TRANSFORMERS
Imperial Wings
A girl is given a second chance at life, in exchange for ending the war of Transformers. It's about as easy as it sounds. And, whilst sorting out her own life, she discovers two younglings without mothers, and the reason why their families fight.
CHAPTER FOUR
Aquamarine And Hound-Dog
O~O~O~O~O
Another Flashback:
Emma watched as her sister nursed their new cousin-in-law, noticing how at ease Sarah seemed, holding the twenty-seven hour old baby.
She held out her arms after awhile, and Sarah handed the baby to her.
Noticing that Rickie-Lee, her cousin's girlfriend, was watching her, Emma gulped and held the baby in her arms. 'Wait, am I doing this right'? She thought, a little bit worried because Bella didn't seem to be very comfortable. She was even whimpering a little bit. 'Oh no…' Emma thought, panicked. Her heart-beat quickened.
"She looks like she's gonna drop her." Rickie-Lee said bluntly.
"Are you okay?" Clinton, Emma's cousin, asked her.
Perhaps babies were like horses and could sense fear, because Bella began to cry softly. Her face pale, Emma surrendered the newborn to its Father, wondering how on earth Clinton could hold her so easily.
Probably because Rickie-Lee wasn't glaring at him the way she was at Emma.
'But…that's not fair…Rickie-Lee's been around kids her whole life, she took care of her baby siblings, but I'm the youngest in my family…maybe I'll never be able to hold a newborn…but, then, what will happen when I have kids?'
The thought upset her, but she waited until she was in the bathroom to start sobbing.
End Of Flashback…
O~O~O~O~O
When Emma came to, the first thing she realised was that she was lying in a bed, which sheet and pillow were very comfortable.
The second thing she realised was that she was being watched. She opened her eyes quickly and sat up.
"Hello!" The cheerful voice said to her.
Emma stared into the pale blue eyes of the little girl, blinking in shock. Where was she again?
"Uh…" Emma said. "Who are…?"
"My name's Aquamarine!" The little girl exclaimed. She couldn't have been more than two, about the same age Emma's cousin-in-law was now. However, what was notable about this toddler was how cute she was – she was going to be beautiful when she grew up. Standing on tiptoe the little girl only just reached the bed. She had strawberry-blonde curls that framed her face, and the biggest blue eyes Emma had ever seen. The little girl wore a pink t-shirt with a picture of a blue crown on it, and a blue jeans skirt. A blue bow adorned her hair.
Emma stared at her for a moment, and then lay back down again quickly.
"What's wrong?" Aquamarine wanted to know.
"I'm still dreaming," Emma replied firmly, shutting her eyes. "None of this is actually happening…" Then, she noticed the blue disc on her chest, and felt the rumblings in her stomach. She sat up again. "Or…maybe it is…oh fr…" She suddenly glanced at the two-year-old. "Fragments…" She said carefully. Then again, if this little girl lived on the base, or had spent any time around the Lamborghini twins and/or Ratchet, then she'd know what 'frag' meant anyway.
"I can prove you're not dreaming!" Aquamarine said suddenly, taking Emma's hand in her own tiny one. "Come on, Emma!"
Emma numbly allowed herself to be stood up and then led out of the room. She opened the door inwards…and four men who had apparently been leaning on the door fell at the feet of the two startled girls.
Emma's face flushed brilliant red.
Two of the guys she thought might be Sunstreaker and Sideswipe and Primus were they hot! The other two she didn't really recognize. One had black hair and tanned skin. He wore a simple outfit of white dress pants with a black t-shirt. The other one had blue hair, the colour of Zero's in the Mamotte! Lollipop manga, which matched his eyes perfectly. He wore blue jeans and a silver t-shirt under a blue jacket. Both were unfamiliar but very good looking.
Stop thinking about them like that, they're too good for you for goodness sake!
The four guys hurried to stand up.
"Were you spying out here the whole time?" Aquamarine asked the four men, glaring up at them.
"No," The one with tanned skin said. "We just…"
"Unforgivable!" Aquamarine crossed her arms. "I order the four of you to report back that Emma has woken up, and that I will be bringing her into the meeting room now!" She said firmly.
Emma watched with some amusement coupled only by her curiosity that the four men nodded meekly and slunk away like dogs with their tails between their legs. Why did they listen to this little kid, anyway?
Aquamarine smiled up at her. "Shall we go?" She asked brightly, slipping her hand into Emma's.
The two of them walked down the hallways, which gradually grew bigger but Aquamarine seemed to know where she was going.
Emma, her curiosity raging, asked: "Those were Autobots just then, right?"
Aquamarine nodded. "They've been having fun figuring out how to go back and forth between Transformer-form and human-form." She grinned. "It's been very exciting, but we wanted you to wake up soon."
"Uh…how long was I asleep, exactly?" Emma wanted to know.
"You were in recharge for two days." Aquamarine replied, and didn't seem to notice that her statement unnerved the guest.
"Uh…so, anyway, who were those guys just now? Were two of them Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?' Emma wanted to know.
Aquamarine nodded again. "Mmhmm. The twins. They're fun to be around. Sunny was in yellow, and Sides was in red. The others ones, the one with blue hair was Bluestreak, and the one with darker skin was Trailbreaker."
"Ah…" Emma said thoughtfully. I wonder where the others are…just how many Autobots are there here, anyway? She voiced this to Aquamarine.
"Eighteen, plus me." The little girl replied promptly. "They're all in the meeting room, come on." She led Emma up to a door, from which beyond they could both hear voices. Aquamarine touched the door, and it opened, to reveal a roomful of giant transforming robots. "Daddy!" Aquamarine called, letting go of Emma's hand and hurrying into the room. Her human-form shimmered for a moment, before she became a smaller version of the bigger robots, even smaller than Bumblebee. Optimus Prime caught her in his arms, and it was then that Emma could see just how alike they looked. Aquamarine was mostly blue as a robot, with lighter blue where Optimus had white, but she had pink where he had red. She had a helmet similar to Optimus', except her audio-receptors looked like spikers on either side of her face, which was light blue with just the faintest trace of darker blue lipstick.
She was his daughter.
Emma stood frozen to the spot. Her face was the colour of paper and Hound, who was watching, hoped that she wouldn't pass out again. At least this explains why the guys listened to her – she's the boss's kid!
Suddenly, a man walked into the room behind her, and she turned. He had reddish-brown hair and soft blue eyes. He wore white dress pants, a red short and a white medical coat. He glanced at her as he walked past her, and then stopped and took a closer look at her.
"How do you feel?" He asked her. It was Ratchet.
"Uh…overwhelmed, I guess…" She whispered, just as a small pink something with four wings flew over to her. "Platinum!" She exclaimed happily, forgetting her shyness and smiling happily. The Pythormer rubbed her head against the side of Emma's face, before settling down to coil around the girl's neck." You're all better…" Emma looked at Ratchet, still smiling. "Thank you, so much…she means a lot to me…"
"Don't mention it." Ratchet replied shortly, walking past her and then transforming when he was halfway to the group of other robots.
The white and red mech joined them, and then, to Emma, the picture was complete.
However, one thing hassled her mind: Where is Elita-One?
O~O~O~O~O
An hour later, everyone was silent as Optimus and Emma had finished trading stories, and the Autobots were a little shocked by what the latter had just told them.
Another world?
A TV show?
Primus?
Emma was looking decidedly uncomfortable as she sat there on the little chair, feeling like she was being interrogated or something (Prowl's presence did nothing to help the matter). She had the strangest feeling that a few of the mechs were eyeing her for some reason, and she wasn't sure she appreciated it. It made her feel like a complete alien (which, she reminded herself, she was…"
Aquamarine (whom almost everybody on the Ark called Aqua) was sitting on her Father's knee, looking over at Emma with the biggest smile on her youngling face. Emma thought that Aqua must be very lucky, and special. She must be protected by the Autobots, being a youngling, a femme and Optimus Prime's daughter. She thought Aqua might also be a little bit spoilt, but that she was basically an average curious and friendly little kid. Oh, except that she was a robot.
Optimus had not mentioned Elita yet, so Emma assumed the pink-femme had either met with some ill-fate, or been separated from her family somehow. Either way, she felt a rush of affection for the little girl robot known as Aqua. Though Aqua was clearly her Daddy's little girl, Emma also knew (somehow) that the youngling must miss her Mother terribly.
"So," Emma said, breaking the silence, her heart (spark?) pounding in her chest. "What…happens now?" All eyes were on her. She didn't really like speaking in front of others. When it was just one or two she was okay. A whole room? Cringe factor. What she preferred were two or three females she had known for awhile. What she'd gotten was a roomful of males, whom she'd only known for a few days. Oh, and one little girl who was now looking up at her Father.
"She can stay, can't she Daddy?" Aqua asked.
Optimus glanced at his daughter, and then swiftly swept his gaze over the entire room. Something he saw sparked a key of interest in the commander – there was something different about the way his fellow Autobots were looking at the newcomer. He wanted to know more about that, among other things. And, of course, he had to keep the girl away from Megatron. He nodded. "She may stay."
Emma was visibly surprised when a group of the mechs in the room cheered, Sideswipe and Hound included. Her face was flaming red by this stage and Platinum, looped around her neck, hissed in amusement. Emma was going to find out for herself just what this was all about, and Platinum knew beyond doubt that Emma would quickly discover she had nothing to be uncomfortable about. These mechs were young but harmless, and the Pythormer knew that Emma would enjoy being around them. No, what worried Platinum were the Decepticons, namely Starscream and his fellow Seekers. Oh, how she would love to sink her fangs into all three of them. Maybe she'd get her chance someday…she still couldn't believe Skywarp had called Emma a cutie…if the Autobots found out…
"We'll need to keep her safe from the Decepticons," Optimus told his crew, and then turned to Emma. "I would advise you to stay on the Ark mostly but, if you have to leave, you should go with your guardian."
"My guardian?" Emma repeated.
Optimus nodded. "The Autobot who will stay with you and protect you for most of the time. You can have a few days to decide if you…"
Emma glanced at him for a moment, before daring to look at the mechs. A couple of them – namely Sideswipe, Bluestreak and Trailbreaker – were leaning forwards slightly. She blinked, and then looked at Hound. "I choose Hound." She smiled, and the green Autobot's face lit up. "Because he found me and all." She explained shyly.
"Very well," Optimus said. "Hound, does this suit you?" He asked the tracker.
Hound's blue optics couldn't possibly shine anymore. "You bet, Optimus Prime!" He smiled at Emma, whom ducked her head in embarrassment. One good thing, though – she might not feel so shy if she got to know him better.
"Lucky slagger." Sideswipe muttered, and Sunstreaker rolled his optics. He knew that his brother wanted to be the one to guard the girl, but she'd chosen Hound, for reasons beyond them both. It couldn't be helped. Hound was the one who would protect Emma from the Decepticons first and foremost,
Looking at the way Hound was looking at Emma, Optimus Prime knew they had nothing to worry about. It made him curious, though…for he knew what those looks meant.
O~O~O~O~O
A couple of days later, Hound and Emma were cruising together across the desert, towards the city. Spike's girlfriend, Carly, had offered to go shopping with Emma, to buy some essentials. Emma had met both Carly and Spike, as well as Sparkplug, and liked them all a lot.
She still preferred the Autobots, though. Having a guardian meant that he was forced to talk to him often, and they were quickly becoming friends. She was less shy around him, and also found it easy to talk to little Aqua, as well as the most friendly Autobots like Jazz and Bumblebee. The others – particularly Sideswipe and Trailbreaker – she wasn't sure about. They were very…out there, in a way. Sunstreaker and Prowl were on the other extreme – it was like two brick walls. Prowl she had more or less expected, but she was sad at not being able to befriend the yellow Lamborghini. She supposed he really didn't like her. She also had trouble talking to Optimus Prime – he somewhat intimidated her, although she supposed Megatron must be worse. Anyway, she thought he (Optimus Prime) was a good leader and a good Father, so she could accept that.
"Hey, Emma," Hound's holoform turned towards her. He had taken to using his holoform whenever they went out together, and often around the base as well. He was becoming very good at using it to pretend to drive, and Emma thought she could get use to it. It was also interesting for her to note that, when in holoform, the Autobots effectively were humans – they could even eat and drink. It was unreal. It had freaked out the most logical member of the group. "Spike and Carly have invited us all to a Fourth Of July BBQ at the lake on the weekend. We're all gonna go in holoform, those of us who are going, that is."
"I've never been to a Fourth Of July event before," Emma admitted.
"Neither have I," Hound smiled at her. "It'll be a new experience for us both, then." As long as the Decepticons don't attack, that is. He thought.
Almost as if she read his mind, Emma spoke up. "Umm…will Optimus let us go?"
"He said as long as I'm there with you, then it's okay." Hound replied.
Emma wondered: Just what did he mean by that? A spark of irritation. Does he think I can't look after myself? I reckon Platinum and I could take on Skywarp again, no problem. He's scared to death of her, anyway.
The snake in question always remained with Emma, whether looped around her neck or flying close by. Emma was dying to figure out whether or not she could ride the snake's bigger form, but decided against finding out. She once got thrown off a pony, and that thing was on the ground.
Speaking of which…she glanced at Hound's holoform again. In that cowboy hat, I'll bet he looks good on a horse… She blushed. Why was she born a fan-girl, anyway?
Ah, she needed music…music always helped things.
Hound chose that moment to turn the radio on, and guess which Elvis Presley song came on?
Emma grinned, and tried to resist the impulse to sing at the top of her lungs, as they drove under the endless blue sky.