"I got lost, mommy," Harmony explained. "And then I tried to find auntie and uncle to help, 'an then I couldn't find them…"
"We're here now," Soundwave murmured, pulling them both into his embrace. "It's late. We should all go home now."
Harmony nodded. "But daddy, don't you want to see your friend?"
"Friend?"
"Yeah. He's in… there…"
She looked up, but the building had gone dark. Galvatron had disappeared. Soundwave looked around, a feeling of foreboding overlaying the joy of the moment.
"We should go, Audrey." He whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this place."
xxx
Galvatron watched them go from inside. Hidden in the dark, he watched Soundwave carry his daughter to the transport. She looked back, confused. Wondering why he had hidden. He sighed.
It was better this way.
