When All Lights Go Out II (TFP)

Chapter 26

When Arcee and Jack arrived at the base, they had realized they arrived before Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Raf and Miko, but that was okay. Arcee did ask if Raf and Miko knew about the fish, and Jack said no, as he had been the one to primarily care for the tanks. So the other two may not have noticed the missing fish, but that didn't matter. Arcee was disappointed that Jack would lie, and she made sure to walk with the teenager to Azura's nursery, where they were met with Optimus and the wailing sparkling. Azura narrowed her optics as soon as she saw Jack as she was disappointed that he wasn't honest. She would have been sad if he told the truth, but it was better than making her believe that everything was okay.

Arcee leaned against the wall and folded her arms as Jack stood before Optimus with a guilty expression. "You might as well go ahead and start speaking, Jack. You already know that lying to Optimus is bad." She looked at Optimus and softened her expression. "I had no idea about it."

"I could tell by your response, Arcee." Optimus knelt down slowly while keeping Azura against his shoulder and rubbing her back gently. Optimus softened his expression as he didn't want to intimidate Jack as the boy was nervous by his shuffling on his feet and looking everywhere else but him. "Why did you not say anything, Jack? You know telling the truth is better than deception. I am disappointed."

"I am sorry...I didn't mean to lie..." Optimus frowned as he knew that was not true. Jack sighed deeply as he looked at the ground. "I...I..." Jack looked at Azura as she was staring directly at him, waiting for an explanation. "I don't really have any excuses other than I just felt ashamed that I let Azura down. When I cleaned the tanks four weeks ago and changed the water, I forgot to add in the conditioners and the biofilter chemicals...and PH leveller as well..." Azura frowned as she stared at him. "And when I added it, I...didn't take out the activated carbon in any of the tanks..."

"Are you kidding?" Azura was shocked that he forgot some of the important steps needed when cleaning a tank. "No wonder some fish died! They would have stressed or the PH was incorrect for them...I told you to not skip those steps...why didn't you say anything? I don't believe it was because of shame." Jack looked away, glancing at the floor and shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "I would have preferred the truth, Jack."

Jack shrugged as he sighed deeply, keeping his faze to the floor. "I'm really, really sorry, Azura. I was just...scared of hurting you...I know that is stupid, because I did hurt you. But...I just didn't know how upset you would get...and when you were still within Optimus, and everything that has happened, I thought I would do more harm than good by telling you."

"I suppose Azura would have been very upset if you had told her, and she may kicked a few on my internals as a result." Azura shook her head as she didn't believe that she would have kicked Optimus, even if it was possible. "However, after she was born, even if she had such a traumatic rebirth, you should have said something. I understand you were probably thinking of her feelings, but you have hurt her more by being deceptive." Jack didn't respond as he kicked his foot at the floor gently as he knew there was no excuse. "At least you don't have any excuses. But you do need to make it up to Azura for letting her down."

Jack nodded and looked up at Azura and Optimus. "I can do that. Um...I could get new fish..." Azura shook her head immediately as she didn't want more fish right now. "Okay...what about ice cream?" Azura didn't respond, though she glanced at Optimus with a curious expression. "We have stockpiled some tubs of ice cream, frozen yoghurt and gelato..." Azura widened her optics and nodded immediately. "That is...if Optimus allows you to have it."

Optimus sighed deeply as he had planned on allowing her to have some human food, but not quite yet. But he was aware that things like ice cream can make someone feel better. "Very well. You can get her a bowl, and you may feed it to her, unless she wants to use the spoon herself. I will make sure she will be comfortable while she sits and enjoys it."