The following morning, Saphira woke up at seven with a smile. She stretched her limbs, yawning as she slowly woke up from her sleep. She rolled onto her left side and smiled, looking at the picture frame with Optimus's picture in it. It made her feel rather happy to see that by her bed. She noticed the time on her phone before she got up and got changed. She brushed her hair and braided it into a single, French braid. She hummed Honey Honey to herself as she walked out of her room and slid down the railing to the bottom of the stairs.
"Woah! Easy there!" Bee exclaimed as Saphira nearly landed on top of him and she giggled at him. "You're in a good mood this morning. I guess that is what happens when the gang is all here right?"
"Yes, precisely," Saphira smiled at him as she walked towards the kitchen, moving her legs as she kept humming Honey Honey and danced to the tune. "Besides, I got to make it count with the girls and Ironhide, they are only here for another day."
"You can say that again." Arcee peaks her head from around the corner into the kitchen and Saphira looked at her in surprise. "I hope you don't mind, I learned how to make good pancakes from a few of the chefs at the NEST base. It is fascinating to me. Plus, I learned other things too. I hope you don't mind, I am using the strawberries you had in the freezer."
"That is fine, I picked them a few weeks ago, so they would still be fresh." Saphira saw that Chromia and Moonracer were helping. She saw the pancakes in the fry pan and they looked like they were good. "Looks like you've done well. This is definitely a surprise. Too bad you lot can't eat the food with us."
"I wish for that too," Moonracer said with a smile. "There are so many different things to eat for you humans, and we're only stuck with energon. There are different flavours and types of energon, sure, but we don't get many options."
"At least it is something," Saphira said as she watched Arcee flip the pancakes. "Looks like you have it under control. They smell really good. What are you two making?"
"We just cooked up some omelettes using the basil and chili you had growing in the garden," Chromia responded, showing the three plates that had the omelettes on them. "And some hash brown with sweet potato and onion. It looks good."
"It smells good too, I don't think I will want to eat all day," Saphira said with a chuckle. "I hope the two guys are up from their sleep."
"They left with Optimus two hours ago to do some recon." Saphira looked at Arcee in surprise when she told her that. "Apparently, Barricade has come back. His vehicle form was spotted across the city, so the men, Optimus and Ironhide left to go find him. We are not sure if they have found him yet."
"Hopefully they will be back soon, otherwise their breakfast will go cold," Saphira said as she looked at the food. "I can't eat all of that on my own."
"Don't worry, they will be back soon," Ratchet said as his holoform walked through the front door. Saphira smiled when she saw him. "I thought I heard your voice. Good morning. Optimus let me know about five minutes ago they should be here in twenty minutes. They were not able to locate Barricade."
"That is okay, as long as they are safe." Saphira smiled and glanced at the girls as Arcee placed two pancakes each onto the plates. They were not huge pancakes, but they were thick and puffy. "They look good."
Saphira walked over to the table to sit down, her stomach growled at her and she was looking forward to eating. She heard a little bit of arguing from outside and she frowned a little, turning to look at the door curiously.
"Ignore that, Skids and Mudflap are just having a little argument over something trivial," Ratchet reassured Saphira when he noticed her glancing at the door. "Skids threw some dirt at Mudflap and that is where the argument started. They do this almost daily."
"Oh, right." Saphira chuckled a little and heard a few thumps from outside. "Just as long as they don't break anything. This place is not my home, I don't need them destroying something."
"I'll go and keep an eye on them," Bee said as he walked towards the door. "The only thing might destroy is…"
"Ah! Look what you made me do!" Skids yelled suddenly after there was the sound of creaking steel. "Me foot stood on this weird, steel bed!"
Saphira widened her eyes and Bee rushed outside as he knew what that was. She followed him quickly and saw one of the raised, galvanised, steel beds had been crushed. She was relieved it was not a bed that had anything in it and she was glad for that.
"I am glad that nothing was growing in that bed," Saphira said with a sigh of relief as she stepped outside. She looked up at the twins with hands on her hips. "Could you keep your arguments and fights away from the house? This is not my house, if you damage something, I have to pay for it. You're lucky that garden bed has nothing growing in it, but that was still a few hundred dollars that you just destroyed."
"I am sorry Saphira!" Skids said apologetically. "I did not mean to, Mudflap hit me and pushed me towards it. I am so sorry for wreckin' it."
"It is okay." Saphira looked at Mudflap, he too seemed very apologetic. "The same goes to you too, don't argue and fight close to the house. I might have to send you to the NEST base earlier if you don't be good."
"Okay Saphira, we will be good," Mudflap promised, even though Saphira had a feeling they will get back to fighting again very soon. "I won't hit me brother near da house anymore."
"I'll make sure of that," Ratchet said, walking towards his alt form with a scowl on his face. "You both need to behave if you want to enjoy spending time with Saphira. You are such idiots at times!"
Saphira figured Ratchet will keep the two under control and walked back into the house to sit down as the femmes placed her plate down. Saphira smiled as she picked up her knife and fork to begin eating. She heard the sound of the Peterbilt and GMC arriving, though she kept herself seated as she was hungry and the food would get too cold otherwise. She took a bite of the strawberry pancake first and she was amazed at how light, fluffy and sweet it was. It was delicious! She definitely liked it a lot.
"These pancakes are amazing!" Saphira comments, smiling at Arcee as they place the other plates down for the men to eat. "For someone who cannot eat our food, you're very good at cooking it. I guess you learned a little too well."
"What is this about great pancakes?" Lennox asked as he and Robert walk into the house, he smiled when he saw the food on the table. "Oh, I see. The girls made a nice, big breakfast. This is really nice Arcee."
"You are welcome," Arcee said with a smile. "I don't suppose there is a plan for today?"
"I was going to wash the cars today," Saphira said thoughtfully. "That was the plan if you guys didn't show up."
"You can still do that," Lennox said as he began to eat the food as well. "I am sure the autobots will be interested to know how we take care of our cars. Cars don't stay shiny if not cared for properly."
"I've already seen it," Bee said with a smile. "She spends half the day cleaning those cars, especially now that she has a more than she had before. But, she loves them and uses them regularly."
"At least you have us to help you," Robert said with a smile. "Man! These pancakes are amazing! You are right about these Saphira. I did not expect this kind of breakfast at all. Those strawberries taste so good!"
"They were only picked a few weeks ago, I froze these ones so they're still mostly fresh," Saphira responded with a big smile on her face. "It is one of the joys of growing my own food. It makes me so happy and grateful to the fresh taste and usefulness of this food."
"Anyway, I suppose you were told where we went weren't you?" Lennox asked and Saphira nodded, though she did not say anything. "We were able to pick up Barricade's presence and we used the city's cameras to find him. He was on the other side of the city, now we cannot find him. We are not sure if he is here because of you, or because the autobots are here. But, we were trying to find him to talk to him."
"Were you going to ask him why he is here?" Saphira asked curiously and she noticed a shadow move across her and turned to see Optimus peering into her window. She giggled at him. "Something tells me we have done this before."
"Except, I am needing to crouch in order to speak with you," Optimus responded with a smile on his face. "To answer your question, yes we were going to ask him why he is here. The last time he was here was when we were here. And it has happened again. Even if he spoke to truth about wanting to change sides, it is suspicious behaviour regardless."
"Yeah, I suppose it is." Saphira smiled, she shifts the chair so she could see Optimus properly. "Anyway, I might be a bit of a boring person today since I wanted to wash my cars today."
Optimus seemed surprised by that, but he just chuckled softly at her. "If that is something you wish to do, I do not see why we cannot do it."
"Nope, it will just be me who clean them. I don't usually let others help me with them. They're important to me so I can keep the money coming in." Saphira smirked at him as she continued to eat. "At least with this breakfast, I won't need to stop for lunch."
"Surely you won't mind us helping," William said with a smile. "We know how to wash cars. That way we can help you spend less time on the cars."
"I can still talk, wash and vacuum the cars at the same time." Saphira finished the pancakes and began to dig into the omelette. "That is not a problem for me at all. But, I suppose more hands will make the work go more quickly. I think that will be fine, so long as it doesn't take up your time to go and see your families. I wouldn't want to hold you back from that."
"Don't worry, we will be fine. But, I think the autobots would want to know in case they ever get dirty and need a human to clean their alt forms." The autobots are cringe at that, but Saphira found that funny, as did the men as they laugh at that reactions of the autobots. "If that is something you don't want, that is fine." Lennox grinned at all of them. "But I am sure Saphira does a good job of it."
"I do, but only if they ask for it. Otherwise, I think they are more than capable of cleaning themselves." Saphira sighed as she was starting to feel full as she finished half of the omelette. "Man, I really am going to be stuffed after this."
"It is really good," Robert said in agreement, patting his stomach as he too was feeling full from the food.
Saphira was glad she would get to spend time outside though, even if it was to wash the cars. She would still be able to talk to Optimus. "I see one of your garden beds is damaged. How did that happen?" Optimus glanced away as he looked at the damage and looked back at her.
"The twins were arguing about something." Saphira shrugged a little as it was not bothering her. "There was nothing in that bed anyway, so they didn't destroy anything aside from the frame itself."
"It was still something that you bought right?" Lennox asked and she nodded at him, though she was not bothered by it. "It is still not right for them to destroy something of yours. Hopefully it can be fixed."
"It can't, I'll just throw it when I remove it," Saphira said softly. "I wasn't sure on what to do with the garden beds anyway, I can't really bring them with me to college, so they will either be sold or thrown anyway."
"Oh, I guess the twins did you a favour with one." Robert himself still thought it was bad that the twins broke something Saphira owned, but since she was not concerned, they would not be. "We should get started, Lennox and I leave after noon today."
"Really? I thought you were staying until tonight," Saphira said in surprise when he said that. "Oh well, I guess you should see your families soon."
The two men nod and they all finish their food shortly after. Saphira felt very full, but she walked outside to get the cars. Optimus himself was curious about it. Ratchet and Ironhide were keeping a close eye on the twins as Saphira walked over to the large shed. She drove each car out of the shed, parking them with their hoods facing each other on a large cement area with a drain. She had a hose reel on the wall of the shed that she would use. She pulled out a large bottle of car wash, protective coating, polish, tyre shine, glass cleaner and interior cleaners as well as a vacuum cleaner, sponges and a pack of clothes to use to dry the cars.
"You were not kidding when you said Saphira takes half the day cleaning her cars," Will said as he saw the number of items Saphira had with her. "I guess we were not expecting all of this."
"You never expect any less," Saphira responded with a big grin on her face. "I also clean one car at a time, so if you boys want to wash a car each, we can do that. I wash them first, than I dry them and ensure there is no water marks on them before I move onto the protective coating and polish."
Will and Robert glance at each other before shrugging. They had not realised what they had gotten themselves into it would seem. However, they got stuck into it as Saphira filled three buckets with the cleaner before handing them the bucket and sponge each. Bee would offer, but he decided not to this time. The other autobots watch curiously as Saphira began to wash the Daytona, and the way she washed it was with a lot of car and it intrigued all of them.
Optimus himself sat close, observing how Saphira washed the car and he could not help but linger his eyes on her. He could see she has grown since the last time he has seen her, and she seemed more beautiful than before. Yet, the way she seemed to do things, such as the way she cleaned the cars and grew food for herself seemed to be very inspiring. He found himself admiring this human more. He wished he had more time to spend with her.
"Is it really necessary to clean them like they're glass?" Robert asked curiously as he rubbered the sponge along the Camaro and Will washed the Nissan.
"You can always let me do it," Saphira responded with a smirk. "I take pride in making them look and sound good. That includes keeping them clean. You may not understand because you're a soldier, but if you want to just wash and dry the car for me and leave the rest, that will be no problem."
"We don't want you to do it by yourself," Will said, he glanced at Robert as he knew that the man wanted to clean it like he would clean his own car. "Just take more care in cleaning the car Epps, I'll keep helping her if you stop."
The man shrugged and continued washing the car. The cars themselves didn't really have much dirt on them, but Saphira cleaned the cars regularly because it was something she enjoyed doing, and keeping the cars in good condition meant she could sell them for a good price. Still, she did think about checking out the raceways in Princeton as there were some there that was used by racers. So, she might join there at some point.
"It fascinates me you take care of the cars like they are alive," Optimus said as he watched Saphira curiously. She smiled when he spoke to her. "Watching you work on the cars is one thing, seeing you wash them like this is strange to me. Are there other humans that are like that?"
"There sure is," Saphira said with a nod, not looking from the car. "But it isn't necessarily just cars too. People can be like this about their clothes, garden, house and other things. I guess we are weird for that, but as long as it isn't hurting anyone else, I think it is okay."
"That makes sense." Optimus continued to watch in fascination. "So, I was thinking, when the others go back to the base at the end of the week, you and I should go the field."
"I was thinking that too." Saphira definitely was looking forward to that. "I was going to talk to you about that, but probably at the end of the week honestly."
"I wish we had time to see this field," Robert said as he and Lennox listened in on the conversation. "It sounds very pretty."
"I think you would get them both mad, punk," Ironhide said in a sarcastic tone. "Those two would rather go alone. I imagine they could end up being there the entire week next week."
Lennox seemed surprised by that and looked at Saphira curiously. "Really? Is that something you'd want to do?"
"Of course. We're friends after all. Plus, I like spending alone time with him." Saphira glanced up at Optimus briefly as she rubbed the sponge along the spoiler of the Daytona. "He's the first person I've actually opened up to…other than Bumblebee of course. But…Optimus has great way with his words."
"Uh huh." Lennox raised an eyebrow, he seemed to think it could be something else, but Saphira did not take any notice of that. "I suppose if you both enjoy it, I don't think there is anything wrong. It must be every girl's dream in a way."
"I suppose…" Saphira paused for a second and looked at Lennox with a grin. "Hey, that is not what is happening!"
"Sure it isn't," Lennox teased back with a wink.
Saphira chuckled softly and shakes her head, Optimus and the other autobots were confused by the conversation. Saphira hummed as she drenched her sponge in the bucket and walked over to Lennox casually before squeezing the sponge, wringing out the water and soap on his back. The man gasped and jumped up in surprise, looking at Saphira who was giggling at him.
"Oh, you are so going to get it!" He said sarcastically, dunking his sponge into his bucket and splashed the water at her.
She yelped and laughed, holding out her hands to block the water and splashed some back at him. They both laugh and continue splashing each other until they felt cold water being sprayed at them. They see Epps had grabbed the hose and pulled it over to spray them with water. Saphira and Lennox both laugh as they duck to hide from the water, the autobots had moved to avoid getting wet and Saphira grabbed her bucket to dunk the entire thing on Robert. The man was surprised and her was covered in soap and water. They completely forgot about washing the cars and the autobots were amused by the water fight between the humans until Saphira remembered she had to wash the cars.
She did manage to wash the outside of each car before noon, but the men had to leave after and they both left after saying their farewell to Saphira. She was upset they were not here for longer, Saphira viewed them as fun uncles to have around. She moved onto applying the protective coat on the cars and polishing them afterwards. Bee decided to help when she began to clean the insides of the cars and he polished the tyres of each car, saving her sometime. She did continue speaking with the autobots, they asked more questions about the garden and what else she could grow, along with the animals she could have had here for free compost and eggs if she owned the house. She would have had chickens, quail, rabbits and goats if she had the choice.
Optimus himself was really fascinated, both he and Saphira managed to slip in sometime alone once the sun went down. She had stayed outside to talk with him until she invited him to lay with her in one of the fields to look up at the stars. It was there she told him how lonely she has been feeling lately. Even with Bumblebee around. But, with him, she felt complete. She felt like she would never be lonely with him.
"I just can't figure out why," Saphira concluded after telling him how she felt when she was around him. "Maybe because I miss you and the others when it is just Bee and myself, I don't know. But…it is nice to feel complete. I felt lonely when I lived in that house with Lisa and Michael, even if I never admitted that fact."
Optimus himself listened to how she spoke. He began to realize she might have feelings for him, but it was hard to tell. "Do you feel it might be wrong to feel complete when you're with me?" She turned her head to look into his eyes. "I am an autobot, not a human."
"And is that supposed to mean anything to me?" Saphira asked as she rolled onto her side, propping her elbow onto the grown and resting her cheek on her hand. "You being an autobot makes no difference to me. I think being able to feel like I am not alone when I am with you isn't a bad thing. It applies to all beings."
"I guess so," Optimus said, turning his head to gaze up at the stars. "I suppose, I have felt the same way. For a very long time. I have been alone a very long time. I have lost friends, family…Elita…and while I still have many of my friends still around…I still feel lonely. Just…I don't why I don't feel lonely with you."
Saphira smiled, she pondered at that and felt herself blush. Was she really feeling something for this autobot? Was he feeling something for her? It seemed that way, but…Saphira was going to college soon…it felt like it was best not to express it right now. "I guess when I go to college we will have to suffer through our loneliness until I am finished."
Optimus chuckled lightly. "It would seem so."
Saphira moved to stand up, she shivered a little and realized there was a dampness on her back from laying on the grass. "I think I might go for a shower. Thanks for spending sometime with me Optimus…even if we were just talking and staring at the stars."
"I like these moments, it feels like the world pauses while we talk," Optimus said gently, shifting to sit up and gaze down at her. "I am not sure why."
Saphira was glad it was dark because it was hiding her blushing. "I have a feeling all next week is going to be a time where it slows down."
He nodded, he was really looking forward to spending alone time with her for a whole week. And she was right, it will likely feel like a lifetime. But, he would wait and see on that. He watched her walk towards the house, he smiled to himself and glanced up at the stars. He knew now that Saphira has feelings for him, although she has not come right out to say it. Knowing that now, Optimus did not know what to do about it. Both he and Saphira yearn for each other, and it was only the beginning. He thought about rejecting the idea of going to the field alone…but he didn't want to hurt her. Her going to college might stop her from having feelings for him. He was hoping for that. He did not want to get himself involved with a human…yet…he wanted to as well. Saphira has changed so much, and yet she was still so beautiful to him. He wanted to tell her his feelings, but he feared losing her the same way he did Elita.
