A/N: Well, since it's almost Valentine's Day, I figured I'd treat you guys to some romance/friendship. ^_^ Enjoy!

All characters © HasTak

Optimus Prime pulled into the plant that served as a home and opened his car doors. Sari and Kicker hopped out with their backpacks. Today was Friday, which meant that it was time for a sleepover. This week, it was Kicker's turn to sleep over at Sari's house.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" called Kicker.

"We'll see about that!" Sari replied.

As Optimus shifted to robot mode, he noticed that Sari and Kicker were laughing. It made his spark warm to know that his "daughter" had made some human friends. Maybe now she wouldn't feel so…so…

"HA! I win!" Sari cheered. "Kicker's a rotten egg!"

"Aww," whined Kicker. "Oh well, I can still beat you at Rock Hero!"

"Dream on!"

Optimus laughed to himself as he followed the kids inside.

As the children made themselves comfortable on the gigantic couch, Bumblebee stepped in. He noticed that Sari was playing a video game with Kicker. And he was also sitting in his spot. Playing his guitar controller. With his sister.

"Oh hey Bumblebee," Sari greeted. "You remember Kicker, right?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, gritting his dental plates. "Hi…"

Kicker waved. "Hi."

"Uh, I'm gonna go get an oil can. Maybe I'll watch you guys play."

"`Kay, later Bee."

Bumblebee left the room and knocked on Bulkhead's door. The door rose up and Bumblebee stepped in. Bulkhead was using a large supercomputer to update his deviantART page.

"Hey, little buddy," said Bulkhead, turning away from the screen. "Something bugging you?"

"More like someone," Bumblebee mumbled.

"Who?"

"That Kicker kid. He's been acting all chummy around Sari lately."

"Why shouldn't he? He's her best friend."

"BUT I'M HER BEST FRIEND!" Bumblebee immediately covered his mouth when he realized how loud he was. After a half a minute of silence, he uncovered his mouth. "I'm sorry big guy; I…I didn't mean it."

"It's alright," Bulkhead replied.

"I just wish I knew why I was acting like this…"

"You're jealous."

Bumblebee did a double take. "What?"

"You're jealous because Sari's doing everything you did with her with Kicker. And I'm just guessing here, but do you feel like she might forget about you?"

Bumblebee looked away. "Maybe…"

"Bee, not only are you her brother, but you're a giant to her. It's gonna be pretty hard for Sari to forget about you. And Kicker? He's too nice to try to make you jealous. I think he actually wants to be your friend. So why don't you try to have fun with them?"

Bumblebee thought for a moment before heading for the door. "Thanks, Bulkhead."

"What're brothers for?" he replied, before turning back to his updates.

Bumblebee sat next to Sari on the couch.

"I thought you were getting oil," she said.

"Changed my mind. Hey Kicker, can I play against you after this? We have another guitar controller."

"Okay." Kicker nodded.

Maybe this kid's not so bad after all…thought Bumblebee.

"Aunt Red Alert," asked Sari, "Do you know what Valentime's Day is?"

Red Alert looked down at the young human child. "Why do you ask?"

"A bunch of kids at school were talking about Valentime's Day."

"Hold on a nano-click," RA said, searching the web on the supercomputer she shared with Ratchet. "Here we are. According to Wikipedia, Valentine's Day is a holiday that occurs on February 14. People buy flowers and chocolates to give to their loved ones as a gift. Children make paper hearts and give them to the people they care about the most. All of this is done to celebrate love."

Love, eh? Sari thought to herself. Sounds like fun! I should try it!

"Thanks for letting me know!" said Sari as she raced to her room. She pressed a button on a nearby panel to lock the door.

You seem excited, Bunny observed. Did something happen?

"Aunt Red Alert told me what Valentime's Day was."

Actually, it's Valentine's.

"Whatever. I'll be right back. I need to get some stuff." Sari unlocked the door and raced to Bulkhead's room next door. "Hey Bulkhead, can I borrow some construction paper, a pair of scissors, and a glue stick?"

"Sure," said Bulkhead. "What color?"

"One of everything, please."

"That's a lot of construction paper! What exactly are you making?"

"You'll see!" Sari replied, grabbing the supplies she needed and racing back to her room, where she relocked the door.

Sari worked tirelessly and endlessly on her little project. By the time her dinner was ready, she was done.

"You think they'll like it?" she asked Bunny as she picked him up.

I hope so. You really put a lot of effort into them.

"We'll find out tomorrow!" Sari exclaimed as she went off to eat her dinner.

.: Y:.

When Optimus Prime had rebooted his systems the next day, he found an odd little paper next to him on his charging berth. It was dark blue and in the shape of a heart. He carefully opened it and read the message in his processor. Happy Valentine's Day, Dad! Love, Sari

Optimus noticed that Blackarachnia had also woken up and was reading a purple version of the card Optimus had. "Optimus," she asked in a half-yawn, "Do you know anything about a 'Valentine Day'?"

"It must be another one of those Earth customs Red Alert told Sari about."

"Huh. Cute, isn't it?"

Optimus nodded. He and his wife left their room and noticed that everyone else was also awake and holding a different colored heart. Bumblebee's was yellow with black stripes, Arcee's was pink, Ratchet's was red…everybody had one.

"Optimus Prime, sir," Jetfire asked, waving around his orange paper heart.

"Are you knowing about these hearts of paper?" finished Jetstorm, who was also waving around his light blue paper heart.

"Yeah, where did these all come from?" Wasp added.

All of a sudden, each family member turned their head to see the youngest and only human member skipping into the room with Bunny in tow. Oddly, she was already dressed in the outfit Bulkhead made for her last autumn, her hair was brushed and put into pigtails, and she was finishing off a piece of toast. Her crumb-laden smile hinted that she knew something they didn't.

"Good morning, everyone!" she greeted in a sing-song voice after swallowing. "How did you like your presents?"

"You mean you did this?" Glyph asked, pointing to her aquamarine paper heart.

"M-hm! I just wanted to do something nice for Valentine's Day is all!" Sari put Bunny in her backpack, zipped it up, and headed for the door. "You ready, Dad?"

"Wait…you already had breakfast?"

"Yup."

"And you brushed your hair?"

"Yup."

"And you did your homework?"

"I got that done yesterday."

There was complete silence in the plant.

I think he took it pretty well, said Bunny.

Optimus cleared his vocal processor. "Well then…uh, just let me have my morning energon and I'll drive you to school, okay Sari?"

"Okay, Dad! I'll wait." Sari ran over to the TV and flipped on the Cartoon Channel.

Later on at school during free time, Sari pulled out her last two valentines.

"Here's one for you," she said, handing the pink one to Toeto.

When Toeto opened hers, her eyes lit up. There were so many adorable cat stickers inside! And…and Sari had even written "Happy White Day" in kanji! Well it was sloppy kanji, but readable none the less.

"Kawaii! Domo arigatou, Sari-chan!" she managed to squeal in her quiet voice.

Sari just smiled back. She could tell that Toeto was happy. "And here's one for you," she said, hiding her giddiness as she handed Kicker his red valentine. His had a bunch of Ultraman Tiga pictures in them, because that was his favorite TV show.

"Thanks!" he said. "Here's yours and Toeto's."

Sari's card had a few cute little bumblebees on them, reminding her of her brother. Toeto's card had a glued-on picture her favorite character, Nekomimi Popstar, inside making a heart with her fingers.

"Domo arigatou, Kicker-kun!" Toeto said, pulling out cards of her own. "Korede."

Kicker's card had a bunch of hearts and sports items on it. Sari's card had multiple hearts and smiley faces. Inside both, Toeto had carefully written "Happy Valentine Day" in English with a little smiling kitten head doodled beside the message.

"Thank you, Toeto!" Sari said happily.

"Thanks a lot." added Kicker.

Toeto looked down, blushing. "Y…you…aru…werucomu."

Sari instantly glomped her friend. Toeto, while startled from the unexpected action, hugged her friend back.

Alice glared at the trio from across the room. She looked away and gritted her teeth. Who did they think they were, showing off like that?! What she wouldn't give to just kick them right in the—her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a paper heart landing right in front of her on her desk. She looked around.

"Over here," a voice whispered.

She looked behind herself. It was Wilder, that kid who always got into trouble.

"Thought you needed one," he said.

"Hmph!" Alice gave him the cold shoulder and turned away.

…And once she assumed he was gone, she picked up the paper heart and held it close to herself lovingly.

Bumblebee shut off his X-Cube and put away his game and controllers. His gaming space was pretty much the only thing he ever kept clean. After he put away his racing game, he opened the little compartment that used to be secret. He took out the photo he treasured dearly. It was a photo of the only femme who had ever beaten him in a race.

He remembered back to his last day with her on Cybertron.

"So…you're really going to Earth?" she asked.

He nodded. "I wanted to get into the Elite Guard, but I guess this'll have to do."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I dunno; as long as it takes, I guess."

"Sentinel Prime says our team shouldn't take more than a stellar-cycle," She smiled and flashed a peace sign. "Just don't forget your old pal Moonie while you're gone, okay?"

He gave a thumbs-up back. "I won't."

"Come on, Bumblebee!" called Bulkhead from inside the ship. "Ultra Magnus wants all `bots on their ships, pronto!"

"Here."

Bumblebee was handed a photo. It was of the femme standing before him, and on it was written a message: To Bumblebee, I'll miss you! Your friend, Moonracer.

"Keep it, at least until you come back."

"All `bots to their respective ships, NOW!" barked Sentinel Prime. "That includes YOU, Moonracer!"

"Yes, sir," she growled, following after her team leader. "See you someday, Bee!"

As Bumblebee boarded his ship, he called out to her, "I love—" and was cut off by the ship's closed doors.

"To think it's been almost nine stellar-cycles…" he mumbled. "If I knew I was going to be on this planet for longer than one, I would've just told her before I had to go how I felt about her."

He sighed and trudged out of his room. As he got himself some energon, one `bot noticed he was looking upset.

"Something wrong, Bumblebee?" asked Ironhide. "You look a little down."

"Leave me alone," Bumblebee mumbled. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Does this have anything to do with Moonracer?"

Bumblebee stiffened, realizing his was still holding the photo. "Was it the picture or Sari's big mouth that gave you a clue?"

"Both."

Bumblebee sighed. "Okay, I'll talk about it. I just miss her, that's all. She's just my friend—"

"A femme friend who beat you at racing," Ironhide added.

"—my femme friend who beat me in a race," Bumblebee continued, "And I miss her."

"But you wanted to be more than a friend, didn't you?"

Bumblebee hesitated in answering. "…Yes."

"You know, I was in a situation like yours," Ironhide began. "I had this sweet little lady back on the energon farm that was tough as armor-plating but at the same time sweet like an energon drop. Chromia was her name. But when I realized I'd been drafted to go to Earth, I started thinkin' I'd never see her again. But she told me to keep up hope, and now whenever I feel sad, I just think of her, and I feel happy again."

Bumblebee looked down at the photo he held. "You're right. Thanks, Ironhide." He headed towards the living room to see what Sari was up to.

"Anytime, Bee."