When Poppy discovers that her mom is still alive, Branch will do anything to help the love of his life find her... but unfortunately... things go a 'little' wrong along the way...
"Poppy!?" Branch called out, frantically searching all over Trollstopia for his one and only true love. "Poppy, where are you!? Poppy!?"
He was so worried... the little blue troll had been searching for hours and had already been through the entire village twice, no one having seen the queen of pop since the night before... the night she disappeared...
Once he had finished searching the village for the third time in the past few minutes, Branch ran into the forest, looking around in a panic, really hoping the love of his life was just out there exploring like she sometimes did...
"Poppy!?" he called out in a fearful voice, hoping with all his heart she would hear him and come out from wherever she was hiding. "Pop..."
But his words were instantly cut off when he suddenly heard a slight whimper from off in the distance...
His ear twitched at the strange sound, perking up a bit to listen closely to his surroundings...
"Poppy?" he whispered, looking around in confusion. Could it of been her making this sound? Was she somewhere nearby?
He listened closely for the noise, suddenly hearing it once again, just a few feet away from him...
Crying... he heard crying...
But not just any crying... it was Poppy!
"Poppy!" he shouted out in a panic, terrified by this realization as he quickly took off running in the direction the sound was coming from...
He pushed through a thick set of bushes, not even worrying about the thorns that accidentally pricked him as he ran past, finally spotting Poppy leaned up against a tree, the little pink pop troll hugging her leg as she sobbed softly, her eyes shut in despair...
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Her dress was torn, and dirty, looking as if she had been attacked by something...
"Po... Poppy?" he finally said softly, slowly approaching his girlfriend, not wanting to startle her... The last thing he wanted to do was make whatever the situation she had accidentally found herself in worse...
She looked up at the sound of Branch's voice, her eyes red with tears, the sight causing the little blue troll's heart to shatter...
"Poppy, are you ok? Are you hurt?" he asked in concern, sitting down beside the queen of pop as he hugged her gently, trying his best to calm her down.
"N... no... I'm not hurt," she sniffled, looking away from him, her ears drooping in sorrow...
"What happened?" Branch asked, gently wiping the tears from her eyes, now feeling much better that he knew she wasn't hurt.
But he was still concerned about the love of his life... why was she out here alone in the forest. And why was she crying?
"I was so worried," he continued softly, still trying his best to comfort his sobbing girlfriend...
"I'm sorry, Branch... I didn't mean to worry you..." she muttered quietly, not even looking up at him. "And... I'm really sorry that I missed our date..."
Branch shook his head at the sound of her words, gently turning her head so that she was looking up at him.
"That doesn't matter," he assured, making sure she knew he wasn't mad at her. "Your safety is the only thing that's important to me... What matters is that you're ok..."
"But..." she started softly, looking away from her boyfriend yet again, more tears forming in her gorgeous pink eyes. "But I don't think I am ok.."
Branch stiffened a little at the sound of her words, his heart seeming to stop right then and there...
Not ok? She said she wasn't hurt... had she been lying just to make him not worry!? He had to do something! Fast!
"I'll find a doctor," Branch assured in a panic, worried about Poppy's safety as he started to get up from where he sat on the ground...
"No, Branch," Poppy said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder to stop him from moving. "I'm not hurt. Really..." "Than..." he started, instantly calming down a bit at the sound of her words. "What's wrong?"
"Last night..." she began to explain looking away from him yet again with sorrowful eyes. "I was on my way to Che Dante to meet you for our date... but I accidentally tripped and fell..." Branch gasped softly at her words, Poppy instantly looking up at him. "I was fine..." she quickly assured to calm her boyfriend's anxious nerves. "But my dress..." She paused, taking a deep breath as she looked back up at him. "My dress was ripped," she continued. "I know it sounds silly... but... it was my mom's dress, so I just couldn't bare the thought that I had ruined it..."
Branch nodded slowly as he listened to Poppy's story...
"So I went back home..." Poppy explained, wiping the tears that just kept flowing from her glossy eyes. "I knew I had to get to the restaurant, but I thought i would have enough time to at least fix the dress before I was late... I went home to look for my sewing supplies, but I was out of thread. I would've gone to Satin and Chenille's, but they were hanging out with Ripley Whisp, so they weren't home..."
She sighed again, before continuing her story, Branch listening closely to every word she spoke...
"I went to my dad's pod, hoping he would have some thread I could use, but he wasn't home either," Poppy continued. "I figured he wouldn't mind if I just let myself in, and have a look around. So that's what I did... I went in, but instead of finding the thread I was looking for... I found a box of my mother's stuff..."
"Ok..." Branch said with a slight nod, gesturing her kindly with his eyes to continue.
"Well I was just too curious about what could possibly be in there..." she stated. "So I decided to look inside. But... when I opened it up... I... I found..."
She sighed again, looking away sadly, seemingly unable to continue...
"What?" Branch asked out of curiosity after a moment of pure silence. "What did you find?"
"I... I found a letter..." Poppy said, looking back up at him. "From my mom..."
Branch gasped softly, his eyes widening in surprise at her statement, the queen of pop slowly reaching into her hair to pull out a piece of paper before handing it to her boyfriend, who took it, reading the words written on the page out loud.
"To my loving husband... I'm sorry to tell you this in a note... but I had to leave our home... I had to leave you..." Branch read, seeming saddened by the words written in the note. "I need to find a way to save you, and our beautiful daughter. I promise I'll be back once I find a way to save you all from the tortures we all suffer from in the troll tree. I am so sorry, my handsome king... Love Pansy..."
Branch looked up at Poppy sadly once he was finished reading, knowing how bad those words must of made her feel...
"Dad told me she was eaten by a Bergen," she said softly, still looking away from him. "But with this letter... I'm not sure that's true..."
She sighed, looking back up at him again, locking eyes with her boyfriend...
"Branch..." she said softly. "I... I think my mother is alive..."
