I have a poll on my profile page asking a question I really want to have answered. I'm trying to get as many answers as I can, and very few people visit my profile. I've gotten literally one answer in a week, and that's sad. Please answer, and be honest about it.


I only own my OC's!


More Shopping

Monday, December 5, Normal POV

"Mariposa…" I shake my head at the sing-song voice and roll over. "Sweetspark…"

I feel a tickly something on my cheek and brush it away. "No…"

"Mari, it's time to get up!"

I blink, and sit up to see Blades. "Hi?" While the Protectobots will watch me or play with me during the day, they don't usually wake me up.

"Hey, Sleepyhead." He laughs. "You've got a dress fitting in an hour. I'm off today, so your Carrier asked if I wanted to go with."

"Why you wakey me up? Siwe usually does."

He smiles before picking me up. "They're all out searching for energon—except your Carrier and me, and Ratchet and Aid of course. Ratchet's got to run the command center, so Aid's got medbay."

"You's coming wiff?"

"Yep."

"Yay." He sets me in my chair, and Carrier slides a bowl of Trix with milk in front of me, with a glass of strawberry milk. "Now, you have to eat, okay?"

I huff. I know I promised Ratchet, but I really don't like this. "Don't wanna."

Blades sighs, and I can see Carrier slouch a little in her seat. I know she's worried about me, but I don't want to puke, and I'm scared I might if I eat human foods today… "Mari, you have to. You promised Ratchet."

"Huh-uh." I glare down into the bowl. Don't they understand that my tummy's off today?

"Do I have to get Aid?" He turns to Carrier. "He's the only one besides Ratchet who could get her to eat." I glare at the bowl. "First Aid?"

"Blades, I'm—"

"I know. We need your help in the kitchen. Mari…"

"What's wrong?"

"Calm down, she's just refusing to eat again."

"I'm coming." I sigh heavily, which he hears over the comm. "Did you ever think that she may have a reason to not want to eat, Blades?"

"She doesn't have a choice. We're dangerously low on energon—we barely have enough for the crew until Christmas!"

Hands suddenly cover my ears. "Blades, little ears!"

"Sorry, Elita." The hands move as someone steps in. "Hey, Aid."

He crouches to me. "Mari, why don't you want to eat?" I lay a hand on my tummy. "Your tummy hurts?" I nod, causing Carrier to sigh. "Do you think it could be hurting because you're hungry? You haven't had anything to eat since yesterday."

"Huh-uh." I shake my head.

"Mari…"

"Tummy would be 'ucky for no reason on Old Earth sometimes. Eaty then was no' smart."

"I understand, but…but you have to eat, Sweetspark." I watch as Aid picks up my spoon, and fills it with the fruit-shaped cereal. "Remember that bag of fruit stars back in the other dimension?" I nod. "You loved them. You said they tasted just like this." He holds out the spoon. "Please? For me?"

I huff, but take the bite anyway. He waits until I swallow before moving another spoonful toward me. "Think you could eat some more for me?" I nod, and he slips the spoon into my mouth. He holds it out to me. "Think you can do it for me?" I shake my head. "All right, I'll do it, but you have to let me know when to stop, okay?" I nod.


He keeps going until there's no more cereal in the bowl, which causes Carrier to gasp softly. "I told you, Elita… Aid could do it."

"All right, Sweetspark. It's time for you to get ready, okay?"

"Otay." I slide off the seat and follow Carrier and First Aid into my room. I open the door on my advent calendar to find energon gummy butterflies, and, rather than eat them now, stick them in my little purse. My tummy doesn't feel right…

"Let me know if she purges, Elita. I need to keep track of how she's doing."

"I will, First Aid." I pull on the clean underwear and black tights she had pulled out, then slip into a black pair of dance shorts to be safe. She helps me into a black long sleeved T-shirt with gold bows on the shoulders and a gold Christmas tree graphic, which gets tucked into the shorts, and a gold glittery tutu with a gold bow. I sit down, and she helps me into gold Mary Jane shoes, then French braids my hair before weaving a gold ribbon into each French braid and tying it in bows around the hair ties at the ends. "All right, let Blades know we're ready to go."

"I'm already here."

We turn to the door in surprise, and I squeal before running over, grabbing my purse on the way. "Blades!"

"Coat, Mari." I huff, but slip into my purple leather jacket. "Now, let's go. Holoform, Blades."


We pull into the lot in Carrier's V-mode—it's a light pink and silver Mustang. She parks before climbing out in holoform and helping me out of the back seat with my little purse. "Now, there's a pink collapsible wagon in the trunk, if you would get it out?"

He does, but turns to Carrier in confusion. "Why do we need a wagon?"

"Mari is not strong enough to walk through the entire mall, Brian, and I want to make sure she can manage."

"Ah." He unfolds the wagon, but rather than put me in it, he picks me up and puts me on his shoulders. I put my little purse around my neck and across my chest so I don't lose it. "All right, let's go."

He pulls the wagon through the mall entrance and stops behind Carrier, who is rifling through the purse she uses in holoform for her list, which is on a large smartphone-sized datapad. "All right, we're going to Sears first. I've ordered what I can to be mailed to the fake house, but we still have a lot we need to get."

Blades follows Carrier into the store, and grabs a cart before setting me in the top, and folds up the wagon before setting it inside the basket. "All right, which way?"

Carrier turns to a map after grabbing a cart. "Health and beauty. We need to get some styling tools for the pageant."

"Well then…" Blades glances at the map. "We'll see if I can channel Jase well enough to find everything…"

"It should be pretty straight-forward, Brian." Carrier smiles. "We can do this, and we're taking our time with it. It's all right if we get lost."


Within the hour, we're stepping over to the register to check out. Carrier pulls a card out of her wallet and pays before loading our stuff into the wagon as I sit on Blades' shoulders. We've got the travel set (pink and black zebra stripes), makeup, hair styling supplies, and ribbons.

I whimper and put my hand on my tummy. "Mommy?"

"Mari?" She turns to me right as I gag, and Blades quickly sets me by a trash can right before I throw up. "Oh, Sweetspark…"

"I need to call Aid."

"We'll tell him when we get home. Mari?" She rubs my back as I throw up again.

I look up after a moment. "Mama?"

She sighs softly. "Feel better?"

"Little…"

"Okay. Want to keep shopping, or do you want to go home?"

"Shops."

"All right. Brian?"

"I got her." He picks me up before reaching to his comm anyway. "Aid?"

"Blades? What's wrong?"

"Mari puked."

"Slag."

"Aid?"

"I was hoping…"

"We all were."

"Well, Bee's back from patrol, Ratchet just came in. I'll update him, then I'm coming. You'll need backup—unless you're coming back?"

"You kidding? Mari doesn't want to come back, so we're staying."

"All right, update Elita and let me know where you are."

"Elita?"

"Called Aid?"

Blades steps closer to Carrier before leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Bee finished his patrol so he's on monitors, which means Ratchet's taking over medbay. Aid's on his way."

"All right. We'll meet at Claire's. It's got hair supplies for little girls."

"Meeting at Claire's."


Autobot Base Med Bay, Third POV

"Thanks, Blades."

Ratchet turns to Ratchet Aid in surprise. "Blades? Aid, what happened?"

Aid sighs. "I had to spoon-feed Mari today—she refused to eat on her own—and I had her eat the whole bowl of cereal, so I asked them to let me know if she got sick. She did, so now…"

"Now what?"

Aid turns from where he's packing a bag. Inside is a sippy cup with a butterfly graphic filled with chicken broth, a similar cup with a ladybug and apple juice, and a cup with a bumblebee full of sprite, and a cup with a dog filled with red pedialyte, as well as a giraffe cup filled with blue. A cup with a monkey is still sitting open in front of him, which he's filling up from his own energon ration. "Now I'm going to meet them and help out, since you're here to take over."

"Aid…"

"It's my ration, I can—" He sighs. "Ratchet, she's only keeping energon down, there's nothing I can do to get her to keep something human down besides liquids, so…I'm giving her my ration. I'll be all right until tomorrow."

"Aid, you're barely—" Ratchet sighs. "You'll only be trading—" He shakes his head. "I won't change your mind, will I?"

"Nope." He screws the lid on the cup and slips it into the bag before closing it.

"Then take this."

He looks down at a half-full cube. "Ratchet?"

"I wouldn't keep it down anyway, and we need at least one medic in good condition."

"No."

"Aid…"

"Don't. I'll be fine."

"You're dragging, I can tell." Ratchet huffs. "I haven't trained you for vorns without being able to tell when you're not fine."

"I can at least handle human food if I have to. You and Mari can't—different reasons, maybe, but the same position."

"Fine." Ratchet shakes his head. "Just…be careful out there?"

"I will." He pushes the half-cube Ratchet is still holding out closer to his mentor. "Drink that. You need it, Ratch."


Mall, Normal POV

"I'm on my way now, Blades, but I'll have to stop at the food court first."

"Aid…"

Carrier gives him a nervous look. "Brian?"

"Aid, you didn't…"

"She's only been able to keep liquids down unless it has energon in it, and—"

"She has some gummies with her, Aid…"

"And she won't want solids right after purging, either. She can have my ration. I don't purge with human food."

Blades turns to Carrier with a sigh. "They're all nuts."

"Excuse me?"

Blades leans down to where he can whisper to Carrier without anyone else hearing. "Aid's giving up his rations. Spot's breaking down every five minutes. We're losing it, Elita…"

"We're?"

"I'm in a mall when I'm usually the one out on patrol at a time like this. Groove's on my usual route. Streetwise…seems to be the only one with his helm on straight…" He sighs. "Aid's going to the food court first."

"Then we'll meet him there."

"Forget Claire's. Elita's meeting you in the food court."

"With a sick youngling?"

"I've got Mari, and she'll be fine."

I look down at Blades sadly. "Tol' you I no wanna eats dis mornin'…"

"Guess we should have listened, huh?" He carries me into the food court before setting me on a seat next to Aid's holoform. He's got a bag over his shoulder and a basket in front of him holding a sandwich and fries. "Aid?"

"Veggie burger."

"All right."

I smile over at Aid. He's always been able to handle things better than me, so even back in the other dimension, when we had the same personality and looked the same age, he was still able to stick closer to our shared "all life is sacred" belief. He smiles back before pulling out a cup with a monkey on it and handing it to me. "Here, try this."

I take the cup and start drinking from it while watching Carrier and Aid talk. "Aid?"

He glances down to me for a moment, then mouths: "Energon."

Carrier does the same before her eyes widen. "First Aid…"

"I won't have her starve like this when I can handle human food better than she can."

"But your half-ration won't…"

I look up from the cup with tears in my eyes. I told Ratchet not to give me his energon because we needed him, and now Aidie's giving me his? "Aidie? Why?"

He sighs before pulling me into his lap. "Because we don't want to lose you, Little Sister. We can handle human food better than you can." He turns to Carrier. "We're just trying to help out where we can, Elita."

"I know, First Aid, but…a half ration…is hardly enough for myself or Arcee…you're already dragging, almost worse than Ratchet and Orion are…"

"And we can handle human food better than she can." He turns to me. "Because you need to get healthy again, Little One." He turns back to Carrier. "Ratchet already tried."

"You're not giving her all your energon, Aid."

He looks down at me before sighing. "At least let me help out? You know, a cube here and there?"

"We can't be short one warrior—"

"I'm a medic."

"I'm aware of that, but Defensor is a warrior, and they need you."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"A cube here and there wouldn't hurt you on full rations, even with you needing more because you're a medic, but half-rations are barely enough for you, Ratchet, or Orion."

"That's why I'm eating this." He holds up the veggie burger in his hand. "I can sacrifice a little more for her if I choose to use human food instead."

"And maybe cause more problems in the long run…"

"Ratchet's explained the holoforms well enough, and I checked it myself, human food won't hurt us so long as we're in holoforms."

"You won't change his mind." Blades sighs. "If Ratchet already tried, and Mari's still sitting in his lap drinking it…" He sighs and reaches for his comm. "Hot Spot?"

"Blades…"

"You're going to hurt yourself. I know you. You'll do this today, but then we get back and you'll leave the human food for the younglings and humans, while still giving Mari your—"

"Blades? What's wrong?"

"Aid."

"You'll have to be a little more specific, Blades. What's wrong with Aid?"

"Aid's giving Mari his rations."

"How long?"

"So far as I know just today, but…" Blades sighs. "But then he'll insist that the human food on base go to the kids and Bee, and then…"

"And then he's going completely without. First Aid?"

"I don't want to lose her, Spot…"

I look up at the broken-sounding voice, and pat his free hand gently. "It otay…"

"Ratchet has a plan, we're not going to lose her."

"But you don't know that, Spot! If it's dangerous for us, then it's just as dangerous if he does it!"

"Aid…"

"It's just… She's our little sister…"

"I know… It'll be all right. We're all upset over this, but we'll get through it."

"But Spot…"

"We. Will." Since I'm in Aid's lap, I can hear Hot Spot sigh on his end of the comm. "Now, where are you?"

"I'm at the mall with Elita, in Tranquility."

"Okay, I'm almost done with patrol, then I'll be there too, and I'll see what I can do about getting Groove and Streetwise too, all right?"

"Hot Spot?"

"Ratchet said we'd have to try contact and see if a bond forms, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, we're starting now."

"Oh." He looks down at me. "Well, I don't know how long we'll be here, but…"

"Aid?"

He turns to Carrier. "Spot and the others want to meet us here."

"All right…" Carrier looks confused for a moment before her eyes light up, but she doesn't say anything else, instead turning to watch the doors at the other end of the food court.