Last chapter. I'm not crying, you're crying...

It had been three days since Morpho's defeat, and hardly anyone has heard from Willow since then. This made Poppy and Branch worry.

"I hope she's not hurt or anything!" Poppy said worriedly.

"Pops, I think we should be more worried about her hurting us," Branch pointed out. "I mean, as long as she still has the Darkness inside of her, she's a threat to Troll Village."

"But Branch, she saved us!" Poppy argued. "And she's been trying to get it out of her, we can't just give up."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Branch asked. "Find the one thing that's supposed to make her happy enough to overpower her anger?"

"Ooh! That's perfect!" Poppy replied, not realizing what he meant. "Let's start by thinking about what she loves. Well, she's a fan of old movies, can talk to birds, and drinks black coffee. Maybe a combination of the three?"

Branch just rolled his eyes and decided to just talk to Willow.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Willow?!" Branch called out. "Willow, where are you?!"

Branch took his search to the old Duckweed family tree, where Willow used to live with her parents and brothers and sisters. He knocked on the front porch and Willow's Dad answered.

"Hello, Branch!" he greeted cheerfully. "What brings you here?"

"I was just wondering if you've seen Willow," Branch replied. "It's almost as if she's disappeared."

"She came by earlier and I introduced her to my new girlfriend," Willow's Dad answered. "Things got kinda ugly, though."

"Why, what happened?" Branch wondered.

"Well, Gingermint is a sweet lady, but when she said 'It must've hurt when the queen broke your heart like that,' it was pretty obvious that a line had been crossed. Willow just ran off afterwards."

Suddenly, they heard a shout in pain, followed by angry screaming. Branch then noticed a burst of flames and some black smoke in the forest. He ran in that direction to find Willow coughing (because the smoke triggered her asthma) and her hand covered in black blood. Branch looked closer to find a carving on the tree she burned.

"Willow, get out of there!" he shouted, grabbing her with his hair before a tree branch could burn off and fall on top of her. "Can you take out the fire?!"

"I don't feel like it!" Willow shouted angrily, her eyes turning black. This just caused the flames to grow higher. Branch knew exactly what she meant, and decided to try something else.

"I'm sorry, Will!" he apologized, and hit her in the back of the neck, but not hard enough to kill her. Once she blacked out, Branch pulled out Gary and pressed a button.

"Fire management system activated."

At that moment, a bunch of sprinklers went off, taking out the fire. Branch dragged Willow to where the air was more clear and gave her an inhaler. Willow's eyes popped out and she took a few deep breaths.

"You okay?" Branch asked. Willow just shook her head. "I heard about what happened with your dad's girlfriend. I'm sorry she said that to you."

Willow didn't say anything, she just headed back to where she let out her rage and rubbed her hand, which was still bleeding, against the carving.

I craved so much

And yet, I kept on waiting

One glance, one touch

And I just kept on waiting

And when it came, it came with strings

So I kept waiting... in th-the w-wings

As Willow broke down in tears, snow falling on her head, Branch finally realized what her problem was. Not only was the Darkness feeding off her anger, but it was filling in the cracks of her broken heart. He slowly approached her and gently took her bloody hand to see how deep a cut it was.

"Willow, you didn't... hurt yourself, did you?" he asked, wrapping a bandage around her hand.

"Not on purpose," she replied. "I was trying to get rid of that stupid carving. I basically scarred a tree, because I thought I had a chance with Poppy. But why would she want me? Why would any girl want me?! I'm a freak just thinking that..."

"Willow, just because you like other girls doesn't make you a freak," Branch tried to reassure her.

"But I'm the only girl in Troll Village who does," she pointed out. "Not that it's gonna matter anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Branch wondered.

"I know how to protect the Trolls from myself."

Branch was concerned about her somber expression. "And that would be...?"

Willow took a deep breath before answering, "I'm leaving home. I don't want to, but I have to get as far away from the Trolls as I can."

Branch looked down in thought. It wasn't a permanent solution, but perhaps she was right. Their best chance was if she left.

"Well, I can't convince you to stay, but why don't I help you throw a farewell party before you leave?" Branch suggested.

Willow smiled and said, "That'd be nice."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Since Willow didn't know how to scrapbook, Branch helped make the invitations to her farewell party. Willow was in charge of making everything look perfect. It almost reminded her of the time she directed Straight Outta Troll Village. Sky Toronto provided decorations, her cousin Lily Stardust made a bunch of delicious treats for the guests to eat, and DJ Suki would play her sweet jams for everyone to dance to. There was only one problem...

Poppy didn't want to say goodbye.

"You're invite to Willow's farewell party at Sun Springs!" the invitation cheered as Poppy looked at the mini Troll figure dance.

"Why did you make her think this was a good idea?!" Poppy shouted at Branch.

"Make her think? All I did was support her decision!" he replied.

"Branch, you've never supported Willow about anything, why would you start now?"

"Because, this is the first time she thought about doing something that could actually help us," Branch answered. "I don't want to lose Will either. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've actually grown attached to her, even though she's insane. But it's best she got space from all of us."

"Or maybe we'll be safer if she's out of our lives?" Poppy argued. "You think she's too dangerous to have around!"

"No, it's too dangerous to keep her with us, especially when she still hasn't recovered."

Poppy was confused. "Branch, what are you talking about?"

"When you broke her heart, Poppy, it made her more vunerable to the Darkness," he explained. "Willow's spent this whole time trying to get over you, but she sees you everyday, and that just makes it more difficult. If you were really her friend, you'd let her go."

Poppy looked at the invitation in thought. She took a deep breath and said, "I'll go, but I'm not happy about it."

"I'm scared for her, too," Branch said. "I know she has her powers to protect herself, but she's never been on her own before."

"Not to mention how lonely she'll be," Poppy added. "I mean, it's not like there are any other Trolls out there she can talk to."

Little did they know someone was watching them from the shadows...

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

In a faraway land, a young queen was tuning her guitar and watching over her kingdom anxiously. She had a red mohawk, two large red eyes covered in black makeup, and a part of her ear was torn off. She had just been coronated and was already under a lot of pressure.

"It must be lonely being queen," a soft voice whispered. "There's a lot of pressure to be a great ruler, you just want to impress your subjects, and you're surrounded by people who only tell you what you want to hear."

"Who are you?" the queen asked warily as a strange Ghost Girl floated by her side.

"A friend... or, at least, I'd like to be," she answered. "I know very well about you, Queen Barb of the Hard Rock Trolls, daughter of King Thrash, and how you wish to be a great ruler just like him. And you can be, if you take my advice."

"What kind of advice?" Barb wondered.

"I'm sure you're well familiar with the other types of Trolls in the world," the Ghost Girl explained. "Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, and worst of all... Pop."

Just the mere mentioning of Pop caused Barb to burst out in a rage.

"It's not even real music!" she screamed, destroying everything in her room. "It's just empty lyrics that crawl through your brain like an earworm!"

"Not to mention, the Pop Trolls are the reason you were all separated in the first place," the Ghost Girl pointed out. "You know, when they took all of the music strings for themselves. All these different tastes in music have kept all of you divided. Always have and always will. Unless there was a way you can change everything..."

Once she calmed down, Barb stared at the Ghost Girl and said, "And how am I supposed to do that?"

The Ghost Girl floated to a nearby guitar case. Barb opened it to reveal a black guitar with a silver skull on it, and a single string that glowed bright red.

"You already have the rock music string," the Ghost Girl explained. "To reunite the Trolls, reunite this one string with its five sisters and play the ultimate power cord."

"What does that do?" Barb asked curiously. The Ghost Girl whispered in her ear, and what the queen heard was shocking. "Look, I'm all about hardcore, but doesn't that sound a little too extreme?"

"Think about it, Barb," the Ghost Girl attempted to persuade her. "You would be the Troll who united all Trolls. What an amazing queen that would make you..."

Once the Ghost Girl vanished, Barb made her decision, and ran into the bedroom next to hers, where a yellow Troll with bright orange hair laid in her bed, reading a book about a brave knight rescuing a beautiful princess and lifting a curse set upon their kingdom.

"Ash, pack your things!" Barb ordered. "We're going on a world tour!"

"A world what?!" Ash said, confused.

"The two of us, traveling across the entire Troll kingdom, performing our greatest hits, and bringing all of the Trolls together," Barb explained to her younger sister. "I call it... One Nation Under Rock!"

"But what if the other Trolls don't want to be... One Nation Under Rock?"

"Once I unite the six strings, they will," Barb tried to reassure her, but Ash still remained skeptical.

"I don't know, Barb," she said nervously. "Don't you remember what Dad said? About the last time the strings were togeth-"

Barb ignored her and placed a dusty rose finger on her lips. "Ash, my dear, sweet, baby sister, I assure you that's not what I'm planning on doing. Once I play the ultimate power cord, everything is going to rock!"

"The ultimate power cord?" Ash repeated. "What does that do?"

"I would tell you, but it'd ruin the surprise," Barb replied. "Long story short, though... it's going to be killer. What do you say, sis?"

"Okay," Ash reluctantly agreed. "I'll tell Dad once he wakes up from his nap."

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Willow's party was in full swing. She bumped her way through the crowd to meet up with her friends, but ended up falling on the table, her head landing in a punchbowl.

"Willow, you okay?" Smidge asked with concern.

"Yeah, I just got this new laser-eye-thingy so I'll never have to wear contact lenses again," Willow replied. "If I'm going to be out in the wilderness for who knows how long, I'll have to be able to see. I can't tell, though, if they used too many or too few laser pointers, though."

"Maybe you'll see better if you pushed back your bangs," Guy Diamond suggested. Willow pushed back her bangs to reveal her hidden eye, which had a large scar across it (most likely a "gift" from her mother). "You know what? The other way was better."

"Willow!" Satin and Chenille shouted as Willow readjusted her bangs. They were carrying a bunch of designer clothes as they ran up to her.

"Uh, guys, what's all this?"

"Parting gifts!" Satin cheered. "No Troll should survive the wilderness alone without looking stylish. Look at what it did to Branch!"

"Yeah, a Snuggle Squid Ink sweater with a Switcher-Ruby broken heart is so last Harvest Moon," Chenille pointed out. "You'll look much better in a Scarlet tank top with a Jet Black leather jacket!"

"And navy blue skinny jeans are a thing of the past," Satin added as they helped her change. "I present to you denim boot cut!"

"Satin you ripped them!" Chenille shouted. There was a slight tear on the right knee. "It's like those jumpsuits all over again!"

Satin gasped. "How dare you! And in front of our friends, no less! Besides, at least I don't skip Hug Time!"

"Guys, stop fighting!" Smidge shouted. They all noticed Willow's eyes beginning to darken and backed away nervously. She returned to normal after shaking her head. "You okay, Willow?"

"I've been better," Willow replied. "And I appreciate all these clothes, my fashionista friends... but I think I'm gonna have to travel lighter."

"Can you take a snack with you?" Cooper asked, pooping out a cupcake for the half-Troll. Willow laughed and happily accepted it.

"It's a pretty big world out there, what are you going to do?" Biggie asked as the twins gave her a gold necklace with a broken heart charm on it.

"I don't know," Willow said. "All I know is I can't do the things I love doing. No more parties. No more filmmaking. No more ice cream. No more black coffee. No more Dad. No more cracks about Branch's stomach. No more anything!"

Willow sobbed as it began raining above them. They noticed Cloud Guy floating above them, sighing in relief as he rained on them.

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" he asked casually.

"Willow's leaving," DJ Suki answered.

"What? But Troll Village is great!" Cloudy Guy insisted. "Why would you want to leave?"

"I was cursed with a Darkness, I could destroy the Trolls if it takes over," Willow explained. "This isn't what I want, it's what they need."

Cloud Guy nodded in understanding. "If you must go... can I have your broken clock?!"

"Sure, if you wanna," Willow replied, and began giving some of her stuff to the rest of her friends.

She gave Biggie her video camera so he'd make home videos of Mr. Dinkles. Guy Diamond got the original films she kept preserved that starred his great-grandmother, a famous actress named Hope Diamond. Satin and Chenille got to keep all the costumes from every movie Willow ever filmed, it gave them a chance to restyle them all.

After giving away the last gift, Willow turned to Poppy.

"Beautiful, fair, flawless, Queen Poppy... What do you give the Troll who has everything?" she wondered, and just handed Poppy her baby sister, Crystal, who didn't like the idea of being given away. "In time, she'll come to you. She's going to take this very hard and will go through a prolonged mourning period. She's going to need a new big sister, so I nominate you. It's a difficult job and she smells like soap. You'll have to dress like me and dye half your hair black. So there are perks."

"Thanks," Poppy said flatly, taking the baby. Once the party was over, however, she'd give her back to her aunt and uncle.

"Here, Willow, take this," Branch said, giving her a book on surviving the wilderness. "Did you pack enough inhalers?"

"I think I have enough juice to last half a year," Willow answered. "After that, I'll just hold my breath."

Branch noticed Poppy's sour mood and decided to talk to her in private while Willow was saying goodbye to her Dad.

"It's just hard, Branch," Poppy admitted. "I've never had to say goodbye before, and Willow and I go way back. What if I never see her again? I'll lose one of my best friends... forever."

"As long as she doesn't succumb to the Darkness, she'll always be our friend," Branch reassured her. "And even if she does, I know the cheerful, upbeat Queen of the Trolls will continue looking for the good inside of her, even if it isn't there."

"It is there," Poppy said, feeling more optimistic.

Branch smiled at his queen. "That's the Poppy I know."

As she pulled him in for a hug, Branch found himself feeling a strange sensation in his stomach. It was warm and sticky, but at the same time, it tickled like a feather. It was something he felt numerous times over the years, but even after all their encounters together these past couple months, it was still there. He knew exactly what it was, but didn't know how to tell Poppy.

I can't tell her now, he thought. Not at a time like this. I should give her some space, first. Even if we can't be together for a while.

"We should, um... we should go back to the party," Poppy said, blushing.

"Yeah, but first, I feel like I should tell you something," Branch began, feeling flustered. "I don't think we should be... friends with benefits anymore. All it usually does is ruin friendships, really."

"You're probably right," Poppy agreed. "But hey, it was fun while it lasted."

"Yeah, it was," Branch admitted, secretly hoping they'll be able to do it again when he tells her how he truly feels.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

While everyone else was partying, Willow gave her Dad a goodbye hug.

"All I wanted was to protect you," he said sadly. "Now, I just wish I could've made things right."

"You did the best you could," Willow assured him. "I'm just happy we got to spend a little time together after all these years."

Willow's Dad nodded and pulled her back into his arms. "No matter what this curse does to you, you'll always be my gift."

Willow began tearing up. Through her empathy, she felt his love and let it in her heart. When she pulled away, her markings had a flicker of light in them for a brief moment.

"Attention, attention!" Poppy announced. "I would like to propose a toast to a very special Troll in our lives. A Troll who may have been created a curse, but in the end, came into our lives a gift."

"A Troll who's talented, unique, and honest," Branch added, and then placed a hand on his own stomach. "Although, she's a little too honest."

The crowd laughed and Willow let out a small grin.

"Neither of us realized it right away, but I met Willow on her fifteenth birthday," Poppy continued. "She told me about a movie called Mamma Mia. It's a weird movie, but it's got really catchy songs in it. Ever since then, she's always been there to help whenever I faced a problem I couldn't deal with on my own. She's always comforted me when I felt down, and I don't think I'll ever meet another Troll like her. I may not return her feelings, but she'll always have a special place in my heart. In all of our hearts!"

Poppy eyed Branch and he groaned.

"I love you, Bambi Eyes!" he shouted.

"I love you, too, Jelly Belly!" Willow shouted back. She flew up to them and gave them both the biggest hug she could muster. "You're the greatest friends a filmmaker-slash-sorceress could ask for."

"We're gonna miss you, Will," Poppy whispered.

Willow pulled away and smiled at the pink-haired Troll queen. "I'll miss you, too, Pops."

With that, Willow grabbed her things, opened up her wings, and began flying off.

As Willow heard her friends setting off fireworks for her while singing the Troll anthem, she smiled. Despite being half-Rattlecobra, she was a Troll through and through. And even though she had Darkness inside of her...

Willow would continue searching for the light.

This isn't the end, this is a whole new beginning...