Nebula hugs her sire tightly, never wanting to let go. She feels the newly remade bond working overtime to exchange the love and happiness that both Cybertronians are giving to each other. She also notices a carrier bond, but it was blocked, not letting her reach out to it and give that bot love and gratitude for helping her. She also feels like her sire isn't going to tell her, as if he made a promise with them. The little head-strong femme resolves right then and there to find out who was on the other end of the carrier bond and shower them with the love and gratitude that they deserve.

After a few more minutes, Ratchet gently pulls Nebula away from Optimus so he can scan her and make sure nothing else is wrong. "Well, you are perfectly fine, but you have to take it easy for the next few days so your systems can rebuild and restart themselves. Especially, your immune system. Right now, it is that of a newborn." He says, explaining how when she was loosing her colors, all of her systems had shut down because of the almost offline.

Optimus helps her sit on the side of the berth and stand, though she almost faceplanted. "That's another thing, your body must relearn to do tasks, so you will feel a little awkward. The closest comparison is a sparkling learning the tasks the first time." Ratchet pitches in.

"Thanks for the notice." Nebs grumbles and rolls her optics. Optimus helps her stand back up and walks beside her for support. He smiles, remembering the last time he was like this.

*Flashback*

Optimus held the tiny servos of his extremely small daughter as she tried to take her first steps. Nebula's optics looked from her peds to her brother-figure Bumblebee, who was the bot she was walking to. Her carrier, Starflight, had passed mere weeks ago so she of course wasn't here to receive her.

Optimus gently nudges his daughter into motion. Nebs spares a glance up at her sire's gentle face, her big optics wide. She cautiously takes a small step forward, her ped feeling really heavy. The sparkling locks optics with her brother-figure as she takes more steps towards him, eventually letting go of her sire and running the rest of the way.

Bumblebee scoops her up and hugs her before returning her to the proud Prime. "Daddy!! I walk!!!" Nebs squeals, hugging his neck and grinning in accomplishment.

"Yes. Yes you did. I'm so proud of you, Princess." Optimus holds her close and presses a kiss to her tiny temple. Nebs giggles and rests her miniature helm on his shoulder, taking a cuddle session as her reward for finally walking.

*End flashback*

Optimus smiles at the memory as he holds his child's waist as she tries to lift her ped. After a minute, Nebula groans and stops. "Ugh! I give up!" She then proceeds to crawl onto Optimus's back so he can carry her.

Optimus chuckles as she shifts into the classic piggyback position. "Nebula, you must biuld back up your strength. You will need to walk." He points out, looking over his shoulder at the femme cuddling into his backplates.

Nebs groans. "I'll walk later. It hurts too much right now." She almost whines, subspacing her wings in the process.

Optimus sighs, giving in. "Fine, I will carry you but only for a little while. Then, you have to get down and walk on your own."

Nebs buries her face in his plating. "Yeah, yeah, ok..... Its been a long time since we've done anything like this." She mumbles, as they walk out of the med bay and into the public eye. The bots are a little surprised seeing Nebula back up so soon and Optimus actually CARRYING her around like a youngling.

Optimus chuckles. "Yes, it has. I still remember when you were barely any bigger than my servo." He looks at her.

Nebs huffs. "Well, what did you expect. I was 2 months premature." She points out the obvious.

Optimus nods. "Indeed. But, your air tanks and voice modulator could have said otherwise." He gives her a teasing look, remembering the crying and screaming all too well.

Nebs laughs. "Yeah. I had quite the set of pipes." She nuzzles into his neck, enjoying his warmth and becoming a tiny bit drowsy. She had forgotten that whenever she has cuddle time with her sire, it was like giving her anestesia, because after about 15 minutes, she would fall asleep in his arms, no matter what age she was.

Optimus notices and walks down the hall to her room. "Daddy, no. I'm not....not tired." Her statement was interrupted by a yawn.

Optimus smiles and opens the door to her extremely dimly lit room. "I think you are, princess. And you need to rest after what you've been through recently."

Nebs whines but lets him lay her down on the berth and tuck her in. "Daddy, can you sing to me?" She asks, a pleading look in her optics.

Nebula smiles, listening to the song she hasn't heard in what seems to be a lifetime. Slowly, her optics drift shut and a faint "I love you, daddy." is heard before she falls completely asleep, but in the back of her processor, the mystery of the carrier bond still nags at her.

Optimus smiles at his daughter's sleeping form, gently easing out from under her and pulling the blanket over her shoulders. "I love you too, my precious sparkling. Sleep well." At that, he pulls away and turns off the lights. Sparing one last glance into the room, he smiles and pulls the door closed behind him.

Beta comes up next to him. "How's she doing?"

Optimus turns to her with a small smile. "Nebula is currently resting to better recover, but she will be just fine."

Beta nods. "Glad to hear it."

Optimus then lets his smile fall a little. "I wish that you would allow me to tell her. She would love to have you as a carrier."

Beta shakes her helm. "She deserves better than me. I'm glad she's doing better." And just like that, she's gone, leaving Optimus standing in the hall. He sighs and leans against the wall. "There is no one better than you, Beta-04." He whispers to the air.