Long time no update. Been…not busy, really. Just hit some writer's block. Other things on my mind. It's not important. Anyways, this chapter isn't the best, nor is it really any good. I guess I'm just trying to use every situation I can think of, and writing how I think the 'Bots would react. Especially Prowl, since he's the main Autobot in this series of cuteness.

Read, review like big people, and don't complain. It's just a fic, seriously.

-Juana

Chapter Six: Television is Evil

As a general rule, Sari isn't allowed to watch certain television programs in our base, and that includes the widely popular 'emm-tee-vee'. Cartoon channels (Fanzone has informed me that it is normal for children to watch cartoons), the Nature Channel, and even the Edible Consumptions Channel are allowed, as long as there is some merit of education to it.

But one day, I allowed Sari to go over to Avani's house, and I never once suspected that Avani's parents allowed her to watch programs that weren't age-appropriate. I had picked Sari up around five, and we drove home without any problems. Sari chattered about the games they had played, and mentioned some show I had never heard of, but that was all. But back in the base, Sari did something I never wanted her to do again.

She had gone into the kitchen to make dinner, and came back ten minutes later to the living room, where she sat down on the couch and placed her newly made peanut butter sandwich on the table. Her eyes were fixed on the television as she placed it down on the table, and when it fell out of her hand and onto the floor, she gasped out,

"Oh, shit!"

I was towering over her not less than three second later, hands on my hips and extremely angry.

"What did you just say, young lady?" I couldn't believe the growl that escaped my throat, and neither could the others.

"What?" Sari looked up innocently with her trademarked smile, as though trying to convince me that nothing had happened, but my persistent 'stare of death', as Bumblebee dubbed it later on, told her that she was in trouble for swearing.

"What did you just say?" I repeated, not taking my optics off her. Sari groaned and argued angrily,

"But—Prowl, you guys swear all the time! I've heard Ratchet and Bumblebee do it!" I shook my head and say,

"I do not, Sari. You know that. Ratchet is older and more set in his ways, and he swears in our language. Bumblebee is also older, but he will be spoken to later tonight about it, too. You, however, are far too young to use such language, and you will be punished for using it."

"Oh come on! Why do you always have to punish me? It's just a stupid word!"

"And one 'stupid word' leads to more. If I ever catch that word or others like it leaving your mouth, Captain Fanzone has informed me of something called 'washing one's mouth out with soap'. I will do it if you ever, EVER use that sort of language again, is that understood?"

Sari was furious, and for the first time in a few weeks, she jumped up and actually screamed at me,

"I HATE YOU, YOU BIG DUMB STUPID ROBOT! YOU'RE SO MEAN! YOU DON'T LET ME DO ANYTHING! I'M BIG ENOUGH TO DO AND SAY WHATEVER I WANT, YOU STUPID-HEAD!" She suddenly cowered as she realized what sheds said, and who she said it to. But I didn't react. I didn't speak, I didn't move, I didn't do anything. I simply stood there, completely still and silent, staring hard at her with angry optics.

Sari suddenly jumped off the couch and ran to her room as fast as she could. We all heard her door slamming, and I think that for the first time, she was scared of me and what I could do to her. Of course, there is nothing I would ever do to harm her, but she's young. Optimus looked over at me and said,

"Maybe you should have been a bit less—"

"NO," I cut in sharply, "no, Optimus. She's going to be punished for this. Don't worry; it isn't as though I plan on hurting her. I might make her write a paper about her behavior and what led to her swearing, as a simple punishment. Nothing more." Bulkhead stomped over and bent over to look at me with an angry glare to rival the one I had given Sari.

"Don't you think you're being hard on her, Prowl?" he demanded angrily, "She isn't your daughter, you can't tell her what she can and can't do."

"I know that, Bulkhead, I just…I love her like one. She needs us to be the best family we can be. She's been kicked out of her home, her father is missing, and there is no record of her existence. Regardless of whether or not anyone else notices it, Sari is angry and is looking for ways to rebel against what life has suddenly thrown her way. This is just the beginning, and if we don't take care of it now, it will get out of hand, and we won't be able to change it. Does anyone else understand what I mean?"

"No," answered Bumblebee. I turn slowly to face him and reply,

"Of course you don't. You're just as young as she is. What I'm trying to say is that if we let her get away with this kind of behavior, she's going to become impossible to control!"

"And who said we had to control her?" asks Ratchet angrily, arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"I suppose you want to deal with a disrespectful, dirty-mouthed little brat?" I shoot back, irritated and frustrated that no one is seeing this the way I am. Ratchet sighed, then said dismissively,

"Have her write a paper. But nothing more. What you consider caring, loving acts are seen as tyranny to her. She'll only spiral out of our servos if she feels her limits here are being made even tighter. Trust me, kid, it will happen, no matter how much she loves us. She loves us, and we love her. Let her have some time alone, and then go back to her tonight. Just to talk. Give her the assignment tomorrow, okay?"

"Very well. I'll do that." I left the room in a bit of a huff, anxious to get away from those idiots I call teammates, to go meditate for a while before going to talk to Sari.

A couple hours later, I knocked on Sari's door and received no answer. I sighed, knowing full well she was in there and doing her best to ignore me. So I simply warned her that I was going to open the door whether she wanted me to or not. Again, I received no response. This alarmed me, so I rushed in, only to find that Sari was not in her room.

"Sari? SARI! OPTIMUS! SARI ISN'T IN HER ROOM!" Optimus and Bulkhead both ran into her room and gasped when they saw it for themselves. Bulkhead, the protective 'bot he is, hollered,

"SAAAAARRRRRIIIIII! GET OUT HERE, NOW!" There was silence for a moment, and both Optimus and I are thinking how stupid that was, when somewhere in the corner, we heard the shuffling of feet. Turning our full attention to the sound, I sighed with relief as Sari walked out form behind a pile of her stuffed toys, wrapped in her blanket and eyes red from crying.

"What?" she sniffed as she rubbed her nose. She still looked incredibly angry at me, and refused to make eye contact with me. Bulkhead looked down at her and answered,

"Don't ever do that again, Sari. You had us worried! I thought you ran away or got kidnapped again. Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry Bulkhead. I'm still mad at Prowl for being a jerk face." I made an artificial coughing sound and stepped in.

"I'm right here, Sari. I can hear you." Sari ignored me, however, and continued to speak with Bulkhead until Optimus had had enough.

"Sari, that's enough out of you. I know you're upset, but ignoring Prowl and calling him names isn't going to help. You two are going to have a talk about this right now, whether you want to or not. You are going to reach some kind of compromise and you are going to be punished for your earlier behavior and this. Is that understood?"

"You're being a stupid head too," Sari spat, shocking the three of us. She gives Optimus her most deadly, angry little girl eyes ever, and for a moment, Optimus is silent, either from shock or disappointment. But then he opens his mouth again, and out comes the ultimate punishment:

"You are grounded, young lady. You can't go over to your friends' house for two weeks, and you're most certainly not allowed to have any candy for those two weeks either. You'll go to school and come home, nothing else. I'm taking the key too."

"WHAT!? NO! THE KEY IS MINE, AND YOU AREN'T MY DAD! YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Sari had never screamed so loud before. I kneel down beside her and hold out a hand to get her to listen.

"Sari…please. We—we're—"

"WHAT?" Sari yelled at me as she smacked my hand away, "YOU'RE WHAT? CONCERNED? WORRIED? NO, YOU'RE ALL MAD AT ME AND YOU ALL HATE ME!" She ran off again to her stuffed toys and dived in to hide herself, where she began to cry again. I looked at Optimus and Bulkhead and spoke to them through our wireless connection.

"Both of you should go. I will talk to her, she'll be fine."

"But—" Bulkhead started, but I waved him off.

"No, Bulkhead, you should both go. Don't send anyone in; I just want to talk to her. She's clearly upset about something else, and it's time I found out what. She misses her father very much, that may be the problem."

"Well," said Optimus, "all right. Let me know if you need my assistance. Good luck." He walks out, and Bulkhead follows soon after, shooting a quick, worried glance over at Sari's stuffed animals. I quietly close the door and walk over to the pile, sit down and say,

"Sari. Let's talk." I received no answer of course, but I didn't give up. "Sari. I need you to listen to me, all right? I'll listen to you if you listen to me. I know you're angry, I know you're upset. We don't want to yell at you, we have no real reason to do so. We're just—we all love you very much and we don't want you to get hurt or in trouble at school."

"Leave me alone," she growled.

"I will not," I answered, "I'm staying right here until we figure something out. There's something bothering you, and I think you want to talk about it. I'm here, I want to listen."

"Why? So you can yell at me for saying one little bad word? Yeah, right." Sari's stuffed toys shift around, which means she's digging deeper into them, to get away from me and the conversation. I reached in and grabbed her foot, then pull her out and hold her to my optics level.

"Put me down!" she yelled, taking a few swipes at my face with her little fists. I simply stared at her until she cooled down, then placed her in my hand carefully before speaking again.

"Sari, please listen. You know I'm upset, but do you really understand why I'm upset?"

"Because you're a control freak and you never let me do anything."

"That's not true and you know it, Sari. Why do you think I'm upset?" Sari kicked my thumb in response and repeated herself. I groaned, exasperated and annoyed, then answered the question myself.

"Sari, I'm upset because when you used that word, you hurt me. I felt like I hadn't taken good enough care of you—why else would you use such language? Did I do something wrong earlier today that made you angry?"

"No," Sari grumbled, crossing her arms, "you didn't. It just slipped, okay? Geez. People make mistakes you know. Not everyone is perfect."

"I never said I was—Sari, PLEASE. Help me here. What happened?"

"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Sari yelled suddenly, "I JUST WENT TO AVANI'S HOUSE AND WE WATCHED T.V. AND PLAYED WITH DOLLS. THAT'S IT!"

"T.V.? You mean television?" I was being serious, I had no idea they would go watch television on a play date. Sari groaned and answered,

"Duh. So what?"

"Did you watch a program that had bad words in it?"

"Avani's older sister watching some movie and they said bad words, yes. Whatever. When I'm a grown-up I can anywhere I want and say and do whatever I want, you know."

"I know," I answered, "but right now, you are not a 'grown-up', and you live here, with us. And we have rules. Sari, you know those rules. You won't be a little girl forever. You should use your time doing other things, rather than watching television and being influenced by them. And think about this: if you used a word like that in school, what would happen?" Sari was quiet for a moment, mulling the question in her head. I waited patiently for her to come up with an answer.

"My teachers would probably send me to the principal's office…?"

"And?"

"And…I would have to go to detention?"

"Go on."

"And they would call you?"

"Absolutely. And how do you think I would react if I were the one to receive such a phone call?" Sari looked up at me meekly and answered,

"You'd be really, really angry."

"You got it. Sari, do you understand why I'm so alarmed by this? I don't want you to get into any trouble, and I certainly don't want to yell at you, for anything. I promise you that. If I do, it's because I care so much about you, and I don't want to see you turn into someone on the television. I want you to be you."

"Well, you could have done that without yelling at me." Sari crossed her arms and shot me a dark look. I simply answered,

"I believe I was trying to be diplomatic about it. You were the one to yell about me being a 'big, dumb stupid robot', yes? Can we put this behind us, Sari?" She very nearly stuck her tongue out at me, but then thought better of it and sighed, defeated. She knew I was right.

"All right, fine, Prowl. But next time, don't scare me like that. And tell Optimus I don't want him to yell at me again. I don't like that. My dad never yelled at me, and neither should he." I nodded and smiled, then placed Sari down on the floor. She walked over to her stuffed toys, grabbed her blanket and wrapped herself up in it once more. She walked back over to me and stared at me for a few minutes. Then, after that short period of time, she said,

"Can you read me a story?" I nodded and answered,

"Of course I can. Go brush your teeth and get your pajamas on, and if you can, go see Bulkhead. He's very worried about you." Sari nodded and ran off to her little tasks while I comm.ed Optimus to update him on the situation. I gave him Sari's request, and he said he would apologize to her later tonight, after her story.

It was moments like this that made me feel like I could really be a good parent. We didn't hear Sari swear again until 'high school'.

Shitty, right? Yeah. Bad ending, mistakes, whatever. It's crap. Love it, hate it, whatever. I've been feeling more retarded than usual, so my fics are gonna be crap for a while. Sorry.

-J