(Please see all previous disclaimers)
A few weeks later, after Megatron was done away with, Aquaformer was out and about. She knew she was sparked and she knew that their were still rogue Decepticons around, but she needed this. Her sweet mate, Optimus, had kept her secluded in their quarters for the past few weeks, fearing if she left, he would lose her. The only reason she had managed to leave was that Jazz had stopped by and helped her escape for a bit. Aquaformer loved her mate, but she knew he needed to realize that he can't keep her cooped up all the time. She needed her alone time and freedom. She kept her wits about her, making sure she blended in a bit better than she had when she first arrived.
And unbeknownst to Aquaformer, her mate was coming to their quarters, expecting her to be at home. Jazz, seeing Optimus heading for the quarters, grew wary. There was a good chance that Aquaformer was not back yet, and Jazz knew he was the only one who knew where Aquaformer had gone. Jazz carefully walked off, not wanting to alert the leader that things may not be as they should.
Not seeing Jazz leave, Optimus entered his quarters. He could hear music, as since Aquaformer had returned, she always played music. Optimus smiled, hoping the Aquaformer would be resting in bed, as he hadn't seen her so far. "Honey, I'm home" Optimus called, having picked up the phrase from watching earth TV with Spike. Optimus expected a reply, but got none. That worried Optimus a bit, but he figured maybe his mate was sleeping. Optimus headed back to the berthroom.
But when Optimus reached the berthroom, Aquaformer was not there. Optimus grew upset and angry, fearing the worst. He searched the quarters high and low and found no sign of his mate. Not knowing his own restrictions had driven his mate off, Optimus headed out to see if any of the other bots knew anything.
Meanwhile, unaware her disappearance had upset her mate, Aquaformer found a serene area with a gigantic lake. To hide herself, Aquaformer jumped into the lake. She was glad she had decided to make her frame water tight. Here, in the deep blue, she felt safe and at peace. She planned to stay here a bit, just to relax and not stress out the sparklings. She submerged her entire form and just sat on the bottom of the lake, which hid her just right. She felt something in her sparkbond, but fearing her mate was just busy again, she kept the line open but ignored it for now.
Back at the base, Optimus was grilling every bot head could find to see if any knew anything about where the leader's mate had vanished to. And after asking several others, Optimus finally ran into Mirage and Jazz. Mirage knew nothing, that much Optimus could tell, but Optimus sensed Jazz knew something. "Jazz?" Optimus asked.
"Yes, sir?" Jazz asked, sensing Optimus wasn't in a good mood.
"Do you happen to know anything about where my mate ran off to?" Optimus asked, his agitation palpable.
"Yes, sir" jazz answered.
"Where the hell did she go?" Optimus demanded to know, his worry coming out as anger.
"To where, I cannot tell you as she did not tell me where she was heading, but I can tell you I let her out of the room as it was quite obvious she was going stir crazy with cabin fever" Jazz replied.
"What on earth do you mean?" Optimus queried, not quite understanding what Jazz meant.
"She was getting antsy and her coloration was fading. She needed to get out and be free" jazz explained. "You can't coop up a bot and not expect them to stay sane."
Optimus remained a bit agitated until he really thought about what Jazz said. Once again, Optimus had messed up. Optimus sighed. Jazz sensed the change. "Where do you think I can find her?" Optimus asked, his anger actually turning to worry.
"All I can say is follow your spark. It will lead you to her" Jazz answered. Optimus nodded and headed out. He needed to find her. He used his spark to guide him. He just hoped that she was safe.