Early the next morning, Optimus awoke with a start. Instinctively, he pulled out his gun and surveyed the area. It took him a second to process where he was and realize that he was in pain not because of a recent battle, but because of old injuries still trying to heal. The problem was that nothing was healing properly due to his low energon levels, which also explained his hunger and tiredness. Relaxing, he laid back down and felt something soft underneath his head. It was the blanket Alexandra had given him. He smiled at her thoughtfulness. 

Glancing at the time from his internal clock, Optimus saw that it was roughly three in the morning. He knew he needed to get up and do something about his energon problem, but he just didn't know what to do. If he didn't get any soon, he would surely perish. Not panicking would help, so he remained calm. It was during this quiet time that Optimus felt the Matrix of Leadership stir from within him. This was a rare event that he noticed only happened when his life was in danger. The Matrix was trying to tell him something; he just didn't know how to understand it. When he acquired it, the Matrix didn't exactly come with an instruction manual, and the knowledge of its full capabilities had been lost over the centuries. Rising to a sitting position, Optimus looked down at his chest, trying to figure out what the pulsing artifact was attempting to tell him. After a few moments of confusion, it was obvious that the Matrix was annoyed as it vibrated roughly.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't speak 'Ancient Artifact of the Primes.'"

The Matrix stopped moving, making him regret giving it attitude. Then, without warning, the Matrix's energy started pushing upward. Optimus guessed that it wanted him to stand up. Exiting his shelter, Optimus shakily stood up and felt the energy of the Matrix start flowing in another direction, proving that his guess was right. Limping the entire way, he followed it for more than a few miles, deep within the forest, before the flowing energy started to die down. Unexpectedly, it stopped just as suddenly as when it started flowing, leaving Optimus staring at more wild forest,

"That was helpful..."

At a glance, everything looked normal, but after doing a scan of the area, Optimus picked up something. He stuck his hand out in front of himself and saw it disappear before his optics, 

"A camouflaged shield?"

He walked fully through the invisible barrier and saw his salvation: a large pile of energon cubes and various types of equipment. Optimus wasn't sure how any of it had come to be there, but at the moment, he wasn't going to worry about it. He hungrily fed on some of the energon and then patched up his wounds with a first aid kit he found. Content and feeling much better, he decided to take everything to his camp. It would take him a while, but at least he would survive. 

Alexandra hadn't slept well that night. Her worry for Optimus and his worsening condition made her restless in all of her classes, making the day seem to drag. She even considered calling Mazikeen and spilling everything to her. Waiting for her ride after school was also torturous. Sam and his group of friends were supposed to give her a lift home, but they were taking their sweet time picking her up. Eventually, Alexandra and Sam made it home. Sam waved at his closest friend, Miles, 

"Thanks, guys!" 

Miles waved back at him, 

"No prob, bro! And think about that party we talked about."

Sam sighed,

"Alright," 

He waved one last time before heading inside the house. Sam glanced at Alexandra as she started walking to the porch,

"Where you going?" 

Alexandra smiled nervously at him. Then she rolled her eyes and smirked at him,

"Oh, I don't know, Sam. Maybe I'm going to go discover an alien and be friends with it. Where do you think? I'm going outside for a walk," 

Sam rolled his eyes at her and stuck out his tongue, 

"Whatever, I'm going upstairs to do homework with Rover,"

Once outside, she quickly made her way to Optimus's camp. It wasn't until she was fairly close that she realized something was different. She stopped, looking out at the area where the camp was supposed to be, but she only saw wild forest. The area looked exactly like it did the day Alexandra first showed Optimus the place.What happened to him? Where is he? What happened to his shelter, table, and chair? I was just here! There should be at least a footprint or something! These thoughts raced through Alexandra's head. Before panicking any further she looked around more, 

"Optimus!" 

Nothing happened right away, so she called again,

"Optimus Prime, where are you?!"

That's when something strange happened. She heard his giant footsteps and felt the ground move, but she didn't see him. It felt like he was walking ahead of her, but there was nothing there. Then, as if there was an invisible barrier between them, Optimus appeared right in front of her,

"You called?"

"What..." 

Alexandra jumped back, confused. A healthy-looking Optimus just appeared out of nowhere, and he was acting like this was completely normal. Alexandra waved her hands frantically,

"But you were just, and now you're, but wait, now you look... what!"

She didn't get to say anything more because, at that moment, a bee flew past her ear,

"Aaaaah!" 

Freaking out, she sent her arms flying and started running, straight into a tree. Squatting down beside her, Optimus tilted his head,

"Are you alright?" 

He helped her get back on her feet with his good hand.

"Ow," 

Alexandra rubbed her head and dusted off her Gryffindor shirt,

"Yeah, I'm good. I just hate it when bugs fly past my ear; it gives me the chills." 

She shuddered, but then she looked back at him to get a better look at him. What she saw surprised her. Optimus had recently given himself a thorough clean, so she could now see all the injuries he had that were previously covered by mud and battle residue. She saw that there were many small injuries and two major ones. She already knew that Optimus's left arm was badly damaged, but she didn't know how she failed to notice his other major wound. The right side of his hip looked crushed. It surprised her how well he could walk, 

"Um, back to talking about you. How are you doing? I thought you weren't feeling well, and where's your camp?"

"I am feeling much better than when we last met, thank you. As for my camp, it is hidden behind this camouflage shield." 

Optimus held his hand out beside him, and Alexandra saw it disappear,

"Wow... I want one." 

Optimus chuckled at her comment and extended his hand to her. Knowing what he wanted, Alexandra climbed on, and Optimus took her inside the camouflaged shield, where she saw the rest of his camp. His A-framed shelter was the same, as well as his stone table and chair. The differences were that there were fewer trees in the area and two more shelters. One housed what looked like a bunch of alien equipment, and the other held a large pile of blue cubes. She tilted her head in confusion,

"What are those blue things, and where did you get all of this stuff?"

Optimus dropped Alexandra off at his stone table before he pulled up his stone chair,

"Those cubes are energon cubes. This supply that I have acquired will last a great while. As for the gear in the other shelter, that is an assortment of things such as medical equipment, weapons, and tools." 

He briefly told Alexandra how he found everything. He explained his little knowledge of the Matrix and how it guided him to what would seem like a Cybertronian provision site. He told her how he wasn't sure how it got there, but he was thankful for it, 

"The area was concealed within this camouflage shield, completely hidden from humans. I took everything there and brought it here, including the shield, since I knew I could make good use of it,"

Alexandra smiled largely, 

"That is so cool, but I still want one. Maybe for my birthday, it's in a couple of weeks, you know?" 

He chuckled, 

"Maybe..."

--------------------------------

The next couple of weeks passed by slowly for Optimus since he had been alone for the majority of the time. Granted, he was used to it because of his responsibilities as Prime, but on Earth he had gotten used to Alexandra being around. To distract himself, he thought about what he was going to get her for her birthday; it was the next day. A camouflage shield was out of the question, but he still wanted his gift to be unique. He paced about his camp, thinking until something small on his stone table caught his optic. It was Alexandra's IPod, Leonardo. Normally, when Alexandra forgot her favorite little music player, Optimus would return it by putting it on the second-story balcony of her house. That night, Optimus intended to do just that, but when he picked up the light blue IPod he felt the Matrix pulse from within his chest again. He glanced between the IPod and his chest, feeling the Matrix's energy flowing toward the IPod. He didn't understand why the Matrix wanted to be close to the IPod, but Optimus had yet to regret not following the ancient device's wishes. He did a quick scan of the area to make sure it was safe, since he would be vulnerable with his spark exposed, and then opened his chest plates.

The unshielded energy from the Matrix instantly shot out, towards the music player. Amazed, Optimus watched as the Matrix's ancient power did something totally unexpected to the small device. The light blue IPod shook violently in his hand as the Matrix's energy slowly stopped feeding it. Once the energy stopped flowing entirely, the IPod's shaking ceased as well. Optimus closed his chest plates, knowing that the Matrix was finished with whatever it had tried to do and then turned his attention to the pulsing IPod. For a while it seemed as if nothing was going to happen, but then, unbelievably, the IPod transformed.

"Wow..." 

The Prime gasped. At the sound of a voice, the newly born transformer looked around to find the owner of the voice. When his optics rested on Optimus, he did a startled squeak and backed up. All eight inches of the little guy nearly fell off the Prime's hand,

"Whoa, easy there little one. I'm not going to hurt you." 

He brought the IPod closer to his face to get a good look at him. He had a navy blue visor and a round helmet. His armor was mostly light blue, but he had a few areas that were silver or navy blue. The little bot shakily looked at Optimus,

"Who...who are you? And where am I?" 

The IPod then added as if it was an afterthought, 

"Who am I?"

It greatly surprised Optimus to hear the newborn transformer speak, plus he spoke in sentences. Neonate Cybertronians couldn't pronounce words till after several months of their birth, and yet here was this newborn speaking intelligently and forming authentic thoughts. Optimus still had very little knowledge of the Matrix and its abilities, so he only guessed that it provided life to the IPod and significantly increased its normal aging process,

"My name is Optimus Prime, and you are at my base camp. You were once a normal IPod until a device I wield brought you to life. You were formally known as Leonardo by a human girl named-"

"Alexandra."

Optimus nodded and Leonardo jumped up,

"Yeah I remember, and now that I think about it, I kinda remember you too. How is it that I have memories if I've barely come alive?" 

The small bot looked to Optimus for guidance for he felt drawn to him, or was it the Matrix? All he knew was that Optimus was there for him. His memories told him that he was kind, trustworthy, and smart. He was someone who could always help.

"I wish I could provide a better answer for you, Leonardo, but I can only guess. The Matrix of Leadership, the ancient artifact that brought you to life, is shrouded in mystery for the knowledge of its abilities were lost over the centuries. But know this: it granted you life was no accident. The Matrix has silently guided me through many hardships and it now has brought me you." 

Optimus wondered what the Matrix was trying to tell him by giving him this small transformer, but he didn't get much time to think since Leonardo had already moved on to the next subject that interested him. Leonardo shrugged and smiled,

"Well, at least you can take an educated guess, me not so much. But whatever, I'm alive. So when can I meet Alexandra? I only have positive memories of her and I really want to see her."

Smirking at the little bot's charisma, Optimus answered, 

"Soon...Actually, you can meet her tomorrow evening." 

Leonardo jumped excitedly in his hand. Optimus smiled at him, 

"You can be her birthday gift."

Leonardo laughed proudly,

"That's awesome! I bet I'm going to be her favorite present! Top that humans! Oh! And Mazikeen! I will definitely beat Rover!" 

Optimus gazed at him, amused. Once Leonardo calmed down enough, Optimus explained some ground rules. To the inhabitants of Earth, they were to be robots in disguise and were only allowed to reveal themselves in dire circumstances. Alexandra was the only exception. 

"Alright, that doesn't sound too hard. And hey, now I can help you watch over Alexandra." 

Optimus tilted his head to the side, unsure why Leo would say that, 

"Come on, big bot, even as a normal iPod I could tell that you were always keeping an eye on her and making sure she was okay." 

Leo shrugged, Optimus smiled and nodded his head,

"I wouldn't expect anything else from an autobot, so I'll help."

The next morning Alexandra woke up to the smell of a delicious breakfast being made. Eager for this rare treat, she ran downstairs and flew into the kitchen to see her dad wearing his Darth Vader apron over his police uniform. He was cooking her some eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and toast.

"Morning kiddo!" 

Ron gave his daughter a side hug before she sat down at the table, waiting for breakfast, 

"I see you beat you're brother," 

He glanced in the direction of the stairs and saw Sam running down them,

"Jeez son, you could have at least fixed your bed hair." 

Ron was ignored by him, so he turned his attention back to Alexandra,

"Anyways, happy birthday Kiddo." 

He placed a plate with steaming food in front of her.

"Thanks dad! You're the best! Where's mom? Or Maze?" 

Ron placed another full plate in font of Sam and Alexandra,

"Your mom already left for work...Maze said she would come back home after a small mission,"

He sighed,

"Anyhow, since they both will be here later, we can spend the evening together to celebrate your birthday."

Rolling his brown eyes, Sam spoke with his mouth full of food,

"She's only turning fourteen. What's the big deal?"

Smirking at his son, Ron cuddled Alexandra and spoke in a kiddie voice,

"Ah, I think someone is just a little jealous that they aren't the center of attention." 

Alexandra giggled at Sam's unamused expression,

"Yeah yeah, back to business. I'm taking you two to school today, so hurry up and get ready. After school we're going to go to the movies and watch whatever the lady chooses and then go to a restaurant of her choice. Alright? No go get ready." 

Ron proceeded to kick his children out of the kitchen.

For the outfit she was going to wear for her special day, Alexandra decided to wear her favorite shirt, a black Ironman shirt. He was her all-time favorite superhero, and as cliché as it was, her favorite color was black. As she was doing her hair, she realized that there wasn't any music playing in the background. Quickly searching her room for her iPod, she realized that the music player wasn't in her room. She went to the second story balcony to see if she might have left it at Optimus's camp and he had returned it, but there was no iPod there either. It was to the point that her father had to use the police siren to get them to school on time because of her search for her iPod.

"Dad, as awesome as the start of this day has been, I think its going south. I can't find Leo!" 

Sam leaned forward, towards the cage that separated him from the two in the front of the police cruiser,

"Cheer up; it's not the end of the world. You'll find him when you get home. Then we celebrate your birthday, and then bam! It's the weekend. Plus, if you can't then I can have Rover help us find him!" 

He had a 'hot' date that weekend, and he was looking forward to it. Alexandra sighed,

"Yeah, I guess you're right." 

She smiled when she saw a familiar looking fire truck a few cars behind them. When she arrived to her school, some of her best friends ran up to her and attached birthday balloons to her R2-D2 backpack. 

"Happy birthday!" 

Rosalyn, one of her besties, gave her a Gryffindor scarf even though she really wanted to get her a Slytherin one since that was her Hogwarts house, but she knew Alexandra belonged in Gryffindor and got her that instead. Another buddy of Alexandra's, Amethyst, gave her a Ninja Turtles blanket. Alexandra pulled the two into a group hug,

"You guys are the best!"

The rest of her day went pretty well since none of her teachers assigned homework for over the weekend. After school her parents picked her and Sam up in the 'family friendly' vehicle, not the police cruiser, and they headed off to the nearest movie theater where they watched the new Captain America movie. Mazikeen made an appearance at the end of the movie and they all went to have dinner at Olive Garden. Alexandra quickly caught Mazikeen up on all the small drama in her life and they all took turns telling Mazikeen about the movie. They eventually made it home around nine o'clock. Alexandra's parents went to bed since they worked the next day, and Sam went to his room where he would play video games for the next couple of hours before he too went to bed. Mazikeen went to her own room to work on an invention she was creating. Meanwhile, Alexandra was in her room, looking for her iPod again, when she heard a light tap on her window. She looked over her shoulder to see Optimus peering in. She crossed her room with a few strides and opened the window. Optimus, as usual, skipped saying 'hi' and lifted his hand to the window. Alexandra raised her eyebrows, surprised, but hopped into his waiting hand. With no words exchanged, Optimus proceeded to silently walk towards his camp.

Alexandra waited until they were a good distance into the forest before she said anything, 

"Hey Optimus, what are you doing?" 

She had never been to his camp at night, so him inviting her over this late at night was strange.

"There is no need to feel alarmed, I am simply taking you to your birthday gift."

Again, she was surprised by him,

"Wait, what? Birthday gift?" 

She hadn't been expecting anything from him. "That's very nice of you, but you didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did. It is a human tradition that on the anniversary of ones coming into this world that they are presented with gifts." 

He glanced down at Alexandra and he didn't like the skeptical look she was giving him. That specific expression was often used when she wanted him to stop acting like a Prime and act like Optimus, 

"Okay fine, I just wanted to take part in the celebration of my friend's birth. Being how it is your special day, I figured that if I presented you with a gift it would make you happy. Everyone should be happy on their birthday."

Alexandra's cheeks were hurting for how much she was smiling. 

"Aw Optimus, you put up this cute lil military front, but you're really just a big softie."

Optimus rolled his optics, a habit he picked up from Alexandra,

"Yeah, yeah," 

She laughed, 

"No, okay, seriously, I'm happy. Spending time with you makes me happy. You're the most interesting guy I know and you remind me of Ironman." 

She thought to herself,

'And now Captain America,'

"You're wise, just, and selfless. All of these are admiring traits that I love to be around. So I'm not making fun of you."

The unique small smile appeared on his normally stoic face. 

"I know." 

They arrived at their destination and Optimus took Alexandra to his stone table. She jumped off his hand and before she could ask 'now what' Optimus told her to close her eyes. She waited for a few seconds before she heard Optimus say, 

"Open."

She opened her eyes and saw that Optimus had his hand outstretched toward her. She didn't at first see her iPod in his hand, but when she did see it, she tilted her head in confusion. 

"My iPod?"

"Wait for it," 

As if on cue, the music player transformed. Alexandra's eyes widened and jaw dropped as she stared at the little Cybertronian in Optimus's hand. 

"Wow," 

Uncertain of what to do, Leonardo looked to Optimus for guidance. The Prime encouraged him with a small head gesture. Leonardo took a little deep breath and addressed Alexandra. 

"Hello Alexandra, my name's Leonardo. You named me." 

He gently smiled, unsure if he said the right things.

Alexandra peered closer to the iPod.

"Leo?" 

He nodded. 

"Oh my gosh, this is so awesome!" 

Her beaming smile made Leonardo relax,

"Can I hold you?" 

"Yeah sure!" 

Leo jumped off Optimus and into Alexandra's unprepared hands. She caught him, clumsily, but she still caught him. 

"Don't drop me. Here, how about this." 

He effortlessly climbed up her arm and then sat on her shoulder, just like when she sat on Optimus's shoulder,

"This okay?"

"Yeah," 

She laughed, 

"So tell me about yourself. Like were you always alive? Do you like music? Is that why you transform into an iPod? Why blue?" 

"Wow, E-Brake! Let me talk, Alexa!" 

Leonardo cut in before she could ask any more questions,

"Oh, hope you don't mind me calling you that? 'Alexandra' is a mouthful. But anyways, no I was not always alive. That happened last night all thanks to big bot." 

He used his head to indicate Optimus, who had left the two to get better acquainted with each other. 

"I transformed into an iPod since that was what I was before I came alive so that probably explains my love for music. It's all I've ever done. Same goes as for why I'm blue. But don't get me wrong, this color so awesome."

"Oh...that makes sense." 

Alexandra and Leonardo continued to talk for the next couple of hours. Their conversation turned from talking to messing around, for the two were constantly laughing and cracking jokes. They hit it off really well. Their conversation would have probably gone all night if Optimus hadn't seen Alexandra yawn. It was past midnight.

"I believe that is enough for one night." 

They both started complaining, but his unmoving gaze told them that his word was final,

"Come on," 

He extended his hand and Alexandra climbed on with Leo still on her shoulder.

"So Alexandra, think I can bunk with you? I'm not dogging your place or anything, big bot, but all of my stuff is in her room like my charger and earbuds." 

Fighting another eye roll, Optimus sighed, 

"It's Alexandra's choice."

Nodding, she made her decision,

"I'm cool with it."

"As you wish." 

Optimus quietly snuck Alexandra and Leonardo back into her room. Afterward, he went back to his quiet base. He found it odd that the silence was eerie, but after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that he was usually always in a noisy environment. The Autobot base was never quiet, and neither was the battlefield. His little time on Earth constantly had background noise, but during this time of night, nothing stirred. It was way too quiet for his liking and Optimus knew that when Leonardo was around, there was never a moment like this. He felt himself missing the small iPod the Matrix had given life to. In his short time with Leo, he once again had someone to care for. It had been a long time since Optimus has had to watch over a younger bot, and while his mind was on Cybertron and the caretaking of younger bots, his younger brother's face appeared in his mind. The rush of emotions forced the Prime to blink back tears. 

"Brother...I'm so sorry. I failed protect you..."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ──

I AM ALIVE!!!!!! SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!!!! I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY I APOLOGIZE! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!!!!!