Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

46. Proposal

"Maiden . . ." The word from Optimus was barely a whisper, a quiet plea for the femme to pull through this.

Lauren shouted as Maria pulled her away from the stilling form known as JewelBlade. "You can't take me away from her! She needs me!" Tears were streaming down Lauren's face as she broke from her sister's grip, running back to JB's side, gripping her guardian's metal arm. "I can feel you!" Lauren shouted, even though Jewel made no indication of being alive aside from her slow vents. "I can feel you! I know you're in there!"

A small gasp escaped her, and tears jumped into her eyes rapidly as Lauren paused, that string of life slipping through her fingers.

JewelBlade stopped venting.

She whispered, "I can't feel you," before falling into a fit of sobs.

Angel stood silent, with even the Plane void of the presence she'd known as JewelBlade.

~~~

"Where the hell am I?" JewelBlade asked, shielding her optics against the light, a strange echo following her words. But as the light became less harsh, the world came into view, and she knew the place immediately.

Cybertron.

She was standing at the edge of the Well.

"You're not due to be here yet," came the response. "The war isn't over yet."

Blade turned to face the second voice. StarBreak. The first time she'd seen the femme in full form.

The femme who'd driven her so far, and blessed her with unwavering loyalty to the Autobots.

"Lots of soldiers die before the end of the war," she answered, giving Star a meaningful look. "I'm no different than them."

"You're the first of a new breed," Star reminded calmly. "This is not the place for you. Not yet."

"I was born a human," Blade shot back with a bitter tone. "When I die, I doubt I'll have the luck to come here with the rest of you. Even if I did, what about my parents? I may not have known them very well, or at all, really, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see them in the afterlife."

"You may have been born differently, but that doesn't mean you're not one of us. You've done your best to bring peace to your world, and to ours. Your methods may have been . . . strange, at times, but that doesn't mean your intentions weren't in the right place. Primus may have given you a heart at birth, but I believe he knew what he was doing."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jewel asked coldly, leaning over a bit of rubble, resting her forearms on top of it.. "I was born with your spark next to my soul. That was your doing, not his."

"Primus works in mysterious ways, but you were not born to give me a new vessel like your reincarnation would suggest," StarBreak said softly, coming closer to the green warrior. "You were born, and I was sent to you. My spark nestled in next to your soul, and as such, you felt the remnants of things that I have always felt. You always will. And I wish I knew how to separate us, but it's a damn difficult thing to do. While we may not be merged, it's damn close. And I apologize for any grief that may have caused you."

"May have?" Jewel shouted the question, rage bubbling up in her. "I fell in love with the mech you left your near-sparkmate for! I have feelings for Jumpstart and I try so damn hard to ignore him because of it! I have nightmares but I can't even tell if they're mine or yours half the time! How am I supposed to be okay with that? How am I supposed to know if what I feel is actually what I feel or if it's something leftover from your experiences?"