Lost in Time
Gamora's Point of view
21:04- A blast is heard while Gamora and Groot are scouting the forest on an abandoned, unnamed planet
21:10- They arrive at the blast site and see it is not just a random explosion, but their ship has just exploded, killing Peter, Rocket, Drax, and Mantis.
"No! No! No! It is my fault! Why did I tell them to take off!" I scream, feeling the ground spinning underneath my knees. "I am Groot," the teenage tree says from behind me, putting his rough hand on my bare shoulder. "No, it is my fault Groot, it is," I whisper to the ground, the wreck of what used to be our ship screams at me, telling me it's my fault. "Peter," I whisper, the tears that were welling up in my eyes are suddenly pouring down my cheeks. The loss of Drax, Rocket, and even Mantis may hurt, but nothing hurts more than Peter. I loved him more than anything, he was the only one who truly let me know what love is. Now he's gone, but maybe it's a sign. Maybe the universe is showing me I can't feel emotions since it clouds judgement, maybe this whole time I should've just followed the dark and not the light. "We need to focus," I say, my voice trembling more and more with every word, "we need to get out of here."
Groot lifts his hand off of my shoulder and sighs in a reply, clearly more hurt by this loss than I am. I wipe my tears away swiftly and get off of my knees, feeling the ground against my feet makes me want to fall again and cry more and more. "I can't," I say aloud by accident, but I don't change my expression, instead, I turn around and walk towards the dead forest, but on the bright side of things, Groot and I went through a patrol of this place, so we know what's out there. Very few animals were spotted, and even though we were able to identify them as animals we weren't sure what species they were, so whether or not they're edible or not is something we'll have to decide down the road. There is a stream in the middle of the forest which may be low on water, but my tests proved it to be purified and a perfect place to set camp and hunt for animals. Though this planet has three suns, it's still not the warmest place in the universe and is freezing cold at night, which is probably why my shoulders are so cold right now.
"We need to find a way off of this planet, then we'll think about what to do, but right now survival takes priority," I say, looking back at the now-kneeling tree that refuses to follow me. I swing my rifle in front of me and turn back around, what he does is what he wants and quite honestly, I like the idea of being alone. I need a lot of time to think. I stop at the start of the forest and look back one more time, but instead I see a tall man standing there, a Zune in his hands, staring at me with wide-eyes. "Peter?" I ask, but I shake my head and I just see Groot again, still refusing to get up. "I know he's dead Groot, but we have to move on," I yell to him. He slightly turns his head and screams back, "I AM GROOT." I jump back in surprise. Feel something for once, he said. I let any emotion in my face die and I walk away, knowing the long journey ahead of me makes me exhausted already, but I must stay strong. So, I just keep walking. And I don't stop until I reach the stream.
22:30- the stream flows well but low, a good water supply for now.
22:40- camp partially set up, but rest is a good idea for now.
"Goodnight," I whisper to myself, slowly closing my eyes and letting the comfort of the grass and stars take me.
"You really love dancing, don't you?" I laugh, watching Peter glide across the floor of his ship, but this time there's no even any music playing. "You could too, if you let me teach you," he jokes back, walking towards me. "You know, though you're an assassin you laugh a lot." I smile warmly at his words, stepping closer so we're only an inch apart. "For a dancer you fight a lot," I reply, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Unspoken thing?" a familiar voice barks behind us. I jump away from him and snap my body around, seeing rocket laughing as usual. I playfully roll my eyes and nod, "how about Mantis and Drax, how are they doing?" "There's something with Mantis and Drax? Am I really missing out on something here?" he chuckles back. "Well, I have to go check on the giving tree," Peter pauses to roll his eyes with a charming smile, "so Gamora, stay here." He walks away with a wink and I smile and watch him go.
"You two really hit it off, didn't you?" Rocket asks, his voice now serious. "Maybe," I simply reply, turning to face him again. "You two need to just get a room already," Rocket jokes, but I just frown. "What's wrong? You love him, right?" he asks, and for once I can actually tell he's concerned. "Of course I do?" I ask myself, avoiding Rocket's gaze. "Gamora, come on, talk to me girl." I look back up and sigh, knowing what I must do may hurt but I suppose I can trust Rocket. "I've never felt this way about someone before. I never knew what, well, love was until I met all of you. I don't know what to do about Peter though," I say softly, feeling the pressure leave my chest. "I see," he replies, taking in every word. "Peter loves you man, so if you love him, just go for it." "Go for what?" I ask, my eyes widening in shock. Rocket immediately starts laughing, "oh god no not that I meant, go for it, like, a relationship, y'know?" "I'm back," I hear Peter call from behind us. "And by the way, we're almost there so please report to the bridge." Rocket growls and I nod my thanks as he walks away.
"What is this unspoken thing between us?" I ask, turning around to see Peter already in front of me. "What do you think it is?" he asks, frowning. "Don't be upset," I say, and I wrap my arms around him. "I'm not experienced with these kinds of things, so please tell me." I feel his body relax and he nods. "I love you, Gamora," he whispers, looking down into my eyes. I slowly nod but quickly realize he's waiting for me to say something back. "I love you too, so please help me through this. I've never experienced actual love before and now you've given me a chance to do so. Thank you, Star Lord." He smiles at my words and leans closer, and now our lips are inches apart. "Oh, I know what this is, and trust me, they'll be plenty of time later," I say with a wink. He chuckles and pulls me around him in a very tight hug. "What is this planet anyway?" I ask, looking from on his shoulder out the windows in the back of the room. "There's no name for it, all we know is that there's a distress signal coming from there, so we should check it out." "Then I guess we should go?" I ask, and he nods against my head. Before he lets go of me, e gently kisses the top of my head. "Let's go," he says.
I snap awake with tears streaming down my cheeks, and I immediately wipe them away, knowing what emotion will do to me one day. "I am Groot," I hear from above me. "No Groot, don't apologize," I say, hopping to my feet and stretching out my sore limbs. "I am Groot," he says again. "No, stop, you shouldn't apologize since I was at fault. I shouldn't have given you so little time." "I am Groot?" "Who do you think? Peter," I reply. Who did you dream of? "Though I will say I was right about one thing, our priorities. We need to find the distress signal and check it out, see if there's a ship, and if there's not, we'll enhance the signal to reach other planets instead of just scavengers." Groot nods in reply. "Take some water first," I simply say.
After about ten minutes of drinking and relaxing, we finally decide to try and find the signal. "Do you want to split up until we find the signal?" "I'm pretty sure the answer to that is going to be I am Groot," I hear a familiar voice say from behind us. No, it can't be, the ship blew up and they were on it, I say to myself, but I force myself to turn around after hearing Groot's gasps. Peter Quill, my Star Lord just happens to be standing there. "Are you real?" I ask, walking closer and closer. "Wanna find out?" he replies with a smile. I scream in joy and rush over to him, jumping into his arms. "I thought you were, I thought the whole crew was," I stammer, trying to focus on his arms that are holding me up against him. "We got warnings of a core overload and got out and went to go find you, but when we heard the explosion we were worried you and Groot were on the ship," he says with tears welling up in his eyes. "I can't believe it," I whisper as Rocket, Mantis, and Drax walk out of the brush, and Rocket immediately runs over to Groot and starts talking to him. Drax and Mantis smile at me and walk over to Rocket. "I love you so much Peter, I can't believe I ever doubted it," I say aloud unintentionally. He chuckles back, "I love you too," and with that we finally kiss, our lips happily singing against each-others. After what feels like an eternity we break apart and I smile, "Rocket was right, we need to get a room."