Azura opened her eyes slowly as she woke up. She didn't know what time it was, but she could hear a familiar spark pulse. She smiled a little and she stretched out her arms and legs with a light yawn. She didn't know if Optimus was awake or not, but she felt an angry growl in her stomach. She realized she had missed out having some low-grade energon. She yawned again and rubbed the side of her head with a groan.

She jumped as she felt a shift around her. She had not been expecting it, but she felt as though Optimus was sitting up. She smiled as the chassis open and she saw his hand reaching in. She was quick to reach out to grab his hand and smiled as he gently gathered her into his hands to cradle her. She rubbed her eyes and looked up at Optimus with a weary smile. She yawned again with a stretch of her arms and legs.

"Good morning, Azura," Optimus said gently as he closed his chassis and held her against him gently. "You seemed to recharge well after your horrible nightmare. How are you feeling now?"

She shrugged a little as she rests her cheek on his chassis. "I feel hungry. I missed feeding last night." Optimus smiled as he opened the panel on his chassis to bring out the fuel line. She smiles at him as she took a hold of the fuel line. "Thanks, Optimus. I feel a bit better. I think when I wake up more, I will be able to tell you what I feel exactly."

He hummed gently as the fuel flowed through the fuel line. "I fully understand, Azura. Take your time on waking up. Once you feed, I'll take you to Ratchet."

Azura frowned in surprise. "Why? Aren't we going to spend the day together? We were supposed to go to the tropical island."

"I am sorry, Azura. We will not be heading the to the tropical island today." He softened his expression as Azura seemed to be getting upset. "I intend on heading to the Arctic to look for clues regarding the pod that we found yesterday. We can go to the island tomorrow."

Azura relaxed and felt better knowing the reason for the change of plans. "I guess I understand. As long as you don't freeze to death. I don't want to be separated again."

He leaned down slightly to kiss her forehead gently. "I don't want you to feel worried and afraid, Azura. Everything will be fine. Bumblebee and Bulkhead went to the Arctic, and they returned safely." She knew that, but she also knew that it was different because it was Optimus. "You will be fine, Azura. I understand that you don't like being separated, and that I am going somewhere that I could end up freezing, but it will not end that way."

"Well…I guess…I was just looking forward to today." Azura placed her mouth over the end of the fuel line to drink energon.

"I know. But tomorrow will be the day we go there, and I promise we will spend some extra time there together. Along with some training at the start." She smiled as she was unsurprised, and she also wanted to train properly. She was still trying to understand what Optimus meant, and how to apply it to her abilities. "You will get to enjoy the day with Ratchet. He said something about doing some simply Cybertronian lessons today."

She looked at him in surprise. "Really? You think I might learn some Cybertronian today?"

"It seems to be possible, but I am not a hundred percent sure." He rubbed her back gently with his thumb as she drank. It took a bit for Azura to even realize she wasn't in her own room. She was in Optimus's berth room, and he was sitting on his berth. "Even if it is not today, he I'd planning to do it very soon."

Azura was happy about that as she did want to learn about Cybertronian. Even if it would not be today, it sounds like Ratchet is preparing for her first lesson. She still hoped that Optimus would help as she wanted it to be something they both could do together as well. She guessed that they could be waiting for her to not be having nightmares, which she understood. She did feel tired today, and she knew it was likely because of the nightmare she had last night. But she at least had a dreamless sleep for the last part of the night.

She sighed as she soon had enough of the low-grade energon and Optimus shut off the flow when he noticed. He stood up from the berth and walked towards the door. "I will take you to your room first to get changed before we head to the lobby."

Azura nodded as she sipped the last drop of the energon and licked her lips as she felt satisfied again. "Who are you going with to the Arctic?"

"Arcee will be accompanying me today. Bumblebee and Bulkhead do not need their systems exposed to sub zero temperatures again within a short time frame." She guessed that was something Ratchet said, but it also made sense. "I do believe there could be clues to give us answers about the pod."

"And what if it doesn't? Would that make the mission a failure?" Azura did not know how Optimus saw that sort of thing, so she was curious.

Optimus smiled as he walked out of the room and turned towards her room. It made Azura realize that his room was practically next to hers. "It is not a failure, Azura. We do not know what the pod contains. The design of it seems old to me, so it certainly has been here on this planet for many years."

"At least it wasn't excavated by humans," Azura commented as she knew that it could be bad if humans found it.

Optimus nodded in agreement as he walked through the doors to her room. "I do believe that anything that might be of Cybertronian technology should not be found by humans. I may not be of Earth, but we are aware of some of the history of this planet."

She smirked for a moment and chuckled. "Good. At least you know that having better technology would be bad news for humans. I hate to say it, but there are too many evil people in high places who would use your technology for evil purposes."

"I agree. Unfortunately, evil is not contained to one single race." He knelt down upon reaching her wardrobe and opened it. "Evil is not born, it is nurtured throughout life. I know that all too well."

"I don't suppose there is a full story about why Megatron became a decepticon?" Azura asked curiously. She had wondered why Megatron became what he was, so she was curious.

Optimus's face changed briefly. She could see the hurt in his expression and he grabbed out a purple dress with silver star patterns on the bottom. "I will tell you the story eventually, Azura. But you should understand that it was a painful time for me. Especially when I once looked up to Megatron many years ago."

"I understand." She looked at the dress and smiled at him. "I forgot that I bought this dress. It's one of my favorites." Optimus smiled as he began to undress her. Azura had become a little too used to having someone else dress her, but she quite enjoyed it. "I know I'm supposed to have coverings when I get bigger, but…I don't suppose we could make dresses for me? I don't know if I want to stop wearing dresses just become my human appearance disappears."

"I think you will be surprised at what we can achieve," Optimus responded as he finished removing her pajamas and began slipping the dress on. "And I think we can do that for you. I must admit, I too like the dresses. We might be able to scan them to create Cybertronian dresses for you."

"That would be wonderful!" Azura said cheerfully. She smiled once her dress was on. "I do like purple. Not the purple of Unicron's eyes, of course.

Optimus chuckled gently and kissed her forehead. "I know, I know. I am concerned that you are dreaming of Unicron suddenly. Is that who you dreaming of the past several nights too?" She tensed slightly before nodding. "Hmm…I know Unicron was banished many years ago, and we do not know where he is. But I know for one thing, there is one being he would be fearful of. And it wouldn't be me or the Matrix." Azura widened her eyes as she didn't like what he was trying to say. "The being who helped the Primes would be the one he would fear, because she also rivalled the same power as Primus at the time."

"Wait…really?" Azura was shocked as she never heard that before. "Are…wait, what creature are you talking about?" She could not help but grasp the crystal nervously around her neck. She was very uncomfortable about this.

"You already know what I am talking about, Azura," Optimus said gently before his optics widen slightly before projecting an image. And image of the celestial dragon that helped the Primes to defeat Unicron. "I am talking about this being. And I do believe part of her exists in you. You already seem to possess some of her abilities. I don't know how much you do have."

Azura felt very nervous. "So…d-does this mean…this dragon…if Unicron fears her, he would fear me, right?" He nodded affirmatively. "But how? I-I am just a…I am still an infant!"

"And that's why I think he could be sending threats to you, if he's not slumbering." Azura threw her arms around his neck suddenly, surprising Optimus. He placed his hand on her back. "Easy there, Azura. He's not going to hurt you if you are only seeing him in your nightmare."

"I hope that's true. Because I don't like it." Azura was trembling slightly and Optimus smiled, realizing he had frightened her unintentionally. "Can we go out to the lobby now? I am dressed, and I don't need my hair to be brushed."

Optimus nodded as he stood up. She kept her arms around his neck and he smiled at her. "I see you seem to know about the dragon I am talking about." He felt her tense as soon as he said that. "I have a feeling you have been having dreams that might be telling you answers. Am I correct?"

Azura was shocked that Optimus would even know that. It never occurred to her he would work it out. "Uh…um…y-yes, you are. Um…Primus…he was helping me."

"I am not surprised." He wasn't? "Primus would want to reach out to you. You are very special. But I have a feeling you learned something in your dream and that is why you started to have nightmares. Would you like to tell me?"

Azura shook her head. She could not tell him that she is also Megatron's daughter. Though she felt so confused. She felt like she had more than two parents at this point. Though she knew it was only CNA, but that is what it felt like. She was a product of Megatron's evil, but she had the power of the Matrix and the dragon in her, along with being a daughter of a Prime…it was just so much.

Why am I so complicated?

Optimus could tell it would take some time before Azura would open up to whatever had spiraled her into these rounds of nightmares. He wouldn't push her however. "Whenever you are ready to tell me, Azura, I will listen intently."

"I am sure you will," Azura said in a soft, small voice. "But…you won't like it."

That got his curiosity. Optimus couldn't think of anything immediately that comes to his mind regarding what she might tell him that he won't like. Nonetheless, he would still listen even if he did not like what she had to say. Still, he was curious about what Azura had learned from Primus. The fact she already knew about the dragon was curious to him. He knew the being by a different name, but he would stick with the name dragon as that is what she called it.

Azura was happy that Optimus did not pry any further. She was just surprised that he seemed to know she was having these type of dreams. She didn't know if it was obvious or not, but that didn't matter. She was happy that he wasn't mad at her about it. Still, she had no idea about how he would feel about knowing who her sire is. That was a piece of information she was scared to tell.

Upon entering the lobby, Azura saw Ratchet and Arcee. Ratchet was tinkering with something in his hand. It looked like a small metal piece. "What are you working on?" Azura asked curious.

Ratchet looked at her with a smile. "Optimus asked me to assist with this. We are making your first protective coverings." She widened her eyes in surprise. "They're not finished, and they are not painted yet, but you are free to tell us the color you want before we finish it."

"Uh…um…" Azura frowned as she wasn't entirely happy about it. Ratchet immediately noticed and felt bad. "Thanks, I guess."

"I am sorry, I forget how sensitive this topic is for you," Ratchet said gently, looking down at the piece for a moment. He put it on his desk and stood up. "But no matter, you will be fine, Azura." She knew she would be, she still just felt upset about it. "You and I get to spend a bit of time together while Arcee and Optimus leave us. I was thinking about showing you something you might like. Since I know how creative you are."

Azura was interested and Optimus placed her down on the platform. "What are you trying to tell me, Ratchet? Is it some kind of art that Cybertronians do?"

Ratchet nodded affirmatively. "It sure is. I know you have your art to finish, so I won't stop you from finishing your assignment. But I know you might enjoy the hobby."

She smiled as she thought about the prospect. "Okay, I'll bite. It sounds very interesting, and exciting."

Ratchet nodded as he walked over to the bridge controls. "But this is the first thing I need to do." He put the coordinates into the controls and activated the ground bridge. "It is a shame that you don't get to go to a tropical island today, Optimus."

"It would seem not." Optimus walked towards the vortex. "Arcee and I will search for any clue which might explain the origin of our Arctic find."

Ratchet had pulled out some kind of scanner again like he had before and was pressing buttons on it. "Only until your sensors sound." He looked at Optimus with a serious expression. "Remember, once your core temperature drops into the blue zone, system failures aren't likely, they're imminent." Azura shuddered at the very thought of that. "That and also, Azura here, would like to see the both of you return without freezing your tailpipes off."

"And you can be sure we will be back as soon as possible," Arcee said to Azura with a confident smile. "At least if you want to enjoy some snow, you could probably make use of one of the empty halls and create a snow paradise for yourself."

Azura smiled at the idea. "Yeah…but…" She shrugged as she knew that it might not be possible. "I won't be able to share that enjoyment with the others. If I were to do that, I would want Jack, Miko and Raf to know. But they don't yet, so…I don't think so."

"And the last thing we need is a room full of melted snow," Ratchet commented with a smirk. "Unless Azura can somehow clean it up."

"I would just figure out how to evaporate it, and it should all be fine." She looked at Optimus with a smile. "Though you know snow isn't always nice. And you're about to walk into the worst part of snow. Especially if there is a storm at the other end."

Optimus nodded with a smile and turned his head upon hearing two engines entering the base. Ratchet seemed surprised to see Bulkhead and Bumblebee arriving. Azura had not realized he had been expecting the kids to be at school, but Azura was happy as she had wanted to rope Jack into helping her with her art project. She didn't know if he enjoyed art or not, but she figured he might enjoy that.

Bulkhead opened the door and Miko poked her head out with a smile. "Miss us, doc bot?" Miko asked in a cheerful voice.

Ratchet groaned loudly with a roll of his optics. "Shouldn't they be in school?" He looked at Azura who giggled. "That is what I thought I would have to do today."

"On Saturday?" Miko was amused that Ratchet would assume that, and the medic was less than pleased with that. "We have the whole weekend off to spend with you."

"I would have thought you would know, Ratchet." The medic grumbled as he listened to Azura who was still giggling at him. "Already one weekend has passed. Don't tell me you still thought today was Friday? Am I the only one who is having trouble realizing what day of the week is?"

Ratchet looked at her with concern. "Should I be worried?"

She giggled some more and shook her head. "Nah, I am just messing you with." The medic was relieved, but he was also very unimpressed with her joke. "Don't mind me, Ratchet. But I am also amused that you forgot that today is a Saturday. They were here last weekend too."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." The medic was still unhappy about it as he was annoyed by the humans. Although, Azura had noticed that Ratchet seemed to have some respect to Jack. It was subtle, but not enough.

Jack walked towards Arcee curiously. "I wasn't expecting to carpool. What gives Arcee?"

"Tag team, Jack," The femme responded, stepping closer to the boy. "It's my turn for exploration duty."

Jack put on a sarcastic smirk on his face. "Ah, too bad. It's a beautiful day for a ride." He turns his head slightly to side eye her with his arms folded playfully. "Would hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors."

Arcee smirked in amusement at Jack's tone and attempted persuasion. "Arctic exploration duty."

Understanding where the two bots were heading two, Jack was quick to backtrack. "Indoors where it's warm."

She giggled softly as Jack walked towards the platform. He gave her a polite wave and she looked over to Raf who seemed to be very intrigued about where Optimus and Arcee were going. "The Arctic? I've always wanted to see snow." Raf sounded so excited about the thought.

"I would invite you to join, Rafael," Optimus responded to the boy kindly. "But the conditions are much too extreme. Even for we autobots." He gestured to himself slightly as he spoke of the conditions they would be facing.

Raf understood though. "I understand."

Optimus and Arcee turned to the vortex before Prime paused for a moment. "But…" He turned back with a smile on his face. "I will bring you back a snowball."

"That would be awesome!" Raf said enthusiastically at the offer.

Azura was a little envious of the offer, but she didn't complain. She watched Optimus and Arcee walk into the vortex. "I hope you come back soon," She said in a very quiet tone. She felt nervous about the two bots leaving the base, and she would soon have a far bigger reason to be nervous.

Ratchet watched the two bots walk into the vortex as he stood by the ground bridge. "Transport complete." He turned back to check the destination coordinates when there was a sudden spark explosion from the controls, startling Azura and Ratchet. He gasped in shock at the sudden explosion. "By the All Spark!"

Azura ran over to the railing in a panic as she stared at the controls as smoke rose from it. "Wha…huh…what happened? Why did it happen?" She gasped as she looked at the tunnel. "Please tell me that they made it through! Uh, th-th-they will be able to make it back, won't they? Uh, and what…"

"Azura, please calm down," Ratchet told the girl calmly as tears fill her eyes as he worked to figure out what had just happened. "Optimus and Arcee made through the ground bridge just fine. Give me a moment to figure out what happened, and I should be able to remedy the cause. Relax, please. I need to concentrate."

Azura was still feeling very nervous and worried, and on the verge of panic. "Um…o-okay. I will try not to panic, but…" She looked back at the tunnel again and looked back at Ratchet. "Optimus said i-it takes like an hour and half or something to freeze, right?"

"That is the average, yes, but that will depend on both the temperature and conditions of the Arctic at this time," Ratchet responded. He grumbled for a moment and looked up from the controls, noticing that Bee and Bulkhead were standing by the platform with the children. "Bulkhead! Bumblebee! Here, now!"

Azura was surprised that those two bots didn't even notice. She couldn't help but start to pace. She needed to try and relieve some of that nervousness, and not distract Ratchet from fixing the ground bridge. She would calm down as soon as the bridge was fixed, but in the meantime, she was on the verge of panic, and she wanted to scream and cry. She managed to keep those emotions in check for the time being as she did not wish to cause commotion. Especially with Jack, Miko and Raf in the lobby.

Both bots walk over, seemingly annoyed that Ratchet had shouted at them. Bulkhead himself was frowning as he walked over. "You can't boss us around just because the boss is out!" Azura frowned at the bot, but he didn't notice her glance at this time.

"I need some heavy lifting," Ratchet explained in a quick, yet calm tone. It was clear to Azura he was not letting his nervousness show to keep her as calm as possible. "The ground bridge is down."

"What? What about Optimus and Arcee?!" Bumblebee asked in concern immediately.

"Optimus and Arcee made it through just fine, it's bringing them back that concerns me," Ratchet responded to the bot. He than points to the floor near the autobot badge symbol. "Now remove those panels, chop, chop." Bumblebee and Bulkhead glance at each other before they proceed over to remove the panels. "Hopefully this will just be a simple fix and the ground bridge will be fully operational in no time."

Azura gripped the railing as she watched the bots lift the panel up. She did not know what exactly could be under there, but when she saw there were numerous circuit boards underneath, she was surprised. She ran down the stairs and over to the panel. She mostly wanted to see if there was damage, but also, as Ratchet dropped to one knee, she placed her hands on his leg. He looked at her in surprise as he had not expected her to be there. But he smiled and allowed her to be near as he began to check the circuit boards. She didn't quite understand it, but that didn't matter.

Bumblebee noticed Azura's worry and he crouched down, getting her attention. "You will learn that Ratchet is very good at what he does, Azura. I don't know half of the stuff he knows, and all I know, is that he works very fast. Snap your fingers, and he'll get it done pronto!"

Azura frowned a little at Bee's attempt to comfort her. "Thanks, Bee. But…I know that this kind of stuff can take time." She tensed and suddenly hid around Ratchet's leg as the lights dim suddenly. She had been startled by the sudden change of light as she wasn't expecting it. Ratchet ignored her as he knew she felt safe with him. "Uh…now the lights are playing up?" She shuddered and nibbled at her fingers nervously. "W-What is going on?"

"It is odd that just seems to happen around the same time the bridge is down," Bulkhead said thoughtfully before shrugging. "No matter. It isn't the main thing to worry about, Azura. Our optics glow in the dark, so you will have no problem. Actually…" He lowered his voice so the kids would not here. "You might not have noticed, but we see very well in the dark."

Azura just frowned, not feeling convinced at all. "Maybe we do…but…I don't like the dark much…I like that the base isn't dark all the time. Even in my room, the lights are still on, even if they are dim. I much prefer that, then a dark room." She knew sleeping within Optimus's chassis was dark, but she was with him, and that didn't really count.

"Don't listen to Bulkhead," Bumblebee said gently. "I used to be scared of the dark too. I was too scared to stay in my own room most of the time. You are actually braver than I was." She didn't know what he meant by that, but she listened to Bee anyway. "But I must have annoyed some bots. Anyway, when I went to try and recharge as a youngling once, Hot Rod thought it would be funny to tickle my shoulders. I nearly brought the room down on the both of us at my reaction." She smiled a little as she tried to picture how Bee reacted. "It took a long time for me to brave the dark. Because I can't always have light when I recharge. Sometimes I still get nervous about the dark, but you don't need to worry. Most of what you see in the dark is your imagination."

She looked away shyly as she knew he was right. "Yeah…I know…I guess I just cannot help but…" She jumped again when the lights dim once more. She groaned loudly and trembled. "I hope you can get the bridge back and stop the lights dimming."

Ratchet did not respond to Azura as he focused on check the circuits. He had firm expression on his face, and Azura did not wish to interrupt him. She noticed that Jack and Miko seemed to have noticed the dimming of the lights, and it might have affected their computer game as they were walking down the stairs. They had finally noticed something was happening. She saw Raf was not with them, which was odd. But Azura did not question it as she looked back at the panel to see Ratchet pull out one of the circuits.