1) Do you guys prefer me replying to reviews at the end of the chapter or would you prefer if I PMed replies? Vote on my profile poll, please. (I'm not manually counting every vote in the replies. I'm too lazy for that.)

2) I think some of the reviews are getting lost. I remember reading them in emails, but once I go to write my replies, they're not there. So if I don't reply to your review, go to the review page for this story and glance through to see if they're there. I'm not sure what's going on...

3) Sorry for the delay. Weekends at my house are kind of hectic, so I did what I coudl to get this thing out today. Enjoy!

3. Light

3,436 words

"Private, your mother has called up here three times already. I believe it is time for you to awaken." This statement was compounded by the feel of a small, plastic hand pressing against my forehead. Obviously, my new Personal doubled as an alarm clock. Fantastic. I groaned loudly as I rolled over to face the wall, burrowing my face in my pillow.

"Tex, you must rise and prepare for the day," my new alarm clock persisted, and I had to fight back a giggle at the feel of a small body climbing over my shoulder and landing on the mattress in front of me. I cracked my eyes open and stared blankly at the little mech, trying to think of a way to make him go away.

"No," I mumbled simply and closed my eyes again. Hands touched my cheek, and I slit my eyes to see that Optimus was kneeling in front of me, optics locked with my eyes.

"Get up. Now," he ordered. Well, shoot. If there was one thing we'd figured over the weekend, it was that I couldn't really resist Optimus' "commander voice." I wasn't sure what is was about the voice that made it so motivating, but I wondered idly if all military commanders had it. It was thirty percent firm, thirty percent gentle, and fourty percent "there will be consequences if you don't obey." It was rather effective.

"Not fair," I moaned as I sat up in my bed, shoulders slumped and eyes staring listlessly at the bed. If there was one thing that could be said about me, it was that I was not a morning person. I could stay up all night and be perfectly fine, but once seven a.m. rolled around… Well, at least mom would find something useful about Optimus: she no longer had to come upstairs to force me out of bed. "I don't feel like going to school," I mumbled as I slunk out of the bed and shuffled to my attached bathroom.

"Regardless, education is important," Optimus responded as he expertly slid off the bed that was twice his size and trotted after me. I hadn't pegged Optimus Prime as a morning person, but I had learned the morning after I received him that he had no problem waking me up at the crack of dawn to observe the sunrise. Who the heck woke up to watch the sun rise? It's not like it hasn't risen before. Sunset seems far more magical. Optimus didn't seem to agree, though.

"Well, if you like school so much, you can go in my place," I retorted as I looked in the mirror at my rat's nest hair. Dear lord, my bangs. Great. Now, I'd have to actually work to make my hair look presentable. Perfect start to a Monday. I heaved another sigh as I plugged in my straightener in the outlet by the sink and waited for it to start heating up.

"What are you doing?" Optimus asked as he stared up at me from the floor. I yawned loudly before glancing down at him.

"My hair. Man, I'm so friggin' tired," I stated as I reached over to flick on the fluorescents over the sink. I had a full bathroom complete with a bath with a showerhead, a toilet, and a sink set into a large counter. The counter connected with the left wall, and on the right, it was attached to a built in cabinet that was filled with towels. There was a window in between the toilet and the bathtub, opaque in color so that it let light in, but if anyone tried to look in or out through it, they'd only see blobs of color through it. Not that it mattered. The house to my left was only a single story, so the people would have to stand on the roof to see in, and it seemed like that was too much trouble to peep on a girl.

"You did not do this yesterday," he noted curiously.

"I wash my hair every other day. I washed it Friday, so I didn't have to wash it Saturday, which meant that I didn't have to straighten my bangs on Sunday. I washed it last night, though, so I have to straighten it today. Compute?"

"I believe so," Optimus responded slowly, watching closely as I pulled the top half of my hair up into a clip to allow access to the bottom locks. I always tried to straighten and curl from the bottom layers up. It seemed easier that way. There was blessed silence for a few minutes as I started combing out small locks of hair and straightening them. Behind me, the sun continued to rise, sending its blinding rays into the mirror in front of me, making my current task twice as difficult. Stupid sun.

"You are upset," Optimus observed, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Somehow, rolling my eyes at Optimus felt like the equivalent of slapping my father. You just didn't do it. I had to bite back my sarcastic reply of "ya think?" as I forced myself to keep my morning temper in check.

"Just tired," I responded, hoping that was the end of the conversation. Of course, it wasn't. No, that would make the morning too easy. That would make me sorta enjoy the early hour. This was one of the few negatives that I hadn't expected when I spent that seven hundred dollars. Nothing quite like a chatty Optimus Prime to make the obnoxious morning even more joyful. Note the sarcasm there. There was a lot of sarcasm there, and it's important that it's noted.

"Perhaps if you listen to some upbeat music as you readied yourself for the day, or maybe reflected on your dreams, you would be more cheerful in the morning," Optimus suggested helpfully. I held back a dragon-like growl as I let my hair down and twisted the very top layer of hair up before clipping it in the middle of the top of my head, preparing myself to straighten the middle layer.

"I doubt that would do any good," I stated flatly, wondering idly if Optimus knew these morning chats annoyed me and continued it just for laughs. "I'm not a morning person." He knew this. I had told him this on Sunday when he woke me up early to see the stupid sunrise.

"Perhaps I can change that," he responded, a smile in his tone. Little jerk thought this was funny. I huffed as I continued with my hair, curling the very tips under a little to make it look less… limp.

"Good luck with that." After that, there was silence again, and I basked in it. My mother had always joked that I was a dragon lady in the morning because when someone asked me a question, I'd either give a single disinterested hum in reply, or I'd say something very biting or sarcastic that made them think twice about asking me anything else. It was a reaction that I was actually kind of proud of; it set a precedent. Now, nobody asks me questioned in the morning. Except for Optimus Prime. Maybe I'd get a Sunstreaker model when they finally came out with one… Bet he wouldn't be programmed as a friggin' morning person.

By the time I finished my hair, parting it on the left side and curling my bangs carefully to hide the acne on my forehead, the only place where I ever seemed to get acne, the sun had risen so that it no longer blinded me, and my mother was calling for me to be ready in ten minutes. I strode back into my room, hips swaying in a fashion walk that I was actually rather proud of, and I pulled open the third drawer in my dresser. Blue polo and khaki knee-length skirt. This was the story of my life. Went to school with my shirt tucked in and came home in my sweaty PE uniform. Yay for private schools with strict dress codes.

I sighed a little as I started dressing, ignoring Optimus as he dallied around my room, tucking homework in my blue and black backpack and packing my PE uniform and tennis shoes into my gym bag. Little guy was rather helpful for a fourteen-inch robot. I pulled my skirt on over my shorts and tucked my shirt in before zipping the skirt up. I took a final glance in my full-length mirror, fluffed up my bangs with the back of my hand, and made my way to where Optimus stood with my two bags.

"You coming with?" I asked lightly, and Optimus nodded briskly.

"To allow you to be alone would be to ignore my duties," he stated firmly. He jogged over to my nightstand and pointed up toward the surface. "Do not forget our communication device."

"Oh yeah. Just in case we need to sneak outta class," I responded with a grin. Optimus optic-frowned at me, dim blues staring at me with mild disappointment. Dang. I never thought I'd feel guilty just by being stared at by a Personal.

"I can assure you that you will not be avoiding any class time. You will stay in class and gain the good education your parents are paying for," he scolded. I slumped.

"You sound like my memaw," I mumbled as I grabbed the comm link thing and my lame smartphone beside it. I stuffed both into my backpack and zipped it up. "Coming?" I repeated as I shouldered both bags. Were my pompoms still at school? I vaguely remembered tossing them into my locker…

With that idle thought shoved away, I strode from my room and sauntered into the hallway, not even pausing to wait for Optimus as he jogged to catch up. He had already requested once that I not slow down for him. "I will have to learn how to keep up with you eventually. We might as well start now," he had said firmly. I had shrugged and continued down the stairs to dinner.

Oh, stairs. They were the creation of Unicron, if Optimus was to be believed. Each stair was about the height of his legs, which meant that going up and down them was a full-body workout. I had offered to carry him down, but he had turned me down, citing his dignity as well as his Primus-given ability to adapt as reasons for him to navigate the stairs himself. This didn't keep him from mumbling under his breath, though. With the memory of a pint-sized Optimus cursing in Cybertronian in mind, I smiled widely for the first time that morning as I trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast as Optimus attempted his morning battle with the stairs.

"Morning, Marie," mom greeted cheerfully. Another morning person. I bet if Optimus was an Ironman edition, he and mom would've gotten along like a pig and mud, singing happy morning songs and all that jazz. But obviously, she was prejudiced against Transformers and as such, resented poor Optimus' existence in her house. I shuffled to the pantry and grabbed out my cereal: Captain Crunch: Oops, All Berries. It was so fantastically unhealthy, and I thanked God again that my cheer coach couldn't control what I ate at home, no matter how much she tried. I poured myself a bowl and poured my lactose-free milk in after it. I put the milk and cereal back up before plopping down at the table across from my brother and digging in.

My older brother, Billy, was a strange character who I could describe in two words: annoying perfect. He was relatively handsome, taking all the good features from my mom's side and replacing any bad features with features from my dad's side to make this annoyingly relatively handsome man. He had dad's perfect blond hair and mom's pretty blue eyes, but even if he looked so handsome, he stayed true to his girlfriend of that time, most of his relationships lasting over a year. My longest was two weeks. Not that I slept around or anything; I just had commitment issues. In high school, he had been the varsity tight end, known for his ability to take down the other team's big guys without fear, and even after he graduated, he retained his muscular build due to his job as a mechanic. He was funny, he was caring, and he was loyal. But most of all, he was normal.

Billy didn't spend all hours of the night writing out Optimus Prime's romance. Billy didn't have stalkers instead of girlfriends. Heck, the fact that Billy had a girlfriend seemed to make him better than me. I'm pretty sure I scare guys away, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what's so scary about me. Billy had a good job that paid twenty-six dollars an hour. Billy was going to school to be a nurse. Billy, at 22, was engaged and planning a wedding. Billy, Billy, Billy. Marie, why can't you be more like Billy? My mom had only said it once, but once was enough times to permanently lock it into my psyche that Billy was perfect and I'd never live up to his perfection. I would forever be in his shadow. Even the teachers at school first greeted me by "Oh, you're Billy's sister! Oh, Billy was my favorite student. I'm expecting great things from you!" That's a great way to begin a school year.

As I ate my cereal, I wondered idly if Megatron had these kind of internal dialogues about Optimus Prime. I wondered if he just got so tired of dealing with Optimus' perfection and the "Oh, you're Optimus Prime's brother? You must love spending time with him; he's so sweet!" that he decided to destroy Cybertron and conquer the universe. If that was his motivation… I suddenly found myself supporting his view of the war. Not that I'd start a war against my brother. No matter how much I hated his perfection, I still love him, and he's still one of my best friends. So instead, I tend to turn my irritation on his fiancée who will be taking him away from me in May a week before my graduation.

"So, is Optimus not going with you?" Billy asked as he munched on a piece of toast. I smiled a little bit.

"He's reenacting that uphill battle from the Civil War," I stated, drawing a blank on which battle that was. It wasn't the Alamo… that was the wrong war. Maybe Bunker Hill?

"A battle that I have won," Optimus claimed flatly as he trotted into the kitchen in all his fourteen-foot glory. Billy grinned down at the robot as he chewed. Out of everyone in my household, my brother was the person that minded Optimus the least. My father no longer glared at the 'bot, deciding that since I've already bought him, he might as well accept his presence, but Billy had taken it a step further and started chatting with him. I'm pretty sure he only likes the mech because Optimus agreed to play Halo co-op with him. Billy loves gaming with other people, even if that other person is a robot. Then again, if you think about it, Optimus is a military commander, so I was willing to bet he'd do good at first-person shooting games. Better than me, anyways. I had a habit of mixing up the "shoot" button and the "grenade" button. Billy didn't like it when I accidentally stuck his character with a plasma grenade.

"So are you excited about your first day of high school?" Billy asked the Personal once he swallowed his toast. Optimus peered up at the man with a shrug.

"I have no feelings about it. On Cybertron, I did not attend the Acadamy; rather I lived with and was taught by Sentinel Prime." Billy looked at me for translation, as he always did.

"He didn't go to school. The jerk in the last Bay movie homeschooled him," I explained, gaining an enlightened "oohhh" from my brother and a nod of understanding.

"Well… you're in for an interesting time. Seniors are laid back. I don't think you'll have a problem," he responded as he rose to his feet and walked his plate over to the sink. I quickly drank the milk from my bowl and followed his example.

"Optimus, let me brush my teeth, and we can be off," I called over to the small Personal that was standing by my backpack. I quickly went through the final steps of my morning routine, brushing and flossing in the downstairs bathroom before jogging back to the front room. I grabbed my silver flats from the shoe closet, checking them carefully for spiders to appease my innate arachnophobia. I slid them onto my feet and strode back into the kitchen to the table where my bags rested. I shouldered my backpack first, sliding the two straps over my shoulders before placing the gym bag strap over my left on. Optimus took the hint and started after me as I walked to the front door.

"I'm headed to school! See you guys after!" I called out.

"Love you!" Mom called back, and Billy yelled something indecipherable from his room upstairs. I grinned as I opened the door and strode out into the humid October heat. Ah, yes. Texas fall; it felt no different from Texas summer. If the weatherman was to be believed, it would reach 93°F today, which was actually rather cool for what we'd been having. Last week, we were still in triple digits. Obviously, a cold front was coming in. Maybe there'd be rain. The humidity was definitely high enough for that.

"You walk to school?" Optimus asked, sounding surprised. I glanced down at him and nodded.

"I walk to the bus stop, and the bus drives me to school," I responded. A car was something I was still waiting on. It had taken Billy a good two years working at the local movie theatre before he could afford his little Dodge Stratus. I had only been working at Glitz & Glamour for a few months and only got paid $8.50 an hour, part time. I was still saving up.

"I was under the impression that your father would not allow you to walk somewhere on your own. He appears to be rather overprotective," Optimus stated, noting his observations from the last couple of days. I can definitely see where he got that idea. My dad and I were closer than anyone else in the family simply because we were so much alike. We were best friends, so close that we played off each other's emotions. When one of us was sad, the other picked up on it and cheered that person up. If one of us was mad, the other also became righteously furious. If one was happy, it made the other one's day. We were definitely the pair, especially lately since my mother had been spending more time in her romance novels than she had with the rest of the family.

"He trusts me to go this far. Everyone in our neighborhood is pretty nice. You'll see that at our next block party," I informed him evenly. We stepped out of the shade of the tree in our front yard, and Optimus grabbed my calf, startling me to a stop.

"Feel the sun," he breathed, his face tilted up toward the sky. I blinked down at him, surprised he could even feel heat. Persobots Inc. did a friggin' amazing job with their detail work. I frowned at him, then did as he asked, closing my eyes as I tilted my head back to the sun, enjoying its radiating heat and light as it shined down on me. I could feel a smile playing at the corners of my lips as my body soaked in the vitamin D.

"I told you I could get you to like it," Optimus teased from below me. I opened my eyes again and gazed down at him with an unimpressed expression.

"I like soaking up sunlight. That doesn't mean I like mornings," I informed him bluntly. With that denial stated, I hitched my gym bag higher on my shoulder and strolled off toward the bus stop, a mini-Optimus Prime trotting protectively beside me. There was no denying that dad wouldn't have to worry about my safety walking anywhere again.

AndromedaAI: I definitely agree. See, now, I don't mind my mother reading this stuff. It gives her something to be proud about, but she really hates Transformers, much like Marie's mom. Heh. Actually Marie's mom is kinda really based off of my mom with components of one of my friend's moms. And I was the same way. Anytime I was writing and someone would kinda lean over to glance at my work, I'd lean over my words protectively cuz I didn't want them to see.

Agent Or4ng3: I've never read it. Is it on this site? I'll have to go over an read it! Love me some tiny Transformers.

I agree. I'd love to have a mini-Ratchet or something like that, but I think he'd get on me about my health too much. I'd take a Jazz, but he'd go through all my files on my computer and screw with my iPod files. I'd take the twins, but they would booby trap my room. Maybe a prowl… I bet my mom would get along with a Prowl very well. "Jen, go clean your room." "Okay…" "Jennifer, when your mother orders you to do a chore, she means to do it now. Clean your room or you can sleep on the floor tonight." "But, Prowl-" "No. Now."

Do I sense a little bit of resentment toward our live-action director? I mean, I can't say anything. I hate the guy, too. I would probably stick to G1 if I were smart enough to create Persobots.

And thanks! It's good to be back.

FirstStrike1177: Lol, ikr?! I would love to have an actually mini-Optimus Prime. Hence, the creation of this story. :)

Autobot Phoenix: Yeah, when my friend from the cheersquad read my Inuyasha story, she was like, "You should have them kissing. I really like your character, but I'd like to see her make out with Sesshoumaru." Most awkward moment in my freshman year. I remember when I wrote TaCO, I was blushing the whole time I wrote their first kiss and when I alluded to them having sex. Lord, I'm so green. ^^;

CodeRed73: Thank you for the compliments. I certainly try to stay away from Mary-sues, so it's nice to hear that my character is not one. As for your Soundwave request, I can't really say. I'm making no promises in this fic because I'm not sure where I'm taking it. I have very few things planned, so I don't wanna promise something I can't deliver. Remember, it's not just Transformers that are being made into Personals. There's an Ironman, a fairy set, and a Superman slated to come out, and that's just the first few! Persobots Incorporated will make the selection as broad as possible, meaning it will probably be a year or two before they come out with the second Transformer, which will be Bumblebee. They will be hesitant on introducing any Decepticon or any bad guy for that matter because he base programming is the same as the character's personality, meaning: if you buy Megatron, you're likely to be manipulated and killed in your sleep before he teams up with all the other Megatrons and destroys life as we know it. For now, we will focus on Marie and her Optimus Prime. If another bot crawls into my story, then I'll make it work. For now, though, just Optimus. :)

I-Am-Uniquely-Myself: Thank you so much for the compliments! I would hope Marie is relatable, because she is very strongly based of myself along with two of my friends that share similar problems with me. Marie is actually one of my best friend's names, and she hates her name because of the meaning. She goes by Elizabeth, her middle name, and you will see next chapter that this Marie goes by Lizzy at school. :)

Lol. I think I'd stick to Optimus Prime. I mean Ratchet would get on my case about my health, Ironhide would be a jerk, Sunny and Sides would screw with my head, Jazz would hack my computer and screw with my music files, Prowl would lecture me all the time, and Wheeljack would blow up my house. I think Optimus is just the safest bet.

Angel897: Thank you. Glad you like it :)

I Am The Silver Lining: Lol, okay. I have a basic idea for what I want to happen in the future, so I can guarantee a few things. It won't happen exactly how you expect it to, but something like that will happen.

PandaGirlPlaysTheTuba: Thank you for your compliments! I strive very much to remain original. I've found that original stories tend to bring in more people than repeats. Hope you enjoyed this one as much as you enjoyed the last.

Nexia Jazilynn Prime: (chap 1)Unfortunately, no. Optimus Prime is the only Personal: Transformers that has been developed. Right now, Persobots Inc. is taking in designs and copyrights from DC Comics, Marvel, Disney, Cartoon Network, Mattel, and other big-name companies. Everyone wants to make money off of these new robots, and Persobots Inc. is more than happy to gain money off of those big companies' characters. And sure, you can use the idea. And thanks for giving me the creds. I'm glad to have inspired you. :)

(chap 2) Oh, that must have been mortifying. You're first work and they wanted to convert it? I'm glad you found this site, then. I must admit, FF . net is really good at drawing people in. You get honest reviews, and the people here are so nice. I'm definitely happy to be back. Missed y'all so much.

A Wiccan: Indeed, it has. At least 6 months for me. Did one of those "disappearing off the face of the earth" things I happen to do nearly every spring. I swear, crap only happens to me in spring. I friggin' hate spring. I think most of the people who came to site chose it because they didn't know anyone on the internet. I came here because I didn't trust anyone I knew with my stories. Didn't want it getting around the school that I liked Transformers. I could only imagine the razzing I would've gotten.

Chistarpax: I hear you there. I wish they were real, too. And I dunno if you'd want Jazz. He'd be reading everything you wrote and messing with your music files… and could you imagine the havoc he would wreak if he got bored?

Guest: Lol, I'm glad you like it! I hope this chapter was up to your standards. Maybe if I get smart enough, I can talk all these big companies into making technology like this… Hmmm…

Person whose review I didn't reply to last time: So I received the review in my email, and I deleted the email because I was certain I'd have it on the site. How I respond to reviews: I go to the story, click the reviews number, go to chapter (#) reviews, respond to all the reviews on that page at once. However, both times, your reiew wasn't on the page. I know because I remember reading the email and feeling so bad that I had somehow skipped you. However, I didn't have a review on my review page this time around that matched he one in my email. I looked back through my deleted emails, but Yahoo won't allow me to go that far back in my trash file. So, I would suggest PMing your reviews to me if you want a reply… Unless 'm going crazy, because I've looked up and down this review page, and I swear you're not there…

Anybody out there have an obnoxiously perfect sibling that you still love despite how extremely jealous you are of their perfection? Sorry about how little Optimus time there was in this one. I needed to start introducing her family, though, starting with her big brother.