Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly

"Maia, why are you listening to such a melancholy song?" Mantis's voice interrupted the music that the wide-eyed child beside her had projected through the intercom.

Maia propped her elbows up on her knees, staring at the floor. "I don't know." She replied honestly. "I think it sounds pretty." The bug-like woman eyed her from the side and begun to stretch her arm out towards the young girl. Suddenly, she remembered Gamora's wise words about asking the members of her newfound family before using her empathic powers on them and drew her hand back. Maia saw her actions through the corner of her eye and turned towards her. "It's okay." The young girl said with a smile.

Mantis returned the gesture and laid a hand on the young girl's shoulder. Her antennae lit up as she hummed in contentment. "You feel relaxed. I agree with you-it does sound lovely." They sat there for a moment, smiling at each other before Mantis's antennae twitched. "Oh! Your parents are leaving soon. You must say goodbye!" She exclaimed, watching as the girl slid off the grungy couch and ran out of the room.


The smile on her face was contagious. It was the type of smile that let everyone know, no matter how much she would deny it, she was falling madly in love with him. Gamora walked into the hallway, finally turning her head towards her direction of travel, noticing the silhouette of a muscular man, who was anything but smiles. The large smile on her face faded, when she saw the scowl on Drax's. She approached him, crossing her arms over chest. "Drax, is everything alright?"

The large man took a deep breath, looking at her sternly. "I do not approve of this at all."

"The mission?" Gamora asked in confusion. "I thought you'd be all up for this mission-"

"Not the mission." He interrupted, every muscle in his body tensing.

Gamora continued to look at him in confusion, narrowing her eyebrows. "Okay. Are you talking about L'Wit, then? You have to help me out, Drax. I can't read your mind."

Drax sighed. "I do not approve of your intimate relationship with Quill."

The emerald-skinned woman in front of him simmered with anger. Every muscle in her jaw twitched as her lips drew back into a snarl. She pinned her eyes on Drax as if she could attack at any given moment. "Are you kidding me?"

"Why would I banter about this?" He asked, mirroring her position.

"What goes on between Peter and I is none of your concern." She snapped, ignoring his question.

Drax raised his voice a little, frustrated that she couldn't see where she was wrong. "You are wrong in the way you think!"

"How am I wrong, Drax?!"

"You are wrong about Quill! You are wrong about Maia!" Gamora opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it as Drax interrupted her once again. "You are not Maia's mother! You need to stop acting as such! As for Quill-" The blood in the emerald-skinned woman's veins. Her eyebrows snapped forward as if they were being attracted to a magnet. Drax saw the warning of a glare in her eyes, but continued to make his point. "Quill conceived Maia with another woman. It would not be righteous to deprive Maia of the relationship she should have with her biological mother-"

Gamora choked out a laugh in disbelief, interrupting the man as he spoke. She placed her hands on her hips and bit her bottom lip. "Wow. You are-" She laughed again. "Wow."

"I only speak of the truth-"

"WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF SHE'S ALIVE, DRAX!" She yelled, unwanted tears welling up in her eyes. She was unaware of how loud she was until her voice echoed through the hall. "Even if we did find her mother, I would never, in a millennium, deprive her of that."

"That's exactly what you are doing. With you and Quill courting each other, Maia would not focus on who her true mother is."

"Her true mother?! Drax, where has this woman been all of her life? What kind of mother is she, not evening attempting to search for her daughter?"

"Not everyone has that choice, Gamora. You of all people, should understand decisions as such." And with that, the man pivoted on his foot, leaving Gamora standing with her mouth agape.

He was right; she should be more understanding. This woman could be deathly-ill, like Peter's mother was. She could be the target of a group of criminals and is only trying to protect Maia from them. She could be dead-could be.

Gamora had to make hard decisions herself. The decision to kill millions of innocents, knowing it'd eventually gain her the title 'The Most Dangerous Woman In The Galaxy', but to save her own life. The decision to finally go against Thanos, knowing it would risk her life, but for the safety of everyone else-for the entire universe. The decision to keep Maia, knowing the consequences of her becoming their apprentice, but for she did it for her happiness. Now, she knew she had to make even harder decisions for the young child, which is why she knew she was going to do something that would break both of their hearts.

With glassy eyes, the woman took a deep breath. She turned to go back into the cargo hold, but was blocked by a tall, muscular figure with a look of concern in his eyes. "Hey, is everything okay?" The woman couldn't bare to look the man in his hazel eyes. Instead, she hesitantly brought her hands together, wrapping her index finger and thumb around the ebony band that fit perfectly on her left ring finger, and gently tugged it into the palm of her hand. Her emerald hand reached for Peter's fair one, as she placed the ring in his hand and closed it. She stared at their hands for a moment, finding it hard to take hers off of his. "I-I don't understand. Is this about the comment I made about your ass?" Gamora finally pulled her hands away, clenching her jaw, trying to avoid the tears that dared to fall. "Cuz' if I'm gonna be completely honest, I really do think you have a cute ass."

Dammit. She thought to herself. How can he make serious situations into a joke and be so goddamn charming at the same time? "Peter, stop-" The lump in her throat, made her voice crack. "I'm serious." She pivoted on her foot and started to walk away.

"Wait, Gamora, what's going on?" The man started following her in suit.

"What's going on is you're gonna stay here with Maia." She began to speed up her pace.

"Wait, slow down." He grabbed her wrist, as she whipped herself around, revealing the tears flowing down her cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong?" Peter pulled her into a hug. She accepted it for a moment before violently breaking out of his embrace, making the mistake of looking him in the eyes and seeing the hurt that filled them.

Gamora's brown eyes shot back to the ground. "Peter, this is wrong." She stated, blinking as more tears fell. She sniffled and wiped the tears off her face. "We can't be together." Her voice was almost inaudible.

"Wait, what? We were fine five minutes ago. What happened?!"

"Please don't make this harder than it already is, Peter." The former assassin's voice cracked as she spoke his name. Her eyes stung, seeing the pain she was causing to Peter. "This hurts me just as much as it hurts you."

"THEN, WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?!" He cried out as tears started to stream down his face as well. "IF IT HURTS YOU THAT MUCH-WHY?!"

"BECAUSE OF MAIA!" Gamora shook her head, finally looking the man in his eyes.

"WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH MAIA?!" Peter threw his hands up in exasperation. "SHE LOOKS UP TO YOU! SHE LOVES YOU!"

"That's my point, Peter." The crack in her voice sounded as if a twig had just snapped. It sounded as if she was losing her voice.

"IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!"

"Maia has a mother out there-"

"EXACTLY-YOU!"

"No, Peter...not me. As much as I would love to be that child's mother, I can't. If we find her mother, she wouldn't treat her as one. Maia needs her actual mother, not me."

The man in front of her softened his voice, stuffed up from the tears he was still shedding. "Gamora, that's not true. This doesn't sound like you-where is all this coming from?"

"Drax-"

Peter gave her a look of disbelief. "Really? You're listening to Drax about this?!"

"Peter, enough. Please-"

"No, Gamora. Drax is completely clueless! As bad as it sounds, when's the last time he actually knew what it felt like to be a father? Has he even given the thought that maybe he isn't Camaria's birth father? Would he say the same thing if that happened to him?!"

"Peter, just stop." She sobbed, finally turning her back to Peter and speed-walking in the opposite direction.


She sped to the docking bay of the Quadrant, frantically trying to dry her tears. They wouldn't stop coming. She saw L'Wit and Rocket loading up the Benatar with supplies and she could hear the sound of Peter's footsteps running after her. Her feet skidded to a stop when a small child blocked the entrance to the ship. She ran to Gamora, unaware of the tears streaming down her face and dug her face into Gamora's leg. "Can I come with, please?! I've gotten better with my blaster! I can handle myself!"

"No, Maia." She sniffled. "Change of plans, guys. Mantis you're coming instead of Peter." She turned towards the bug lady behind her, watching as Mantis's antennae drooped a little, while her face scrunched up in confusion.

"I am confused. I thought you wished for Peter to accompany you-"

"No. Peter needs to stay here with Maia." As if on cue, Peter walked in just as she finished her sentence, a somber look upon his face. Maia looked up at her, finally realizing the tears flooding her eyes. Her eyes started to fill up with tears as well as she strengthened her grip on Gamora's leg. Drax walked in on the scene, ignoring what was happening as he made his way towards the ship. He felt a glare on him as he walked past L'Wit, entering the Benatar.

"Mama, what's wrong?" Maia asked in a brittle voice. Gamora pulled her small arms off of her leg and knelt down in front of her.

"I'm not your mother, Maia. You have to stop thinking of me as one." Her voice broke as she looked away from the child's heartbroken face, biting her lip. "You're staying here with your father." She quickly sprung up, walking around the weeping child and making her way towards the ship.

"MAMA!" The child's scream was so inhuman, it broke the hearts of everyone watching. She began to run after her, but was scooped up by Peter. She squirmed in his grasp, trying to escape. "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA! COME BACK!"

"STOP CALLING ME MAMA." Gamora turned around before entering the ship, watching as the young girl gave up and laid her head on Peter's shoulder, sobbing in hysterics. "I'm not your mother..." She choked out. "Mantis, let's go!"

Mantis looked at Peter, then at Gamora. A look of anguish was painted upon her face. She ran to the Benatar once she felt Gamora's teary death stare on her. The three women watched the father and daughter as the ship ascended and the ramp closed. The vertical lift door of the hangar's vestibule opened as the ship approached it. It closed behind them as the ship finally exited the Quadrant.

"What just happened, Daddy? Why did she do that?"

Peter wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I don't know, Peanut." Maia tightened her grip on her father, sobbing into his shoulder.

Why she had to go

I don't know, she wouldn't say

I said something wrong

Now I long for yesterday...