Through a Youngling's Optics 3

(Sequal to Sparkling at the Door)

...CHAPTER 3...

Several hours had passed and all of Sentinel's crew including Chromia had left to return back to Cybertron. By this time Ratchet had finally finished all his scans on the poor little StarChaser. She walked into the rec. room where everyone sat watching T.V. with Ratchet close behind. Optimus turned and saw that she had a small limp to her step.

Optimus looked up at Ratchet curiously. "Ratchet, what'd you do?"

Ratchet grumbled and crossed his arms as he looked down at StarChaser. "Oh, this one here thought it would be funny to try and run away while I had my back turned," Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "but we learned our lesson about fooling around with the medic…didn't we?"

Slowly looking down at her stabilizing servos, StarChaser nodded. Ratchet smiled triumphantly. "Sometimes, the best way to get your point across is through discipline and tough love."

StarChaser rolled her optics and grumbled. "Don't you mean 'a swatting upside the head'? OW!"

Ratchet had just smacked her upside the head. She looked up rubbing her head pouting then looked at Optimus with a babyish look of 'daddy-he-hit-me-again!' on her faceplate. Optimus only laughed quietly to himself as he raised himself off the couch.

"Well, I'm sorry sweet-spark, but that's what you get when you contradict Ratchet's authority."

StarChaser looked up at Ratchet who just passed a glance of satisfaction. StarChaser then stuck out her 'tongue' (which Sari had taught her to do) and walked over and held on tight to Optimus' side. Optimus looked down and then picked StarChaser up in a hug.

"But dad, it hurts…A LOT!" StarChaser pleaded as she looked directly into Optimus' optics.

Optimus only smiled gently. "Oh, I think you'll be alright."

StarChaser then looked outside and saw that the sun was only a little ways off the horizon. She looked back to Optimus and questioned.

"Shouldn't you be on your patrol by now?"

Optimus turned to look at the sun and then at the digital clock posted above Telatran 1. Sure enough it was six o' clock; time to go on the nightly patrol.

"Yeah, I guess it is." With that Optimus gently placed StarChaser on her own stabilizing servos, nodded to Ratchet and proceeded to walk toward the door. StarChaser hesitated before bounding after Optimus.

"Hey dad!"

Optimus stopped and looked down at StarChaser who was standing next to him.

StarChaser looked up with pleading optics. "Do you think that maybe, just this one time, I could actually…maybe … go along with you on your patrol tonight? Huh, pretty please with axel grease on top?"

Optimus looked at Ratchet who returned an 'its-your-decision' glance and then walked away. Optimus sighed but smiled. "Alright, but just this one time. Okay?"

StarChaser smiled and laughed to herself in approval as she ran ahead of Optimus only to turn around and yell. "Come on you slow-poke, we don't have all night 'ya know!"

Optimus shook his head and walked along quietly letting his 'back-up' run ahead.

At least an hour passed and, by this time Optimus as well as StarChaser had made it around most of the city and now were passing Central park on their way back to the base. Both Optimus and StarChaser had received several sideways glances from humans out and about merely because none of them had ever seen a sixth Autobot, let alone one that young, and the fact that she was being carried on the Autobot leader's shoulder plates just added to the awe.

Being up on her father's shoulders somehow always made StarChaser feel loved as well as important. That and she actually saw this world from a whole new perspective when she was up so high. Is this how her father felt all the time? She sat there lazily with her chin resting on the top of her father's head, just watching everything go by without a worry or care in the world until a sudden thought popped into her processor.

"Hey dad?"

Optimus looked up smiling. "Hmm?"

"How did you learn how to transform?"

Optimus looked down and though for a minute, then looked up again. "My care-taker taught me how, why?"

StarChaser looked down curiously. "Care-taker? Don't you mean your mom or dad?"

Optimus looked down and away for a few minutes and didn't say a word, but then looked back up at StarChaser.

"StarChaser, there's something about me that you should know, and that I think you're old enough now to understand…"

StarChaser was quiet and thought to herself. "is this what he wasn't so sure he should tell me about?"But she was quiet and listened closely to her father's words.

"…when I was young, a little younger than you are now, I lost both my sire and creator to the Decepticons. They both were in the Elite Guard and went off-line as heroes. As for me, well, I was taken in by my sire's brother. And well, I know you can figure out the rest."

StarChaser was silent. How come she never knew her father was an orphan? That so sad, she could never imagine what it would be like to have lost both her mother and father, and she never wanted to experience it either, she already lost her mom, and that was more than enough.

Trying to change the subject, StarChaser returned to her original thought of transforming.

"Hey dad, how old were you when you learned how to transform?"

Optimus thought for a minute but laughed to himself.

"I was probably about your age, why? Do you want to learn?"

StarChaser thought for a minute then smiled sheepishly. "Well, it'd be better than having to walk everywhere."

Optimus laughed as he stopped right in the middle of the park and removed StarChaser from his shoulders. "Alright, if that's the case, then we'll go ahead with the first lesson."

StarChaser looked up and beamed with pride, which only made Optimus laugh.

"Okay, the first and most important thing to know about transforming is that it's much harder than it looks. You not only have to really think about it when you're trying to attempt it, but you almost have to literally visualize yourself doing it, okay?"

StarChaser nodded. "Okay."

Optimus smiled and put up to fingers. "Rule number two; don't rush it, especially your first transformation. It takes lots of time to learn how to transform, and you've got all the time in this world to learn, but once you do you'll be able to transform like any of us at the base."

StarChaser looked up impatiently. "Okay, okay I get! Can I learn how to actually transform now!"

Optimus laughed. "Okay, then do it. You don't need me to show you step by step instructions. Just visualize yourself transforming."

StarChaser thought long and hard. She tried to push herself and thought about the vehicle she would soon take the shape of…but…nothing happened. She thought harder so hard her processor started to ache, she looked up miserably and disappointed at her father who in turn just smiled lovingly.

"I can't do it dad."

Optimus chuckled. "Don't worry, most 'bots never do. You just need practice, that's all. Give yourself some time and who knows, maybe you'll be able to transform faster than me."

StarChaser looked down and shuffled her stabilizing servos. Optimus crouched down at optic level and put a finger under her chin. He raised her face up so she was looking at him.

"Just give it time."

Again StarChaser looked down. Optimus stayed at optic level and just watched her. "Come on lets go home."

Optimus then turned so his back was to her, and looked over his shoulder. "Come on, I'll carry you home."

StarChaser looked up and smiled then bounded onto her father's back. With a slow but steady upward thrust, Optimus lifted both his mass as well as StarChaser's and went walking in the direction of the base.

StarChaser wrapped her arms around her father's neck and cuddled up to his face and yawned sleepily. "How long until we get home?"

Optimus continues walking. "That depends."

StarChaser wakes up slightly and looks down. "What do 'ya mean 'that depends'?"

Optimus looks up. "That depends on whether we go straight home or we take the short cut."

StarChaser looks away, then back at Optimus. "Shortcut? There's a short cut?"

Optimus looks up from the corner of his optic and smiled evilly. StarChaser sat back slightly. "Oh snap, I've seen that look before, that's the 'I'm-about-to-do-something-that-StarChaser-doesn't-like' look.

Optimus walked to the edge of an overpass and looked down. There was large cement drainage ditch that lead west. Optimus leaned slightly over the side surveying the scene. The bridge had to have been at least 40 to 50 feet above the ditch. StarChaser grasped her father's armor as he leaned over and looked underneath the bridge. StarChaser looked at him dumbfounded.

"Uh dad, what'd ya' looking for?"

Optimus grinned slightly. "I'm making sure there's no one under the bridge."

StarChaser hesitated. "Anyone under the—dad, what exactly are you concocting that evil processor of yours?

Optimus turned away from StarChaser and again looked out to the west. He then stepped up on the guard rail and looked down. StarChaser tightened her grip on his armor.

"Dad what are you-!"

But before she could finish…Optimus…had already jumped. But, lucky for StarChaser, this wasn't Optimus' first time jumping off of a bridge. Optimus had accessed his grappler hook and locked it on a ledge on the guard rail and now had his heels on the pylon (leg or column) supporting the bridge.

StarChaser's optics were tightly shut and was holding onto her father's armor for dear life. Optimus just laughed as he slightly turned his head and looked at StarChaser. He chuckled and spoke gently.

"You know you can open your optics now."

StarChaser slowly opened her optics, and then looked furiously at her father.

"Why did you do that? Are you trying to scare me death?"

Again Optimus laughed. "If I was trying to scare you, I would have told you to look down."

Without even thinking, that's just what StarChaser did. She looked down. Within a sudden momentous shock, her phobia of heights hit her like a pile of bricks. They had to have been at least 30 feet high in the air, which for StarChaser, was more than enough to make her grasp her father's neck plate even more tightly.

"DAD I WANT DOWN!"

Optimus chucked and looked at StarChaser from the corner of his optic. "You know, the trick is to NEVER look down."

StarChaser slapped Optimus on the side of the head then re-secured herself. "OH, NOW YOU TELL ME, ONLY AFTER I LOOK DOWN!"

Optimus laughed as he slowly started placing stabilizing servo after stabilizing servo as they began there descent. As soon as both of his stabilizing servos touched ground level, StarChaser melted of his back and hugged the ground like she hadn't seen it in solar cycles.

"Oh, I swear from here to Cybertron I will never leave you again!"

Optimus only laughed as he kneeled down to StarChaser's level. She looked up at him scowling.

"I don't like you right now."

Optimus grinned. "Fine, then I'll just leave you and the ground here to contemplate life together."

Optimus then hoisted himself of the ground and walked westward down the drainage ditch. StarChaser sat curiously watching him for a few moments before jumping to her stabilizing servos.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Optimus just laughed and started to sprint. StarChaser sprinted after him.

"Hey, this isn't a fair race! You got a head start! YOU'RE CHEATING!

Optimus yelled back. "It's not cheating if I get back to the base and get my barrel of oil first!"

StarChaser yelled. "Is that a bet?"

Optimus stopped and turned to look at StarChaser who finally caught up. "Alright, let's make a bet. Whoever gets back to the base first gets to drink a barrel of oil first, and the other has to sit and watch. Deal?"

StarChaser thought about it for a moment then looked up smiling with that same devilish smile Optimus had shown earlier.

"Okay, deal…first one back gets their oil first."

StarChaser watched as her father nodded his head and lowered himself to a starting position. StarChaser did the same. Optimus looked up to an overpass just above them and smiled.

"As soon as that traffic light on that overpass turns green; we go, understand?"

StarChaser nodded to show that she understood. She looked down at her stabilizing servos, and then up in the air and whispered to herself.

"Somehow, if I can transform and get ahead of dad, then maybe I'll not only beat him home; but then maybe he'll be proud of me for learning how to transform quicker than what he thought I could."

Just then the light turned yellow. The tension was building and moments seemed to pass like hours. Then suddenly the light flashed to green and as the traffic above started to move, the two 'bots below blared forward and the race was on.

Immediately StarChaser took the lead. Her stabilizing servos moved as fast as she could make them go. She looked forward surveying everything in front of her and analyzed all possible obstacles that could cause a problem. She then looked over her shoulder plate to observe the progress of her opponent, only to find out that he was nowhere in sight. Had he fallen behind that quick? Or was she just that fast that he couldn't catch her? She slowed down because she figured that since Optimus was so far behind, it'd be best to save her energy. But, when she slowed down…she could hear and feel a little bit of a quake deep in the ground. She looked behind her and saw a rising cloud of dust and debris speeding toward her at a phenomenal speed. She did the first thing that came to mind. Run.

As the speeding wonder got closer, it turned off onto and cement slab that worked as a ramp. The object went flying through the air over top of StarChaser and looked like a silhouette against the evening sun, but the outline looked freakishly familiar. It hit the ground hard but kept going forward, and muck to StarChaser's surprise, the thing yelled to her.

"You're going to have to have to run a lot faster if you want to beat me!"

StarChaser froze and yelled back. "DAD? HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

Optimus came to a screeching halt and stopped allowing StarChaser to get a good look at him. He had activated the tires that were on his heels and had his axe over his shoulder. StarChaser now knew exactly what he had done.

"You! You waited until I had gotten enough of a head start so that you could activate your tires and you 'rocket-propelled' axe so that you could just zoom right past me! Dad that's cheating!"

Optimus de-activated his tires and placed his axe behind his back, and then chuckled.

"It's not cheating; it's using what resources I have."

StarChaser crossed her arms and pouted. "It's still not fair…"

Optimus walked over and kneeled down smiling. "Tell you what, how about we call this race a draw and we'll both go home and drink a barrel of oil together and watch some TV; how does that sound?"

StarChaser looked up and smiled evilly. "Okay…" She then proceeded to walk toward the base that now was in sight, but then burst into a full bore sprint. "…BUT I'M STILL GONNA BEAT YOU HOME ANYWAY!"

Optimus stood in a daze for only a slit nano-click before bursting into a sprint after StarChaser who was almost there. "YOU LITTLE, CANIVING BRAT! JUST YOU WAIT TILL I GET MY SERVOS ON YOU!"

Meanwhile back at the base, everyone was busy hauling the last of the medical supplies into the base when Bulkhead stopped and pointed.

"Hey you guys, get a load of that!"

Everyone turned to see a little red and blue femme running at her top speed toward the base, with almost a look of terror written on her face plate.

Bumblebee yelled almost laughing. "Hey Star, where's Prime?"

StarChaser threw her servos up in the air and shouted. "HE'S BEHIND ME! HE'S BEHIND ME!" Not that StarChaser really needed to point it out, because within seconds the large mech came blaring over the hill near the base in hot pursuit of his little femme.

StarChaser came to a screeching halt and stopped be grabbing on to Prowl's leg. Prowl looked down at the quivering femme. "Alright, what did you do now?"

Looking up from behind him StarChaser smiled sheepishly and talked quickly. "We were having a race see, and I was ahead but then he got a head and I tricked him into stopping and then I got a head of him and now he's gonna beat me up; gotta go, BYE!" And with that StarChaser zoomed into the base to find a good hiding place. But soon after she was gone, Optimus rushed in right behind her. Ratchet stood shaking his head and held up three fingers and started counting down, lowering a finger with each number. "Three. Two. One."

Suddenly an oil curdling scream rang through the base and there was a large crash. StarChaser ran out of the base like she was on fire and Optimus was closing in behind her. Ratchet shook his head as the other's laughed at the sight. Bumblebee looked to Ratchet laughing.

"They both kinda act like sparklings, don't they?"

Ratchet shook his head chuckling. "Only when he's got time on his servos to do such."

But Ratchet was right, ever since StarChaser had chosen to stay behind with her father; Optimus would purposely clear a day out of his busy schedule and would dedicate that day to spending it with StarChaser. StarChaser would often wish that he would do that more often, but one or two days out of every week were alright with her considering she was fully aware of how her father was a very busy mech, what with protecting this world she now called home as well as the previous one that she was born and raised on.

But, getting back to StarChaser; she had been caught by her father and was being carried back into the base over his shoulder. StarChaser didn't struggle because she knew her father was only playing, considering he was beaming with pride which was shown by a smile on his face plate. The only thing StarChaser could do was lie helplessly over his shoulder and groan.

"Dad this isn't fair. Why do you always do this?"

Optimus looked up chuckling. "Because I'm your sire, and I earned the right to do such; that's why."

StarChaser squirmed but couldn't seem to get herself free. She fell against Optimus' armor and groaned.

"Oh, and how is it you earned THAT right?"

Optimus looked over his shoulder and raised an optic ridge. "I help your creator conceive you, didn't I?"

StarChaser looked away blushing. "Yeah I guess."

Optimus picked StarChaser up off his shoulder and held her out in front of him. "Yeah you guess?"

StarChaser could only look down smiling as the heat sensors on her face plate made her blush even more. Optimus tilted his head slightly and smiled. "You know, I'm starting to feel like you're becoming more and more like me every day. But sometimes I wonder…if that's a good thing."

StarChaser looked up and saw a warm smile creep in over her sire's face plate. She smiled too as she threw her arms around him. "Oh daddy, I only wish I could be even more like you. So brave and strong, you're everything every 'bot would want to be."

StarChaser looked up into a big pair of blue optics looking down at her. "Daddy, you're my hero…" StarChaser then rested her head against his chest and whispered. "…and you always will be."

Optimus could only look down and embrace the child against his chest plate. And for a long time Optimus stood in silence, just holding his sparkling close to the spark from which part of her came. Looking down at her, he gently caressed the very familiar antenna that he too had. He watched as those gentle optics slowly closed and almost drifted away into stasis, the little hands that would always reach out for him and hold him for all eternity. Oh how he wished he could freeze this moment in time and make it last forever; but he knew that she was growing up and soon enough she would go from being that small, gentle, fun-loving sparkling to a young, beautiful, well-trained femme that could slag any Decepticon in her path. Suddenly the thoughts of his daughter suddenly faded away as he realized that the daughter in question was watching him with curious optics.

He looked down raising an optic ridge. "What?"

StarChaser shook her head as she stretched her servos out and yawned. "Nothing, you just looked like you were deep in thought."

Optimus laughed slightly as he gently put StarChaser down on the ground. "I was just thinking."

StarChaser looked away and nodded, but then turned back again suddenly. "Hey, weren't we going to go get some oil and watch TV?"

Optimus smiled as he rose from the ground. "That's right, I forgot about that."

StarChaser ran into the base. "Yeah, but the first one to the remote gets to pick the channel!"

Optimus walked quickly and yelled. "Oh, I don't think so!"

Optimus suddenly stopped and slowly turned to look behind him. StarChaser stopped too and came back. She looked up at him, worried. "Dad, are-are you okay?"

Optimus watched the evening sky in almost a trance, but then shook his head slightly. "Yeah I'm fine. I just thought I heard something."

StarChaser looked curiously at him then looked in the direction he was looking. And with StarChaser being occupied with trying to find what he was looking at, Optimus slowly walked around and was about to enter the base when StarChaser wheeled around and yelled. Optimus only laughed as he streaked into the base with StarChaser close behind.

"DAD THAT REMOTE IS MINE!"