Poppy woke up that morning with her snuggle toy Lord Prickles in her arms. After giving the blue stuffed hedgehog a kiss, she placed him on the empty side of the bed and sat up to stretch her arms. Before she could get up, the realization sank in.

The other side of the bed was empty.

"Branch?" she called out. Feeling nervous, she headed outside of her pod to look for him. "Branch!"

"What's the matter, Poppy?" Guy Diamond asked with Holly, Val and Synth alongside him.

"I'm looking for Branch," she answered. "Have you guys seen him?"

"No, sorry," Val replied. Holly and the guys shook their heads. "You should ask your dad. He just cancelled the Electric Foam Parade for safety reasons."

"And I was really looking forward to my first one!" said Tiny Diamond, a newborn Troll who was tucked away in Guy Diamond's hair.

"What?!" Poppy exclaimed in disbelief. "But we've always had a Foam Parade! Where's my dad now?"

"He went over to Mags' house," Synth answered. Poppy ran towards the mushroom to find her father playing cards with Mags Gumdrops, Rufus, Miss Guffin, and Dr Moonbloom.

"Good morning, Poppy!" King Peppy greeted. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept fine," Poppy replied as the others came in. "Dad, where's Branch?"

"I haven't seen him," he answered.

"Then who told you to cancel the Electric Foam Parade?"

"That was, uh... I forget," he admitted. "But whoever it was, they made some good points. Probably."

"Sorry, Princess Poppy," Dr. Moonbloom said. "I told you things like this would happen."

Poppy sighed. "It's okay. I'm just gonna go find Branch."

"I think I saw him at the bus stop with his sister earlier," Miss Guffin replied. "They went to say goodbye to the queen before she went home."

"That reminds me," said Rufus, "I gotta get ready to ship my crops to Ornery Grove! My daddy always said the best way through a friend's heart is through their stomach and when there's an entire kingdom of starving friends..."

"We should go," Poppy whispered to Holly, Val, Synth, and Guy Diamond.

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"So even though saddle spiders are difficult to train, they'll be your best friend for life once you do," Lavender explained to and a group of kids. "Now who wants to pet Mister Bubbles?"

"Hey, Prince Branch," said a girl named Priscilla, "where's your saddle spider?"

"I don't have one," Branch answered. "Despite what Princess Lavender says, riding spiders is just a waste of time. Not productive at all."

"He got bit by one when we were kids," Lavender blurted out. "He cried and cried like a big gray baby."

Branch growled at his sister as the children laughed at him. Suddenly, he heard an "Ahem!" and noticed Poppy and her friends standing right behind him. Just what he needed, more overly cheerful Trolls.

"Oh, hello... pink-haired stranger who's still wearing pajamas."

"First of all, I'm not a stranger, I'm your wife," Poppy pointed out. "Second, did you tell my dad to cancel the Electric Foam Parade?"

"What's an Electric Foam Parade?" Lavender asked.

"It's the coolest holiday ever!" answered a kid named CJ Suki. "There's lasers that'll blind you and flowers that shoot bubbles and electro-pop music!"

"Sounds like a hundred safety violations," Branch figured.

"So it was you," Guy Diamond said angrily.

"No, it wasn't," Branch claimed. "If I had known, I would've told Poppy and the king at the same time."

"Then why did you sneak out of bed?" Poppy asked.

"I didn't," he replied. "I woke up at 7:00, ate a bowl of oatmeal, and went with Lavender to say goodbye to Mother. Then, we went to see Lavender's... little pet, she fed it, we went to patrol the village borders, but halfway through, she decided to teach these kids the basics of spider-riding. You were still asleep by the time I left, so I didn't bother you."

"Yeah, right," Poppy scoffed, looking at her watch. "You expect me to believe you did all that when it's only... 10:38?! I slept for that long?!"

"Yeah, Dubstep!" Synth whooped. "You kept her up all night making little Dubsteps!"

"What?"

"Uh... Yeah, that's what happened," Poppy lied. Really, it was the fact that she didn't sleep a wink the night before the wedding.

"I, uh... I think I hear my manager calling!" Val said, though she really just wanted to stay out of the drama.

"I gotta give this thank you present to Laguna!" Holly added, thinking the same thing before trotting away.

"I need to get Tiny ready for his Glistening!" Guy Diamond said, running off.

"Don't you have somewhere to go?" Branch asked Synth.

"No, I cleared my whole day," he answered, staring off into the distance. Suddenly, a giant leaf landed on top of him like a sheet and since Synth was afraid of the dark, he screamed in terror and ran off. Branch then noticed that Lavender had already went back to talking with the kids.

"We're in the clear," he said, leading Poppy away from them. "What makes you think I told your dad to cancel this... bubble-laser thing?"

"Well, I thought you would do it to spite me," Poppy replied. "Ever since we met, you made it pretty clear you didn't want to marry me and you're not the type of Troll I thought I would spend the rest of my life with either. No offense."

"How is that not offensive?" Branch asked. "If you don't want to believe me, that's fine, but we only got married because our parents forced us to so I'm just going to pretend I like you so no one gets suspicious and I suggest you do the same."

"Forced me?! My dad tried to keep me from marrying you!" Poppy revealed much to Branch's surprise. "I have been watching and hearing about spouses, parents and children getting slaughtered for fifteen years and I've prayed for a miracle to help me save them. I broke up with Creek while he proposed so what happened to Sundance wouldn't happen to anyone else!"

Branch couldn't believe what he heard. She gave up a future with someone else to protect her kingdom?

"I married the most selfish jerk in the Troll world for her," Poppy muttered, dropping an envelope. "So much for a miracle."

As Poppy walked away sadly, Branch picked up the envelope and opened it up to find a colorful pop-up card that sang "A party ain't a party without lasers and foam!" and sprayed glitter up into his face. It was frivolous, yes, but at the same time, Branch found it oddly beautiful.

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In her pod, Poppy laid in bed underneath her fuzzy blanket with tears in her eyes. She would be lying if she said being married to Branch wasn't difficult. She felt the urge to talk Holly and Val but, at the same time, didn't want anyone to know she and Branch were having marital problems on the first day.

At that moment, she felt someone sitting on the edge of the bed. She buried her face in her pillow so they wouldn't see her tears falling.

"Poppy, I'm sorry," she heard him say. It was Branch. "It's just... I felt safe in my bunker. Not just because I had enough supplies to last me ten years... eleven if I store and drink my own sweat- but I felt as though nothing on the outside mattered."

"Not even your parents and sister?" Poppy asked, her voice slightly muffled.

Branch sighed. "My grandmother was killed because of me," he explained. "I was so afraid I'd lose someone else, that I decided to avoid everyone else I loved. At first, I just stopped talking, but when I heard about my father, it still hurt. So, I made myself a place where I could hide from everyone."

"Except for those eleven Trolls," Poppy pointed out. Branch rolled his eyes.

"Okay, you win," he groaned. "I'll try to make this marriage work. Now, get dressed so we can talk King Peppy into putting your laser-bubble show back on."

Poppy thought about this for a second and said, "Actually... I think it would be a better idea if we postponed all big parties and events until we've all learned how to defend ourselves. That way, when we do throw parties, we can be safe."

"I like the way you think," Branch admitted.

"But I'm still gonna make sure you taste chocolate," Poppy added.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Branch argued.

"Well, sweetheart," she said, "it's either that, or every night when we go to bed, I will hold you and cuddle you and snuggle with you and cling to you and never let go!"

"Fine, I'll try it," Branch replied in defeat. "After dinner."

"Darn, I've always wanted to cuddle with someone," Poppy said in disappointment.

Branch sighed. This was going to be a long year.