Edited by: ASaltedFish
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At the entrance, Edros, Akimitsu, Orin, and Darya were waiting for them, pacing back and forth because they were no longer able to enter the garden where they were able to wait before.
Darya was the first to notice Ellery and Aster, so she ran over to bring them into a hug. She was crying by the time she hugged them. "I am so glad you two are alive! We were so worried."
Seeing Darya with Ellery and Aster, everyone else ran over, excited but also relieved to see them.
Ellery and Aster hugged each person. They were all relieved that their journey to get Aster his own body had finally come to an end.
*****
After Aster and Ellery were able to reunite with Edros, Akimitsu, Orin, and Darya, they made their way back to the spacecraft. Edros and Akimitsu urged their subordinates to quickly get ready for takeoff as the Beast God no longer wanted them on MPE60.
Once the spacecraft left MPE60, everyone sighed with relief. Now, the Beast God would be able to live in his own world with Adel without any interference…
Everyone was tired, so they all went back to their rooms. Edros made sure Aster made it to his room safely before saying goodnight to Ellery and Akimitsu, who were still in the hallway.
When they were finally alone, Akimitsu slowly grabbed Ellery's hand. "Can I come into your room for a bit?"
He didn't know why, but he was nervous about letting Ellery sleep alone. What would have happened if he hadn't woken up? He had that fear for days.
Seeing his anxiety, Ellery tightened his grip to give him some comfort. "Of course you can come in. I feel like I've been sleeping for a while, so I am not as tired as everyone else."
Ellery slept a lot waiting for Aster to wake up, so even though he was mentally tired, his body wasn't.
The two walked into Ellery's room and then sat down on the bed together. They still held each other's hands, not wanting to let go.
"Ellery…" Akimitsu brought Ellery's hand close to his lips and gave it a soft kiss. "Since you and Aster are alive and you have your body back… May I formally ask you to be in a relationship with me?"
Ellery knew it was coming, but he was still delighted. "Yes, I would be happy and honored to be your boyfriend."
Akimitsu brought Ellery into a hug and sighed with relief. "Though I know we promised before, I still wanted to ask and make sure. When you are ready, we can live together and get married. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Me too… I love you, Akimitsu. Thank you for waiting for me."
"I love you too, Ellery. Thank you for coming back to us."
With their relationship formally established, Ellery and Akimitsu knew that it was just the beginning of their life together.
It was only a matter of time before they would get married, have kids, and continue to protect the Zevaria Empire together.
This was the life that Ellery had always wanted. He was surrounded by everyone he loved and more.
*****
With the help of Edros and Akimitsu, the soldiers on the First Fleet were told that Ellery had to find the Beast God to let a different soul control Lune because having two Quantum Beasts in one body was detrimental to his health.
Due to the mark of the Beast God on their foreheads, people were able to easily accept the explanation, but they also worshiped them from time to time.
Even with this galaxy's advanced science and technology, the Beast God and Adel made their presence known often, so people still had faith in them.
With their acceptance, Aster had an easier time adjusting to living in his own body, but there was a problem.
Aster couldn't go by Aster anymore because he wanted to get formally adopted into Ellery's family. It would be weird for his name to be Aster Aster, and he wanted to celebrate his new body with a name change to signify a new beginning.
Since he couldn't come up with a good name, he decided to let Ellery name him, hoping that would make it easier.
After deciding, Aster left his room and knocked on Ellery's door. When the door opened, he saw Ellery and Akimitsu inside.
"Aster! Everything okay?" To Ellery, Aster didn't seem like the type of person to knock on someone's door or house. He thought Aster would opt to text him to come over instead.
"Hello, Ellery. I'm okay; I just need to ask you something." Once Aster set his mind to it, he had to see it through. "Also, hello, Akimitsu."
"Sure, what's up?" Ellery looked a bit confused, but he patted the spot next to him so Aster could sit on his bed with him.
"Hi, Aster!" Akimitsu said while getting up, "I'm going to head out now, so have fun. If you need anything, just text Edros or I." After that, he tactfully left the room.
Aster was a bit relieved that Akimitsu understood him quite well.
After he sat down, Aster got straight to the point. "Ellery… Can you help me pick out a name? Since I want to be a part of your family, being called Aster Aster would be really weird."
Now that Ellery thought about it, Aster was right! That would be a really weird name… "But why do you want me to name you? Don't you have any names you like and don't mind being called?"
Aster shook his head. "I've always been called Aster, so I haven't thought of any other name that could suit me." He then looked over at Ellery and smiled at him. "Since I want to be a part of your family, I thought it would be a good idea if you could name me."
Ellery felt honored but also touched. He really felt that Aster was very cute!
"I understand! Then, I will come up with a good name for you." After that, he pulled out his terminal and went to search for baby names.
"Hmm, since Orin and I are named after trees, I think Aster should also be named after a tree…"
Ellery didn't tell Aster to leave while he searched, so Aster continued to sit on Ellery's bed, looking around like it was his first time in the room.
Well, technically, it was Aster's first time in Ellery's room after successfully transferring his soul into this body.
After an hour of listening to Ellery's muttering, he finally closed his terminal and looked over at Aster. "I finally figured out the perfect name for you!"
Aster tilted his head to let Ellery know that he was listening, just waiting for him to continue talking.
"Juniper. Juniper Aster. We can call you Jun for short! What do you think?"
Aster thought about it and mumbled "Juniper Aster" multiple times. He also felt it was a good name for him.
"I love it. Then, I will be Juniper from now on."
With matching tree names, Aster felt closer to Ellery and Orin, but it would take some time to get used to.
"Okay, now we have to go tell Orin, Akimitsu, and Edros your new name!" Ellery jumped off the bed and grabbed Juniper's hand. "Let's go, my little brother Jun! Time to let the whole world know your new name!"
Juniper nodded, feeling like he had finally started his new life with Ellery by his side.
Once they left Ellery's room, the first place they went to was the command center, where Edros and Akimitsu were.
"Akimitsu, Edros, guess what?" Ellery happily asked while dragging Juniper over. "You two have one guess before I tell you the answer."
While he wanted them to guess, he also didn't want them to take forever with their guesses.
The two of them looked at Ellery and then at Juniper, trying to guess what it was.
Akimitsu said something random. "Did Aster find a cool new crystal?"
"Not a terrible guess, but no." Ellery shook his head and then looked at Edros.
Edros thought long and hard before finally answering. "Did Aster make a new friend?"
"Unbelievable, and no." Ellery laughed, hearing their guesses. "From now on, we won't be addressing him as Aster! He goes by Juniper. His full name is Juniper Aster. What do you think? I picked out his name."
Edros and Akimitsu looked at Juniper, who hadn't said a word but still looked a bit shy.
Juniper explained, "I thought it would be weird if I went by Aster when I want to be adopted by the Aster family. My name would be Aster Aster…"
Hearing him say that, it made sense to change his name.
Akimitsu chuckled. "Aster Aster does sound weird. Ellery chose the name of a tree just like his and Orin's. Shows that you three are now a family."
"I agree." Edros nodded. "I think Juniper is a beautiful name. It suits you."
Hearing that, Juniper felt relieved that they liked it. "I am glad you all like the name. I like it too."
After sharing his new name with Edros and Akimitsu, Ellery took Juniper to see Orin and Darya, who welcomed his new name with open arms.