Fifteen minutes into attempting to listen to nature and be able to understand her abilities more, Azura didn't feel anything. She didn't understand it at all. She was quickly getting frustrated about it as well. With the rain falling around them, Azura tried to understand her abilities like rain and rivers, but she still didn't understand what Optimus meant. She wanted to make this training session feel like it was worth it, but it felt like a waste of time at this point. She definitely wanted to spend time with Optimus instead. Plus, the sting in her back was distracting her.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Optimus. "I am sorry…I…I don't know what I am doing right now." Optimus kneels down as he listened to her. "My back is stinging and I can't focus…I'm sorry."

"There is no need to apologize, Azura. I had already guessed it would be difficult for you to achieve harmony with your abilities today. I know you will be able to use them fine even in situations where you could be hurt." He smiled at her as he leaned forward to kiss her head gently. Azura smiled as she was growing accustomed to Optimus's comfort. "If your back is irritating you that much, we can stop now. I don't want you getting frustrated."

Azura nodded and turned her body to face him, making her grimace. "I wish this pain would go away." He picked her up from the boulder and stood up to walk down the hill into the pine forest. "And do I have to tell Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee about my abilities?"

"They are just worried about you, Azura. None of them are going to be angry about it." She was still worried regardless. "Let's not worry about that for now. We should just worry about spending time with each other." Azura smiled as she looked up at him. "I know I am not fully aware of everything that is on this world, but I have been learning just how beautiful it is." She nodded in agreement as Optimus walked through the pine trees. "I am glad that I can share this beauty with you, Azura."

She giggled at him before gasping suddenly. "Stop walking!" He froze instantly, looking around with worry, but he saw Azura looking ahead with a smile. "I see a black bear and her cubs." He looked ahead and he saw what Azura had spotted. It was instead a black bear and two small cubs. Azura smiled as she watched as the bears walk through the forest. "I love the animals of this world." She has seen bears before, as living in Wyoming before, bears live there as well. "Looks like they are heading for the rivers to fish."

"When I learned about the many different animals on this world, I was amazed. Cybertron had its animals too, but I think we definitely did not have as many as what Earth holds." Optimus's optics follow the bear and her cubs as they continue to walk before they leave their line of sight. "Especially with what is within the Earth's ocean."

"And not everything in the ocean has been explored either," Azura said with a chuckle before looking up at Optimus. "When we go to the island, I hope it has a reef. I love reefs, because it is so full of life and beauty, something that cannot really be found anywhere else because of the animals that live there."

"I look forward to it. Hopefully you will not have your burn on her back by then." She nodded in agreement as Optimus proceeded forward. "Is it okay if I ask about your life?" Her smile faded immediately. "I know you were abused in that orphanage, but I hope there was some good moments in your life."

Azura was silent for a moment as she thought about it. "I guess there was. I wasn't at that orphanage until I was…I think I was eight when I was moved there, but I don't fully remember. The foster home I had been placed at didn't want me anymore, which was why I was taken to that orphanage. And I don't have any good memories until I was about ten. That was when I started to help out people in the town by cleaning their cars and helping with their garden for cash."

"Did you have good memories at the foster home?" Optimus asked curiously, and she looked away, which was the only answer he needed. "I am so sorry we did not find you sooner, Azura. I had never thought I would ever find you when we sent you aware." He walked through some more trees and stopped as they found themselves by a small waterfall. Azura smiled as she watched the flow of the water and looked up when he sat down, and she saw his expression was full of sadness. "Would you believe I once had thought that I would never find you again?"

"Of course." He seemed surprised by her quick response. "You took a gamble, Optimus. You did it to protect me. Of course, you would have never thought we would meet again." She laid against his chassis with a smile. "I find that very believable. I could have ended up on an uninhabited world, with absolutely no way to survive or leave. I could have ended up on a hostile world and ended up as a lab rat. While I haven't had the best life among humans here on Earth, it wasn't the worst-case scenario."

Optimus listened to her and smiled, happy that she understood his feelings on the matter. "You are right, Azura. It is believable. I guess I have not gotten over it."

"I mean…you probably won't be over it completely, Optimus. You made a difficult decision, and…I should have been a bit more understanding three years ago. We might have had a better time bonding than we have had." She shrugged a little and turned to watch the waterfall. "At least we have time to spend together now that Megatron is gone." He hummed softly in an agreeing tone and she looked back at him curiously. "You don't seem to be happy he is gone."

"I do not hold any illusion that Megatron was a danger to the planet, but I never wished to end his spark," Optimus responded gently. "Even though we had been fighting a war for so many years, lost a world, lost sparklings…there was always a part of me that would have wanted to see Megatron change. He was like a brother to me so many years ago after all."

She smiled at him as Optimus's wish to not use violence to end the war was admirable. "I guess we all wish for something that might seem impossible. I am sure that Megatron has had many chances, and maybe he has considered a change of spark at some point. But what is done is done. I am just glad we can be out here and not worry about Megatron swooping in and attacking us. That would not be very thrilling."

"No it would not, but Starscream could potentially do that, Azura," Optimus said to her with a smile. "But we unfortunately do not have a lock on the decepticon warship, so we have no way of tracking them for the time being." She already knew that, but she was still happy they could spend more time together. "Regardless of that risk, I will do anything to spend time with you. You are my daughter, and I love you."

She giggled as he kissed her cheek gently and she looked into his optics. "I do have another request that we could do. Could we come back to Alaska when it is night?" He was immediately surprised and curious by the request. "The aurora borealis is something I have never seen before. And you can only see it at night. I really want to so it. Do you think we can come back here maybe tonight or tomorrow night to watch the night sky light up with beautiful colors?"

Optimus was not familiar with the name. He glanced up at the sky curiously as he wondered what this aurora borealis would look like, but Azura knew what it was and that it was something that she wanted to see. He smiled and looked back down at her. "It sounds like something I should experience myself. I will honor your request, Azura."

She seemed very excited about it and moved to get out of Optimus's arms to the ground. He lowered her to the ground so she didn't have to wiggle around too much and she walked closer to look at the waterfall. "Being in Alaska and seeing the bears and thinking about the aurora borealis has made me think of a movie I got to see for the first time over the last three years. And it has become a favorite story. Luckily, Fowler brought my movies to the base when he dropped them off."

Optimus was curious about the story she had come to love and he wanted to hear about it. "What is the story about, Azura?"

She smiled as she turned to face him for a moment. She glanced down and spotted a patch of clay in the ground. She walked over to it to dig out the clay to make shapes. Optimus watched curiously as he had not expected her to dig in the dirty, but she created several figures. Three humans, an eagle, two adult bears and a bear cub, which he figured she was going to use as guidance for the story she was going to tell. And she was rather excited to tell him about it as well.

"The story is called Brother Bear," Azura explained, placing the figures onto a boulder so they could be moved around easily. "It is a story about three brothers living in a tribe from many years ago. Back before humans had any of the technology they had today, where fire was the main source of warmth and power at the time. All three brothers have different personalities. Sitka, the eldest, has been looking after his brothers for a long time." She picked up one of the human figures she had made and looked at it. "The story never really covered what happened to their parents, but I assume their parents had died and Sitka was forced to become the older, wiser brother." She grabbed a second human figure with a smile. "Denahi is the middle brother. He does his best to live with his brothers, and he often gets annoyed by his younger brother, Kenai…"

Azura continued to speak on the story about the three brothers and why the aurora borealis is connected to the tribe the brothers were from. Optimus found himself completely entranced by the story as she told it to him. He certainly did not expect that the story went on to explaining how Kenai was transformed into a bear. But he learned the reason why Kenai went through the transformation. The story itself shows that love is not weak and that putting yourself in the proverbial shoes of another being is important in understanding the world.

Azura did get emotional as she told him the story, especially at the part where Kenai tells Koda the story about his mother. Optimus felt that emotion as well, but he kept them in check. Azura did see in Optimus's optics that the story made him feel emotional about it as well. It made her happy to see because it was a story that she had fallen in love with, and she was not ashamed sharing the story with him. And she knew that the messages within Brother Bear could easily be shared to all of the autobots if she wanted to.

When Azura finished telling the story, it was past midday now and she was feeling ready to head back home. The sting in her back was bothering her again, even though she had managed to distract herself by telling him the story of Brother Bear, when she was not distracted, the pain felt like it came back with vengeance. Especially as her clothes were soaked from the rain and it was sticking to her body. And she was starting to feel cold.

"I think we should head back to the base now, Optimus," Azura said softly as she walked over to him. "I am starting to feel cold and the sting in my back is bothering me again. Plus, I did promise to hang out with Jack and the others for the rest of the day…" She paused as she got distracted by something she had spotted. "Ooh! Salmonberries!"

Optimus watched her run over to a large bush with red berries. She picked off some and proceeded to eat them. "Is that something you should be eating, Azura?" She looked at him in surprise. "I thought wild berries were not good to eat."

She smiled at him as she chewed on the fruit. "Salmonberries are a type of raspberry, Optimus. These are perfectly fine to eat. They just happen to prefer colder climates. People eat these all the time." She popped another berry into her mouth to eat. "Still…I wonder if I'll get to a point of not being able to eat human food."

"It is possible, Azura. You don't need human food anymore. It has served you well until now." She still liked eating food and hoped she could continue as she got older. "But your system is adapted to this world, so it is possible that you'll still be able to ingest it. But it would be more of a treat than something you must need. Though I do believe if you found yourself in dire need of sustenance, and human food was the only thing available, you would survive on it like have over the last seventeen years."

Azura sighed as she ate a few more berries before shrugging and turning back to Optimus. "I guess I can enjoy it while I can." He nodded as he picked her up and stood up from the ground. "I don't suppose you ever get tired of ingesting the same flavor energon?"

"We don't really have much of a choice, Azura," Optimus responded with an amused expression. "It is our life blood. On Cybertron, we were able to produce energon with different flavors, but we do not have that luxury on Earth. You are not old enough to process high-grade energon at this time, so you should not have to worry about it." She smiled at him as she guessed he was right. "Although, when you are old enough, and you find the high-grade to be not to your taste, I will try and see if you can have something that is different."

"Thanks, Optimus," She said happily. She shifted in his hand to wrap her arms around his neck. "And thank you for bringing me out today. I had a good time. We didn't do much…but I didn't feel like doing much." She kissed his cheek gently, and Optimus's smile widened as this was the first time his daughter kissed him back. "And thank you for trying to help me with my abilities."

"Remember, it has only been one day." He then gestures to the waterfall. "I want you to remember this waterfall, Azura. It is running naturally. Nothing is stopping the water from flowing. I think the reason why you connected with water easily is because of how water moves. And you are probably thinking a little too hard on it."

Azura watched the waterfall and she still didn't understand. She was annoyed about it and she looked up at him. "I probably am. Can we please go home?"

Optimus nodded and opened the com link to the base. "Ratchet, open the ground bridge. Azura and I are ready to return to the base now."

"I am glad you were able to spend a few hours together," Ratchet replied happily before the ground bridge opened beside Optimus. "Jack has been asking when you were coming back. He said something about needing help with something."

Azura smiled a little and assumed that Jack wanted help with his science project for next week. She was not sure what he planned to make exactly. She knew Raf was building a volcano and Miko was building a model of the solar system, and she wasn't sure what Jack had picked. Nonetheless, she was happy to help him, even though she still had to work on her own project as well when she got back home. She did wonder how Optimus and Ratchet planned on telling the other three autobots about her abilities.

Optimus walked through the vortex as Azura relaxed in his arms. She smiled as she looked at the platforms as she saw Bee and Raf playing their videogame. Jack was sitting at a desk sketching something, and she noticed that Bulkhead and Miko weren't present. She assumed that they had gone out somewhere to do something. She knew that Miko enjoyed wild things, which was why she had ran through the ground bridge when Bulkhead went to save Fowler.

Jack looked up and noticed that both Optimus and Azura were covered in water. "Where in the world did you go to?"

"They went to Alaska," Ratchet responded kindly as he looked at both Azura and Optimus suspiciously. "And I cannot believe you got yourselves drenched." He placed his hands on his hips with a frown. "Do you really want to make things worse?"

"Come on, Ratchet, I am okay," Azura responded happily. "You can make sure a bit later. I just want to change out of this dress into something dry and spend the rest of the day with my friends."

Ratchet seemed unconvinced. "Very well." He glanced at Optimus with a frown. "But it seems like you both are happy. I guess I can't really deny it."

"And Azura wishes to return during the night." The medic frown deepened in confusion. "She wishes to see the aurora borealis that graces the skies at night above the land." She nodded excitedly and Ratchet seemed interested in these lights. "She even told me a wonderful story."

"Let me guess, Brother Bear?" Jack asked curiously as he listened to the conversation and Optimus looked at him curiously. "I am not surprised. Azura loves that movie, and I don't blame her. It is a movie I enjoy a lot too."

Ratchet seemed to be a little unsure given that the story was a human story, but the fact there was a natural phenomenon that Azura wanted to see, he figured it was okay. "Very well. As long as you can stay warm when you watch the lights dancing in the sky."

"I have to say, seeing the aurora borealis would certainly be something I'd love to see too," Jack commented as put his pencil and sketchbook down with a smile. "If it is okay, I'd love to come along."

Optimus looked at Azura who seemed to think on that. "Well, we can always see the northern lights more than once. I don't think that will be a problem. We can make time to do that. But first…" She looked at Optimus. "I really want to get changed."

"I'll bring you to your room, Azura," Optimus said gently as he walked out of the lobby. "You can retrieve your science project as well. Given your enthusiasm for Alaska, I am surprised you did not choose it for your project."

She shrugged a little. "I could have, but the Amazon is also a favorite part of the world I want to talk about so there isn't any problem with that. Besides, this is my last science fair, so I picked it because it is my favorite rainforest." She glanced ahead as Optimus walked through the hallway to her room. "Hopefully my burn isn't that bad from the water."

"I will check it when we…"

"Burn?" Optimus glanced over his shoulder as he had not realized Arcee had followed them. "I'm sorry, I thought Azura was sick." She raised an eyebrow as Optimus gestured for her to lower her voice and Azura tensed with a worried expression. "Alright, I'll wait until we reach your room to discuss this."

Azura did not know if Jack had heard Arcee's voice, but she would find that out soon enough, and she knew it. She was rather worried if he had heard it, but she was also worried about what Arcee would say and do once she does learn about her abilities. She knew that Arcee was following Optimus with the intention of asking more about them. Optimus had already reassured her things would be fine, but Azura was still feeling nervous, regardless of that fact.

Once Optimus entered Azura's room, he turned to face Arcee with a frown. "I don't suppose you are trying to inform the humans of Azura's identity before she is ready?"

Arcee widened her optics in surprise at Optimus's tone. "Uh, no, of course not. Why would you assume that?"

"You need to be careful, Arcee. I know you overheard what I said to Azura, but you could have said burned a little too loud for them to hear you." Azura was surprised at Optimus's tone. She didn't know if she should be worried or not. She didn't say anything for the moment as Optimus's tone was stern with a hint of anger. He lowered her to the ground by the wardrobe so Azura could pick out something to change into. "I understand your concern for Azura, Arcee. But Ratchet and I…"

"Are keeping secrets." Arcee placed her hands on her hips as she narrowed her optics at Optimus. "Look, I get it that Azura is in good hands. But I feel like keeping things from us is only going to make things worse for Azura. Especially if we ever have a situation where we need to be rescuing her and need to know something about her." Arcee softened her expression and glanced down just as Azura took off her dress. Arcee saw the burn on her back. "By the All Spark…" She knelt down as Azura jumped and looked back at Arcee worryingly. "Wait…how did you get that burn? Jack said Soundwave's tentacle was burnt…"

Azura sighed deeply with a nervous expression. "Um…I only told Optimus very recently…" She held her index finger nervously before she walked towards the bathroom to grab a towel. "Uh…I-I don't know how to tell you…but…um…"

Arcee did not pressure Azura at all as she could see how nervous she was. "I hope you don't think I will be angry about it, jealous or upset, Azura." The girl looked up at Arcee as she entered the bathroom and grabbed the towel off the rack. "Whatever it is, you have no need to worry, Azura."

Azura was still nervous as she dried the water from her body, and she looked up at Optimus. He gave her a nod of confidence for her to go ahead. "Um…I-I…you know that…I have p-part of the Matrix in me, right?" Arcee nodded. "Well…" She rubbed the back of her head with a brief smile. "I c-c-can influence the e-elements…and w-w-weather."

Arcee seemed surprised at first before she smiled. "You can? That actually sounds pretty cool." Azura was surprised by Arcee's nonchalant reaction. "Azura, I had always suspected you would have something that the rest of us won't have. And being able to influence natural elements and the weather is actually pretty awesome."

"You aren't…you aren't going to be mad that…"

She shook her head. "No, not at all." She crouched on the ground, smiling at the girl. "I can see why you didn't want to tell us. I guess having powers like that is scary. But I know you'll be fine. Still…" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she was curious. "How did you get that burn?"

"Well…Soundwave did try to snag me at the array," Azura explained, walking back to her drawers to put on a pair of jeans and a light, pink t-shirt. The femme followed her as the girl explained. "When I was hiding in the bathroom, Soundwave almost didn't find me. But I know he's not easily fooled. I tried to create an electric charge, and I succeeded, but I kind of lost control." She slipped the jeans on first and looked up at Arcee as the femme listened to her. "When he grabbed me, I touched some water as he was pulling me out, and water is a conductor, so…the charge was actually stronger than I thought. And some kind of electric pulse exploded from my body and almost shut the power off to the building. It burnt my body and the tentacle as well."

"That makes sense…" Arcee leaned down to look at the burn. "Yeesh, that's a pretty bad metal burn. It must have looked worse when Ratchet checked it."

"Azura didn't mention it until after we got back from destroying the space bridge. By then, the burns were indeed bad. But they are healing very well." Azura slipped on her shirt and looked up at Optimus as he spoke to Arcee. "Azura is still learning. She learned of her abilities many years ago, but she does lack control."

"I guess that isn't a surprise." Arcee smiled at Azura. "Care to show me some? I would love to see how you control elements."

"Oh, um…" She stepped back nervously and looked up at Optimus for a moment who gave her a nod of encouragement and smiled. "Sure, I'll try."

Azura took a deep breath as she focused on the water droplets still on Optimus's body. It took a moment before Optimus flinched in surprise as the water droplets lift from his body. He had not expected that, and Arcee watched in amazement too. He smiled as she moved the water around in a circular motion, creating small rainbows under the lights of the room.

"That's pretty amazing!" Arcee watched as the water droplets turned to ice as they were moved around and she felt the change in temperature. "I fail to see how Azura needs to learn more, Optimus. She seems to be pretty adept at it to me."

"Azura has yet to use her ability without needing to concentrate," Optimus responded to Arcee gently. "Like how rivers flow effortlessly downstream, and how rain falls from the sky and feed the ground." He watched as the water suddenly seemed to steam and evaporate the water droplets, making him look at Azura with a smile. "However, I do believe you know how to do that." She looked at Optimus in surprise. "But you think too much on it."

Azura looked at the steam above them and relaxed her body. "I…still don't know what you mean, Optimus." She sighed as she walked closer to him. "You have a lot of confidence in me. I don't want to let you down, but…"

"You could never let me down, Azura," Optimus interrupts gently, dropping down to one knee as she looked up at his optics. "You have shown you are strong. You have shown you can overcome obstacles without us. You have already made me proud."

She stared at him for a moment before running at him and throwing her arms around his neck. She swallowed her tears as she almost began to cry. He hugged her gently against him with a smile. "I hope I always make you proud."

He kissed her cheek gently and rubbed her back lightly. "I think we should head back to the lobby, Azura."

"And I promise not to tell Bee and Bulk until you are ready, Azura," Arcee promised as Azura stepped away from Optimus. "Jack will be asking questions at the moment, so we should probably head back."

She nodded and ran over to her desk where she kept the 3D model of the Amazon to take out of the lobby. Optimus was pleased that Azura was able to see that Arcee had no ill feelings about her having these abilities. Arcee thought it was amazing, and the femme made sure to reiterate those feelings to Optimus as Azura ran ahead of them to the lobby. Optimus knew for a fact that Bulkhead and Bumblebee would be happy as well.

For the rest of the day, Azura spent time with Jack going over their projects. Azura was surprised when Jack told her he was building a motorcycle for his project. She thought it was odd, but decided not to question it. She continued working on her project as she was working on the canopy layer of her project. It was a rather nice way to spend the day, and Sunday as well. Azura forgot about the possibility of Jack overhearing Arcee speak of Azura having a burn instead of being sick. But Azura was happier now that she told Arcee, and she did tell Bulkhead and Bumblebee after they dropped the kids off as she wanted to tell and show them when the kids weren't around. And they too were very happy for her. It made Azura realize she was nervous nothing. And she felt much more relaxed around them again.