An Artist's Gift

Drawing a fine-tipped brush through the paint, Sunstreaker considered the canvas in front of him for a moment, then brought the brush up. Just before the bristles touched the canvas, however, he paused, his holoform's head tilting as a sound reached its ears: soft footsteps and muffled giggles. They weren't anything out of the ordinary, but something made Sunstreaker set down his brush and investigate.

Out in the hall he found Taylor and Tyler, each with a big smile on their faces and a package in their arms, poorly-but-lovingly wrapped. When asked about the brightly-colored parcels, Taylor replied, "They're birthday presents for Aj! We wrapped them ourselves—don't you think we did a good job?"

Sunstreaker nodded, though something didn't seem to quite add up. "Isn't Aj's birthday not for quite a while?"

"It was Mom and Dad's idea," Tyler said, shifting his grip on his box so he didn't drop it. "They're not sure how crazy things are gonna be after we leave, so they wanted to do it now."

It did make a lot of sense when Sunstreaker thought about it. After all, the humans had no idea what kind of situation they'd find themselves in after they crossed dimensions—to be honest, after all that had happened, Sunstreaker himself wasn't too sure about what would be happening when they returned, and no doubt the other Autobots felt the same.

"It's also supposed to be a surprise," Peter added, coming up behind his siblings. He too carried a wrapped gift. "Our parents took Aj out to lunch so that they could discuss the move—or at least, that's what they told her. It was really to buy us time to get these wrapped and the house decorated. The others are helping—Optimus is even down in the kitchen trying to bake a cake. If it's okay, can we stash these in with you for now?"

"Yeah, sure." As the kids handed Sunstreaker the presents, Taylor asked, "Are you going to do anything or have anything for the party?"

Sunstreaker froze for a fraction of a second. "I take it the party is later today?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then I'll have something."

When Sunstreaker said those words, he was lying. Since he hadn't known of the plan to throw a party for Aj, he didn't have anything ready. But the kids had grown on him, and he hadn't wanted to disappoint them, especially considering how excited they were. Thankfully, he'd put enough conviction into his words that the three of them had no idea he wasn't telling the truth.

"Hey Tyler! Taylor! Peter! Come help with these streamers! 'Jack and Blue are all tangled up in them again!"

At Bumblebee's shout, the kids bid Sunstreaker a hasty farewell and raced back downstairs. With a shrug, Sunstreaker carried the presents back into the room and shut the door, leaning against it. "I'll have something…Nice going. What am I going to do…?"

His gaze fell on the canvas he'd been working on, which was nearly complete, and he realized that he hadn't lied after all.

Returning to the canvas, Sunstreaker picked up his brush and began to add the last few details to the painting.

All in all, the surprise birthday party had gone well—especially considering that somehow salt had been added to the cake instead of sugar (luckily Prowl had thought something would go wrong and had gone out and bought a cake just in case) and somehow one of Wheeljack's miniature fireworks had gotten mixed in with the regular candles (this, unfortunately, was a bit more consequential and resulted in one scorched table and two crispy table settings courtesy of Grimlock, as well as an errand to acquire yet another cake). Yet in spite of these incidents, the mood remained upbeat, and Aj took delight in the gifts she received from her family and the Transformers. However, first Taylor, then later Tyler and Peter began to shoot disappointed looks at Sunstreaker when they noticed he hadn't brought anything downstairs. After a while, Aj noticed the looks. "Is something wrong?"

"Sunstreaker hasn't given you his present yet." Tyler said. "He said he had one."

"It's still drying. I'll give it to her when it's done."

Tyler looked like he didn't quite believe the Autobot, but Aj just nodded. "That's okay, Sunstreaker. There's no rush."

Later, when Sunstreaker judged the paint to be fully dry, he carefully covered the painting with a light cloth before picking it up and going to look for Aj. He found her sitting in the kitchen, gazing at the scorched table, an untouched cup of hot chocolate in her hand. He quietly cleared his throat, catching her attention. "Oh, Sunstreaker. What've you got there?"

He shifted the canvas under his arm. "It's your gift. Is it okay if I set it on the table?"

Aj rubbed at the side of her head with her free hand. "If you think it'll hold its weight and you don't mind getting a little bit of ash on it, go right ahead."

Once Sunstreaker had carefully set the canvas on the table, he stepped back and allowed Aj to pull away the fabric to expose the painting. As she saw what was depicted, she gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. "Sunstreaker, is this...?"

He nodded. "It is. Is…Is it acceptable?"

For a moment, Aj let her eyes roam over the painting. It was of her family—all of her family. The portrait looked as if it was set in the living room, with herself, Bear, and the kids on the couch, and on either side of it were Audrey and Wes, and Rosie, as well, behind it. Standing around the couch were the Transformers in their holoforms, Autobot and Decepticon alike—even Barricade, who must've taken some serious convincing to stay still long enough for Sunstreaker to get such an accurate portrait. The painting was so lifelike, so real, it could have been a mirror's reflection, showcasing the golden twin's skill, and yet, it was clear that it wasn't—for one thing, Grimlock, sprawled in front of the couch in dinosaur mode, was much smaller than he currently was. In addition, and much to Aj's amusement, along the very bottom of the painting were the toys each Transformer had awoken in, and from left to right corresponded to the order of the holoforms—a quick and easy guide to who was who.

"It was supposed to be a going-away gift." Sunstreaker said quietly. "So you'd have something to remember us by. But then you decided you were going to come with us… I was going to finish it and then put it away for next Christmas, but when the kids brought up the early birthday party…I figured it would be an appropriate gift."

"It's perfect, Sunstreaker." Aj said, surprising the Autobot by giving him a hug. There was the slightest hitch in her voice as she went on, "Absolutely perfect. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Aj," Sunstreaker replied, a small smile on his face as he returned the hug. "Happy birthday."

Fin.