I'm glad that everyone here is enjoying the story, and the bonus chapters as well.

Enjoy.

~ Sly

There hadn't been any reported Decepticon attacks anywhere in the world. It was a bit strange to Optimus, but he was happy. It gave him more time to spend with Alex. He heard her yell in happiness when he pulled up to the Witwicky house, hissing as he came to a stop.

Ratchet had recently developed something that he liked to call "Holoforms". It allowed the Autobots to project a hologram likeness of themselves – but they looked, and felt entirely human. Optimus was more grateful than Ratchet could possibly imagine. It meant he could get closer to Alex.

Optimus' holoform sported light brown hair, blue eyes, and was around the age of forty. The holoform always wore a red and blue flamed jacket, a white t-shirt, and worn out jeans, and went by the designation Orion Pax. Said holoform stepped out of the truck, waiting for the young human to come running out to greet him.

Sure enough, she came sprinting out the front door, her arms wide open. "Oppi!" She yelled happily, grinning. A smile immediately crossed the holoform's face, and he knelt down just in time, letting out a light "Oof!" at the sudden hug. After a moment, Optimus gave Alex a squeeze back before standing and ruffling her hair.

"So are we going to the zoo, Oppi?" She grinned, bouncing. Optimus chuckled and nodded. Sam leaned against the doorway and watched, catching the holoform's eye. Sam smiled and nodded at the prime before turning and going back inside. He trusted him.

"Yaay!" Alex squealed, before popping open the cab door and attempting to pull herself up. Optimus laughed, and helped her in, before the holoform fizzled out. Once she was inside, and safely buckled in, Optimus closed the door and started off. "Oppi, can I pretend to drive?" She begged, leaning back against the seat.

The prime hummed in return, before the cab rattled. "I'm afraid not. We wouldn't want to get into trouble with the human law enforcers." Optimus explained. "Aww. Okay…" she sighed in return, before smiling. "Have you ever been to the zoo before, Oppi?"

The cab rumbled with the deep laughter of the prime. "As a matter of fact, I have not, youngling." He hummed. Her grin seemed to widen. "Oh! Do you know what it is though?" "I do not. Why don't you explain it to me?"

"Oh! Yeah! Of course, Oppi! Oh—Zoos are really cool. It has like… a lot of animals that can be found around the um… the world. They're in cages, so they can't hurt you. I mean me. Since, y'know." She giggled as the truck rounded a turn, "Anyway um.. Most of the animals like uh… elephants, can't be found in um… America. You'll love it! I know I do. You can learn about the animals of um.. the world!" Alex grinned. She seemed to love explaining it to him. The holoform looked over at her and smiled. "My favorite animal is the snow leopards. They're so pretty and fluffy! I wish I could have one as a pet." Alex said, kicking her feet a bit idly.

\/\/\/\/

It'd been a half hour since the two left the Witwicky house, and they'd finally arrived at the zoo. Almost at once, Alex jumped out and ran over to the driver's side, where her Oppi's holoform stepped out. In an instant, she'd grabbed his hand. "Come on!" she giggled, sprinting across the parking lot with him, slowing to a stop only at the ticket counter.

Her Oppi had likely not brought any money with him, so she paid for both of them, standing on her tippy toes to see over the counter. The lady behind the counter smiled, and handed her the tickets. "Enjoy!" She said cheerily. "Thank you!" Alexandria called as she ran off with Optimus again.

She'd finally slowed down when they came to the first exhibit – the lions. Something was going on, because people were crowding. Frustrated, Alex pouted. Optimus noticed she had let go of his hand, and looked down to see her upset. "What is wrong?" He questioned.

"I can't see." The seven year old pouted. "I can fix that." Optimus smiled, before lifting her up onto the holoform's shoulders. Alex's expression changed quickly to giggling. Optimus could see fine. Alexandria was so happy he'd done that, because she could see there was a new baby lion in the exhibit. She pointed at the big lion with a dark mane. "That one's the boy, because he has the um…. Mane!" She clarified, proud of herself. She was finally teaching someone else something.

"I see." Optimus answered, glancing up at her. "That's how you tell them apart. The boys have manes, and the girls don't!" The youngling giggled, before pointing another direction. "Let's go over there, Oppi!" Optimus smiled and nodded, carefully letting her down before she grabbed his hand and started running over to the bird house.

They had to go through two doors, to make sure birds didn't escape. Alex bought some seeds to feed to the birds, and dragged the Autobot over to an unoccupied section of the room. The constant screeching of birds was a bit annoying, but when Alex held out her hand and a colorful well-plumed bird landed on her hand and gently started pecking the seeds from her hand, Optimus was fascinated.

Alex pouted a moment, shooing the bird off. "You've had enough." She said, probably at the bird. The human grinned, looking back to Optimus, before putting a bit of the seeds into the holoform's hand. "Be quiet and keep still, and birds will come to eat!" She giggled. Optimus nodded, following her directions.

After a moment, a large macaw landed on his arm and began eating some of the nuts. Optimus smiled. The creatures of this planet were so diverse and beautiful. After doing a bit of research, he identified the bird on his arm as a Hyacinth Macaw. "Isn't it pretty?" Alex whispered. "Indeed." The prime whispered back.

\/\/\/\/

After feeding a few more birds, the two had moved on to the water section. "This is my favorite part, Oppi.." Alex ranted, taking him in front of what seemed to be an empty tank of water. "Did you know that um… like… most of the world is covered in water, right? Well, um… Sammy told me that scientisiest..s… say that um.. we know more about the moon than we know about the earth's oceans!" The Witwicky girl said, looking over at Optimus. Optimus smiled, nodding. "That is quite interesting." He replied, before his eyes flickered back up to the tank at the sight of a massive mammal.

The prime's eyes widened in surprise at the sight. Bigger than any other creature he'd seen on this planet – perhaps as big as him. "That's a whale, Oppi. They're really big. But there's this fish called a shark, that um… it used to be like… a bajillion times bigger!" Alex said, looking back at the whale. That would be quite big… Optimus thought. She knows quite a lot. She is very smart for her age. Optimus thought, smiling to himself. "Let's go touch the stingrays!" The youngling suddenly yelled, grabbing his hand again and tugging him off.

Not too far from the whale tank was a shallow tank filled with strange looking flat creatures. "Don't touch the tails, Oppi. They can sting you," The child warned. For a moment she stood on her tippy toes, but she couldn't reach into the tank. She turned to the prime, and lifted her arms, a gesture that she wanted to be lifted. Optimus smiled, and lifted the girl onto his holoform's hip, leaning over the tank a bit so she could feel.

He was hesitant at touching the slimy-looking creatures, but nonetheless, Alexandria took his hand and carefully placed it on one of the creatures. The Autobot leader had never felt such a texture in his life before. It was… smooth…. Soft, and wet… He couldn't help but chuckle. Alex heard the chuckle and smiled, petting a different stingray. "Don't they feel weird?" She laughed, not expecting an answer.

\/\/\/\/

After the two had enjoyed something called 'cotton candy', a noise came from the child. Optimus looked over, and noticed she was yawning. Looking up at the sky, he had realized it had become rather late. "Do you require rest, youngling?" The prime cooed. Alex made a noise at the sudden words, and looked over at him. She was obviously tired. "No…" She mumbled, yawning again and rubbing one of her eyes. Optimus smiled softly. Starblazer used to insist she didn't require recharge, when she clearly did. "Perhaps I should take you to your family," He suggested softly.

"But I wanna stay with my Oppi…" Alex frowned. Optimus frowned. She seemed to like him more than she should. The human couldn't stay with him. She wouldn't be safe. "I'm afraid you can't do that, Alex." Optimus explained, picking her up. The young human rested her head on one of his shoulders, wrapping her little arms around his neck tiredly. She had no time to protest, for she had fallen asleep in his arms.

Closing his eyes, Optimus stroked the back of her head for a moment, smiling. He had imagined his Stardust in his arms. After another moment he sighed and opened his eyes, walking to the gate and thanking the woman, who smiled in return, giving him a stuffed giraffe for Alex. He thanked her once again, before climbing inside his vehicular form and sitting the young girl in the passenger side. Making sure no one was looking, the holoform fizzled out, and the truck started moving, a seat belt clicking over the young human protectively.

This little human was very precious to the prime. She taught him so much – in a single earth day, no less. Not only that, but she was almost exactly like Stardust. The only difference was their species. As the prime drove back to the Witwicky's household, he couldn't help but… feel strange. He felt like he was near a spark signal. One that was familiar to him….. No. It couldn't be…

He had to know. It couldn't be the child. She couldn't possibly have a spark… could she? He had to speak with Ratchet about it. Optimus had to know immediately. Out of the blue, the flamed truck braked, and turned around, heading for the base instead.