Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers; I only own Lyra and Noah.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. They really made me smile. This chapter is the first official chapter of the story. The prologue was just a little glimpse into what the future has in store. Now, I must warn you, this chapter is pretty jumpy. There are numerous time skips, but their really small. The longest skip is like a week. In my opinion, I think it's organized pretty sloppily, but it was meant to be like that. Each scene is just supposed to help build to the ending.

Edit: 9/21/12 I changed a few details and added a bit more dialogue. The way some of the things sounded and flowed were really getting on my nerves, so I changed it a bit.

Solemnly Swear

Chapter 1: Mothers and Sexy Corvettes

As the sun slowly rose over the horizon and into the Floridian skies, the residents of a small one bedroom house started to stir. It was much too early to be up, they thought, but they didn't have much of a choice. They would each have to attend classes in less than an hour's time, and neither were looking forward to it. Especially the youngest.

It was Noah's eighth birthday, and he couldn't be happier. Not just because he was turning eight, but because it was his birthday. People had to be nice to you on your birthday, after all. For that exact reason was why he was the one shaking his elder sister awake instead of the other way around.

The job was harder than he thought. Lyra was a heavy sleeper; waking her was like waking a bear in the middle of hibernation. In other words: not easy.

"Ly," Noah called quietly, nudging the brunette gently. "Lyra, it's time to wake up. C'mon, Ly, it's my birthday!"

"Five more minutes, daddy," came a muffled sound from the girl, her body curling in on itself as she subconsciously tried to ward off any and all attempts to pull her out of her mellow state.

Noah scowled, placing his hands on his hips as he examined his sister. He had to get her up so she could say happy birthday!

"Lyra! Wake up!" the sandy haired boy yelled, pulling himself onto her bed so that he could jump up and down on the worn twin mattress.

"Stop," she groaned out, burying her face deeper into her pillow. When her brother didn't stop, Lyra pulled away from the pillow and sat up. "Noah, stop!"

The boy stopped moving with a cheek splitting grin on his face. "It's my birthday!" Noah exclaimed.

"Congrats, No'. Happy birthday," she moaned, pushing her face back into the pillow. "Now sleep."

"But Lyra," Noah moaned. "You have to give me my present!"

Lyra, who hadn't saved up enough money to buy her brother a decent present sighed. She sat up in bed before pulling her brother into a hug and kissed every inch of his face. "We'll have a Transformers marathon tonight, 'Kay?"

"Yes!" he cheered, jumping off of the bed and running into the closet. Lyra could only look on in confusion as she waited for him. "Tada!"

"Lookin' good, bro," she said examining his Transformers t-shirt. It was black with both of the insignias from the movies. The only thing that separated them was a lightning bolt. "Now, do you want pancakes or waffles?"

"Pancakes!"

"That's my boy," Lyra said, a grin gracing her lips.

"I don't think I understand," Lyra said, sitting up slightly in the leather chair she was sat in. Across from her was Mrs. Ackermen, the principle of Forest Hill Elementary School. "What exactly happened?"

The deep groves of the principle's skin became more prominent as she frowned. "It seems that a few of the boys in Mister Montez's class were feeling a bit…juvenile," the elderly woman said carefully. Her pale, fragile looking skin was pulled tight around her lips and eyes, as if she had just swallowed a lemon whole.

"What does this have to do with Noah?" the brunette asked warily, her right knee bouncing nervously. Her mind was buzzing with everything that could've happened; none of them ended with an unharmed brother.

"You have to understand, Miss Montez," Mrs. Ackermen said, trying her best to diffuse the tension Lyra held. "We try our best to keep the school as bully-free as possible, but we don't have enough staff to watch ever—"

"Bully?!" Lyra yelped, jumping to her feet. "Is Noah alright? Is he hurt?"

"Miss Montez, please sit down," the woman said, attempting to control the teenager's worry.

"Don't tell me to sit down; I want to see my brother, now!"

"Your brother is alright, Miss, just a few scratches from when he was pushed into the bushes. The boys whom pushed him have been punished and dealt with, I assure you. But that isn't why I've called you here."

"It isn't?" Lyra asked incredulously. What could possibly be more important than her brother's well being?

"No; the reason I called you here was because of this," Mrs. Ackermen said, pulling out a manila folder from her desk drawer. She flipped through it before placing it in front of the younger girl, her lips pulling into a thin line.

A line was highlighted, and Lyra found her eyes being drawn to them as she sat down.

Parent/Guardian Contact Information: Sierra Vasquez; 2961-9726; Unregistered Number

Her naturally wide eyes widened even more. Her jaw dropped a bit. Her heart beat picked up slightly. She tried to say something, but her mouth suddenly became really dry.

"I tried to get in touch with your aunt, but, as you can see, the number is unregistered. I even went as far as to look up her number only to find that there isn't a Sierra Vasquez in this state," the woman on the opposite side of the desk said, raising an inquiring eyebrow. "I hope you can see how worrisome this is."

"I do," Lyra rasped out, still not entirely sure what was going on. Her father had told her that he had taken care of all of the arrangements before he left so that Noah and her could live peacefully together. So that they could live without a random adult there to breathe down their necks, but she never thought he would go to the extent of lying about their predicament.

"Good. Then I suppose you would understand why I had to contact your father in Qatar."

"You—what!" Lyra found herself on her feet again. She wasn't sure if she should be angry and confused or just plain furious. Couldn't the old bat keep her large nose out of other's business?

"Your father wasn't aware that you were left alone, it seemed. He was also confused as to who this Miss Vasquez was. He thought that you two were with your mother in LA. Were you aware of this?"

"N-no."

"Well, it seems that we have quite the predicament here, don't we? Luckily, I have the perfect solution. You'll be moving to Las Angeles with your mother until your father returns from his time in the military."

Now Lyra knew her answer: she should be furious.

"I don't get it," Noah muttered as he watched Lyra and a social worker pack up their stuff. "Is this because of me being picked on? Because I promise I'll be more careful. Honest!"

Running a tired hand over her face, Lyra crouched down in front of her little brother. "I'm sorry, kiddo. I know that this is a junky birthday and that we don't have time to watch those Deceptibots get beat by the Autocons, but—"

"Decepticons and Autobots," Noah butted in.

"Right. That. But we can't stay by ourselves anymore," she tried to explain. "It isn't because of those boys, I promise. Though I do think that that's the only good thing coming out of this move."

"I'll be more careful, Ly. Please, believe me! I won't let those kids tease me anymore!"

Lyra felt her heart clench as she listened to her brother's cries and pleas. He shouldn't blame himself. It wasn't his fault. "Shush, No'. This isn't about those bullies. This is about how we're minors without supervision."

She knew that he still didn't get it, he still blamed himself. She could see it in his eyes; see it in the in the tears that gathered there.

"Listen, kid. I love you, and I never want to see you hurt like this again. Understand?"

He nodded.

"Good," she said, smiling sadly. "I promise that I'll never let anything happen to you."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

"Swear it to Primus."

"Primus?" Lyra asked, nearly a hundred percent sure this was Transformers related.

"The Cybertronian god," Noah supplied before looking her dead in her eye. "Please, Ly. Swear it on you honor as an Autobot."

"Fine," she sighed, glancing at the middle-aged woman behind her brother. The woman was smiling kindly, holding a small cupcake in her hand. Lyra held her hands out for it, and the social worker handed it to her gently, trying not to burn her with the lit candle. "But you have to make a wish first."

"You got me cake?" he said happily, momentarily distracted. He took the cupcake from Lyra and shut his eyes tightly. After a moment, he blew out the candle.

As he ate his birthday cupcake, she shifted slightly so that, instead of resting on her heels like she had been, she was kneeling on one knee.

"I, Lyra Montez," Lyra said, trying to fight the smile she could feel coming, "do solemnly swear that, as long as I live, I shall do everything in my power to keep you, Noah Montez, safe." A serious look overcame her features as she thought up the next line of her 'oath'. "Even if it costs me my life, and may Primus be my witness."

That seemed to satiate Noah, because he was helping them pack soon enough, a small, barely there smile on his lips, along with vanilla frosting, of course.

They were in California within a week. It all seemed to go so fast that Lyra could barely comprehend it. Her mother had been very understanding while the social worker was around; not so much when she wasn't.

"So what did your bastard of a father do to get me stuck wit' 'chu?" she had asked.

"H-he's in Qatar," Lyra had replied, stumbling over her words due to her nerves. Their mother was a wretched woman; it was no question why her father would rather have them stay alone than with her. "We didn't have anyone to stay with."

"Of course. Good for nothing fuck has to go and leave his brats with me," her mother had muttered as she had left the room.

Noah turned to her, eyes wide and confused. "Ly, is that our mommy?"

"No," Lyra answered angrily, her jaw clenching.

"Then why are we here if she's not our mom?" he asked as she picked him up into her arms and carried him up the wooden stairs and into their broom closet of a room.

"Biologically," she sighed, "yeah, she's out mom, but she's not our mother. If she was, then she wouldn't be acting like this."

"What's a mother like?" Noah asked innocently.

"A mother is," she said, pausing for a second to think. What was a mother like? Her own relationship with her mother was practically nonexistant; the only actual mother-child interaction that she'd ever seen were those in the movies. "A mother is someone who loves you unconditionally. She's the person you feel safe with no matter what."

He was silent for a second, his nose crinkling as he thought hard about something. Lyra took that time to tuck him into the bed, leaving enough room for her to slide in. She made sure the door was shut and locked, and every light but the flimsy lamp on the rotting wood table next to the bed was off before getting in though.

The covers were drawn tight around them as a cold wind blew in through the open window, and Lyra switched the lamp off. It wasn't until they were in total darkness that Noah spoke again.

"So a mom is kinda like you, Ly?"

She stayed quiet for a few seconds, not sure what to say. In the end, she kissed his forehead and hugged him closer to her. "No, I'm what a sister is."

Lyra was driving down an unknown street at ten o'clock at night. Her brother was sat next to her in the passenger seat, his seat belt strapped tightly for safety. Though, safe or not, he had made it a point to tell her that she wasn't wearing one which resulted in a quick 'bud out'.

It was pitch black, the only light coming from the night sky and the beat up Volkswagen's head lights. They were far away from the city that they could see every star that surrounded the full moon. That was their plan after all.

"So, wait, Optimus has a girlfriend?" Lyra asked, confused.

"No, he has a mate," Noah explained in exasperation. "Her name is Elita One. It used to be Ariel, but Alpha Trion thought that Elita One was a better warrior name."

"Okay, got it. Prime and Elita are together. What else ya got?"

"Sideswipe has a twin named Sunstreaker that didn't appear in the films," the boy muttered, crossing his arms as he glared out the window. She giggled and leaned over to ruffle his hair playfully.

"Sideswipe is that sexy corvette, right?"

"Don't let him hear you say that. You'll never live it down."

Lyra took her eyes off the road for a second to smile at her brother, and, when her eyes move back to the road, she was greeted with bright lights. Her heart dropped as she realized that the lights were attached to a car and that that car was coming straight at them.

"Noah!" was the last thing that could be heard as she gave up on trying to swerve out of the way and instead chose to protect her little brother.

Blinding pain invaded every recess of her mind, and she couldn't tell if that mechanical whirring was real or just a figment of her imagination.

Author's Note: I know, a cliffhanger. They suck donkey balls. -_-

But don't worry! I promise no cliffhanger next chapter! Maybe... Uh, review?