The Girl Who Held the Universe in her Hands | marvel [1] ✔

SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN
' I'LL LET YOU GO . '

"Heads up! We're inbound." Rocket shouted, causing Ash to look up from where she sat and move over to the cockpit. She rested a hand on his chair and leaned against it, mouth parting in awe at the smash of colours floating in front of them.

"What is it?" Drax asked.

"It's called Knowhere," Gamora replied.

Ash sighed quietly. "It's the severed head of an ancient celestial being."

"Be wary headed in, Rocket. There are no regulations whatsoever here," Gamora continued. "Hundreds of years ago, the Tivan Group sent workers into mine the organic matter within the skull. The bone, brain tissue, and spinal fluid. All rare resources highly valued in black markets across the galaxy. It's dangerous and illegal work, suitable only for outlaws."

"Well, I come from a planet of outlaws." Quill spun in his chair and got to his feet. He moved to grab his jacket. "Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde and John Stamos."

Drax mulled over his words. "It sounds like a place which I would like to visit."

"Yeah, you should." Quill nodded.

They disembarked the ship, Ash pulling her coat tighter around her body as a sharp gust of wind shot through her. She moved next to Groot at the back of the group, eyes flickering warily over the large crowds.

"Excuse me?" a child stopped in front of them, others coming to her side and causing them to stop.

"Watch your wallets," Quill warned the others.

"Can you spare any units?"

"Get out of here." Rocket waved them off, but the girl walked up to Groot. Ash glanced at him as he grew a flower in his hand. Before they walked off, he plucked it and gave it to her. Groot looked at Ash as they moved towards a bar, and she gave him a small smile.

"Your buyer's in there?"

"We are to wait here for his representative," Gamora informed.

Drax scoffed. "This is no respectable establishment. What do you expect us to do while we wait?"

\_|_/\_|_/\_|_/

You had to kill the conversation. You always had the upper hand. Got caught in love and stepped in sinking sand. You had to go and ruin all our plans.

"Ash, we need to talk."

She lowered her head from where she sat on the railings of a balcony, sensing Noah's presence immediately as he approached her. Keeping her gaze below, she replied, "No, we don't."

"So you know what I'm about to say."

"Of course I do. You're a part of my brain." Her voice rivalled on being a snap.

Packed your bags, and you're leaving home. Got a one-way ticket, and you're all set to go, but we have one more day together.

"You need to move on, Ash."

"But what if I don't want to?" she whispered. "How do you expect me to move on when we were so close? So close to everything."

"I know, but you have to live your life. You can't keep clutching onto strands that aren't there." Noah sighed, gently touching her chin and getting her to look at him. It was a mistake, the tears in her eyes threw him off balance, and he began to rethink his decision. "I was greedy. I wanted to keep you to myself. I thought that if you kept me here, you wouldn't move on. Wouldn't forget me. Maybe. Just maybe, if you longed hard enough, you'd trick the universe into thinking I wasn't dead."

So, love me like there's no tomorrow, hold me in your arms, tell me you mean it. This is our last goodbye, and very soon it will be over but today just love me like there's no tomorrow.

Ash could not form words as her mouth opened and closed like a fish. Her eyes flickered, but he avoided them. "Noah," she spoke. Her cheeks were wet as her eyes shone with unshed desperation and heartbreak. "Say to me that you mean it. Promise me that you don't want to be here, and I'll let you go."

Silence filled the air for a moment before Noah's face hardened. "I don't want to be here anymore."

I guess we drift alone in separate ways. I don't have all that far to go. God knows I've learnt to play the lonely man. I've never felt so low in all my life.

Ash let out a breath, looking away with a long breath. "At least this time, we can say goodbye." She shifted from her position on the railing and turned to face him. They stared at each other for a moment before they brought each other into a tight embrace. Ash buried her head into his neck, arms wrapping around his waist tightly. Noah rested his cheek on her head, arms holding her close to his body.

We were born to be just losers. So, I guess there's a limit on how far we go, but we only have one more day together.

"You are better than you think," he whispered, gently beginning to sway them. "Just because I'm gone doesn't mean you're going to lose all this progress. I love you more than you will ever understand."

So, love me like there's no tomorrow. Hold me in your arms, tell me you mean it. This is our last goodbye, and very soon it will be over but today just love me like there's no tomorrow.

Ash couldn't form words and tightened her hold on him. Her eyes flickered open, and she watched as he faded into nothingness. As her arms fell to her sides, Ash continued to stare at where he previously stood, and she couldn't stop her shoulders from shaking with sobs. She turned towards the railings and grabbed them, slowly ducking her head and quietly letting her cries out.

"Ash?"

She froze. "This really isn't a good time, Gamora."

"Are you okay?"

Ash whipped around, and her magic threw Gamora against the wall. "I said, this isn't a good time!" she seethed. "What part of I want to be left alone do you not understand?"

"I just want to talk!" she shouted, wriggling in her hold.

"We are talking."

Gamora sighed as Ash set her down. "Look, I'm sorry."

"About?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"I want to hear you say it."

They stared at each other until Gamora looked away for a moment. "I'm sorry for betraying you to Thanos. I've never stopped thinking about what it led to and how much it hurt you. Noah was like a brother to me, and-and it's one of the reasons I betrayed Ronan and stole the orb."

Ash didn't reply. Her gaze became watery, and she turned away, grasping the metal handrail.

"Come on, Ash, I'm trying my best!"

"I know," she whispered, bowing her head. "I know you are, but I can't find it in me to forgive you yet. You helped kill the person I love most in this world, Gamora. A few words aren't going to reverse all this time I've spent hating you."

"So, what? We're going to spend the rest of this glaring and trying to kill each other?"

"I will learn how to be your sister again. I can see how much you mean it, but I have to teach myself how to be kind to you once more."

\_|_/\_|_/\_|_/

Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow - Freddie Mercury