This chapter's a tribute to Straya and her fantastic fic 'Second Chances' :D

Part 7

The next day, while it was still dark, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker led their new-forged sister to Lookout Mountain. They walked up, Moonlight not yet used to driving, then sat together on the rebuilt lookout platform, legs dangling over the edge.

"It's so beautiful." Moonlight whispered in awe as the sun rose, staining the clouds pink and gold as it's rim peeked over the mountains that rimmed the low lying basin the City sat in.
"Yeah. Me an' Sides used to watch the sunrise with whatever poor sap got stuck on nightwatch with us." Sunstreaker said, his voice carrying a tone of quiet reverence. "Blue' used to love it."

"I still do."

Sheepishly, the blue and grey gunner edged out from behind the trees where he had been standing. "Can I, I mean, I hope I'm not interrupting, 'cause y'know, you look like you're having some time together so I think I'll just go and…"
"Blue, get over here and siddown." Sideswipe interrupted, friendly smile belaying his words. Bluestreak perked up visibly and joined the trio, but maintained a respectful distance between himself and Sideswipe.

Birds started warbling in the shrubs as the sun's light grew brighter, finally catching the glass and golden walls of the City itself, making it shine in the dewy glow of an early summer morning.

"Is it always like this?" Moonlight asked, leaning on Sideswipe's shoulder.
"Like what, sis?" Sideswipe asked. He rolled the last word around in his mind for a moment, enjoying the feel of it.

"Is it always so beautiful?" The femme asked, waving one hand towards the landscape. "So colourful?"
"Sometimes. But I think this morning is one of the better ones." Sunstreaker chuckled to himself. "No wonder Hound fell in love with this planet."

Sideswipe watched his brother's face out of the corner of his optic. Truth be told, for the past few months he had been worried about his twin, the golden warrior seemingly more withdrawn and moody than ever before. But Moonlight, first under construction and now physically here had changed him, and, Sideswipe realised, had changed himself as well.

And, he reflected with a smile, he liked it.

0o0o0

Some time later, the trio had finally made it back into the City, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker instinctively flanking their sister. Bluestreak had stayed up on the mountain, saying that he had promised to take Carly to visit Hound and Trailbreaker while Spike and Daniel were meeting several heads of state in Tokyo.

They were just inside the outer courtyard when a voice called out a cheery "Hey, wazzup?" Jazz grinned and waved as he approached the trio.

"Yo Jazz! Whatcha doing here?" Sideswipe called back.
"Ambassador stuff f' Roddy." Jazz replied, then turned to Moonlight. "Hey lil' lady, my name's Jazz." He held out one hand in greeting.
"Moonlight." She replied shyly, taking his hand
"Well, I for one am very pleased t' be makin' your acquaintance." Jazz replied with a smile. "Your brothers must've stolen a beauty like you from th' starry heavens when they chose your name."

Moonlight giggled bashfully, and would have been blushing bright red if she had the capacity to do so.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker watched but didn't interrupt, both knowing that Jazz wouldn't try anything.

"Well, though I'd much rather stay here an' chat, I gotta scoot. I'll find ya t'night." Jazz said, then transformed and pulled away.

"He's nice." Moonlight commented, watching the Porsche drive deeper into the complex.
"Yeah, Jazz is a real good mech." Sunstreaker affirmed.
"Where are we going now?" The new-forged femme queried. Her brothers were silent for a moment.
"You remember the people we told you about last night?" Sideswipe asked.
"Yes."
"Well, we're gonna introduce you to them." Sunstreaker replied.

0o0o0

The gallery they led Moonlight to was to the rear of the complex, well away from the hum of activity in the main part of the city. A series of large windows made up one side of the wide hall, overlooking the landing pad and the mountains that ringed the valley to the south. The other side of the hallway was lined with life sized holograms of the warriors that had fallen in the battle for Autobot City. Although there were statues of the fallen on the promenade infront of the command centre, the twins preferred the holograms that Hound had created. A program in each pedestal cycled through about a dozen images of the mech it was dedicated to over the period of a couple of months.

The first image was that of Prowl, caught in mid motion as he brought up his pellet gun, lips slightly parted and optics narrowed as he stared at a point on the horizon, door wings held high.

"Who is he?" Moonlight asked, head tilted slightly to one side. She reached up to touch the hologram, but was disappointed to find that her hand fell through it.
"He's Prowl." Sideswipe said. "Nice enough, really smart. We gave him hell more than he deserved."

"And him?" Moonlight pointed to the next hologram. This one was of Ironhide, the old mech looking irritated as he cracked his knuckle joints.
"That's Ironhide. He wasn't usually that grumpy, I think Hound just caught him on a bad day." Sunstreaker said. "Hey Sides, didn't Hound record this one during that battle just after Megatron shot Ratchet?"
"Yeah, I think he was about to lay into Hook after the Dinobots charged the Constructicons." The red Lamborghini answered.

Moonlight had already moved to the next hologram, Ratchet's one. He was looking down at them, one hand holding a laser scalpel and the other resting on his hip, the medic's face displaying a comforting half smile, the one he wore just before he shut you down for surgery, the one that said you were going to be alright.

The femme turned to her brothers. "He's Ratchet, isn't he?" She asked.
"Yeah. He designed you, and saved us Pit knows how many times." Sideswipe said, looking up at the medic's face and remembering seeing that smile. He canted a grin in Sunstreaker's direction. "Remember that prank we pulled and it all went haywire?"
"Yeah. I actually though Ratchet was going to flay us that time." Sunstreaker grinned.

"Can you tell me about it, please?" Moonlight asked. "I didn't really know Ratchet, I want to hear more about him, about all of them."
"Sure." Sideswipe grinned. He sat down on the wide windowsill, Moonlight sitting cross-legged beside him and Sunstreaker sitting beside her. "Now, where shall I start…"

0o0o0

Hours later, night had settled on the City, and the trio was still in the gallery. Jazz had joined them for an hour or two, adding his stories to the web of tales the brothers were weaving for their sister, before regrettably having to depart for another meeting.

Moonlight had dozed off not long after that, curled up between her brothers, using Sunstreaker's thigh as a pillow. The golden twin had one hand resting protectively on the dusky blue shoulder, probably not realising it.

"Hey Sunny?"
"Yeah?" Sunstreaker asked.
Sideswipe looked out at the starry skies. "You think Ratchet's still out there somewhere?"
"Maybe. He always was too stubborn to die. Same with the rest of 'em." Sunstreaker waved one hand at the line of holograms. "I mean, Ratch' spent who knows how many years keeping all of us alive, defying Death would be second nature to him. And if he was alive, Ratchet would drag all the rest of them back with him just because he could."
"Yeah." Sideswipe grinned mischievously. "It'd be great if they came back. We'd drive Prowl up the wall now that we've got backup."
"Well, if they were and we heard about it," Sunstreaker looked up at the sky, "I know a few 'bots who'd get out there and not stop looking."