Happy Ending? a TFA fic
Title: Happy Ending?
Universe: TFA
Rating: PG
Characters: Jazz, Sari Sumdac, Arcee
Warnings: Character Death, angst, tissues
Prompt: Week 1, Prompt #3 “Wish I may, wish I might…”
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing with my action figures.
Notes: written for the prowlxjazz 2011 Anniversary Challenge. This was supposed to be my response for week one, but I didn’t get it edited and posted on time, so I had to wait for the amnesty period.
Thanks to wicked3659 for helping me brainstorm this out. It would be horribly syrupy and clichéd without her input.
Sari Sumdac stared at the stars.
She was no child anymore, but the idea that the stars could bring hope or comfort were not something easily dismissed from the mind of a being raised on the planet Earth. It was silly, and all science proved that it wasn’t possible--the stars were just balls of gas burning in the void of space--but it didn’t stop the thought. She smiled a little, as she remembered a ritual she and her father had shared back before he died.
She fixed her eyes on the brightest of the stars in Cybertron’s night sky. “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”
She swallowed a lump in her throat and wiped a tear from her eye before continuing. “I wish that Jazz would be able to stop hurting.”
She didn’t need to elaborate. Any higher being that was listening would know what she meant. It had been thirty years now that Prowl was gone, and while that wasn’t a long time for Cybertronians, it was long enough that Jazz should have been able to begin the healing process. He hadn’t, though, and it broke her heart to see him wandering around like half a person still.
She would give anything to make that pain go away.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Jazz lay back in the center of Sari's carefully cultivated garden and watched the stars.
It was quiet here in the middle of the fruits and vegetables that kept the techno-organic functional and it gave him a place to escape the too-fast paced life of the rest of Cybertron for a while. The plants didn't expect anything from him and they didn't demand things he didn't have left to give. They simply rustled in the artificially circulated air of their greenhouse dome and photosynthesized their nutrients under their sun lamps.
Some nights, he wished he would never have to leave the solitude of this place.
"Thirty years tonight, Prowl," he whispered. "Seems like forever. I miss you."
The air currents drifted across his plating with a gentle touch and he offlined his optics. He could pretend, for a while at least, that he wasn't alone anymore.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The lights were just beginning to come up for Cybertron's day cycle when Sari stepped into her garden. She preferred to be up and have eaten before Bumblebee or the Jet Twins could try to coax her into mischief or Optimus needed her help with some delicate political issue between Cybertron and Earth. She also enjoyed the little bit of peace she got while she was up here, before the Autobots swept her up into their busy lives for the day.
She was so intent on picking her breakfast that she didn't notice the form lying in the middle of her garden. Once she did notice, though, she couldn't take her eyes off the too-still body.
"Oh no. Jazz."
She dropped her basket and ran to his side. With a choked sob, she laid her hands on plating that had faded to a dull grey and let her systems scan his. Her ability to read machines didn't give her any magical results this time; it simply confirmed what her eyes had already told her.
Jazz was gone.
The strength went out of her arms and Sari crumpled against his side. She didn't try to stop the tears that began running down her face. “This isn’t what I meant! This isn’t what I meant at all!”
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Sometime later--it could have been minutes or hours, she wasn’t sure--someone picked her up and cradled her against their chest plates. She was too wrung out to really know who it was, or care, when they started crooning soothingly at her.
“He’s gone,” she whispered. “He’s gone and it’s my fault. Just like Prowl.”
“Sari, no!” She was being held by Arcee, who might actually get it, if Sari could just say the right words. “You didn’t do this. It was just Jazz’s time.”
“I wished it,” the techno-organic sobbed. “I wished it, but I didn’t mean this! I just wanted him to be able to stop hurting!”
“But, Sari, he did.” Arcee turned her so that she could see Jazz’s face. “Look. He’s smiling.”
Universe: TFA
Rating: PG
Characters: Jazz, Sari Sumdac, Arcee
Warnings: Character Death, angst, tissues
Prompt: Week 1, Prompt #3 “Wish I may, wish I might…”
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing with my action figures.
Notes: written for the prowlxjazz 2011 Anniversary Challenge. This was supposed to be my response for week one, but I didn’t get it edited and posted on time, so I had to wait for the amnesty period.
Thanks to wicked3659 for helping me brainstorm this out. It would be horribly syrupy and clichéd without her input.
Sari Sumdac stared at the stars.
She was no child anymore, but the idea that the stars could bring hope or comfort were not something easily dismissed from the mind of a being raised on the planet Earth. It was silly, and all science proved that it wasn’t possible--the stars were just balls of gas burning in the void of space--but it didn’t stop the thought. She smiled a little, as she remembered a ritual she and her father had shared back before he died.
She fixed her eyes on the brightest of the stars in Cybertron’s night sky. “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”
She swallowed a lump in her throat and wiped a tear from her eye before continuing. “I wish that Jazz would be able to stop hurting.”
She didn’t need to elaborate. Any higher being that was listening would know what she meant. It had been thirty years now that Prowl was gone, and while that wasn’t a long time for Cybertronians, it was long enough that Jazz should have been able to begin the healing process. He hadn’t, though, and it broke her heart to see him wandering around like half a person still.
She would give anything to make that pain go away.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Jazz lay back in the center of Sari's carefully cultivated garden and watched the stars.
It was quiet here in the middle of the fruits and vegetables that kept the techno-organic functional and it gave him a place to escape the too-fast paced life of the rest of Cybertron for a while. The plants didn't expect anything from him and they didn't demand things he didn't have left to give. They simply rustled in the artificially circulated air of their greenhouse dome and photosynthesized their nutrients under their sun lamps.
Some nights, he wished he would never have to leave the solitude of this place.
"Thirty years tonight, Prowl," he whispered. "Seems like forever. I miss you."
The air currents drifted across his plating with a gentle touch and he offlined his optics. He could pretend, for a while at least, that he wasn't alone anymore.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The lights were just beginning to come up for Cybertron's day cycle when Sari stepped into her garden. She preferred to be up and have eaten before Bumblebee or the Jet Twins could try to coax her into mischief or Optimus needed her help with some delicate political issue between Cybertron and Earth. She also enjoyed the little bit of peace she got while she was up here, before the Autobots swept her up into their busy lives for the day.
She was so intent on picking her breakfast that she didn't notice the form lying in the middle of her garden. Once she did notice, though, she couldn't take her eyes off the too-still body.
"Oh no. Jazz."
She dropped her basket and ran to his side. With a choked sob, she laid her hands on plating that had faded to a dull grey and let her systems scan his. Her ability to read machines didn't give her any magical results this time; it simply confirmed what her eyes had already told her.
Jazz was gone.
The strength went out of her arms and Sari crumpled against his side. She didn't try to stop the tears that began running down her face. “This isn’t what I meant! This isn’t what I meant at all!”
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Sometime later--it could have been minutes or hours, she wasn’t sure--someone picked her up and cradled her against their chest plates. She was too wrung out to really know who it was, or care, when they started crooning soothingly at her.
“He’s gone,” she whispered. “He’s gone and it’s my fault. Just like Prowl.”
“Sari, no!” She was being held by Arcee, who might actually get it, if Sari could just say the right words. “You didn’t do this. It was just Jazz’s time.”
“I wished it,” the techno-organic sobbed. “I wished it, but I didn’t mean this! I just wanted him to be able to stop hurting!”
“But, Sari, he did.” Arcee turned her so that she could see Jazz’s face. “Look. He’s smiling.”