A/N: Sorry about not updating yesterday! Lots of stress at work and barely a moment to breathe.

Saphirabrightscale - The dance scene is my favorite too! I wish i could draw better so I could illustrate that scene for Poppy and Hunter. I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from La Belle and La Bete, and I think you'll see more of that in this chapter.

Jpbake - I thought about putting Poppy in Belle's dress, but I just didn't like how it looked in my head.

FrostSentry150 - you're not annoying at all! I love your enthusiasm. I won't say anything on what Creek will do in this story because I don't want to spoil anything. I can say that the title of this chapter should give you some clues to the tone of the current point in the story.

SilverG - I was totally singing the song as I was writing it, and I kept trying to imagine how GloZell would sound singing it.

AnimationFan15 - heaven forbid I be the only person to make a Trolls Beauty and the Beast because I did it first. I know another author who wants to write a story like that, and I want to make a Tangled Trolls like that author is doing now. Go ahead! Write your version. If you draw any inspiration from my version, please just say so.

Guest - of course Hunter could have wished for his father back, but hindsight is always 20/20.

Chapter Ten – Tensions at Home

Poppy arrived at her kingdom well after night had fallen, so no one really saw her come in. If anyone did see her, they only saw a shadowy figure on horseback heading for the castle. The troll guard at the castle gate eyed the rider suspiciously, and then his eyes widened in shock to see Poppy's face lit up by the torchlight. He quickly opened the gate to let Poppy in. Poppy trusted her horse and belongings to a couple servants and sprinted to her father's chambers. She rounded the corner and saw her sister slowly coming down the hallway with a fresh bowl of cool water.

Poppy teared up and smiled broadly. "Suki!"

Suki looked up, her eyes widened, and she dropped the bowl. Poppy took that moment and almost tackled her sister in a hug. Suki broke down into tears and hugged her sister tightly.

"You're back." Suki sobbed. "H-how did you….."

"Suki, where's Dad?" Poppy asked urgently.

"This way!" Suki took Poppy's hand and practically dragged her to their father's room. The local healer, Dr. Plum, tended to him. But she nearly fell over from shock when she saw Poppy. Dr. Plum stepped back and allowed Poppy to approach her father.

"Dad?" Poppy breathed, holding Peppy's hand in both of her own. "Dad, wake up."

Peppy stayed motionless for another moment before Poppy's voice roused him awake. He wearily blinked his eyes open, and he gasped softly when he saw a familiar pink face. "Poppy…my baby…you're….."

"I'm back, Dad. I'm right here." Poppy wrapped her arms around Peppy's neck, helping him lean up a bit more to give her a proper hug.

Tears of joy leaked from Peppy's eyes. "How did you ever escape from that Grey Troll?"

"I didn't escape." Poppy corrected. "He let me go."

Peppy finally pulled away to stare at his daughter in disbelief. "That horrible, beastly troll?"

"He's not a beast, Dad." Poppy assured. "He's different. He changed somehow."

Peppy highly doubted that. He smiled nonetheless. "Well you're home now. That's what's important."

"Just wait until everyone sees you tomorrow." Suki said excitedly. "Most of the kingdom thought you were dead, even Creek."

"Oh yeah?" Poppy asked inquisitively.

"He was pretty devastated." Suki said. "Wanted to go out and find you. When he finally accepted your 'death,' he locked himself in his home."

"I'll have to make a formal appearance tomorrow." Poppy mused. "For now, Dad, you should get some sleep."

Peppy chuckled. "I don't think I can sleep now, knowing you're home."

"You need your rest if you want to get better." Poppy reasoned. "Just sleep. I'll be here in the morning."

Peppy settled back on his pillows. His daughter had returned. That was all he needed to sleep easy.

The next day, Poppy made her formal appearance to her people, who were overjoyed to see her alive and well. Creek forgot all formalities and hugged Poppy as tightly as he could. Poppy returned the embrace, surprised yet awed by Creek's apparent change of character. Everyone wondered what happened to her since she disappeared months ago. Poppy wouldn't say, wanting to keep Hunter a secret. Who knows how the other trolls would react if they knew the legend of the Grey Troll was real?

Only Peppy and Suki found out the truth. Peppy had been the first "guest" of the Grey Troll, and Poppy couldn't keep Suki out of the loop. So Poppy told her father and sister about everything in the enchanted castle: the magical staff, the layout of the palace, and King Hunter's change of character during her time there. The only thing Poppy didn't mention was the curse. Her father already looked worried enough. If he knew Poppy stayed in a cursed castle, he'd probably have a heart attack.

Peppy shook his head, drinking tea with his daughters in the drawing room. "I'm sorry, Poppy, but I can't imagine the Grey Troll understanding the concept of mercy."

"He let you stay in his castle when the Eninac chased you." Poppy pointed out.

"And then imprisoned him and wouldn't let him go until you offered yourself as a replacement." Suki countered.

Poppy grinned despite the attitudes around her. "I'm telling you he's truly changed. Hunter isn't the same grumpy troll you met, Dad."

"'Grumpy' seems to sugarcoat it, don't you think?" Peppy muttered.

"Well maybe I'll convince him to let you two visit when I go back." Poppy suggested.

Peppy suddenly spewed his mouthful of tea. "What? Go back?"

"Poppy, what are you talking about?" Suki demanded.

"I can only stay for a week." Poppy explained. "Hunter wants me back once I make sure you're all right." She looked to Peppy at that last part. Peppy certainly felt better than he had in weeks. Three days spent with both his daughters at home helped boost his moral and emotional health, which helped his physical wellbeing. His illness almost completely disappeared. But he already felt sick to his stomach again at the thought of Poppy returning to the Grey Troll.

"Poppy, you can't go back to that monster." Peppy insisted.

"Dad, I made him a promise." Poppy said. "I keep my promises."

"You can make an exception this time." Peppy assured. "For the sake of your safety."

Poppy frowned, standing from her spot. "Drink your tea, Dad. We're not going to talk about this anymore." She turned on her heel and marched from the room.

Peppy and Suki had never seen Poppy so serious before. Still, they couldn't let Poppy go back to the Grey Troll. He couldn't possibly be kind. So they spent the next couple days trying to make Poppy forget her promise. They took her to all her favorite spots in the kingdom, had her read to the children everyday, and stockpiled other royal duties onto her so she would be busy. Peppy and Suki had hoped that seeing everything about her old home would encourage Poppy to forget her promise. While Poppy did love seeing her people again, especially the children, she constantly thought back to the enchanted castle. She missed Grandma Rosiepuff's stories and warm, welcoming nature. The chef in her father's castle definitely didn't cook like Biggie. Cooper's jokes always made her laugh. Worst of all, Poppy found she no longer dreamed of Branch, the little blue troll child who had so much energy and life. She could only assume this was because Branch was connected to Hunter's castle. As long as Poppy wasn't there, she wouldn't dream of the troll boy. Poppy could check in with the staff using the mirror Hunter gave her, but it wasn't the same as actually talking to them.

Then there was Hunter himself. Surprisingly, Poppy found that she missed her talks with the Grey Troll. As her one week home came to an end, Poppy grew excited at the thought of returning to the enchanted castle and even going back to Hunter.

Suki, when she realized tricking Poppy wouldn't work, resorted to dragging her sister into the library so they could talk. There, Suki did everything she could to talk Poppy out of going back. Tomorrow would be her seventh day home, which means she would have to leave very shortly afterwards.

"You know Dad will never let you leave the kingdom just to go back to the Grey Troll." Suki pointed out, using the last arrow in her quiver of arguments. "You won't even make it past the castle gates."

"I don't need to." Poppy shrugged. Her confidence in the situation was so strong that she spent the entire argument countering Suki's points while simultaneously reading a book on a couch.

Suki raised an eyebrow at Poppy. "Oh? And how do you expect to get back to the Grey Troll?"

"I expect to get back to Hunter with this." Poppy pulled from her hair the amulet Hunter gifted her. "All I have to do is fall asleep with this, and I'll wake up in the castle. At least, that's what Hunter told me."

Suki stared at the amulet. If the legends were true, then the Grey Troll most likely did have magic inside him, which means he could've easily put a spell on that amulet. Quite suddenly, Suki snatched the amulet from Poppy's hand and threw it into the fire.

"Suki!" Poppy cried, rushing to the fireplace to save the amulet. Suki grabbed Poppy and pulled her back. She tripped over her own feet and the princesses hit the ground. Suki refused to let go of Poppy, despite how much she struggled. "Suki, let go!" Poppy screamed. "Let go of me!"

"I won't!" Suki yelled. "I won't let you go back! I can't lose you too!"

Poppy froze. She felt Suki bury her face into the crook of her neck, and cool tears dripped onto her shoulder. Poppy sighed, gently prying Suki off her back so she could give her sister a proper hug. Suki shook like a leaf in the wind, clutching onto Poppy like she was the only thing anchoring her to the ground. They stayed like that for a long moment.

"Suki."

"Don't go back to him, Poppy. He'll kill you. I know it."

Poppy smiled patiently as she pulled away, tilting Suki's head up so they could lock eyes. "Do you remember all those walks in the forest we went on? All those 'dangerous' animals we met? Don't you remember how that all ended out?"

Suki did remember. Somehow, in some way, Poppy tamed the savage beasts long enough to avoid being eaten. Poppy even befriended some of these creatures. Suki sighed. "You really think that just because you could tame them you could tame the Grey Troll?"

"Yes." Poppy assured. "Suki, he's not all that he seems. I know it." Suki didn't speak, so Poppy tried something else. "You want to meet him?"

Suki blinked in amazement. "Meet him? The Grey Troll?"

"So you can see that he's changed." Poppy stood and walked to the fireplace. She noticed the amulet still sitting on the flaming logs, and she took the fire poker to pull out the necklace by its chain. To her and Suki's astonishment, the amulet was cool to the touch and completely unscathed. Poppy took Suki's hand. "Suki, come with me to meet Hunter the Grey Troll. I swear to you, you won't be disappointed."

Suki analyzed Poppy's eyes for the truth. She saw complete confidence. "Okay." Suki exhaled slowly. "Okay. I'll meet this Grey…..uh, Hunter."

Poppy hugged Suki tightly. "Thank you."

Suki grinned a little. "I hope you're right, Poppy."

Peppy couldn't take it. What he was about to do was so dishonest and might very well hurt someone he loved. It was so…so un-troll-like. But he couldn't let his eldest daughter go back to that monster of a troll.

When Poppy and Suki left for bed, Peppy waited about half an hour to make sure they were truly asleep. Then he snuck into Poppy's room as quietly as he could. Poppy slept peacefully in her bed. A book rested on her stomach, the same one she held as she fell asleep reading. Peppy scanned the room and saw the Grey Troll's amulet on Poppy's nightstand. Peppy tiptoed over to the nightstand and slowly picked up the amulet, watching Poppy in case she woke up. The pink princess troll stirred a little. Instead of awakening, Poppy readjusted her position and fell back into slumber. Peppy moved quietly out the door.

Once he knew it was safe, Peppy made a break for it. He ran out the back door of the castle and hurried to the garden.

Now my daughter will be safe. Peppy thought, relief coming over him.