So many thanks to everyone who's read and left me comments. I'm sorry I haven't responded to any recently. I will try to do so this chapter. I've just been so busy lately. Grad school classes haven't even started yet and already I feel as though I'm running around in circles. Sometimes Real Life just downright sucks.

Big thanks this chapter to yuuki-kouseki who drew up to awesome illustrations for "Second Chances." Links to her work can be found on my profile page. You're awesome, girl! Everyone go give her some love!

Chapter Seven: Flying Partner

Starfall anxiously paced the length of the living area. The bank of windows were to his right, its sweeping emptiness of the sky taunting him with its closeness. The sun had just begun its downward arc towards the horizon. He could already detect the change in light - the subtle segue from brilliant yellow to a more molten gold. It would be several joors before nightfall, but the idea that the day was already starting to wind down made Starfall edgy.

Today Skyfire was finally going give him his first flying lesson. He'd been counting the orns since Skyfire called his father to let him know when he could come. He'd barely been able to fall to recharge the night before he'd been so excited. His father had had to read an extra chapter before he'd begun to feel tired. All day he'd been on edge. It must have been noticeable because his father's sparkmate had snapped at him at least twice that morning to sit down and be still or go into another room. Starfall had been glad when Ironhide finally left the domicile to go to work. It left him free to pace and watch the chronometer without fear of reprimand.

Starfall came to end of the room closest to his father's office. He did a quick about-face on his left thruster and started his circuit over. As he did so, he cast the chronometer on the wall a glance. Only two klicks had been added to the display since the last time he'd checked. Whining in distress, Starfall broke off his pacing and raced to the side of the lounge. His father sat there watching newfeeds on the tele-consol. Distressingly, he seemed completely relaxed and unconcerned with the waning joors of the day. Didn't he know they were running out of time?

"Dad! When's Skyfire gonna get here? He said he was gonna be here at thirty-six hundred joors. It's thirty-six nineteen now. He's late!"

Optimus looked away from the tele-consol. He smiled at Starfall. There was amusement in his optics that Starfall didn't share. "Something must be holding him up, Star. It's alright. He'll be here."

"Can't you call him or something? What if something happened? What if Skyfire can't come anymore?" The more reasons Starfall thought of for Skyfire not coming the more anxious he got. His wings lay folded tight against his back, vibrating with tension.

His father smiled. Leaning forward, he slid his hands under Starfall's arms and lifted him up onto the lounge next to him. He ran a hand in soothing circles against his wings. Starfall involuntarily relaxed under his father's touch. Despite his anxiousness over Skyfire's tardiness, Starfall was powerless to stay tense under such ministrations. He liked it when Optimus did this. It made him feel wanted and loved. Before his father found him in the hatchling facility no one had ever given him much more than a passing thought. Most days he'd been left by himself with nothing but a data pad to keep him company. He couldn't remember how many times he'd read his stories and wished he could be a part of them. In the stories, the heroes always had someone who wanted to be near them. Even if the hero didn't have any family or friends at the beginning, he always gained them by the end. For as long as Starfall could remember it had seemed so unfair. What did he have to do to be like those mechs? What did he have to do to make someone want him? Every time a new batch of sparkling was ready to be adopted he put himself on his best behavior in hopes of winning over some sparkling-less couple, but it had always ended the same way with him alone at the end of the day with nothing but his stories to remind him that no one wanted him.

Trying to push those thoughts from his mind, Starfall leaned into Optimus's touch, drinking in his offered comfort. It had been a dream come true when his father found him. He'd been the first bot to ever offer him a home. Ironhide didn't seem to like him that much, but that was alright. Optimus wanted him, and to a lonely sparkling who'd only ever wanted to be loved that was enough. The bots his father had introduced him to that day of the party had seemed nice enough. But it had been Skyfire who had stood out amongst them. He was a flier just like Starfall. He knew what it was like to have wings and understand how much he wanted to take to the air. But most of all Skyfire looked at him the same way his father did - like he actually wanted to be around him. Like he was someone special. It had been like a dream when Optimus found him. But to find another bot who liked him made Starfall wonder if maybe the stories he read really did have some element of reality in them, after all.

Optimus worked his hand in slow, soothing circles against his wings. "Skyfire's just running a little bit late, Star. If he doesn't get here in the next few deca-klicks I'll contact him. But until then, why don't you sit next to me? You've been so anxious you're going to be too exhausted by the time he does get here to do any flying."

"Na ugh! Once Skyfire teaches me what to do I'm gonna fly around this entire building. Twice!"

His father chuckled. His hand continued to rub circular patterns into his wings. "I look forward to seeing that. Just as long as you remember to fly back home when you're done."

Starfall leaned into his father's side and let his frame relax against Optimus's. Optimus stopped rubbing Starfall's wings in favor of hugging him closer with one arm. Starfall let his helm rest against the side of Optimus's windshield. The comforting rumble of Optimus's engine purred in his audio receptor. The drone of the mechs on the tele-consol created a hypnotic white background noise. He didn't know what the two mechs were talking about - it sounded like something grownup and boring - but he enjoyed the excuse to sit next to his father while they waited for Skyfire. Lulled into a semi-aware doze by the warmth of his father's frame and the drone of the mechs on the tele-consol, Starfall forgot to check the chronometer.

It was only when the buzz of the door alarm sounded that all of Starfall's excitement came rushing back to the surface. He immediately shot up from Optimus's side and scrambled off the lounge.

"Skyfire's here!"

Starfall's thrusters almost skid out from under him as he darted around the lounge towards the front door. The keypad was positioned high on the wall next to the doorjamb. Without slowing his run, Starfall activated his thrusters and managed to shoot far enough off the ground to reach the button. He slapped it and landed on the floor again in a graceful crouch. The door slid open to reveal Skyfire's huge body framed in the doorway.

"Skyfire!" Unable to contain his excitement, Starfall launched himself at the giant mech. He was only tall enough to reach Skyfire's leg. His arms were barely long enough to reach halfway around Skyfire's shin strut. "You're finally here!"

Starfall could feel the vibrations of Skyfire's startled laugh through his armor. "Hello, Star. I'm glad to see you too." Skyfire carefully knelt on one knee joint in front of Starfall. Starfall immediately ran into the arms Skyfire held out to him. He relished the feel of Skyfire's strong arms as they closed around him and drew him tight against Skyfire's cockpit. He could feel the pulse of Skyfire's spark through his fuselage, thrumming alongside his own.

Starfall lived for moments like this. For so long he'd had no one to offer him any kind of affection. When he'd lived in the hatchling facility the workers there had mostly ignored him. There had only been a handful of bots who had ever seemed to spare him a second glance - and not in the way that resulted in dark looks or orders for Starfall to go away and let them work in peace. Starfall fondly remembered them. There had been Fortran, a stern but matronly older femme he could always depend on to get him something if he needed it. Then Mayday, another femme, who oversaw the recreation room whenever there were new sparklings. Sometimes she would ask him to read to her while the smaller sparklings played. And lastly there had been Offroad, a younger mech who worked in Vector Sigma's conduit room. Offroad had always been Starfall's favorite. He'd always seemed so cool. Offroad would sometimes sneak energon-candies in for Starfall and had always been the one Starfall could talk into letting him go outside and see the sky. Offroad had been the one who had given him his first set of data pads. They were his younger brother's old data pads, Offroad had told him, but Starfall could have them if he wanted them. They were destined for the trash heap otherwise. Of course Starfall had wanted them. They were the first things anyone had ever given him without expecting him to give them back. They had been his very first presents.

Between Fortran, Mayday and Offroad, whenever they weren't busy preparing a new batch of sparklings or caring for the newest group of newsparks, life in the hatchling facility had been tolerable. But for as much attention as they spared him, none of them had ever offered Starfall any real physical contact. Their interactions in that department had always felt somewhat perfunctory, as if they were doing so only out of some guilty sense of obligation. It had taken Starfall a long time before he'd realized none of them were ever going to pick him up and give him a hug like he wanted them to if he were sad or lonely. The most he could ever hope for was a pat on the shoulder plate and the reassurance that everything would be alright. It had crushed him the day he finally gave up hope of ever having anything more than what Fortran, Mayday and Offroad already offered him. As the vorns passed and more and more couples passed him over for adoption, Starfall resigned himself to be happy with what kernels of affection he was able to get from those three bots. It had seemed like that was all he had to look forward to until he received his final upgrade and was old enough to strike it out on his own in the world.

That had all changed, though, the day Optimus found him. For the very first time Starfall allowed himself to hope for what he'd always wanted: a home and a bot he could run to who actually cared. Starfall would have been more than happy with just Optimus. But then his father had introduced him to Skyfire and it was like his entire world had expanded to previously unimaginable limits. Against all odds, he'd somehow managed to find two bots who liked him.

Far too quickly for Starfall's liking, Skyfire relaxed his hold and set Starfall back down on the ground. Starfall briefly considered begging Skyfire for another hug, but ultimately decided to wait and see if he could wrangle another one out of Skyfire before the giant mech left.

"You're late!" Starfall accused as Skyfire stood straight again. He heard his father come up behind him. Starfall glanced backwards over his shoulder plate. As expected, he saw that Optimus had contracted his mask over his face. He could still tell his father was smiling, though, by the crinkle of protomatter in the corners of his optics. Optimus and Skyfire exchanged polite nods of greeting.

"Hello, Skyfire. Star has been waiting for you since he booted up this morning," Optimus said. He reached down and rested a hand on the top of Starfall's helm. Starfall leaned backwards into the touch, grinning wildly. Now that Skyfire was here, he couldn't seem to stop fidgeting. If Ironhide had been there he would have yelled at him to be still. His wings quivered against his back struts as if impatient themselves for Skyfire to teach them how to take to the air.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Skyfire said as he properly stepped through the doorway into the domicile. The door slid close behind him. "I was held up by a colleague at the research institute stopping me with a question just as I was about to leave. I tried to leave as quickly as I could without being rude."

"No need to apologize," Optimus reassured him. "Such situations have happened to me more times than I can count."

Skyfire gave Optimus a commiserating nod of understanding. He returned his attention to Starfall and offered him a warm smile. Starfall basked in the glow of it. He loved Skyfire's smiles, especially when they were directed towards him. Skyfire was big - even bigger than his father, which was saying a lot! - but he was so nice and gentle. Skyfire could squish him like he was a human if he wanted to, but Starfall felt more comfortable around him than he did around his own father's sparkmate. If Starfall could have had any wish, it would have been that Optimus and Skyfire were his creators. They liked him and actually wanted to spend time with him, unlike his father's sparkmate. Starfall didn't know why Ironhide didn't like him. He'd done everything he could to be a good sparkling. But nothing he did seemed able to make Ironhide smile, let alone look at him in a way that didn't make Starfall feel like he'd done something wrong.

With Skyfire Starfall never felt like he had to watch what he said or did. He felt like he could be himself. With Skyfire Starfall felt as though he'd found another bot truly like himself - wings and all! Not even Optimus could claim that. Starfall loved his father like no one else but he could see it in Optimus's optics whenever Starfall tried to talk to him about flying that he just didn't understand. His father listened to him and nodded in all the appropriate places, but Starfall knew he didn't actually understand. He didn't know what it felt like to finally be able to see the sky everyday without having to plead Offroad to sneak him outside for a few klicks. He didn't understand how beautiful it was at sunset when the sky turned a dozen different colors all at once as the sun dipped closer to the horizon. He didn't understand how much he longed to leave the ground and lose himself in the empty vastness of the blue. Only Skyfire did. Starfall had sensed it when they talked the day of the big party. He understood what it was like to want to be closer to the sky. He understood what Starfall felt whenever he looked to the heavens. He understood what it felt like to have wings and want to use them.

It was one of the many reasons Starfall wanted Skyfire to teach him. He was sure he would have been able to figure it out on his own eventually. But with Skyfire's help he be able to figure out even faster. If he learned fast enough maybe he could become Skyfire's new flying partner. He'd heard that fliers often liked to fly in groups. Seekers - his own particular model - liked to fly in groups of three. Skyfire wasn't a seeker, but a shuttle. Starfall didn't know if shuttles liked to fly in groups of twos, threes or by themselves. Surely if he learned quickly enough Skyfire would let him fly with him. Starfall didn't know why, but the idea was indescribably attractive. He could already picture it in his mind: him and Skyfire flying over the city when the sky was prettiest right before sunset. It was a sparkling's idealistic fantasy, but it gave Starfall a goal to work towards. When he was good enough he wanted Skyfire to be the bot he took his first long-distance flight with.

Oblivious to Starfall's daydreams, Skyfire reached into a subspace compartment on the inside of his right arm and withdrew an object. "I brought you something, Star. I hope you like it."

"Something for me?" A thrill of excitement went through Starfall. Except for Optimus and Offroad, no one had ever given him anything. For some reason, the thought of Skyfire giving him something made it feel even more special.

Skyfire bent and held out four strips of decorative sticker enamel between his palms. They were same shade of blue as Starfall's arms, legs and pelvic plating.

Starfall stared at them. "What are they?"

"They are wing stripes. Fliers often like to wear them. My friend once told me that no seeker worth his wings would ever think of leaving the ground without them. Not only are they decorative, but they also act as a form of identification so that anyone watching from the ground can tell who is who in the air. I myself have always favored red stripes. I thought you might like stripes of your own that coordinate with your color scheme."

All Starfall could do was stare at the colored strips in Skyfire's hands. He was too overwhelmed to do anything else. "You got me my own wing stripes?"

Skyfire nodded.

Starfall couldn't have stopped the squeal of excitement that burst from his throat line even if he'd wanted to. He snatched the stripes from Skyfire's hands with a face-splitting smile. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He wheeled around towards Optimus. "Dad! Can I put them on now? Please? I want to put them on before Skyfire teaches me how to fly!"

"Alright, Star, alright. Calm down," Optimus chuckled as he took the sticker strips Starfall waved at him. "You must stay still while Skyfire and I put them on for you."

It took every ounce of willpower in Starfall to do as his father directed as Optimus and Skyfire knelt on either side of him. They each took two sticker strips - one for each side of both wings - and held them up against his wings. Starfall tried to turn his head to see what they were doing.

"Don't move, Star," Skyfire cautioned as he unpeeled the back of one strip and positioned it against the front of his left wing. "We don't want to get your stripes uneven." He gently pressed it down and smoothed it out. Starfall giggled at the sensation. Optimus lined his own up to Skyfire's on Starfall's other wing and did the same.

"Now turn," Skyfire directed.

Starfall spun around, and Optimus and Skyfire did the same thing on the back of his wings.

"All done," Skyfire announced.

"How do I look?" Starfall demanded, futilely trying to look at his own wings over his shoulder. "Do they look good?"

"They look very nice, Star," Optimus said.

"You look like a real flier now," Skyfire agreed.

"Why don't you go look at yourself in the wash rack mirror?" Optimus suggested. "Then you can see for yourself."

Starfall needed no more encouragement and ran for the wash rack as fast as he could. The lights automatically came on as his skid into the room. A large mirror was bolted to the wall above the wash sink. Too small to see over the top of the sink by himself, Starfall had to pull out the step stool Optimus had gotten him to use. The sight that greeted him in the mirror made him gasp.

Skyfire had been right. He really did look like a flier now! Starfall couldn't help but think he almost looked like an adult with his wing stripes. Unable to stop admiring himself, Starfall turned and posed several different ways. A wildly happy grin smiled back at him from the mirror.

"Star?" Optimus called from down the hallway. "Let's hurry. You want Skyfire to teach you to fly before it gets dark, yes?"

"Coming, dad!"

Starfall let his optics gaze one last time at the broad blue stripes now decorating his wings. They were so pretty. Starfall couldn't get over them. And they had been given to him by Skyfire which made them extra special. Wearing them he felt like he could carry a little bit of Skyfire with him wherever he went. They made him feel closer to the giant mech. They were Skyfire's gift and they made him feel wanted and unexplainably safe. Nothing Offroad or even Optimus had ever given him made him feel the same way.

"Star?"

"Coming!"

Reluctantly tearing his optics away from his own image, Starfall ran out of the wash rack back towards the front door. Skyfire and Optimus were still there in the foyer, conversing in hushed voices. He happened to hear the very last bit of what Skyfire was saying.

"-was always so proud of them. Starscream would always replace his wing stripes as soon as one got scratched or began to peel at the edges. I am pretty sure he had enough of them stockpiled to replace them everyday for a lunar cycle if he had to."

"Who's Starscream?" Starfall asked as he ran up to them.

Optimus and Skyfire startled and exchanged guarded looks. Almost imperceptibly, Optimus nodded to Skyfire.

Skyfire delicately cleared his intake line. "Starscream was my seeker friend I once told you about."

"The one that's dead?"

Skyfire and Optimus shared another veiled look.

Skyfire reluctantly nodded his helm. "Yes. The one that's gone."

Starfall offered Skyfire a smile. "His name's like mine. Are there a lot of seekers with names with star in them?"

Both Skyfire and Optimus seemed to sag a little bit with relief, which Starfall found odd. Adults were so weird sometimes.

"I don't know," Skyfire said. "I have never been to Vos or met many other seekers. But I suspect there are."

"Can we start flying?" Starfall asked. He enjoyed talking with Skyfire - especially about seekers since he seemed to be the only one who'd ever had any real contact with any - but he was anxious to take to the air. He could already feel their limited time beginning to slip away.

"This way," Optimus said, motioning to the door. "I pulled some strings and found out the code for the maintenance door to the roof." Together, the three filed out of the domicile into the hallway. Starfall hung close to Skyfire, trailing after him. Optimus turned to the right and led them to a door at the very end of the hallway. It was strange but Starfall had never noticed it there before now. Optimus punched a short numerical code into the keypad beside the door. It clicked open. Optimus led them through and up a narrow set of stairs to another door. Skyfire had to walk slightly sideways to fit inside the stairwell. The second door did not have any keypad on it. Optimus pushed it open without resistance and suddenly the entire sky opened up above them. Starfall involuntarily gasped at the sight of it. No matter how many times he saw it he was still always taken aback by the sheer beauty of it. A dome of endless blue stretched out in every which direction above them. The sun still hung well above the highest skyscrapers lining the horizon, but the light was a noticeably more golden hue than it had been just a joor before. Although sunset was still joors away, Starfall could see the hazy outline of Cybertron's closest moon beginning to peek out against the blue.

A strong breeze suddenly whipped across the empty rooftop, pulling against the edges of Starfall's wing flaps. Starfall unconsciously leaned into the breeze. His wings flared out behind him to better soak in the sensation. If he'd been asked to describe the feeling of wind against his wings Starfall would have been at a loss of words. There was no way for him with his limited vocabulary to accurately describe such a thing. But if he had had to try he would have said it felt like freedom.

Beside him, Skyfire let his wings spread out behind him as well. He smiled as another breeze whistled across the rooftop. Starfall tried not to stare at the way Skyfire's wings swayed in the wind, magnificent and proud. A pang of jealousy-laced awe went through him. He could only hope that he one day looked as beautiful as Skyfire did at that moment leaning into the breeze. Even though he was a sparkling barely old enough to retrieve his own energon from the dispenser, Starfall could still recognize beauty when he saw it. And right now the most beautiful thing Starfall could think of was Skyfire.

"This is a perfect evening for flying," Skyfire said as he surveyed the roof. "The wind is not too strong to distract Star but present enough to give him a feel for different air currents and possibly give him an extra boost of lift."

"Why did we have to wait so long to start flying?" Starfall asked. "It's almost dark already. What if I don't learn fast enough to get off the ground tonight?"

Skyfire smiled. "We still have several joors before nightfall and I have total confidence in you finding your wings. You are already able to hover. The next step is just to teach you how to fully activate your thrusters. After that, all there is to flying is learning how to adjust yourself in the air and use the air currents to your advantage." Skyfire looked out over the closest edge of the roof at the city spread out below them. "We waited so late in the orn to start your lessons because there are so few fliers in Iacon. I did not want to cause any undue panic if anyone should see us. There was a time not too long ago when the sight of a seeker flying overhead would have meant an almost certain air raid on the city. Waiting until later in the evening means there will be less people out to see us."

"Oh," Starfall murmured. He hadn't been expecting such an explanation, but even to his young mind it made sense. Not many people seemed to like bots with wings. Almost none of the couples that visited the hatchling facility had ever wanted to come near him once they saw what model he was. They had all noticeably focused their attentions on the other sparklings - the ones with wheels instead of wings. Were wings really that bad a thing to have? Starfall had always loved the way his wings looked, even when no one else did. Just looking at Skyfire reaffirmed Starfall's belief that wings were possibly the most beautiful, useful things a bot could have.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Optimus asked. "Or should I simply take a seat and stay out of the way?"

Skyfire snickered. "Unless you have a jet pack, Optimus, you unfortunately aren't going to be able to offer much help in this department."

Optimus held his hands out from his sides in a gesture of surrender. Starfall could tell by the crinkle of protomatter at the corners of the optics that his father was smiling good-humouredly underneath his mask. "Then Star is in your capable hands now."

"You're going to stay and watch, though, right, dad?" Starfall asked. Despite Skyfire's misgivings about others seeing them Starfall was anxious for an audience.

"Of course," Optimus nodded. "I wouldn't miss seeing your first flight for anything. Just listen to Skyfire and do whatever he says and I will be waiting here for you when you land."

"Okay," Starfall grinned.

Optimus gave him one last encouraging nod. He then strode away towards the roof's outer wall. There, he sat on the edge and made himself comfortable as though preparing for a performance.

Starfall eagerly turned his attention to Skyfire.

"The first thing I want you to do, Star, is to show me how you hover."

"Okay."

Starfall activated the miniature turbines in his thrusters. Slowly, he rose off the ground until his pedes were no longer touching solid ground. Starfall held his arms out to either side of him, surfing the air for balance. It took effort to keep aloft, even if it was only a few feet. His pedes kept wanting to shoot out from under him and spill him backwards onto the rooftop. He fought against the negative resistance. In some corner of his mind he knew he probably looked as clumsy as a newspark standing on his legs for the first time, but there was no denying that he was no longer on the ground.

"That's very good, Star," Skyfire praised. "Now, while you're still hovering, I want you to turn around so that you're facing the opposite direction. Try not to let your pedes touch the ground."

Starfall struggled to do as Skyfire instructed. As soon as he tried to edge one thruster out to try and maneuver himself, his other thruster wanted to shoot out from under him in the opposite direction. It took several attempts - one of which almost ended with him pitching forward and face-planting into the rooftop - but Starfall finally did it.

"Very good," Skyfire said. "Now try it again, but this time I want you to let your wings help you. You are trying to steer too much with your thrusters. Let your wings follow the air current and help counterbalance you. They are not just there for show. Flying is a combination of lift, thrust and glide. You must use all three at the same time in order to fly."

Starfall grit his dentas together in concentration. Skyfire made it sound so simple. How was he suppose to use his wings to help? If anything, while trying to hover, they off-balanced him in such a way it made him want to tip backwards.

Doubt began to creep into Starfall. What if he couldn't do what Skyfire said? What if he could never figure out how to use his wings and all he was ever able to do was hover? Skyfire would never want him as a flying partner if he couldn't get more than a meter off the ground. What if he was the first flier in history who was unable to fly? He'd be such a failure Skyfire would never want to visit him again. Optimus would surely be disappointed in him too. He'd seemed so excited to see him learn how to fly.

Consumed by these and a thousand other thoughts, Starfall was unable to compensate fast enough to stop himself from pitching to the side when his left thruster suddenly slid out from under him. He stumbled sideways and went down hard on his backside. Starfall hollered a cry of frustration and pain.

Skyfire was instantly beside him. He knelt down on one knee and helped Starfall pull himself off the ground.

"I can't do it, Skyfire! I'm no good!" Starfall wailed. An unbidden ring of static began to fuzz the edges of his visual readout.

Skyfire was unfailingly calm. "Nonsense. That was only your first attempt. Everyone falls their first time lifting off. You're just trying to think too much. You're not letting your programming help guide you." Skyfire gently pushed Starfall around so that he was facing away from him. "What are these?" he asked, running the tip of one finger along the underside of Starfall's right wing.

"Wing flaps," Starfall sullenly muttered.

"That's right. And what do wing flaps do?"

"They move up and down to help with lift."

"Correct. Although you might not be high off the ground or have any propulsion pushing you, you can still use them. You were trying to use your entire wing to help steer instead of manipulating its different parts to help you do what you wanted. I want you to try hovering and turning around in place again. But this time I want you to relax and let your wings move the way they want to. Don't try to fight against what your programming is already telling them to do. Also, try keeping your legs stiff. It will help keep your thrusters steady under you."

Starfall hesitated. He didn't want to make a fool out of himself anymore than he already had.

"I know you can do it, Star," Skyfire reassured him. He offered Starfall a gentle smile. "You were made to do this."

"You really think so?"

Skyfire chuckled. "I am positive."

Starfall perked at Skyfire's reassurance. "Ok. I'll try again."

"Excellent." Skyfire backed away to give Starfall room.

Starfall took a moment to collect himself. He took a deep intake of air and vented it. He could do this. Skyfire said he believed he could. If Skyfire thought he could fly than he had to be able to. Skyfire wouldn't lie to him.

Activating his thrusters, Starfall lifted off the rooftop several feet. Once again his thrusters tried to shoot out from under him. This time, however, Starfall made an extra effort to keep his legs stiff as Skyfire suggested. It seemed to help. He hovered for a klick to make sure he didn't suddenly lose control. When he didn't and his thrusters remained firmly underneath him he decided to try and turn in place.

Cautiously, he edged one thruster out give him the momentum to turn. As before, he began to wobble midair. He immediately tried to compensate by using his other thruster to adjust the imbalance.

"Remember what I said, Star: relax and let your wings help you," Skyfire called.

Starfall spread his wings out behind him. They quivered in the breeze. Forcing himself to relax he let his wings move with the wind. The unsteady wobble of his hover eased. Starfall spared Skyfire a quick glance. The giant mech was smiling.

Grinning with renewed confidence, Starfall wiggled his wing flaps. He immediately understood what Skyfire had been trying to explain. With only a slight adjustment he could manipulate his wing flaps to catch the wind or angle them into the breeze for less resistance.

Why had he never realized this before?

Dropping one set of wing flaps down on his left wing Starfall smoothly corkscrewed in the air until he was facing the opposite direction. Giggling victoriously, he dropped the wing flaps on his right and spun around back towards Skyfire. Now that he knew what to do, it felt like second nature to spin through the air.

"I did it, Skyfire! I really did it! Did you see?"

"I saw it, Star. That was excellent." Skyfire walked closer, grinning broadly. Starfall drank in his praise.

"Can we fly now?" he eagerly asked. He spun around midair again with a small kick of his thruster. He relished the flow of wind on his wings and face.

Skyfire chuckled. "One thing at a time. You still need to learn to regulate your thruster power so you can control your altitude."

Starfall looked down. It was true. He was still depressingly low to the ground. He wanted to go higher, closer to the clouds. "How do I do that?"

Skyfire came closer until he stood right in front of Starfall. Hovering as high off the ground as he was, Starfall was almost eye-level with Skyfire's knee joints. The larger mech bent at the waist and reached out to Starfall. He gently took one of Starfall's hands in either of his own. He only had to use his fingers to do so. "To fully activate your thrusters you have to learn to divert more power to them. I want you to push as much power into their output as you can now, alright?"

"Okay," Starfall nodded. Focusing on his feet he pushed an extra boost of power into his pedes' turbine engines. Starfall squealed in shock when he rocketed straight up into the air. The only thing that kept him from shooting away into the heavens was Skyfire anchoring him down by his hands. He was now hovering well above Skyfire's head. "Ah! Skyfire, help! I'm too high!"

"You're doing fine, Star. I won't let you go," Skyfire chuckled. His hold on Starfall's hands remained reassuringly strong. "Ease off on your power input. Get a feel for how much energy you have to expend to drop or gain altitude."

Starfall cut the power input to his thrusters by half. He immediately plummeted several feet. Instinctively, he fired more energy into his thrusters and caught himself before he could fall past Skyfire's chest. Shakily, he got his bearings back and hovered steadily at eye level with Skyfire.

"Very good, Star," Skyfire grinned. "I think you're getting the hang of this very quickly." He still had yet to let go of Starfall's hands.

"I am?" It didn't feel like it, but Starfall was willing to take any praise Skyfire offered him.

"Indeed. Would you like to go higher?"

Starfall hesitated. He did want to go higher - as high as he could, straight up into outer space even! - but he was humble enough to know that no matter how much Skyfire praised him, his skills were still nowhere near good enough for him to fly away into the sunset like he did in his fantasies just yet.

"What if I fall? What if I don't use enough power and I hit the ground? I'll go squish like a human."

"I won't let that happen," Skyfire reassured him. He activated his thrusters and lifted off the rooftop to hover midair in front of Starfall. He still tightly clasped Starfall's hands in his own. "I will be right there beside you. If you should fall - which I don't think you will - I will be there to catch you. I promise. I will not let anything bad happen to you while you're with me."

Starfall stared into Skyfire's optics, stunned speechless by the sincerity in the giant mech's voice.

"Do you trust me?"

Starfall immediately nodded. "Yea."

Skyfire smiled. "Then let's go." Still holding Starfall's hands, he began to rise in the air. Starfall pushed more power into his thrusters to match Skyfire's ascent. Together they climbed higher into the sky. With Skyfire holding his hands Starfall felt a renewed sense of confidence. No longer did he fear plummeting to his death. As they rose Starfall could feel the change in air pressure and noticed the stronger gusts of wind against his wings. His wing seemed to instinctively know how to move in the breeze as if he'd done this a hundred times before. Maybe it was because of the knowledge that Skyfire was there to catch him if something happened or maybe it was his growing self-confidence, but Starfall kicked one leg out behind him and fired his thruster at full power. The movement caused him and Skyfire to begin to slowly rotate in the air as they rose. Starfall chortled mischievously. Kicking his other foot out he fired his thruster again and reversed their spin into the opposite direction.

"You're doing so well," Skyfire chuckled. "You're an absolute natural." He let Starfall's antics direct their course. Spiraling ever upward into the blue Skyfire glanced down. "Look, Star. See how high you are."

Starfall ceased their spinning. Looking down between his and Skyfire's bodies, Starfall was shocked to see that the rooftop they'd just been standing on had shrunk into a tiny square. He couldn't even spot his father's bright red and blue armor against the intricate maze of rooftops spread out below them. The city seemed to have dropped out from under him and Skyfire, leaving them floating alone in a vacuum of endless blue. It was the silence that startled Starfall the most up there. Except for the reassuring hum of their thrusters there was nothing else to break the silence.

Starfall gasped. He instinctively clutched Skyfire's hands tighter. "We're so far up!"

"We are," Skyfire agreed. He seemed amused by Starfall's reaction. "We're higher now than any non-flier with a jet pack would dare go. Non-fliers generally fear heights. And for good reason on their parts. If their jet pack were to suddenly run out of fuel or they made a mistake, it could cost them their life. But we fliers are different. We don't have anything to fear in the air. We were built to fly. We were made to be this high and enjoy the view. As long as you remember that you should never have to worry about falling out of the sky."

Skyfire slowly drifted away from Starfall and began to release his hold on Starfall's hands.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Starfall instinctively clutched Skyfire's hands tighter. "Don't let me drop!"

Skyfire smiled. "I already told you, Star, you have nothing to fear in the air. You do not need me. You are flying on your own now. See?" He completely let go of Starfall's hands.

Starfall gasped. His plating instinctively flattened down against his protoform. He tensed, waiting for gravity to grab hold of him and yank him back down to the rooftops. It took him half a klick to realize he wasn't falling. He remained where he was - hovering midair several hundred feet above the ground. His expression must have betrayed his shock because Skyfire laughed. The larger mech drifted closer. His wings were spread magnificently behind his back in the wind. The light shined against their polished edges.

"Like I said: you do not need me. You're a real flier now. You can do this all on your own." The smile he gave Starfall beamed with pride.

Starfall hovered for a moment of sheer speechlessness. "I'm really flying," he whispered more to himself than Skyfire. Tentatively, he pushed more power into his thrusters and corkscrewed around. He did the same in the opposite direction and spun back towards Skyfire. "I'm really flying!"

"Come," Skyfire smiled. "Let's do a few passes over the buildings." Leveling his body horizontal to the ground, Skyfire's thrusters flared and he shot away.

Starfall grinned. Pushing as much power into his turbines as he could he sped after Skyfire. Starfall easily caught up to him. He leveled himself out by Skyfire's side. The two looked at each other and shared a conspiratorial grin.

"Shall we try some banking maneuvers?" Skyfire asked.

Starfall eagerly nodded. He relished the feel of wind against his faceplates and the feel of the air cutting across the tops of his wings. But more so than anything else, Starfall relished the fact that Skyfire was flying beside.

"To bank to the left we're going to tip our bodies slightly to the left and raise out right wing tip up. Just be sure not to tip too sharply or you will bank straight into me. Ready?"

"Yea!"

"Alright. Here we go."

Skyfire tilted his body and began to veer away from Starfall to the left. Starfall tipped himself to follow Skyfire's lead. The horizon tilted in front of him and he was once again by Skyfire's side.

"Let's do the same in the other direction now."

Starfall matched Skyfire's maneuver perfectly this time and they remained right beside each other. Starfall couldn't stop the grin that split his face. He and Skyfire were flying together! They were like real flying partners! Just like he'd always wanted.

With Skyfire leading, the two traces lazy figure 8's back and forth through the sky.

"In not too many vorns you will be old enough to take on an alt-mode," Skyfire said as they banked and twirled through the air. "Do you have any idea what form you might like to take?"

"A jet!" Starfall instantly said. "I want to fly fast! Faster than anyone else! Jets are suppose to be one of the fastest flying models."

Skyfire turned his head and stared at Starfall with a look that made Starfall pause. The look was strange - like Skyfire was sad and happy all at the same time. "What?" Had he said something wrong?

"Nothing, Star. You just remind me so much of my friend." Abruptly looking away from Starfall, Skyfire scanned the tangle of buildings spread out below them. "Can you pick out your apartment building from up here?" he asked.

Starfall scanned the layout. "There!" he pointed. "That one. I recognize the signal light on top."

"Very good, Star. One of the most important skills a flier must have is the ability to read the ground below so he knows where he is. Things look very differently from the air than from the ground." Skyfire banked slightly to the right. Starfall matched his course. "My own building is that one there." He pointed to a mid-sized high-rise to the east. Starfall was startled to realize how close it was to his own domicile. He and Skyfire probably lived only a few kilometers away from each other.

Skyfire banked to the left. "We should begin to head back. It is starting to get dark." He was right. The sun was getting closer to the horizon. The moon was larger and even brighter in the sky than it had been when they first started Starfall's lesson. A band of murky blue was beginning to color the horizon opposite to the sun.

"Alright," Starfall reluctantly murmured.

Skyfire chuckled. "Do not sound so sad, Star. There will be many more times to fly later."

"Can I go flying with you again some time?"

"Of course," Skyfire smiled. "I enjoy flying with you very much. Whenever you want to go, I am but a comm-link call away."

Starfall grinned.

Skyfire returned it. "We should go back now. Your father will be waiting. I am sure he is anxious to hear all about your first flight."

As Skyfire banked towards Starfall's apartment building, Starfall made an effort to memorize that moment of time to his hard drive so he could remember it later - the absolute perfection of him and Skyfire flying side by side in perfect unison, alone in the empty vastness of the sky. It was so perfect a mental image Starfall immediately made it his new go-to happy memory. If only he could freeze this moment of time in an endless loop and fly with Skyfire for the rest of time. It would be the perfect eternity - one Starfall would sacrifice anything for in order to keep Skyfire as his flying partner. With no one else did Starfall feel so comfortable around or so drawn to. The feeling was so strong it almost made Starfall wonder if he hadn't already met Skyfire somewhere before that day of the party.

That was impossible though, Starfall reminded himself. There was no way he would have forgotten Skyfire if he'd ever met him before.

To be continued

Thoughts? I'm kind of curious to see how people react to Starfall finally getting his own POV chapter. He was so much fun to write.