PART ONE
Epilogue
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No author's notes!
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I was preparing myself for my journey, which I would take alone. I knew exactly where I needed to go, and how I was going to get there, and what I would do once I got there.
The tricky part was actually getting out of the base – or so I thought.
I told everyone I was going to the shops on Thursday evening, which COULD have been true…only it wasn't.
Here's what happened:
9:00AM – I made a phone call, to the travel agency, and managed to book myself a flight that very evening. I checked my watch. Only twelve hours to go.
9:20AM – I began packing my backpack, but had to stop when Honey Bee and Shooting Star wandered in. Apparently Ratchet had gotten so angry at Sunny, 'Sides, Jetfire, Jetstorm, Skids and Mudflap that he had dismantled them and put their sparks into various household appliances. We had to go searching for them. We found Sunny in a night-light (the solar-powered kind), 'Sides was a toaster, Jetfire was a BBQ, Jetstorm was a hair-dryer and Mudflap was a toaster oven. We couldn't find Skids anywhere.
12:00PM – I resumed my packing, and actually got it finished.
1:00PM – I checked my watch again, and decided to go for a drive with Bee. Which we did. With an unexpected result.
4:00PM – I write a letter to everyone explaining why I have gone, but not where.
4:30PM – I have a shower, and discover that Skids is the No-Soap Radio in the shower. I threw him out the window.
4:50PM – I dress in nice but casual clothes, and leave my note on my pillow.
5:00PM – I announce to everyone that I am going out shopping.
5:15PM – I leave for the "shops".
6:00PM – I arrive at the airport, after having flown there all the way from the base. Why I can't just fly across the seas is simple…I'D GET SLAGGING TIRED!!!!
Okay, so I was sitting in the airport after going through customs. I told them that I was a backpacker, and that's why I only had a backpack with me. My passport and everything went through without a hitch, and then I had to wait with about a squillion other people for the plane to be boarded.
The family behind me was talking loudly, about the fun things they would do in Detroit.
Okay, so maybe they would be going all the way to Detroit…
The family opposite me were all deaf, and speaking in sign language – not that it stopped me from knowing what they were saying.
A third family was full of fat people, save for the youngest son who was so skinny that if he'd turned sideways then you wouldn't have been able to see him! He seemed to have the biggest voice, though.
Seeing all these families made me think of my own, and I dug around in my pocket for my photo-pocket-book (one of the few genius inventions by Zi and 'Jack).
I turned it on.
I looked at the pictures in there – Honey Bee, Shooting Star, Bianca, Optimus Prime…everyone, including my own beloved Bumblebee.
And, right at the very end, was a picture of Starscream. I looked at that as I boarded the plane and chose a window seat on the left.
Starscream and me. I smiled. Funny how time can change one being (ie, by killing him) so much, and then not change another at all (I hadn't aged a bit – thank Primus for being immortal).
I missed Starscream…my Star.
But, I was happily married. And nothing would ever make me want to change that.
As I looked out over the setting sun of Perth city, as the plane taxied down the runway and took off into the sky, I smiled again.
Perth city looked so beautiful.
The flight – my flight – had begun. I was going to do what the Primes had asked me to do, and I was going to save the world.
I looked down at my left hand, at my fourth finger in particular.
Today, on our drive, Bee and I had made a very important decision.
We had welded our wedding rings to our respective fingers. They (the rings) would never ever come off.
I never wanted it to be any other way.
It hadn't hurt a bit.
