Moon

I feel her tug at my vocal cords, forcing me to stay silent.

  We get back to base, finding most of the lights off.

  Miko and Anti were watching a movie, playing a board game at the same time.

  A deep green and black sleeping back were unfolded, on either side of the coffee table.

  Miko looked like she was losing. Anti was smiling as he set her back ten spaces.

  Miko grumbled, then restarted the game.

  Anti looks up. "Mama!" He says, getting up and teetering towards me.

  "Hi, Anti." I say, wrapping my arms around him.

  She went silent. For now.

  I was relieved.

  "Did you two have fun?" Miko asks, jumping around.

  "Well, we had fun, but we stopped two big crimes in the process." I say.

  Her eyes light up. "Did you have to knock anyone out?  Did you have to break a few bones?  Did you stop a stampede?" She asks, the questions keep flowing.

  "Miko." I say, and she quiets.  "I'll tell you in the morning, okay?  It's late.  You two need to go to bed."

  They both groan.

  "If you go to bed now, Ill give you gliding lessons." I say, Anti instantly crashing into his sleeping bag.

  "I don't have gliders." She huffs.

  "We have things called "clip ons"." I say, and she grins wildly.

  She also dashes to her sleeping bag, switching off the TV.

  S looks at me, smiling. "You're kidding, right?"

  I shake my head. "Nope. Ill bring three for all of them. Beginner level, of course." I shrug.

  S smiles. "You are too good to those kids." He pets Nightshade's flank as he nuzzles me.

  "Thanks."

  He looks at me curiously for a moment.

  "I have to go. Paperwork to do." He says, opening a portal.

  "Okay.  See you tomarrow.  Love you." I whisper, not wanting to wake up the kids.

  He nods.

  Nightshade lays beside Miko, his wing over her.

  I see her hand slowly brush his neck.

  I change into my sneakers and jeans just by thinking, undoing my perfect bun.

  I kick off my sneakers, putting them on the coffee table.

  I go beside the couch, laying next to Anti.

  He unzips his sleeping bag, wanting me to cuddle with him.

  There wasn't enough room for me.

  I pulled him out, my right wing on the sleeping bag.  I put him on top, then put my left wing over him, me on my side.

  He cuddles into me, his hand squeezing mine.

  I put my arm around his stomach, pulling him close to me.

  I hear a soft "I love you Mama." Then I feel him fall asleep.

I kiss his head before falling asleep myself.

  Morning

It was still early, like 6:00. But Ratchet was up, busy on the console like usual.

  I slowly get up, not disturbing Anti.

Miko is still out cold, cuddled into Nightshade's front hooves.

  I pull on my sneakers, tip-toeing down the steps.

I realized that I was sleeping with my crown on all night.

  I was amazed that not one single petal was crushed.

  I gently placed it down on the coffee table.

  All the streamers were already taken down.

Ratchet glances at me, a small smirk just hidden on the other side of his lips.

  "Hi." I whisper, making a gesture to stay quiet.

  Ratchet scoffs. "Miko can sleep through anything."

  I nod. "Thank you so much for last night.  It meant a lot."

  He grinned, proud of himself.  "I do like a project that stretches my comfort zone."

  I smile, shaking my head.

  Noon

  I got the three clip-on gliders, Miko and Anti using Nightshade as a jungle gym.

  He let them, passing out when they scratched his belly.

  Raf and Jack got here a couple minutes ago, curious with the three white gliders on the couch.

  Arcee, Bee, and Smokescreen got interested, too.

  I promised Arcee she could try them, but we would have to go on the roof.

  Bulk, Arcee, Smokescreen, and Bee all got in a wide circle.

  I gave the kids a quick briefing. "Use your body to steer. Level yourself out to go slower, lean down to go faster." I say, showing them how to do it.

  I flap up to the lowest catwalk hanging from the cieling, standing on the railing.

  I open my wings, slowly gliding down to the floor, landing softly.

  "Don't worry about the landing. They'll catch you." I say, helping them get up to the catwalk I was just on.

  Anti went first.

  He looked excited.

  "Alright, try and open them." I say, and he struggles a little, eventually getting them open.

  "Good. Now, it sounds silly, but stick your arms straight out. That'll help you keep your gliders even."

  I help him on the railing, and he jumps, slowly gliding.

  I go after him, and he was getting a little too fast.

  "Level out, now." I say, right above him.

  He does, and he slows.

  Bee jumps, catching him.

  Anti laughs, his face happy.

  "I did it, mama!" He says as he grabs my ankle, me letting him on the ground.

  I ruffle his hair. "Good job. Proud of you." We head up again.

  Miko wanted to go.

  She stuck out her arms Like Anti, Bulk ready to catch her.

  I glance at her before taking off.  "Go slow."

  She nods mescheviously.

  I go immediately after she takes off, giving her tips as she glides into Bulk's hand.

  Raf was next.

  He was a little nervous, but he slowly glided to Bee.

  Jack was last.

  "How do you steer again?" He asks.

  "Just lean. Ill be right above you." I say, and he nods, hopping off the bar.

  He takes off far from everyone else, shakily steering towards Arcee.

  He does go to her, and she catches him.

  "Alright, Arcee.  Let's go." I say, taking off Raf's gliders.  He said he wanted to race his toy cars instead.

  She follows me up, Smokescreen acting like we didn't see him follow us up the elevator.

  "You wanna try them too, huh?" I ask, holding the gliders to the side.

  Smokescreen nods.

  We go to the edge, and I make the gliders grow according to Arcee's height.

  I put a weightless rune on both of them, making it have less strain on the gliders.

  I grow to her size, clipping them on.

  "Ill stay below you in case anything happens." I say, and she nods.

  She opens her gliders, then her arms, then jumps.

  I swoop after her, staying in her shadow.

  I turn over so my back is to the ground, my arms behind my head.

  She smiles at me.  She looks happy up here. Like she wanted to do this all day.

  Couldn't blame her. I always wanted to fly all the time, but I exhaust myself. And that isn't fun.

  We were slowly getting closer to the ground.

  "Take my hand, Arcee. Getting a little too close to the ground." I say, looking as the ground came up faster and faster.

  She nodded, her hand wrapped around mine.

  I swooped up, pulling her behind me.

  I get to the roof again, taking the gliders off Arcee and putting them on Smokescreen, again adjusting them according to his height.

  He jumped off the roof before I finished my sentence.

  I shake my head, swooping after him.

He whooped in glee, doing an almost complete dive, then smoothing out.

  He angled his body in a way that he slowed himself down enough to finish in a roll.

  I land beside him, helping him up.

  "Jeez, kid. Couldn't let me finish what I was about to say?"

  He smiles sheepishly.

  He takes my hand, and I fly him back to the roof.

  Arcee shakes her head, smiling.

  I take the gliders back home, the rest of the day playing hide and seek with Anti.

  He got me a few times, jumping out as I passed him.

  I got him back by tackling and tickling him when he passed me.

  He laughed, and it just became a game of horseplay.

  No offense to Nightshade, though.

  I toss him over my shoulder, tickling his exposed belly.

  He laughed, trying to curl up.

  I set him down, and he tackled me.

  This kid was stronger than he looked.

  He pinned me, but I was just playing along.

  He poked me in the stomach, and I played out a very over-dramatic death scenario.

  He laughed, flopping on his back as I did.

  I got up, hearing something.

  My stomach tightens.

  It wasn't normal.

  "Anti, get behind me. Now." I say, and he hides behind my back.

  I umseath one of my daggers, my other hand on Anti's shoulder.

  I hear footsteps.

  Bee.

  I relax, putting my dagger back and telling Anti it was okay.

  I don't know what set me on edge that bad. 

  It was just Bee.

It must have been the echo of the halls that made his footsteps sound like Starscream's.