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I hesitated a moment, then reluctantly allowed Chardirakii's healing energon to leak into my intake and coat my glossa. The pain in my side began to go away, but I kept a close optic on Chardirakii's face-plates. I didn't want to drain her. Sure enough, after a while, her silver face-plates paled noticeably. I gently grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from my dermas. "N-no. You need to-" she began but I cut her off. "I am no longer fatally injured, Chardirakii," I told her soothingly,"Ratchet can take care of me now. You mustn't drain yourself." "But..." she began again, but I put an arm around her waist and pulled her close, silencing her with a warm kiss. I could feel her energon leaking over my digits and quickly pulled away, the chilly air cooling my dermas. "Come," I said, standing a little shakily,"We have much to explain to the others." Chardirakii stood with me, then staggered a little. I caught her by the shoulder-plate and steadied her. Perhaps she was more drained than I originally thought. "Easy now," I said, then looked around,"Where is Midnight by the way?" "Oh, I called for a ground-bridge and sent her through," Chardirakii replied calmly. My optics widened,"You called in a ground-bridge and didn't retreat through it?!" "Well you screamed. I couldn't just let my Sparkmate die," Chardirakii argued, frowning,"What else was I supposed to do?" "Follow my orders," I shot back, then my glare softened,"I'm just worried for your safety." Chardirakii snorted as we began to walk towards the base. Well, I kind of limped. My side still hurt, but not as badly as before. "Optimus, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she laughed,"Did you see me kick, Megatron's tailpipe?" "He almost overpowered you," I pointed out. "Yah yah," Chardirakii rolled her optics,"The thing is...I'm no defenseless femme, Prime. I've been fighting for stellar-cycles, possibly longer than you have." I raised an optic ridge,"You look to be about a stellar-cycle or two younger than me. How could you have fought longer?" Chardirakii laughed again,"I was once a goddess, Optimus. We children of Unicron and Primus usually age slower than other Cybertronians, and I was created at a few stellar-cycles younger so it looks as if I've barely aged." I quickly did the mathematics in my helm,"You are definitely older than me by a long shot." "Does that intimidate you?" Chardirakii asked with a smile. "A little," I answered truthfully, then smiled back at her,"I still love you the same though." Chardirakii's beautiful smile grew wider,"I'm glad." "Chardirakii! Optimus! There you are!" Hexia cried, running up to us,"Where have you been?" Then she saw my partially-healed wound and gasped, both servos flying to her intake as her optics widened. "Oh my goodness! What happened!?" she cried in horror. "We had a little run-in with a group of Decepticons," Chardirakii replied,"Optimus got the worst of it. I was just taking him to Ratchet." Hexia was now glaring angrily at Chardirakii, but said nothing as she went and stood on the other side of me. We walked in a silence that grew more and more tense as we neared the base. "Hexia..." Chardirakii began but her sibling held up a servo. "I don't wanna hear it," she said icily,"Not while he's around." Chardirakii closed her intake and sighed softly. "I can escort myself in, thank you," I said, hoping for them to resolve their problem sooner. As I expected, Ratchet was exceedingly worried, and when he worries, Ratchet liked to rant at his patient. "Decepticons? Please, Optimus. They didn't have anything better to do than to ruin our holiday didn't they?" he muttered on and on as he patched me up. Suddenly Chardirakii walked in, her dermas pulled together in a straight, thin line and her optics straight forwards. She marched right past me and the others, making a beeline for our shared room, disappearing around the corner out of sight. The door slammed and I inwardly flinched. Apparently something really bad had happened between her and Hexia for her to be in such a bad mood. Ratchet finished with me and suggested I rest, which I thought was a good excuse to talk with Chardirakii. I opened the door to see Chardirakii sitting on her berth, helm-armor abandoned on the floor and her black hair falling over her face-plates, making it difficult to tell what her expression was. I softly closed and locked the door, then walked closer. "Chardirakii, are you-" "Don't...talk to me," Chardirakii sighed,"You don't want to know what happened." I stood in front of Chardirakii, then sat beside her on the berth, putting an arm around her shoulder-plates,"What happened?" Ped-steps walked by and Hexia shouted,"Enjoy your pitiful life while it lasts, coward!" "Shut up, Hexia!!" Chardirakii screamed back, her optics igniting with a violet light before darkening back to black once more. "Family argument?" I asked calmly. "You don't need to know," Chardirakii repeated with a snarl, striking at my chest-plate, then whimpering and holding her wrist. I stood and got some bandages from my berth-side table, then walked back and sat beside her again, taking her cut wrist and binding it. I was careful to be gentle. Chardirakii leaned against me and watched my digits as they wound the flexible metal around her injury. "You know you can tell me anything," I whispered, resting the side of my helm against the top of hers. "Yes, but this I feel is not your burden to bear," Chardirakii replied softly. I tied the bandage and set the roll aside before brushing some hair out of her face-plates,"Is it not better to share a burden with another, than to bear it alone?" Chardirakii sniffed and a tear slipped down her cheek. "Optimus, please. I don't want to talk about this with you," she said, her voice thick with grief. I wrapped both my arms around her and hugged my Sparkmate. I could clearly sense her distress and sadness, but I couldn't do anything about it because she wouldn't let me. Chardirakii wiggled a little in my arms, then I felt her warm dermas press softly against mine. I let go of her to run my servos down her arms and kissed her back just as softly. Chardirakii grabbed my front armor with both her servos and pulled me closer for a harder kiss with a gasp, her breath hot against my dermas. I was confused as to what was going on, but I held Chardirakii close and kissed her right back. Perhaps I did know how to make her forget her grief, for a little while at least.
