Through the colorful forest of the grove, Poppy walked sadly down the path, her ears drooping slightly as she thought carefully about what her father had told her earlier... that her mom had left her...

She wanted to believe that there was a reasonable explanation for her mom leaving... she wanted to ask, and hear her side of the story, but... she was scared... scared of the answer she might receive...

What if the young queen didn't like the answer she got? What if her mom really did leave because of her? What could the young girl have possibly done to make it so her own mother didn't want to be with her?

     With a long sigh, Poppy stopped walking, her head lowering in pure despair as she gently shut her eyes...

     All these thoughts swirling through her mind... they broke her heart... She needed to know the truth...

     When her mom gets back from bonding with Branch... that's when she'll ask. Until then... Poppy would just need to find a way to work up the courage...

—————

"AHHHHH!" Branch screamed out at the top of his lungs, his eyes firmly shut as the poor boy's fingers clenched tightly onto Uueeka's feathers, the Synathin flying him up higher and higher into the sky at the fastest speed imaginable...

"Uueeka!" Pansy called out over the roar of the wind engulfing the group, the old troll standing with extreme balance on her best friend's back as she laughed manically at her daughter's boyfriend's terror. "Sleaten!"

Finally, Uueeka began to straighten out, the large bird-like creature slowing down dramatically as he began to soar smoothly through the air at a leisurely pace...

     With a smug grin, Pansy turned to Branch, her arms crossed as she watched him laying there on his stomach, the poor boy shaking fiercely in pure uncontainable terror...

     "You can open your eyes now," she chuckled.
"Are we on the ground?" the survivalist whimpered, not daring to look up at his captor. "No."
"Then my eyes are staying shut..."

     Pansy sighed, rolling her eyes as she gave Branch an annoyed glare.

     "Just look..." she ordered firmly.

     With a quick gulp of terror, Branch slowly opened his eyes one before the other, the young pop troll gasping immediately at the beautiful view below him...

     The trees that filled the small grove Pansy called home were made up of all different colors, each and every one of them shimmering beautifully in the sunlight. Purple... red... blue... orange... pink... Branch had never seen anything like it before in his entire life... and it was certainly enchanting to say the least...

     Looking down in pure amazement, Branch couldn't help but slowly sit up straight, the cool breeze blowing gently through his hair as he observed his surroundings, the blue pop troll suddenly seeming completely relaxed...

     "It's beautiful up here," he admitted, his eyes scanning every single detail of the view to imprint the memory into his brain forever...

     "You still want to get down?" Pansy asked, smirking cunningly at her daughter's boyfriend. "Oh yes," Branch answered immediately, the young boy nodding quickly as he turned his gaze back to Poppy's mother. "Very much so."
"Ok then..." the former queen of trolls shrugged. "But you better hang on..."
"Wait... what?"
"Dion!"

     At the sudden shout, Uueeka immediately began flying downwards, the large Synathin diving swiftly towards the ground as Branch quickly lay back down to avoid falling off...

     "What's the word for slow down!?" Branch yelled out at the top of his lungs, the poor boy clinging tightly onto Uueeka's feathers once again. "Fueesha," Pansy replied with a smirk. "I am not falling for that again!"
"You don't have to..." the old women laughed. "Fueesha!"
"No!"

Picking up speed, Uueeka headed straight for the ground, all three of them getting closer and closer to colliding roughly with the earth below...

"We're gonna crash!" Branch yelled out in pure terror, the former village grump almost crying in fear as he tightened his grip yet again on the Synathin that carried him quickly towards his untimely demise. "Well..." Pansy shrugged. "You're just gonna have to prevent that, aren't you?"
"What the hair are you talking about, women!?"

Chuckling softly, Pansy turned back to the petrified pop troll, the old queen smiling smugly down at him.

     "You need to command him to go up," Pansy informed.
"What!? Are you crazy!?" Branch yelled, staring up at her in disbelief with wide fearful eyes. "I don't speak Synathin!"
"If you payed attention... you would have heard me say the word for up..."

His heart pounding painfully inside his chest, Branch looked down in terror at the ground quickly coming closer and closer to them, the poor boy trying frantically to remember all the words Pansy had use to command Uueeka in the past day he had unfortunately known her...

     "Better remember quickly..." the former queen grinned. "The ground is coming up fast..."

     Looking back up at her for just a moment, Branch quickly lowered his gaze back down to the ground, panic seeming to grip his very soul...

"Foony!" he finally yelled out the first word that popped into his racing mind.

     But... that didn't work... In fact... it did absolutely nothing...

     "Uh... uh..." Branch muttered softly to himself, panicking as he tried desperately to think of the correct word. "Smin!?"

At the sound of the command, Uueeka began to spin, continuing to dive bomb the ground with several quick spirals.

"AHHHHH!" Branch screamed, holding tightly onto Uueeka to try and avoid falling off. "STOOOOOP!"

"Your running out of time, Branch," Pansy chuckled, leaning back as she pulled a bag of chips out of her hair to snack on, the old women enjoying the blue troll's fear way too much...

     "Um... um... Kath?" Branch tried. Nothing... "Gruba?" Nothing...

As they got closer and closer to the ground, Uueeka seemed to pick up the pace, moving even faster towards a painful crushing death.

"Oh my god, I'm gonna die!" Branch cried out in pure petrifying terror, the former village grump shutting his eyes firmly as he clutched Uueeka's feathers tightly between his trembling fingers, the poor boy bracing himself for impact...

"Think, Branch," Pansy urged as she turned to look back at her daughter's boyfriend, the former queen not seeming even the slightest bit worried about the death defying experience the three of them were currently experiencing. "You know the word..."

Opening his eyes yet again, Branch looked up at her, completely terrified as he thought really hard, trying with all his might to get that one specific word he needed so badly to pop into his brain...

Then... he remembered...

Gasping, Branch's eyes widened in realization, the large Synathin now only inches away from the ground, and seconds from crashing...

     "Upa!" he quickly shouted out at the top of his lungs, shutting his eyes tight once more, the poor boy dreading what would happen if he was wrong...

     Thankfully, Uueeka responded to the blue pop troll's voice, spreading his wings before flying upwards, the large Synathin swooping back up into the sky moments before hitting the ground...

     "Yeah! Woohoo!" Pansy shouted out loudly, jumping back up to her feet in pure excitement as they soared smoothly through the air. "Are we dead?" Branch whimpered, his eyes still shut tight. "We're dead... aren't we?"
"No, Branch! You did it!"
"I... I did?"

     Slowly, the little pop troll opened his eyes one last time, smiling slightly as he saw they were now flying safely through the air once again.

     "Yeah! I did it!" he shouted, throwing his hands up in victory as he let out a few short chuckles of pure joy.

Pansy looked back at him, smirking as she watched the paranoid hermit celebrating.

"You aren't so bad after all, kid," she chuckled, Branch looking up at her as his smile slightly faded away from his face.

"Uh... th... thanks?" Branch muttered in a questioning tone. "Now... could we please get down?" he begged desperately.

The former queen chuckled at the young boy's short lived joy before finally looking back down at Uueeka.

"Lucida!" she yelled out, laughing with joy.

     Listening to his mother figure's command, Uueeka soared down safely to the ground, the bird-like creature landing gently on the grass of an open field...

     The second he knew it was safe, Branch immediately leaped off of the Synathin's back before flopping to the ground, the little blue troll kissing the dirt in pure relief...

     "I've never... been so happy... to see the ground... in my entire life!" he yelled with joy, a few tears actually breaking free from his gently shut eyes.

"Branch!? Mom!? I heard screaming! Where are you!?" the survivalist suddenly heard from off in the distance, the panicked shout interrupting his brief celebration.

     "Poppy!" he yelled out, recognizing the voice immediately, the young boy jumping right up to his feet as he ran to the love of his life, hugging her tight once he finally reunited with her.

     "Whoa," she said, a bit confused by the rushed hug. "Uh... Branch? Are you ok?"
"Never leave me alone with your mom again!" he begged, almost crying in fear.

     Looking down at her boyfriend in concern, Poppy didn't even notice as Pansy walked over, Uueeka following right by her side...

     "Hello again, sweetheart," the old women said, kissing her daughter's head to catch the young queen's attention.

     "Oh... hey mom. How'd the flight go?" Poppy asked, smiling up at her mother when she noticed her standing there.

     "Great/Terrible!" both Branch and Pansy answered at the exact same time, each of them saying different things.

"It went great," Pansy chuckled, brushing off the young boy's words. "Branch here even learned a few words in Synathin."
"Oh..." Poppy smiled. "That's great! I'm glad your bonding went well... but..." She paused, her smile fading when she remembered what she wanted to ask her mother. This was gonna be hard... "Uh... mom? There's... something I need to ask you," the young queen continued softly before looking away in slight sorrow.

     Hearing the despair in his love's voice, Branch looked at her in concern...

     "What's wrong?" he asked, worried about the one troll he loved more than anything else in the entire universe.

     "I'm just... thinking..." she answered softly before looking up at Pansy. "Mom? Why did you leave?"

     Pansy's smile instantly faded at the sound of those heart wrenching words, the former queen looking to her daughter in slight dejection.

     "I left for you and your father," she explained carefully. "I was trying to find a way to get you guys out of Bergen Town safely."
"But..." Poppy objected. "You never came back... not even after we escaped..."

     With a sigh, Pansy looked away from her daughter, ashamed of her past actions...

     Uueeka seemed to sense her despair, the large Synathin putting his head into the old troll's hand to try and comfort his friend.

     "I had always wanted to come back to you, Poppy..." Pansy assured, rubbing Uueeka's feathers gently between her fingers. "I missed you so much. Ever since the moment I left... But I found this place... and... Uueeka..." She paused for just a moment before quickly continuing. "Uueeka was hurt badly, and although Synathins can heal others... they can't heal themselves or each other... I had to stay, sweetheart... I had to stay and help him... or he would have died..."

     "But..." Poppy said, looking to her mother with sad tear filled eyes. "What about, when he was healed? Why didn't you come back then?"

     "I planned to bring all the Synathins to Bergen Town..." Pansy explained. "To free all the trolls... but... by the time Uueeka had fully healed... you all had already escaped on your own, and I couldn't find where you ran to..."

     "Ok... but..." Branch said quietly, the blue pop troll suddenly chiming into the conversation. "Why were you out looking for a way to escape in the first place? I was there, on Poppy's hatching day. Grandma and King Peppy already had the escape tunnels being built. All you had to do was wait..."

     Pansy looked to Branch at the sound of his words, her eyes widening in realization...

     "Wait... grandma? You're Rosiepuff's grandson..." she realized, a small smile reappearing on her face. "I thought you looked familiar."
"Y... yeah..." Branch said with a slight smile, remembering his grandma fondly. "That's my grandma..."

     "How is Rosiepuff?" Pansy suddenly asked. "Still baking her famous Fluffleberry cake?"

     His smile instantly fading, Branch's ears drooped down at the question as he looked away with a sorrowful sigh, Pansy's eyes widening in realization... she suddenly knew exactly what had happened...

     "Oh... I'm so sorry, Branch," she apologized softly. "Your grandma was a great troll."
"Yeah," Branch muttered, allowing his eyes to fall shut as tears began streaming steadily down his slightly grayed cheeks. "She was the best..."

     Poppy looked sadly at the blue troll beside her, the young queen giving her boyfriend a hug to try and comfort him. She knew how he got whenever someone mentioned his grandma...

     Smiling slightly yet again, Branch hugged Poppy in return, the young boy gently kissing her head as a thank you before slowly pulling away.

     "I'm fine, Poppy," he whispered to her so she wouldn't worry. "But, thanks..."

     Taking a deep breath to steady his throbbing heart, Branch then looked back at Poppy's mom as he wiped the tears from her eyes.

     "Now... stop changing the subject..." he ordered firmly, more worried about his beloved girlfriend's feelings than his own. "Back to the tunnels. If they were already being built... than why did you leave?"

     "They weren't getting done fast enough," Pansy explained calmly. "They were supposed to be finished before Trollstice that year, but were taking longer than expected. When the Bergens came, and I saw all those trolls being ripped away from their families... I couldn't bear the thought of one of them being Poppy or Peppy. I had to find a way to free them... before it was too late..."

     Branch's expression softened slightly as he turned to look at Poppy, seeing how she was reacting to her mother's story, ready to give her a hug if she needed one...

     "I saw the Troll Tree gate open, and I took the opportunity to run," the former queen continued, Branch seeing a few tears sparkling in Poppy's eyes as her mother spoke. This was his cue to hug his girlfriend tight... which of course... he did... "I am so sorry that I never found my way back to you and your father... but you should know that I tried. I tried so hard..."

     "So..." Poppy started, pulling away from her boyfriend's comforting embrace. "You didn't leave me?"
"Heavens no," Pansy assured. "I would never leave you on purpose. But... now that we've found each other... we'll never be apart again. The grove is a great place to live. I'm sure you'll adjust quickly and learn to love living here."

     Poppy's eyes widened at the statement as she looked at her mom in shock...

     "What? I can't stay, mom..." she began, Branch looking to her with a concerned expression. "I'm the Queen. I have to protect my kingdom... my friends... my family... but... you could come back with us. You're more than welcome to come live in Trollstopia."

     With a sigh, Pansy looked to Uueeka, the old troll knowing going back to Trollstopia with Poppy was not an option...

     "Synathins can only live in this part of the forest, Poppy..." she explained softly. "Their magic is connected to the leaves on the trees in this area. If they leave for too long... they will die. I can't just leave them..." She paused, looking sadly to her daughter before taking her hands in hers... "And I can't leave you. Not again..."

     A million thoughts swirling through her brain, Poppy looked at her mother for a long moment before then turning back to Branch who was still staring straight at her with sorrowful eyes.

     "I... I need to think," she finally said softly, the young queen pulling away from her mom before quickly turning to run away, both trolls regretfully watching her leave their sights...