When All Lights Go Out I (TFP)

Chapter 28

The next few days went by and Azura was extremely uncomfortable. Even though Ratchet had treated her wound, it hurt for a long time. He reassured her that the pain would go away, but her burn was bad enough that it would take over a week to heal properly. She wouldn't be too upset about it if the pain was not so bad. She had trouble falling asleep, and Optimus had to give her sponge baths to clean her as Ratchet insisted that no water touch her back. She actually had Fowler write up an absence note for her as the pain was bad enough for her to want to stay home. And she ended up just trying to sleep most of the time.

Optimus himself did his best to comfort her. She refused to go to the aquarium now, and she just focused on her schoolwork, which seemed to be one of the few distractions she had at the moment. Jack, Miko and Raf noticed a change in her behavior, and she did her best to not make it seem so obvious that she was in pain and discomfort, though it wasn't easy. She actually found herself being distracted the most with making a 3D model of the Amazon rainforest. She had started that the day after Optimus destroyed the space bridge.

The only place she did not feel any kind of pain and discomfort was in her dreams with Alpha Trion. Since her mistake, she had become more determined to control her abilities without them going haywire like they did with Soundwave. She learned that while she had been focused, she lost it when Soundwave grabbed her, and she needed to learn to use her powers like she would use her arms, and that was harder to learn than she had hoped.

It was Saturday now, and Azura was laying in her berth holding one of her stuffed toys against her. She woke up to the familiar feeling of pain in her back and she hated it. She had been told last night that the burn was healing well, and she should feel less pain soon. But she really did not know when. The pain did seem a little less today, but she couldn't tell the difference. Azura felt like doing nothing at all today.

But she heard the door of her room open and Optimus walking in. She groaned and grabbed her pillow, placing it over her head. "Azura." She did not respond as she held the pillow over her head. "I know you are awake, Azura. I know you are in pain. But we have a plan for today. Don't you want to go out?"

She just groaned into the berth. "If I wasn't in pain, I would want to go to an island, Optimus. I don't feel like going, and I don't feel like practicing. The pain makes me want to sleep."

"I know." Optimus leaned down slightly. He could see her back was uncovered and he saw that the burn had healed enough that she probably could have a proper bath, but would need approval from Ratchet. "I really wish I could do something to ease your pain, Azura. Unfortunately, the pain relief meant for internal pain cannot help with external pain."

"And yet, humans are able to do that," Azura responded bluntly. She really did not feel like going out. "I know I asked to spend some time with you, Optimus, but I really do not feel like it today. Can't I just sleep the entire day like I did Thursday?"

Optimus smiled at her reluctance to get up because of the pain. He knew sparklings were very receptive to pain, so Azura was feeling pain more than what would feel like for an adult autobot. "You know as much as I do that would be extremely unproductive, Azura. I understand you are in pain, and I don't expect you to want to do much. But we should get out of the base. We don't have to go to an island today. Salty water probably would not be ideal to be around."

"No, it would not...even though I am not sure if my body would react to salt like humans do." She sighed loudly before she pulled her head from under the pillow, looking up at Optimus. "What would we even do, Optimus? Just sitting hurts, and so does walking. Laying on my stomach is the only way I even feel comfortable." She rests her head on her pillow and just looked at Optimus with a frustrated expression. "It really makes me feel restricted on what I want to do."