Thank you so much for all the reviews, I got nine on the last chapter, that's close enough to the ten I asked for, for me, so here's the next chapter. If any one is interested I have some transformers drawings I'm posting on fanlib sometime today, my user name on there is hekaanna. They're not very good but some of them are alright. fanlib has a giveaway, if you post enough things you can get money for movie tickets and a $200 Amazon gift certificate, anyone who does fan art or fanfiction should check it out. I got an iPod from one of their giveaways last year and it's so nice when people tell you you're wasting your time writing fanfiction to be able to tell them what you've gotten for it.
"Does anyone know where Ella disappeared to?" Rachel asked when she and the others woke up and she noticed Ella wasn't there.
"She said she was going for a walk, she seemed upset about something." Barricade told her.
"Do you have any idea what she was upset about?" Optimus asked sounding concerned.
"We had been discussing the holoforms and the fact that we can still hear what's going on in or around our body when we're using them. I'm afraid I over heard some things last night that she wasn't comfortable with me knowing. I assured her I wouldn't tell anyone, but she still seemed upset about something else. She asked if you would have been able to hear what was going on when we used our holoforms to talk, so I assume it has something to do with the reason you seemed so distracted while we were talking." Barricade told him.
"You guys can hear what's going on in your vehicle forms when you're using your holoforms?" Rachel asked horrified as she realized what Ella must have been upset about.
"Yes, and we can feel if people are leaning on us too. If I hadn't been taking care of Grannalla I probably would have turned off my holoform and transformed just to scare you after your comment about me not being around last night." Barricade told her.
"Oh my gosh, this is all my fault, she has to hate me." Rachel said as she started to head towards the woods to look for Ella so she could apologize, she just hoped Ella would forgive her.
"Rachel, stay here." Optimus told her.
"But I have to find her, this is all my fault." Rachel told him.
"It's just as much my fault for not saying anything to her about it. I'm the one who needs to find her and talk to her." Optimus told her.
"What exactly is going on that would have upset her enough to have run off?" Ironhide asked as he walked over to them.
"Depending on how things work out when I talk to her, I'll explain when I get back." Optimus replied then scanned the forest until he found where Ella was; a second later his holoform appeared and then headed into the forest.
"I can't believe this, how could I be so stupid? How could I force her to talk like that? She's going to hate me, she'll never forgive me." Rachel ranted pacing back and forth. "I just-" she balled her hands into fists in frustration, "I just want to-" she stopped as a large human sized blaster was held down in front of her. She looked up at Ironhide and gave him a weak smile, "Exactly." She said as she climbed into his hand.
"I thought you would like the idea, it's always been my favorite way to blow off steam and you certainly look like you could use the distraction." Ironhide told her as he carried her to the other side of the house and barn where the fields were.
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Ella had hiked up to an outcropping of rock that over looked the house. This was where she had gone when she was upset for as long as she could remember. She was sitting there with her legs pulled up to her chest and her head laying on her knee's wondering how she would ever face Optimus again, when she heard a branch snap behind her making her jump. She turned to see who was there and almost smiled when she saw May.
The big cat walked over to her and rubbed her head against Ella's. Ella wrapped her arms around her, burying her face in her fur as she started to cry.
"What am I going to do May? How am I ever going to be able to face him again, knowing that he knows how I feel about him? He probably thinks I'm just some pathetic, crazy little human." Ella said as she continued to cry into May's fur.
A few seconds latter May growled at something behind Ella. Ella glanced behind her and jumped to her feet while trying to wipe the tears from her face when she saw Optimus standing there.
"What are you doing up here?" she asked keeping her eyes on the ground at her feet, unable to make herself look at his face.
"Barricade said you were upset and I thought we should talk." Optimus told her.
Ella cringed slightly and waited for him to tell her how crazy he thought she was. She was completely shocked when he stepped forward, lifted her chin and gently kissed her forehead.
"I don't think you are pathetic, I think you are an amazingly strong, brave and compassionate woman and I'm honored that you would care about me. And you're no crazier for loving me than I am for loving you." He told her.
"You love me?" Ella asked in disbelief.
"Yes, I was just unsure of how to tell you. Even after hearing you admit your feelings for me I was unsure of how to tell you that I loved you too. The World Wide Web can be useful, but also confusing when it comes to something as complicated as human courtship. It seems that every site I found said something different or completely contradicted with others." He told her.
Ella smiled, "Well then, from now on stay away from the internet when it comes to our relationship. We'll learn from each other, it really wouldn't be fair that you can try to learn about human courtship so easily and the only way I can learn about your customs is from you." Ella told him.
"Alright." He said bring one hand up to brush through her hair, "First question, would it be rushing things if I were to kiss you now?" he asked.
"Well, we haven't even been on a real date yet and the last guy who tried to kiss me after only one date ended up with a black eye." Ella told him seriously then smiled, "But I think I'll let you get away with it." She said.
She gasped slightly as he suddenly pulled her into his arms and kissed her, one arm wrapped around her back and the other hand gently entwined through her hair against the back of her neck. She wrapped her arms up around his neck as they continued to kiss until an ear piercing scream echoed up from the farm below and they pulled apart.
"What was that?" Optimus asked.
"It sounded like my sister." Ella said as she walked over to the edge of the outcrop and looked down at the farm and groaned when she saw her sister's car in the driveway. "We'd better get down there before she tries to leave and tells someone." Ella said already heading back to the house.
Please leave a review. I'm not quite happy with the kissing scene, so let me know what you think and if there's anything I should have done to make it better.