Groot frowned a little when he saw Rocket’s reaction to his question. Had he asked something he really shouldn’t have? Regardless, his question was answered and only left him with more questions. The reason the guardians were a thing? And his ancestor? Groot knew that the Guardians couldn’t be his biological family. After all, they were all fauna and he was flora. But they were his family nonetheless and he loved them. But being told he had an actual ancestor…. Someone like him was what the flora colossus immediately pictured.
“I..am Groot? I am Groot?”
‘So… He’s like my biological dad? And what do you mean the reason the Guardians are a thing?’ One final question rested on his tongue and it was a dangerous question to ask about someone who was being talked in the past tense. “I…I am Groot?”
'What…What happened to him?’
“It’s a long story, Groot... and not exactly a happy one,” Rocket said. He wasn’t sure how good he was at telling stories. Gamora definitely was the best story-teller on their ship. He’d probably be the worst, but it didn’t mean he didn’t want to try.
“It all started when it was just me and him. We made a bit of a reputation for ourselves taking down big bounties... but when it came down to getting paid, that’s where we came up short. People don’t like givin’ their money to trees and little hairballs. We were always struggling with money. The cost of supplies always caused us to go broke as soon as we got a little money. Then one day while hunting for targets Quill came into our turf. He had a bounty big enough to settle all our debt and then some. Problem was... Gamora was after him too... after something he was carrying, not after his bounty. ‘Course we didn’t really KNOW what was all going on till after we all got arrested for the whole skirmish. Even though me and your dad were just doin’ our jobs we got sent to the Kylnn with Quill and Gams. That was how the Guardians all met up.”
Rocket knew it was about time someone told Groot about how the team formed and about the passing of his ‘father’ but it was really hard to put it all into words.
“Your... biological dad, he died protecting all of us on our first real mission. I begged him not to, but he did it anyway...” Rocket, usually not the kind to leave out gruesome details couldn’t bare to mention that the flora had busted into a thousand pieces. Of all the people he had lost, Groot was the hardest for him to deal with. Even years later, he still got glassy-eyed thinking about it.
“Of course, it wasn’t all bad... we got you... you were born from one of his splints... and without his sacrifice we wouldn’t have survived to save Xandar.”
