A month had passed and now the Timberlakes were finally no longer on pod arrest. Princess Viva had already beaten her father to break the news but, King Peppy didn't need to know that his daughter already shared that news. John Dory still had to stay home due to him needing to rest. It was his doctor's orders. Grandma Rosiepuff was also now permitted once more to go back to being the village's nanny. During pod arrest she wasn't allowed to work but, now she could.

Clay was currently out taking Branch for a playdate with Poppy and Viva. According to Clay's note they went at the bottom of the tree near the overthrown roots. Not too far away. All Grandma and John had to do was go outside and look down from the tree limb they stood on. However there was no need to check. Clay was responsible enough to be trusted with playdate guardian duty.

Babies, toddlers and kids filled downstairs running around and playing. Some had managed to drown out the noise around them and took a nap on the couch. Toys laid around on the floor. Snacks were swiped and eaten. Rosiepuff certainly had her hands filled with this batch. Picking up one of runners Rosiepuff swung them back to the rest of their friends.

" Nice try, Hype." Rosiepuff chuckled.

Unknown to the pod residents and guests, a small Vacey Island dragonfly with a letter in its grasp pushed itself through an open gap. It has no issue going through since it had a smaller head and its body was lean and long. Tracking a scent it picked up on the foreign critter directs itself to a certain pod. Reaching a bedroom window the dragonfly poked its head in.

John was still on his bed cleaning his goggle lenses with a rag. He didn't even hear his visitor come in through the open window. Then he glanced at the side catching sight of a head he did not recognize. Eyes widened as his grip on the goggles and rag tightened. His smile dropped in disbelief while whipping his fully towards the unexpected bug. Unsure if he was imagining in the moment or not John did a double take then touched one of its colourful spots. The odd dragonfly purred like a cat as its fuzz sensed the troll's touch.

" Where did you come from? I almost fell out of bed when you just-" John said.

Then the piece of mail in the bug's clutches caught John's eyes. It was in a navy envelope with a yellow sticker ensuring it was closed. On the front in white ink it was addressed to him. John Dory Timberlake. When the troll reached out for the envelope and took it,the dragonfly climbed onto Floyd's bed to rest. It's whole body fitted perfectly on the cold and unused made bed.

" Okay then..." John said.

Flipping the envelope over John checked for anymore names on it. He was hoping to figure out who had sent a dragonfly to him just to deliver a letter. At first the troll didn't see anything but then he looked closer,spotting two familiar names. They were written extra small enough to be considered fine print but, obviously were hand written. "Floyd and Spruce" was what it said.

John froze in place almost dropping the unopened envelope with a gasp escaping passed his lips. Taken aback by the realization that hit him John's mouth dropped slightly more open with his eyes wide, eyebrow raised and wrinkles appearing briefly on his forehead. His hands shook a little as he brought the mail closer to his chest. Was he imagining this? No. Can't be. This was Spruce's hand writing for sure. John would recognize it anywhere.

Growing more anxious and impatient by the second, the receiver grabbed the sealed flap ripping it off. Inside was a postcard of a sunset behind an island, a couple photos and a letter. Spruce had signed and written on the postcard while Floyd's handwriting shined through on the letter due to how much longer it was. Picking out the postcard John flipped it over.

" Hey John. We made it to Vacay Island. Hitch hiked on a boat. Brandy is housing us and making sure we're alright. Got my cuts checked. No infections. It's amazing here. You,Clay and Branch would have loved it here. Me and Floyd wish you guys were here. Floyd has been having a harder time adjusting. Could you reassure him that everything is okay and that nothing is his fault? He seems to think we abandoned you guys. Hope you all are okay. " John read.

A stinging sensation spread across John's heart. His ears flopped sadly at the mention of Floyd's current mental state. As much as he was happy that his brothers were safe it also worried him. Floyd was not okay.

" Oh Floyd..." John muttered. " At least Spruce is recovering."

Setting down the postcard John redirected his attention to Floyd's long letter. Reaching in he pulled the piece of folded paper finding out that there were two of them. Floyd had written in great detail how they made it through the pipe,how they got down to the beach, how they hitch hiked to the island, the people they met and what the island was like. A lot of emotion was carried with every word. Thanks to Spruce's postcard he could sense Floyd's tones in his flowery writing more clearly.

" I'm sorry for not coming back. I wanted to come back. I know you told us to keep going without you. I know you would have wanted it for us but, I still feel so trapped and lost without you,Branch and Clay. Something is missing here on the island and it's you. It's almost like I'm in a new cage without bars. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

With Love
Floyd " John read the final paragraph out loud.

He sighed. " You have nothing to apologize for,Flo. I would have let myself get caught if it met you make it out alive and got a real chance to live your life."

The remaining photos in the envelope peeked out silently calling out to John. They were louder than the children downstairs. The rays of sunlight moved closer highlighting them like a spotlight. Clay opened the bedroom door humming a little tune when he caught sight of the Dragonfly on Floyd's bed. Branch's outdoors toys in his hands dropped to the floor but, the larger bug refused to acknowledge the sudden noise.

Clay's jaw dropped. " What The Fuck?! John Dory?"

" Hey. It came in here. I didn't invite it in and it's Spruce and Floyd's messenger." John claimed.

To further prove the truth John picked up the postcard and the letter holding them up. Without hesitation the teenager took both forms of mail into his hands. His eyes moved back and forth speed reading between the two. There was no denying it. The postcard had Spruce's handwriting and the first half of the letter had Floyd's handwriting. Ripping his attention away from the works, Clay looked up at John.

John had taken a handful of pictures out from the envelope. The first one was a picture of the location. The beach. It looked exactly like Floyd described. The second photo was another location picture but, it showed what the town looked like. There were trolls of all kinds and two types of people John and Clay had never seen before. The third picture was of Spruce with Brandy sharing some cheese covered noches. The fourth picture was of Floyd trying to feed the local ducks grapes at some pod. And the last picture was of Spruce and Floyd smiling ready for some surfing lessons.

" They look happier over there." Clay commented taking a seat next to John.

" Yeah. They do. Everything was worth it. One day we will get that feeling too when we escape with the others. " John said.

" I hope so... " Clay looked down at John's colourful cast. " How's your leg?"

" Itchy and heavy." John admitted.

" Here." Clay handed over a chop stick.

Neither Clay or John knew why they had randomly had chop sticks laying around the pod. They barely used them in general. Shrugging at the appearance of it John accepted it and carefully pushed it under his cast. At first it did sting but, once Dory moved it towards the less sensitive and more irritated spot a wave of relief washed over him. Scratching the spot carefully for a few minutes, John eventually lost the bothersome feeling and pulled out the chopstick.

" Dr Plum Plumsy doesn't need to know." John joked.

" Let's see how long that is gonna last." Clay chuckled. " So hm... What are you going to tell them?"

" I don't know, C. Floyd needs some reassurance that it's okay to live without us for a while guilt free."

" Could I say something to him? " Clay asked.

John turned his head to Clay. " Of course. They're your brothers too,bro."

A month later the dragonfly flew back to the island. It carried not just one envelope but, six instead. Two from John Dory. Two from Clay. Two from Grandma Rosiepuff. Each family member had their own questions and love to share. Branch was the only one who didn't have any letters to send due to him not knowing how to write yet.

The big flew to a local apartment on the third floor. It was too early for anyone to be awake. The sun had only now started to rise taking its sweet time. Brandy was in her bed alone asleep while Spruce and Floyd rested on the window bench nook. They were surrounded by pillows and underneath them was a thick and soft cushion that was built into the bench. It was like a seating pad but, it acted more as a mattress to the trolls. Covering Spruce and Floyd was a fuzzy pink blanket being the size of a handkerchief. Well for Brandy it was that size. To the trolls it was large with plenty to share.

Then the dragonfly tapped the glass with its body. At first it did nothing to wake the trolls but, eventually after an hour Floyd stirred. He was a lighter sleeper than Spruce. Spruce could sleep through anything. The persistent tapping caused the younger male to sit up groggily.

Rubbing his eyes Floyd yawned then stretched out his arms until he felt a tingle in his spine.  Noticing Floyd was indeed up the bug buzzed as loudly as possible to get through to him.When the young male did look up to see the messenger his foggy brain didn't process it fast enough.

" Oh the messenger is back." Floyd yawned.

He paused blinking a couple times. " The messenger is back." Floyd realized.

Snapping out of his state of sleepiness completely,Floyd jumped up wide eyed. A grin painted his now more tanned face. The daily exposure to more sun had somewhat darkened Floyd's cyan skin to sky blue. This was the biggest grin the teenager had in a month. His heart beat louder with excitement while anxiousness took the backseat for now.

Not wasting any time Floyd whipped out and extended his bright pink hair. It grabbed the handle of the window and firmly pulled down. As a result the window opened inwards slightly allowing the dragon fly to come in. Once the critter flew inside Floyd closed the window quietly. Running over to Spruce Floyd began to shake him awake. Spruce no longer had any cuts or bandaids since he had fully recovered a month and a couple weeks ago.

" Spruce! Spruce! Spruce! Wake up!" Floyd whispered.

" No, Grandma. I don't wanna go back to school. " Spruce whined in his sleep.

" Wake up. Wakeup! The Dragonfly is back." Floyd whispered.

Spruce barely opened his eyes. " Hm?"

After three more minutes of being shook and whispered to Spruce reluctantly sat up. Due to him still being barely awake he could not tell if he was dreaming or not. The urge to go back to laying down was strong and tempting. Floyd quickly took all six letters from the bug then shoved three of them that were addressed to Spruce onto his lap. Scratching the side of his face Spruce looked down confused.

" What's this?"

" They wrote back! John wrote back. So did Clay and Grandma." Floyd squeaked.

" That's nice..." Spruce yawned. " I'll read them later."

Taking the three letters on his lap, the older brother moved the mail to the side. Taking the blanket he pulled it over himself fully while he laid down onto his side. His sleepy eyes returned back to shutting closed like nothing had happened. However that didn't dim Floyd's spark. He moved to the other side of the bench behind a pillow and willed his hair to glow. The three letters in his hands were firmly locked in his grasp.

Taking a seat Floyd sat with his legs crossed. He immediately directed his attention to John's letter first but, his happy mood was joined by the anxiousness that took a backseat earlier. His hands shook nervously while Floyd gently pulled up the flap of the envelope. Inside was pictures with some writing on the back of them and a short letter.

" Dear Floyd

It's so great to hear from you. I miss you too. We all do. Things are kinda complicated now. We both had been having a lot going on and nothing at the same time. I'm so happy for you that you and Spruce are now free. Don't worry about us. Live your life not for us but, for yourself. You deserve it.

Branch had been making more friends on his own. He's still friends with Poppy. They been having a lot more playdates. Clay and Viva have been getting closer and closer by the day now. Viva visited us everyday for a month I think. King Peppy put our fam on pod arrest so she volunteered to check and help us out. My leg is in cast but, Branch and Poppy treated it like a canvas. The doctor said it should be coming off in a month or two.

And by the way. It's not your fault. Everything that happened during our escape was just bad luck. We fought hard and as much as we could to escape and only you and Spruce made it out. It's okay. We can't always save each other but, that doesn't mean your a bad person. You did not abandon us. Sometimes you just have to put yourself first. I love you and miss you. You have nothing to apologize for. You're imperfectly perfect just the way you are.

Please forgive yourself. If not for yourself then for me.

With love
John " Floyd read.

A weight lifted itself from Floyd's heart and shoulders. The short letter brought peace from his mind as some tears ran down his face. Trying to not make any noise Floyd tried to not sniffle and wiped away his tears. He has been holding onto regret and survivor's guilt for so long now. Seeing his older brother who had gotten hurt and caught from the escape reassured him that nothing was truly his fault was what he needed.

Glancing down at the envelope, Floyd set the letter down on his lap and picked out the photos John had sent. The first one was a picture of Branch and Princess Poppy adding more to John's artsy full leg cast. On the back of said "They do this every time." The second photo was of John using his crutches with Clay by his side. At the back of said " Clay is my official walking buddy now." The third picture was of Grandma Rosiepuff baking Fluffleberry cake and on the back was her recipe written down in short hand. The last picture was of the updated cage appearance from the inside with it written on the back that the Bergens have gotten more focused on the trolls now.

Floyd frowned shaking his head then looked back at the pictures of their family instead. It returned the light hearted mood and a smile to his face. Plus stealing a copy of Grandma's recipe was much appreciated. If it Spruce wasn't sleeping Floyd would be laughing at the thought of John trying to find Grandma's recipe books she usually hides.

" I miss you too." Floyd whispered.