Through Ash and Dust (ROTB)

Chapter 31

Another few days pass by, and each day, Saphira's condition had improved tremendously, and her score throat, body aches and mucus build up had finally cleared up. She still had a fever and she was sneezing, but she had improved a lot. She still slept a lot, but not as much as she had, and she was happy because she didn't feel as tired. Saphira had also stopped eating soup, as she had begun to make use of her portable gas stove to cook eggs with toast, omelettes and beef patties. As she had lost weight, her body was craving protein and carbs, and she had to pick food that she could use quickly due to not having a pantry or fridge.

It made all of the autobots extremely happy to see Saphira eating well, and her energy had returned as well. Saphira and Optimus continued spending time with each other, even though she was spending more time with the others. But she found that she really preferred spending time with Optimus, even though she had not meant to feel that way. But after she had begun to get better, he encouraged her to work on the pictures that she wanted to draw for Arcee, Bumblebee and Mirage, as she could do that within his cab and they would not know. Bumblebee and Mirage haven't stopped teasing them about it though, which was getting annoying, even though Saphira had stopped denying it, which has resulted them in annoying her even more. It was really like having two brothers, but she still enjoyed their company.

And she was happy that Arcee had found this abandoned factory too. Saphira knew she would make use of a room to create the picture she wanted to create for Optimus. She will finish the other pictures first, and she will definitely consider wrapping them. Though she didn't want to make a mess, so she would get a gift bag to put them in. Saphira was starting to feel excited for Christmas, even though it is the first time in years she has even felt excited for it.

Saphira had decided to spend time with Bumblebee and Mirage today, and she had managed to convince them to go to a Christmas tree from one of the Christmas tree farms around the city. Both bots were excited about it, and Mirage had offered to change his vehicle mode as a tree was unlikely to fit well in a Porsche or Camaro. Saphira could not picture Mirage as any other vehicle, but she understood the reasoning why he would change vehicle mode just to transport the tree.

But Saphira wanted to get tree decorations first, so they were on their way to drop her off at a mall. Saphira had not told Optimus about her plans for today, and all he knew was that she wanted to go shopping. He was happy, even though he had reminded her that she should still take it easy since she was not a hundred percent yet, and she would need to get more medicine since she was almost out of it.

"At least we can finally say you are getting into the Christmas spirit." Saphira giggled as Mirage has been extremely happy that she is feeling much better. "And now we are getting ourselves a Christmas tree today. By the way, are you going to get lights to put on the tree?" Saphira looked at the dash of the Porsche with a raised eyebrow as she knew there was no power to plug the lights into. "I know the building has no power, but we do. It could create a power point on my arm or leg, and it would not bother me."

Saphira was not sure if that would work, but it was an intriguing idea. "I didn't realize you could do that. But I think it would be a little weird too, since you aren't machines like the cars humans have made. So...to me that would be weird." Saphira thought about getting a generator instead, as that would be better. "Hmm...I think I can work around not having power though. It just means we need to fill it with gas, because it can't run on nothing."

Mirage let out a light scoff. "While I appreciate that you don't want to use me like an inanimate object, but you won't have to spend money on a generator and gas if I allow you to have an alternative option." Saphira was surprised he worked out what she had planned to use, but she guessed he knew what they were used for. "Oh yeah, I know what you planned on using, Saphira. I know what humans use. You don't need to get a generator just to use once, that is a waste of money."