Disclaimer: Still not mine -.^ What? You thought someone gave them to me
for no apparent reason? Sorry to dissapoint -_-
A/N: -sniff- Almost done, hope it doesn't end too sadly. There –will- eventually be a sequel, dealing with how Sai and Sky-Byte get along when the others have gone; but mostly with Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime. There's going to be another sequel to that, I think, when Burn comes back. So nope, I didn't kill him off, he's just out of the picture for a while =^- ^=
And, honestly, I do have to thank a few people. Whether you liked this fic or not, I loved writing it. Zeheria's reviews always made me want to update, and kept me going. Usually I would have just filed this away in my box of millions of unfinished pieces of writing, but the fact she kept on reviewing even the chapters I hated gave me the will to finish =^-^=. And to Zan and Kit (my partner in crime) for giving me advice on what to do when I had serious writers block ^^; And mostly to Matt, who I never see anymore, but who was the first to ever read this back in uhm –thinks- 2002? I think, and who's asking to read the first draft I accidentally left on the table again is the whole reason I posted. Arigatoo to you all =^-^= And to everyone else who's read this, of course =^-^=
~*~*~*~*~*~
And so, life more or less returned to normality. The Autobots battled the Decepticons and Predacons, Koji was reunited with Dr. Onishi, the whole Fortress Maximus thing went down with the Autobots eventually winning – as was the inevitable outcome.
Often times through this, one of the teams would see a black haired girl standing on the beach looking out to sea with her hands in her pockets, or catch a glimpse of black hair in a black car with silver flames shooting up the sides; but it meant little to them. Neither the Autobot Brothers or Ultra Magnus would say why Sai would not be returning again. They wouldn't even explain to Optimus Prime why they carried Mirage back in pieces and, to everyone's surprise, their leader didn't push them to. Mirage was most confused of all, his memory banks seemingly wiped.
Often times, Sai would stop at various places and stand for a time, staring at nothingness. A few times she almost convinced herself to continue, but each time she would sigh and shake her head, before getting back in her car and disappearing down the road.
Often times, Ultra Magnus would be watching. And each time she left, he too would turn and drive away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was sunset one day as Sai sat on the beach as she usually did, fingering an old chain, looking out to sea.
Clunking footsteps startled her, but not as much as who it was. Instead of one of her friends coming up, it was Mirage. He sat down beside her without any hesitation at all. She wondered just how much he really did remember, since he hadn't even been willing to talk to her civilly when they first met.
"We leave tomorrow," he commented.
She didn't reply. He shrugged.
"Just thought you'd like to know. A few of the others would like to say good-bye, y'know. But whatever." He shrugged again, stood up, and clanked off.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Magnus?" Optimus Prime's voice penetrated the veil of thought his brother was hiding behind, jolting him back to reality "I don't think she's coming, we have to get going soon."
All the other Autobots had returned, and were busy setting up the stasis pods for their return to Cybertron. Magnus, however, had simply been standing out on the bridge, looking at nothing in particular. Prime was glad he had agreed to return with them, of course, but he wished it had been for another reason than the fact the human girl had once asked him to if he ever forgave his brother.
"I know, Prime ... just a little longer." [She'll come ... I know she will.]
There was a brief moment of silence, then "And in a little longer, when she hasn't arrived? What then? Will you continue to stand here waiting?"
"That's not really going to be an issue, is it?" Sai stepped out of the bushes, hands in her pockets and looking mildly irritated. "I'm here ... -you- can leave." The last sentence was bitten out, and it was obvious she had been waiting long enough to hear his last comment – and the implications behind it. He paused, then turned and clanked off.
The two stood in silence for a while, as they often had before. It seemed to her that nothing had changed, when it should have.
"I still hate you," she stated plainly, then shrugged.
"Expected no less, Sai."
"Good."
He hadn't, either, because he understood hate. He had hated his brother for so long over something as trivial as the matrix, that all the good times they had had as children had seemed irrelevant, not even worth keeping as a memory. Perhaps, in time, she would feel the same. Or, perhaps, she would forgive him before then.
But no, he hadn't expected to have been forgiven.
A short laugh brought him back to the present, and he saw she had climbed up on the rail next to him.
"What?" he demanded.
She grinned. "Nothing." She paused, then shrugged again. "I'm going to miss you, Magnus."
"We're going to miss you, too." The Autobot Brothers clunked up behind their leaders brother, but it was Sideburn who had spoken. She gave a tiny little smile.
"You guys are like weeds, jus' can't be killed can you?" They all shared a tiny chuckle, but the tension remained as thick as ever. Some things had to be said that none of them were willing to say.
Finally, it was summed up in one question from Magnus. "Why did you cry for him?"
A brief hesitation and it looked like Sai was going to skirt the question, then she shook her head as if to rid herself of the thought. "I had my reasons." This obviously didn't satisfy her anymore than it did them, and she floundered for a bit before elaborating. "I ... he ..." she went silent, gnawing her lip. There didn't seem to be any way to explain it. "He was my friend," she allowed finally "He was a Decepticon, yes, but he was still my friend in some way. He helped me escape Scurge more than once, and it wasn't always a tactic. He didn't want me to be hurt because of him any more than I wanted you to be hurt because of me." Her face went a funny way as she tried to put her reasoning into words. She sighed and shook her head again. "If I had joined Megatron and died, would you have cried for me?"
"What relevance does that have?"
"Would you have cried for me?" she persisted.
"What relevance does that have?" He repeated, his voice taking on a mildly worried tone, and she shook her head at it, trying a different tactic.
"It has as much relevance as asking me why I cried for him. We both know the answer to both questions. In this case, we all know the answer is 'no'. Not because you wouldn't want to, but because you can't. Cybertronian's are literally incapable of crying the way humans can. I cried for Burn because he meant something to me, and because I wanted to. He was born a Decepticon, but allegiance doesn't mean anything when you're dead. You're not good, or evil, you're just gone." She looked at X-Brawn. "He didn't develop out of the computer you installed in my car, like I know you're worried he did. He was a spark, the system just gave him ... I don't know how to say it, I was only taught it in Cybertronian." She shrugged, then sighed. "I don't know ... maybe, just gave him a form? He was a sentient, solid hologram up until Megatron activated his spark. That's all."
They stared at her a little, wondering what this revelation had to do with anything. She didn't seem to be her usual logical self.
[She just made it very clear the differences between us and her] thought Prowl, confused. [At least ... I think that's what she did.] She caught his look, and grinned. She'd answered the question, it was over with.
"I have a gift for you four, though." Reaching into the bag on her back, she pulled out a parcel. The cloth flopped open to reveal a cluster of small minicon-like disks. "It's the videos I – we ... me and Burn – made." She tilted her head, and shrugged. "I figure, at least you guys won't forget me so easily."
"We couldn't forget you!" exclaimed Sideburn, glomping Sai with one hand. With a startled laugh, she was lifted up.
"Good!"
X-Brawn stepped forward a bit, to stand by Ultra Magnus. There didn't seem to be anything else to say, and for a while she just looked at them innocently. Finally, she laughed again.
"I'm gonna miss you guys so much ..."
"I thought you hated us," commented X-Brawn, testing the waters.
"Oh, I do," she admitted "But, y'know." A shrug. Then, she sighed and looked down. "But since you're coming back one day ... I guess, there's no reason to say good-bye."
Optimus Prime walked up from where he was close-by at this, and looked at them. To his credit, he didn't contradict her comment. Neither did he agree to it, but he didn't contradict it.
"It's ... time to go."
The Autobots nodded, and Sai tilted her head to him.
"I know you hate me, Optimus Prime, but don't blame them. If protecting Koji meant keeping him from your teams, wouldn't you have made that choice?"
He blinked, startled. "I ... I suppose I would have; but how would keeping him a secret have protected him?"
She shrugged, and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Never said that it would. But they-" she tossed her head at the others standing there "- couldn't have gained anything by telling you about me. If I had thought for a moment that you being involved was necessary, I would have told them to." She bit her lip, went to ask something, paused, and finally said "Though, I think that maybe you understand the Decepticons better than they do. So, I have a question for you."
He raised an optic ridge, mulling this over. Her voice didn't give away anything her words didn't, and they were chosen carefully. "A question?"
"Mhm." She nodded. "Am I like Burn?"
When he didn't answer for a moment, she shrugged and hopped off the rail.
Then, without a word, she turned and walked away.
A/N: -sniff- Almost done, hope it doesn't end too sadly. There –will- eventually be a sequel, dealing with how Sai and Sky-Byte get along when the others have gone; but mostly with Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime. There's going to be another sequel to that, I think, when Burn comes back. So nope, I didn't kill him off, he's just out of the picture for a while =^- ^=
And, honestly, I do have to thank a few people. Whether you liked this fic or not, I loved writing it. Zeheria's reviews always made me want to update, and kept me going. Usually I would have just filed this away in my box of millions of unfinished pieces of writing, but the fact she kept on reviewing even the chapters I hated gave me the will to finish =^-^=. And to Zan and Kit (my partner in crime) for giving me advice on what to do when I had serious writers block ^^; And mostly to Matt, who I never see anymore, but who was the first to ever read this back in uhm –thinks- 2002? I think, and who's asking to read the first draft I accidentally left on the table again is the whole reason I posted. Arigatoo to you all =^-^= And to everyone else who's read this, of course =^-^=
~*~*~*~*~*~
And so, life more or less returned to normality. The Autobots battled the Decepticons and Predacons, Koji was reunited with Dr. Onishi, the whole Fortress Maximus thing went down with the Autobots eventually winning – as was the inevitable outcome.
Often times through this, one of the teams would see a black haired girl standing on the beach looking out to sea with her hands in her pockets, or catch a glimpse of black hair in a black car with silver flames shooting up the sides; but it meant little to them. Neither the Autobot Brothers or Ultra Magnus would say why Sai would not be returning again. They wouldn't even explain to Optimus Prime why they carried Mirage back in pieces and, to everyone's surprise, their leader didn't push them to. Mirage was most confused of all, his memory banks seemingly wiped.
Often times, Sai would stop at various places and stand for a time, staring at nothingness. A few times she almost convinced herself to continue, but each time she would sigh and shake her head, before getting back in her car and disappearing down the road.
Often times, Ultra Magnus would be watching. And each time she left, he too would turn and drive away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was sunset one day as Sai sat on the beach as she usually did, fingering an old chain, looking out to sea.
Clunking footsteps startled her, but not as much as who it was. Instead of one of her friends coming up, it was Mirage. He sat down beside her without any hesitation at all. She wondered just how much he really did remember, since he hadn't even been willing to talk to her civilly when they first met.
"We leave tomorrow," he commented.
She didn't reply. He shrugged.
"Just thought you'd like to know. A few of the others would like to say good-bye, y'know. But whatever." He shrugged again, stood up, and clanked off.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Magnus?" Optimus Prime's voice penetrated the veil of thought his brother was hiding behind, jolting him back to reality "I don't think she's coming, we have to get going soon."
All the other Autobots had returned, and were busy setting up the stasis pods for their return to Cybertron. Magnus, however, had simply been standing out on the bridge, looking at nothing in particular. Prime was glad he had agreed to return with them, of course, but he wished it had been for another reason than the fact the human girl had once asked him to if he ever forgave his brother.
"I know, Prime ... just a little longer." [She'll come ... I know she will.]
There was a brief moment of silence, then "And in a little longer, when she hasn't arrived? What then? Will you continue to stand here waiting?"
"That's not really going to be an issue, is it?" Sai stepped out of the bushes, hands in her pockets and looking mildly irritated. "I'm here ... -you- can leave." The last sentence was bitten out, and it was obvious she had been waiting long enough to hear his last comment – and the implications behind it. He paused, then turned and clanked off.
The two stood in silence for a while, as they often had before. It seemed to her that nothing had changed, when it should have.
"I still hate you," she stated plainly, then shrugged.
"Expected no less, Sai."
"Good."
He hadn't, either, because he understood hate. He had hated his brother for so long over something as trivial as the matrix, that all the good times they had had as children had seemed irrelevant, not even worth keeping as a memory. Perhaps, in time, she would feel the same. Or, perhaps, she would forgive him before then.
But no, he hadn't expected to have been forgiven.
A short laugh brought him back to the present, and he saw she had climbed up on the rail next to him.
"What?" he demanded.
She grinned. "Nothing." She paused, then shrugged again. "I'm going to miss you, Magnus."
"We're going to miss you, too." The Autobot Brothers clunked up behind their leaders brother, but it was Sideburn who had spoken. She gave a tiny little smile.
"You guys are like weeds, jus' can't be killed can you?" They all shared a tiny chuckle, but the tension remained as thick as ever. Some things had to be said that none of them were willing to say.
Finally, it was summed up in one question from Magnus. "Why did you cry for him?"
A brief hesitation and it looked like Sai was going to skirt the question, then she shook her head as if to rid herself of the thought. "I had my reasons." This obviously didn't satisfy her anymore than it did them, and she floundered for a bit before elaborating. "I ... he ..." she went silent, gnawing her lip. There didn't seem to be any way to explain it. "He was my friend," she allowed finally "He was a Decepticon, yes, but he was still my friend in some way. He helped me escape Scurge more than once, and it wasn't always a tactic. He didn't want me to be hurt because of him any more than I wanted you to be hurt because of me." Her face went a funny way as she tried to put her reasoning into words. She sighed and shook her head again. "If I had joined Megatron and died, would you have cried for me?"
"What relevance does that have?"
"Would you have cried for me?" she persisted.
"What relevance does that have?" He repeated, his voice taking on a mildly worried tone, and she shook her head at it, trying a different tactic.
"It has as much relevance as asking me why I cried for him. We both know the answer to both questions. In this case, we all know the answer is 'no'. Not because you wouldn't want to, but because you can't. Cybertronian's are literally incapable of crying the way humans can. I cried for Burn because he meant something to me, and because I wanted to. He was born a Decepticon, but allegiance doesn't mean anything when you're dead. You're not good, or evil, you're just gone." She looked at X-Brawn. "He didn't develop out of the computer you installed in my car, like I know you're worried he did. He was a spark, the system just gave him ... I don't know how to say it, I was only taught it in Cybertronian." She shrugged, then sighed. "I don't know ... maybe, just gave him a form? He was a sentient, solid hologram up until Megatron activated his spark. That's all."
They stared at her a little, wondering what this revelation had to do with anything. She didn't seem to be her usual logical self.
[She just made it very clear the differences between us and her] thought Prowl, confused. [At least ... I think that's what she did.] She caught his look, and grinned. She'd answered the question, it was over with.
"I have a gift for you four, though." Reaching into the bag on her back, she pulled out a parcel. The cloth flopped open to reveal a cluster of small minicon-like disks. "It's the videos I – we ... me and Burn – made." She tilted her head, and shrugged. "I figure, at least you guys won't forget me so easily."
"We couldn't forget you!" exclaimed Sideburn, glomping Sai with one hand. With a startled laugh, she was lifted up.
"Good!"
X-Brawn stepped forward a bit, to stand by Ultra Magnus. There didn't seem to be anything else to say, and for a while she just looked at them innocently. Finally, she laughed again.
"I'm gonna miss you guys so much ..."
"I thought you hated us," commented X-Brawn, testing the waters.
"Oh, I do," she admitted "But, y'know." A shrug. Then, she sighed and looked down. "But since you're coming back one day ... I guess, there's no reason to say good-bye."
Optimus Prime walked up from where he was close-by at this, and looked at them. To his credit, he didn't contradict her comment. Neither did he agree to it, but he didn't contradict it.
"It's ... time to go."
The Autobots nodded, and Sai tilted her head to him.
"I know you hate me, Optimus Prime, but don't blame them. If protecting Koji meant keeping him from your teams, wouldn't you have made that choice?"
He blinked, startled. "I ... I suppose I would have; but how would keeping him a secret have protected him?"
She shrugged, and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Never said that it would. But they-" she tossed her head at the others standing there "- couldn't have gained anything by telling you about me. If I had thought for a moment that you being involved was necessary, I would have told them to." She bit her lip, went to ask something, paused, and finally said "Though, I think that maybe you understand the Decepticons better than they do. So, I have a question for you."
He raised an optic ridge, mulling this over. Her voice didn't give away anything her words didn't, and they were chosen carefully. "A question?"
"Mhm." She nodded. "Am I like Burn?"
When he didn't answer for a moment, she shrugged and hopped off the rail.
Then, without a word, she turned and walked away.