By My Side ~A Broppy Fanfiction~

Chapter 21

A/N screw publishing two chapters a day, I'm posting the last four chapters today. At one in the morning.

The next morning, Branch woke up. For a second, he forgot about what had happened the day before. He was ready to spend a day with Poppy, but as he reached his coffee, he remembered that he couldn't spend a day with Poppy. He suddenly didn't want his coffee anymore. He went up the elevator and opened the hatch. To his surprise, there were a bunch of cards saying stuff like I'm sorry and We all miss her, too.

All of the trolls had sent him cards. He just ignored them and headed to Poppy's pod. He did t know why, he just wanted to see Poppy. As he walked through the village, he passed by Peppy's pod, and he saw that there were many cards as well. He also noticed that everyone was not as upbeat as usual.

Branch overheard a group of trolls discussing something he hadn't even thought about. "Who do you think is going to rule the village now?" one troll asked. Another said,  "I don't know, but I think Peppy might take over as king again." Branch thought it was reasonable, but then he heard something else. "What if," another troll said, "it's Branch? I mean, he was dating the queen."

Branch froze. What if it was him? He didn't want to think about replacing Poppy. She was a great leader. Naive and stubborn, yes, but great nonetheless. He just continued to walk to the pod. Once he was there, he walked inside.

He winced seeing the queen laying on her bed, no sign of life. He whispered, "Please wake up. I need you by my side now." He decided to sing her their favorite song. He took a deep breath, trying not to think about what's going on, and sang.

You with the sad eyes, don't be discouraged, oh I realize,
It's hard to take courage in a world full of people,
You can lose sight of it all,
The darkness inside you can make you feel so small.

Branch looked at the queen once more. He was facing the wall, not wanting to look at her for too long. He turned back, but once he did, he heard coughing. He was positive it was coming from outside, but he still kept his ears perked. He continued to sing.

Show me a smile, then,
Don't be unhappy, can't remember when
💗 I last saw you laughing 💗

Branch heard a dry, shaky voice harmonizing with his on the last line. He tuned around so quickly, he almost hurt himself. He then saw Poppy, awake and sitting up. She harmonized with him, hearing her favorite song.

"Poppy?!"