The desert seemed to stretch forever. To the aging men, the sand seemed to actually touch the sky at the horizon, and Raf smiled slowly.
"It's been a long time," Raf said quietly.
"I know what you mean," Jack replied.
It had been years since the duo had stood in this desert, twenty years to be exact. Twenty years since they had seen the Autobots, seen eachother, or seen Miko.
Twenty years was a long time.
The memories from childhood came rushing back. Jack remembered first meeting Arcee, and going to Cyberton, and being chased by Decepticons, and all the fights he had with Miko. Raf remembered every schematic Ratchet had shown him, or when he realized he was one of the few humans to truly understand Bumblebee, or meet Decepticons, or almost die from energon poisoning. The boys remembered all the video games, and scary scraplets, and trying to keep Miko from running into a ground bridge and disappearing to who know's where.
"She's late," Jack spoke up after a moment, looking back at the road towards town.
"Miko's always late," Raf laughed. "She's probably just waiting to make her grand entrance."
"That does seem like Miko," Jack agreed, chuckling. He looked down at the ground, thinking of all the times he and Arcee had driven down this long road. "I wonder how they are..." He whispered, Raf barely hearing his friend, but knowing what Jack meant.
"I bet they're happy to be home," Raf smiled. "And they know they have friends here, so if they ever want to come back, they'll know they're welcome."
"You're right, old friend," Jack nodded, quoting a phrase from a famous prime.
"Who are you calling old? I'm younger than you are, Jack! If I'm old, then you're ancient," Raf joked. "Hey!" Raf pointed down the road, to a rising dust cloud. "That's got to be Miko!"
"Yeah..."
The duo waited for the car to drive up, to the old mile marker 25 and come to a halt. The yellow taxi cab stood still as the passenger door opened, and the duo waited expectantly for their friend to step out.
"Wait, who's that?" Jack questioned, seeing a man step out.
"I don't know," Raf admitted, just as confused as Jack was.
The newcomer paid the cab driver, and then turned his attention to the other two in the desert. Jack regarded the stranger curiously, taking in his Asian features and American attire. The man walked up to them, and when he was a few feet away stopped.
"Are you Jack Darby and Raf Esquivel?" The man asked, his English slightly accented.
"Yeah, we are, and who are you?" Jack replied, speaking for both Raf and himself.
The man bowed, his dark hair hiding his face. When he rose, he smiled in a familiar way.
"I'm very glad to meet you. My name is Haru Kiromatsu. I believe you knew my mother, Miko."
Jack and Raf looked at the newcomer with shock. They remembered Miko had said she had children, and now they were actually meeting one of them...
"It's nice to meet you, Haru," Jack smiled. "Tell me, is your mom coming?"
Haru's face dropped, and his eyes lowered to the ground.
"You don't know, do you?"
"What do we not know?" Raf asked worriedly.
"My mom, um, she's dying. She's been in the hospital for a very long time. With cancer."
Jack felt as if his breath had been knocked out of him.
Raf felt like falling to the ground in shock.
"She got upset when she realized it was almost April 20th, and was supposed to meet her friends here in Japser, at mile marker 25. My mother asked me to come in her place, and she said that you would inform me as to why."
"Miko didn't tell you?" Raf asked, surprised. "I'm surprised she actually kept the secret all these years!" He laughed.
"Tell me what?" Haru asked, looking between the two men in confusion.
"Our friends aren't here anymore, so I don't see the harm in letting you know the truth," Jack began slowly. "You should come with us, there's something your mom obviously wanted you to know about," Jack continued, and then turned to his friend. "Did you bring the helicopter?"
"How else were we going to get in?" Raf replied.
"Haru, we're going to show you the old Autobot base."