Sunlight filtered down from above, casting its rays onto the swaying fields of grass. A breeze passed through the area, causing flowers and grass to swirl in dizzying motions. Buzzing filled the air, bees and butterflies flitting from one plant to the other. Birds sang from the safety of the forest trees, located nearby. Occasionally, a rabbit would hop by and nibble on a piece of long grass, only to turn tail and retreat back into the protection of the shadows.

The sound of a car's engine did little to break the tranquil environment. It carefully wove around the dips and curves of the asphalt, as if trying to preserve nature's ease. A girl had her head out the window, taking in the sights around her. The last time she had been there, it was night. During the day, the forest appeared much less foreboding.

Light peaked through the dark canopy of the forest as they entered. The yellow subcompact slowed to a crawl and the girl jumped out of the passenger seat. A strange five frequency noise rang out as Bumblebee transformed. His optics cast over the familiar area, sadness creeping into his processor. Yet, he smiled and shook his helm almost to chastise himself for thinking such thoughts. He motioned to Sari and they began their trek through the wilderness.

It didn't take long to reach their destination as they both knew the coordinates by heart. They arrived at a clearing surrounded by shrubs and stones. A large rock sat at its center, a spear-like point as its defining quality. It was directly under the sun, a break in the protective canopy allowing for its almost surreal appearance. The slight blue hue made it stand out from the deep greens it was located within. Its presence made both visitors uncomfortable.

Bumblebee walked forward, reminded of how the lone boulder became such an unusual landmark. The black stripe on his chassis covered the scar left behind by its unwelcomed entrance. He was reminded of the resentment he felt, the spark-shattering betrayal and hurt. But in some twisted way, the accident helped him. By extension, this stupid rock made him, Bumblebee, live again. He learned how to let go of the past. Sure, the memories were still there but who didn't have skeletons in their closet?

Sari watched him circle around the rock, a small smile on his face. She knew that he needed this, that he needed to move past this one last incident. It's what Prowl would have wanted.

Completing his pacing, Bumblebee turned his attention back to Sari. "You know, I never thought I'd be back here on my own free will," he stated, pointing at the boulder, "Especially after what that thing did to me. It totally ruined my paintjob and almost off-lined me, the slagger." He forced a chuckle out. "Still, I never thought I'd see the day when Prowl off-lined." He stopped smiling and looked at the ground. "It should have been me instead."

"Bumblebee, it could have been any of us," Sari said. "Don't blame yourself, there's nothing you could have done."

"Everyone keeps saying that, but I still feel guilty. I'm the stupid reckless one; I should have off-lined when Shockwave cornered me on the moon." Bumblebee sighed, absentmindedly running a digit up and down his stripe.

"Stop acting like a whiney girl off of a teenage drama," she chastised, lightly punching her fist against his servo. "Prowl would definitely sit you down for a therapy session or something. I know where this conversation is going to go and I'm not in the mood to hear you angst about how worthless you think you are. If you off-lined instead of Prowl, we'd all be in the same position: blaming ourselves for what happened. The least you could do is stop moping, just to make Prowl happy in whatever you guys call Heaven."

"It's called the Well of All Sparks," he mumbled, "And I'm pretty sure the moping is normal. Were you expecting me to have a party or something?"

"No, I was expecting this reaction. It's why I came with you today." Sari stifled a yawn.

"Don't you mean yesterday? I drove for twenty-two hours straight!" Bee exclaimed, cracking a smile.

"You did it before so I wasn't worried. Besides, I was more concerned about what you would do when you got here. I mean, I didn't' want you going all samurai on us and plunging that stupid rock into your stomach." She knew it was a harsh joke, but dark humor was part of Bumblebee's coping mechanism. She'd do it if it helped, even if it was slightly uncomfortable for her.

The mech let out an indignant huff. "Please, I'd rather not have that thing get any more personal with me than it has already. I don't want it poking around my insides. It's bad enough when Ratchet has to!" He grew somber again. "But I guess you're right. The last thing Prowl would want me to be is unresponsive and depressing to be around. That would just creep him out."

"It creeps me out. You just did that to us less than twenty-four hours ago!" Sari crossed her arms. "And you didn't think about us when you decided to become the not-fun Autobot. Come on, you know that's Ratchet's job. Why take it away from him when he's doing it so well?"

"Shut it Sari, I wasn't that bad!" Bee said playfully. He whacked her arm lightly which still caused her to stumble a bit. He was rewarded with an energy ball to the faceplate.

"Yes you were! So, is that why you decided to take the road trip?" she asked, still curious about her friend's intentions. He had insisted that he go alone, but Sari managed to nag him enough to let her come along. To be honest, she was worried about him being alone right after another traumatic experience. The rest of the team backed her decision, not wanting a relapse of the last time unpleasant events caught the youngling by surprise.

"Part of it," he replied, "I wanted to get away from everything and what better place than the middle of nowhere? But there was something else I wanted to do." His servo transformed into a gray and teal stinger. It sparked with excess electricity, signaling that it was being charged.

"What?" Sari was almost afraid to ask. Bumblebee was still in a fairly fragile mental state. He could be up to anything right now. Just in case, she was prepared to intervene and call the base if anything went wrong. To her surprise, Bumblebee pointed his stinger at the boulder. Without hesitation, he let loose a strong burst of electricity. Upon hitting its target, it sparked whatever residue the energon left on the rock. The offending object was destroyed in a fiery explosion, raining bits and pieces of its all over the clearing. Bumblebee managed to shield Sari from the onslaught, pieces of flaming stone clinking harmlessly against his armor. Once it stopped, both of them looked up and saw a black mark on the ground.

"That's what I wanted to do," he answered, straightening to his full height. "Prowl kept nagging me about how I would keep coming back to this thing. He just wanted me to stop dwelling on it and accept what happened, like I did for the Iacon slag. I was fine but he suggested I visit the place, something about psychological effects. Well, here I am and I've got to say, destroying that fragging thing felt really good." He smiled deviously, as if planning another way to make an impressive explosion.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, but you don't have my permission to become a pyro. Now, put your stinger away before I make you," Sari commanded, watching as the mech reluctantly transformed the weapon back into his servo. He pouted slightly.

"You're no fun," he whined. Looking back towards the scorch mark, he smiled. "You ready to go back?"

"Already? But we just got here," Sari sarcastically complained. Bumblebee shot her a questioning glance before shaking his helm. "Ok, ok, we can leave. You owe me a milkshake though."

"Fair enough," Bee admitted, "Hey, you want to just explore this place while we're here. I mean, we've never been out here on a social visit."

"Sure," she complied. When she looked back, Bumblebee had already transformed into his alt.-mode. Climbing in, she turned up the radio as Bee pulled a u-turn. They sped away from the site, leaving the worst of the past behind them.

"So, what do we do now?" Sari asked. If Bumblebee could, he'd give her a cocky smirk.

"Live."

A/N: I'm not sure how I feel about that ending, but I really liked the lyric that it came from 'cause it's so true. It's from the English version of the song "Bratja" from Fullmetal Alchemist. It's a great anime with a great song.

I'm not sure if this will be a good idea or not, but I was thinking about doing a semi-short sequel to this. I can put up a description in my profile if anyone's interested. :3

So yeah, you can just skip to the bottom now or press the little back arrow at the top of your browser and read another story. You see, the next part is where I go on and gush about how thankful I am for all the support I received from whumping Bumblebee. If you want to read on, be my guest.

I just want to thank everyone who read this story and helped make it so successful. I've had the best response from this story and it felt like a really warm welcome into the TF fandom. For once, I'm really proud of what my fic progressed into. I'd like to give a special thanks to everyone who dropped a review or nine:

Stand For The Silent, Tanisa Bumblebrasil, Cinnamy, Sassbrat, lunarqua, Noella50881, sparklespepper, deathoftoast, . , JazzTheTiger, Richard'sQueen aka LGFS, IceDragon5683, LucasVN, Kangarooney, Rocking Phillip, SogaRyuu, DreamStoryWeaver, ReveilleStudios, TFAArtFreak, Shunner68, Kaleia, ReveilleWolfie, kcrb0202, prowl'slil'sis, ScienceLuver117, eltigre221, DemonSurfer, RayneDancer, Witch08, InsaneGrizzlies, myself and wolf, Challenger2011, iolper, musical-artist94, IBrokeThe4thWall, Draconia Snowmantle-Snape, and IAmStarscream.

Thank you so much everyone! Have a good summer, don't get dehydrated, and keep staring at those Camaros! Seriously, one WILL transform!