Oh god, I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry! Damn muse suffered a REALLY bad writer's block on this one! I can tell the number of times I have struggled with this chapter. If there was any word in any language that could describe how truely sorry I am... then I'm just gonna lie down and die. I'll leave you to it. If you need an update on what has happened so far, then I suggest going back and reading this.

Chapter 8:

Let It Go

Over the past several days, Jasmine had been constantly haunted by strange images in her every time she slept. Over and over again, those memories of the towering figure that pulled her out from her truck during the accident continued to plague her mind as though it would never leave her alone. Sometimes she found herself drawing the figure in different images, while other times she got it as right as she possibly thought until she got upset with the picture and threw it into the trashcan beside her desk.

Whenever Jason was downstairs watching television, Jasmine was always in her room working on her drawings, checking for email updates on her computer, or looking out her window down at the blue flamed truck sitting in the driveway. Many times when Jasmine came down the stairs to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, she always saw Tim in the kitchen preparing her favourite meal. However, when she'd offer to fix him a little something, he would always decline politely and tell her that he always came prepared.

Those times she would shrug it off and then eat at the table with Jason while Tim sat with them and talked with them endlessly about things that Jasmine had never even heard of before. Tim seemed like a queer person, sometimes even weird, with the way how he talked about things. One minute he was talking to Jason about what happened during the day's events, the next he was giving interesting talks to Jasmine by asking her questions about her life.

From what Jasmine learned, Tim was involved in the military life as a veteran solider, and had been working this way for at least several years. At the moment he was off duty and was taking time away from the military life to spend time with his family. Jasmine found it fascinating that Jason had become friends with such an experienced person on the battlefield. Still, the thought of Jason suddenly meeting and befriending this person struck her as suspicious. She never knew he had any friends in the military. So just what the hell was going on anyway?

"Jasmine, you ok? You haven't said a word nor eaten your food since we sat down to eat dinner."

The young woman blinked her eyes and glanced up from where her thoughts had taken her to and found both Jason and Tim looking at her with concerned eyes. Jason's plate of food was already half gone, while hers had remained untouched. Beautifully cooked beef with mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, and pumpkin stirred her nostrils and made her mouth water. She smiled; putting on her usual brave face, as she picked up the fork with her good hand, taking a scoop full of mashed potatoes coated in peas and gravy, and put it in her mouth. She chewed it gratefully for several seconds before swallowing and savouring the flavour of the divinely cooked meal Tim had set up for her and Jason.

"I'm fine," she replied. "I've just got a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Does it have something to do with whoever pulled you out from the truck?" Jason asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Jasmine sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she replied softly. "My mind has been haunted day in and day out about what he looks like, who he is, and where he came from. Every single day I try to draw whatever image my mind thinks of, but I just can't seem to get it right. I only got it right once when I was in the hospital during my recovery, but whenever I try it again, nothing good comes out of it."

She felt a large hand rest upon her shoulder and give her a light squeeze in a reassuring manner. She glanced in the direction and saw Tim looking at her with kind eyes. "When you've finished your dinner, meet me in the lounge room and we'll talk."

Jasmine nodded and resumed her eating. Jason and Tim returned to a quiet conversation and she only half-listened quietly, not often catching what they were talking to each other about. Her thoughts continued to drift in and out of her dreams. She could even recall how often in the morning when she slept at her desk, she would wake up and find a blanket over her shoulders to keep her warm. She was so distracted from her thoughts that she hardly realised she'd finished her dinner until Jason gently tapped her on the shoulder to bring her out of her dream zone.

As she put her plate on the sink and washed it up, she found her gaze wandering over to the window and her eyes rested upon the blue-flamed truck that continued to sit quietly in the driveway like a chrome angel, watching over her and her brother. She shook her head, dismissing the thought. She took her walking stick and limped over to the lounge room, sitting down in her chair.

She soon became aware that Tim had followed her into the room when he sat down on the chair opposite to hers. For several minutes, the two sat there in constant silence, neither saying a word to one another. Jasmine bowed her head, thinking of what Tim was going to say to her and what he was going to do. When she thought the silence was dragging on for too long, she was about to get up and leave when Tim cleared his throat.

"Jasmine," he began, his tone calm, but serious, "I wanted to talk with you alone because what I say to you stays between us. Yes, your brother may need to hear it, but I know some things that even you don't know. Your situation in regards to your injuries is serious, but it isn't as serious as the harsh life of the military."

"What are you talking about?" Jasmine asked quietly. "I don't understand."

"What I am trying to say, Jasmine, is that I know what you are going through," Tim replied gently. "Your accident involved in you getting hurt, and your injuries are causing you to think things that you normally don't think. Am I right?"

Jasmine opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find it in herself to respond to Tim's question. She knew he was right. Deep down, she was in a fight within herself. It was a desperate struggle with her inner being. The turmoil that had been inflicted upon her brain had caused her to become obsessed in finding out more about what had happened to her and who her saviour was, forcing her to isolate herself from the rest of the world. To think that this actually happening to her really frightened her.

Much her surprise, she found herself sobbing to the point where she was bringing up hiccups, and even where her breathing had become complicated. In a matter of seconds, she found herself being enveloped in a strong pair of arms, holding her tightly close to a broad chest that offered her comfort and protection from whatever was hurting her mind.

Through a blur of tears, she realised that she was blabbering on about things she never knew she would say, things that shocked even her. But with every flap of her mouth, Tim would constantly tell her that everything was going to be alright, and that he was here for her to listen to whenever she needed someone to talk to. It made her feel less afraid and less determined to find out more on what happened.

"It's time to let go, Jasmine," Tim whispered. "Let go of this obsession bring an end to this suffering you are going through. Let it go."

And Jasmine did. She let go of everything that haunted her very being. She even let go of her Silverflame. He was gone and he was never coming back to her. Never again would she be able to have a truck like him again, and never again was she going to ever have a friend like him.

"It's alright, Jasmine," Tim whispered. "I've got you. I'm not going to let you fall any lower than you've already fallen. Let it all out."

Just when Jasmine couldn't cry anymore tears, she found herself drifting off into darkness, and as she did, she failed to notice that Tim was looking down upon her with eyes that shone with kindness and understanding, and an ageless wisdom that had seen so much in the many years of his immortal life. Only sickness and fatal injuries could tear him apart from this young world he had grown to call home.

He gently set her down on the lounge and Jason handed her a blanket to cover her over with. Once he did this, Jason leaned forward and kissed his twin sister on the forehead.

"Sleep well, little one," the deep baritone voice of Tim whispered, and he phased out.

Throughout the night, Optimus kept a constant vigilance over Jasmine. His sensors were on high alert as the night swept over the town like a gentle blanket being dragged across the Earth. Every five minutes, he would check on Jasmine to make sure that nothing happened to her during her sleep. Sometimes he would find the blanket had fallen onto the ground and he could pick it up and put it back on. Other times he would find that she had stirred and shifted to a different spot before snoozing onwards.

Optimus had thought that Jasmine was going to be hostile towards him again when he brought up the issue of her suffering, but to his surprise, she had reacted a whole lot differently than to what he had expected. He sent a report to Ratchet of what had happened, and Ratchet told him that the burden of suffering both physically and mentally had worn her down to the point where she couldn't take it anymore and it needed to be released from behind the dam that blocked her off from the outside world. Optimus had been fortunate enough to be the shoulder needed to cry on. It broke his spark to see her like this, but he kept on pushing until she gave in and cried every last drop of tear in her system. It was a start to getting Jasmine on recovering from her ordeal.

Even as the night drew on, Optimus never once let down his guard as he watched over the house of his two charges. Once, an owl hooted, disrupting him from his guarding night duty and he nearly felt the need to transform and attack it until he realised what it was. Was he nervous? Probably. But he didn't want to think about questions right now. All that was on his processor was the thought of protecting the ones who were under his careful watch.

He hadn't realised that morning was slipping in until the warm sunshine glistened on his red and blue chassis and warming him up a bit. If he had his head, he would've shaken it to clear some of his exhaustion away. But he wasn't in the mood for a recharge, and now was the time to greet Jasmine and check to see how she was doing.

He produced his hologram into the spot where he had last left her and found her still sleeping on. Although she seemed to be sleeping peacefully, Optimus wasn't fooled when he saw the scrunched up look on her face, as though she was dreaming a terrible dream that had her in its frightening grip and was determined not to let go of her.

He lifted a human hand and placed it upon her shoulder. With careful gentleness, he shook her, and she gave a startled yelp and bolted up right, sweat dripping from the sides of her head and down her forehead. She looked up at Optimus' holographic face and saw him looking down upon her with concern.

"Are you alright, Jasmine?" he asked softly.

"Y-y-yeah," Jasmine stuttered as Optimus pulled the blanket off of her and handed her walking stick, helping her to sit up properly. "It was just a nightmare. It's nothing new."

"You've been having these dreams before?" Optimus questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

Jasmine just shrugged and carefully stood up, looking over at Optimus' hologram with curious eyes. She then shook her head and headed over to kitchen just as Jason was heading down the stairs to cook up some breakfast. "Did you stay by my side all night long?" Jasmine asked as she sat down at the table.

Optimus nodded. "Yes," he answered. "After you finished crying and passed out, I decided to watch over you while you slept. It's the least I could do for you."

"Why are always doing these nice things for me?" Jasmine questioned. "Ever since I've met you, you've been doing nothing nice stuff for me, treating me like I'm sort of glass that is fragile to the touch."

"It is what you are at the moment, Jasmine," Optimus replied. "You are fragile, and last night was proof of that."

"I don't understand, Tim," the young woman snapped. "What are you trying to do?"

Silence hung in the air for a brief moment until Optimus sighed and stood up to his full height, his bright blue eyes gleaming in the morning light. It seemed like Jasmine hadn't learned what he had learned and was back to being her hostile self. Jasmine seemed to flinch underneath his stern gaze. When he realised he was pushing it a bit too much and was bristling slightly, he calmed down and sighed again.

"I'm sorry, Jasmine," he said softly, "I'm not trying to do anything except wanting to help you get better. That's all I want to do for you. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Jasmine," Jason called as he walked over and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, "Tim has experience with people who are suffering from traumatic incidents. He's my friend who only wants to do what's best for you, that's all."

"So he's a shrink?" Jasmine cried out, leaping to her feet. "You brought in this guy just so he could examine my head?"

"That's not it at all," Optimus answered, his tone still calm and filled with endless patience. "Jason asked for my help because he only wants to help you get better. I'm merely doing what he has asked of me."

In a matter of seconds, Jasmine went from angry to downright shocked, and she ended up sitting back down on her chair. Jason and Optimus watched as she seemed to be struggling with understanding what was happening right now. Optimus wanted to reach forward and comfort her again, but something told him that it was best to let her think about it and let her brother help her out for a little while.

"Remember, Jasmine," Optimus whispered, "let it go."

Jasmine looked up at Optimus with misty eyes, as though she was trying to decide whether or not to trust him. Optimus knew that the best way to get through to her was to let her know that he was here for her no matter what she said. He would always be there for her.

Optimus watched as Jason leaned forward and brushed a lock of hair from Jasmine's face and behind her ear. He realised that it was a sign of affection for a human at least, but he turned his head away to give them their privacy. If they wanted to talk alone, he would gladly turn off his audio receptors out of sign of respect. He took a few steps away and headed back into the lounge room, quietly listening to the gentle twitters of bluebirds that sat on the branch of a tree outside the window.

Fascinated, he recorded the song of the birds for a while until the bird flew away. Satisfied with what he had done, he returned back to the kitchen just when Jason finished consoling Jasmine. The two looked up at Optimus as he entered and he smiled fondly at the two, and they both smiled back in return. Jasmine then stood up and approached Optimus.

They stood there, staring at each other for a few moments before Jasmine stepped forward and embraced Optimus, burrowing her face into his shirt. In response, Optimus wrapped his large arms around her. He thought he heard sobbing noises, but they quickly ceased before he could grapple what had just transpired.

"I'm sorry for what I said, Tim," Jasmine breathed.

"I know, Jasmine," Optimus whispered. "I'm sorry too."

"You don't have to be," Jasmine replied. "You had every right to be angry at me. I just wish I could take it all back. I'd do anything to get your forgiveness."

Optimus thought for a moment. Maybe there was a way she actually could. "There is something you can do for me."

Jasmine blinked and looked up at him with wide, confused eyes. "What is it?" she asked.

"How about we start over," Optimus said. "Start from the very beginning between you and. I would like to be your friend if you would let me, Jasmine."

Jasmine seemed quiet, saying nothing in response to Optimus' suggestion. Optimus thought she may not want to start all over again between them. For what seemed like forever and Optimus was about to give up, Jasmine smiled and nodded her head. "I'll be happy to start our friendship all over again, Tim," she chuckled.

"Then how about we start over like this," Optimus suggested, and he held out a hand towards her. "I'm Tim, Tim Primo."

Jasmine laughed and took his beefy hand in hers, shaking it in return. "I'm Jasmine, Jasmine Clark."

From the sidelines, Jason watched everything. From what he could see with Optimus and Jasmine starting all over again, it would seem that things were beginning to look up for his sister. He hadn't heard her laugh in many weeks since her accident. Maybe Optimus really was the best hope for her recovery.

One can only hope, he thought with a tender smile.