A few days pass by and Azura was really happy with how her science project has progressed. She knew she would get a high grade for it this year, and should ensure she had a high grade by the time. While her school grades probably wouldn't matter much in the grand scheme of things regarding the fact she is Cybertronian, but she wanted to feel like she has accomplished something. Sure, she has accomplished a lot in terms of being able to use her abilities, but she really has not felt like she's managed to accomplish anything in her life. Even if it was just human school, she would definitely be happy about accomplishing a graduation.

And as Ratchet had predicted, the stinging faded after the weekend, and Azura was much more comfortable. She no longer complained about it, and now the burn would just fade away over time. This allowed her to sleep much easier, and she was much happier to be around. Optimus was relieved she was no longer in pain. And she was much more relaxed around the other autobots now that they all knew of her abilities. Bumblebee actually had her practicing in a fun way. Azura got to create snowballs and throw them at Bumblebee. Ratchet was less than pleased with the activity, but Optimus allowed it because it allowed her to have fun while practicing. He intended her to practice with other elements eventually, but being confident with water will make it easier for her to use wind, earth, electricity and fire.

Today, Azura was in the lobby making a few final touches to her project, as were Jack, Miko and Raf with Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. She had thought about making a few other pieces for her project, but it was a bit late at the moment. She was mostly adding small pieces of cardboard to her project to create images of animals. She hummed to herself and glanced up, noticing Optimus was standing to the side of the room. She knew he has been not himself over the last few days. Azura has been able to keep him distracted, which has been nice, but she knew the other autobots has taken notice of it.

Azura glanced up as Ratchet walked by over to Optimus and looked back down at her project while she listened in on what Ratchet was saying to Optimus. "Optimus, why so glum?" He asked curiously with slight concern on his face. "This planet, all planets, are finally free from from Megatron's tyranny."

"I do not disagree, Ratchet," Optimus responded in a low, glum tone. "It's just, a small part of me hoped to change Megatron's mind, not extinguish his spark." Azura smiled slightly as Optimus's desire for peace definitely outweighed the desire for war, and she understood why.

Ratchet though seemed to disagree a bit. "Optimus, his vileness was not slain by your hand, but by his own twisted arrogance." Optimus did not respond, he only hummed softly as he looked back at the wall he had been staring at. Ratchet softened his expression when he realized that Optimus was somewhat grieving over Megatron. "I'm sorry, I know the two of you had quite a history." He glanced over at Azura for a moment and looked back at Optimus. "Especially since if it were not for Megatron, she wouldn't be here."

Optimus did not disagree with him on that subject. "But the Megatron whom I once fought beside perished eons ago. The day he chose to become a decepticon." He turned to face Ratchet. "The decepticons may be in disarray, but they aren't without leadership. And while Starscream is no Megatron, he is far from predictable." He glanced at Azura as he noticed she was listening to them. "We already saw what he has done trying to get what he wants as leverage against us."

"I am aware of that, Optimus. I guess I was just…" Ratchet did not get to say anything further when there was a sudden sound of an explosion. The noise startled Azura and made her yelp in fright, covering her head briefly and looking over the side of the platform as a cloud of smoke rose from the ground. "Decepticons! We're under attack!"

Azura saw what was happening and she began to laugh. Optimus and Ratchet run over to investigate, only to realize it was not an attack. "It's no attack, Ratchet," Raf said as he waved his hands while he coughed from the smoke. "It's my volcano." He coughed a few more times as he watched his volcano sink on the box it was sitting on. "Was."

Ratchet was in shock at what he was seeing. He turned his head as he noticed Bulkhead holding the model of the solar system while Miko was painting the planets. "Hold still, Bulkhead! Jupiter needs its red spot." Miko dipped the tip of her brush into a paint bucket and lifts it to dab on the planet, only for a drop to fall on the ground. "Whoopsie!"

Ratchet was in utter disbelief as he stared around the room. "What, in the All Spark, is going on in here?" He turned his head towards Arcee who was kneeling by Jack with the motorbike he was building.

"Our projects are due tomorrow," Jack responded to the medic.

Arcee looked down and picked up the red muffler. "Maybe it needs one of these doohickeys."

Azura snorted in amusement as she thought that was extremely funny. Jack seemed amused by this too as he placed his hand on his hip, giving Arcee an amused grin. "You're a motorcycle, Arcee. Shouldn't you know how to build a motorcycle engine?"

The femme was not impressed by the question as she raised an eyebrow at him. "You're a human, Jack. Can you build me a small intestine?" She giggled some more as Arcee came out with some of the more ridiculous responses.

Ratchet was still shocked and he glanced at Azura, noticing the paint she had with her as she painted the cardboard pieces and there was paint on her hands and the table. "Woah…you can't work on these projects in here you're making a mess."

"But the science fair is a big part of our grade," Rafael responded to the medic, seemingly confused. "Besides, you never really seemed to care about us doing the science projects before. You already knew about it."

"Yeah!" Miko added in an agreeable tone. "If Bulkhead doesn't help me finish this model of our solar system…"

"Oh?!" Ratchet placed his hands on his hips as he narrowed his optics at them. "And what does Bulkhead know of your solar system?" Bulkhead raised his hand slightly as if he wanted to answer that question. "Or Bumblebee of your volcanoes? Or..."

"Arcee of our motorcycles?" Jack interrupts as he finished Ratchet's rant, while receiving a side eye glare from Arcee.

"Precisely!" Ratchet shakes his head as he glanced around. "We're not Earthlings! And they're not scientists."

"But the autobots are their guardians, Ratchet," Optimus argued in a gentle tone. "Would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their schoolwork?" The medic's shoulders slump slightly as he listened to Optimus. "I have learned a lot about the largest forest on this planet from Azura. She has put a lot of work into her project, and she believes she will get a high grade for it."

Ratchet rolled his optics in irritation. "Well, maybe our young friends should try learning more of Cybertron."

"I am still waiting on that first lesson, Ratchet," Azura said in a sarcastic tone, making the medic look at her with a frown. "Besides, why are you caring about it now?"

"I care, because you are making a mess, Azura," Ratchet responded with a groan. "Can't you see that?! You have paint over your hands and that desk, for one. And Miko just spilt some paint on the platform over there, and I don't want to have clean up behind all of you."

Azura looked at her hands and the desk before looking back at Ratchet. "It is no trouble in cleaning it up, Ratchet. I have already spilt paint in my room when I was painting the model…and that was a bigger mess to clean up."

Ratchet widened his optics and looked at Optimus. "It was a quick clean up, you have no need to worry, Ratchet," Optimus reassured the medic as he knew that Ratchet would inquire about it. "The children are not making a terribly big mess, Ratchet. It is contained."

The medic was unconvinced about it. "I still think they should finish their projects elsewhere."

"We could do them at home, but you insist we come here after school each day," Miko responded in a teasing tone. "Where else are we supposed to finish it? It is almost like you're telling us we should fail our school. I don't normally care about school, but I do enjoy being creative."

Ratchet rolled his optics and turned away with a huff. "I can't believe I have to deal with this." He walked away as Azura watched him with a smile. "We already have to deal with humans being in our base, and now we have to deal with them doing their projects here too!"

"It isn't all that bad is it, Ratchet?" Azura asked curiously as Ratchet walked over to the console far from the kids. He looked at her as she looked at him curiously. "You're acting like they're out of control dogs running around, knocking things over and creating chaos. There's a little bit of mess, but nothing that can't be cleaned up."

Ratchet had no response as he looked down and Azura sighed a little. "Do not worry yourself, Azura." She looked at Optimus as he smiled at her. "He is still grieving the loss of being able to return home. And he is, unfortunately, taking that out on small things. Be understanding and patient."

"Okay, I understand." She looked at her model for a moment and looked at the jaguar figure she was painting. "I am curious if Ratchet would like to hear about something rather scary that lives in the Amazon Forest." The medic turned his head slightly as he listened. "It is something that the tribes of the Amazon would have had to deal with for many years, and ensure their kids know not to wander in the forest."

"Is it even something that exists?" Ratchet asked bluntly as he did not look at her. "Sounds like something that would scare young enough to keep them in line."

"Of course, it exists. It can swallow a human whole if it wanted to." Optimus raised an eyebrow while Ratchet seemed alarmed by the very thought, but he didn't react. "It's the largest snake in the world. It isn't venomous, but the crushing force of its body will kill anything that it constricts."

"I think I've heard enough already." She giggled as Ratchet groaned and rubbed the bridge between his optics. "I don't think I needed to be told about that, Azura. I know you did that just to annoy me." She nodded because she found it funny when Ratchet was annoyed. "By the way, how long is it until you graduate from school?"

"Uhh…give me a second to think…" Azura looked at the date on the nearest computer as she knew her last year of school was shorter than it would be normally. "Six months from next week."

Ratchet looked at her and softened his expression. "I see."

She wondered why he was looking at her like that and she noticed Optimus also seemed sad. "I can always finish school online, I don't need to go to a classroom."

"That is good to know," Optimus said with a smile, turning his head as he overheard Bumblebee talking about his training and that he has not yet made warrior class.

Azura couldn't quite hear what Bee was saying, mostly because she was focused. One she finished painting the jaguar, she moved onto painting a macaw figure. She hummed softly to herself as she was feeling pretty happy about today. She still wondered when Ratchet would start teaching her Cybertronian. Hearing him complain that they don't know much about Cybertron was funny to her, even though she doubted the human children were interested. Except for maybe Rafael.

Ratchet looked over at Azura and he noticed the 3D model she had made. She made it from cardboard and she made it well. She put two large pieces of cardboard together in a corner shape to work off of and created the model from there. She made everything from the emergent to the forest floor, and the waterways as well. It did look rather nice, and Ratchet knew he had been a bit harsh regarding it.

He walked over to her and looked at the project. "I am sorry if I sounded…um, mad."

She looked up at him with a smile. "It's okay. You weren't expecting to see all that. Plus, whatever Raf put in that volcano, really made quite the bang. I can't say I blame you for thinking it was some kind of an attack."

"Yeah, I guess I was just a little surprised and I took it out on the boy," Ratchet said slowly. He looked down at her model and smiled at her. "I also hope you don't think that I am annoyed about your project, Azura. It looks like you have done a good job. I don't fully understand what you have made, but it looks really nice."

Her smile widened as she glanced at her model. "I could tell you all about the rainforest if you'd like."

He shook his head. "No thank you, Azura. I already heard enough when you told me there is a snake in this world large enough to swallow a human whole." He shuddered with a grimace on his expression. "The very thought of that does not sit well with my processor."

She giggled at Ratchet as she amused about that. "There are a lot of wonderful things in the rainforest, Ratchet. Not just snakes. There is a lot of animals that call it home. Like macaws, for example."

"That might be the case, but I still…" He paused as an alert rang from the scanners and Ratchet looked up at the screen. Azura turned slightly out of curiosity. "Exposed energon. And it's on the move."

Azura groaned a little and turned back to her project as she knew it meant decepticons. Bulkhead stepped forward with a frown as he looked at the screen. "And since we ain't moving it, guess who must be?"

"Decepticons!" Arcee stated distastefully.

"Without Megatron?" Miko asked in curiosity as she was surprised the bots were still dealing with the cons.

"Unfortunately, Megatron's legacy will live on as others rise to take his place," Optimus responded to Miko gently. "Autobots, you have projects to complete." He looked down at the medic who seemed a little surprised. "Ratchet, I may require aid."

Ratchet turned a little to look at Raf as the boy was rebuilding his volcano. "Science fair is a big part of their grade." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before smiling and looking up at Optimus. "Perhaps I'm better suited to remain behind and advise."

Optimus was surprised by Ratchet's change of spark, but he did not argue as he knew the medic preferred to remain here anyway. "Very well. Bumblebee, let us see about this energon in transit."

Azura looked up at Optimus as Bee walked over to him. "I guess I can come along. Raf…" The scout looked down at the boy as he looked back at the bot. "You will be fine without me for a short time, won't you?"

"I will be, don't worry." Raf placed down another piece of newspaper on his volcano. "I should be almost done by the time you come back."

"Oh, he will definitely be done by then," Ratchet said confidently with a smile. Bee looked at him suspiciously. "I do know a thing or two about volcanoes, Bumblebee. We have volcanoes on our planet too."

"It's just a little weird you decided to take an interest in their science project only after being asked to go with Optimus," Bumblebee said objectively before he shrugged with a roll of his optics. "But whatever, I'll gladly go with you, Optimus."

Optimus smiled at Bee knowingly. "I am sure everything will be fine in our absence, Bumblebee. The children seem to be almost finished their projects. I know Azura is, and she is just doing final touches on hers." Ratchet put the coordinates into the ground bridge and activates it. "Let's roll out."

Azura watched Bumblebee and Optimus walk into the vortex and frowned a little. "Be careful." Optimus stopped and glanced back at her, noticing her frown. "I'll see you when you get back."

He wasn't sure why she was frowning, but he simply smiled at her. "Indeed. Though there is a chance you might be in bed by the time we return." She seemed more unhappy by that fact and he glanced at Ratchet. "Make sure things remain calm, Ratchet."

"I will, you can count on me," Ratchet promised as Optimus proceeded to walk into the vortex. When he walked through and the bridge shut off, Ratchet clasped his hands together and rubbed them with a smirk on his face. "Stop what you are doing, Rafael…" The boy looked up at him in surprise as Ratchet began gathering materials. "Let me help you make your volcano. I highly doubt that little thing made of paper is going to hold up very well by the time you get to school."

Azura watched in curiosity and shakes her head at Ratchet's insistence on helping Raf as she focused on her project. Arcee walked over to Azura as she had noticed that Azura seemed to be very unhappy at the moment, and she was curious to know why. "Are you feeling okay, Azura?" The girl jumped in surprise when she was addressed. "You seemed to be upset about something."

Azura looked away from Arcee for a moment before looking back at her. "I had the impulse to follow Optimus through the bridge. I have come to realize, even when I go to school, I don't like being away from him for that long. And…" She glanced at the kids for a moment before continuing to speak quietly to Arcee. "Optimus has been…um…"

"You have gotten accustomed to Optimus putting you to berth, right?" Arcee smirked and Azura nodded. "That isn't a surprise, Azura. You are developing a close bond with him, and you feel safe with him. Plus, you are still very young and attaching to your carrier is no unusual at all." Azura shifted uncomfortably as the conversation was close to the children, but they were paying attention to Ratchet as the medic was busy making something. "I also suspect you wanted him to hug or kiss you before he left."

She tensed a little and became a bit shy. "Yeah…I guess…but…" She looked at Arcee with an embarrassed expression. "What about when I get hungry?"

"I suppose that will just mean one of us will feed you low-grade." Azura grimaced at the idea and looked back at her project to keep painting on the macaw figure. "I know Cliffjumper already told this to you, but any of us can feed you. Optimus will simply have the additional nutrients that carriers produce for their sparklings. Besides, Ratchet will most likely be the one to feed you."

She still didn't like the idea of it, but if she had to, she would. "Doesn't it make me bratty that I want to…have Optimus put me to berth, or that I want affection from him whenever he goes through the ground bridge?"

"You aren't stamping your feet and demanding it, Azura, because that would make you bratty. And you would find quickly that Optimus wouldn't tolerate that behavior." Azura was relieved to know that, and she also believed that Optimus would not tolerate bad behavior. She actually didn't want to be at the wrong end of the stick. "You are simply yearning for things that are normal and natural. You shouldn't feel bad about it. And once they…" Arcee gestured to the children. "Know about you and Optimus, you won't have to feel restricted."

"I guess." Azura was still nervous about the kids learning of her identity, but she definitely understood that things would be easier if they knew. But she wasn't sure on that. She looked at Ratchet as she saw the light of a wielder and she could hear the sound of it as well. "Why is Ratchet helping when he wasn't interested before?"

Arcee shrugged. "Honestly, Ratchet does things that confuse me sometimes. He did help a lot of younglings back on Cybertron with their education as well…maybe that has something to do with it." She raised an eyebrow as she saw Ratchet was making a large, metal volcano. "He's strangely excited about it too. At least you're finished with your project."

"If he does do anything to my project, I will make a big fuss," Azura said bluntly, finishing off the macaw figure and placing it down. "And one more animal, the black caiman." Arcee gave her a curious look and she smiled at her. "Caimans are a species of crocodilians. Like crocodiles and alligators."

"I see…" Arcee smiled as Azura picked up the cardboard figure to paint. "You really like the nature of this world, don't you?" The girl nodded happily and Arcee's smile softened. "I must admit, even though Cybertron has always been my home, I have wondered what the planet would look like if we had plants growing around the planet. You probably don't know, but the planet doesn't exactly have soil or any kind of plants growing on it. It's pretty much metal and energon."

"I have been shown a picture of what the planet looks like, Arcee," Azura said softly as she carefully painted over the figure. "I could tell there was no oceans, plants or anything like there is on Earth. I know Optimus has said that he would like to see plants, but I am not sure. It would depend on the planet's atmosphere."

"That is true, but I doubt plants on other world produce oxygen like the plants on this world," Arcee said softly. "The plants would be different and grow within their environment well. I know you might think of plants producing oxygen to allow humans on our planet, but we may not return home."

"I know, I guess we can only hope and dream," Azura said with a smile. "I am still hoping that Optimus will take me back to Alaska to watch the aurora lights. I know he will love it too."

"From what I have heard about the aurora borealis, I can safely say he will definitely enjoy watching them with you, Azura," Arcee said confidently. "I kind of want to see it for myself, but I won't ruin any moment you have with him."

"I know you won't." Azura dabbed the tip of the brush on the caiman figure as she was almost done with it. "I have been very happy with how we have spent time together, honestly. I am glad I came back and that we don't have to worry about Megatron." She glanced towards the ground bridge as she spoke. "But…I haven't forgotten what Starscream and Soundwave tried to do three years ago."

"I don't any of us has forgotten that night. Especially since we found you that time." Arcee saw that Jack was attempting to continue with his project at the moment. "I should probably see if I can continue to help Jack."

She chuckled softly as Arcee walked away. "If Ratchet will let you, of course."

Azura finished painting the black caiman as Arcee stepped away and she was happy as she wanted to let them dry before gluing them to her project. This gave her time to cleaning up the desk and brushes. She was just happy that she didn't make a huge enough mess that it would take hours to clean up. It only took a short time. She knew she would need to go wash her hands to get off the paint from her skin, but that wouldn't be a big deal. Most of the paint on her had dried, so she wasn't spreading it around.

"Yip, yep, ep, ep! Don't touch!" Ratchet snapped, making Azura look over to see Ratchet speaking to Raf. The boy pulled his hands back from the volcano in alarm when told not to touch. "Just watch and learn." He refocused his attention and continued to wield the piece of metal together.

Bulkhead watched with a curious expression on his face as he watched. "So we're just gonna go help Jack and Miko finish their…"

"Without my supervision?!" Ratchet looked at Bulkhead in surprise that Bulkhead would suggest help the kids finish their projects. He stood up from where he was kneeling. "You want them to be right, don't you?" The bots glance at each other uncertainly as Ratchet's hand transformed into a wielder and a smile formed on his face. "Then watch a master at work!"

Azura chuckled softly as she stood up and walked over. She overheard Miko calling Ratchet a control freak, and Azura nodded. "At least my project is done," Azura commented as she placed her hands on the railing beside Miko. "I've never seen him act like this before."

"And I hope to not see this ever again," Jack added with a sigh. "I was almost done too…" He glanced over at the bike he was working on and was upset he couldn't continue it. "But I don't think Ratchet even knows how to build a bike engine."

"Hopefully he can work that out," Azura said softly with a chuckle. "Still…" She looked at Jack and Miko with a sympathetic expression. "The teachers are certainly going to remember it for the wrong reasons."

The two of them nodded in agreement. "And we're generally ignored by everyone else. Ugh! Vince is totally going to use that as ammunition against us." Jack rubbed his face in frustration. "I should have picked something else. An ecosystem seems way better than a bike."

"Or the solar system," Miko added in an agreeing tone. "Hopefully Ratchet won't destroy your project."

"He won't, I'll make sure of it." Azura leaned against the railing as she watched curiously. "Why can't you make something else, Ratchet?" The medic looked at her in surprise. "Something that we could enjoy seeing everyday, and not to be used for a school project sounds much better to me."

Ratchet blinked in surprise and shook his head. "You do want your friends to be right, don't you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, they were right before, Ratchet. The idea of school assignments is us to do it ourselves."

"Yip, ep, ep!" He looked at her with a frown. "It will be all okay, Azura. Just you wait and see." He looked back down at the volcano with a smirk. "I am almost finished here, and I will start helping Miko with her solar system project."

Azura shrugged a little and looked at Jack and Miko. "Sorry, I tried." She looked at Raf as the boy walked up the stairs, seemingly feeling defeated that Ratchet took over the project. "You can always try to finish your volcano at home, Raf. And your model of the solar system just needs to dry, Miko."

"Hmmm, guess you're right," Miko smiled as she thought about it. "I guess it should be fine."

Azura and the others were forced to watch Ratchet create the different projects that he insisted the kids take to school. She had been worried he would try and take over her project, but he thankfully did not. When the paint dried, she glued the animal figures to her project and she was ready to take it to school with her the next day. But as the day did start coming to a close, it became clear that Optimus and Bee would not be back in time. Raf went with Bulkhead and Miko to be taken home by the end of the night and Arcee took Jack home, leaving Azura alone with Ratchet. Even though Azura wished for Optimus to come home soon.