Just as promised Viva swung by the everyday to check on her best friend and his family. Not only did she have a box of donuts in her hands but, her sister in hair. Poppy popped her head out happily trying to spot her favorite playmate. Branch was nowhere in sight and so was John.

" Branch?" Poppy muttered disappointed.

" Oh he's up stairs in his bedroom with John." Rosiepuff said.

The older woman carefully took the toddler then placed the Princess on her feet. Without needing directions the little girl regained her smile and climbed up the stairs herself. Nothing was going to stop her from finding her friend. Rosiepuff chuckled at the sight of the determined little one on the hunt. In a matter of seconds the princess was gone.

" Hiii Branch!" Poppy loudly greeted.

" Oh your little sister is such a delight to have around,Viva. " Rosiepuff said.

" I know. She's the best and a cutie. She missed Branch so much. " Viva responded.

" Branch missed her too. He just won't admit it." Clay joked.

Viva laughed handing over the donuts to Clay. Rosiepuff closed the door so no neighbors would get the wrong idea or come spying. Ever since the pod arrest was put on the Timberlakes folks have been peeking in when they walked by. Rosiepuff had no interest in finding out the rumors or their whispers. Returning back to her seat on the couch, Rosiepuff went back to crocheting her bunny plush. The unicorn she completed stood on the bean bag.

Up in the bedroom,John sat on his bed while Poppy and Branch drew more on his leg cast. He smiled watching the two not minding the fact they were treating him like a blank canvas. The cast was hard so he didn't feel a thing anyway. Setting aside his magazine John picked up a pen joining them in the art project. Branch coloured in the stars he drew while Poppy placed some random animal stickers on the side of the cast.

" Not bad, Poppyseed. Looking good there, B." John chuckled referencing their art.

" Now you have a pretty leg." Poppy declared.

She took some heart shaped stickers pressing them down in random places. Branch looked up eventually noticing the stickers then glanced at his side. While both toddlers had very different ideas on how to decorate,they were easily influenced by each other. Deciding to take a note from his friend's style, Branch took a couple used sticker sheets from under Floyd's bed then came back with gold stars and orange star shaped gem stickers. He selectively added some of each between the stars he drew creating custom star constellations in an orderly manner.

" Done. J-Dee. Look. " Branch pointed.

" Wow,Bud. That's neat. What is that one? " John pointed to one of the bigger constellations.

" A bug." Branch said.

" Ooo! Looks alike my butterfly sticker." Poppy chimed.

" I guess." Branch shrugged.

The little boy didn't intend to come off as indifferent. He was still learning after all to embrace others outside of his family. Making friends wasn't necessarily hard for him at this stage but, he was still learning to better engage with his friends that thought differently from him. Poppy was one of those friends.

Poppy didn't take offense or feel discouraged by Branch's reaction either. Her awkward phase was different from his. Hers was involved reading the room and matching the energy around. The princess was more hyper and upbeat about everything so she needed to learn to calm down.

" How about you sign your name so everyone will know who did what?" John said.

"Okay." Branch smiled.

Branch was too young to be able to write yet but he did know the alphabet and how to draw a capital "B". That was always his attempt at signing autographs when presented with one. It had become second nature to him since he was part of Brozone and they had a lot of fans. Branch had his own fans regardless of how little he understood how fans and idol relationships worked.

Poppy however confused for a moment. She was never introduced to the concept of signing something. Taking a moment to see how Branch achieved signing his portion she noticed how he was simply drawing a letter. It was just more drawing. Gaining more courage the little girl grinned taking a pen then drew her own version of attempted autograph signature. She drew a flower as her signature.

" Tada!" Poppy squealed confidently.

" Neat, Popsqueak." John smiled.

Over the years of raising his brothers in his parents' place John had picked up some fatherly talking traits. The way he was talking and encouraging Poppy now was the same way he did with Branch when he was her age. It was engraved in the young adult now to be more naturing with little trollings. Reaching out his hand he gave his baby brother's friend a gentle head pat then did the same to Branch.

Downstairs Clay was sitting on the beanbag beside the unicorn plush with a book in hand. Viva stood behind him braiding his dyed hair. Clay's green roots were returning. His hair was also shorter now due to Rosiepuff cutting it for him to make it even again. Listening to Clay read while she played with his hair was one of their go to bonding methods. They had that deep level of trust between each other.

" Wait! So Rose is the sister and Rosebud is the brother? Then who is Thorn? I thought he was the brother?" Viva asked.

" Thorn is either Rosebud's friend or soon to be boyfriend. Either way they are that close. He does act like a big brother to Rose sometimes." Clay explained.

" Oh... Finally chapter six finally makes sense now!" Viva exclaimed. " Okay. Got it. Continue please."

Clay felt her gentle tugging at his hair. It was relaxing to him when pampered him in such ways. Clearing his throat the male troll reopened his current book from his personal library. The bookmark dropped into his lap. A kettle from the kitchen whistled signaling that Grandma Rosiepuff was making tea.

" Staring in disbelief Rose couldn't fathom Rosebud and Thorn's disappearance. They were just there a second ago and yet now only a single hat and jacket marked where they once were standing. It didn't make any sense. Nobody is that fast or quiet. And why would they leave their belongings behind? Why would they leave her out of blue? " Clay read out loud.

Meanwhile on a certain island, Spruce and Floyd were adjusting to their new surroundings. The beach was beautiful but, it wasn't the same as the Troll Tree. Sure they were living in fear back then but, it was still home. It was where the rest of their family were. Floyd especially was having a hard time. He missed playing with Branch, talking with Clay, writing songs with John and helping Grandma in the kitchen. He missed the sound of their voices and their general presences.

Floyd sighed walking out of Brandy's apartment down to the shore. The waves softly crashed and the birds sang to the music a near by street band played their soft and slow melodies. The sun was setting like always looking as beautiful as ever. Stars began peeking out twinkling in the sky. Surfers splashed and floated on the gentle waters waiting for bigger waves.

" Hey Floyd! There you are. Been looking for you all over,dude. " Spruce called out causally.

Stopping in the middle of his aimless walking the teen turned around. Pulling out his hands from his pockets they dangled at his sides awkwardly. Spruce ran up to him catching up with a blissful smile on his face. The bandages were replaced with many for troll sizes bandaids. Spruce was lucky  enough to not have any infections from his cuts. The doctor had reassured that he was fine and that he just needed to keep his cuts covered since they were still open.

" If it wasn't for your note I wouldn't have found you. " Spruce chuckled. " Brandy invited us out for dinner. "

" I'm not really hungry..." Floyd lied.

" You hadn't eaten since this morning or snacked at all. You should eat. Are you okay?" Spruce asked concerned.

Shaking his head Floyd refused to make eye contact with his older brother. He brought himself down onto the golden sand wrapping his arms around himself. Spruce watched confused. Unsure of what was going on he brought himself to his knees so he could be at Floyd's level. His heart stung a bit when Floyd refused to accept any forms of hug from him.

" Do you wanna talk about it?" Spruce said keeping his hands to himself.

" I guess so." Floyd answered.

" Do you just want to vent or help find a solution?" Spruce asked.

" I don't know. Both?" Floyd shrugged.

" Okay. I will just listen for now. What's going on?"

" I miss our brothers. I miss Grandma. I miss the Troll Tree... I wish they were all here. Guess I'm kinda homesick. I don't know! I just miss everyone. I know we can't just go back but, I would give anything to just talk to John Dory, Clay, Branch and Grandma Rosiepuff. What if they're not okay? What if we never see them again? You been smiling and taking everything so we'll it's like we didn't leave our brothers behind. I don't know how you do it. I feel like we just abandoned them then and there!" Floyd revealed.

Taking a moment to process every single word, Spruce made sure to keep his mouth shut. The truth was while he was happier over having freedom and safety here in Vacey Island,he wasn't as blissful in mind as Floyd thought he was. The older male troll was simply trying to look on the bright side.  Hearing Floyd vent and explain chipped at Spruce's heart due to how much he related to it. Unsure what to do with his hands he awkwardly drew in the sand in the gap between him and the other troll.

" I miss them too, Floyd. We did what to do and I understand that feels hard accepting that we had to leave them behind but, we did not abandon them. They know we didn't abandon them. John told us to go without them. None of what happened is our fault... It's not your fault. I'm sorry if I came off as pushing everyone aside. I just wanted to embrace the moment."

Floyd turned his head. " I just wish there was a way we could stay in touch with them..." He sighed.

" We could write to them. Send a postcard or a letter. Me and Brandy made it work. We could do the same for John,Clay, Grandma and Branch." Spruce suggested.

" Really? But how? You had to pull some strings around just to get the letter through by disguising your letters as if a Bergen wrote it on the outside." Floyd pointed out.

" Well we could-" Spruce paused. " Maybe we could try a critter and have them fly out. They might be able to get in the cage and deliver the letter straight to John or Grandma. We can train it and teach it way there. Give it something to track. Anything."

Floyd gave the idea some thought. Biting down on his lower lip he imagined the concept. At the Troll Tree they did small bugs and critters to deliver messages. Usually they were pop ups. But, it would be more difficult to make it work considering how far away they were from the Tree.

" Do you believe that it will work?" Floyd asked.

" I believe it's a worth a shot. " Spruce said.

Hearing that claim awoken something in the pink haired troll. He lurched himself at his brother hugging him tightly while resting his head on Spruce's shoulder. At first Spruce was taken away literally but, soon his arms wrapped around his little brother. Gently rubbing Floyd back with his hands as they embraced Spruce waited for Floyd to let go. However Floyd wasn't ready to do so and Spruce was going to let him have this moment.