Burned (Transformers Prime)

Epilogue

"Don't ask for space,
'Cause space is just a word
Made up by someone who's afraid to get too . . .
Close,"

»«

Two weeks later

It was late in the night, the stars blossoming across the sky as the sun finally disappeared completely from the horizon, only the soft glow of Ratchet's optics providing a source of light. He lay on his back struts, looking up at the sky, unafraid of any prying eyes - they were out in the middle of nowhere.

"So, approximately, where do you think Cybertron is?" Dana asked from her position on his chest plate. Her shard and his spark thrummed in synchronization with one another, though he doubted she noticed.

The medic tilted his helm, the sand crunching beneath him as he looked around. He was getting sand all over his kinks and joints, but Dana promised to give him a wash tomorrow; so he didn't let it bother him too much. His optics gazed across the sky, finding familiar constellations and silently mapping out the galaxy.

"If I had to approximate, I would say somewhere between those three stars." He lifted a servo and pointed.

"Hm, at the belt of Orion?" She asked.

"If that's what you call it, yes."

"Huh." Stars peppered in between the three brighter ones, and the human woman imagined one to be Cybertron, or at least the sun it orbited around. She shifted her body a little, cringing when she heard the metal hub of her spinal cable clink against his chest plate.

"Sorry. Is that bothering you?" She asked, rolling over onto her stomach.

"No, not at all." He tilted his head to indicate he was listening, and talking to her. "Are you feeling discomfort?"

"I've gotten used to it. It doesn't hurt anymore." She smiled softly. "Granted, you're not a bed mattress, but it's much easier to lay on my back now than it was a few weeks ago." She rolled over again, reaching a hand up. Her guardian obligingly gave her a digit to hold on to, finding that she was comforted by the hugging motion she often used on him. He suspected she was also a bit cold, and wanted some warmth from his natural frame heat.

"I'm glad to hear that." He replied.

There were a few more minutes of silence, except of course for the natural sounds of the desert, the two beings simply looking up at the stars, relaxing and enjoying the time they had with one another. As they watched, a streak of light passed above them, then as quickly as it had come, it disappeared.

Dana sighed. "I sometimes wonder if it's him, those shooting stars. It's a silly thought, because I know he's somewhere way back at Cybertron, or somewhere around there." Her grip on his digit tightened a little. "I just . . ."

Ratchet lightly nudged her with his digit to indicate he heard. "I know. It's okay to miss someone, even if they aren't the nicest of people. That is what compassion is; and you have plenty of it. It's more than he deserves."

His human smiled a little, one side of her face pressed against his digit pad. "Thank you, for letting me know it's okay." The woman let out another soft sigh, and before it became too silent she spoke again. "Ratchet . . ."

He shifted a little, sensing what she wanted to say. "Yes?"

There was another pause, the medic able to feel it within his very spark.

I love you.

It wasn't a romantic sort of love, an intimate love in which she wanted to pursue a relationship with him. No, this was love of family, love of friends. Without him, she was missing a significant piece of herself; she loved him with a passion that could very easily become something more, but that was not an interest to her. She simply wanted to be with him, in the physical and spirtualistic sense; to exist with the Autobot at her side.

His silent reply, one he didn't dare to repeat out loud, came as a little surprise to him.

I love you too.

"Thank you." Dana finally broke the silence. "Thank you . . . For everything. Being my guardian, partner. My best friend. I realize, now, that you are the one thing I didn't even know I needed. The odds of us ever meeting were slim at best, but I am so thankful that we did. I don't know how my life would have been without you."

The medic blinked in surprise, pausing.

Needed.

His servo gently wrapped around her a little more, like a hug. He only let the pressure last for a little while before he relaxed, feeling her cuddle up again to his digit.

"I need you too." He murmured in response. "Because, for as long as I have lived, you are the first to show me how to truly care about someone."

Dana smiled, giving his digit a squeeze in return, gazing up at the stars once more. For once in some time, she was happy, content, whole. She had everything she needed right in that moment.

She was healed.