After the meeting with the rest of the leaders, Branch returned to the clinic to check on Poppy. Flower was at Guy Diamond's having her first sleepover with Tiny. Branch couldn't say he wasn't nervous for his daughter, but after what she already went through, it would probably help her feel better.

"Hey, Pops?" Branch said, entering the pod. Poppy looked up from her scrapbook to find her boyfriend approaching her bed. "You doing okay?"

"No," she answered. "I've been looking at these pictures of me and Flower. I'm her mother, how could I just forget her?!"

"Poppy, you were stabbed in the back of the head," Branch pointed out. "It caused brain damage, fractured your skull... We're just grateful you're alive."

Poppy felt the bandaged wound on the back of her head, and felt a sharp pain at the slightest touch. "How did it even happen?"

Branch wasn't sure how to answer, but he decided to explain it the best he could.

"See her?" Branch asked, turning the page to a rainbow-haired Troll with large eyes. "This is our friend, Willow. We went to help her look for a magical object called the Black Rock. It contains an evil magic that only Willow can destroy. But someone named Pow took it before she got the chance to. You tried to talk to Pow, but she unleashed her power and struck you with a dagger-shaped stone."

Poppy looked down in thought. "And this happened a week ago?"

Branch nodded. "You lost so much to blood, everyone worried you were gonna die. Flower wouldn't stop crying."

"What am I gonna do, Branch?" Poppy sobbed. "How am I gonna explain that her mom can't even remember her own name?"

"Flower's very smart," Branch said, "and only cares about you right now. I'm sure she'll understand. Besides, the doctor said you might get most of your memories back eventually. We can't just give up."

Poppy nodded. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well," Branch said, "Willow and I have to take care of the village. But Biggie's coming over to help you. He says he's got some scrapbooks that can help you refresh some of your memory. I have a feeling, though, that they'll mostly be photos of Mr. Dinkles, that's his pet worm."

Poppy giggled. "Sounds cute."

"Yeah, I'm not one for worms in tiny hats," Branch admitted. "But before you lost your memory, you loved looking at them."

"Well, I look forward to it," Poppy yawned. "I'm gonna get some sleep."

"Okay. Good night, Poppy."

With that, Branch kissed Poppy's cheek, and left her to rest.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Hold still, Willow!" Chenille said as she and Satin helped her into a dress.

"How are you going to be looked up to in an unfinished outfit?" Satin asked rhetorically.

"Guys," Willow said, "I'm just filling in for Poppy until her memory comes back. I'm not running for prom queen. And why can't I just wear my slacks and black shirt? It's my signature look."

"Will, this is a huge responsibility," Satin pointed out. "All of the Pop Trolls will be looking up to you and Branch, you're gonna have to help them solve their problems."

"And you can't do it looking like a clueless teenager," Chenille concluded.

"I am a clueless teenager," Willow pointed out, feeling nervous. After all, she was only seventeen, and knew very little about running a kingdom (especially after years of being ignored by everyone).

"Shh! Don't give it away!" Chenille whispered, and added the finishing touches to Willow's outfit. A pink, sparkly ball gown with hearts on the skirt, puffy sleeves, and a red ribbon around the waist, tied into a giant bow in the back. It looked completely ridiculous!

"Oh, boy."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The next day, Branch and Willow arrived to the Village Square to give the early morning announcements. Branch couldn't stop staring at the extravagant outfit Willow was dressed in.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said bitterly.

"Okay," Branch said, and stood by a microphone. "Uh, let's see. Today is the beginning of, uh... Aquatic Critter Appreciation Week. So... I suggest steering clear of the Stingerfish, because of their poisonous spines?"

The crowd muttered in confusion.

"Lemme show you how it's done," Willow interrupted, pushing Branch aside. "Gooooooooooood morning, Pop Village! It's gonna be great one today! Our friends from Symphonyville are gonna come over this evening and perform with our very own Lily Stardust! Won't that be exciting?!"

Willow gave Branch a smug grin as the crowd cheered in ecstasy.

"Okay, Miss Wise Guy," he said, pulling out a list King Peppy made for them. "Now we have to... 'Go around the village and help everyone, or just hang out with them, because everyone wants to be our best friend.' Will, you go hang out with everyone, I'll be the problem solver."

"I hope we know what we're doing," Willow replied. "Hey, DJ! Play something to keep us motivated!"

"You got it!" DJ Suki shouted, and played one of Poppy's most upbeat songs from her archives.

Hey! I know it might look bad

No end in sight

Looks like we're in an uphill fight

But hey!

"So, what's the problem?" Branch asked Sky Toronto.

"Our frosting tanks are full, but Klaus can't seem to get anything out of the hose," he explained.

"I'll see what I can do."

That's how it goes

And what do we do when times get tough?

Do we hang our heads? Do we give up?

No way!

Willow went to a group of kids to compete in an obstacle course with them.

"Rule number one," Keith began, "there are no rules!"

"Makes things easier for me," Willow replied casually as the other kids cheered.

We can do it! We can all get through it!

By commiting now to never quitting!

"Looks like there's a slight kink," Branch informed Klaus. Of course, the slight kink was actually a knot. Somehow, part of the hose ended up in the ribbon section of the gift-wrapping department. "Just turn off the hose and I can undo it."

"Sure thing, Branch!" Klaus agreed, and turned off the hose. Branch immediately got to work.

We don't give up

Never quit, never stop

Yeah, we might fail

But we give all we got

"Willow! Willow! Willow!" the kids chanted as she swung from one bar to another.

"Just a little further..." Willow groaned, struggling to reach the last bar.

Because we can do anything!

"Klaus," said Branch, "right before I loosen the hose, make sure it's pointing in a certain direction so we don't get frosting all over the place."

"Oh, ja!" Klaus replied, and pointed it out a window.

Yeah! Anything we dream!

Right before Willow could complete the monkey bars, thick frosting was blasted at her and she slipped off the bars!

"Willow! Willow! Will- Oh."

The kids could only watch as Willow dragged herself out of the frosting, her fancy dress nearly ruined (as if it wasn't bad enough on her).

❤️☀️🧡🌙💛☀️💚🌙💙☀️💜🌙

After Branch failed to keep Grossums away from Rufus' Puffalo herd and Willow blew Nova Swift's trend report, they both decided to take a quick lunch break.

"I pushed back the production of my apocalypse movie for this?!" Willow groaned, wiping off the sprinkles stuck to her dress.

"At least you didn't lose half a herd of Puffaloes to flesh-eating Grossums," Branch pointed out.

"Flock."

Branch was confused. "What?"

"A group of Puffalo is called a flock," she informed him. "It never made sense to me, though, because they can't even fly."

"If anything, that's what they should call a bunch of Grossums," Branch grumbled. "Those little birds with fangs."

"Still can't fly," Willow reminded him.

"Shut up!"

"Branch! Willow!" Smidge shouted. "Ginger Jo needs both of you at the Pet 'N' Vet! There's an outbreak of the Kitty Flu!"

"What's that?" Willow asked. But Smidge didn't answer, she just dragged the pair to the Pet 'N' Vet, which was full of sneezing kitty critters.

"Quick, put these on!" Ginger Jo ordered, giving them face masks. "If a Troll catches it, they get the worst symptoms!"

"That, I'm not gonna ask," Willow decided as Branch grabbed a medical book.

"It says here there's only one known cure for the Kitty Flu," he explained. "To make a whole batch of it, you'll need a quart of Puffalo milk, five Bam-flute chutes, two cups of Noisenberry juice, about twenty Sparklepuff flower petals, and a spoonful of sugar."

"To help the medicine go down?" Willow joked.

"I don't know what that means," Branch replied. "Keep them entertained, I'll make the cure."

"Sure thing, Branch," Willow agreed, and thought of ways to entertain the kitty critters. "Okay, uh... Did you hear the one about the kitty with no ears? Well, neither did he!"

One of them sneezed and the others just bawled in misery.

"Okay, you guys don't like jokes," she realized. "How about bubbles?"

Willow pulled out a bottle of bubble soap and tried blowing through it... but nothing happened. She then remembered she was wearing a mask and attempted to pull it off.

"Worst symptoms!" Ginger Jo shouted suddenly. Shocked by the outburst, Willow accidentally splashed the soap into her eyes, causing her to scream in pain. The kitties found this funny and laughed.

Hmm, they seem to respond to me being in pain. They enjoy other people's misery! Willow thought, then came up with an idea. "How do you guys like this action?!"

Willow pulled out three tennis balls, juggled them in the air (with a little help from her telekinesis), and had them all bounce off her head! The kitties loved that. To go even further, she called for Brawl to come over, and had him tie her up and force feed her Lima beans.

Branch, meanwhile, was adding the last few touches to the cure. A disheveled Willow dragged herself to his feet and grabbed him by the ankles.

"Please tell me it's ready," she pleaded. "I don't think I can keep up this entertainment stuff up much longer."

"It's almost ready," Branch replied. "I just need to melt these Bam-flute chutes into paste before I mix them in. And what happened to the orange and blue in your hair?"

"The kitties are using them as tissues," Willow replied. A kitty critter sneezed and orange and blue hairs were blown into the room. Branch grabbed them before they could fall into the bowl of formula.

"That was close," he sighed in relief. "I mean, can you imagine if the cure was ruined?"

"Emergency!"

Shocked by Gia Grooves bursting into the Pet 'N' Vet, Branch accidentally dropped the bowl and it shattered, causing the mixture to spill all over the floor. Feeling enraged, Branch growled as his eyes glowed red (again).

"What's the problem, Gia?" Willow asked as Branch began trashing the place in a fit of rage.

"A bunch of kids escaped from the daycare!" she exclaimed. "I figured you could help because you have the most experience with little kids."

"Oh yes, the only good thing about my mother forcing me to take care of fourteen brothers and sisters," Willow replied sarcastically. "Which kids got away?"

"Clampers, Coral, Flower, Tiny Diamond, and... What's wrong with Branch?"

Willow turned around to notice Branch wrecking the room and blew an icy kiss at him. The cold air immediately calmed him down.

"I did it again, didn't I?" he groaned.

Willow nodded and turned back to Gia. "I'll find them."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Cwampers!" Flower shouted. "Don't eat the fwowers! They's for my mommy!"

"Sorry, Flower," Clampers apologized, spitting out some rose petals.

"Great, now we gotta find a different flower," Tiny Diamond pointed out.

"How about this one?" Crystal suggested, pointing to Flower. The other kids laughed, to her confusion. "What's so funny?"

"Why don't we split up and look for different flowers?" Coral Blush suggested.

"I wike that," Flower agreed. "If someone's in tubble, though, we should give a signal. Something cwever."

"How about a yell for help?" said Tiny Diamond.

"That works," Flower replied, and the group split up. Flower found some beautiful white orchids and thought her mom would love them. So, she prepared to pick them when suddenly, she heard someone groan in frustration.

"What am I gonna do, Gary?" Branch asked his remote. "Willow and I can't run the village! We should've let someone else do it... Don't tell me I'm insecure!"

"I agwee, Gawy," Flower said. Branch turned around to find his daughter holding an orchid. "Daddy's in the curve."

"Great, both my kids are against me," Branch muttered. "What makes you think I'm insecure?"

"Telling Mommy you wove her," Flower began, "Your appeawance, your cwazy wampages, not fitting in with your fwiends."

Branch let out a small chuckle. "I guess I do need to work on my confidence."

"Mommy had her whole wife to pwepare," Flower pointed out. "You onwy had a day. Doesn't mean you can't do it."

"Yeah, you're right," Branch realized. "I guess I should talk to Willow about this, too."

"HELP!"

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Flower! Clampers!" Willow shouted. "Coral! Tiny! Crystal! Where are those kids?"

Feeling tired, Willow took a break to use her inhaler and sat on a log.

"This was stupid," Willow muttered. Suddenly, she heard a rustling in the bushes. "Who's there?!"

No answer. Not taking any chances, Willow blasted a fireball at the bush, and it burned up instantly, revealing a scrawny Troll in a black beanie.

"Riff?!" Willow said. At that moment, Barb jumped on Willow and began hitting her in the head with a guitar. "He-Hey! Barb! It-It's me, Willow!"

Barb blinked for a second, then gave Willow one more hit in the nose.

"That's for wearing that stupid outfit."

"It wasn't my idea, it was Satin and Chenille's," Willow protested. "You know this isn't my style."

"Fix it," Barb whispered to Riff, who immediately got to work.

"Where's Ash?" Willow wondered.

"She took Dad to a Renaissance fair," Barb replied. "Shouldn't you be running Pop Village?"

"Yeah, I was looking for some kids that ran away," Willow replied. "I don't know what to do, Barb. I can't live up to Poppy. I'm just her uncool friend who never knows what she's doing."

"Willow, you shouldn't try to do things the way Poppy does," Barb explained. "You can only do them the way you can. Just find your own way."

"Find my own way," Willow repeated. "Well, I'm a filmmaker. I could think of this as if I'm directing my biggest production yet."

"Well, I guess that's one way of putting it," Barb replied. She wasn't a big fan of movies herself. "Another thing is stick to your signature look."

Willow looked down and noticed Riff had changed her outfit when she wasn't looking. Now, she was wearing a black tank top with a pink heart on her chest and blue jeans.

"HELP!"

"Crystal?!" Willow exclaimed, running towards the voice of her baby sister. Crystal was surrounded by hungry Tarantapuffs! Branch, Flower, and the other kids rushed in to help.

"What do we do?!" Tiny Diamond asked nervously.

"Tarantapuffs hate bright light," Branch explained. "Willow, use some of your Light to refract through Crystal's head to scare them off. Clampers, see if you can round them up. I'll take care of them from there."

Willow flew up and let out a beam of light through her hand and shone it in the giant crystal on the top of Crystal's head (she was only Troll to have it instead of hair). The blinded Tarantapuffs backed away and Crystal ran to Coral and Tiny. Clampers grabbed a vine and lassoed the three spiders.

"Hairball-duken!" Branch shouted, and launched it at them. In a bright flash, the spiders were gone! "You okay, Crystal?"

"Yeah, I okays," Crystal muttered, still shaken up.

"Yay, Daddy and Wiwwow!" Flower cheered, hugging her father's legs.

"See? You're gonna be fine!" Barb assured them.

"Barb, Riff, what are you guys doing here?" Branch asked.

"We came to give this to Poppy," Riff answered, holding up a leather vest with Barb's name sewn on the back. "It's not a glittery scrapbook or nothing, but we figured she'd like it."

Flower pulled an orchid out of her hair and held it out.

"Why don't we all go see her together?" Barb suggested.

"Of course!" Branch agreed. "She'd love that!"

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"And this is Mr. Dinkles wearing a beret," Biggie went on. "And this is Mr. Dinkles wearing the same beret. And this is Mr. Dinkles wearing a different beret! Oh. No, wait. Same beret!"

Poppy giggled as they heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Hi, Mommy!" Flower greeted, running up to the bed. Biggie picked her up and Poppy reached out to hug her. "We got you something!"

"Here you go, Aunt Poppy!" Tiny Diamond said, holding out a bouquet of different types of flowers. "Some of everything. We would've gotten you roses, but Clampers ate them all."

In response, Clampers burped out a few red petals. Everyone laughed.

"We got you a present, too," Barb said, giving Poppy the vest. "On behalf of the Hard Rock Trolls."

"I feel like I've worn this before," Poppy muttered. "Or, at least, something like this."

"You did wear something similar when Barb tried to turn you into a rock zombie," Riff pointed out. Barb glared at him. "Or something."

"I think I remember that," Poppy realized. "Is that good?"

"It's wonderful," Branch replied, hugging his two girls. "It means you're starting to get your memory back!"

"Yay!" Flower cheered.

"Maybe if we tell Poppy a few things at a time, she'll have a better chance at remembering them!" Biggie suggested.

"Dude, that's what you were supposed to do today," Willow pointed out.

"Well, at least it's working," Poppy said optimistically. That was the Poppy they all knew and loved. "Barb, can you tell me more about how you tried to turn me into a rock zombie? Sounds exciting!"

"Not today, I gotta pick up my dad and sister from the Renaissance fair," Barb replied. "But I'm sure you made a scrapbook about it before you lost your memory. Later, Popsqueak."

"Bye, Barb," Poppy said as the Rock queen gave her a goodbye hug.

"Psst! Branch!" Willow whispered, pulling him out of the room.

"What is it?"

"Hold this," she said, giving him a piece of fabric from the hideous gown. Willow pulled out a few flowers from a vase and used her magic to make a flower crown, just like Poppy's. She took the leaves of a fern, a red gem, and an extra flower and made something for Branch. The fern leaves and gem made a nice crown on him and the fabric and flower turned into a sash.

"Wow! Will, I'm impressed!" Branch praised before his face fell. "Look, Will. I'm really sorry about our lousy first day on the job. I guess I didn't let either of us prepare. But it doesn't mean we can't do this."

"Well, no one said this would be easy," Willow pointed out. "But at least we're doing it together. Besides, if you and Poppy get married, this'll be a good learning experience."

Branch felt his heart flutter at the thought of a future with Poppy. It may take a couple years before they'll be ready, but he could well imagine himself asking Poppy that question someday.

"A-choo!" Willow sneezed, accidentally spitting out a hairball. "Ugh, Kitty Flu. Tell the others if they need me, I'll be in quarantine."

Branch laughed. "Goodnight, Willow."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Pow wandered alone through a deep, dark forest. She had no idea where she was going, but she had no plans of stopping. But then, she came across some daggers. Pow remembered how she was able to bend them to her will, and decided to try it again. She raised her hand to one of the daggers, attempting to make it grow.

"Just... focus!" she groaned in frustration. But nothing happened, it just stayed still. She cried out in distress. "No! I can't do it!"

Pow fell onto her knees and lowered her head in disappointment. Suddenly, she heard an eerie voice whisper her name.

"Pow..."

I'd give you a hint about what happens the next chapter, but I can't. If you don't understand, listen to this song.

Until next time. 🤘