In all honesty, Gamora couldn't possibly have prepared herself for this. Of all the things she thought might go wrong, with the struggle she'd been having since the Reaper invasion, all of it paled in comparison to what had actually happened. Fortunately, Gamora was an expert at panicking on the inside, at keeping herself bottled up tight and functioning as needed. It was how she'd so quickly been able to stow herself and get ready for what she knew was coming as soon as the conversation had started: She needed to find Nebula and she needed to find her five minutes ago.
It wasn't just for Nebula either. She could barely recall a time when she remembered either of them being that small. It appeared at least to be before Thanos which...that drew a tight knot in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know Gamora. Which meant that she was...she was just scared and she didn't know she wasn't...And this was a chance for Gamora to do it al right this time. She'd been so wrong about Nebula before, when both of them had simply been thrust into the life that it was decided they would have. She'd never seen what Nebula had really wanted out of her relationship with Gamora. She'd seen her as an adversary, someone she needed to be better than if she wanted to survive, and all Nebula wanted was a sister.
Now, as she was pulling open the ship -- which she'd already been on her way to by the time Nebula confirmed that to be where she was -- Gamora understood that this was her chance to do this right.
"Nebula?" Gamora was careful to keep her voice even and calm as she began to search the ship, pausing to adjust where she looked when she remembered how old Nebula was now and how many more places that made available to her. Gamora was careful with her steps and her gaze as she worked from the rear of the ship to the front. It was why, when her eyes did settle on the sight of the knife (because of course that's what her eyes would see first) her hands immediately shot up in the air to show she meant no harm.
"Nebula." She repeated the name, this time directing it at the small blue child as she dropped down to her haunches a few feet away. "You don't need that. You don't need to do that." Gamora's voice was one that didn't quite tremble with emotion, because she wouldn't let it. If she had been of a lesser fortitude, it would have been painted all over everything about her. "I'm not going to hurt you." She promised without using the word. "No one is. I won't let them." She kept her hands up. "I can't make you believe that, but you do not need to sit in such cramped quarters until you are convinced."
Gamora shifted, very, very, slowly, to pull the small bag she had brought with her and reached out to set it within Nebula's reach.