1. The first time it happened, not a soul in all of existence noticed. It was late-if time in space held any meaning-and one Peter Quill was fast asleep when a deep, dark blue light briefly flashed into being and just as quickly disappeared above his head. A few other momentary flashes followed, none quite as strong on the first.

Quill rolled over in his bed, started drooling, and the lights stopped appearing.

2. The second time was in the heat of battle. The Guardians found themselves back in another life or death situation just weeks after they had saved the galaxy once again. Peter figured that there really was no rest for the wicked. Gamora picked up her sword once again with no complaints. Drax laughed as he leapt into battle once again.
Rocket was in the background, rigging up various bombs to divert the giant rainbow (no, yes, most definitely rainbow) space lizards that were rampaging towards a small civilization. As he worked quickly with two ears turned towards the battle going on behind him, suddenly, a bright red light-no, more like a ball of energy- flashed into existence near his hand. Rocket jumped nearly a foot in the air in surprise, and the light was gone in an instance. He looked down at his paws, confused, but then quickly got back to work when he heard Gamora's signal to detonate the first set of bombs.

He didn't remember the light until much, much later.

3. Immediately after the battle, Drax was sitting on the carcass of one of the giant rainbow lizards. Quill and Rocket had gone back to get the ship, while Gamora was off doing whatever Gamora did when she went off by herself. Drax smiled at his surrounding handiwork, when suddenly, a bright purple light began to swirl around his finger tips. He watched it in fascination for a few seconds, let it dance around like tiny little streams of water, before it faded away.

Drax never mentioned the incident to anyone, but sometimes he would think of that beautiful light. It felt... nice.

4. Several days later, Gamora too saw a light: a bright stream of green-no, turquoise-energy flowing around her foot. It was late, and she had just settled down to clean her sword and enjoy a little quiet when it began, and just as quickly, ended. In surprise, she didn't yell, but did drop her sword, allowing it to clatter to the ground.

Quill heard the noise and came in to ask her what she saw, but she brushed him away. It was probably nothing, anyhow.

5. The fifth time, Peter noticed the light. A deep, dark blue, like the color of the sky right before the sun has completely set and the stars have taken over. He was in the kitchen of the newly rebuilt Milano when it suddenly appeared, and he reached out towards it, captivated.

Mantis walked into the room and dropped the mug she had been carrying. At the sound of the crash, the other Guardians quickly followed. (Luckily enough for all of them, Rocket had the sense to not drop the bomb he had been working on).

This time, the light stayed, and Peter hypnotically watched it swirl around him. As the other Guardians approached, though, it began to take on many hues- reds and purples and blues and greens, all together. Mantis approached the light cautiously, reaching out to touch it.

This broke Peter's concentration, and all of a sudden he stepped back horrified. "It's... it's Ego's light". Everyone instinctively took a step back. "He must have figured out a way to escape, a way to travel with me- I don't know how, he must have-"

Mantis cut him off. She had felt the light and knew instantly what it contained. "There is no trace of him in this light. It's similar... but completely different. No sorrow, no greed, no need to rule and conquer. Just... simple companionship. Love. This isn't Ego's light, Peter Quill, this is your own."

Peter looked shocked. "I thought all of that was gone when we destroyed my-Ego?"

Mantis nodded. "All of his light, yes, and your access to it. But that doesn't change who you are, or what you were born as. You've always had a light of your own"-she reached out to feel it again-"you just haven't realized until now".

Peter looked shell shocked. "How? I thought it was all gone. I'm... still immortal?"

Mantis, however, looked surprised once again. "Oh... it's not just yours, though. It may have all came from you, originally, but part of it exists in at least three others... your other friends, I assume...". She walked around and touched each of them individually. Gamora didn't even protest this time, mostly out of confusion. "Each of you now contains some of this light. I don't understand how, but each of you has essentially gained some of this light... so I guess that makes you all immortal? There's no way to no for sure, but from what I can sense... yes, it must be true."

Not a single sound could be heard-until Groot walked in, yawning, haven been awakened by all the noise. Rocket absentmindedly patted him as he climbed onto his back.

Mantis shook her head. "This... this is impossible, though! To transfer light into another would take unimaginable power, and such a thing would be incredibly rare to come across- I don't even think Ego could have done it, otherwise he would have."

Realization dawned in Gamora's eyes first. "Could... an infinity stone produce such an effect?"

+1. The Guardians stood, hand in hand, like they had that fateful day a long time ago. Groot stood on Mantis's shoulder, perhaps feeling confusion or concern for his friends. Rocket and Quill both shot him a calming look, each without noticing the other had done the same. Then they all closed their eyes and concentrated. Light of all colors, energy of all colors, began to gather in their fingertips, and then their hands (and paws), and then swirl around them, before finally pooling together in a ball on the floor and taking a form. A newly created object, a shiny rectangular black box, that only Peter found suspiciously familiar. They let go of each others hands and took a step forward. Groot raced forward to see what the new thing was. He bumped it once, and then twice, and a third time out of curiosity. This third time sound-no, music- blared from the device.

Tears nearly came to Peter's eyes when he heard "Starman" began to play.

It only took Groot a second to recover before he was dancing without a care in the world. Once recovered, Peter joined in, dragging in Gamora without much resistance. Mantis tentatively jumped in soon after, and Rocket didn't even sigh as he got up to join. Even Drax found himself tapping his foot along.

There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it's all worthwhile

And, they were home.

+2 The crew had finally settled down, after hours of debating about the newly discovered parts of themselves, and after Peter had spent nearly twenty minutes trying to explain David Bowie to them.

One by one, they got back to their regular routines, their hearts slightly lighter knowing that they weren't going to lose each other any time soon. Only Peter had one last concern, which he approached Mantis about. "What about Groot?", he asked, watching Rocket and Groot from afar tinker with some strange machine. "He wasn't with us when we held the stone. He's not... immortal, I guess."

Mantis, though, looked confused. "What makes you think this tree creature isn't immortal? Did he not regenerate from basically nothing, as I have been told he did? Does he not possess great power?"

Peter looked stunned at the revelation. Mantis looked back at the pair who were working on something destructive, whatever it was.

"He may not look it, but he posesses emotions beyond his years. Far, far beyond his years." Mantis gave him a knowing smile. "I wouldn't be surprised if Rocket already knew."

For some reason, Peter could tell that he did, in fact, already know.