Down in the bunker, Branch and Poppy worked together to clean up the mess that the other trolls had created while they were down there hiding from the Bergens. And it was a pretty big mess to clean up...

—————

     Branch sighed in disappointment as he picked up yet another empty jar off the floor, looking at it sadly.

     "Guess I'm gonna need to get more rations," he softly muttered to himself, putting the jar back on the shelf where it belonged, before moving on to the next one which was completely shattered, the food inside having been wasted as it lay in a pile of gloop on the floor.

It was hard for the little troll to see that his whole life's work had been completely destroyed in a matter of days... but he knew everything would be ok. He had Poppy now. And no matter what... she would always be there to help him pick up the pieces...

—————

     On the other side of the room, Poppy swept up the mess off the floor, humming happily to herself, not regretting her decision to help Branch clean up his bunker in the slightest. What she did regret, however... was letting all those trolls into his private domaine in the first place...

It was wrong of her to have done that without his permission... she knew how he respected his privacy, yet she let the whole village into his home anyways. And even worse... they had completely destroyed everything in it. Well... almost everything...

As she swept the dirt floor, something suddenly caught her eye, making her forget completely about the task at hand, as she looked over at whatever it was...

Turns out, it was a little brown curtain which looked to have been completely untouched. Curiously, it seemed to be covering a shelf that was dug out in the wall for the soul purpose of hiding something special...

What could possibly be behind that curtain, that needed to be hidden almost completely out of view? That was Poppy's biggest weakness... curiosity...

     Making sure her new best friend wasn't paying attention, Poppy looked back at Branch, who was still completely focused on his ration jars, a look of sadness plastered on his face, as he muttered softly to himself.

     "Dehydrated Snail Slime... empty..." he sighed, putting the jar onto the shelf as he made a mental note to refill it later. "Crunchy Swamp Moss... empty..."

     With Branch distracted, this was the perfect opportunity for Poppy to find out what was behind that curtain.

     She knew she should probably ask before snooping through his private stuff, but she was just too curious about what he could possibly be hiding back there. She needed to know... now!

     With a sinister grin, Poppy sneakily tiptoed over to the shelf, sliding the curtains open to see what was hidden behind them.

     As she opened the curtain, the newly crowned queen of trolls gasped at what she saw on the other side, her eyes widening in shock.

     It was... it was all the cards she had ever given to Branch. Birthday cards... invitations... they were all there. Every single one of them...

"B... Branch?" she said softly, seeming as if she was at a loss for words, as she looked back at him in disbelief. "You... you kept all these?"

Branch turned at the sound of Poppy's voice, his eyes widening in horror when he saw the curtain open, all the invitations she had ever given him through the years in clear view.

"Um... it's uh... not what it looks like," he said in a panic, quickly running over to close the curtains back up, before turning back to Poppy with an innocent grin, standing right in front of the shelf with his arms stretched out to block her from it, hoping she would forget what she had just seen.

"I... I can't believe you kept those..." Poppy muttered softly, her eyes wide as she stared right at Branch in shock. "After all these years..."

Branch's fake smile instantly faded away at the sound of those words, as he lowered his head in shame, completely and utterly embarrassed from being caught with his dirty little secret...

"Sorry... I... I know it's weird..." he said softly as he rubbed his arm shyly, trying desperately to avoid eye contact with the troll he secretly loved so much. "But... I don't know... I just... I couldn't get rid of them... they were from you... and... and..." He sighed, looking up at her once more, a few tears beginning to sparkle in his crystal blue eyes. "I love you, Poppy..." he finally admitted softly. "I always have... and I always will..."

They both stood there in complete silence for what felt like hours, a blank expression on the young queen's face, as she just stared at the blue troll in front of her, causing his heart to race in terror.

Branch was sure he had just blown it with her. She probably never wanted to see him ever again. Creek was right all along... he was a freak...

He was about to walk away in shame, when Poppy finally smiled, suddenly jumping into him with the biggest hug ever, before kissing him lightly on the cheek.

Branch blushed slightly, and then looked away, trying but failing to hide the massive smile creeping onto his face.

"It's not weird, Branch," Poppy assured, smiling at him lovingly. "It's sweet..."

He looked back up at her, completely shocked by her statement.

"It... it is?" he asked, looking over at her with a slight smile, as she placed her hand comfortingly on his shoulder in hopes to calm his nerves.

Poppy nodded as a reply, before reaching into her hair, carefully searching around for something that was very special to her.

"Besides..." she chuckled. "You're not the only one who keeps old things..."

She finally pulled something out of her hair, Branch's eyes widening in shock when he saw what it was...

"The... the watch?" he asked in complete surprise. "But... I gave that to you when we were kids. You still have that?"
"Never leave home without it," she told him with a smile. "It reminds me of our timeless friendship. And now..." She took his hands gently in hers, gazing straight into his loving eyes. "Our timeless love..."

Branch didn't know what to say... All he could do was stand there, his heart overflowing with love for this one special troll, tears of pure joy beginning to form in his eyes.

With a soft chuckle, Poppy placed the golden watch around his neck, and he smiled, looking down at it for a moment, before quickly turning his gaze back up to her, wrapping her in a tight hug as he cried softly into her shoulder.

"I love you, Poppy," he whispered under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear him. "I love you too, Branch," she whispered back, hugging him tight as well. "I always have..."