Experiment X

by Nightshade2917

An experiment had gone horribly wrong for the Cons. They thought that their nightmares were over when nearly five years had past. Now she has returned, but this time she needs their help in saving her life. Will the Autobots and Decepticons help this poor unfortunate soul before it's too late? Note that the rating may change. Genres also include Family, Si-Fi, and a little Romance.

37. Chapter 37: Unlikely Friendships Part 2

I apologize for last chapter's horrible spelling and grammar errors, which is now fixed. My computer's word document stopped checking all errors since my story all together is about over 200 pages long. Also, my L key is a bit sticky for some reason, so it's not always allowing me to type in the letter on the doc. I'm still looking for a beta, so if anyone wants to be my editor to this series, please private message me if you are interested. Besides all of that, I am going to take a short break from this story because I need to focus on writing my research paper for class, so the next chapter after this will be later than usual. Another reason I am taking r and r from this is because I finally got Pokemon Moon and started to play the game, which I am in love with right now. 3 So, with all of this said, let's get onto the story! When you see ~.~.~ you can play Falling Inside the Black by Skillet to follow along with the lyrics. Disclaimer, I do not own the song, it rightfully belongs to Skillet. (FYI, I love this band so much ^W^)

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Chapter 37: Unlikely Friendships Part 2

"Noooo!" Soundwave shouted as booming thunder roared in the dark skies of a fierce storm. Saphira tried to move, but her talons were still embedded into the rocks. Without a second thought, the Decepticon transformed into his vehicular mode and dove down towards the rolling bolder.

The huge rock gained speed from gravity pulling it down the slope. A few rocks crumbled from the larger one as they were sent flying everywhere in the air. Sharp debris cut her cheeks and other bare areas of her skin. Violet blue blood dripped from her cuts on her skin.

Struggling to escape from being crushed to death, she finally was free, but it was too late. When she flexed her wings out to take off into the sky, the wind started to pick up at the worst possible timing. This forced her to press her body closer to the cliff when the powerful howling wind made her lose her balance. As she huddled in a tight ball, her hood flew back from the whipping of the wild wind. Water splattered and splashed against her cold drenched face.

The noise of the tumbling rock echoed in her ears as the sound grew closer than before. Saphira closed her eyes as she prepared to be crushed by the boulder. A whooshing sound caught her attention as well as the metallic shifting of metal followed by something skidding down the slope until it stopped. Small rocks the size of marbles rolled down and hit her on the head. Her yellow eyes squinted open to see what was going on before they widened in complete shock.

Soundwave blocked the bolder with his back side to protect her. She stared at him in astonishment that he would save her life by putting himself in harm's way. He put all of his strength into stopping the rock as well as keeping himself balanced long enough for her to move out of the way. The Con grunted as he kept holding up the rock. Then he shifted so that his left side was up against the rock. He used his tentacle arms to wrap themselves around the rock for support as he reached out a hand towards her.

~ "Climb into my hand," ~ he said to her.

She just looked at his long fingers in surprise.

~ "No arguing about it. Just climb into it," ~ he grunted when he felt himself slipping, ~ "I don't know how long I could keep this up for." ~

"I wasn't planning on arguing," she retorted while she reached out her right hand to grab hold one of his long fingers. She clenched ahold of it as she hauled herself up with the help of her wings for support. Once she was off the rocks she was holding on to, she crawled into his servo until she felt that she was safe in his hand. He curled his slender fingers around her in a protective hold. Then he let go of the rock and jumped to the other side. The boulder rolled down and landed at the bottom, hard. The rain continued to pour down upon them without rest as lightning crackled and thunder boomed which made everything vibrate.

Water dripped off Soundwave's body in steady streams. He mentally sighed in relief that his companion was safe from harm for now at least. He looked to where he held her in his servo as he opened it to see if she was alright. His spark melted when he saw her curled up into a ball and shivering from being cold and wet from the elements on this stormy night. Her wings draped around her body to keep her out of the pouring rain.

He stared at her for a long time before he said, ~ "Come on, we better get you out of this rain and dried off so that you don't get sick." ~

All she did was nod in reply as he climbed up and over to the other side of this valley. She remained silent for the rest of the journey in the stormy weather. He didn't know where to go so he just went east until she would direct him. They were about to pass a waterfall when she motioned him to stop.

He stopped and asked, ~ "This the place?" ~

She nodded in reply and pointed towards the waterfall.

~ "In there?" ~

She nodded again.

He walked towards it and into the cave behind it. To his surprise, it was dry further inside the cave because of all the high ledge rock formations above the water, which made it look like a small swimming pool surrounded by tall barriers. He got out of the water and onto a dry ledge.

"You can put me down now," she said to him as he obliged by setting her down on the ground. Once she was on solid ground, she looked up at him.

It dawned on him that she was waiting for him to get her bags out of his chest plate. He opened it up and grabbed the two bags out and set them on the ground next to her.

"Thanks," she said to him as she opened one to get her towels to dry herself as well as some dry clothes to change into. While she went behind a rock to change, Soundwave noticed a stack of firewood. He used his tentacles to set the wood up in a fire pit. Then he zapped the wood until it was on fire. Saphira came back with a surprised look on her face.

~ "I saved you the trouble of having to make a fire yourself," ~ he said to her as she nodded to him in gratitude. She walked closer to the warm fire and sat down near it. She laid out her soaked clothes so that they too can dry by the fire.

Minutes passed by between the two in silence. Soundwave was sitting nearby. He watched the human girl rubbing her hands together to warm them. It was only then that he noticed a trail of blue-violet fluid leaking out from her cuts.

~ "You're hurt, human." ~

"I know."

~ "Aren't you going to treat your injuries?" ~

"No."

~ "Why? They will continue to leak out your precious life fuel if they are left untreated." ~

Saphira grabbed the edge of the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away the dried blood on her cheek to show the Deception that the cut was already healing. "I don't need to because it is already healing, though I could put some spray on to make sure that it's not going to be infected."

Soundwave gasped in amazement and in interest as he looked at her cut. ~ "Astounding. Your species can self-heal themselves from their wounds. Very useful." ~

"To an extent," she said to him as she looked for the medical kit for the spray.

~ "To an extent?" ~

"Yeah."

~ "Why?" ~

She let out a sigh as she explained, "My body can only heal wounds to an extent. If my arm was cut off, I can't grow it back like some other animal species can. The same thing applies to my vital organs that if they were damaged it would take time to fully heal them if you're lucky that it's nothing life threatening or any severe internal bleeding."

~ "Interesting," ~ Soundwave said in thought.

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment. Then she applied the spray to all her wounds. Once that was done, she set up her sleeping bag near the fire as well as wrap herself in the warm blankets. One of the blankets caught Soundwave's attention when he recognized that he got the very blanket she's wrapped in right now for her back on the warship. She was sick at the time he gave it to her.

~ "I see you still carry the blanket I gave to you when you were ill," ~ he said to start a new topic.

"Yeah, so? You want it back or something?" she replied.

~ "Oh no, I don't want it back. I was just saying is all." ~

"Oh," she said while staring back into the warm fire.

~ "Is it warm?" ~ he asked.

She turned to face him.

~ "The blanket I mean. Is it warm to you?" ~

"Yeah. Why are you asking me this?"

~ "Just to make sure that you are comfortably warm since I heard that you humans are quite sensitive to temperature more than so to my species. That's why you wear these things called clothes to protect your body temperature from dropping in cooler temperatures as well as conceal your exposed skin to the elements and..." ~

"Just stop! I don't need to hear all of your findings on humans," she said in annoyance at him talking so much.

~ "You sound irritated. I conclude that you are experiencing low amounts of glycogen in your body because you haven't eaten anything since this morning." ~

She narrowed her eyes at him and retorted, "I'm not vexed because I'm hungry. I'm vexed because you talk too much. So shut up already!" In that exact moment, a rumbling sound was heard. Saphira blushed when she heard her stomach growl in hunger.

Underneath his visor, Soundwave smiled. ~ "I think your biological bodily functions disagree with you, human." ~

"Oh shut up," she mumbled under her breath while leering at him.

Miko started to laugh upon seeing all of this. "In all my times I spent with the Autobots, I have never and I mean never seen Soundwave so talkative and sassy before."

"I guess he saves all of that energy for me whenever he comes for a visit," Saphira said.

"Hahaha, I guess he does, though I can still see you two getting along together," Miko said.

Saphira blushed as she said, "Maybe, though it was only until I started to open up to him fully that we have gotten along in peace."

"Oh? And how did that happen?" Miko asked with interest.

"Like I mentioned earlier, it took me weeks to trust him. In that whole time, he would visit me regularly just to see if I needed anything or just wanted to talk to me about things. He would tell me how Megatron was becoming more and more impatient by the day at my capture that he said it only a matter of days until the search was officially cut off. I became friendlier to him but still weary of his presence. I didn't trust him with my life even though he saved me from being crushed by that boulder a week ago," she said.

"Still couldn't trust him after all that he's done for you?" Miko said in a dry tone.

She shrugged before saying, "I was too stubborn to allow my guard to slip in his presence." A smile appeared on her face. "I still remember the day that he commented on my singing and reassured me that I will never be alone again as well as telling me some good news."

The scene changed to Saphira all alone in the cave behind the waterfall. She was practicing her water bending skills by walking on top of the water's surface. The rippling of the water's surface under her feet made her want to start singing at this peaceful moment before the Decepticon she allied herself with showed up. Saphira decided to sing one of her favorite songs from one of her father's collections of his favorite rock bands he likes to listen to.

As she started to sing as well as dance to the song she's singing, Soundwave appeared in the cave in silence to listen to her sing.

~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~

Tonight I'm so alone
This sorrow takes a hold
Don't leave me here so cold
(Never want to be so cold)

Your touch used to be so kind
Your touch used to give me life
I've waited all this time,
I've wasted so much time

Don't leave me alone
Cause I barely see at all
Don't leave me alone, I'm

Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Dreaming of the way it used to be
Can you hear me?
Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Falling inside the black
Falling inside, falling inside the black

You were my source of strength
I've traded everything
That I love for this one thing
(Stranded in the offering)
Don't leave me here like this
Can't hear me scream from the abyss
And now I wish for you my desire

Don't leave me alone
Cause I barely see at all
Don't leave me alone, I'm

Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Dreaming of the way it used to be
Can you hear me?
Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Falling inside the black
Falling inside, falling inside the black, black, black, black

(Falling in the black.)
(Slipping through the cracks.)

Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Dreaming of the way it used to be
Can you hear me?
Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Falling inside the black
Can you hear me?
Falling inside the black
Can you hear me?
Falling inside the black
Can you hear me?
Falling inside
Falling inside, falling inside
The black.

~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~~.~.~.~

She ended the song by kneeling down on the surface of the water with her head down. Then she heard someone clapping pieces of metal together. Her head shot up to see Soundwave clapping his servos in applause at her performance. She blushed deeply in embarrassment. Suddenly she felt the water giving way to her weight as she got up and ran to shore so that she doesn't fall in and get wet.

She made it to the rock ledge from the jump she made and breathed a sigh of relief at not getting wet. Soundwave walked towards her as she stood up.

"Um, how long were you standing over there for?" she asked sheepishly.

He noticed how shy she has gotten all of a sudden. This was the first time he had ever seen her so shy before that is baffled him. He assumed that she has fully lowered her guard around him since they have been together for about ten days.

Saphira put up her guard again while folding her arms across her chest and said in annoyance, "What are you doing here and how long have you been standing there?"

This snapped him from his thoughts as he replied, ~ "I just came here to tell you some good news." ~

"I'm listening," she replied.

~ "Lord Megatron has officially called off the search for you this morning. All Decepticons are to focus their efforts on annihilating the Autobots instead of trying to capture you." ~

"Well, that's reassuring to me, though I can't say the same for the Autobots," she said slyly. "Now I can finally get some fresh air and go to places instead of hiding in here all day and all night when you are not around." She turned to walk out of the cave when Soundwave said something.

~ "But I still want you to be cautious. Megatron said that you are valuable and if any Decepticon has the chance to catch you they will do it." ~

"You worry too much."

~ "That's because I don't want you to get hurt when I'm not around to protect you." ~

"Are you saying that I am not capable of protecting myself because I am a girl?" she asked while giving him the look of disapproval.

He shook his head. ~ "No, I'm not saying that. You are a very capable femme. It's just I don't want to see you getting hurt or worse severely injured that I cannot help heal you properly from your injuries." ~

She just nodded slowly. "Alright. I will make sure that I am very careful when I go out. I will stick to the shadows, trees, or something so that I am not seen. Sound good to you?"

~ "I guess so, but…" ~ he started when she interrupted him.

"Great, now that's settled. I can go fishing and hunting as well as gather up some wild berries from the forest for my food supply." She went to her bag to get a few things she needed to gather and hunt for food. As she packed what she needed, she hummed to herself.

~ "Your voice is very expressive when you sing from the spark," ~ Soundwave said out loud.

This made her stop humming. She turned to face him to noticed that he shifted uncomfortably. "So you were there to hear me singing and dancing on the water."

He nodded his head.

"I see," she mumbled.

~ "I didn't want to interrupt you, so I stayed quiet and just watched you till you were done singing that song. I hope I didn't offend you in any way, human," ~ he said in worry that he did something wrong.

She shook her head as she replied, "No, you didn't offend me. You just took me by surprise when you said that my voice is very expressive when I sing. No one really said that about my voice before whenever I sing a song." She chuckled to herself. "Heck, I always thought that I sing terribly because of my high-pitched voice."

Soundwave shook his head in disagreement with what she said. ~ "No, your voice is beautiful just the way it is. Perfect even." ~

This made Saphira blush as she looked at the Con in disbelief that he found her voice to be both beautiful and perfect. Soundwave mentally cursed himself for telling her out of the blue that he likes the way she sang the songs she was singing to.

"Did Soundwave just flirt with you?" Miko asked as her jaw dropped in shock.

---

Meanwhile, everyone in the room shared the same expression Miko did.

"Soundwave flirted with a human because she can sing?" Smokescreen said before saying, "Yup, this confirms it. It's the end of the world."

Knock Out gave Starscream a victory smirk.

"This doesn't mean anything yet, Knock Out," said Starscream in a harsh tone while pointing his index finger at his fellow Con's chestplate.

"Oh ho, it does mean something because the next thing that's going to happen is Soundwave saving her life in a dramatic way," the red Decepticon replied.

"That already happened, half-clock. And guess what, nothing happened," Starscream retorted.

"I agree with Screamy here," Wheeljack said. "He could just be complimenting on how good a singer she is than romanticly flirting with her."

"Yeah. She is pretty good," Bulkhead agreed.

"Ha, yeah sure, but isn't it odd for him to compliment on someone's voice?" Knock Out said.

"Maybe," Megatron said before saying, "or he said that out of habit since he would always compliment on my daughter's singing."

"Come to think of it," Bumblebee mumbled to both Arcee and Starscream. "Saphira and Harmony do have the same high pitch singing voice so maybe Soundwave was reminded of it."

"Could be," Arcee said while turning back to the screen. "I guess we have to see what happens next."

Ultra Magnus overheard them whispering to each other as he stared at them with interest to what they were discussing amongst themselves.

---

Saphira turned to her friend and replied, "That's what I thought too at first."

"So did he flirt with you?" she asked.

Saphira smiled while shaking her head from side to side. "No, because after he said that…" she turned back to Soundwave stumbling for words.

~ "Ugh, you know I was just complimenting you because of your amazing performance and not in a – um- flirting way that I like like you," ~ he said nervously.

Saphira stared at him blankly.

~ "No it's not that I don't like to be with you or anything. It's that I didn't mean what I said in that I like, like you kind of way." ~

She just stared at him as he mentally cursed himself for even speaking so awkwardly in front of her like that. Saphira became more and more uncomfortable in this situation as she finally said, "Ugh, thanks for the compliment," then she mumbles, "I guess."

Knowing how uncomfortable she was getting, he cleared his pipe to say, ~ "I guess I'll be going now. I just wanted to drop by to tell you the good news about Megatron ceasing his operations on hunting you down." ~

The girl just nodded in reply.

As Soundwave was making his leave, he turned around to say something before he goes back to the warship, ~ "Before I go, I just wanted to say that I'm always here for you if you need me. You know, if you wanted to talk about something that's on your mind and all, or even need my assistance in something." ~

"Alright, I'll take note of that," she replied.

~ "And if you do find yourself in serious trouble, don't hesitate to call me telepathically. I will be there as fast as I can to help you." ~

Again, she nodded in reply at him.

~ "Well, I'll be going now. Bye," ~ he said while opening up a ground-bridge to go back to the ship.

Once the Decepticon Communication's Chief left, Saphira picked up what she needed to gather food supplies and went to go and find some for tonight's meal.

"A few days passed by since he caught me singing. As usual, he always came by in the afternoon or at night to check in on me and even have some time to talk about a few things," Saphira said.

"What kind of things?" Miko asked curiously.

She shrugged before saying, "Just things like how was I doing or why I must go hunting or gathering all the time. You know the typical things to start a conversation."

"Oh," she said. "Anyway, are you going to tell me how you finally trusted Soundwave?"

"Yes, though I have to give you a little background of what I've been doing for the past week after my escape."

"And what were you doing exactly? Trying to be little girl scout here?"

"You could say that, though it was more of preparing to break into a highly guarded facility and stealing a magical book that could give me information to where The Fifteen Jewels of Harmony are located on earth."

"There's a book that could lead you to the jewels!?" Miko exclaimed in shock.

"Kind of," Saphira replied before adding, "the book led me to this enchanted pentagonal rubix cube which would lead me to one of the fifteen jewel's location."

"Wait, what?"

"I'll show you later, but right now I should go ahead to the part where I asked Soundwave to ground-bridge me to Tokyo, Japan."

Miko's eyes brightened in interest at why her friend needed to go back to Japan when it would only tempt her in going to familiar places.

The scene transitioned to Saphira wearing denim blue colored jeans and a tight zipped up hoodie of the same color. She also had on black gloves and a long dark navy winter scarf covering half of her face. Her long pale blue hair was all neatly tied up into a ponytail. Then she pulled up her hood to cover up the rest of her face so that people won't recognize it as Anna Bluescale.

Afterward, she went to all of these small colorful spheres and bottles laying on the ground before she picked them up and arranged them on this cloth-like belt as well as putting them into small portable pouches. She picked up the last of these spheres and placed it in her jacket pocket. The belt she held in her hands was tied to the left side of her hip. Her hunting knives were strapped onto her left leg and both of her arms. She also strapped her arrow container onto her back as well as her single-stringed bow.

She looked like she was about to go into an intense battle with all her weapons and spell bombs at hand. Readjusting her outfit, Saphira was ready to go back home to steal a book from the company her father worked for in Tokyo.

Right on time, Soundwave appeared in the cave and looked around until he saw his human companion all dressed up in a ninja-like attire. He tilted his head to the side and asked,

~ "Why are you wearing so much clothing? It's rather warm outside today." ~

"I am going somewhere and I need to wear this."

~ "Oh, where at?" ~

"I am going to Koishikawa Kōrakuen Garden in Tokyo, Japan."

He looked shocked at this and said, ~ "You know it is halfway across the world from here. The time zone here is very different than over there." ~

"I know. That's why I want to go over there now," Saphira replied while crossing her arms over her chest.

Soundwave still looked unsure about her request. ~ "May I ask why you want me to transport you all the way over there?" ~

"It's none of your business why I want to go to Tokyo, Japan for a few hours."

~ "It is my business to know. I worry about you and your safety, child." ~

"Why should you care? It's not like my life matters anymore whether I live or die. All of my dreams have been reduced to dust after I've become like this. There's nothing I can live for except protecting Earth from your master."

~ "It does to me because your life matters. I care about you, human. You mean something to me so much so that I am willing to help you, even if I am secretly betraying Megatron to be with you right here right now." ~

"Stop calling me human, Con, and I didn't ask you to betray Megatron, you chose it!"

Soundwave folded his arms and rebutted, ~ "I'll stop calling you human if you stop calling me Con by telling me your name. I'll gladly tell you mine after you tell me yours." ~

"I already now what your name is."

~ "So why don't you call me by that like you did before?" ~

She became silent for a minute. "I have my reasons," she finally said. "Now, are you going to teleport me to Japan or what?"

He shook his head. ~ "I still refuse to open a ground-bridge for you unless you explain to me why you want to go there so desperately and why you are dressed up like you are going to break into somewhere and steal something important." ~

"How did you- "

~ "I am not just a Communication's Chief for the Decepticons. I am also a warrior, so I know that you are dressed in darker colors for nothing. You are prepared to engage in battle with someone, aren't you?" ~

Saphira remained quite as she narrowed her yellow eyes at him.

~ "I'll take your silence as your answer to my question." ~

"You know what, I don't need your help anymore. I can go there myself if I have to," she said while searching for something on her belt.

~ "What are you saying? That I'm nothing to you anymore because I simply refuse to ground-bridge you to this place you want to go to? I thought we trusted each other," ~ he said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"YES! That's exactly what I'm saying because I never trusted you, Con!" she shouted.

The room became silent. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Tension thickened the atmosphere of the space around them in a suffocating embrace.

~ "So after all that I've done for you…it was all for nothing?" ~ he paused before he said, ~ "Even after I saved your life you still don't trust me? I thought we had something, but I guess I was wrong. To think I put my spark for you because I thought you were like her." ~ He sighed. ~ "I was a fool for thinking you and her were the same. Well, I'm done playing your games, human. I will not be used like that by you ever again." ~ He opened a portal and started to walk towards it. ~ "This is the last time you'll ever see me again. I won't be coming back to save your husk when my brethren are coming to look for you, human." ~

"Fine by me. I knew I couldn't trust you, Decepticon. So, go on ahead and tell your pathetic master where I am. I'm sure he'll be very happy to know that you were the one keeping me hidden for the past thirteen days or so. Besides, I have my own way of getting to where I need to go anyway," she said as she brought out a sphere filled with this bluish-purple sand color. She swirled it around while chanting until it started to glow. That's when she threw it at the ground. The glass broke as a small portal appeared in a spiraling display.

Soundwave turned to see her going towards the portal that she herself created.

~ "Don't be crying to me when you find yourself neck deep in scrap because I won't bother myself in saving your aft," ~ he yelled at her.

"Fine, I won't even bother speaking to you in general," she shouted back at him. Then she saluted him while saying in a sassy attitude, "Sayonara Con!"

She disappeared from sight when she entered the portal. Soundwave mentally growled to himself as he went into the portal to his living quarters.

Miko looked awkwardly at the scene before she finally said, "Man Anna, that was some lovers quarrel you had there with Soundwave."

She sighed before replying, "Yeah, I know. And I regretted everything I said to him because I was just too cold-heartedly stubborn to admit that I began to trust him. I pushed the only one that cared about me away like he meant absolutely nothing to me. What the heck did I do that for? Just to make him leave me alone and not have to bother about me if I became very cold to him. Why was I so stupid in not trusting him?"

"Ann, you were just going through a phase is all," Miko replied to her friend supportively.

Saphira smiled at her friend and replied, "You're right Miko. I was going through a phase back then."

Miko smiled at her friend to reinsure her that what happened in the past happened and that now she and Soundwave are on good terms in the present.

The scene changed to Saphira arriving back home in Japan in the gardens. Tears ran down from her face as she walked out of the portal. Once the portal closed behind her, she just stood there next to a tree. Minutes passed by in the summer's heat until she slammed her tight first against the rough bark of the tree she was standing next to.

"Idiot," she mumbled to herself. "Nice going there. Now you all alone in this world." She sighed in frustration at her rash actions to the only one that cared for her. "I'm so stupid!" Then she cried for a few more seconds before she dried her tears and started to focus on why she even came here in the first place.

"No time for tears, Saphira. You have a mission to complete and a world to save from the Decepticons," she mumbled to herself.

"Dare ga soko ni iku?" (Who goes there?) shouted a young police officer.

She turned to see him coming as she threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared in a cloud of dust. The officer looked around for her in confusion to where she had vanished to as she flew off into the pitch-black night sky of the city.

In a few minutes, she reached the edge of the busy city of Tokyo. Tall skyscrapers surrounded the place in bright lights. She glided high up in the air so that she is not seen by any onlookers. Her humongous wings stretched to their full length so that she could catch the wind stream underneath her body. The flight above the city was short as she nimbly landed on the rooftop of a tall skyscraper. A cool wind wisped by her which made the scarf around her neck dance along in a wave. She stood at the edge of the ledge and stared at the building.

She brought out the scope from her bow and used it to peer inside at the security guards scattered around the building's many levels. Some of the guards were normal average human security officers. The rest were more of the supernatural type of guards. "Getting inside will be a challenge," she mumbled to herself while putting her scope back on her bow. She brought out an arrow that had a long thick steel string attached to it.

Aiming her arrow, she pulled back the string tightly until it wouldn't go anymore. A minute in silent concentration made her measure the destination her arrow will take. She let go of the string. The arrow zipped through the air at great speed until it punctured the wall of the building. Testing the string to make sure that it was secured, Saphira took a step off the ledge and swung herself towards the building. Her feet touched the metal surface of the building. The suction cup spell she casted on the soles of her shoes worked as they stuck themselves to the slippery surface of the building.

She held on tight to the steel rope as she walked over to the glass surface of a nearby window. Her left hand touched the smooth surface as she used her fire bending skills to melt an opening for her to slip inside. Once there was a big enough hole for her body, she leaped inside like a cat would do. She dashed down the long halls in a silent pace until she stopped suddenly.

"Anata wa Amerika de nani ga okotta no ka kiita koto ga arimasu ka?" (Hey have you heard anything about what happened in America?)

"Īe, Bluescale famirī no 4-ri no menbā no higeki-tekina shi o nozoite." (No, except for the tragic deaths of four members of the Bluescale family.)

Saphira peered around the corner and saw two men walking towards her direction. Quickly she got out this small jar filled with silver powder. She put a little bit of it in her hand and blew the substance away from her. Then she used her air bending technic to blow the particles at the two guards.

"Nē, anata wa kibun o kanjimashita. ... soyokaze…" (Hey, did you feel a…breeze…) one of them said before they both fell to the floor fast asleep.

Nimbly she darted past their bodies and further down the hallway. Occasionally she had to either hide in the shadows and wait for the guards to pass by or knock them out cold. After fifteen minutes, she finally found the place she has been looking for. Huge red doors were locked by a security lock. She mumbled a spell that would unlock the door when she noticed an anti-spell barrier surrounding the door.

"Scrap," she cursed under her breath. "Looks like I have to do things the hard why." Carefully, she unscrewed the padlock to get at the wires. She picked and pulled several wires before she finally heard beeping and then a click as the red door was opened.

"You know how to pick locks, especially electronic ones?" Miko asked in shock.

"Eh, my brother taught me from one of his friends at school," Saphira replied.

Miko just stared at her in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know, I'm just that good. Besides, I learn very quickly in situations like this," she said.

Miko turned back to the scene of her best friend breaking into the room.

Saphira opened the door and stealthfully crept inside. The room was huge with a variety of hardcover books surrounding the place. Saphira walked towards a particular bookshelf and ran her index finger along the books until she grabbed a certain red and gold colored book. She grabbed it and pulled it out slightly. A gear clicked as it began to turn this section of the bookcase to the side. Behind the bookcase was another secret room hidden inside this one. She walked inside and saw a fake fireplace emitting light into the room stacked with cases upon cases of books of all kinds that you need a ladder to reach some of them.

Saphira glanced at each and every book from shelf to shelf for a long time. Finally, she found the book she's been looking for. An old dull green hardcover book with old golden colored pages caught her attention. She grabbed the book and peered inside to make sure it was the one she's been looking for. After a quick skim, she confirmed that it was the book that will aid her in the search for The Fifteen Jewels of Harmony.

Suddenly, a book was slammed shut as someone said in a mocking tone, "You're not very sneaky and stealthy at your job, now are you?"

Saphira turned around and armed herself while she held the book close to her chest.

A satin red armchair was in front of the fire. She saw a hand laying a thick covered book on a tall coffee table next to the armchair. Then a tall lean man in a fancy dark gray suit stood up. He walked around the chair so that he was face to face with Saphira. He had an amused smile on his handsome fare ivory skin toned features. His short dark brown hair was gelled up so that his forehead was revealed a little more. He carried a fancy black cane that had a silver human skull on it. Warm chocolate eyes looked at her with interest.

Saphira stood her ground as the young man walked back and forth while examining his intruder. Then he started to speak, "My, my, my." He stopped pacing in front of her. "You're offaly young to be playing ninja games with old Luci here."

She didn't say anything. She only stared at him with her yellow eyes narrowing daggers at him.

"Hmm, not much of a talker, are you? Well anyway, do you know who I am?"

She remained silent as she held onto her hunting knife even tighter and prepared herself to attack.

"I am Lucifer Morningstar of Homeland Security Incorporated, and you, my friend, have broken into my company to steal a valuable book of mine. Now I don't know if this is some kind of prank you tweens are pulling off or something, but you seriously need to give me back that book thank you very much."

Saphira refused to give him back the book she took. Slowly she strapped the book to the side of her left hip.

Lucifer's smile faded as he said in a serious tone, "You do know that you're stealing from the devil himself, right?"

Once more, she didn't say anything as Mr. Morningstar sighed out loud.

"Okay, now this is getting tiresome, child. Give me back my book and I'll let everything go by as a simple training exercise."

She just stood her ground as she reached for a black egg containing sand and pepper juice from her pocket.

Lucifer looked unhappy. He snapped his fingers and called out, "Abigail seize the child!"

Suddenly, a young woman grabbed Saphira in a strong grip by grabbing onto her wrists. She struggled as the young exotic looking woman said, "Didn't think stealing would be an easy task huh, punk?"

Lucifer walked towards the child as she surprised the woman by spreading out her large wings.

"What the!?" she shouted while losing her grip on the child's wrists.

Saphira used this opportunity to break free and kick her assailant back. She got up, brought out her own dagger, and charged at her. Saphira blocked her dagger with her knife as they both fought by exchanging blow after blow. She dodged her assailant's kick by twirling away.

"Grr, hold still, punk!" Abigail growled as she punched the kid numerous times, but she would always miss. That's when Saphira caught her punch and kneed the women hard in the chest. She faltered back as she spat out saliva. Slowly standing up, she was prepared to fight again when Saphira crushed the black egg and tossed the powdered substance in the woman's eyes. She cried out of the burning pain as she rubbed her eyes to be able to see again.

Saphira punched her in the face, which flew her body into the bookcase behind her. The woman groaned as she fell unconscious. Lucifer clapped his hands in applause. She threw her hunter's knife at him but he dodged it. The knife hit the wooden bookshelf behind him.

"My, you're quite full of surprises now are we," he finally said with a smirk.

Saphira growled and then hiss at him. Her wings flexed out to make herself appear bigger to him.

He just laughed at her. "Do you think that's supposed to scare me?"

She didn't say a word as she tried to make her escape when he blocked her way. Again, she hissed at him in anger. He stood there in a mocking pose. "You're not leaving this library with that book, dear, so you better hand it over or else you have to fight your way out of here."

Saphira got into fighting position and waited for him to make the first move.

He sighed and said, "I guess we're doing this the hard way then. Alright, I could use the practice. Give it your best shot, kid."

She narrowed her eyes as she jumped back and threw down a glass sphere containing seeds. The glass broke as the seeds scattered at his feet. "Earuile!" she shouted as the seeds sprouted and formed thick vines around his body.

His eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he started to chuckle. "Ah, I see you have a few magic tricks up your sleeves. Very clever, but not clever enough," he said as a thick black aura surrounded him, which made the vines wither and crumble away to dust. Then she dashed towards him and threw a few punches and kicks at him. He just dodged each hit at ease by either moving to the side or blocking them with his fancy cane.

"Oh come now, you can do better than that," he said to mock her pathetic attacks. Saphira stopped attacking and took a step back. Suddenly, her fists were lit up on fire as she threw a few fire punches at him. With each punch, Lucifer tried to avoid them because of the hot glowing flames. "I see that you're all fired up," he said while dodging the scorching hot punch she threw at him. That's when she kicked him in the abdomen and sent him sliding back away from her.

He caught his breath and stood up straight. Readjusting his bright red tie, he said, "Okay, now I'm not holding back." He got into fighting position and charged at her with a punch.

She leaped up above him and whacked him in the back with her tail. He stumbled forward before getting back up to fight her again. She blocked his attacks with her own as well as dodging them by ducking down low or spinning the other way around. Then she threw a golden sphere at him which broke to produce a blinding light. He hissed at the sudden bright light until he was knocked in the jaw by her punch from above.

He rubbed his sore jaw for a moment. "Alright, you leave me with no choice." His chocolate eyes became blood red with anger as he cracked his head from side to side.

Saphira got out her other two knives and prepared herself for his next move. He ran at her at inhuman speed as he attacked her with his cane. She blocked it with her knives as they swung their weapons at each other. Saphira twisted and turned from one side to the other each time he used his cane. They attacked and blocked each other with their weapons for several long seconds of nonstop fighting.

She broke away from him to gain more ground. Then her left hand and knife lit up on fire while her right formed a mini tornado around it. She came at him with both elemental powered up knives swinging at him. He dodged the air attack but took the fire elemental attack. He patted down his scorched attire to extinguish the flames. He leered at her in hatred for ruining his favorite suit.

"If that's how you're going to play it, fine. Two can play that game," he said while unsheathing his red glowing sword from his makeshift cane. The red glowing sword made a ting noise when it was fully drawn.

As soon as the sword was fully drawn, Saphira's elemental powers started to fade as she became weaker. She faltered for a moment before kneeling down on the ground from nausea.

"Dude, what happened?" Miko asked when she saw this.

"My body reacted to the red glowing energy emitting from his sword. It weakens my powers as well as makes me feel light-headed," she replied.

"So whatever that red glowing stuff is is like your kryptonite?"

"Basically."

"Huh, what else are you allergic to?"

"Why? Are you going to use my weaknesses against me?"

"No, I'm just curious as to what else you are allergic to besides consuming dairy products since you are lactose intolerant."

"Well, let's see. At first, I was allergic to dark energon like any other Cybertronian since it is the anti spark after all. That was until I was infected by one of those mutated Terrorcons, thank you very much Starscream and Knock Out," she said sarcastically at the end.

Miko snorted at the last part she said.

"Hmm, what else is another one of my weakness? Oh! Hellstones, red energon, clowns, zombies, zombie clowns, and paranormal activities."

"Seriously?" Miko asked with an arch brow.

"Yes, I don't like evil spirits or haunted place. It creeps me out," she said in a meek whisper.

"Girl you need to grow a backbone at all of these fears you have," Miko said honestly.

"I can't help it. Heck, even Soundwave said I acted like a crying sparkling when we were trying to get out of the Aokigahara Forest," Saphira whimpered like a scared little puppy.

Miko's eyes widened as her jaw dropped in astonishment. "You went into and survived the Suicide Forest!?"

She shakily nodded her head.

Miko smiled and shouted, "Awesome! Dude, that's so cool."

"No, it's not," Saphira whined even more. "It was absolutely horrifying with all the corpses, eerie singing and chanting, the ghostly apparitions, and the heavy negative atmosphere hanging around me like a thick blanket. The only sanity I had was clinging to Soundwave's leg like a koala. I even had him confiscate all my weapons, rope, and anything I could use to kill myself with because I didn't want to die in that dark horrible haunted forest!"

"Oh my God, you were completely terrified," Miko mumbled when she was suddenly hugged by Saphira from her waist.

"I was!" she yelled while crying in fear and lips quivering like an earthquake.

---

Meanwhile, the Decepticons laughed loudly at finding out all her weaknesses. The Autobots glared at them for laughing at a terrified girl's fears.

"Ohhooo, if we knew that she hated that place so much," Knock Out said as Starscream finished what his fellow mech started to say.

"Then we would threaten to send her there if she values her sanity."

They all snickered amongst themselves as Megatron rolled his optics as well as his head. "Spirits do not exist," he muttered to himself.

"Guys, that's not funny," Jack said before saying, "There's a reason why it's called the Suicide Forest."

"Oh come on, you can't be serious that a few 'spirits' haunting the place is all that bad," Starscream said.

"Jack's right," Raf said as he added, "According to this website I have here, there have been reports of roughly seventy to a hundred corpses that have been found per year and there are still so many bodies that haven't been found yet in those forests. It also said that the place is haunted because of all of those wandering souls who took their lives in those woods."

The Cons remained silent after hearing that. That's when one of the soldiers said, "Now that's messed up." The rest agreed whether or not they believed in spirits and the paranormal.

---

Back to Saphira clinging to her best friend for dear life, Miko started to pat her on the head to comfort her.

"There, there, Anna. Everything is okay. You're here now and not over there in torment. Let's just continue on and forget your mental breakdown of your experience in the Aokigahara Forest."

Saphira nodded her head. "Okay," she muttered as the fight scene continued.

Lucifer smiled as he said, "So this is your weakness. My sword forged out of metal infused with hellstones. Interesting."

She leered hatefully at him as she stood up albeit clumsily. Her hands tightened around her knives' hilt. She stood there for a moment before she ran into action and attacked him with every bit of strength she has left. He blocked her anemic attacks. She was easily pushed back due to her weakened state as he slashed at her with his sword. Saphira tried her best to block the attack with her knife when she dropped it. Time seemed to move slower as she used her right arm to block the attack from the sword.

A loud screeched was heard from the scrapping of two metals together as Saphira shrieked in pain. This bewildered him because he didn't make contact with her flesh. She took several strides backwards while clenching her right arm which was leaking out a glowing blue violet liquid. The rip of her jacket revealed her dull bluish silver metallic arm.

His red eyes widened as he asked, "What are you?"

She didn't reply. Her short heavy breaths and her uncoordinated movements worsened every minute she's exposed to the hellstones embedded in his sword. With one last attempt, she sprinted towards him with pathetic powerless punches that only hit the air. After a couple punches, Lucifer caught her left punch. She panted in exhaustion and stumbled to the ground until he flung her into a bookcase. Books fell on top of her limp body. A tired raspy groan escaped her lips. She lied there in defeat with her wings drooping to the ground.

Lucifer put his sword back into his cane's sheath. Then he walked over to her body and knelt to her level. She looked up at him with tired angry yellow eyes. "Okay my mysterious ninja sorcerer friend, time to see who and what you are," he said while pulling down her hood as well as her scarf. Her light blue hair fell around her shoulder. With her face fully exposed, Saphira looked up at Lucifer. Blood dripped down from her lips as she gasped for air.

He stared at her for a long time as her yellow eyes and light blue hair made him realize who she actual was. The red hue in his eyes faded back to a warm chocolate color in astonishment and shock. "It can't be…" he muttered. "Anna Bluescale, is that really you?" he asked while hesitantly going to touch her.

"Yes Luci, it's me," Saphira hoarsely replied.

"Anna, I thought you were dead. What the hell happened to you child, and why are you stealing from me?"

She was silent for a second before she mumbled, "I'm sorry Lucifer, please forgive me for this."

He looked at her in confusion until she headbutted him in the face. He rolled back in pain from her headbutt. Saphira stood up, recovered her face, gathered up her knives, placed them in their sheaths, and started to walk away before she turned to him and said, "I had no choice Lucifer, I need to find them to protect the world from the evil that did this to me."

"Anna, wait!" he called out as she ran out of the room with the book still attached to her belt.

"Sore o soko ni hoji suru!" (Hold it right there!) a man shouted when she entered the office where the windows were in full view.

She turned to see many guards, both human and nonhuman, aiming their guns at her. She glared at them.

"Kūchū ni tewoireru," (Hands in the air,) another security guard said.

She was about to put her hands in the air when Lucifer shouted, "Wait, don't shot her!"

She seized this distraction and jumped out the window. A few shots were fired as she took off into the dark sky in her full dragon form.

"Chirashi, kanojo o oikakete," (Flyers, go after her,) she heard someone say as a group of demon flies tailed her.

Her wings beat harder and faster as she evaded being shot at by either bullets or magic the demons were using to stop her. Several minutes passed by from the chase. She was still feeling the effects of the hellstone blade but ignored it so that she's focused on escaping her pursuers. Little did she know was that they broke off into teams to try and cut her off before she could make it to Tokyo Bay.

Heaving heavily from the strenuous flight, Saphira was nearing the churning waves of the water. She pushed herself as fast as her worn out wings could go across the enormous bay. Before she reached the edge of the water, four demons popped out of nowhere on both sides and wrestle her in the air. Their claws tore her clothes and cut her skin in the struggle. She roared at them when their hands grabbed ahold of her arms.

One of them was reaching for the strapped book. She noticed this as she struggled in their vice grip. Then she breathed hot blue flames in the air, which made all of them back away from her. Once they let go and flew a few feet away from her, she stopped breathing fire to fly across the large body of water. As she was gliding along the surface of the water, thunder erupted the peaceful scene.

"Oh no, not now," Saphira said as she saw dark thunder clouds overhead as the waves grew higher and higher. The choppy churning waves rose in the air from the powerful wind blowing. It was hard for Saphira to fly because the wind was going in the opposite direction she was heading to. As she flew in the coming storm, she thought back to the day Soundwave saved her life during a storm. She closed her eyes as a layer of tears started to form. Her thoughts were consumed by all of the short little memories she had with Soundwave during her time hiding behind the waterfall together. The regret of their fight reminded her of what happened earlier before she left to come here.

~ "Soundwave…I…I'm sorry. I…I didn't mean to push you away like that. Please…help me…" ~ she thought to herself while biting the bottom of her lip. She glided above the water for several minutes. Her tears flowed down her cheeks until a single drop of her tears slid down and fell directly on her exposed diamond shaped jewel on her chest. A teal glow illuminated from her jewel. She opened her eyes as they too glowed but in a solid white color.

The scene transitioned to the Decepticon warship where Soundwave was busy typing on the computer.

"Wait a minute, how come you have his memory of his point of view?" Miko asked.

"Well, after everything that has happened, he told me he had a vision of what I was seeing and going through. I was skeptical, so I went into his memory via astroprojection and saw for myself that we somehow were sightseeing what the other one was seeing," Saphira replied.

Miko gasped as she said excitedly, "Like how Latias was seeing what Latios was seeing in their sightseeing ability in Pokémon Heroes the Movie?"

She smiled at her friend and replied, "Yes, that's exactly what was happening, though I still don't know how we were able to do that. Hmm, must be that we are both telepathic beings or something."

"That. Is. So. AWESOME!~" Miko sang out loud with dreamy eyes looking at her friend in awe.

Saphira just simply smiled at her dear friend's excitement. Then she turned her attention back at Soundwave. Her bright yellow eyes seemed to soften at him despite the fact that he was extremely ticked.

He continued to type on the computer with quick movements from one key to the other. Even though he appears to be calm and collective, inside his mind was a different story.

~ "Why that deceiving little glitch! She tricked me into believing that I could form some kind of mutual bond with her. Obviously, she showed me that there wasn't one at all; otherwise, she wouldn't be saying all those things to me. If our relationship was meaningful in the slightest, she would have regretted what she said instead of acting all spiteful at me when I simply wanted to know what she was planning on doing. After all that I've done for her, she just dismisses my generosity I have given to her. She's so ungrateful that she's nothing like my kind friend at all!" ~ Behind his visor, Soundwave's brows furrowed in anger the more he thought about it. ~ "Why in the pit did I even bother in feeling sympathy towards her when she first came here on this ship? How could her mournful lullaby convince me to take pity on her? Was it because she was asking for someone to show her mercy and kindness?" ~

He stopped typing for a minute to think about it. ~ "Or was it because she…she reminded me of Harmony when she was still online thousands of years ago? The human and her do share similar hobbies like singing to themselves. Was that why my spark started to feel emotions again because of her? That does explain why I've been feeling this way right now. This painful feeling in my spark…is it sparkache? No, it couldn't be. I don't have that kind of emotion towards the human, though this feeling seems familiar to me." ~

Then he resumed typing on the computer. ~ "I haven't felt this way since the day Harmony was one with the Allspark, but it couldn't be. I loved Harmony. She was everything to me. She was my voice, my dreams, my hope, my emotions, and a piece of my spark. When she passed, I lost all of them until I met that human. Somehow, she managed to rekindle my cold dying spark with just her beautiful lullaby she sang to herself in her lament over her carrier and sire as well as her sparksiblings' death. By why now? After all this time, why is everything coming back to me whenever I am in the human's presence?" ~

Miko looked at Saphira to ask, "Did he and…"

"And Harmony fell in love with each other?" Saphira interrupted.

"Yes, that's exactly what I was going to ask, but how did you know?"

"Because Soundwave told me himself that he did at one point fell in love with Megatron's only daughter. That was until she died protecting him. He told me one time that his one regret was never working up the courage to tell her he loved her," she said in a sad tone.

---

Back in the room, everyone just stood and stared at the screen in utter silence. They couldn't believe what their auto sensors were hearing from Soundwave's very thoughts. Now they know the reason why Soundwave barely speaks at all. It was because he was still buried deep in his sorrows after losing his friend as well as a lover he couldn't tie the knot with at the time in the beginning of the war. Nobody dared to speak until Megatron broke the ice.

"I should have known that he and my daughter fell in love. Know wonder he acted so distant and cold to others after her death," he said.

"Wait, you knew all along that they were that 'close'?" Starscream asked his former master.

Megatron nodded his head and replied, "I had a feeling that Harmony and Soundwave were more than just good friends."

"But how? Soundwave only told me about his true feelings for Harmony when we were at her grave thousands of years ago," he said.

"When you have a sparkling of your own, Starscream, then you'll know about a father's intuition for his child," he replied to him.

Starscream didn't say anything as he and the rest of the group continued to watch what was going to happen next.

---

He was still typing on the computer as he thought about Saphira again. ~ "Why should I care about her? She never cared about me; ergo, I shouldn't care about her too. When I came back to the ship, I was going to tell Megatron where she was right now, but I didn't have the spark to tell him right away. Ever since I came back on the ship, I had this strange feeling that I would regret something later. Was that something of vowing not to save the human child if she was in serious trouble? If so, why do I feel this uneasy feeling in my spark as if she's in trouble right now?" ~

Soundwave hasn't taken his optics off the screen of the computer for a long time. He typed up more assigned tasks for the soldiers he selected for the assignment of patrolling the mines in certain sectors. Suddenly, he heard a voice calling his name as he stopped typing in surprise.

~ "Soundwave…I…I'm sorry. I…I didn't mean to push you away like that. Please…help me…" ~

Underneath his visor, his optics widened in disbelief at the familiar voice of the human child. ~ "Was…was that the human who told me she didn't trust me calling me for help? No, it couldn't be, she proclaimed that she wouldn't bother in calling me because she never needed my assistance. Ha, I would rather blow a fuse than help that ungrateful, untrustful, and cold sparked little…." ~ He stopped when he turned back to the computer to noticed that it dissolved away and was replaced with the churning swirling dark water all around him. ~ "What in the pit!" ~ he exclaimed in bewilderment at what he was seeing right in front of him.

He heard shots fired as the attacks only hit the water's surface. Then the point of view he was seeing in front of him changed to look behind. He saw seven creatures flying behind while continuing their attacks. A growl emitted out of nowhere, yet it sounded familiar.

~ "Wait, is this what she's seeing right now? How? This is impossible! I can't be seeing through her optics at what she's doing right this minute." ~

There was yelling in an unfamiliar language, but it was muffled by the loud booming thunder of the coming storm. Saphira's point of view turned back to the front as she flew faster towards the approach of land coming up in the distance. She was so close that she could just reach it with her hand. Just as she passed the docs and further onto land until she was above lush green forests, a yellow glyph appeared above her. She looked up but didn't have time to dodge the spell as she was shot down by a paralysis spell blot.

She screamed from the electrifying spell. Saphira groaned in pain before she stopped flying completely. Her body started to plummet towards the ground as trees brushed and scraped her everywhere. The vision Soundwave was seeing was getting blurrier before he lost connection altogether.

Soundwave internally gasped after seeing that experience from her point of view. His servo reached up and touched his head from all the information his processor was taking in. Little did he know was that his fellow comrades were staring at him in worry when they saw him froze at his station.

A brave soldier was the first to speak. "Are you alright, Chief Soundwave?"

Soundwave heard him but didn't bother to reply because of his internal struggle of what he should do after seeing her in trouble. His spark leaped in his chamber at the feeling of dread and fear if he did nothing to help her. He remembered what she said to him telepathically that she was sorry and she needed his help. It took him a few seconds in silence to think about his next move.

The soldier that asked Soundwave if he was alright walked closer to him and was about to touch the Communication's Chief when Soundwave suddenly moved which startled the Con soldier. Soundwave retracted his tentacle arms and as calmly as possible walked out of the room in silence. Everyone was confused for a moment before they resumed their work. Once Soundwave was out of the room, which automatically closed behind him, he started to run towards the landing doc so that he could take off into the skies and ground-bridged to her location.

~ "Human, I'm coming. Just please hold on. I'll be there, I swear to Primus I'll save you. I'm not going to have this happen again," ~ he thought to himself as this fear of his crept into his spark again.

He made it to the doc and took to the skies where he ground-bridged to her current location.

The scene transitioned back to the point where Saphira took a nose dive down towards the forest beneath her. Foliage and sharp branches cut and tore her clothes, skin, and her wings. She tried to move to avoid any more damage, but the spell prevented her from doing so. Then she crashed into a branch as splinters stung and pierced her scaly skin. Before she crashed into the ground, her wing got caught on a branch as it tore her membrane like it would do to a kite that crashed into it. She shrieked in pain from being knocked around and torn up from the fall.

A low roar escaped from her mouth as she tilted her body to the side when she hit the forest floor. She skidded on the ground for a long time until she stopped sliding in the soft muddy earth. Heavy breathing from the chase made her take in deeper breaths than usual to slow her rapid heart rate. Her whole body was limp and couldn't move because of the spell.

Steady drops of rain fell on Saphira's body. She opened her eyes to see that she crashed landed in a clearing in the forest. The voices of the demons chasing her grew louder. At this very moment, she thought back to Soundwave and that he said that he wouldn't save her if she was in trouble on her mission. She cursed herself again for being so stubborn and not telling Soundwave what she was going to do.

~ "I guess this is it then. My fears will become reality." ~ She mentally sighed to herself. ~ "Well, this is it. Goodbye, freedom and hello unknown future." ~

Her eyelids closed as the world around her blurred together. When all hope was lost, a familiar crackling of a portal opened in the sky. A fast aircraft flew by at great speed. She recognized the aircraft as she muttered in hope and joy, "Soundwave."

"Nani o!" What the!) one of the demons said out loud when he saw the drone aircraft coming right at them.

Soundwave saw the demons coming towards him. He opened fire at them. In response, they all dodged and started to fire at him. This exchange of attacking with each other with their weapons went on only for a few short seconds. That's when Soundwave telepathically spoke to his Mini-Con partner. ~ "Lasserbeak, disengage and attack." ~

~ "Uh, finally. I get to be of some use. Do you know how long I have waited to be in a battle for?" ~ Lasserbeak said.

~ "Lasserbeak," ~ Soundwave said in a stern tone.

~ "Alright, all ready. Jeez, cut this girl a little slack will ya. I'll fry those flying creatures without putting much effort into it," ~ she replied.

~ "Attack only to distract them while I go get the human girl," ~ he said.

She sighed before saying, ~ "Fine." ~ She disengaged and started to attack them by shooting them away from her master as he turned around to try and find Saphira.

He searched below for the blue haired child in the light rain until he found her motionless on the ground in a clearing. ~ "No," ~ he muttered as he transformed and landed near her body. His spark dropped in his chamber when he laid optics on her still body. He clasped on the ground because his fear came true. He gently picked up the still body of the child he cared about in his servo and looked at her.

Lubricant formed in his optics behind his mask. ~ "I was too late…I'm so sorry, human, I should have come here sooner so that you could live." ~ His spark beated slower than usual. ~ "This is not happening again," ~ he whispered to himself while the lubricant flowed down from his optics.

"I'm…not…dead," he heard a faint horse voice say.

He looked down to see lively yellow eyes staring back at him as they tried to remain open.

~ "You're, alive!" ~ he said in disbelief.

~ "Barely," ~ she replied back to him telepathically. Her eyes shut as she snorted when she exhaled.

~ "We need to repair you, and fast!" ~ he exclaimed while he opened a portal back to the waterfall hideout. ~ "Lasserbeak, we are leaving." ~

~ "Be there in a nanosecond," ~ she replied as she fired at a demon before diving towards Soundwave to follow him through the ground-bridge portal. All of them disappeared as the demons cursed in Japanese for losing their target.

They appeared in the waterfall. Soundwave placed the human child high up on a ledge so that it is easier for him to treat her injuries. Neither of them spoke to each other. Saphira was just watching the Con frantically got the fire going for her so that she could be warm. Once that was done, he moved her closer to the warm glowing fire. Then he turned to her and said, ~ "How come you are not moving? Did they crush any of your fragile bones?" ~

~ "No, they just spelled me so that I am paralyzed and can't move," ~ she replied to him with her thoughts.

~ "How can I undo it?" ~

~ "You don't. It should naturally wear off soon. Already I am regaining some of my movements," ~ she said while trying to clench her fingers together.

He nodded. ~ "Where's your medical kit so I can patch you up." ~

At last, the paralysis spell was broken. Saphira can move a bit more, but she still felt weak from all that happened to her. Slowly, she sat up and pointed to the bag below on a rock. Soundwave nodded and opened the backpack and found the medical kit. He came over to her as she removed her scarf and jacket to only hiss in pain.

Soundwave used his tentacle arms and helped remove them as gently as possible. Once her jacket was removed, the girl's dirtied white undershirt clung to her bluish scales and mint green underbelly since she hasn't changed back into her human form yet. Soundwave worked on removing all the splinters from her body. Saphira didn't refuse or objected to him cleaning her wounds for her that she could do so by herself. She just seemed to be out of it because she has been thinking and debating about forming a relationship with this robot. She kept quite and watched the Con tend to her injuries.

He removed all the wooden splinters, dirt, twigs, and leaves from her body in silence. Then he used his cable cord to pick up the antiseptic spray and applied it to her cuts after he wiped the blood off her shallow lacerations. A few of the cuts still bled out so he searched in the kit for what the humans called a band-aid and struggled to apply it to her wounds. She gently placed a hand on his cable and shook her head. He nodded in understanding as he put the box down to the side.

Saphira flexed her injured wing to only drop it back down in pain. Soundwave came closer and tenderly lifted her wing. He noticed that there was a large rip in the membrane of her right wing. Again, he went into the kit but couldn't find what he was looking for. She knew that he was looking for something to stitch the ripped flaps together. She closed her eyes and tried to levitate her sewing kit out of the backpack. The kit floated in the air as Soundwave turned around to see it roll out of the bag. He picked it up, opened it, got the thread and needle, and tried his best to thread the needle through.

He continued to struggle in putting the ridiculously thin thread through the tiny hole. Each second passed by from his frustrating task of getting the thread through. Then he accidently dropped the needle as he cursed out loud. ~ "Scrap!" ~ A frustrated groan emitted from him as he cursed more in Cybertronian.

A small smirk appeared on her lips with a small silent chuckle. Then she levitated the needle from the ground, disinfected it with an alcohol wipe, levitated the thread through the hole, formed a knot at the end of the string, carefully heated the needle in the fire, and handed it to the baffled Soundwave. Once he had the needle in his tentacle arm, he stared at the human girl that used telekinesis. She looked away from him and hugged her knees to her chest as he sewed her wing membrane back together.

While he continued to sew and the warm fire crackled and sparked, Saphira glanced at him for a second before she finally spoke. "Why did you save me?"

Soundwave paused from his task for a moment and looked at her when he heard her soft, quiet voice. ~ "You asked me to. I heard you calling for me to help you and so I came." ~ he replied in a soothing voice. He resumed sewing her wing.

"After all the things I said to you, you still came to save my miserable life, again. I thought that you wouldn't bother in helping a deceitful creature like myself a second time," she whispered out loud.

~ "Anyone could say anything and don't mean it in a heated argument." ~

"But still," she said. Her yellow eyes looked down at the ground in shame.

Soundwave finished sewing her wing by tying a knot at the end before cutting the left-over string off. He put the needle back in the sewing kit as he said, ~ "I accept your apology." ~

Her eyes widened while her fin-like ears perked up from what he said just now. Her head turned so that she was face to face with the Decepticon. "You.. forgive me?" she asked in disbelief.

He nodded his head.

"How could you? I basically called you worthless and untrusting despite that you always have been reaching out to me," she said.

~ "I'll admit I couldn't forgive you at first because of what you said about me and dismissing what I've given to you was nothing meaningful," ~ he said. He noticed that she turned away from him. With one metal finger, he made her head turn towards him. ~ "But when I saw that you were in terrible danger from those flying creatures after you in a vision I had of your point of view, I knew I had two choices. Ignore your pleas of help or save your life once again. Inside my spark, I knew I made the right choice in saving your life." ~

"Why's that?"

~ "Because I'm not a cold sparkless mech that would turn away a cry for help, despite everything you said to me. If I didn't save you, then your blood would be on my servos because I would have done nothing to rescue you. I couldn't let that kill the type of mech I am." ~

"So you saved me because of honor then," she muttered.

He shook his head. ~ "No, I saved you because I wanted to." ~

"But why I am not even worth your time. The only thing that I've done is push you away. So why did you save me?"

~ "Because you are worth my time." ~ Her eyes glowed in the warm light of the fire after hearing that. ~ "And I know that you would push me away and become cold towards me, even though I try to open up to you. I guess I know why you would do that to me. You didn't want me to know about the real you. I did the same thing before I met you." ~ Her eyes widened at him. ~ "You see, I've never talked to anyone like this in thousands of years because I choose not to speak. Instead, I would communicate to others by recorded voices of the people around me." ~

"How come?" she asked in curiosity.

~ "Because I lost someone very dear to me in the war. She was my closest friend I had throughout my youth," ~ he said in a sullen tone.

"Was her name Harmony?"

His head perked up. ~ "How did you know that?" ~

She turned her head way and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I remember you saying that in the meadow when I was singing. Did I remind you of her?"

~ "Yes, you and her are very much alike." ~

"I dought it. I bet she's warm-hearted unlike me."

~ "Harmony was indeed very warm-hearted and kind, but she's also a great singer, dancer, and drawer just like you," ~ he said in a kind tone. Her yellow eyes looked at him. ~ "Because of you, you made me feel emotions again in my cold spark." ~

"I made you feel again?"

He nodded his head. ~ "Yes. When I heard you singing that lullaby to yourself," ~ he put his servo on his spark chamber as he said, ~ "It made my extinguished spark beat again once more." ~

"Was that why you showed me compassion that night by wiping away my tears and gently stroking me until I fell asleep?"

~ "Yes. It was the first emotion that flared up in my spark when I saw you crying in sadness and fear. After that, I experienced a protective side of myself whenever Knock Out experimented on you or when Starscream hurt you. Each day that passed by on the warship with you on board, I became more and more corporeal so to speak." ~

Saphira remembered those darker times on the ship and how her guardian angel would come to her aid.

~ "If it wasn't for you, I would still be the cold sparkless mech today. In a way, you saved my life and reminded me of who I am, so I owe you for bringing life back into my dead spark." ~ He said before adding, ~ "Also, I wanted to, you know, get to know you better since I see so many similarities when I compare you with Harmony." ~

Saphira was silent for some time. Then she started to say, "You know I am not Harmony, and I can never replace your dear friend because I am not her."

~ "I know that, but…" ~ he said when she interrupted him.

"But, I am now willing to open up more for you to see the kind of person I am as well as form a meaningful relationship with you," she said in a shy way. Soundwave was speechless and was about to ask something when she started to say. "I guess I'll begin by saying the reason I have been so cold and distant towards you ever since we formed an 'alliance' thirteen days ago."

~ "Alright. I'm listening." ~ he said.

She sighed out loud for a second. "The reason why I was cold to you was," she paused for a moment before continuing, "I don't want you to get involved in my affairs. I also wanted to push you away so that I would be alone and not have to worry about someone else."

~ "So the reason for not telling me why you were going to Japan to steal something was so that I won't get involved in your conflicts, right?" ~

She nodded her head.

~ "Then tell me why you couldn't trust me after I helped you?" ~

"I don't want to feel this pain in my heart again," she replied while hugging her body even tighter. "After I lost my only family, who's not even my biological family, by the way, I felt so much pain, sorrow, dread, regret, misery, and loss that I don't want to feel those same feelings again. If I lost someone precious and dear to me, I don't know how I'll coop with that a second time around. Heck, I really believed at first that being a lone wolf was the only option for me, but I was wrong. Being alone and cut off from someone is like the same painful stabbing in my heart that would never go away. All this time, I've been turning away your kindness and hospitality for a pathetic creature like myself. Now after seeing for myself that you are loyal and sympathetic, I can trust you, but I worry about…about…"

Soundwave stood there in silence when he started to speak, ~ "About what if we were caught by Megatron about our relationship?" ~ She gave him a short nod in reply. ~ "Human, you don't have to worry about that. I'm very good at withholding information from others." ~

"Even from Megatron?" she asked.

A long pause went by until the Con said, ~ "Yes. Even from my liege." ~ Then he tried to rest his long fingers around her body and cooed, ~ "You don't have to be alone in this cruel world anymore. I'll stay by your side through thick and thin, and we'll face what fate throws at us, together." ~

Her yellow eyes brightened and shimmered in the soft glow of the fire. Those eyes shone in admiration and hope at the Decepticon before her. "You're still willing to open your arms out in friendship to someone that hasn't shown you anything but mistrust to you?"

He nodded. ~ "I'm willing to offer you my friendship and trust to you again if you are willing to accept it, human child," ~ he said while gently patting her back before removing it away from her body when she cringed from the pressure his fingers were applying on her bruised and sore wings.

Baffled by everything he said and did, Saphira sat in silence by the slowly dying fire. Soundwave added a few more sticks and twigs in the fire. She watched them incinerate from the hot burning flames. Closing her eyes, she began to think. She thought for a long time about telling him her name, but she doesn't know which one to tell him. After several minutes of thinking in the comfortable and peaceful silence, she worked up the courage to tell him her name.

"Saphira," she muttered out loud in almost a whisper.

His head perked up when he heard her say something. He looked at her in confusion to what she said.

"My name," she said while looking at him with her beautiful yellow cat-like eyes. "My name is Saphira. Saphira Nightwing," she said a little louder for him to hear.

He was in shock that the human creature before him revealed her name to him after they've been together for a couple of weeks. Underneath his black visor, he smiled that she trusts him. ~ "Saphira," ~ he said before saying, ~ "That's a beautiful name." ~

A rosy blush shaded her cheeks in embarrassment.

---

Meanwhile, everyone's jaw dropped in amazement that Knock Out was right about the part where they begin to trust each other after Soundwave saved Saphira in a heroic way in her time of need.

Knock Out's grin spread across his faceplate in an 'I was right' mocking way at Starscream who doubted him.

Starscream glared at him, rolled his optics, and said, "Oh hush. I don't even want to hear it."

Knock Out grinned even more while chuckling at what Starscream said to him.

Everyone else looked completely dumbfounded at the idea that Soundwave and Saphira's relationship might possibly be more than just a strong platonic friendship. Both the humans and Cybertronians couldn't possibly fandom the idea of the human and the ex-Communication's Chief's relationship being romantic.

---

Back in the girl's memory, Miko stared at the scene of Soundwave and Saphira enjoying each other's company in a calming silence. This memory faded back to the multicolored nebula. Miko turned to face her friend as she asked, "So how come you told him that your name is Saphira instead of Anna?"

"I wanted a new name in my new life. I didn't want to be reminded of the tormented past that I have left behind, so I decided to go with what my biological parents wanted to name me," she replied.

"Okay, so do I call you Anna or Saphira from now on?" Miko asked.

Her friend shrugged in replied. "You can call me either or since we known each other for many years now."

"Okay, I'll still call you Ann, Anna," Miko said with a friendly smirk.

Saphira smiled back at her friend.

"Now, I've seen how you and Soundwave met and became allies. Maybe even friends after you started to trust him," Miko started.

"Yeah?" Saphira said while arching an eyebrow.

"Well, I was curious to what happened afterward."

"Like what?"

"Like what that rubix cube thingy you were talking about was, how and why you gathered all the gems, and how on earth you can transform into a humongous robot all of a sudden?!" Miko exclaimed while throwing her hands up in the air for emphasis to her mind being blown by the fact she can transform into a full Cybertronian.

"Aye! So many questions," Saphira said out loud. She sighed before saying, "Okay, I guess we still have time for me to tell you about my own little adventures I went on for nearly five years now."

"ALL RIGHT!" the enthusiastic teen shouted out loud. She calmed down to say, "I can't wait to hear all about your adventures and your relationship with the silent Con himself, Soundwave."

Saphira chuckled to herself while shaking her head at Miko. She took in a deep breath and began to tell her about her story after the day she began her new life. "It all started sometime in August that I began my quest in finding all Fifteen Jewels of Harmony…"

~ To Be Continued ~

---

Earuile (Elvish for vines)