You fly down from the cave, aiming for the ground. Your mind wanders and it's hard to see with the tears that have filled your eyes. Upon impact with the rocky surface, your legs collapse and you fall in anguish. A thud coming from in front of you gains your attention. You wipe the tears from your eyes and allow your pupils to focus on the figure.

Nebula stands before you after her abrupt landing. You're grateful she has made it out alive but the look on her face tells you Peter and Yondu didn't. Gamora rests beside you and her heart sinks watching you kneel on the ground, hands shaking and lip quivering. She knows you can't live without the love of your life. You pray that somehow he manages to make it out just like Nebula did. You can't lose him.

Gamora and Nebula glance up to the smoke clouds that were left after the explosion. Their eyes widen in shock and you hear faint gasps as you continue staring at the ground. A familiar chuckle catches your attention and you find yourself looking up as well. You take a hand and wipe the tears from your eyes to see and once your vision is clear, you are unable to hold back a smile. You rise to your feet as your face once again is filled with color.

Peter is alive.

He's looking over at Yondu who is currently descending down to the ground while holding his arrow as if it's an umbrella. "Ha! You look like Mary Poppins," Peter laughs.

Yondu turns his gaze to Peter, eyebrows raised in utter confusion. "Is he cool?" he asks. You sniffle a few laughs at the fact he obviously has no idea who Mary Poppins is.

Peter smiles. "Hell yeah, he's cool."

"I'm Mary Poppins y'all!" Yondu shouts proudly, only causing you to crack up more.

Peter hears your recognizable laugh as he gets closer to the ground. The second his feet come in contact with the dirt, your eyes meet. You sprint to him and in a quick moment, his strong arms are around you as he lifts you up in the air for a tight embrace. "I thought I lost you," you mumble into his shoulder.

"Sorry, Y/N, but you can't get rid of me," he shrugs. The two of you laugh lightheartedly until you pull away from the hug. You spin around and check out the flames that remain from the attack and the destruction from Ego. There's still a lot of work to do to take him down, but now everyone is here to help.

You're pulled from the touching moment when a hurled piece of metal slams into Mantis, knocking her out cold. "Mantis! Look out!" Drax warns way too late. He goes to check on her, picking her limp body up. "She's just unconscious," he says.

Now that Mantis is unable to keep Ego asleep, he wakes up aggressively. The blue color lights up some areas again and parts of Ego reach out towards his core. The others notice the illuminating blue light returning as well as some of the rocks crumbling. You're worried about everyone's wellbeing. None of you have fought a celestial before, or at least not anything as powerful as Ego.

"How long until the bomb goes off?" Peter questions.

"In the unlikely event that Groot doesn't kill us all..." Rocket ponders. "...about six minutes."

"Groot is smarter than we think," you defend. "I think he can do it."

"You sure about that, humie?" Rocket crosses his arms as he grins at you. It feels like it's been such a long time since you've truly spoken to your closest friend. You've missed the raccoon while you were on Ego's planet.

"I hope so." You ruffle the fur on his head as he pretends to roll his eyes. Truthfully, he's happy to be around you again.

The dirt beneath your feet shakes until it cracks enough to reveal the blue light. You look up to see the rocks above breaking open as well. "Kraglin, we need the quadrant for an extraction. T-minus five minutes," Yondu communicates back to his ship.

"Aye, Captain," Kraglin confirms.

A large opening is created above everyone, receiving all of your attention. "Somebody's gotta be up top when Kraglin arrives," Peter delivers, taking off his aero-rig to slap it on Drax's back. "Drax, take Mantis."

It activates, covering Drax's chest and sending him upward with Mantis in his arms. "Ow, my nipples!" he screams, and he continues screaming the rest of the way up. You roll your eyes jokingly at what a big baby he is.

It gets progressively harder to stand still as the ground shakes more and more with every second. Large pieces of rock fall off of the platform you're all standing on until the ones beneath you crumble. You don't have time to move and before you know it there is nothing left under your feet as you fall downward.

"Y/N!" Peter screams from above you. You are unable to make out his face and the panic starts to kick in. You shriek, each sound escaping your lips and echoing off of the rocks you pass by during your descent. Every moment fleets faster and you decide these are your final living seconds until your body comes in contact with whatever is below.

Just as you accept defeat, a familiar, blue hand takes yours with a tight grip. Nebula grabs a hold of the rock formation you're closest to and is able to maintain her strength due to her metal limbs. She lunges you onto the flat surface and jumps afterward.

You catch your breath steadily, inhaling and exhaling loudly like a maniac as the events from a few seconds ago blur through your mind. Your long, lost sister, Nebula, who had attempted to kill you only a few months ago, had just saved your damn life. You turn to her with wide eyes and a look of gratitude.

"Nebula...you...you saved my life," you exhale.

She rolls her eyes in response, per usual. "Get over it."

You take a gander at the place you just fell from, and watch as your friends try and fight Ego. He is currently giving some spiel to Peter about their purpose or whatever that you're unable to hear due to the great distance. You notice the red flame buzzing about quickly as Yondu whistles with every breath, using his arrow to chop through Ego's blue tentacles. Rocket flies around in his jetpack, using bombs and whatever weapons he has to destroy the parts of Ego that surround him. Gamora slices through several with her sword while Peter manages to take down any that go near him with his blasters. You desperately want to help them.

"We have to get up there," you tell Nebula. She nods in return, glancing over at the tall rocks rising around you. There is one left remaining that has yet to head upward with the others. You share a look, and on your command, you sprint with all of your might and lunge for it. The two of you barely make it on as it begins to grow, bringing you to where you need to be.

You reach the top just as everyone starts failing, one by one. Rocks are piled onto Yondu and his arrow, blocking him from whistling it around. Rocket and Gamora get their weapons extracted from them as Ego pins them down with his power. You and Nebula also get tangled up in the blue tentacles, and you know the others are in similar situations wherever they are. Peter is the only one who is currently free, looking around at his loved ones as they struggle. He turns to Ego who is recreating himself into the form you recognize.

"I told you, I don't want to do this alone," he says, stabbing Peter right through the heart with a tentacle. You scream against the one covering your mouth, only wasting breath as you crave to call out to Peter or save him like all of those times he saved you. More blue tentacles flow through his body. "You cannot deny the purpose the universe has bestowed upon you."

Ego's core lights up again, igniting his full power as he fulfills his purpose. Peter groans in pain and agony with every flinch of the tentacles. Ego continues to walk over to him, providing an explanation that can no longer be comprehended by Peter's hazy thoughts. "It doesn't need to be like this, Peter. Why are you destroying our chance? Stop pretending you aren't what you are. One in billions. Trillions. Even more. What greater meaning can life possibly have to offer?"

Yondu turns to Peter with all of the energy he has left. "I don't use my head to fly the arrow, boy! I use my heart..." The rocks cover his mouth as he goes under.

Peter hears him as his eyes fill with tears, turning back to Ego. He remembers listening to music with his mother and Yondu teaching him how to shoot. He also recalls all of the times he shared a good laugh with the Guardians. But, most importantly, he remembers you. His mind goes back to the first time he saw you and every amazing moment he shared with you after that. How can he let Ego take all of this away from him?

Peter's hands form tight fists as he grits his teeth and growls. The dust on the ground circles around him as the cracks in the rocks brighten with the blue light emitting from Peter's newfound power. "You shouldn't have killed my mom and squished my walkman," he spits at Ego, flying up to tackle him. He takes him down with one blow, keeping his hands around his neck as he soars through the air. He uses all of his strength to hurt Ego. The son of a bitch is going down.

The parts of Ego are released from around you and your friends, allowing all of you to breathe and roam free once again.

"Groot? If you can hear me, hurry up! I'm not sure how long Quill can keep him distracted!" Rocket yells. "Groot, hurry!"

Groot comes bumbling out of the cave. You and Rocket smile at one another, proud of him for actually doing it correctly. Rocket scoops up the little tree in his arms and flies over to Yondu. You make your way back over to Gamora and Nebula, then fly up to the ship to join Drax and Mantis.

Rocket enters the ship moments later, Groot on his shoulder. You look after them, but no one follows. "Where's Peter?" you ask, heart sinking deeper into your chest. There's no reply. "Rocket, where the fuck is he?" The timer counts down with only fifty seconds remaining. Your voice grows louder and angrier with every second counted down. "Rocket? Answer me, damn it! Where is he? Where's Peter?"

Rocket shakes his head while Groot points down back to the planet. "Y/N..." Gamora mumbles.

"No! No! We're not leaving without him!" You scream, no one saying anything in return. You grab a gun and walk toward the edge of the ship, preparing yourself to jump. "I'm not leaving without him." Before you can bring your feet off the ground, you're zapped by Rocket.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles. "I can only afford to lose one friend today."

Everything goes black.

Down below on Ego's planet, Peter watches the color fade from his father, leaving a gray man who is desperate to get what he wants. He throws in punch after punch, tackling Ego to the ground with every move. "No, we need to stop it," Ego says. "Stop. Stop. Listen to me!" Peter hesitates at the words, the two of them holding each other up by the collars of their jackets. "You are a god. If you kill me, you'll be just like everybody else."

Peter thinks about the life he can share with you if he can no longer live forever. He can live out the rest of his days saving the galaxy with his best friends and spend his nights with the girl of his dreams in his arms. He has no desire to be a god, and all he really wants is to be just like everybody else.

"What's so wrong with that?"

"No!" Ego yelps, the bomb going off just in time to destroy him and his planet.

As Ego fades into nothing, Peter watches the blue powers disappear from his hands. He is now only human, just like his mother and just like you. Everything collapses around him and he wishes to be on the ship, but he knows that is only a mere dream. Deep down, he believes these are his final moments alive.

Suddenly, a figure descends toward Peter and scoops him up in his arms. He looks at the man next to him and sees Yondu. "He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your daddy," Yondu expresses, earning a small grin from Peter who is only realizing this for the first time. They fly further out of the planet's atmosphere, approaching the open space. "I'm sorry I didn't do none of it right. I'm damn lucky you're my boy."

Yondu places the spacesuit on Peter, allowing him to breathe outside in the starry, endless sky "What?" he questions, noting that Yondu won't be able to survive once they leave the safety of the planet. Yondu shares one last smile with his true son. "Yondu, what are you doing? You can't. Yondu! No! No!" He cries. The jetpack slows down as it runs out of fuel. Yondu can no longer breathe, staring at Peter and remember each detail of his face. Peter tries to remove the spacesuit from his body and give it to him. "No! No!"

Yondu's reassuring hand pats Peter's cheek. He understands the risk Yondu is taking to allow him to live and be with everyone he loves again. He sees all of the sacrifices he has made in the past couple of decades to save him and protect him. He will always be grateful for Yondu this moment on, watching him freeze and run out of breath.

Peter will always appreciate his real father.