Author's Note

At some point, I wrote a flashback. I switched the order of how the words are italicized.

Poppy stopped short. She looked at her Hug Time bracelet, which marked the hour a few minutes ago. "Hmm, nine o'clock. I haven't seen Branch all day..." She walked over to Biggie. "Hey, Biggie!" Poppy called. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great, Queen Poppy! I was taking Mr. Dinkles out on a little exploring!" Biggie replied joyfully.

"OH, that sounds fun!" Poppy said.

"You can join if you want. Mr. Dinkles says it's okay."

"I would love to, Biggie, really, but I have a bit of a problem," Poppy replied, putting her hands together.

"Really?" he asked. "What is it? Is there any way I can help?"

"Maybe," Poppy replied honestly. "I haven't seen Branch all day. He is usually up at five or six in the morning and outside his bunker to help me at eight. It's nine now and he hasn't shown up yet," Poppy replied quickly.

"Branch isn't out yet?" Biggie checked. "Maybe he's still in his bunker?"

"Why would he still be in his bunker?" Poppy asked, confused. Biggie paused for a second. Mr. Dinkles ewed. "Mr. Dinkles said maybe he's sleeping in," Biggie repeated.

"Sleeping in?" Poppy asked. "Unlikely. It's not like him to sleep in."

"Then, maybe he's making something for you?" Biggie suggested.

"Making something?" Poppy tapped her chin. "More likely but not enough!"

"Maybe you should just go down and check on him," Biggie tried. "Only you know how to get into his bunker after all."

"True. Fair..." Poppy said, putting her hands on her hips. "But it's kinda rude to just barge in." They stared at each other for a second. "Who am I kidding! I'm going in there!" Poppy exclaimed.

"Good luck, Poppy!" Biggie called after her, waving with his free hand. Mr. Dinkles bid her adieu as well.

Poppy walked over to Branch's bunker. She knocked on the door a few times, softly, to no answer. "Hmm, he didn't open. That's weird." Poppy dug into a bush, pulled out a key, shoved it in an almost microscopic keyhole in the rock, and unlocked the mat, which popped open. She put the key back into the bush and hopped onto the elevator.

She pulled the lever, slowly. She descended. "Branch?" she called. Most of the bioluminescent mushrooms are out, causing it to be dark inside the bunker, which Poppy found to be a little odd. "B-Branch?" she stammered. "Are you in here?"

The elevator stopped, so she stepped off. "Branch? Are you in here?" Poppy asked. "Are you even in this room? Are you even...in your bunker? Are you even in...town?"

There was a small rustle from a nearby room. "Branch?" Poppy asked.

"Show me the meaning of being lonely," Branch sang from a nearby room, quietly. Poppy slowly approached him, being careful not to disturb him.

"So many words for the broken heart. It's hard to see in a crimson love. It's hard to breathe, walk with me, and maybe, nights of light so soon become wild and free, I could feel the sun. Your every wish will be undone, they tell me. Show me the meaning of being lonely. Is this the feeling, I need to walk with? Tell me why I can't be there where you are? There's something missing in my heart.

"Life goes on as it never ends. Eyes of stone observe the trends. They never say forever gaze, if only guilty roads to an endless road. There's no control, are you with me now? Your every wish will be undone, they tell me. Show me the meaning of being lonely. Is this the feeling I need to walk with? Tell me why I can't be there where you are?" Branch hit a falsetto note and held it down longer than originally. "There's something missing in my heart.

"There's nowhere to run, there's nowhere to go. Surrender my heart, my body and soul. How can it be you're asking me to feel things you never show?" Poppy put her hand on her chest hearing his song choice.

"You are missing in my heart. Tell me why I can't be where you are?" he hit a falsetto again and paused before continuing to the final stretch.

"Show me the meaning of being lonely. Is this the feeling I need to walk with? Tell me why I can't be there where you are? There's something missing in my heart. Show me the meaning of being lonely. Is this the feeling I need to walk with? Tell me why I can't be there where you are? There's something missing in my...heart," Branch ended the song in a scratchy note, his voice shaky.

"Branch?" Poppy asked, slowly walking up behind him. Branch jumped, knocking something off the table. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine!" Branch replied, his voice still shaky.

"No one sings that song if they're fine, Branch," Poppy said, teasingly. "Branch, what's wrong?" Branch didn't answer. He looked away from her instead. "Do you want to talk about it?" Poppy asked.

"N-not really," Branch replied.

"Is it big?" Poppy asked. Branch nodded. "Do you want me to sit next to you?" Branch hesitated, rubbed the spot on the ground next to him, then moved over some. Poppy smiled softly and sat down next to him. She glanced at the table. She noticed a picture of his grandma with a flower on the table.

"Does this have something to do with your grandma?" Poppy asked softly. Branch hugged his knees. "Y-yeah," he said weakly.

"Do you...do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Branch said, his voice steadier than before. He turned his head away from Poppy. Poppy was silent for a minute. "You know, I never knew my mom," Poppy stated.

"And? What of it?" Branch asked gruffly.

"Well, my dad used to always tell me stories of my mom, to make me feel better," Poppy explained. "Let's see...one story was where my dad almost fell from the Troll Tree and my mom caught him, with her hands, and saved him from falling. He said that was the day he fell in love with her."

"Okay," Branch replied, obviously still upset.

"Um, and then there was this one where my mom fought one of those fire breathing flowers to save a pack of Cuddlepup puppies and reunite them with their mother," Poppy continued.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Branch asked, finally looking at her.

"And there there was this time my dad brought her a bouquet of flowers only for her to be allergic to them," Poppy smiled. Branch smiled. "Doesn't that remind you of something?" he asked.

"Heh, yeah that time you brought me Mittensettias," Poppy giggled. "Hmm, there was another time my dad went star gazing with her and they kept passing back and forth stories of the stars," Poppy continued.

"You aren't going to stop until I tell you what's up, huh?" Branch asked.

"And then there was this time-"

"Okay, fine!" Branch cried, his ears drooping a little. They dropped a little more. "It is about grandma. She...uh...today is her...twentieth anniversary of her death...and I..."

"Oh, Branch!" Poppy cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's...it's not your fault, Poppy," Branch said, looking away from her.

"Oh, Branch," Poppy said, her ears drooping a little.

"It's just...I haven't really...I just...it's not...I just miss her, Poppy. If I didn't draw the Bergen near, then she would still be alive and we could still be together. Poppy, this day is...one of the hardest of the year."

"Branch, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard this has to be on you."

"Yeah, but it's my fault, Poppy. It's my fault the Bergen got her."

"No, Branch, it's not your fault." Poppy put her hand on Branch's shoulder.

"No, Poppy, you don't get it," Branch replied gravely. "It is my fault. Grandma is dead because I brought the Bergen near with my song and I didn't hear her warning me so she had to save me. I can't...I just...I just can't bear it, Poppy." Branch turned around to face the table. He pushed grandma's picture back up, and lit one of the candles. "I just can't bear to think about it, Poppy."

"It's okay, Branch," Poppy tried.

"No, it's no, Poppy. I've been twenty years without family and...sometimes it became too much to bear. Grandma would've made everything better but I had to go and get her killed!" He slammed his fists onto the table, making the framed picture jump. The flower rolled off the table. Branch held back tears.

"Branch? I-I'm really sorry. I can't possibly imagine how you feel right now, but, I know that telling a story might help. Or...or looking at pictures. Do you have any?" Branch sniffled, picked the flower up from the floor, put it back on the table, and walked away. "Branch? Did I scare you away?" Poppy asked, concerned.

Branch came back with a large photo album. He skipped the first few pictures and turned the book around to a page full of photos of his grandma. "Aww, she is so pretty!" Poppy exclaimed.

The pictures each have a picture of his grandma, smiling, and a small Branch, also smiling, in each picture. One picture hosts his grandmother holding a tray of freshly baked cookies and a small Branch taking a selfie in front of them both. "I like this one," Poppy said, pointing at it.

"Grandma used to make cookies all the time," Branch said. "It was usually Sparkleberry cookies, although she used Glitterfruits sometimes to mix it up."

"Ooh, what's a Glitterfruit?" Poppy asked.

"It's just a pink Sparkleberry, but bigger and tougher," Branch explained.

He flipped the page again. Another picture has his grandma handing Branch a box, wrapped with a red bow and a tag. "Is this a present?" Poppy asked, pointing at the bow topped box.

"Yeah, it was my third birthday. She gave me my first puzzle," Branch replied, smiling a little. "Grandma used to love puzzles. She helped me put them together once a week. We had a room full of finished, framed puzzles."

"Aww!" Poppy exclaimed, tears swelling. "What does it look like?"

"I...I don't know. I never opened it," Branch admitted.

"You never opened it?"

"No, I-I wanted to...to preserve it." Branch looked down at the ground from over the front of the book.

"Can...can I see it?" Poppy asked. Branch handed Poppy his photo album and walked away again. Poppy looked at another picture of his grandma and Branch. Branch is sitting on her lap, while his grandma hugs him with one arm and rubs his head with the other.

Branch returned with the box, the bow no longer on it. The box is covered in a fine layer of dust and yellowed. Branch wiped his hand on the box, removing some dust and holding the box up for Poppy to see.

The picture on the box has two Trolls and an adult. The piece count is at five hundred. "What's it called?" Poppy asked. Branch pointed the box down to see the back. "'Family,'" he read.

"Family..." Poppy repeated. Branch stared at the box. "Poppy?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"This might sound stupid but...can you help me put this together?"

"Hm? Well, yeah! I don't see why not!" Poppy exclaimed, smiling.

Poppy followed Branch to a room with a large, clear area. He sat on the floor, cross-legged. He opened the box, turned it upside down, and watches the pieces fall onto the ground.

Poppy helped Branch flipped the pieces over, and began putting the puzzle together, starting with the edges. They came to the end of the puzzle, Branch putting in the last piece. "Aww, its a nice picture!" Poppy cheered.

Branch stared at it. He looked at the box and flipped the lid around to see the inside. Inside is a note and a picture. He pulled them both out and examined them

'Branch, I know it may be years until you open this box, but, until you do, I hope you get to grow up to be a good, brave, strong young man. You grow really close to those you get to know and become very loyal to them. You love to protect those around you, which can be great, but it does come with a problem: you tend to put too much pressure on yourself and blame yourself when things happen to your loved ones. And though your loyalty is a rare treasure, you have o be careful on blaming yourself. As your grandmother, I want you to know that I love you very much and that I know you have great potential. You are a wonderful, sweet Troll and I hope you get to know that. Whatever happens to me by the time you read this, Branch, I just want you to know that I love you and will always love you. Your friends will be there to help you when you need it. Don't forget our good times together, especially with your friends. Grandma Rosiepuff.'

Branch held back tears again as his scanned the picture. The picture has his grandma with the photo album, Branch sitting on her lap. He flipped it over. 'P.S. Don't forget that song I used to sing to you!'

Grandma Rosiepuff walked over to Branch with her hands behind her back. "Branch! I got something for you!" She pulled her hands out to reveal a large book with written words 'Branch's Photo Album.'

"I made you a photo album!" She smiled. "Do you like it?" Branch graciously accepted the book and flipped it open to the first page. The first picture, right on the front page of the book, has a picture of two year old Branch, with a chocolate ice cream cone in his hand, and his grandma, putting a cherry on it. "I love it!" Branch exclaimed, hugging the book.

"I have a few pictures here if you want to put any of them inside," Grandma Rosiepuff said, pulling a small stack of pictures out from her hair.

"Yes!" Branch cheered.

Grandma Rosiepuff set up two chairs by a table, the two of them sitting in one. They spread out the pictures and Branch began placing the pictures inside. "Loving can hurt," Grandma Rosiepuff began singing. "Loving can hurt sometimes. But it's the only thing that I know. When it gets hard. You know it can get hard sometimes. It is the only thing that makes us feel alive.

"We keep this love in a photograph. We made these memories for ourselves. Where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and time's forever frozen still. So you can keep me inside the pocket of your patched shorts, holding me closer 'till our eyes meet. You won't ever be alone. Wait for me to come home.

"Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul. And it's the only thing that I know, I know. I swear it will get easier. Remember that with every piece of you. And it's the only thing that we take with us when we die."

"We keep this love in a photograph," Branch sang. "We made these memories for ourselves."

"Where our eyes are never closing," Grandma Rosiepuff and Branch sang together, "hearts were never broken, and time's forever frozen, still-"

"So you can keep me inside the pocket of your patched shorts, " Grandma Rosiepuff sang, "holding me closer 'till our eyes meet. You won't ever be alone. And if you get hurt, well, that's okay, baby, only words bleed. Inside these pages you just hold me. And I won't ever let you go. Wait for me to come home. Wait for me to come home. Wait for me to come home."

Grandma Rosiepuff signed her name in cursive on the front page under the opening picture. She handed Branch the marker to do the same. He wrote his name in print. "Wait for me to come home."

"Branch?" Poppy asked. "Are you okay? You're smiling and crying at the same time."

"Huh?" Branch asked.

"You're crying," Poppy stated. Branch wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, I-I didn't even notice."

"You okay?" Poppy checked again.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Branch pocketed the note and the picture. "Poppy, thank you."

"Hm? For what?"

"Everything."