I am reasonably certain that this story is entirely Ardent Aspen's fault. It's all because of her tumblr that I got into Transformers Animated at all. (And from there, other Transformers universes)
But I hope you all like this story.
The Heir-Prince of the Cybertronian Empire stood on a balcony in the royal palace and watched the sun rise with red- newly red- optics.
He'd sworn his oath not three days before, when he came of age, and his adoptive creator, the Emperor himself, had formally named him heir, and had given him the brand.
When the prince had been just a sparkling, the Empire had been called the Decepticon Empire, but after the last battles with the Autobots had been won, Megatron had simply returned the name to that of their home planet. The Prince could remember those celebrations, and remembered how Megatron had been so happy. The Prince had been happy, too. He hadn't understood why it was a good thing, but his creator was a serious mech, and anything that made him happy was a good thing, in the Prince's mind.
The Prince sighed and set his hands on the railing in thought. He continued to watch the sun. He'd woken up this morning knowing more than he'd expected. He remembered, remembered before he'd been adopted.
He didn't know if he wanted to tell anyone. He'd been happy, he'd grown up cared for, and even loved, in the way Decepticons didn't always show it, but they did care for their sparklings. He'd had playmates, playmates who had become some of his closest friends. Playmates who had been his friends, for longer than he'd thought.
He supposed he wasn't surprised to be looking out at the world with red optics. He'd known what would happen. He was surprised that he was thinking about it. He never expected to get the chance, not like this. But… no. He wasn't upset. There'd been no other choice, and it wasn't like he regretted it. Did he?
How could he, when he had been treated so well and raised as happy as any sparkling? Despite his origins, he'd never doubted that his creator wanted only the best for him.
He did wonder if he should tell his creator. The Prince was well aware that Megatron wasn't actually his creator, had been told how he had been adopted, once he was old enough to understand. But his original creators were dead, and had been dead long before Megatron had adopted him. And Megatron had been a good creator, just like his original creators.
"I didn't expect to see you up yet, little one," Megatron's voice rumbled behind him.
The Prince smiled slightly. His creator was fond of giving him nicknames like that. After all, he was significantly shorter than Megatron, and always would be. "I needed to think," he said. He squared his shoulders. "I woke up and…" he shook his head slightly, and made his decision. "No. I need to thank you."
The Prince turned around and looked up into Megatron's optics. Their color was the same as they'd always been, the same as the Prince's now were.
"For what?" Megatron asked. "There's nothing I can think of that you need to thank me for."
"You kept your promise," the Prince said. "You…" his voice bled to static. "I remember," he finally said.
"Remember?" Megatron asked. He didn't seem to grasp what the Prince meant.
The Prince smiled. "I remember. What happened before… how I was turned into a sparkling. I remember."
Megatron went solemn, and slowly, his hand came up and brushed his shoulder, where an Autobot badge had once been, where a Decepticon brand now shone. "Do you regret it?" he asked, quiet. "I often feared that you would."
"No," the Prince said after a bare second. "I knew it would happen. I agreed to it, before I lost all my memories. And I know you thought none of us would remember. Besides… I didn't lose my newer memories. I still remember everything you did for me. For my friends."
Megatron smiled slightly. "Ah, little one. I think I am very lucky that it did happen. No," he corrected himself. "I know I'm lucky."
The Prince smirked. "I do have a name, you know," he said impishly.
Megatron threw his head back and laughed. "Yes, Optimus, you do," he replied. "And I haven't forgotten it since the day we rescued you and your team."
Another reason this is Ardent's fault, is because she has some ideas about TFA Megatron mentoring TFA Optimus, and then I got to thinking about potentially, TFA Megatron raising Optimus and here we are. I'm not sure how long this story will be, but we'll touch on all the Earth Autobots, and there will be some flashbacks to explain about how this happened in the first place.
So, I have been posting this on AO3, and realized I should also post it here. I'll post a chapter every few days until it's all caught up, then I'll start posting on the same schedule as AO3. I generally try to post every Sunday, though it doesn't always work out that way. But for now, next chapter will be posted on Tuesday, unless work is completely horrible.