Picking Up The Pieces

31. One Day More

The whales start to beach themselves
Tortoise shells tear away from their spines
It happens all the time, it happens all the time

Lemon Boy by Cavetown (Atlantis Playlist)

My eyes fluttered open as a loud bang echoed through the ship, and my stomach felt like it had flipped both upside down and inside out. I leaned forward in the seat I was strapped down in and coughed up blood before tiredly slamming back against the seat.

"What the hell are you doing boy?" I heard Yondu yell, and I tilted my head to the side so I could see Rocket and Yondu crouched against the ground in pain.

"I could tell by how you talked about him, this Ego is bad news," Rocket exclaimed as he pulled himself up into a standing position. "We're here to save Quill." I glanced up to the large front window to see a colorful planet in front of us. Ego's planet. My hunch about that man from the beginning was right. And now Quill was in danger.

"For what?" Yondu argued back, his voice hoarser than normal. "Huh? For honor? For love?"

"No!" Rocket protested. "I don't care about those things. I wanna save Quill so I can prove I'm better than him! I can lord this over him forever."

"Rocket..." I tried to stop him, but my voice was too feeble. Yondu laughed hard as he leaned against the controls of the ship.

"What are you laughing at me for?" Rocket asked him, not amused.

"You can fool yourself and everyone else, but you can't fool me!" Yondu told him as he jaggedly walked forward to the window. "I know who you are."

"You don't know anything about me, loser," Rocket growled, clenching his fists.

"I know everything about you!" Yondu snapped, turning around in rage. "I know you play like you're the meanest and the hardest... but, actually, you're the most scared of all."

"Shut up!" Rocket spat at him, and I could see him tensing as Yondu's words hit true. Kraglin stood in the dark corner, confused and a bit frightened.

"I know you steal batteries you don't need, and you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you... because just a little bit of love reminds you how big and empty that hole inside you actually is."

"I said shut up!" Rocket repeated himself, and his voice cracked a little.

"I know them scientists what made you, never gave a rat's ass about you," Yondu continued.

"I'm serious, dude!"

"Just like my own damn parents who sold me..." Yondu jabbed a finger at his own chest. "...their own little baby, into slavery! I know who you are, boy. Because you're me!" The two of them stared at each other, and even though I couldn't see Rocket's face, I knew the both of them were feeling a mix of rage and sadness.

"What kind of pair are we?" Rocket relented finally, and he sounded... hopeless. Defeated. Yondu nodded before pivoting to Kraglin.

"The kind that's about to go fight a planet, I reckon."

"All right, okay! Good!" Rocket cheered. "Wait... fight a what?"

"I am Groot!" Groot called them, and the group turned to me. Kraglin gave me a small smile.

"Boy, I'm glad you're awake," Rocket sighed nervously. The rest of the crew went back to work on piloting the ship. His paws made soft padding noises against the ship's floor as he walked up to me. "How you feeling?"