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A raccoon's lifespan is generally only fifteen to twenty years. Rocket knew this. He was eighteen years old. His dark fur was greying and he wasn't as agile as he used to be. He thought the genetic enhancements that had been done to him would extend his life by a few more years but his time was coming sooner than he thought.
There wasn't enough room in the bunk for the two of them. Groot had bent his body to fit painfully into the small space, lying on the hard bed, and Rocket was curled into a ball on his chest. Groot had his arm wrapped around him, so that when the ship jerked he wouldn't fall to the ground.
"Groot, hey, help me out?" Rocket asked, his voice a little raspy. Groot inclined its head a little, and reached out a finger, growing a daisy from the end of it.
"What the hell am I gonna do with a flower? Come on Groot, you know what I meant. It's my dying wish."
"I am Groot," Groot said, and reached for Rocket's bent baculum. Or as Rocket would properly call it, his penis bone. Rocket shut his eyes and leaned back as Groot caressed him with its long branch fingers. Groot's ability to manipulate its own limbs and grow and shape them at will was really a great thing to have in a partner.
Rocket reached his front paws up to his mouth and managed to get enough saliva to spit in them and rub them together. His front paws were covered in a horny layer of skin, and they loosened up when they got wet. Even though Rocket always wished he'd been born something other than a measly raccoon, he was pretty happy that he got raccoon paws for feet. Wet front paws were hypersensitive to touch. Rocket reached for Groot with one paw and reached for himself with another. He felt as happy as he could be when not shooting things with a really big gun.
"Groot - " Rocket began, but Groot knew.
"I am Groot," it said, and Rocket no longer had the strength to speak. Groot outstretched its other arm and unfurled its fingers to release dozens of magical fireflies - but this time they were green. Raccoons are colorblind, but they can see some forms of green light. Groot wanted its friend to be able to see that these fireflies were just for him. Rocket smiled a little, and shut his eyes.
"I am Groot," Groot said sadly, cradling the raccoon in its arms. Then it slowly got to its feet and carried Rocket away.
Groot travelled far. It walked slowly but surely, across the galaxy to planets strange and wonderful. It carried Rocket with it, protecting it in a small cage of branches it grew from its back.
"I am Groot," it said to everyone it met, and it got different answers every time, but none were the answers it was looking for. It was almost a full four months later that Groot finally found what it wanted.
Groot was weary and discouraged. It was on a mostly uninhabited planet, sitting on the ground in the woods. It knew that it stood out, so it had grown a light covering of leaves and vines to cover its body and blend into the background. At first it had thought that it had found what it was looking for. There were many trees and it thought that it had found its people. But no matter how many times it said "I am Groot." the trees did not respond. Then Groot realized that the trees were not truly its people. Distant cousins maybe.
Groot dozed. It awoke when it saw a small furry creature slowly creeping up to it. Groot did not move, it wanted to see what the animal would do. As it drew near Groot could see that it was a creature very similar to Rocket, though a bit smaller and crawling on all fours instead of walking on two legs.
"I am Groot," Groot said softly, so as not to startle it. The creature looked at him, and then started sniffing around his back. Rocket was perfectly preserved, Groot could do this. He released his friend, letting him drop gently to the ground, and its branches wound back around its body. The creature sniffed Rocket from all sides as Groot moved away to give it more space.
The creature finally stopped what it was doing and looked at Groot expectantly. Groot nodded slightly.
"I am Groot," it said, and the creature ran off into the woods. Groot was patient, and a few moments later the creature came back with three of its friends, all the same type of animal as it was. They moved to stand next to each other and Groot picked up its friend and laid him gently on their backs. They scurried off, carrying Rocket away.
Groot waited. Groot was good at waiting. It sat there for so long sometimes it thought it might just become one of its cousins, the tree it was leaning on perhaps. Sometimes Groot was afraid of this, so it said "I am Groot" to remember it was still itself. Other times Groot thought becoming one of them would not be a bad thing, maybe.
Then Rocket came back. He walked out of the trees on his own two feet, though he was completely naked, and his fur was no longer gray. He had a spring in his step, and Groot could not believe what it was seeing.
"I am Groot?" it said, voice so full of hope it caught in its throat.
"Yeah, yeah, no need to get all worked up about it. Let's get outta here, those things give me the creeps." Rocket said.
"I AM GROOT!" Groot said, and picked up its friend in both arms. Rocket would normally never stand for this kind of behavior, but because it was Groot, he allowed it. Groot hugged him tight, and Rocket choked.
"Okay, Groot, that's enough, Groot - GROOT!"
Groot put him down. Rocket straightened his mussed fur and bared his teeth in what was his trademark vicious smile.
"Let's get the hell off of this planet. It's boring."
"I am Groot," Groot agreed, and let his newly alive friend lead the way.