A/N: I'm so grateful for all the responses! Honestly, I only expected, like, less than 10. You guys are the best, okay? This chapter is so unashamedly Starmora because you've all been asking for it (and hell yes, we needed for Starmora in the movie, James Gunn!)

1.) Feels, feels, feels. If you sobbed/ugly cried/flailed over the previous chapters, then you will be a puddle of feels.

2.) Did anyone catch my Galaxy Quest reference? :p

Previously

"Stay. Please?"

She waits for the span of several heartbeats, just for her own consideration of whether this would actually be a good idea. Then, she turns on a heel, glancing at him over her shoulder. She takes a seat on the edge of the bed, smoothing her hands along the wrinkles made by the depression. "What I said earlier, about it being dark and all." She keeps her gaze on him, a small glint of interest in her eyes as she does so. Yet she remains quiet and lets him continue. "I was dying, wasn't I?"

The bed creaks a little as she nods. "Yes, as you lay in that starless darkness, Drax searched for you and we found you on the brink of death. You were dying," she replies and hates the way her own voice betrays her, cracking over the last word.

"You really want to know why I was blushing?" he asks, swiftly (and somewhat oddly, she thinks) changing the subject. It's odd enough that she stops playing with the leather gloves encasing her hands to look up at him with furrowed brows.

"It is trivial, Quill. I only meant to tease you," she remarks, shaking her head. But then she catches the way his face falls, and his gaze drops. It's minute, and she's fairly sure he never meant her to see it; but she still sees it. Which is why she asks. "Why?"

"I wasn't missing just the stars," he says somberly. "I could have had them, and I'd still have been alone." That's when it hits her. She realizes in that moment what he's trying to tell her, and it shakes her to her core.

It's difficult to grasp at first-she realizes that. Everyone faces death alone; they cannot take another with them, and it is them alone that faces it. This is why she's left a little confused. As his hand slowly seeks hers and their fingers brush, she gets it. She sees a world of difference between succumbing to dreamless sleep without so much as a hand to hold or a kiss in parting and gently falling into that sleep in the arms of your beloved, safe and warm until the cold finally takes you.

"In the way you mean, we are always alone," The words fall from her lips so softly she doubts he can hear them. He does.

He sighs. "Well, I didn't-don't want to be. I don't like alone." She rests her other hand atop his and offers him a small smile, the kind that leaves a twinkle in her eyes.

"If it offers you any comfort, Peter, I shall never leave your side. I swear this on my life," she assures him with a nod. "I do not like 'alone' either." It's then they discover three things: how infectious smiles are, Peter learns the sound of Zen Whoberi laughter, and Gamora understands what makes her blush.

He recovers within the next few weeks, and as soon as he's released, the five of them slip easily back into their rhythm. Rocket surreptitiously pilfers various nondescript parts from the Milano and sets to work on his weapons of mass destruction. Groot grows at a steady pace, grooving to his wooden heart's desire. Drax remains forever lost to the idea and meaning of metaphors. One night, however, when the aforementioned three have gone to sleep, Peter finds himself bereft of it. Not for the first time, he finds it hard to get a restful sleep after the chaotic events involving the damned Infinity Stone.

He knows it's impossible if one's been laying in bed for more than a few hours without a wink. The raccoon's snoring doesn't at all aid the matter, and a tired Peter Quill pulls himself up out of bed. He lifts his hand over his mouth to cover the long, exhausted yawn. He lets out a sigh, and when he can actually see the puff of his breath, his brows furrow. So help me, God, if Rocket screwed with the heating...again, he thinks to himself as he shrugs on his duster. He passes by the sleeping raccoon, curled up in a ball around Groot and his pot. He's walking through his ship (because maybe he just might fall asleep if he can watch the stars for some time) and rubbing his arms because holy hell, it's freezing in here. He's only just stepped into the cockpit when his foot dashes against a box of tools Rocket has no doubt left there.

He bites back a cry as the echoing clang resounds in the silent ship. A little ahead of him, he catches a glimpse of bright magenta followed by a pair of dark eyes beneath long lashes watching him with some interest.

"You cannot sleep? Neither can I," she remarks as if it isn't awkward at all that the both of them are up in what may be the middle of the night. He does something between a hop and a skip to get up over the slightly raised platform upon which the chairs sit. With a well-hidden grunt of discomfort, he all but falls into the chair beside her and gingerly lifts his legs to rest his feet on the dash. He folds his arms behind his head and leans back into the chair to close his eyes.

"Nope, not without a screaming indigo villain constantly exploding in my mind. I'd have listened to my music, but usually I pipe it throughout the ship," Peter says, gesturing above his head to the vents overhead. "Rocket'd probably kill me. Not that that's a particular worry of mine." The ship is moving in a slow orbit around some barren moon off of Knowhere, and currently, it's enshrouded in the shadow of said moon. In that shadow, Gamora arches her eyebrows at his mention of music. She remembers the legend he'd promised to tell her and debates for a moment on the wisdom of broaching the subject. He claims to be a man of his word. Perhaps he will remain one, she reasons.

"Peter, you told me long ago about a legend on your planet. And of the hero Kevin Bacon. What is this legend?" She glances at him just as the ship breaks through a patch of light, and their eyes meet. She's caught him off guard and can't help but smile at his reaction. He straightens almost immediately and smooths down the wrinkles of his clothing. Then he looks away and stammers for a moment, not sure of where to begin. It's endearing, she thinks, reminded now of the way he'd looked at her after they'd first met. A smile tugs at her lips.

"Did I-I don't remember really mentioning that mov-legend, I mean," he stammers, running a hand through his curly hair. "Did I? I did." He rises from his seat and holds his hand out to Gamora. "I might as well, then. I keep my promises especially when they're to deadly green assassins." This elicits a laugh from this particularly green assassin. She stares at his hand, somewhat puzzled, but takes it nonetheless and lets him pull her to her feet.

"Must you hold my hand to tell me this great legend?" she asks him as they walk away from the cockpit. They stop near the place she'd found him listening to his Walkman after the battle. He'd held her hand as he led her to where they now stood, but his hold changes slightly as he laces his fingers with hers until their palms are aligned. When he hears her words, his hand falters slightly and his face flickers with an emotion conspicuously close to hurt. Gamora convinces herself she's seeing things and instead wraps her hand around his. "Tell me."

"I will, promise," he whispers, leaning in close to her ear. His head is nearly resting against hers, and it's after she realizes his hand is on her hip that she discovers (to her amusement) he is swaying slightly. "If you promise me one thing?" She tenses somewhat, her body stiff as she tries to understand what 'pelvic sorcery' the man beside her is working. If she strains, she can hear him humming (Humming? What on earth is he doing humming? She finds even more surprising the notion that she recognizes the tune. It sounds remarkably close to the song she had been introduced to on Knowhere).

"If it is within my ability, I will," she answers, humming along with him despite herself. (She blames the music). "What is it I must promise?" His movements are slow and hesitant; her heart twinges just a little. He's wondering if she'll put a knife to his throat. Though the likelihood of this happening has decreased, she can't blame him.

"Dance with me." Moments pass in the silence that falls, and two hearts beat just a little too fast. Hers flutters, and his hammers. She's fairly sure she can see it in the flickering movement just beneath the hollow of his neck. The hand he's held at her waist has lifted, but remains at her side. She turns a bit too quickly, her free hand lowering to her side. His brain-which she guesses-is running a million miles an hour misinterprets the movement and she catches the way he flinches in the next second.

"Peter, I am not going to kill you. If that is what you're afraid of?"

He gulps, confirming her assumption. "Yes, I will. Such a simple request. I had thought you would ask me to spend a night on Morag for all the suspense of your question," she continues with a small chuckle. He laughs, too, shaking his head.

"No, no, even I wouldn't do that," he remarks, flashing her a disarming smile. "So, about that dance. It goes like this." He looks down at their joined hands and wraps his arm around her waist, drawing her to him. She gasp a little at their sudden closeness but does not pull away. Then, he squeezes her hand. "See, we've got to have our hands like this. And here, you can rest your hand on my shoulder like that," He takes her free hand in his and lifts it, lays it on his shoulder as he speaks. "You just move to the rhythm of the song. I've got it memorized-courtesy of 26 years listening to the same ten songs on repeat. 10 best songs in the Galaxy, if you ask me..." She sways as he does, giving half a mind to his embarrassed babbling about the various people called artists. As he's speaking, she eventually zones out and subconsciously leans against him, lowering her head to his shoulder as they move slowly to the music only they can hear.

Fin

A/N: And at last, we come to the end. I actually didn't plan on ending it this exact way, but it just fit so perfectly. So...what did you guys think? Didja love it? (Please please say you did?) I think it ties in nicely with the movie. I really like where it ended up, so if anything, I'll post an epilogue probably.

Also, I'm starting another GotG fic. It's called "In My Veins" and it's AU in which Gamora is a Zen Whoberi princess, and Peter is a merc (or Ravager, might just keep him like that) who's been hired by her father to hunt her down and return her in relatively one piece after she flees the planet and hides in a distant star system with a certain raccoon and talking tree. But she doesn't exactly plan on going quietly. Does this sound interesting?

That being said, More reviews = faster updates! Thoughts? Whatever's on your mind, tell me in a review.