lady stardust.

24. five years

Knowhere was nice, Ziggy was happy to have somewhere to actually live and that was a stable home. They took in refugees who needed homes and set up apartments in the town, while the Guardians had their own building designated to themselves. Each of them had their own rooms, and Ziggy was excited to decorate her room. Her room was a very earthy tone, with a lot of low lighting and plants.

All the girls were thrown on one floor, Nebula on one side of Ziggy's room and Mantis the other. The boys had the lower floor, although Drax lived on the floor above. Drax was often on their floor, hanging out with Mantis.

Over the two years where they had returned to normalcy since the Blip and the conquering of Knowhere, Ziggy felt as if she and Peter's relationship had deteriorated. It made her feel anxious, and she hadn't brought it up with any of the Guardians, not knowing who to seek comfort in. Usually, she'd ask Gamora, but Gamora...

No one knew where she was, although she was still alive, but only her 2014 self was. The current timeline Gamora was still dead on Vormir, her body on the floor alongside Natasha Romonoff.

Maybe Ziggy could ask Nebula, but Nebula was still getting used to the fact that she didn't have to be harsh constantly to be heard, that the Guardians respected her opinion without her raising her voice. She couldn't ask Mantis, Mantis usually didn't know how to take a serious situation.

So Ziggy wallowed in her self anxiousness, not sure how to handle the situation. She didn't like that after eleven years, she and Peter's relationship was falling apart. She thought it was because Ziggy had been gone for five years on his end, and he mourned her thinking she wasn't coming back. But to Ziggy, it had only been twenty minutes and she had been ecstatic to see Peter again as if no time passed.

Wouldn't he want to rebuild the relationship with her? It hadn't even fallen apart in the first place. They did well the first few months after defeating Thanos, spending almost every waking moment with each other when Thor wasn't interrupting. Sure, maybe a slight setback was Ziggy unknowingly helping Mantis and Drax kidnap his favorite actor for him.

But maybe it was because Peter had been drinking a bit more which deepened his anxieties and worries. Ziggy paced her room, not sure what to do. She wanted to help him, but she felt like he was unreachable by anyone in the Guardians.

A rap of a knuckle sounded at her door, and Ziggy stopped pacing and wrung her hands in her place. She shuffled to the door, opening it to reveal Nebula.

"Ziggy, the team meeting is being held downstairs for the week. It's in five minutes." Nebula informed her.

"Okay, thanks." Ziggy nodded, and Nebula closed her door before heading downstairs. Ziggy bit her lip before following Nebula downstairs. Rocket was already down there with Nebula, hanging out as they set up the meeting and prepared for any points needed. As it was the lobby, Peter was also down there, sitting in a booth with a drink in his hand.

Ziggy stopped in the doorway and stared at him, and he eventually glanced over, locking eye contact with Ziggy. Ziggy frowned, turning her head and joining Nebula and Rocket. "How long has he been down here?"

"Eh, I dunno, I think an hour or two?" Rocket asked.

"How much has he drunk?"

"Why don't ya ask him instead of pestering me?" He demanded.

Ziggy scowled at him. "He won't talk to me, did you know that?"

"You're his girlfriend." Nebula stated.

"Yeah, I know. We haven't had an actual conversation in months." Ziggy muttered.

"So what, are you gonna break up?" Rocket asked her.

"I don't want to." Ziggy admitted.

"Then talk to him." Nebula suggested. Ziggy glanced over her shoulder, looking at Peter before sighing. Thankfully, Kraglin and Cosmo came through the door. On top of Nebula, the two were the newest to the team. Kraglin, being the only remaining Ravenger from Yondu's team, and Cosmo was a display to the Collector's collection, but when Thanos destroyed Knowhere, it set Cosmo free. Ziggy loved Cosmo, even though the golden retriever wore a spacesuit, Ziggy loved to cuddle Cosmo whenever she felt down, and Cosmo licked Ziggy.

"Ziggy!" Cosmo's voice box spoke happily, and the dog bounded forward.

"Cosmo!" Ziggy smiles, crouching down and giving her pets. Cosmo panted happily, her tail wagging. Groot came downstairs, Drax and Mantis in front of him.

"Alright, we're all here now, everyone gather around." Nebula called, and the team did so, taking their respective places within the circle. It felt strange not having Gamora here, and it felt stranger knowing it's been two years since her death.

Nebula started the introduction, explaining what they've achieved in the past week, and what they need to get done this next week mission wise and on Knowhere. Ziggy glances at Peter cautiously, hoping to avoid actual eye contact. Mantis and Drax stood in between them, and she watched him.

He looked rough, his eye bags growing everyday and his hair ruffling in his face. He wore sweatpants and a ratty hoodie, one that has definitely seen its days. Ziggy's expression fell over time watching him, and she only looked away quickly when he caught her watching.

"We'll post individual missions and the pairs assigned to them." Nebula spoke, pulling Ziggy's attention back in. Knowing her friends, they'd probably pair her and Peter together in hopes of reconciling their relationship. She also missed some probably important details, but as a long-time member of the Guardians, she doubted she'd be left in the dark for long.

After they finished the meeting, everyone hovered around the lounge chatting about whatever. Anxiously, Ziggy avoided eye contact with Peter still, not wanting to talk to him but knowing it needed to be done.

"Here, we'll pair you two together to help you out." Nebula told her, showing her the next mission on the holopad as she caught Ziggy and Peter's lingering gazes on each other.

"Aw, Nebula, why? I'd rather even work with Thor if he were still here." Ziggy complained.

"You'd rather work with Thor over your own boyfriend? You two are getting too out of hand." Nebula muttered.

"Can you postpone it to two missions at least? If I can go two more missions without working with him I'll talk to him." Ziggy promised.

Nebula gave her a look. "Are you being honest? We're all sick of it, especially with you two being important members of the team."

"Pinky promise." Ziggy held up her pinky.

Nebula looked at it. "That's childish, I'll just take your word for it."

Ziggy frowned, dropping her hand. She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hand before glancing around at everyone. Kraglin and Cosmo left due to living in another building, and she made her way to the stairs, knowing everyone else would be crowding the elevator in a few minutes. She needed time to think by herself without anyone imposing missions onto them.

"You'd rather work with Thor? I can definitely get him to replace me still." Peter called, a few steps behind her. Ziggy tensed before turning around, spotting the frown on his face as she looked down at him.

"I didn't mean it like that." She told him.

"What did you mean, then?"

"I dunno, Pete. You've just been so absent lately and I miss you. I tried talking to you but it's hard when I barely get an answer. I know things are different now and I've been kind of dead for five years to you, but I'm here. I'm here now and I want you to know that." Ziggy told him.

"I'm sorry, I know I've been awful lately. I'm trying, really, I just... can't." He shook his head. "I want to try if you'll let me. I get it if you don't want to..."

"No, of course I want to try. I miss you, I miss us." Ziggy reached out to him, taking his hand.

"Okay, so we're trying to fix things?" Peter asked her, eyes wide.

"If you want to."

"I do, really. I want to give you what you deserve." Peter told her.

Ziggy smiles softly at him. "Okay. You wanna watch a movie or something?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."