Song- Alright : by Shiloh
The Discovery
Rosie couldn't bring herself to tell Phoenix about her disappointing meeting with Sari and Bumblebee. They zoomed off before she had the chance to really explain, or to even ask where she could find them again. Maybe it was better if Phoenix didn't know, after all she was completely bummed when they found out Wreck-gar wasn't an actual autobot…or…at least one from space anyway.
"What on your mind squirt?" snapped out of her trance Rosie looked into the eyes of Nixy. "Oh nothing." Nixy cocked her head, "Ok if you're sure." Rosie nodded, smiling nervously. "Well let's drop you home and we can hang again tomorrow."
Ms. Lauren was standing in the doorway; smiling and waving as they came to the door. "Hello ladies and how are you?" "Fine thank you." Nixy replied rubbing Rosie's head, "I'll see you later ok?" "Sure thing." The little girl waved as she vanished behind the doors. Phoenix turned her attention to Ms. Lauren, "Ms. Lauren, I have to ask you something." "Oh, of course dear. What is it?" "I want to adopt Rosie…please." The tall woman gave her a surprised look, and then pushed her glasses up into place, clearing her throat. "I…I don't know if you can Nixy," she tried to explain softly "I know you care deeply for her but the thing is…" she stopped to rub her chin. "Yes?" Nixy began to worry. Ms. Lauren gave her a small smile, "Come inside, maybe I can help you." Nixy gave a small smile back and was lead into her office. Ms. Lauren sat down at her computer. "Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to see if you have the proper conditions for Rosie. Now what was your name?" "Nixy." "Your full name." "Oh…..well..it's…um…..Nixy….B-Bird?" Ms. Lauren looked over the rim of her glasses, "Nixy Bird?" she repeated. Nixy gave a nervous smile, "Alright then" she types into the computer and paused, after a few minutes she rubbed her chin again reading the screen. "Hmmmm.." "What is it?" "I hate to tell you this Nixy," she said softly "but I'm afraid you have no record of any kind. No record; no adoption." "But you know me! I can take great care of Rosie!" Nixy cried. The young women shook her head, "I know you can sweetie, but I'm afraid it's the law." Nixy hung her head "I see…"
After leaving she paid no attention to what was happing around her, the only thing that broke her from her disappointed trance was the sound of a guitar being played. Looking up to see the middle-aged man; she stood near him listening to the soothing music. "Excuse me." She quietly asked, "Hmm?" the man turned to her while still strumming the strings. "What song is that?" "Silent Night," he smiled "I know it's nowhere near Christmas yet, but I think it's a nice song to listen to. Don't you think?" Nixy nodded 'Oh yes, it's one of my favourites." "Then why so down?" "It's nothing; I've just had some disappointing news…again." 'Anything I can do to help?" he asked with a concerned face. Nixy shook her head. Suddenly he came right up to her; rubbing his chin and eyes squinting. "You look familiar….hey! Weren't you the one singing with that little girl yesterday?" "Um…yes I was." He backed up and shook her hand "Sorry about that, but I thought you were both amazing, would you like to sing to my tunes?" "I would love to but I'm really not in the mood." She sighed. "Why not try singing about it? Or better yet; try to sing something that will make you feel better." "I guess I can try." "Won't hurt" he began to play a familiar tune, "I think this one might help, know it?" Starting to move to the beat she nodded. Maybe he was right; after a while she began feeling better as the song went on.
Life is a song that's meant to be sung, And dreams are the words that tickle your tongue, no time to lose, singing the blues, stuck in a memory, you get what you give, so let yourself live and be what your meant to be, Alright! Everything's gonna be so bright, Welcome to your destiny, believe in yourself the answers will come, Alright! Everything's gonna be so right Life is but a melody…..
A crowd began forming, hypnotized by her voice; they all dropped what they were doing; even a business looking man stopped talking into his cell phone and made his way over. After they were done they both bowed to the cheering crowd. "Thank you so much. I really feel much better now." She shook the smiling man's hand. "You're welcome my dear. Just remember; you have a brilliant voice, you use my little tip now ya hear?" he winked at her. "I will" She replied waving good-bye as he disappeared into the streets.
"Brilliant! Simply brilliant!" the sudden clapping noise startled her, turning around to the tall business looking man clapping. He pulled his dark shades down the bridge of his nose and handed her a card. "I must say I'm quite impressed. Allow me to introduce myself, Lawrence Cravas: music manager" "Oh Nice to meet you Mr…" "Call me C." he interrupted "Ok? C. Who do you manage?" "You my dear. That is…if you're willing to except my offer." "An offer?" Her eyes widened with curiosity. "Your voice is just perfect for the talent I'm looking for. So sweet, so…hypnotising." He placed his arm around her shoulders "How would you like to become an international sensation?" "M-m-me? I-I'm not sure. I don't have a record…whatever that is." "No criminal record? That's good then!" "Oh no! I mean a record that actually…you know… shows that you exist." A gleam came in his eye. "Well hun if you let me be your manager; you can get any kind of record you want." "Really?" The offer was becoming more tempting. "If I accept, will I be able to bring my friend Rosie? Though I should mention she's 6." "Wellll…." He made a strange face, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. Ya see your just starting out and it's a serious business; if we start touring it wouldn't be good for such a young child." He saw Nixy staring at the ground deep in thought. She never considered that. "But," she looked up at him, "If we manage to make you a huge hit then maybe we can arrange something."
This was a big choice; not only did she have to leave Rosie, Mac and the others, but she would also have to give up being Phoenix. But of she went; she and Rosie could be a real family. Thinking deeply she finally raised her hand to him, "You have a deal." He took and shook it. "Rosie…," she thought "I hope you understand."
"NOOOOOO!" The cry echoed all through the street. "I don't want you to go!" Rosie cried clung to Nixy's waist. "Don't worry," she held back tears as she hugged the little girl. Why did saying good-bye have to be so hard? "I'll be back sooner than you think besides; if this works we can be together permanently." Rosie still clung to Nixy with tears streaking down her face. "But I'll miss you." Unable to hold them back anymore Nixy's tears escaped from her eyes. "I'll miss you too." Cravas poked his head out of the limo window. "So sorry to interrupt but we are on a time line." Nixy nodded and gave her friend one last hug. "Be good now and say bye to Mac, Wreck-gar and the others for me ok?" Rosie wiped away her tears and smiled "Ok, you'll be back soon right?" "I promise" "Cross you heart and hope to die?" "Absolutely." Nixy crossed her heart and kissed Rosie's forehead before getting into the limo. She watched and waved through the back window as a waving Rosie shrunk into the distance.
~~~"Face it! You just want to take all the credit!" "I think that's more of your area Sentinel." The two mech stared each other down. Sentinel was up into Optimus' face as the fire truck mech stayed perfectly still with servos crossed. "Why I ought a…." The other autobots watched as there leaders continued to quarrel. Ratchet shook his head "Some things just never change." sighed the old med bot.
Jazz turned to the twins, who were still (unfortunately) under Sentinel's command. "So what up you two? What's this big fit over a signal?" The twin jets shrugged, "We ourselves are not knowing Mr. Jazz sir." replied Jetfire. "For being some reason Ultra Magnus is saying it is urgent." continued Jetstorm. Bee scratched his head "So...what's so important about this signal again?" "Other than the fact that it FELL FROM THE SKY! No one knows yet." Sari yelled. "There's no need to shout dear." Jady came into the room and kissed Bee on the cheek "What's going on?" she stared at the two arguing leaders worryingly. "Apparently were supposed to help find this 'mystery' signal that has the Elite guard all up in a huffy." Ratchet explained. "Of course it would help if the darn thing stopped vanishing and reappearing!" "Could it be a decepticon?" Sari asked. "Hey man, who knows?" Jazz shrugged.
"Admit it Optimus; you've been after my position ever since you came back to Cybertron with the Allspark!" Sentinel blurted. "Oh sweet primus here we go." Optimus rubbed his optics "Like I've told you a thousand times Sentinel; I turned down the position because I am more needed here." "As did the rest of us" mentioned Ratchet. But as usual Sentinel was just as stubborn, "Sure you are. I bet as soon as I find whatever that signal is you'll come right up and take the glory." Optimus was trying very hard now to keep his cool, "No Sentinel, I….."
"Hate to tell you guys this." Everyone turned to Bulkhead as he came into the room "but it's gone….again."
Months Later….
Outside the music hall Bee screeched to a halt and Sari got out. "Aw man! Don't tell me…" "Yup," she shook the small device "It's gone again." Bee transformed as Jady and the twins landed near them. "Anything?" asked Jady. They shook their head. "It has been long time in this search." Jetstorm turned to his brother who was rubbing his aching thrusters, "Indeed brother, I am feeling like thrusters are beginning rusting!"
A sudden scream from Sari alerted the autobots; swinging out there weapons in all directions. "What is it Sari!" Bee looked at all angles with his stingers out, "Decepticons? Nanosec? Monster bugs?" "It's her!" they looked down to see Sari bouncing up and down in excitement pointing to a concert poster. "Her who?" the twins echoed. "Sigh, it's this pop singer she's been into recently." Bee replied retracting his stingers. "Pop?" "Singer?" the jet brother looked at each other shrugging. "Like Rosanna back on Cybertron." Jady smiled. "Oohhhh" "I can't believe Nixy is coming to Detroit! We have to go tonight!" Sari tried to shake Bee's leg, "Alright! Alright! Calm down will ya?" Jady giggled at Sari over-excited squealing and jumping. "Whadda say guys? You first earth concert?" "Sounds good" The twins echoed giving her the thumbs up. "That sound like a great idea. What about you Bumblebee?" she turned to her bondmate. He winked "Sure I'm up for it." "Yay!" Sari cried. "Do all organics get excited like this?" asked Jetfire.
~~~"Five minutes Ms. Nixy." Someone shouted through the door. "Alright I'll be right there in a minute." She gazed at the lucky photo one last time. She and Rosie were together by a plaza fountain hugging each other playfully. She couldn't wait to return to those times. Kissing and tucking the photo into her pocket she left her dressing room to the back stage. Cravas was talking into his cellphone until he saw her coming. "Ready to go superstar?" he greeted her with open arms; she gave a nervous smile and nodded. Just as she was about to go on stage a small voice caught her attention. "Umm…excuse me…Nixy?" a small girl with blonde hair came up to her. "Aww hello there." "I-I was wondering if-if you could sign…" she held up a piece of paper and pen, "Oh of course I wi…" "Sorry but Nixy is running late." Cravas butted between them. "But.." "Not now, your late." He shoved her up on to the main stage. She sighed, it was like she could'nt talk to anyone anymore. Taking in a large breath she went into the lights and waved to the massive, cheering crowd.
~~~"I still say front row seats would have been better," argued Sari as she sat on the ceiling high beam, "Well at least we didn't spend a fortune on tickets." The open-sky arena was packed with screaming humans. Bee, Jady, Sari and the twins made themselves seats at the very top of the area's edge. "Wow, there are being lots of organics here isn't there brother." Jetstorm nudged his twin, "Yes, there certainly is." The entire arena suddenly echoed with screams as Nixy came on to the stage. "AHHHH! NIXY!" Sari screamed at the top of her lungs; Bee and Jady covered their audio sensors.
The heat of the lights beamed harshly on Nixy's face, the roar of the audience could have deafened her. Zoning them out; she listened to the band started up. Giving the best smile she could the arena cheered louder as she sang on.
"She is not being bad." Jetfire clapped to the beat, "Yes brother. Tiz very catchy!" Jetstorm danced in his seat as Jady and Bee danced with each other and Sari waving her arms up in the air; unaware of the tracking device she still held in her hand. It flew from her grasp and into the center of the stadium. "Whoops!" and somehow survived being passed around in the crowed until the device clunked on the stage.
"Huh?" Nixy looked down and picked it up; which began to beep and blink wildly.
'Bumblebe! Guys!" cried Sari; the bots stopped dancing and stared down past the camera flashes and lights.
Nixy stared back at the large shadows at the top of the stadium, her voice suddenly froze over. "Uhhhh." The band stopped playing and the crowd quiet down. "I….I'm sorry….I have to go." Dropping the mic and tracker she bolted off the stage. "What are you doing?" Cravas harshly whispered. "Were leaving…" "What? Are you nu…" "Now!" Shocked by her sudden demand, he flipped out his phone and called the limo over.
"You don't think?" Jady gave Bee a concerned look. "But, it could'nt be..." he replied. "We gotta follow her!" cried Sari as she took off in her jetpack. The crowd ohh and awed as she landed centre stage, picking up the device which had now gone silent. The bots followed and ran back stage. "Ooops, sorry, our bad, oh sorry again...um…I'm sure you can fix that." They raced through until they reached the back door; bursting through into the ally way as a limo sped off. "Slag it!" Sari huffed.
Nixy rubbed her eyes, she was so tired. Cravas sat across from her; finishing his conversation on his phone then looked at her with annoyance. "What was that!" "I could'nt do the show C, let's just leave it at that." She gazed blankly out the window. "You know what we did leave? An arena full of your fans; who have paid good money to see you sing tonight!" "I'm sure they'll understand." "Understand? You left in the middle of the concert without any reason." "I have my reasons C. I could'nt do it, now drop it." Nixy glared. "Alright, what this really about?" Cravas sighed. "I thought I saw…" he raised an eyebrow in wait of an answer. Shaking her head she decided to change the subject. "I want to go back for her C." "Nix, we've talked about this. Sigh; tell you what maybe after the next show…" "No C. That's what you kept saying 5 shows ago. I want to go now." "Nix" he whinned. "NOW!" Finally giving up arguing with her, he called the driver and the limo made a turn down the familiar road.
Running from the limo, Nixy shot up the stairs of the children's home and knocked loudly on the wood door. A very tired looking Ms. Lauren answered while rubbing her ring-bearing eyes, which widened realizing who it was. "Why Ms. Nixy! What a surprise!" she said cheerily. "Hello Ms. Laruen, it's good to see you again. I know it's late, but do you think I can see Rosie? Just for a few minutes?" The smile on Ms. Laurens face faded and her eyes became watery. "What's wrong?" "I…I'm sorry Nixy but," She took hold of Nixy's hand and starred deeply into her eyes. "Rosie's gone." Her eyes widened and became suddenly frozen; she slipped her hand out of Ms. Laurens own without saying a word. "I'm so sorry, but she was adopted to a traveling family a while ago." She said tearfully. Nixy said nothing as she slowly walked down the stairs with the frozen expression still on her face.
Cravas was leaning against the limo waiting impatiently until she came all the way down. "So, how is she?" he sang. "She's gone….." she said without glancing at him. "Aww, I'm so sorry my dear." She could hear the sarcasm in his voice but ignored it. He put his arm around her shoulders. "Maybe after the next stop we'll find you a new friend hmm?" Barely taking in whatever he just said, a sudden burst of energy came over her; shoving Cravas off she took off down the street. She could hear and C call her name, but she just kept running for the only other place she knew.
Past the park and through the woods, she took out the small gold device once again and pushed it returning back into Phoenix. Too upset to notice the branches smacking her face she made her way to the junk yard. The lights were on but no one was around, all was quite. She looked around franticly for at least one person but the place was completely deserted. "Hello?" she cried. The call echoed all around but no answer came. "Anyone here? Mac? Wreck-gar?" There was still no answer. "Anyone." Tears filled her optics as she ran back into the forest until she came onto the secret pond. The moon and stars reflected perfectly like a mirror on the water's surface. The faint sound of a bird's call and crickets song through the silence of the night.
Sitting down in a patch of grass, holding her knees to her chest; she gazed up to the stars as tears ran down her face. "Why?" she cried, "Why did you have to go?" It was like she went away for nothing. The tiring concerts, the boring interviews, the constant asking for when she could come back. All to be always with her friend again but now; she could'nt fulfill her promise. "I'm sorry" she whispered through her tears. She leaned her head against her knees and let out all of her tears. She was alone again, but this time no one was there to help her. She was on her own and she knew singing could'nt make it any better this time.
To be continued…..