After a few days of being stuck against his will in the worst place imaginable, Branch was finally released from the hospital, Poppy immediately volunteering to walk him home to make sure he got there safely. A kind gesture that the village grouch surprisingly didn't refuse...

     "Are you sure you're ok?" Poppy asked him in concern for probably the millionth time that day as the two trolls walked through the village together, the young princess unable to help noticing the slight limp in her best friend's step...

"I'm fine, Poppy," Branch replied with a small smile as he turned slightly to look at her. "I promise."

At the sight, Poppy smiled a bit as well, getting lost in his sparkling eyes...

She had always loved it when Branch smiled... the rare event always lit up the world...

     Actually... the village grump had been smiling quite a lot lately. Could it possibly be because he had been spending more time with her in the past few weeks?

     Poppy just couldn't seem to get the question out of her mind... was what he had said at the hospital true...?

"What?" Branch suddenly asked with a small chuckle, the survivalist noticing his best friend had been staring at him for quite a bit of time now.

"Nothing..." Poppy replied, still gazing longingly at the gray troll beside her. "It's just..." She sighed, finally looking away in slight sorrow as she took a deep breath before beginning to speak once more. "I can't stop thinking about something you told me when you were in the hospital..."
"What?" the survivalist asked with a slight smile. "That I thought my thumb was missing?"
"No... something... something else..."

     Branch raised an eyebrow, looking at Poppy in slight confusion...

He had said something else to the young princess while he was under the influence of that loopy medicine? What was it? And why did it seem to worry her so much?

Seeing her friend's concern, Poppy knew she needed to explain... she couldn't keep the question locked inside of her any longer... it was taring her apart...

     "You... you said..." She paused, looking up at him with fearful eyes, the poor girl worried out of her mind about the response she might get to her statement. "You said... you loved me..."

     Branch's heart instantly sank deep into the pit of his stomach as his eyes widened in pure shock. He could feel his face turn pale in that instant, loosing what little color he actually had left as he stood stiffly in place, his terrified eyes locked on his no longer secret crush...

     'I said that!?' he thought to himself in complete panic. 'Why the hair would I say that!? I mean... it's true... but she can't know that! No one could know that!'

     With a quick gulp, Branch finally snapped out of his paralyzing thoughts, the young boy looking back to Poppy with a faked smile as he let out a quiet chuckle...

     "So..." he started slowly. "I really thought my thumb was missing?"
"Branch!" Poppy yelled, the young princess needing an answer to the question racing through her mind. "Forget about your thumb! Is it true?"
"That I lost my thumb? Psh... no. It's right here." He held up both hands, showing off his thumbs with an innocent grin.

     "Branch... please..." Poppy begged, forcing the gray troll's hands down to his side as she gazed straight into his crystal blue eyes, Branch's smile instantly fading into a sorrowful frown. "Is it true...? Do you love me?"

     "Uh..." the paranoid loner mumbled softly, the poor boy suddenly feeling as if he were about to pass out, his stomach aching like crazy and vision a complete blur...

     'Do I tell her? I mean... I kinda already did...' he thought to himself. 'I could just play it off as the medicine talking. I can't tell her the truth, can I? What if... what if she doesn't love me back? I... I just can't take another heartbreak...'

     "I... I..." Branch stuttered softly, the poor boy fiddling nervously with his fingers as he lowered his gaze from his love's face...

     Poppy looked at the gray troll as he tried desperately to avoid eyes contact, the young princess' heart racing in terror at his silence...

     'Why isn't he answering the question?' she thought to herself. 'Was it really just the medicine talking? Does he not love me?'

     'She looks upset that I said I loved her... what if she hates me!? Oh god... I've ruined everything! She'll never want to see me again!'

     "I... I have to... go..." Branch finally muttered softly, the poor boy beginning to walk away after successfully beating himself up mentally...

     'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' he thought angrily to himself, pounding his forehead with the palm of his hand as he allowed the threatening tears to weal up in his eyes. 'I'm so stupid!'

     "Branch! Wait!" Poppy quickly called out after him...

     He stopped for a moment at the sound of her shout, the young gray troll looking over his shoulder at the love of his life, the poor boy trying his best to hide his sorrow, though he wasn't doing a very good job...

     But... it wasn't long before he turned back towards his bunker, beginning to walk away yet again, his head low in shame...

     He... he needed her... and now... he was never going to see her again... she hated him... and it was all his fault...

     Poppy stared at her best friend for a long moment, watching him leave in pure sorrow...

     'Maybe he's scared to tell me... like I'm scared to tell him...' she thought to herself, a sudden realization of what to do pooping into her head...

—————

Branch continued walking, not looking back as his heart seemed to shatter into pieces...

     He blew it... the best friendship he had ever had... and he ruined it...

"Heart... beats fast... Colors and promises..." he suddenly heard in a soft calming voice, causing the survivalist to stop walking instantly to listen to the song... "How to be brave? How can I love when I'm afraid to fall... But watching you stand alone... All of my doubt... suddenly goes away somehow..."

Of course it was Poppy... he would recognize that miraculous voice anywhere...

Branch sighed... his ears drooping down even farther as he lowered his head in despair, the young boy standing with his back towards the love of his life...

     Why wasn't he walking? He should be going home to hide his shame down in that stupid fear hole of his... but... for some reason... he just couldn't force himself to move... he had always been mesmerized by Poppy's beautiful voice... but he didn't know she had this much power over him...

"Darling don't be afraid I have loved you..."

The gray troll gasped at those extremely powerful words the young princess had just sung out so easily, the village grump quickly turning to face her, instantly seeing the small loving smile on her face as she slowly approached, taking his hands gently in her own...

"For a thousand years... I'll love you for a thousand more..." she continued, a small smile coming to Branch's face as the two trolls gazed lovingly into each other's eyes... "Time stands still... Beauty in all you are... I will be brave. I will not let anything take away... what's standing in front of me. Every breath. Every hour has come to this... One step closer..."

His heart was racing inside his chest as something built up inside of him, taking hold of his very soul... something that had been locked inside of him for years... something that was finally about to break out...

     Biting his lower lip, Branch finally allowed himself to open up... the gray troll taking a long breath of air to try and calm his anxious heart...

     Was he really about to do this?

"I have died everyday waiting for you..." the village grump suddenly began to sing his first notes in over 14 years, Poppy's eyes widening with a small gasp escaping from her mouth at the sound of it...

     She just couldn't believe her ears... Branch... the village grouch! He was singing! He was actually singing! And his voice... it was just so beautiful... like an angel itself...

"Darling don't be afraid I have loved you... For a thousand years..." the young princess finally continued with a smile, she and Branch beginning to slow dance with one another, the two of them getting lost in each other's eyes. "I'll love you for a thousand more..." they both sang together, Branch's voice making Poppy's heart flutter.

"And all along I believed I would find you..." Poppy sang lovingly gazing into her love's crystal blue eyes. "Time has brought your heart to me... I have loved you for a thousand years... I'll love you for a thousand more!"

"I have died everyday waiting for you..." Branch sang beautifully, a large smile making it's home on his face as he twirled the troll he cared so much about before taking her back into his gentle arms. "Darling don't be afraid I have loved you... For a thousand years..."
"I'll love you for a thousand more!" they sang together.

"And all along I believed I would find you..." Poppy sang, the young princess resting her head gently on Branch's chest as she allowed her eyes to slowly flutter shut. "Time has brought your heart to me..." Branch sang with a loving smile on his face, glad to have finally let his true feelings show... and even more excited that Poppy actually felt the same way, the gray troll gazing happily down at the gorgeous kindhearted troll leaning again him as they both continued singing softly to each other... "I have loved you for a thousand years..."
"I'll love you for a thousand more..." they sang together, their voices blending majestically... "I'll love you for a thousand... more..."

     Opening her eyes, Poppy gazed up at Branch, the song coming to an end as silence surrounded the two trolls, both of their smiles seeming to fade away completely as they got lost in each other's eyes once again...

     Finally, after what seemed like hours of them just staring at each other... they both began to slowly lean forwards, their eyes gently falling shut once more as their lips connected in a passionate kiss...

     Love... pure love filled his soul, a strange glow seeming to shine from his heart before slowly moving through the rest of his body...

     Slowly blinking open her eyes, Poppy gasped, pulling suddenly away from the kiss to observe her best friend...

     "B... Branch..." she whispered in stunned disbelief.

     Opening his eyes as well, Branch looked down at his hands, his eyes widening in shock at what he saw...

     His... his colors... they had come back...

     A slight chuckle escaping from his throat as the corners of his mouth seemed to be tugged into a smile, Branch raised his gaze back up to Poppy his eyes sparkling in pure joy...

     "I... I do love you, Poppy," he suddenly said softly, finally answering the question that seemed to have been asked a million years ago...

     "And I love you, Branch," Poppy replied, taking her new boyfriend back into her arms as they both leaned in for another kiss...