Forever A Team: Transformers Animated

Chapter XLII

"Hold still, Optimus." Julie spoke as she hovered behind him, with a small bit of energon and a small piece of Cybertronian metal. Closing her eyes, she felt the piece of metal grow in size, before feeling her powers do what she wished them to, attaching to Optimus and forming two jets, along with two wings to help him be able to fly through. The wings were strong and sturdy as they needed to be, and she knew that the whole thing would do the job needed.

"There, you're all set. You may need to practice a little bit, but they should be strong and sturdy, enough to get the job done and more." Julie spoke up.

"Thank you." Optimus replied, turning and looking at her. In his eyes, she could see he wanted to say something to her, but he was holding back.

"Just say it Optimus, I'm not gonna get mad at you."

"Julie...when this is all over, does that mean your time with us is..." Optimus started to ask, getting every other bot's attention in the room, including Jazz, who seemed to also be curious.

"Are you leaving us Julie?" Sari asked, looking up at her. Julie looked at everyone, knowing it would hurt their feelings to say it, but there was not really anything she could do.

"I am afraid so, Sari. My time is running out in this world. My mission is almost done. I have loved being here with you guys, I actually dread the idea of leaving, but I know I must." Julie replied, looking down at Sari, before turning and looking at the other bots. Even though Jazz didn't know her as much, he seemed to understand clearly what she meant.

"No...please. You can't leave, not without saying goodbye. Please Julie." Sari begged as the girl ran right up toward her. Julie slowly flew down next to the girl, leading to Sari leaping onto her, the girl's arms wrapped around her neck in the process. She saw Professor Sumdac watching nearby, as she held the young girl in her arms, before slowly setting her down. "Promise me, Julie. You must say goodbye to us, all of us, before you leave."

Julie looked down at the girl, before looking up at the bots, knowing they too cared about her, just as she cared about them. She looked back at the girl before shaking her head and looking away. "I'm sorry. I can't promise that."

"NO!!!!" Sari cried, trying to grab hold of Julie again, but Julie merely flew up out of the little girl's reach. "You can't just leave, Julie. You can't." The girl turned and ran over to her father, grabbing hold of him and crying into his shoulder in the process as Julie felt her heart break, seeing the pain she caused the girl. She was too afraid to look at the bots to see the hurt that she caused them.

"Julie?" Bumblebee spoke up, getting her attention, but she didn't look up. "Why won't you look at us?"

"You know how you're gonna end up leaving, don't you?" Optimus asked, looking at her. She looked up at him, tears running down her face, but she nodded.

"I do, but it isn't the happiest ending I am afraid." She replied as she looked at Optimus. "And don't ask me to share it, I won't. I don't want you guys to know the pain I am carrying in my spark." She spoke as she turned, ready to leave. "You guys should probably focus on the task at hand. You guys need to send Bee to the moon, Prowl and Jazz are gonna train, and I am gonna focus on joining them. As you guys said, we need every asset and advantage we can get. If I can strengthen one of my powers and skills just a little bit, I might be able to change the future outcome."

"Get with it Prowl, the allspark ain't just in your circuits dig. It's grooving all around us. Reach out and hook yourself into it." Jazz explained as Julie sat invisible nearby, to not distract them. She sat in a similar meditation position as Prowl, as she had in space, feeling everything around her. She felt the life and nature around them, but as he spoke of the allspark, she thought of the energy that she felt from it and the fragments, feeling it surround her in the process. She took in a deep breath, able to feel several fragments around them, along with some in Detroit. She heard someone gasp, getting her attention as she looked up to see Prowl with a floating fragment in front of him.