Branch continued to sit at the table he was left at, his face laying flat on the hard surface in front of him, the light blue pop troll struggling to hold back his tears.

     His ear twitched at the sound of the door opening, but he didn't raise his head, too depressed to look up at whoever was entering the room...

     "B... Branch?" he suddenly heard in a familiar voice. A voice that he would surly recognize anywhere...

     With a soft gasp, he looked up, seeing his beautiful wife standing in the doorway.

     "Poppy!" he shouted out in relief, trying to jump up to his feet so he could run over and hug her. But unfortunately... his wrists were still handcuffed to the table, preventing him from moving out of his seat.

     With a silent sigh, he looked away from her, lowering his head as his ears dropped down in shame.

     "Branch?" Poppy said again, slowly approaching to sit in the chair across from him. "What happened? Tell me the truth..."

     The blue pop troll looked back up at the love of his life, sighing before beginning to speak.

     "I... I don't know..." he admitted softly. "I was..." He paused, realizing he couldn't say what he was up to out in the forest. "Doing... something..." he finally continued after a moment. "And... I must've fallen asleep..."
"I told you, you needed to rest, Branch..." Poppy said softly, gently taking his hands in hers. "I know..." he sighed. "Anyways... when I woke up... Sparklejerk was handcuffing me and saying that I was under arrest."

     "Why?" Poppy asked, trying to get him to explain what he did.
"Like I said... I don't know," Branch shrugged. "He wouldn't even tell me what I did. Just locked me up here..."

     Poppy sighed, looking away as she thought about what Sparkleton had told her... that Branch was the thief...

     "And... what is it you were doing out in the forest in the first place?" she asked, hoping he would tell her otherwise.

     There was a long silence, Branch just staring at her with sad eyes, not wanting to admit his dirty little secret. She would be so disappointed in him...

     "Branch..." she said, her voice sounding firmer than before. "What were you doing?"

     "I... I was..." he started, not knowing what to say. Finally, he sighed, lowering his head in shame. "I... I can't tell you..."

     "I've heard enough!" Sparkleton suddenly shouted out, bursting into the room. "It's time for you to get to your cell..."

     "Wait..." Poppy said, looking over at Sparkleton in disbelief. "You were listening to our conversation?"

     "Of course I was," Sparkleton scoffed. "And the fact he won't admit to you what he was up to... that proves he's the thief!"

     "W... wait..." Branch said, his ears perking up at the sound of that word. "Thief? Is that why I'm here? I'm not the thief!"

     "Sure you're not," Sparkleton said sarcastically, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Now let's go..."

     He un-cuffed Branch from the table, instead handcuffing both his arms behind his back, beginning to lead him away.

     "No wait!" Branch yelled out in fear. "I'm not the thief! I didn't do it! Stop! Let me go!"

     As he was dragged away, Branch looked back to Poppy, seeing the disappointed expression on her face.

     His ears drooped down at the sight, his fear quickly transforming in sorrow.

     "I... I didn't do it..."