In the engine room of the ship, Rocket was running diagnostics on the current state of the hyperdrive core. Peter was also with him, trying to make sense of all the numeric equations on the data pad in his hand.
"Math was never one of my strong suits. This is like a whole other language to me. And I've lived in space since I was eight!"
"Then how did you manage the Milano all this time without a proper engineer?" the raccoon asked in disbelief. He knew Peter wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even someone as brash as Quill had at least some basic knowledge of how a spaceship engine works.
"Being under the Ravagers' care did teach me a thing or two on making sure the engine didn't blow up. But hyperdrive cores and of the like: fuhgeddaboudit!"
"Your stupidity is adorable sometimes." Rocket teased.
"And your wise cracks are just as precious." Peter rebutted.
Rocket swiped the data pad from the Terran's hand and grimaced as he scanned over the information. The animal mumbled under his breath, making mental notes as he continued to go over the data.
"I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" Rocket said after he finished reading the data pad.
"Bad news."
"Aren't we a bit of a masochist now? Alright, the bad news is that our hyper jump yesterday fried several circuits and computer panels attached to the main processor of the core. Once those kicked the can, it must have caused a flux which affected Gamora and changed her back to her seven year old self."
"And the good news?"
"The parts are easy to replace…but I have more bad news."
Peter sighed. "Let me guess. The parts are few and far between."
"Exactly! Luckily for us, you have excellent barter skills and connections as a former picker, Pete. I'll compile a list of what we need to fix the hyperdrive and give to you when we land to refuel and buy supplies. Oh, and while we're at port, Gamora's gonna need all new clothes and stuff now that she's a kid again."
"Like I don't know that. I'll go let Drax know he's gonna have to go shopping for kids clothes—"
But Rocket interrupted Peter. "No, you're going to take Gamora shopping."
"Me?! But I'm no good at dealing with that kind of stuff! Besides, out of all of us, Drax has experience being a parent. I bet he'll be more useful picking out girlie clothes than shifting through useless junk."
"I beg to differ, friend Peter." Drax was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest in annoyance, eyeing Peter.
"Oh, hey buddy. Didn't notice you there…" Peter said in a nervous stutter.
"We all agreed to take turns watching over young Gamora. I have looked after her since last night and it is your turn now, Quill."
"Fine! But I want no comments from the peanut gallery when I come back with an armload of pink and frilly kids clothes." The thief threatened his partners as he exited the engine room.
"I did not know legumes could talk." Drax told Rocket, not understanding once more of Terran sayings.
The tiny bounty hunter shook his head in disgust. "Drax, even I know what that phrase means." Thus the raccoon gave another lesson on Terran language to Drax.
The Milano docked into the trading port and everyone exited the vessel. Drax was in charge of purchasing fuel for the ship while Rocket and Groot headed over to the markets to pick out supplies to restock the ship. That left Peter and the seven year old girl to go to the other side of the port where the clothing store was located.
Peter looked at the little girl, who was holding his hand as they made their way to store through the crowd of people. Gamora was dressed in what the crew had on hand; after all, she couldn't be running around in an over-sized t-shirt dress all the time. Outfitted in Peter's basketball shorts and one of her adult t-shirts that had shrunk in the wash, the child also wore sandals that flopped about like clown shoes. With not much left from the team's last payout from the earlier mission, Peter had to make sure he could afford cheap children's clothing and accessories and buy up as much as he could find.
Thankfully, the clothing store the port offered had plenty of options for Gamora. Peter helplessly eyed the racks filled with a colorful variety of girl's clothing, not sure what size his now juvenile team-mate wore. The sales associates noticed the man's over-whelmed expression and offered their help. He happily accepted, especially since the women were pretty cute and bubbly.
The sales women's outgoing personalities had certainly rubbed off on Gamora. The little girl happily modeled her new outfits for them and Peter. He even got in on the fun, picking out various shirts, pants, dresses and shoes for the child to try on.
"How do I look?" Gamora asked Peter when she came out of the dressing room. She was wearing a dress that Peter had picked from the nearby rack; it was a pink and red floral dress that the hero thought would look adorable on her.
He couldn't help but grin in delight. "You look very cute." He complimented. This made Gamora blush and giggle out of embarrassment.
What Peter had told the girl was true. The adult Gamora was not concerned by her appearance often, unless it was for an undercover job. When he did remember seeing her all dolled up in feminine attire, he couldn't help but stare at her like a love-sick fool. The elder Gamora was certainly one of the most beautiful women Peter had ever laid eyes on. Of course, if he did tell her that, Gamora was more than happy to prove why she was the deadliest woman in the whole galaxy to him (along with claiming that his "pelvic sorcery" was no match for her).
Seeing the seven year old Gamora enjoying being doted on by the adults also made Peter happy for her. While the former assassin hated talking about her terrible upbringing with Thanos, he hoped that when she would become an adult again, Gamora would be able to remember her time as a child once more…especially since times like this where with people who truly cared for her.
When the two made their way back to the Milano after paying for the clothes, Peter's team mates saw the large, heavy shopping bags the man was carrying. With a heavy thud and a loud huff, Peter placed them on the table and eyed his friends.
"I think we're good." He said as the little girl then placed two smaller bags on the table as well.
"Mr. Quill let me pick as many clothes as I wanted!" the clearly ecstatic child declared.
"I'm sure he did. Say, how many pink and frilly items did you manage to score?" Rocket egged on.
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Gamora here detests the color pink." Peter proudly beamed. The smug look on his face was more than enough to disappoint the raccoon from making jokes.
"Pink is a gross color! But I do like this dress that Mr. Quill picked out for me, even if it has a bit of pink in it." Gamora then dug into the bag and pulled out the red and pink floral dress from earlier.
Drax and Groot thought it was a very sweet and delightful dress but Rocket had different opinions. He let out a humorous cackle and made his view known to Peter. "I hope you bought a matching outfit, Quill. Are you gonna parade around town with a tiara on your head? It'll make you look like the true princess you are."
"Ha-HA! Very funny. If I'm a princess, then you're my trusty animal sidekick. You've already got the comedic part down, now you just have to help me clean up the ship when I sing about doing chores."
The raccoon immediately stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes are the former thief. "Bite me." He muttered. Rocket took another look at the dress and did admit it was pretty and that the girl would look nice when she wore it.
Later that evening, long after the Milano had left port and was in space; Peter met up with Rocket just before lights out was called. While he had yet to search for the parts to repair the hyperdrive, Peter wanted to check in with Rocket to see if he and Groot had any luck finding them.
"The both of us came up empty-handed. BAH! That port had a crappy selection of spare parts to choose from anyway."
"I'll try to get in contact with a few of my old resources tomorrow. Maybe they might give us some leads into finding those parts." Peter said. As he turned to leave Rocket to whatever he did late at night, the raccoon stopped his leader.
"I gotta say…it was nice seeing Gamora be happy for once, even if she's a kid now."
The former thief was taken aback by Rocket's humble comment.
"Truthfully, so was I. I don't know how long it's gonna be before we can get Gamora back to normal, but…I want to do whatever it takes to make sure she has a blast as a kid again. We all had pretty shitty childhood, to some degree. I think Gamora's takes the cake; no one should ever have to go through what she went through. I believe by having her become seven again is a happy accident."
"How so?"
"It gives her a chance to be around people who truly care for her. And with that, Gamora will be able to finally enjoy being a kid and not some tool to be manipulated."
"You're right, Pete." Rocket said, smiling. "Let's make sure she has the childhood she deserves to have." It was a promise that both men knew they could keep.