...

In the first place, when Branch woke up with Poppy laying painfully against his hurt chest, time didn't seem to scream 'Careful, hurricane!' like it would in a few minutes.

He was not in a hurry to wake up, his head was spinning too much anyway to be able to decide if he should move or not... The gaze of the silence troll was lock on the pretty pink troll who had her cute round cheek squeeze against his peck. Her face was hidden under a section of his jacket to hide from the rays of the sun that still managed to cross the clouds for now to tickle her little nose.

- Hm... He hummed the song trapped in his throat that was getting out by itself, he was looking at her in curiousity.

He was short of breathe, due to this new problem of his; the fall he had experienced while trying to run away from the grossums had give him a broken rib, which he could feel hurting him more and more with every breath taken, red blood was dry on his skin. Still, that didn't prevented him from raising his hand toward her hair... Would she allow him to touch it? He wasn't sure.. Could he be the one? His emotions were heard through his words, if only she could be listening to him in this moment;

-... Y-You walked into the room and now my heart has been stolen... Hh-hhh...

He took courage and let his fingers ran through her pink hair, placing it behind her ear, she smiled in pure joy at the feeling, humming and taking in his scent. She was so damn cute, he was slowly accepting the feelings he had for her, he was attached to her... Love even. He could admit to himself it was love.

... You took me back in time to when I was unbroken
Now you're all I want
And I knew it from the very first moment
'Cause a light came on when I heard that song and I want you to sing it again

I heard there was someone but I know he don't deserve you
If you were mine I'd never let anyone hurt you, no, no
I wanna dry those tears, kiss those lips
It's all that I've been thinking about
'Cause a light came on when I heard that song and I want you to sing it again...

He hadn't slept much, let's admit it... He had thought of the voice of the pink troll who had joined his last night. How could a harmony as perfect as theirs even exist? She made him feel so much, even more that he thought he was capable of. He had an heart again.

I swear that every word you sing, you wrote them for me
Like it was a private show, I know you never saw me
When the lights come on and I'm on my own
Will you be there to sing it again?
Could I be the one you talk about in all your stories?

He pressed his burning forehead against hers, whispering those words in the softess morning voice;

... Can I be him ?...

If only he could be the one.

That was his biggest wish. He was so in love with her, but he knew it wouldn't happen... Unless not for now. They needed to get back home. He had to hold back his words, his poetry he craved to tell her... And again, how in all that is trolly, would she want the mean, ugly, gray troll he was?

His spinning thoughts were suddenly stopped when a big drop of rain crashed into his big lilac nose.

That woke up Poppy as well, since another drop had fell on her forehead. Her eyelids blinked to look up at the cloudy sky, Branch's chin was in the way. She looked exhausted, she burried her face back against her companion, in need of his familiar warmth, and still;

- We gotta walk, Branch's calm voice made her groan a complaint.

<< ~ × ~ >>

It wasn't long before Branch and Poppy were back at walking next to the wild river, direction; home.

Time had passed, and now the clouds had completely smouldered the sky above their hair, tense in stress on their scalp. The male troll had offered Poppy his help to walk, but she had bravely grabbed her improvised wooden crutches to follow her friend.

Her eyes were fixed on the purple mark under his teammate's ear when a bigger drop of rain crashed back into her angel face. She paused for a few seconds to catch her breath, holding her leg that was making her suffer and looking up at the sky. Princess Poppy understood that this was not normal.

- B-Branch! She called the name of the troll in front of her who kept moving forward, Branch, I think we should stop !

The last named turned to her, confused, he had noticed the heavy rain that thickened every minute that passed, but with all that he had on his mind, (His wounds, return to Trollstopia, how hungry he was, his laborious breathing, the mark on his ear, the blood that flowed from the scratches of grossums ...) he hadn't thought to ask himself the question about the nature of these great dark clouds. He blinked, one time, two, and looked up in turn to take a look at them with just a little attention.

-... They are huge, indeed, he noticed with an absent air.

His head was spinning, every breath almost prevented him from seeing stars, but he stood firm for the one he loved... He absolutely did not want to worry her. He was fine, he was breathing, he was walking, he was guiding her home. If the pink troll knew what was wrong with him, she would force him not to move forward and she would prefer to wait for the help that would certainly never come for them. He would kill her with him if she learned the truth.

Then he shrugged, before the bewildered gaze of the future queen he continued on his way without worrying about danger.

- Let's keep going, He obliged, It's only a few clouds.

- But-

- Let's keep going !! Branch used a breath of fresh air to make himself understood.

The strong wind was blowing harder and harder, throwing their hair in all directions and making their progress slower and slower... Branch was faster than Poppy for sure, thanks to his slightly larger weight that he allowed him to firmly plant his feet on the ground. Soon he was a few meters in front of her, not having noticed her missing by his side.

At first, Poppy hadn't really reacted to this distance between them; it was not uncommon for Branch to prefer to be alone in front when they walked together in the forest, one collecting supplies and the other wanting nothing more than to offer an invitation that would later be crushed under his foot. However, the winds had begun to collect dust, raising large walls of sand between her and her companion, her guardian angel.

In just a few minutes, the storm was rising. The two trolls were again separated by the forces of nature.

- B-Branch!! The female troll screamed, trap in the strongs gusts, Branch, wait for me !

But the loud whistling of the wind was probably vibrating his eardrums as much as hers, no way he could have heard her call in all this noise ! This panic was similar to that which she had felt in the rapids of the river; her heart was making by its own a complicated drum solo, and her heavy breath was crossed by the anguished cries that escaped from her irritated throat; louder, shout louder girl !

- B-B- BRAAAANCH!!!

This last cry was swallowed by the wind which throw her body to the ground without any kind of mercy. She coughed, chasing mud off her face while doing so; it only took her few seconds to notice the broken bandage made by the skillful hands of the gray trolls on her wounded leg; she was bleeding again, and mixed with the mud and in contact with the ground, her leg started to feel like it was burning, as in it was in a oven lit at 400 ° C.

She screamed so loudly that she could have torn off her vocal chords and never be able to sing again. Her eyes were blurred with salty tears, she saw red; There she is. Lost, she was lost. She was going to die here, trapped on the ground in a storm, screaming without anyone hearing her. She knew it well... Branch had abandoned her, right? Why did the perfect pink world that she had known turned against her and hitted with so much violence, so much pain? Why had Branch left? Where was comfort and warmth?

- I-I want to go home!! She was sobbing loudly, I WANT TO GO HOME!! BRANCH!! P-Please!! P-P-PLEAASSE!!..

Fortunately for the princess of pop trolls, nature still and could never take that one special thing from her; the strong bound she had formed with Branch during this adventure was their biggest strength... She heard steps. She let out a huge gasp and wrapped her arms tightly around the form that just appeared by her side; there he was. Comfort and warmth. Guardian Angel. He had came back.

- WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?? Branch screamed in anger, but she knew it was out of worry this time.

- BRANCH! I T-THOUGHT YOU-U WERE GONE!! She cried into his shoulder, D-DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!... DON'T LEAVE ME!...

She hugged him so tight that his already painful chest had more difficulty to take deep breathes in, no matter; the gray troll ran one arm under her shoulders and the other under her scratched knees. He hugged her tightly against him back, both not cared if they were hurting because of how tight the embrace was. It was probably the first time he ever did such an act and he wouldn't admit the reason of this choice; he had been so scared when he heard her scream his name he came back running, panicked, to see her laying there... He would never leave her again, not until she was in a safe place, away from all dangers ! Now that she was in his  arms, he let out a grunt under the effort and got up; since her hurted leg was exposed again, he was the one who would carry her in the hurricane. Poppy didn't let go of him.

- I-I got you! He said only to her, pressing his whole face on hers, even the wind wasn't allowed to hear those sweet words, they were only for his princess, I won't leave you, I g-got you!

He began to walk, fighting the horrible temperature... Stupid, stupid, stupid he was ! Why didn't he choose to stay in the shelter this morning?? They would have been safe, not trapping in the middle of this freaking hurricane! The wind was throwing Poppy's hair in his face but he continued on his way with the pink troll agaisnt his chest. He needed to find a cave, a burrow... Anything that could house them for the rest of the deluge !

As if to help, with the wind came the rain, huge drops of rain falling on their two bodies and making their whole form feel heavy and hard to carry. Branch was out of breathe, feeling Poppy pull on his brown-red vest to hide her face in it. He stopped to try look through the clouds of rain; and he let out a sigh of relief; There, a tree with a huge hole in it. That was their only option.

- I-I'm bringing you there!

- B-Branch the... the...

- I know!! I got you!

Branch made his way toward it without waiting for Poppy to finish her sentence.

When he got inside the two trolls didn't had lot of space to move. Half of the ground was a litte puddle of water and the rest uncomfortable dead wet grass. The male troll placed Poppy sitting against the black tree inside trunk as he caught his breath, panting and gasping for that horrible damp air.

She was still holding to his vest... They were hidden well from the rain, even though cool breezes could reach the naked skin of her shoulders and legs. She was shaking, Poppy was shaking, she was shaking so much that she could have sworn Branch was trembling because of her and not because he was cold from the rain as well.

But the cold wasn't the main reason she was shaking;

- T-The river... The river, Branch, where is the river? She asked.

He realized their mistake with the biggest shock, as if a rock had been throw in his stomach. He looked up at her, his eyes were screaming for her to forgive him;

- I-I don't know...

Without the river they were lost, they would never find their way back to Trollstopia. They were done for.

Poppy, understanding that they were lost, shook her head, refusing to accept this truth; nonono! Impossible, he had to know where was the river! What direction at least !

- T-Tell me where it is! She shook him by the shoulders, P-Please Branch !

He shook his head again, not daring to look at her. The breathing of the poor pink troll was dangerously accelerated, wheezing at this point, she cried out, it broke his heart;

- I-I-- I want-- I WANT TO GO HOME !

She bursted into tears when a loud thundershock from storm was heard and got herself in a ball of shakings. Branch felt so numb and empty, he just sat down by her sides, not realizing tears were falling from his eyes as well, and how much he was fucking shaking. They couldn't look at each other, too hurt and desesperate; they would never get home would they?

But as Branch burried his face in his hands... Poppy probably did the most courageous and stupiest thing he ever saw her do.

- I-I'm getting home !

It took Branch a few seconds to realize what his companion had just declared. He looked up to see that she had come out of a tree trunk and was walking blindly in the storm.

Fuck.

He only knows that he had screamed so loudly that his own eardrums hurted him badly. Without waiting a second more he throwed himself on the princess, grabbing her by the waist and using all his strength left to pull her towards their poor-looking shelter, walking backwards as he hold on to her by behind. Her crying was getting stronger and stronger and tearing his heart apart more and more. It was bleeding and she kept scream and cry and shout and--

- LET ME GO! LET ME GO BRANCH-- LET ME GO HOME!!

Broken, her voice was fucking broken. The monster he was couldn't let her died still, he couldn't.

- N-NO!! N-NO I WON'T LET YOU GO! He cried out, pressing his face against her cheek, she screamed out her sorrow.

His arms were firmly wrapped around her and yet she continued to fight to escape from him. She screamed so loudly his ears got down in pain. When he reached the tree, she tried to hold on but soon was bring back inside.

She was crying, she was seeing blurry, and her breath had never been so ransacked, she was feeling nauseous-- she was going to throw up--

Branch didn't let go, he hold her closer, rocking her back and forth, again and again, over and over again...

- I-I - HH!!--want to-- HH!! GO HOME!! - - HH!

She cried harder, her chest growing tight as the bile rose in her throat more. The blood was pounding in her ears, and her heart was beating hard, so hard it was hurting. Her whole body was hurting and shaking so bad. She had to get out, get out of that damn forest, get back home, get back to her pod and never get her feet back outside of there. Home, just home, she wanted to see home! To feel safe! To--

She felt Branch's hand clinging to her own.

... and she cried, pressing her body into his. He was rocking her, back and forth, again and again, over and over again. He was crying with her, he was seeing blurry with her, tight bile rose in his throat as well, his blood was fucking pounding in his ears and his heart was beating so hard it was hurting, his whole body was hurting with her, sharing this whole pain as a whole, together.

...

- I-I want to go home... She sobbed quietly against his skin.

She squeezed his hand back, and he pressed his lips softly on a tear to chase it away, she closed her eyes;

- I p-promise... I'll get you home.