Poppy and Branch agreed to meet Willow the following morning at the springs. Once the young couple arrived with little Flower, who was dressed to impress, they found Willow crushing up plants with a mortar and pestle while reading from a tattered old spell book with sketches of Rattlecobras inside.

“Okay, just a little more of this, and..." Willow muttered as she added a glowing blue plant to the mix.

“Uh, Will, what are you doing?" Branch asked skeptically.

“Oh, I'm glad you asked," Willow answered. “I am making a magic potion called Bubbledrop. It gives the drinker the ability to breathe underwater for at least two hours. Plenty of time for us to get to know Synth... and not have to stay in Shadow Springs for too long."

“Oh, Willow," Poppy said sweetly. “You don't have to feel sad that the park closed down. Just remember all the fun times you had and it'll never be truly gone."

I'm not sad that it closed down, Willow thought, too afraid to say it aloud. “Okay. The potion's finished. Word of warning, it tastes like rancid Troll-berries. Now, drink up so we can get this over with."

“But Will–" Branch tried to call out, but she had already jumped into the water and began swimming down. “If it tastes that bad, how are we gonna get Flower to drink it?"

To prove his point, Flower took on sniff of the blueish green concoction shouted, “Yucky!" and pushed it aside.

“Let me think..." Poppy said. Then it hit her. “Flower, sweetie, wanna pretend to be a fishy? Y'know, blub blub blub blub!"

Flower giggled. “Bub bub bub!"

“Branch, start setting your Hug Watch," Poppy instructed her boyfriend, then returned her gaze to her daughter. “I know it's yucky, but this'll help you pretend to be a fish. Here, I'll try it first. Okay?"

To further convince her, Poppy took the mortar, drank some of the Bubbledrop potion, resisted the urge to throw it up, swallowed it, and gave Flower a weak smile.

“Well... okays," Flower replied, and hesitantly sipped out some Bubbledrop. Flower grimaced as she swallowed it and let out a tiny burp.

“Now, it's my turn," Branch said, and drank the rest of it rather swiftly. “Actually, it tastes pretty good."

At first, Poppy was repulsed, but she shrugged it off and the three of them dove into the water.

“Willow, you down here?!" Poppy called out as they swam deeper down.

“Bub bub bub!" Flower giggled as Branch held her hand.

“That's right, sprout. Blub blub," Branch laughed.

“Poppy! Branch! There you are!" Willow shouted as she swam back to them. “What took you guys so long?"

“We have a kid," Branch reminded her.

“Fair enough."

💚🩵💜🩵💛🩵🩷🩵💙🩵

The small family followed Willow all the way down to Synth's house. Willow took a deep breath and delicately knocked on the door. It opened up and Synth swam out with a big smile on his face.

“Hey, Willow! You came back!" he said ecstatically.

“Surprise!" she said nervously. “I hope you don't mind I brought a couple friends over."

“Not at all!" Synth insisted. “The more Trolls, the more rad! Come on in!"

“It's so nice to meet you, Synth," Poppy said as they all swam inside. “I'm Queen Poppy. This is my boyfriend, Branch, and our daughter, Flower."

“Hi!" Flower greeted sweetly.

“Hey there, you li'l cutie!" Synth said, tickling her nose. “You look just like your parents!"

“Yep! Mommy's face and Daddy's colors," Poppy added. “Wow! Your house is amazing!"

“Thanks, that's the nicest thing I've heard today," Synth replied, opening a bottle and pouring a dense liquid into a glass. “Barnacle brandy, Willow?"

Willow looked away nervously. “Um..."

“She's seventeen," Branch said. Synth just nodded and took a sip for himself. “So... you're a Techno Troll who decided to live in Pop Village?"

Synth blinked. “You say that like it's weird."

“It is a little weird."

“Branch!" Poppy said sternly.

“You know what's weird? Bebe's leaving the Sparklers!" Synth informed them. “I hear she's gonna pursue acting now. Crazy, right?"

“How is that relevant?" Willow asked in confusion.

“I dunno. We were talking about weird stuff."

“So, tell us, Synth," Poppy said, “what made you want to move in with the Pop Trolls?"

“I thought a change of scenery would be good for me," he answered. “Plus, one to many cups of these, and you do stuff that make you wanna leave. I didn't break any laws, but it's still embarrassing."

“What did you do?" Branch asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh... I don't think I should say it in front of a kid," Synth pointed out as Flower played with a decorative anemone.

“Fair enough," said Branch. “So, what do you do when you're not intoxicated?"

“I like attending raves, cheerleading, occasional disk jockeying, stayin' fit..."

While Synth and Branch continued talking, Poppy noticed Willow just floating in a corner of the room. Perplexed, she decided to swim to her to see what was going on.

“Willow, you've barely spoken to Synth," Poppy whispered to her friend. “This isn't very nice."

“It's not like I have anything interesting to say," Willow mumbled.

“We'll see about that," Poppy said, then turned to Synth. “Hey, Synth! Did Willow tell you that she's a professional filmmaker?"

“Well, I don't know about professional..." Willow admitted nervously.

“Oh, you're just being modest," Poppy claimed. “One of your films was nominated for a Dazzle Award!"

“Only for sound mixing."

“That's amazing, yo!" Synth exclaimed. “I tried acting once, but I can never remember my lines. I always run out of room on my hands."

“Isn't that interesting?" Willow muttered. Branch couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable she was the entire visit.

“Well, our two hours seem to be almost up," he said to Poppy. “We should probably get going before we drown."

“Oh, alright," Poppy groaned, and picked up Flower. “Well, Synth, it was a pleasure to meet you. Maybe you can come visit us in the village sometime!"

“That'd be dope, yo!" Synth agreed.

“Yeah, totally dope," Willow said quickly. “Now, let's get outta here!"

“Willow, wait!" Poppy called out as Willow swam to the surface. Leaving Flower with Branch, she attempted to follow her.

“You Pop Trolls are great and all," Synth said to Branch, “but Willow was kinda quiet, almost as if she didn't like me."

“Don't take it personally," Branch informed him. “She's just not the best at making a good first impression. Willow's parents abused her and her siblings in almost every way possible, especially her mother. So finding new people to trust and open up to often feels like a chore for her."

Synth nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. But, hey, at least she's got you guys. And you have this cute little lady! Goochie-goochie-goo!"

Flower giggled as Synth gently tickled her chin.

“Yeah, sprout's pretty special," Branch admitted. “But now, I gotta get her back up before this potion loses its affect."

“Go on ahead," Synth replied, swimming up with them. “We should all hang out again sometime, eh? Maybe the two of us can become bros, huh? Wouldn't you like that? Getting in the bro-zone?"

Branch jolted in shock. “Where'd you hear that name?!"

“What name?"

I'll explain Willow's history with Shadow Springs later on. I promise.

Until next time. 🌈