Azura had her hands raised as she laughed loudly while Bulkhead rolled down a steep, rocky slope. He had been finding slopes for the last ten minutes, and she has been having a heap of fun. Bulkhead was having a lot of fun as well as it was great to know that Azura enjoyed these kinds of activities like and Miko did. But she got to spend time with him, which he felt bad since he didn't get to spend a lot of time with her like he should. At least this felt like a way to make it up to her. Azura was thinking of other things they could do though, as she would get bored of this after a while. And with the rain inevitably coming, she was thinking of what else they could do before the rain would fall. She did hope to convince him to have a mud fight with her when it did start to rain.

When Bulkhead reached the bottom of the slope, Azura looked around for s moment to see what else was around. "Hmm…what else should we do, Bulkhead? This is a lot of fun, but rolling down steep slopes can get boring. Is there a body of water nearby?"

"There is. I guess we can go to it." Bulkhead turned to the left to make his way to the lake. "Hmm…well, there is another thing we could do. It will be similar to the game of bowling, but we will be using boulders. If there were tall boulders, we could play, as the goal will be to knock the most boulders down to win."

"Interesting…rock bowling." She giggled as that sounded like fun. "Maybe we should if it is possible. But I was thinking showing you how to skip stones on a lake. That's fun, especially if you challenge yourself to see how far you can get the stone to skip."

"Skipping stones? Never heard that one before. That actually sounds like a good idea to try. Hopefully it will work for me." Azura giggled as she was certain it would still work for him. "It is good that you have learned about different activities from humans, Azura. Especially if they are activities we are able to so, as it really makes it interesting and exciting for all of us."

"Hopefully Wheeljack can come back at some point to play some more as well," Azura said as she thought about him. "It was too bad he decided to leave…but I guess he isn't the type to sort of stay in the same place for too long."

"I think because Wheeljack has been exploring the galaxies for so long, he has just gotten used to moving from one place to another," Bulkhead said gently as he knew that Azura missed him. So did he, of course. "I can't blame him for that reasoning. Plus, there are many autobots scattered across the galaxies out there, Azura. Wheeljack does have an important mission on finding others, and I think that is just as important as her duty here on Earth."

"I suppose that is true. I would have liked another family member around, but he will be back. I am sure of it." Azura bounced on the chair excitedly as she stared out the window. "How much further until we reach the lake? I really want to do some stone skipping. You can go faster."

"I could go faster, but I am afraid I can't, Azura. Optimus's orders." She rolled her optics with a light chuckle as she fully understood. "But don't worry yourself, we are almost there. And we can get more of that energy out of you. Even if we have to play some hide and seek."

Azura gasped excitedly as that sounded like a good idea. "Ooh! That sounds like fun! But then I might be in trouble for running too far from you. So probably not a great idea…maybe tag though, but even that might be pushing the boundaries a little." She shrugged with a light chuckle. "I can go back to making dolls when we get back at least."

"And you can pretend they are high council leaders at a meeting," Bulkhead suggested, making her giggle at the idea. "I haven't seen you play with the toys yet. Do you?"

"Not really. I would rather hug or carry them around than play with them," Azura said with a shrug. She widened her optics as she spotted the glimmer of water as Bulkhead drove by a boulder. "Oh! We're getting closer!" She giggled excitedly ass she moved to her knees to bounce gently. "And it will probably rain very soon. I can feel it."

"That's helpful. I didn't know you could feel when it is going to rain. That's pretty cool." Bulkhead was very impressed by that. He knew she could control the weather and elements, but he didn't know she could sense when natural events happen. That was a handy ability to have. "You are very special, that is for sure."

Azura rolled her optics again as she was well aware of that. But she liked being treated like a normal sparkling, though she wasn't sure if she was. She hasn't seen how other sparklings get treated since she is the only sparkling in existence currently, so she couldn't exactly look at how the autobots treat their sparklings until they have more. If they ever have more, of course. Azura did assume that she was treated like a normal sparkling, so that was fine.

"I know, but I like to think I am special because I have a great family. Not because I have some special relation to the Matrix and dragon, so…you know…I prefer that kind of special. I did used to think I was an orphan a long time ago." Bulkhead was glad that Azura did not feel the need to brag about her abilities. She was happy with a family, as that mattered to her more than having her abilities. "I also prefer it when I'm not training because I am spending time with you guys. I know I was able to levitate those boulders before, but that was for fun. Not for training."

"I am sure Optimus knows that, which is why he does not make you train all the time. Plus, you are still studying Cybertronian, right?" She nodded while her optics were glued on the lake as Bulkhead turned towards it. "Even if it is casual, you really will be okay, Azura. You are very intelligent, so enjoy being young. We might live much longer than humans do, but being young certainly does not last forever."

"I definitely will. I intend to. So long as the decepticons allow it as well." Azura shrugged and watched Bulkhead stop by the lake. She opened the door and ran out towards the lake happily and she stood by the calm lake as she looked over it. "This is going to be fun…an interesting." She glanced at Bulkhead as he transformed before she looked down. "The first thing you will need is a smooth rock." Azura hummed as she looked around on the ground before spotting one. She leaned down to pick it up and show it to Bulkhead. "Like this one."

Bulkhead observed the shape of the small rock and looked around for one he could use. It took a moment before he found one, and he picked it. "Alright, I have one. Now what do we do?"

Azura giggled as she looked at the lake. "Skipping stones is about how you through the stone. You can't skip a stone with an overarm throw, you need to throw the stone in a sweeping motion, and make sure it lands on the smooth side or it sinks. I'll show you." Azura threw her stone and watched it skip five times along the surface of the water before sinking. "Like that. It can go further, but practice makes it easier." Azura looked up at Bulkhead with a grin as he moved closer to the lake. "Give it a try, Bulkhead. I am sure a larger stone will skip across the water. It is physics in a way."

Bulkhead chuckled softly. "Well, the rock I picked up is not a big, heavy boulder. So let's see if I can get it to skip along the water." Azura watched as Bulkhead copied her action as he threw the rock and she watched it hit the water, and she squealed excitedly as the larger rock skipped across the water surface seven times. Bulkhead pumped his fist happily. "Hooyah! That's fun!"

"Okay, now you know how to skip a rock." Azura picked up some more smooth rocks. "Now we need to see who can skip the furthest. Let's see who can make the rock skip ten times first. That's a pretty good target to hit."

"I managed to get seven, that shouldn't be too hard." Bulkhead sounded very confident as he picked up some smooth rocks. He gestured for Azura politely. "You go first, Azura. And remember, this is just a fun game."

"I know." Azura threw the rock in a sweeping motion, and watched as it skipped across the water seven times. "Scrap! Ah well. This is a lot of fun."

Bulkhead chuckled as he skipped his next rock, getting nine skips on the second try. "It is." He looked at Azura as she skipped the next rock, getting eight skips again. "Hmm…if I had some way to communicate with Wheeljack, I would certainly tell him you've grown another foot." She looked at him in surprise before she giggled shyly. "I'm serious. You used to me…" He leaned down and held his hand by her shoulder. "You used to stand this high, which is Jack's height. Despite the fact you are rather small for you age, I think you're actually going to bulk out rather quickly. You might be taller than Arcee."

"I doubt it."

Bulkhead shrugged and skipped another rock, watching it hit the water six times this time. "You might not know this, but Megatron is taller than Optimus." She flinched upon hearing his name and frowned a little. "I know you probably feel uncomfortable talking about Megatron, but I can't help but wonder what he would do if he knew you survived."

Azura did not know if she would like to think about it, but it did make her curious. "What would have Megatron been like as a sire? With everything I have heard, I don't think I would want to meet him if he were still alive…but…I thought I was an orphan for so long, it would be good to get closure."

"To be honest, I think Megatron would be quite intrigued that you are the only survivor. He might think it is because you are a daughter of a Prime, but he would also view it as an achievement in himself. After all, you also survived the journey to this world, and you survived the first seventeen years without us." Bulkhead skipped another rock, not really counting as he thought about it. "That in itself would be impressive enough. I think because you are strong, he would be gentle with you. Though I think only Optimus can really answer that. He knew him best before he became a decepticon."

Azura rubbed her fingers over one of the rocks before throwing it and watching it skip across the lake. "Well…that's not really comforting, Bulkhead. I am still in the middle of deciding whether I really should accept Megatron being my sire…I know if should, since he did…well…create me before using that machine to ensure I ended up inside an autobot. And that is also still hard for me to accept."

"That Megatron created you for the purpose of destruction?" She nodded and took a deep intake as she was still troubled by it. "The thing is though, Azura, even if that was his purpose, he shouldn't have done that. Creating habloid sparks with a disorder or, I forget what Ratchet called it, anyway a malfunction in the new spark that causes them to implode and not be accepted within the bodies of their carriers was nothing short of evil. If anything, you were saved by Optimus before your protoform even formed."

"And yet you still think Megatron would be gentle with me based on that past?" Azura questioned with her arms folded. "I don't think so, Bulkhead. Maybe he would be kind, but…" She paused as she thought more on it. "While he is the reason I am here, daddy is all I need. If Megatron was alive, I would only want to see him from a distance."

The wrecker chuckled softly as he completely understood. "Yeah, I get it. Maybe you are also right. Though you would likely be kept alive as a ransom, of a sort…which would not be unusual for decepticons to do. Even if they have never held sparklings hostage before." Bulkhead shrugged as he skipped another rock. "But back to the topic, it is because both Optimus and Megatron are large mechs, I believe you'll be taller than Arcee. Maybe Bee's height, since he's not too much taller than her."

"It might get slowed by the plan Ratchet has for me to ensure I get all my proper systems. But not sure if that is true." Azura skipped another rock. She glanced at her arm as she felt the drip of a raindrop on her arm. "And here comes the rain." She heard the patter of the rain as it felt gently onto her body and smiled. "And I love it!"

Bulkhead watched as Azura opened her arms and began to run as the rain began to fall harder around them. He did not know if Azura was causing it or not, but he enjoyed watching the girl have the time of her life right now. He placed the stones down as he watched her run around and giggled loudly. She wasn't bothered at all, and he was truly happy she was having fun. He didn't try to chase her for the time being as he knew it was not necessary. She was running around close to the lake, and she was really enjoying herself.

Azura kept running until she spotted a very soggy area that was full of mud. Azura ran over to it and stopped before tapping her foot on it. She giggled before she jumped into the mud suddenly. Bulkhead as a little alarmed, but he saw she was unharmed after the landing in the mud caused it to splatter. He chuckled and shook his head. Ratchet would be fuming if he was here and saw her getting herself dirty. He did not know what Optimus would do, but Bulkhead would allow it since she wasn't getting hurt.

He watched as Azura stood back up and jumped around in the mud, completely ignoring the fact she was getting it stuck on her legs and hips currently. She giggled as she watched the mud splutter and she kicked at it as well before she knelt down and began to dig out the mud to begin making little sculptures. Bulkhead was amused as Azura really had a creative side to her. This certainly was not something Optimus or Megatron had, as far as he knew. But it was nice to see this was something she had.

Azura hummed to herself happily as she worked on making random shapes, starting with horses and humans as an easy thing to make. And the rain wasn't washing it away quickly, so it was a lot of fun for her. She then began making rabbits, birds and other shapes in the mud, completely ignoring Bulkhead as he waited patiently for her to get bored and think of something else, or want to go home. Azura still had a lot of energy though, so Bulkhead was not so sure.

After about five minutes, Azura looked up at Bulkhead and saw he was deep in thought. She giggled as she stood up and picked up a handful of mud before she threw it at him. Bulkhead yelped in surprise when the mud hit his cheek and he looked at her in shock. Azura threw up her fists with a giggle as she saw she hit her target. "Yes! I got you!"

Bulkhead wiped his cheek with the back of his hand and grinned at her as she jumped up and down excitedly. "Hmm, did you?" She looked at him before she knelt down and picked up some more mud. "Azura, I told you a mud fight may not…OOF!" He stumbled back as she threw the mud and it hit him right in the middle of his face and splattered on his optics. "My optics!"

Azura giggled as she watched Bulkhead wipe the mud from his optics. It was hilarious the way he reacted to getting the mud in his face. "Come on, Bulkhead! Cliffjumper would have dove right in and began a mud fight with me. Are you going to try now?"

Bulkhead grumbled as he finished wiping the mud from his optics and looked at Azura with an amused frown. "Don't say that I didn't warn you, Azura. If you get hurt, don't blame me. This was your idea after all." He gathered a small handful of mud, and Azura giggled as she picked up some and threw it at him. The mud splats on his right shoulder and he threw the mud in his hand at her. Azura giggled, covering her face as the mud hit her stomach. "Ah, ha! Got ya!"

Azura looked at him mischievously and threw more mud at him. Bulkhead chuckled and the two began to have the mud fight that Azura has been wanting. And Bulkhead realized that he wasn't hurting her, or it wasn't bothering her like he thought it would. He was glad that she managed to convince him. It made spending time with her a lot of fun, even though Bulkhead knew Ratchet was going to have a lot to say when he trudges mud into the base.

They ran around throwing mud and using large boulders as cover. It was a lot of fun, and neither one cared about the amount of rain still pouring around them. It did help to wash away the mud from their bodies at least, that was the main thing they had been worried about. But they didn't care. They could easily use the lake to wash off the mud, but Bulkhead knew how sparklings were when it came to trying to bathe them after getting dirty. He knew Azura enjoyed her baths, but that didn't mean she wouldn't play.

"Are you giving up yet?" Azura taunted as she threw another handful of mud at Bulkhead's face, hitting the side of his head with a giggle. "I could do this for the rest of the day!"

Bulkhead huffed in amusement and threw mud at Azura, hitting her chassis and making her squeal and fall to the ground giggling. "I could do the same. But we won't be able to. We can keep playing until Optimus…" He tensed with a start as Azura suddenly let out a loud scream and he looked at her to see her optics were wide with panic. "What is it, Azura?"

Azura looked around and began to feel her hands on the ground before holding up the chain she used for the Cybertronian crystal. And there was no crystal on it anymore. "My crystal! It's gone! It's gone!"

Bulkhead widened his optics as he realized why she was panicking, and the sparkling began to desperately look around for the crystal. "Huh…it should not be too far, Azura. Looks like it only just fell off." He looked around on the ground as Azura frantically looked around on the ground to find the crystal. "I couldn't have gone far." Bulkhead looked around to see if the crystal had been thrown accidently, and it could be nearby. He could not see the crystal yet, but he knew it was near. "We will find it, Azura. You will see."

Azura did not respond as she began to cry. She was still looking for the crystal frantically while tears blurred her optics. She couldn't see it or feel it, so she stood up to run around looking for it. Bulkhead worried she would run from him, so he followed her while looking for the crystal. He did not know how necessary it was for Azura to even have the crystal, but given the significance surrounding the crystal itself, he knew it meant a great deal to Azura.

She continued to run around frantically for the crystal. She couldn't see it, and the rain was not helping. She turned to face Bulkhead, and she saw he looked at her before he seemed to act surprised. "The crystal is gone! It's lost!" She sniffled loudly and held up her arms to him. "I want to go home…"

Bulkhead leaned down and gently held her arms with his hands, making her frown at him as he smiled at her gently. "Um…the crystal is not lost, actually." She stopped crying for a moment as she thought he had it. "It looks like something did happen, and you just did not notice." She frowned and sniffled as she was about to sob again. "Look down at your chest. You will see exactly what I mean, Azura."

Azura definitely was confused, but she looked down anyway, and she widened her optics with a gasp. On the middle of her chassis was the Cybertronian crystal. This was not what she expected. Her chassis had somehow opened or formed a teardrop shape as the crystal was not embedded in the chassis. And Azura touched the crystal to see that it was unlikely to remove it. The crystal was glowing lightly, and it felt warm to the touch as well. Despite the fact it was now literally a part of her, she was still upset.

Bulkhead saw that the sparkling was upset and he lifts her into his arms and held her against his chassis, which she quickly snuggled against and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as best as she could. "Easy there, Azura. You at least did not lose the crystal, there was just a simple change for some reason. You can calm down now."

Azura sobbed into Bulkhead's shoulder. She wasn't panicked anymore, but she was still upset. She was worked up by this now, and she wanted to go home. "I want daddy."

Bulkhead sighed with a smile. "I suppose we should go back. We have been having fun for about four hours straight anyway." Bulkhead opened the com link to the base. "Bulkhead, to base. Ratchet, can you open the ground bridge? Azura is ready to come home."

"I can hear her crying." Bulkhead grimaced as he heard Ratchet's blunt comment. He knew that Ratchet was immediately suspicious, but he knew it would be fine when he explains what has happened. "I am opening the bridge, Bulkhead. I hope you have a good explanation."

"I do, don't worry. It is nothing that I did." Bulkhead rubbed Azura's back gently and turned his head as the vortex opened by him. "Alright, Azura. Let's get you home. We both are going to need a good bath too, even though most of the mud has been washed off by the rain."

Azura did not respond to Bulkhead. She was resting her cheek on his shoulder as he walked towards the vortex. She tried not to cry too loudly, but she guessed it wasn't enough. She wanted to be in Optimus's arms as she knew he would help her calm down, and understand why the crystal had now become part of her body. She didn't know if that was going to change anything or not, but she wouldn't know until they got home.

When Bulkhead walked through the vortex, he flinched as he saw Optimus waiting right in front of the ground bridge tunnel. Bulkhead smiled at Optimus while his leader immediately saw the mud on Bulkhead's shoulders and legs, and Ratchet gasped in horror as he saw the mud prints on the ground. "Before you get upset, Optimus, Azura is not crying because of anything I did."

Azura turned her head and stretched her arms to Optimus, and he took her from Bulkhead very quickly. "He's right…it's not his fault." She laid her cheek against Optimus's shoulder while he rubbed her back gently. Azura had mud stuck to her legs, shoulders and back, but that didn't matter. "My…m-my crystal…" She points to her chassis and Optimus noticed.

He widened his optics in surprise. "That is very unusual. I guess you must have thought you lost it." She nodded and rubbed her optics with her hands. "Hmm…that is certainly not what I expected." He gently touched the crystal on her chassis, and he assessed it was unable to be removed. "Ratchet, you might want to check her over."

Ratchet walked over as he was intrigued as well. "Huh…that is new to me." Ratchet stared at the girl before gesturing. "Alright, let's get her checked out." Bulkhead was about to follow, but Ratchet glared at him. "Ah, ep, ep, ep! No!" Bulkhead stepped back in shock as the medic glared at him. "You are not going to trudge mud all over the base! Get yourself cleaned up, and clean up this mess while I take a closer look at what has happened with Azura's crystal."

Bulkhead looked down for a moment and looked at Ratchet. "I would have thought you would want to hear what had happened. Even though…I don't really know when the crystal had done that…"

"Which means you only know as much as we do right now." Ratchet sighed deeply and softened his glare. "I hope the last several hours had been good though. My guess is this happened right before you asked to come home." Bulkhead nodded affirmatively as that was correct. "Since that is true, I might be able to answer why it happened. But I doubt I can remove it."

Bulkhead did not respond as he knew that there was nothing more for him to do. He watched Ratchet walk away as the medic followed Optimus out of the lobby to make their way to the med bay. Bulkhead knew that he and Azura had a good time, it was just unfortunate she had been scared by the fact she thought she had lost the crystal. She had always kept it around her neck, and he guessed it might have been a subconscious thing as well, given what has happened to the crystal.

Optimus comforted his daughter as best as he could. He knew that he was not present when this happened, but he guessed she had been startled at the thought of losing her crystal, and he fully understood. That crystal is sentimental, but now it was more important than they first realized. Given Azura's relation to the Matrix and the dragon, it made sense that there was more to her than meets the eye. And this was likely another one of those things. It concerned him a little as Optimus had felt the warmth of the crystal when he touched it, and he did not know if that could turn into an illness or something.

Once they arrived in the med bay, Optimus placed Azura on the med berth gently, and kept a hold of her hand so she could hold him tightly. She sniffled and looked at Ratchet as the medic scanned her body to see if anything stands out at him. Ratchet looked at the results of his scan with a frown. "Interesting." He turned away as Optimus raised an eyebrow and watched as Ratchet types on a console to bring up an image of Azura's body on the screen. "That Cybertronian crystal has connected with Azura's system. It certainly cannot be removed without causing damage to her system. And I am not sure if I should, even it could be removed."

"Why would it suddenly become part of me now?" Azura asked with a sniffle. "I've had around my neck for so long."

"My guess is you might had been too young, maybe." Ratchet was not sure how to answer her question as it seemed complicated to him. "But I am not a hundred percent sure on the matter. But given that crystal is more than a regular Cybertronian crystal, I think it is fair to believe that crystal was always a vital part of your body. And now it is part of you, it cannot be removed. It might even make it easier for you to control your abilities, and possibly help with your transformation when you get older." Ratchet typed on the console to see if there was anything that concerned him. "The only thing I am concerned about is that it isn't just causing your chassis to warm up, it might irritate your system a bit. There are low vibrations coming from the crystal, which I am unsure as to why that would be, and that is why it might irritate your system. There are no signs of a virus at least."

"I guess that means we should simply keep an eye on her for any changes." Ratchet nodded and Optimus was satisfied. "At least we know it is okay." He looked at Azura with a smile as she sniffled softly. "I am sure it must have scared you when you thought you lost the crystal, but now it will never be lost again. I hope that makes you happy."

She honestly did not know how to feel about it yet, so she shrugged. "Uh, maybe tomorrow I will be." She shrugged with a slight smile. "But I would like a bath, daddy. I am feeling a bit cold…and I am hungry. Bulkhead and I had a ton of fun before my necklace fell off my neck." His smile widened as he was happy to hear that. "Um…we did have a mud fight before this…that's why I have mud on my body."

"That explains why he was trudging it into the base." Ratchet was still upset by that, but he couldn't exactly be too mad. "Well, at least you had a good time. Plus, you look worn out." He smiled and looked at Optimus. "At least you won't have any problem putting her to berth later."

Optimus hummed in amusement as he lifts Azura from the med berth. "She has never had an issue with that, Ratchet. But I dare say she will fall into recharge very easily, maybe even before I put her to berth."

Ratchet chuckled as he could easily see that happening. Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead would be going to get the humans soon anyway. But only after Bulkhead had cleaned up the mud from the ground. And he hoped Bulkhead will wash the mud from his body too. He didn't need to be on his back for a while to get it cleaned. He had faith Bulkhead will clean up though, so it wasn't a major concern to him. But Azura's crystal situation certainly was interesting.

Azura was relaxing now that Ratchet has checked her over. It seemed there was nothing to be worried about with the crystal, but she was still curious as to why it happened now. And if what he said was true too. She wouldn't know until the next time she used her abilities. Regardless, Azura was glad she spent half a day with Bulkhead. She had a lot of fun, and the two have bonded well. She now had to think of what to do with Arcee and Bumblebee next.