After Peter had called a "team meeting" with Gamora and Drax to announce the news of a "vacation" to Earth, the initial reactions of the two Guardians was somewhat mixed.

Drax was the first to reply, looking up as he continued carving a blade. "What is this 'vacation' you speak of, friend Quill? And what matter is it to us?"

"Well…it's when you decide not to work, or in our case not protect the galaxy, for a short amount of time to get some rest."

"But we do not need to rest." Drax frowned in confusion. "We do not take very many bounties as it is, and we cannot attack Thanos until our tree friend grows his strength back..."

"Yeah, but I was thinking we could do something different, you know, explore a bit more of the universe, hang out in a not-so-professional manner, and it'd give me an excuse to show you guys where I come from!"

And see for myself what's changed about the place.

Gamora made a small smile. "I for one, definitely approve of the idea. We clearly need the rest, and I'd prefer to lie down and relax, rather than anxiously await the next contract or pirate attack."

"That was one time!" Peter objected.

"And it could happen again any time. Hence why I agree with your idea. Especially if it involves travelling to Terra."

"Alright, sweet!" Peter grinned, turning to Drax. "What do you say, Drax?"

Drax nodded. "When friend Gamora says it like that, it makes fair sense. I may be able to fight a thousand more men if needed, but I too, wish to rest. That is what I say."

"Cool! I'll set course for Terra then." Peter put both his thumbs up, and made his way out of the planning room. This is gonna be awesome.

It would take some time getting to Earth, Peter fully knew that, considering the distance between the planet and their current location, it would take years by Peter's estimate, even at full speed. However, Peter also knew the solution; dubbed with the name "Wormhole" as Rocket's proudest feat of engineering, the Milano finally had a warp drive.

It would have cost a fortune on the market, if we even found one that size. Thank god Rocket's on our side.

The relationship Peter had with the rest of the Guardians had founded on less-friendly terms; all were fugitives of the Klyn, and all had sought after money or revenge, using each other along with the Infinity Orb as means of doing so. Naturally, complications arose.

And now we're saviors of the Galaxy because of it. Weird how things work out.

After what had happened with Ronan, Peter made it a priority to befriend everybody on the team, secretly hoping they'd never have to go their separate ways after all they'd been through together. Luckily for him, nobody wanted to leave, and since then everybody had put in their two-cents of interesting quirks; Gamora having a profound interest in Terran music and culture, Drax's confusion over expressions and metaphors, while also being surprisingly compassionate for someone with such a hideous past, and Groot for being, well, Groot. The one who had struck Peter the most, however, was Rocket.

Peter remembered a brief part of his childhood where he spent watching animated Disney movies; the ones with catchy songs and talking animals, and taking a liking to them. All that time he watched in fascination, never imagining he'd see anything like it in his life, not in the real world.

Then Peter meet Rocket, an anthropomorphic raccoon with a knack for technology, and also a bounty hunter, he'd quickly find out.

Rocket may have been a talking raccoon, but he sure as hell wasn't a Disney character.

Despite the rough start, the two of them became quick acquaintances, and after a few weeks, friends. Peter found himself enjoying Rocket's company a great deal, sometimes even more than the others, which he suspected was due to their shared interest in space tech, along with Rocket's smart-mouthed humor and wit, which Peter could never fault in anyone.

They had their disagreements at times, from the next upgrade on the Milano to the volume of Peter's music, but it never really ruined things between them; as a matter of fact, it only made Peter admire Rocket's intelligence and stubbornness that much more. Their friendship felt honest that way, and Peter could only hope Rocket felt that way too.

It was clear that Rocket had lived solo with Groot for most of his life, as Peter noticed his hesitance to socializing with other crew members, except for Groot. If his drunk ramblings back on Knowhere were any indication, Rocket had also lived a twisted past, Hell, we all did, now that I think about it, and Peter feared that was having an effect on Rocket even now. It was a matter Peter didn't want to press, but hoped that one day Rocket would open up to.

Peter climbed up into the cockpit, jumping in the main pilot's chair and setting the co-ordinates for his home planet, making sure there were no planets, asteroids or space stations in the way. As he was about to engage the warp drive, he paused.

"Hey Rocket!" Peter called down to the lower compartments. "Could you come up here for a minute?"

Within seconds Rocket appeared, poking his head out from the top of the ladder. "Sure, what's up?"

Peter smiled, getting up from his seat. "I'm starting up the ship for our trip to Terra. But I thought you should have the honor of starting up the Wormhole."

Rocket blinked. "Uh…ok sure, no problem. I mean…you didn't have to ask, it's no big deal…"

"You built an entire warp drive for my ship, for free. That's a pretty big deal in my book."

"Alright alright, I'll start the damn warp drive." Rocket climbed up and sat himself in the master chair. "You do realize we've never tried this before? What if it doesn't work, what if it-"

"It'll work, Rocket. I have faith in your inventions, especially one you worked so hard on."

"If you say so…" Rocket typed the commands into the keyboard. "It should start up right about…"

The ship shook immensely before propelling forward into space, speeding faster than Peter had ever seen, or felt.

"Hell yeah!" Peter threw a fist into the air and patted Rocket on the back. "What'd I say? I knew it would work!"

Rocket spun around, also showing a smirk. "Well, of course it worked. I made it, after all!"

"That you did." Peter choose a chair next to Rocket and sat down. "How long do you reckon it'll take us?"

"What, the journey?" Rocket furrowed his brow as he looked backed at the controls. "Taking into account the distance, and the speed we're going, by my guestimate we'll be there…oh flark."

Uh oh. Peter shifted in his chair. "What's up?"

Rocket spun his chair to face Peter even more. "Even with the Wormhole's speed, it's gonna take us a couple of days to get there."

Peter leaned back in slight relief."A few days? That's not so bad."

"Are you kidding me? What the hell are we gonna do in that time?"

Peter shrugged. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"Like what?"

"I dunno." Don't suggest dancing. Don't suggest dancing. "Conversations like these are normally a good start!" Peter chuckled at the irony, but mentally kicked himself for the lame response.

Rocket made a small huff in return, smile barely visible. "Yeah, I guess so."

They sat in silence for what seemed like half an hour, Peter desperately trying to come up with something witty or interesting. Before anything came, Rocket spoke up again.

"Ok, I get that it's your home planet and all, but what makes Terra so interestin' that you wanna come back all of a sudden?" The raccoon folded his arms back with a look of puzzlement. "I mean, you haven't been there for years, am I right?"

"Yep…" Peter replied, looking at the floor. "Haven't been there since…" The hospital…and Mom… "…I was about ten."

"Wait, so that would make it…"

"About twenty six years." Peter finished.

"Twenty six-what?!" Rocket leaned forward with a shocked look on his face, arms now at the side of his chair. "You can't be serious…"

"I am," Peter made a smile. "It's been a while."

"Then why go now, if you haven't been in such a long time? For all we know, Terra could've completely changed by now!"

"Well, I didn't have a warp drive until a few weeks ago…"

"But…" Rocket paused, leaned back, and then spoke in an unusually soft tone. "That's not the only reason though, is it?"

Peter blinked. How did he... "What makes you say that, Rocky?" He replied, trying to smirk.

Rocket smirked in return, rolling his eyes. "Ok, now I definitely know you're lying."

"What?! No I'm not!"

"You are so!" Rocket pointed at Peter, then dropped his hand and sighed. "I'm sure it's for a good reason though, so you don't have to tell me…"

"I…" Peter faltered, looking down at the floor, unable to make a clever reply, nor admit the truth. I was too scared to go by myself.

"Hey, it's fine man. Forget I said anything, it's none of my damn bus-"

"No…" Peter mumbled. "You deserve to know…" Here goes nothing.

Peter spoke up. "Before I left Earth, I mean Terra, my…Mom…she passed away." Peter managed to keep himself composed. "I…couldn't believe what had happened, so I just ran the hell out of there, out of that damn hospital, away from my family. It was the last I ever saw of them before I was kidnapped by Yondu and his Ravagers."

There was a moment of pause when Peter looked back up at Rocket. "It happened a long time ago, I know. But it's still something that gets me, you know?"

After Peter had finished, it was Rocket's turn to lack a witty comeback. "I-uh. I don't know what to say, Quill…Shit man." His face was solemn, with a sincerity Peter had never believed he would see in his teammate.

Then again, this is the first time I dropped the "family bomb" on anyone, let alone Rocket. Talk about a turn in conversation.

"Don't worry about it." Peter smiled. "At least now I don't have to face all that alone, nor make a ten year journey to get there, thanks to you guys!" Peter laughed again, this time honestly. Man, it feels great to have that off my chest…

Rocket smiled back. "Like you said, no big deal. I mean seriously, I could've done that warp drive in a day if I felt like it!"

The scary thing is, he probably could. Thank GOD Rocket's on our side. "Exactly! Where the hell would I be without you, Rocket?" Down one teammate, down one friend, and dead.

For a second Rocket seemed genuinely surprised at the comment, but quickly followed with a grin. "Living the most boring, meaningless life imaginable, I'd say."

"Pretty much!"

They both laughed for a solid minute, whether it was because of their humorous conversation, or lack of an emotional one, Peter wasn't sure, but it felt good anyway.

Once the laughter had settled down, Rocket spoke up again. "I want to know everything."

It was a simple statement, but it was enough to confuse Peter. "What, about Terra?"

"No-well, I guess that as well, but…" The raccoon paused a second, then mumbled in a quiet tone "I want to know everything about you."

Peter almost fell off his chair. Definitely wasn't expecting THAT. "I…wow, really?" Peter asked, astonished. Maybe he's just joking around…

Rocket made a shrug. "Well…yeah, I mean…you keep telling us that we need to spend more time 'bonding' and 'getting to know each other' 'cause it's important for our teamwork and morale and…" Rocket stopped, noticing how fast he was talking, and relaxed slightly. "I'm just saying…ya know…I'm down for that, getting to know you more I mean."

Peter's mind exploded. Oh my god, he's actually serious! Rocket really does care…

"I…I don't know what to say, Rocket…" Peter started, with a hint of emotion. He had a few ideas of what to say, but didn't want to risk gushing at his friend. Not yet anyway…

"Yeah I know, it's a stupid thing to say." Rocket stood up from his chair, turning to leave. "Forget I said anything."

Oh no you don't. Peter leaped up from his chair. "Rocket wait."

The raccoon stopped with a sigh. "What is it, Quill?

Peter let out a little more emotion in his smile. "No-one's ever said that to me before, only my Mom…"

Rocket turned his head and made a slight huff. "You're lying again."

"No I'm not!" Peter insisted. "I never lie about things like that…but even if I was-which I'm not-it still means a lot to me, especially coming from you."

Rocket blinked, but then made a small smile. "Thanks, Quill." When he made it to the ladder, Rocket turned to properly face Peter. "I'm gonna get some rest so…see you tomorrow, I guess."

"See you around." Peter waved with a weak smile. Now that he mentions it, I feel exhausted…

It wasn't long until Peter called Gamora and Drax to take the shift for piloting the ship, and thanking them immensely for doing so. At least they have the energy to do it, who knew a conversation could be so tiring?

Peter reached his room with little effort, changed his clothes, and then collapsed on his bed. His eyes had no trouble staying shut, but his thoughts still lingered, one standing out over the others.

"I want to know everything about you."

It was the nicest thing Rocket had ever said to him, and Peter wondered if he'd ever have the courage to say the exact same thing back to his unknowing crush.