Sorry I didn't get this out yesterday, I had a bit of a crazy day. Enjoy it now, though!
Prowl studied the Prince as they made their way through the crystalline trees of the gardens. Optimus was quiet, today, almost pensive. His newly red optics didn't seem to be taking in the gardens, even if it was the best season to visit.
Prowl glanced at Ratchet, and saw that he was already eying Optimus in concern.
"Let's take a break," Prowl said. "There's a clearing up ahead that has some benches."
Optimus smiled slightly as Ratchet agreed immediately.
They found the benches, and sat down, Ratchet and Prowl bracketing Optimus immediately. Optimus shifted slightly. "What is it?" he asked.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Ratchet said. "You're distracted."
"Oh," Optimus said. "I…" he vented. "I've been thinking. A lot has changed. And no, I don't regret coming of age and being officially named the Heir," he added. "Or officially becoming a Decepticon."
"Didn't think that," Ratchet said.
"So what is it?" Prowl asked.
"Do you ever wonder what the… the Autobots we were before would think about us?"
Prowl went quiet. "I hope that they would understand," he said after a moment. "And even approve, in some way."
"I think they'd understand," Ratchet said. "After all, we don't remember being them. And our caretakers and adopted creators never hid our pasts from us. I don't know if they'd approve." He smiled wryly. "We were Autobots, after all."
"Why were you thinking about that?"
Optimus turned to look at Prowl. "Just… sorting my mind out," he said. "I mean…" he glanced at his shoulder. "It's a big change. I just can't help but wonder." He returned his attention to Prowl.
"I know… I think I would be fine with it, but what about you? It was me who was the one who called for help in the first place."
Prowl didn't say anything about Optimus' stumble, just filed it away for future thought. "I… I'm not sure. I hope I'd have understood, and been alright. But I don't know."
"I know that we were fighting Lord Megatron," Ratchet added. "And I know that I was a veteran of the first war. That version of me would have been horrified to be raised by a Decepticon, I think. But… you had no choice, that much I do know from the records they've shown us. The rest of us had fully reverted, you were starting to revert, and the Autobots would never have reached us in time. If they would even bother to come."
"We've seen the records. Ultra Magus was the closest to Earth. But Sentinel Prime was on his team, and he hated Optimus Prime," Prowl interjected.
"He hates Prince Optimus too," Optimus added dryly.
"And Optimus, Strika and Lugnut cared for me as if I was their own creation. They still do. I'm not a fool to think that the Autobot I had been, the veteran, would have wanted it. But the only other options were to die as sparklings, or to let humans raise us," Ratchet smiled at their prince. "You did the right thing, I think."
"I know," Optimus said. "I've just wondered, lately."
Prowl sighed. "I don't think any of us would have blamed you," he said. "Not, I think, that we'll ever know for sure."
"What if we do? Wake up some day and remember everything?"
"Then we do," Ratchet said. "But I don't think any of us will be upset with you. Upset, perhaps. I can't say for certain, we're the same mechs, but we're also different, if that makes sense."
Optimus smiled faintly. "Thanks," he said. "And it does make sense. How much of our personalities are innate, how much is because of our lives? I guess we're a pretty good test for that." He leaned back and stared at the trees. Ratchet and Prowl did the same. Prowl continued to think about the subject, but he didn't say anything for now.
"Shouldn't we be meeting Bulkhead and Bumblebee soon?" Prowl finally asked.
Optimus stirred. "We are. I think they're planning something," he added.
"This should be fun," Ratchet said.
Prowl smiled slightly. The two of them were complete opposites, but somehow the two youngest- both physically, and actually- of the five of them were best friends.
The three of them headed for the entrance, and Prowl was happy to see that the Prince seemed more settled now.
They exited, to see the Bulkhead and Bumblebee waiting for them.
The Prince smiled at them. "Hey, boss!" Bumblebee said as they exited the gardens.
Optimus only smiled wider at that familiar title. Prowl still didn't know why Bumblebee had started calling Optimus "boss", but he had.
"Bumblebee," Optimus said.
Bumblebee paused and stared up at him. "You know, you look… different, with red optics," he said. "I mean… not bad or anything. It's just different."
"I know," Optimus said. "I still startle myself when I look in a mirror."
Everyone laughed at that.
"I wish the Allspark hadn't reverted me as much as it did," Bumblebee complained. "I'm the last one of us who will come of age."
Prowl sighed. It was true, they'd all been made different ages, with no regard to how old they had been, only how close they had been to the Allspark shard. Optimus Prime had been across the room, from what he'd said before he'd fully reverted. At least, that's what they'd been told. None of them knew the full truth, of course. Not even their adoptive creators. They'd only know if they remembered.
"Let's go," Ratchet said. "I want to see this new game you two have been yammering about."
The five of them headed out. Prowl kept an eye on Optimus, but whatever he'd been worried about, he seemed to have overcome it.
A little bit with friends, as Optimus worries about what his friends will think. And I'm trying to draw both parallels and differences between the Autobots they were, and the Decepticons they're being raised to be. I'm not sure it's succeeding, but as we get farther into the story, hopefully it will. Next chapter will, if all goes well, be on Monday