Azura's Dream

Azura found herself in the same dream that she has had over many nights. Staring at a mirror, looking at herself, Azura saw only a dragon. A celestial dragon with bright, blue eyes, a golden mane, whispers, claws and golden hair at the tip of the tail and under the armpits. The scales were a darker blue with hints of red in the crevices of the scales. This being looked so beautiful, strong and graceful, something Azura was not. She was confused by why she was seeing herself as a dragon. However, instead of ignoring this fact, she wanted to find out more.

"Follow my voice, Azura," The deep, gentle voice beckons from afar. She turned her head and saw a large, golden door. "You have been putting this off for far too long, youngling. You have a destiny to fulfil ahead of you."

Azura had no idea what this being was trying to tell her. She was tempted to cut the dream short and wake up, but she walked towards the door for the first time in years. She was nervous as she walked towards the door, along with the strange and, yet normal, feeling of walking on four paws. The door opened, and Azura widened her eyes as she saw a courtyard of what looked like an ancient Japanese palace. It was beautiful!

There was a lush garden full of nature, she could see, hear and smell every little critter in the garden. There was a large water feature of a dragon spouting water into the natural lake as she walked over a stone bridge. She smiled as this was just beautiful. She looked ahead to see a golden, bark tree with white flowers growing on the stems.

She didn't know why she never proceeded, this was just so beautiful. It was night with a large, full moon looking down on her. There was also a mountain towering over with smoke floating from the top, and strangely, with snow surrounding the mountain itself. It really felt like a fantasy world to her.

"I see you are in love with the place." Azura looked around to try and find the owner of the voice. "I made sure that it was something you would like and feel like it was not something to fear. Seems like I did a good thing." She still could not find the owner of the voice. "Look at the tree. I am near."

Azura looked at the tree and she frowned when she saw no one. However, walking from behind the tree was another dragon. She widened her eyes as this celestial dragon was all white and it was glowing a ghostly white, but it was not frightening. The aura she felt was warmth and kindness, and she felt like she's met him before.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Azura," He spoke kind with a smile. "I am Primus." Azura widened her eyes in surprise. "It is long overdue that we meet. Though your young mind is full of pain and fear, that I completely understand."

"P-Primus?" Azura was in disbelief as she stared at him. "But…aren't you…Cybertron's deity?"

He chuckled softly at the girl's nervous question. "That I am. Though I do believe this form is less intimidating than what I actually looked like many years ago. Not having a body to hold me back from achieving important things has been a positive. However, I sadly cannot interfere with the war going between the autobots and decepticons."

Azura still did not understand. "But…why are you here? I am not Cybertronian. I'm a human girl, left abandoned by her parents. Unless this is about my ability to manipulate elements…I guess I can accept it."

"My dear youngling, I have no doubt you are full of questions," Primus said in a gentle voice. "It is true that you possess an amazing ability, and that is why I am here. I am here to help you master that before you learn to take on your true form."

"My…true form?" Azura looked down at herself and looked back at Primus. "A-Are…you joking?" He shakes his head and Azura scoffed in disbelief. "This is a dream, so why should I believe you?"

"If this were a normal dream, you would not have had me trying to reach out to you over these past years," Primus reasoned gently, knowing that she was having a hard time believing. "I think you know the answer deep down. You have nothing to fear, my dear. I am your friend. Please open your heart and allow me to help you. You will need to know how to master your abilities properly before you face the decepticons again."

Azura shuddered at the very thought of facing the decepticons. Knowing how to using her abilities properly would help. "Well…if you can help me, I will accept it. But I don't believe that I can transform into a dragon, that's absurd. And I am still trying to work out why you, of all people, want to help me."

Primus simply smiled at her kindly. "I am afraid that is an answer you will have to learn from someone else." She pouts a little and looked away from him. "Shall we begin? I want you to show me what you can do, Azura. I do not know what your level is, and that way we can go from there."

Azura looked at him and nodded with a smile. She walked over the water fountain and focused on the water. She sat down and lifts her paws, slowing the flow of the water before she began to raise the water upward and moved it around in a form of dance. Primus watched intently as she moved the water about before she first crystallized it and broke it back to water, froze it and evaporated it.

"Ah, I see, you have almost fully mastered the control of water," Primus said with a smile. "Very impressive, Azura." Azura gasped when she her a rumble of thunder from above. "Can you influence the weather?"

Azura looked up as rain fell from above. "Um…I've never tried to influence the weather…I did not know that I could." Primus nodded to her that she could indeed. "Hmm…I suppose if I have some kind of control over the elements, the weather would be included." She took a deep breath as she stared at the sky. "Let me see if I can…change the weather."

Primus looked at her curiously as Azura focused on the storm above them. He could see and sense that she was concentrating on her ability, though he saw she was not quite focused as she should be. "Do not rush, Azura. I can sense you are focusing, but instead of focusing on what you see, focus on what you feel." She frowned and turned her head to look at Primus. "You must connect to nature if you want to influence the weather, Azura. Because you will also have influence over the very nature of this planet. Even the trees can be on your side."

Azura did not understand how she could connect with nature. Though she knew being able to manipulate elements was also something connected to nature. She looked up at the storm above, staring at it intently and focused on what she was feeling. And as she focused, she soon felt the power of the storm. It was faint, but static of the lighting, the rumble of the thunder and the life that comes with the rain was felt over her scales. It was an extremely strange feeling to her, and yet it was thrilling to her. She took a deep breath and focused on not stopping the storm, but rather changing what fell from the clouds.

It took some moments before the water turned from warm to icy cold, though she had not achieved what she had wanted. And that was snow. Azura huffed in frustration as it did not turn out how she wanted it to. "I guess I am not very fluent with nature yet, huh?"

"You need patience, my dear," Primus said gently, placing his paw on her shoulder gently. She looked at him in surprise when he touched her as it felt so real. "You are not going to get good overnight…although that statement might be our own private joke. Since it will be overnight, in your dreams, that we work together until you have achieved your goal and you no longer need me."

Azura smiled at his little joke about how she was going to learn and work on connecting with nature and working with her abilities. "I guess you are right…but I still don't understand." She looked at him with worried eyes. "Why can I use these abilities? I…and…what did I ever do to deserve them? I mean, unless you have a connection with my parents…"

"In fact, I do." The made the girl gasp in surprise when Primus admitted to having a connection with her parents. "Though, I am unfortunately unable to tell you the exact reason. That is something you must learn on your own."

The girl pouts a little and looked away from Primus sadly. "Why? I have gone through this life without anyone, Primus. I've been allowed…I've been abused, and I still don't know why I was abandoned. The very least you can do is answer my question on who my parents are."

The Cybertronian god smiled at her kindly, he could see the pain she was going through. But he knew he could not do as she asks of him. "I will tell you that your parents did not want to give you away. But it was for your own safety. You were at risk of being kidnapped by the decepticons, and they would have poisoned you and turned you into their very own weapon to the point where you would have been the leader of the decepticons, not Megatron."

She listened to him and came to a realization. Her powers were dangerous if the wrong things happen. "So…I must learn these abilities…because the decepticons will still do it, and I could end up being a queen of darkness…so to speak." He nodded and Azura shook her head in disbelief. "This is all too much for me to take, Primus…I am fourteen. I am just a kid."

"That you are." Primus knew she was very young, and already thrown into the world where cruelty has hit her hard. "But I know there is a strength inside you, Azura. You just have to trust me as we find it." She nodded slowly and looked up when the storm faded. "I think we can move onto something else. Have you ever influenced fire before?"

Azura shook her head. "No…only the earth, wind and water. I haven't had the chance to try fire yet, or even lightning. I am sure I should have no trouble, but I would like to try first. Otherwise, I would be too confident and that isn't good."

Primus turned and walked away from her. Azura followed him curiously as he walked around the tree and approached a stone dragon holding a large bowl. There was a fire burning gently in the bowl with the fuel inside it. Azura walked towards it curiously and looked at it, a little nervous on how she would be able to have any kind of control over it. After all, fire can do a lot of damage and she knew it. Though she knew this was also a dream.

"Alright…this will be simple…" Primus held out his paw and Azura watched as sparks flared from the base of the bowl and flew out. He smiled as he moved the fiery sparks around with his paw. "Like water, fire can be moved. But you can also ignite it. Before you try to ignite, you must control an already burning fire and master it. You will even be able to absorb fire in order to clear the surroundings, or even redirect that fire to something else."

Azura smiled as she watched the sparks fly around them before they land back into the bowl and fade. She relaxed and focused on the flame carefully, holding out her paw out in a relaxed manner. She knew that she can move elements, but she focused carefully and she smiled when a small flame lifts from the fire and she moves it closer to her and began to pass the fire between her paws carefully. She could feel the heat of the flame, but she was not afraid of being burned by it.

She suddenly squeezed the flame visibly and an explosion of sparks bursts from her paws, and she giggled as she moves the sparks around them. Primus had been slightly startled by the burst, but he relaxed shortly after as he saw how happy Azura was at her accomplishment. She certainly will not take long to learn to be attuned with nature. But she would need to work in the real world too, not just in the dream world.

"Impressive, Azura. You handle fire rather well." Azura giggled as she moved the sparks around before dropping them into the bowl and looked at Primus. "Your gift is certainly something that very few have, but many envy. It is wise that you never reveal this ability to anyone who is not an ally to the autobots." She frowned a little as she listened to him. "I do know you shouldn't tell the autobots straight away about this, as they likely will not understand completely. Especially as they are making sure about something."

"Sure about what?" Azura saw Primus close his mouth and she rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, I will find out, right?" He nodded and she groaned a little. "You do know this is very frustrating and painful for me, Primus. I know you say you understand, but I wish you did more than that."

"Being a powerful being myself, one must realize that with great power, comes with great responsibility." She huffed, knowing that line was also towards her with her abilities. "And as such, having the gift of knowing the future is another responsibility that I have. Along with knowing it is not my place or destiny to tell you the answers you seek. I know you want the easy way, Azura. I understand. However, I will assure you that you have your real family around you right now."

She stared at him for a moment before she frowned. "That's just what Starscream said to me. Are you certain this isn't just a trick? I would be very upset if it was."

"It is no trick, Azura. I understand that you might believe that to be the case, however, it most definitely is not." She turned away from Primus and walked over to the bank to lay down and stare at her reflection. Primus looked at her sadly as her frustration was clear, and he knew she felt powerless. He walked over to her and stood by the bank, peering into the water to look at her reflection. "I guess my choice of words might have made you suspicious, Azura. But you must know, I mean you no harm. I am a giver of life, after all."

Azura let a few tears out, watching them drop into the water and create small ripples on the surface of the water. "Nothing in my life is making sense right now, Primus. Maybe…I am special. But I am also not Cybertronian, so I don't even know why you are here helping me. This has to be about that crystal, right?"

"It is much more than that." He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes again. "You know, Cybertron might not be covered in water like Earth is, but I now wish there were bigger bodies of water on that planet." She looked at his reflection in surprise. "Water is the basis for many things on Earth. And it also has seen history. Because water evaporates and falls all the time, there is a story in each little droplet from every part of human history."

"So?"

"All I am saying is, water is also a mirror to your future." That confused Azura and she almost wanted to tell him to shut up. "It is mysterious. And yet, beautiful at the same time. That is why you can control water easier than the other elements. And you will be able to control the weather itself in no time at all. Once you master water, all the other elements will follow like rain."

Azura smiled a little. "You like to speak in prophetic words, don't you?" He shrugged with a sarcastic smile. "I am still not sure if I should believe you, Primus. However…" She stood up and turned to face him. "I do want to learn how to work with my abilities."

"Good." Primus stepped back from her. "And all I ask of you, is that you do your best. And make sure that you practice outside of this place. Knowing how to use your abilities in here is nothing if you cannot use it in the real world. Here is only just a preparation. You must do the real work."

She nodded in understanding. "I can do that…privately of course…I'd rather the autobots did not find out about this…not for a long time." She turned her head in surprise when she noticed the sky was turning lighter and she could see the golden light on the clouds. "Has the night passed already?"

"I am afraid so." Azura flinched when a feathered brushed by her nose and she looked to where Primus was, only to see he was gone and looked at the feather as he circled around her. "It was nice to officially meet you, Azura. I look forward to our nightly practice. Make sure you do not get discouraged if you fail, as we learn the most from our failures and strive to work for something better."

"You make it sound easy."

Primus chuckled softly at her comment. "Believe me, Azura. No matter how old you are, even someone as old as me, you are never too old to fail and learn. I want you to remember that. You are young, and you probably believe those older than you have it together. They do not. They can be older, but still as foolish as a child. Do not be a hurry to group up, Azura. Enjoy being young while you can."

Azura watched as the feather floats aware. The glowing aura was pleasant, and she smiled as it was like the wind carried Primus away. She looked towards the sunrise, and she closed her eyes as she felt as though her own mind was waking up. The feeling of new thoughts and questions filled her mind, as she now had to wonder why Primus was in her dreams helping her with her magic. That is one thing she did not understand.

End of Dream

Opening her eyes to the dark ceiling above her, Azura groaned and stretched out her limbs with a yawn. She blinked as she stared at the ceiling before lifting her hands. She saw that she still had her warm, light tan skin instead of the beautiful scales of the dragon she had been in her dream. She didn't know if she really wanted to have a dream where she is one creature, and wake up as a boring human. Though that simply made her look forward to sleep a lot more.

She sat up with a sigh and glanced at the time. She saw that it was past eight in the morning and she felt like she might have overslept. But she decided that it was fine. She didn't need to go to school for another day. She got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to make use of the toilet. It was nice she did not need the wheelchair anymore. She had freaked out about healing so fast, but she no longer felt worried about that.

She did worry about the potential dangers she could face if the doctors bring the results of her blood test to someone else. She did not know if Fowler has done something to ensure that they stay quiet, though she hoped that he would. She did not need some humans to be chasing her to dissect her for her regenerative abilities. That would be extremely horrific, and she would certainly hide behind the autobots if that were to happen. Even if she still was not sure on her feelings being their, essentially, adopted daughter.

Once she finished using the toilet, Azura washed her hands and dried them, but she left the water running as she wanted to practice manipulating the water. She smiled as she lifts the stream water from the running tap and moved the stream around her, creating a circle around her. She moved it around her and she dance a little as she moved the water around. It felt really nice, though she separated the water to create tiny droplets and froze them before moving them around. Her smile widened as it was so beautiful.

But I can't just focus on being able to manipulate elements like this…Primus said I had to connect with nature.

The top of the base might be a good place to sit and practice. And she thought that maybe meditating would help her a lot. She thought about going up there right now, but she did know that she had to not be suspicious in front of the autobots. She knew that by going up top too much, they might become very worried and wonder why she was up there all the time. She had to be tactful, and she knew it. Even at school if she wanted to try there.

No, I can't do that at school. I don't want to be bullied again.

Azura moved the ice into the sink and turned off the tap, looking at herself in the mirror, wondering what she should even do. Primus has left her with more questions than any answers. And she hated it. She just wanted to forget about it all. And yet, he knew who her parents were. That was the thing that frustrated her the most. That was what she wanted to know the most, and he would not tell her. Only that she will find the truth from someone else.

But who? Who knows the truth about them?

Azura felt tears forming in her eyes and turned away from the sink to walk over to a bare wall and press her back against it. She slid to the floor as she began to sob and covered her eyes with her hands. She felt extremely overwhelmed and upset, knowing that her answer could have been in reach, but it was brushed aside. She wanted to believe that Primus knew who her parents were, and he meant well that someone else would tell her, but she still felt hurt. She felt like she could not move forward without knowing who her parents are.

She did not hear a knock on her bedroom door as she sobbed. Though she did hear footsteps entering, but she ignored them. "Azura?" She flinched when she heard Optimus's voice and she continued to sob. "Why are you crying? Come out of the bathroom." Azura did not respond to him and she hears him again afterwards, using a far softer tone. "Please let me help you."

She looked up as the tone of his voice was calming and she suddenly wanted to go to Optimus. Standing up, Azura walked out of the bathroom and looked up at Optimus after she reached the door. Her bottom lip trembled and she smiled weakly at him before she walked over to him. She wiped her cheeks and he gently picked her up, bringing her in to hug her against his shoulder. He rubbed her back gently as she continued to sob softly and rubbed her face into his shoulder.

"Let it all out." Optimus may not know why she was crying. However, he knew she had been lonely for many years, and she did not know who her parents were. The pain of her feeling lonely and unwanted tugged at his spark. "I am here for you, Azura. I promise I will never leave you."

Azura listened to his calming words and she did not know if she would believe him. However, he sounded so sincere and regretful. It was almost like he was promising to never leave her again. Which was strange, but she didn't question him at all. The comfort she was feeling was unfamiliar, and yet she was soaking it up. She needed it. She has never had it before. Optimus's kindness and…she wanted to believe it was love, but she was not sure. But his kindness was something she was falling for because, until she met the autobots, she never knew what that felt like. And being in Optimus's arms felt like…home to her. His scent, his warmth and his voice…she somehow knew it from long ago, and she didn't know how or why. But it was what was helping her calm down while she continued to let our her tears that needed to fall.