This is an AU I've been playing with for my Roselight (OC)/Smokescreen ship, but I've not been able to get the words for that one yet. But when I saw today's prompt, I knew it'd be the perfect AU for JuneOP. So, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fic, this is just for fun, don't me
Nightingale invented deeply as she watched the crowd entering the Amphitheater. It was just another Chorus, nothing to fuss over. Except for the fact the Prime himself would be performing his Call, and at least half of this crowd was hoping to be his Response.
"I haven't seen you this nervous since your first surgery," Lifeline said, smiling at her. "It's not that bad, you know."
"Easy for you to say. You've never even been to a Chorus before," Nightingale said, which was true. Lifeline was a Call, and had found her Response while singing their Song in the ER on a slow night. Nightingale was a Response and this would be her fourth Chorus.
"You'll be fine!" Lifeline gave her a small push into the crowd. "Go find your Song!"
Nightingale stumbled a bit, then sighed and waved as she shuffled into the queue. At the gate, she gave her information, and in turn was given a participant number and a seat number. As a later arrival, plus her seeker wings, she was at the back of the amphitheater. Still a clear view of the stage, but far enough she'd have to strain her optical zoom to see the Caller's faces. She got a cube of energon from the dispenser, and settled in for a long day of listening to Songs that were not hers.
A Chorus was really a simple event, held in Amphitheaters specifically built for it. The mecha who carried the first part of a Sparksong would get on stage and sing it to the gathered Responses. If their sparkmate was present, they would approach the stage while singing the Response, and the two would duet the Song to its end, before being hustled somewhere they could get to know each other properly. If there was no Response, the Caller would leave the stage, and often the amphitheater entirely, and try again another day.
The Amphitheater was a special, almost holy ground some would say. Natural dips in the base metal of Cybertron, surrounded by spires and with small rises in the center where the Caller stood, and the spires and sometimes very ground itself would play accompaniment to the Sparksongs. All the Guild of Songs really did was erect walls around the sites, and add seating, lights and dispensers for the comfort of the mecha inside.
Mecha were encouraged to attend as many Choruses as they could, for a number of reasons, and they were often all day affairs with hundreds of Callers and thousands of Responses. And when one of the Callers was the Prime, plus an entourage of other mecha from outside Kalis, the amphitheater was packed tighter than a miner's energon hold.
Shortly after Nightingale sat down, the gates of the Amphitheater closed, and a spotlight focused on the stage as a silver bot stepped up.
"Welcome, everyone, to the Kalis Amphitheater's Seventy-Fourth Chorus of the vorn," he said, his voice echoing easily around the room. "Regular listeners might realize I am not your usual MC, which I'm not. The name's Jazz, and I was asked to lead the proceedings for this special Chorus. How is this one different than others? Because tonight, our one and only Optimus Prime will be performing his Call, to see if any of you luckily Responses have the rest of his melody!"
He gestured offstage, and from behind a curtain came the mech of the hour, to a chorus of cheers. Nightingale sat up, craning around the green femme in front of her who decided to stand to cheer, trying to get a decent look at the Prime. He was tall, she could tell, red and blue plating with broad shoulders. She couldn't see much else, and she'd be honest, she'd never actually seen him before, having been too busy with her work in the hospital to really pay attention to the news broadcasts when he'd been annointed last vorn. She'd honestly been surprised he was taking his Chorus Tour so soon, but she guessed the Senate wanted a proper Primal Lineage instead of having to hunt for a candidate again. And while she couldn't see him sell, he seemed to be a fine candidate indeed.
She shook her head as the crowd settled down and returned to their seats. She didn't need to be fantasizing about the Prime at a time like this.
"Good morning, everyone," Optimus Prime said, his deep baritone echoing through the chamber and reverbing through her spark chamber.
Oh, Primus. Maybe she'd fantasize a little.
Optimus Prime led them through the standard Blessing of Primus on the gathering, and Nightingale gave the responses by rote, too busy trying to focus her optics on him as best she could. She could pick up a couple more details: how his frame was broad at the shoulders but narrow at the waist; his helm was blue, and she thought his optics as well, and his voice was incredible. She would have to find some pictures of him on the holonet, so see if he was just as attractive up close.
After the Blessing, Optimus retreated to the backstage, and Jazz called up the first Caller. Nightingale settled back in her seat then, and most of the rest of the Chorus passed in much the same way the other three she'd attended did. Callers came up and sang their songs, and for once, most of them actually found their Responses. A silver-blue and gold speedster found his match in a red and white femme, and the two raced each other out of the Amphitheater. An initially nervous purple femme was danced off stage by a blue mech, as they sang about a first meeting. The femme who had stood in front of Nightingale practically bolted for the stage when an orange femme from the Prime's entourage sang a song about defying expectations to be together. But the whole time, as morning became afternoon, Nightingale's thoughts would drift back to the Prime and how his voice had made her feel.
Finally, after a good third of the Amphitheater had been emptied, and the first stars of twilight were starting to shine, Jazz took the stage again. "And now, the moment I know you've all been waiting for. Help me welcome to the stage, our one and only, Optimus Prime!"
Optimus Prime took the stage to rousing applause, and stood in the very center of it. Once Jazz had cleared it, a soft melody started playing, high notes balanced by some kind of acoustic, and then he started to sing.
"If I never knew you, if I never felt this love, I would have no inkling of how precious life can be."
Nightingale's jaw dropped, and almost before she recognized what she was doing, she was on her pedes and heading to the aisle. This was it, it was her Song. Their Song.
"And if I never held you, I would never have a clue how at last I'd find in you the missing part of me. In this world so full of fear, full of rage and lies, I can see the truth so clear, in your eyes. So dry your eyes. And I'm so grateful to you. I'd have lived my whole life through, lost forever, if I never knew you."
She stepped into the aisle, and the words she'd been waiting her whole life for came at once, and she sang her part as a spotlight turned to her.
"If I never knew you, I'd be safe but half as real, never knowing I could feel a love so strong and true. I'm so grateful to you. I'd have lived my whole life through, lost forever, if I never knew you."
She walked towards the stage, and as she got closer, her optics locked with Optimus's. They were blue, bright blue, like sparkflowers. And they were filled with a wonderment she had almost never seen. Certainly never towards herself before.
"I thought our love would be so beautiful," he sang to her.
"Somehow we made the whole world bright," she sang back.
"I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong," they sang together, their voices in perfect harmony. "All they'd leave us where these whispers in the night. But still my heart is singing, we were right."
She reached the stage, and he met her at the steps, taking her servo and drawing her up them until they were chassis to chassis, EM field so close they were practically one. The next part was counterpoint, but never was it disjointed.
"Ohhh, if I never knew you-" "There's no moment I regret," "-if I never knew this love-" "-since the moment that we met-" "-I would have no inkling of-" "-If our time has gone too fast-" "How precious life can be!" "-I've lived at last!"
They joined in duet again. "I thought our love would be so beautiful. Somehow we'd make the whole world bright."
"I thought our love would be so beautiful," she sang to him. "We'd turn the darkness into light."
"And still my heart is singing, we were right!" He joined her, before continuing on. "We were right. And If I never knew you."
"If I never knew you."
"I'd have lived my whole life through…" His voice trailed softly, and she picked up the melody.
"Empty as the sky,"
"Never knowing why. Lost forever, if I never knew you…"
The music faded away around them, but Nightingale could still feel the melody, flowing through her spark. Optimus looked down at her, a smile on his lips, and she knew a matching one had to be on hers.
Awareness slowly started to sink in; the dull roar in her audials turned into cheers, and she turned her helm to find the entire Amphitheater standing and cheering and applauding. Her wings fluttered, but she couldn't truly find it in herself to be embarrassed, especially when she turned back to Optimus, and all she could see and feel was elation.
"And there we have it, folks!" Jazz announced, running back on stage. "Our Prime has found his Response. Let's hear some cheers for Optimus and Nightingale!"
The cheering crowd grew louder, and Nightingale smiled and slipped one servo free of Optimus's to wave at the crowd. He lifted her other one to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, causing her wings to give another flutter.
"These two certainly have a lot of talk about, so why don't we let the love-liliths head for some privacy, while we sing the Song of Sparks in celebration?" An agreeable cheer answered Jazz's question, and the visored mech flashed a grin at Nightingale and Optimus before making a shooing motion with his servos.
Optimus led Nightingale offstage and backstage, through another cheering crowd consisting of the Caller mecha of his entourage who hadn't met their Responses. Mixed in the congratulations was teasing calls and even a shout of "Knew it'd be a seeker!" that caused both their faces to flush. Even so, Optimus accepted them with good grace, and led her to one of the introduction rooms. She'd never been in one before, but she knew this one was much better appointed than normal, to account for the mech expected to use it.
Once the door was closed behind them and the cheers muffled, Optimus turned to her. "Let me make a proper introduction. Optimus Prime, and I am so happy to finally meet you."
Nightingale smiled. "Nightingale, and so am I."
It was the start of one of the happiest bondings Cybertron had ever seen.
Anyone who can guess the background ships mentioned gets an internet cookie.
If I ever write more of this universe, I'll add additional chapters, but for now, it is complete.
