When the Autobots first returned to Cybertron, none could truly say what they were feeling. Excited, nervous, apprehensive, shocked, happy, sad, determined...If you mixed every emotion together and then some, you would get close to the feeling that swirled in each bot's spark.
Optimus went to work bringing life back to Cybertron, attempting to bring back the days of old, when he was just a clerk known as Orion Pax. The Autobots never dreamed it possible to bring life back to Cybertron, but they did. The Omega Keys weren't the only thing to make Cybertron as it was before...
Optimus strode into his command center, hearing the beeps and clicks of processors taking in data and storing it on Cybertronian sized hard drives. The clerk in Optimus was telling him it was a smart move to recompile all the knowledge his race once had, so that the information might one day help another who needed it. Knowledge was power, after all.
Optimus's optics roved around the room, taking in friends and new acquaintances. So many Autobots, and Decepticons, had fled to the far corners of the universe when their world was first destroyed, but now, now everyone who heard the message Optimus continually sent out into the far reaches of space were coming back. In truth, the factions of Autobot and Decepticon were no more. Optimus refused to believe that Decepticons were beyond hope, and so he offered friendship to all who came home to Cybertron. Optimus revoked the names that had caused so much strife: Autobot and Decepticon.
He believed, as all came to believe, they were all Cybertronians.
No more, no less.
And Optimus always knew that if a Cybertronian was to lead the dark path as Megatron once did, then Optimus would deal with the rebel as a kind general would: sternly, but offering redemption.
There was always hope.
"Hey Optimus," Arcee greeted the Cybertronian leader with a smile.
"Good day to you, Arcee. How is the data retrieval coming along?"
"Pretty quickly actually, we should be done soon."
"That's good news, thank you, Arcee," Optimus nodded, and turned heading away. The automatic doors slid shut behind Optimus as he walked down a silent hallway. Optimus heard the automatic doors to the data room open behind him, and the sound of light footsteps heading in his direction.
"Hey Optimus?" Arcee called. Her leader turned back to the femme, waiting. "Do you ever think about the kids?"
"The sparklings are fine, why would I worry about them?"
"That's not what I meant, and you know that," Arcee said softly. Optimus was silent a moment, his servo taking him back many earth years to the smiling faces of three teenagers. He could recall vividly Jack's determination, Miko's mischief, Rafael's intelligence, as if it were only yesterday. The children were special, and held a tender place in Optimus's heart. How could he forgot them? They were something unique that Optimus didn't always see in the human race.
"Do you ever think about them? I heard Bulk muttering Miko's name during his recharge, and when Bee got angry at a computer he exclaimed that Raf would know how to fix it. And I...I think about Jack sometimes, wondering how he is, where he ended up..." Arcee trailed off, looking past Optimus into the memories of the femme's past.
"I know you miss him," Optimus told her softly. "He was your partner, and truly a worthy friend. How can I forget the man who gave me back my memories? Or the girl who caused us so much grief? Or even the boy who's genius rivaled that of a Cybertronian? I doubt one could ever forget those three, Arcee, so how could you ask such a question?"
"I just...I just remember twenty years ago how the kids surprised us at the base. Do you remember?"
"Of course," Optimus replied quietly. A Cybertronian capsule was accidently lost on earth, and the team had gone to retrieve it from Antarctica. The children were truly a welcome surprise.
"Do you think we could ever, I don't know, go back?" Arcee faltered, looking at Optimus hesitantly.
"Arcee," Optimus sighed heavily. "Earth is not our home. We returned here to bring back life to our world, not to continually meddle in the affairs of the humans. We cannot return because there is no reason, and the governments of earth would not stand for us returning. They see us as threats no matter what we might say to the contrary."
"But-"
"Arcee, it does not make sense for us to go back," Optimus told the femme gently. "I miss the children as well, but we parted ways many years ago. We had our 'tearful goodbye', as Miko once put it."
"I..."
"We carry our friends in our sparks, Arcee. When a comrade is in your spark, you can never really be without them."
"I understand, Optimus," Arcee finally nodded.
"Good, now I must go attend to the others. One of our newest arrivals wants to create a university for higher learning, but needs my permission to begin. I trust you can handle everything here?"
"Of course, Optimus," Arcee replied, saluting her leader and then turning away. Optimus watched her go silently, knowing in his spark he told Arcee the right thing. He missed the children as well, but it was not possible to go back. Besides, it wasn't as if the children would be waiting for them if they returned! Optimus chuckled at the thought, and then continued down the hall.
Arcee herself returned to the data room, her eyes drifting to Bee who was quickly downloading data packets. His optics turned to Arcee, hope glimmering. Arcee just shook her head slightly, and she watched the hope drop out of Bumblebee's optics. The yellow Cybertronian sighed, and Arcee could feel his frustration. They wanted to go back, to see their friends, their partners, the part of their spark the three Cybertronians left on earth. The children were more than small earthlings, they were much more to their Cybertronian counterparts.
"Arcee, you look like you just lost a comrade," one of the bots in the room spoke up. "You alright?"
"I'm fine, Quicksilver, just remembering something," Arcee responded, snapping out of her thoughts.
Maybe they could go back, unofficially, if Optimus wouldn't approve it. Earth was only a groundbridge away after all...