Five Months Later...

...

...

...

3rd Person POV

"Daaaaaad! Seriously, I feel fine, it's just a scratch!" Ash whined as Bruce with a first aid kit in his hands rushed over to where she was leaning against the couch with a hand on the already-dissipating scratch on her knee.

"If you try to stick that bib on me again Dad I swear to whatever god still exists I will fry your fur!" JJ shouted in irritation from the other side of the house before rushing into the kitchen area as Rocket held the aforementioned bib in his paws with a mischievous look from Groot's shoulder as he play-mocked her,

"~I am Grooot~" (~But you look so cuuuuute in it~)

"Guys c'mon, the others will be here to pick you four up and you shouldn't travel on an empty stomach." Bruce reminded them all as he hurried to pull another waffle from the waffle maker before it could burn from his being distracted.

"Ugh yer tellin' me!" JJ plopped herself at the table island where some ready waffles were already stacked and started piling her plate as she added with a slight yawn,

"Could sleep much last aahhhnight layin' down an-OW!"

Before she felt a spine smack the back of her head saying,

"Mrrrow!" (Wait for us!) Revealing Gora as she hopped onto the seat next to JJ across from where Ash and Groot sat with their plates as she argued,

"I wasn't startin'!"

"I am ~Grooot~!" (~Suuuure~ you weren't!) Groot taunted her as she reached across to ruffle her hair which she swatted away.

Rocket and Bruce both smirked at their daughters as the two of them kept trying to remind themselves they were finally back to normal... well normal for them anyway...

After finding their baby forms at the space willow tree, they returned to Earth after leaving Kryjer and his men with the other Guardians and the people of Knowhere, while Bruce, Rocket, Groot, and Gora stayed at Bruce's island lab/home to take care of Ash and JJ as they slowly reverted to their regular ages after discovering they had been aging back to normal at a rate of a few months per day.

Xay and Xaiavira had wanted to stay with them but Zaruk needed their help in reacquainting Jabazi with "New Chrysinthea" (Zaruk still having trouble coming up with a name for their new Earth-bound home) so they reluctantly went with them in exchange for being allowed to see Ash and JJ once they finished recuperating with Zaia even talking about asking to be a part of the Guardians.

Dylan and the other Blazars had started collaborating with the people of Knowhere to travel the galaxies in search of other bases and ships of the Oajins and Kryjer thanks to intel that Zaiavira had been able to provide them about their operations to shut them down for good. In addition, they were also working on becoming an official governmental program designed to prevent and aid with the recovery of Chrysinthean-based hate crime victims on Earth seeing as how there were still some of them living outside of "New Chrysinthea" with their human partners, friends, and families and were often targets of said attacks and with Caleb still in the wind, there was no telling what his next move against them on Earth would be.

Ash and JJ had recovered from their age reversal with little to no physical changes apart from their powers being given a substantial boost thanks to their mother's Core energy now being a part of them both. Their Tools had also been returned to them but they now lacked the Ori crystals since their creator was no longer in a singular form to power them from.

Overall, everything was starting to go back to some sense of normal for everybody if not for one last hanging thread...

When Ash and JJ's belongings had been collected along with their younger forms, they found a large book inside Ash's satchel that looked to be a complete compilation of Chrysinthean history, abilities, traditions, etc., and within was a note written in sparkly blue ink that read, 'The 1st Jurhir'd is still out there... -Ori ✶'

Zaruk had taken the book to restore some of the traditions and culture that had been lost during the previous years of solely focusing on surviving but there was still the matter of who the 1st Jurhir'd is, where they were, and what they were possibly planning if they were the source behind Nekry, Caleb, and all other Oajins and enemies of all remaining Chrysintheans.

But until they figured out what they could do about it, Ash and JJ decided to go their separate ways... for now at least...

*FWWOOOOSH!*

Everyone's attention was turned to the window facing further into the island and saw a ship touching down in the distance.

"Uhp look's like the gang's here." Rocket noted as he scampered down from the counter to grab his satchel and the "kids" hurried to finish their food, Ash gathered the plates to leave in the sink to wash later before rushing to pull on her sneakers as JJ, Gora, and Groot grabbed their bags and items.

As they all walked out to the field where the ship had landed, the Guardians quad looked at it in confusion seeing how it wasn't the Benatar.

"The frick did they do while we was here?" Rocket questioned not liking what else could have changed in the time they had stayed on Earth.

"Guys!" Quill shouted as he and the others, Thor, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula, also disembarked from the ship.

"Good to see ya guys managed without us." JJ smirked a bit at them all with her arms crossed when Nebula walked up to her as she questioned in an unsure tone,

"Are you.. alright?"

"I'm fine now." JJ assured her.

"Good..." She nodded once sharply before proceeding to yell, "Then what the hell were you thinking?! I thought you were supposed to be the only other person on this team with enough common sense to not die!"

"Good to see you too Neb..." JJ remained more or less unaffected by her yelling before she pulled her into a hug that she was still slow to accept but returned as best as she could.

"Thank you again for taking care of our teammates." Quill walked over to Bruce to shake his good hand so he could thank him and Bruce returned it with a rueful,

"It was our pleasure."

"They weren't too much of a handful were they?"

"Weeeeell..." Bruce nodded his head to the side in a 'sorta' manner remembering all the tech he'd caught Rocket taking apart and stealing from his lab, all the plants Groot had attempted to "free" from their pots and vases resulting in a mess of dirt and roots all over the floor and couches, and all the fur Gora had shed from the stress of taking care of baby JJ who made messes of her own all over the house, and so much more but he smiled ruefully as he admitted, "It was a lot, but for the two of them," Looking over to where JJ and Ash were talking with Nebula, Mantis, Thor, and Drax, "I'd say it was worth it..."

"Thank you again, you ever need somethin' don't hesitate to have Ash or JJ reach out to us."

Bruce gave him an appreciative nod before looking at Thor as he was approaching only to notice two bright streaks of light coming down to the island from the sky.

"Incoming!" Bruce alerted everyone before the streaks touched down on the ground to reveal themselves to be Xay and Zaiavira, who was carrying a large backpack and had long since changed out of her Oajin uniform but kept the visor and was now wearing a loose sandy-colored top with a low enough neckline that the top part of her marks on her chest could show, black shorts with two pouches on the sides, and ankle boots that had lines of water running in tubes around them.

"Made it!" Zaiavira cheered as she sensed all the people around her.

"Only after a couple dozen misdirections..." Xay grumbled a bit uncharacteristically but she was too excited to "see" JJ and pick her up in a twirl-hug to notice and he perked up a bit when Ash walked over to him a rueful smile on her face as she asked,

"Everything OK back in.. 'New Chrysinthea?'"

"I was too worried about you to really focus on anything back there..." Xay admitted with a hint of shame that became a quick look of surprise when Ash took his face in her hands and gave him a quick kiss on the lips as she admitted,

"I missed you too..."

His face burst out in a reddish-orange blush that he quickly shook away to say,

"I can't stay long, Zaruk and the Blazars are having a meeting they want me to go to." Ash nodded in understanding before Xay added, "The invitation was extended to you too."

"There's still some personal things I need to work out before I can consider going back out into the field..." Ash admitted while looking down at her hands where a blue tattoo-like swirl now rested around her wrist like a bracelet, matching the one on JJ's wrist as well.

Xay's hands took Ash's in as he encouraged her,

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll work through it but don't forget we're here too... I'm here..."

"I know..." She rested her forehead on his and they stayed that way for a few minutes before Wickity made himself known by snapping playfully at Ash's hair until she scratched along his mandible.

Meanwhile, Zaiavira was introducing herself to each of JJ's teammates/family members.

"So you truly cannot see anything?" Drax bluntly asked making the others scold him before Xaiavira lightly chuckled to explain,

"It's alright, it's true I can't see traditionally with my eyes but my powers let me 'see' people and anything else with water in it."

"Can you fight?" Quill asked, walking back over to his people.

"Somewhat." Zaiavira shrugged.

"'Somewhat' you shoulda seen Zaia fightin' off all the Orckev that'd come after us!" JJ shook her friend by her shoulders while practically singing her praises making Marin squawk indignantly at her as she crawled out of Zaiavira's hair from the shaking.

"You can't always rely on your powers so until you can prove you can defend yourself and others without relying on them, you can help us with setting up our headquarters on Knowhere but you can't go on missions."

"It's a deal." Zaiavira nodded affirmatively.

"Sorry what?" JJ did a double take at what Nebula said before Mantis told Nebula,

"I thought we agreed we were supposed to ease them into that."

"Only you agreed to that." Drax bluntly stated.

"Mrow..." (I'm sure it'll be fine...) Gora spoke to JJ, Rocket, and Groot as JJ shrugged and noted,

"Long as I got my own space, I'm good."

"I am Groooooot?" (So we can't be roommates?)

"Sorry bro but a girl's gotta have'er own space 'ventually." JJ thumped a hand on Groot's shoulder as he pouted.

"Alright everyone let's head on out!" Quill announced to his fellow Guardians and Thor said his goodbyes to Bruce while Ash gave JJ one last hug and told the other Guardians to take care before they all boarded the Bowie, the Guardians' new ship.

Soon after the ship left the planet's atmosphere, Xay ended up having to take off too leaving just Ash and Bruce alone at home once again.

"So?" Bruce started to say making Ash question,

"So?"

"Movie night?"

"But it's still morning."

"We've got nothing else planned for the day."

Ash smiled in response before they headed back inside to settle on the couch in the living room with a blanket draped over the both of them and a bowl of popcorn Ash popped using the microwave in a bowl between them.

"You wanna know something kinda weird?" Bruce asked Ash as he turned the tv on and she looked at him curiously prompting him to answer,

"This whole adventure felt like the first time I've really been able to help you without having to be Smart Hulk..."

"Dad, you help by just being there for me..." Ash leaned her head on Bruce's shoulder which he returned before telling her,

"Alright, your turn to pick."

"How about my favorite movie?"

"You got it." Bruce navigates over to the list of recorded movies and programs as he brings up,

"By the way, I'm gonna be going on a road trip with a cousin of mine in a few weeks if you wanna come with us."

"I think I wanna stay home for a little while longer before I can go out." Ash gave him the same-ish answer she gave Xay earlier that day and Bruce looked down to where she was silently rubbing the swirls on her wrist before he nodded and told her,

"OK." Just as he found the movie he was looking for and hit Select before the beginning title scene to "Free Willy" started to play.

"Been meaning to ask; why's this one your favorite?" Bruce asked and Ash starts to explain,

"I like how Jesse starts off thinking he has no one who cares about him but then he meets Willy, who everyone thinks is this difficult-to-understand being but was just waiting for the right person to come into his life..."

"and he ends up fighting for what's right when it comes to Willy's life,"

A flash to Xay is seen with Zaruk and Dylan meeting with governors and leaders to discuss Chrysinthean matters eventually ending with Zaruk and some of the governors shaking hands with Xay and Dylan silently cheering and fist-pumping.

"Eventually he helps Willy find his way back to his family at the end, but knows they're still friends even if they're worlds apart..."

A flash to the Bowie shows Rocket heading over to JJ's room to let her know they were getting close to Knowhere where he finds her hanging upside down sleeping soundly and smirks ruefully before pulling a pillow from the shelf and placing it on the ground under her head, patting her face gently, which she gently smiled at, before turning the light off to close the door behind him.

Back on Earth, Bruce agrees with Ash,

"It is a pretty good movie..."

Hugging her closer as the movie continues and they enjoy the peaceful time they have together, knowing full well that, for whatever comes next for them, they would be ready to face it together backed up by friends and family...

...

...

...

JJ and the Guardians will return in A Jolt from the Past...

...

...

...

2646 Words

AN- Finally done! And right before classes for my last year of college start tomorrow too! It took a little over nine months to make this story happen but I hope you all enjoyed it ^^

For those here on Wattpad, thank you so much for making Galactic Surge #1 in the guardiansofthegalaxy tag for a little while and can't wait to see how many will read the Volume 3 segment, which, by the way, will be a separate book under the aforementioned title ^^

Ash's involvement in current/future movies and shows is still being considered but nothing definite has really been decided...

Also, I've got another fanfic in the works, the first chapter of which will be posted on my birthday, September 3rd, that I'm hoping will be a fun thing to work on if I'm still looking for the Vol. 3 script since I'm really getting into the fandom after the Owl House ended earlier this year :' (

Apart from that, until the next story, Bye!