They had landed on Xandar near the Nova Corps building. The Guardians gathered one more time behind the ramp of the Milano. They were suggesting ways on how to keep the Nova Corps from taking custody of Luna. However, no matter what they came up with, in the end, they knew it would fail. Now, it was time for them to hand Luna off to them and they had no idea what was going to happen after.
That said young girl finally made her way towards the ramp, with the dragon plushie clutched tightly against her chest. She was clad in a maroon, long sleeved collared dress. She wore a black peacoat and her long, burgundy hair was braided into pigtails. She took a deep breath and grabbed Gamora's hand with her free one.
Together, the dysfunctional family walked out, in unison, as the ramp descended downward. Before reaching the end, Luna stopped, pulling Gamora's arm. The green woman fell back and knelt down to the little girl.
"Lu, what's wrong?" Luna shook her head. "You're going to be okay, I promise." She shook her head again, staring at the ground. "We have to go now, Lu." Gamora said after a few moments and picked up the girl.
She carried her out into the shimmering daylight of Xandar. It was just how they remembered it; full of life and...plants. Xandar was beautiful for the most part and was almost completely finished with the construction they had to endure after the Battle of Xandar. However, right now, the most ugly part on Xandar was having to watch the little girl, whom all of the Guardians had fell in love with, be stripped from their lives by space police. Not to mention that the only reason this was happening to them was because of a mistake that could've been made to anyone. There was nothing they could do to prevent it from happening (that they knew of at the time), but they did rescue her.
As soon as all of the Guardians reached the end of the ramp, two Nova officers were standing before them, alongside Nova Prime. When Gamora stopped walking, Luna tightened her grip. Peter looked over to the pair and watched as a single tear fell down Gamora's cheek.
The woman in charge walked forth as most of the Guardians stiffened. She stopped, just feet away from them. "Welcome Guardians." She greeted with an expressionless face. "We will allow you to share a brief goodbye with the child. Then, you must leave."
The ex-criminals gathered around the green woman with the young girl clenched firmly against her chest. Luna loosed her grip and turned to Peter, reaching out for him. He took her out of Gamora's arms and hugged her, planting a quick kiss to her forehead. "Remember, when you're scared, sing those jams I taught you, okay?" She nodded as Peter passed her off to Drax.
"Stay strong, little one." He said petting her head. Drax finally handed her off to Groot, who had a surprisingly teary-eyed Rocket on his shoulder. Groot grew a small, purple daisy-like plant on his free hand, and placed it behind her ear. A tear fell from her eye as she quickly wrapped her arms around the trees neck. Rocket's nose twitched as he put his paw on her head. She gave him a soft smile, as more tears fells down her face. Luna took one of her hands off of Groot's neck and petted Rocket.
Groot eventually handed the young girl back to Gamora. As soon as she was in her reach, Luna clenched her tightly. Both girls broke down in tears. The Guardians, who had rarely seen Gamora cry in general, experienced the pain of a mother being separated from her daughter.
As much as Gamora wanted to deny it, Luna was very much so, her daughter. In just the few months they knew each other, they had developed a special bond that could only be formed between a mother and daughter. For sure, they got in fights when Luna took Peter's Walkman without asking or eating sweets for breakfast, but didn't all mothers and daughters get in fights like that? And Peter, for sure, was just as much of a fatherly figure to Luna as Gamora was a motherly figure. He too had gotten in small fights with the young girl when she disobeyed him. Lets not forget how much Peter and Gamora fight like an old married couple at times. And Rocket, Drax and Groot were almost like her uncles. So, yes, they all found their family, but that family was now being ripped apart.
"You're going to be okay, okay?" Gamora sobbed into the young girl. "They're gonna take good care of you, I promise."
"NO! NO! I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!" Luna yelled, crying hysterically. "GAMMY, DON'T WET THEM TAKE ME!" She dug her fingers into Gamora's back. "PETEW, WOCKEY, GWOOT, DWAX! DON'T WET THEM TAKE ME!"
The green woman shushed her. "We're going to save you, I promise."
Without a warning, the Nova officers walked up to the Guardians and started to pull the little girl off of Gamora. The rest of the Guardians moved to the side, knowing it was best to not get in the way. Gamora let go, but Luna gripped her tighter. Continuous muffled screams of 'NO!' ripped from the young girl's throat. Small bursts of energy blasts from the screams, were knocking down the officers. But, no matter how many times they were knocked down, they got back up and kept trying to disband the two.
"You have to go now-"
"NO!"
"Luna, please-"
"NO!"
"Please, let go-"
"NO!"
"You have to go-"
"GAMMY, NO!"
After several moments of arguing, cries of agony and struggles to ripping the pair apart, Peter walked up to Nova Prime, who remained stoic in watching the officers struggling to disband the duo. He pointed to the scene. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Is this really what you want? I had been taken from my family before and its some pretty messed up shit. This kid finally found a place where she feels safe and you're taking her away from that! You are just as bad as Yondu, when he stole me from MY home and MY family! I am NOT going to stand here and watch you do the same to Lu."
"I am sorry, Mr. Quill, but this was the deal."
"Do you really think we could have avoided her being kidnapped?!"
"Yes, I do."
Peter remained silent and thought for a moment. "Whatever. We made a mistake. Everyone does. What matters right now, though, is Luna and what's best for her. What's best for her right now, is being with us; being in an environment where she feels safe-"
"What's best for her right now, is being in the custody of the Nova Corps, where we can ensure her safety." The whole time, tears had been building up in Peter's eyes and Nova Prime had not moved a muscle. They both glanced over at the Nova officers, who were still struggling to rip the two apart. "I am giving you one more chance Mr. Quill. I advise you to leave the manner alone."
Peter stood in a moment of silence. He took one more glance at the scene and turned his attention back towards Nova Prime. "Just,-" He sighed. "Let me talk to Lu for a minute."
"Of course." She shouted an order in a different language and the officers stood still in their tracks. Luna stopped screaming, as did the energy blasts. "You have one minute."
Gamora put the young child down and watched as she ran to Peter, who was kneeling down. Luna dropped her dragon plushie right next to her and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Peter whispered something inaudible into her ear. She nodded, sniffled and wiped the tears off her face. The man grabbed the toy that was tossed next to him and made it 'bite' Luna. She smiled and gave Peter one last hug.
"Remember, what I told you." Luna nodded and walked to Nova Prime with a serious expression on her face. It was kinda cute to them, to be honest.
"Nova Pwime!" She shouted, looking up at the woman, as if she was a skyscraper. "I made a pwa-cwo-may-chen!" Gamora wiped a tear from her eye and giggled as she glanced over to see what the young girl was up to. "I wiww stay with you, but I want the Guawdians to be abwe to caww me, whenevewthey want."
The woman looked down at her. "Very well." She grabbed the child's hand and smiled down at her. "Why don't we go see what its like inside?" Luna, who was still pissed, glared at her and nodded. Still trying to remain friendly, Nova Prime gingerly pulled the child along. Luna looked back at the Guardians, who were a mix of tears and pissed expressions. She specifically looked at Peter, in which whom mouth 'Remember.' to her. She nodded and focused back onto where she was going.
Although Gamora didn't hear what Peter said to the young girl, she knew the two of them were up to something...