Corkscrew and Ali both hid behind a nearby rock, poking their heads around to keep an eye out.

"Is it still there?" Corkscrew asked cautiously. Ali squinted her eyes as she looked around.

"It's there alright...we can't let it see us," Ali replied. "If it does, it's game over for us." Both of them took a deep breath. "It's now or never..." Corkscrew nodded back, they got into a stance and were ready to pounce. 

"CATCH IT!" Corkscrew and Ali both yelled and started running towards a distracted crab. The crab crawled away as fast as it could through the sand with the two lykars chasing it. But before they could catch it, the crab hid in a crack in a rock, the place it's been hiding from them. 

"Oh no you don't!" Ali barked. She managed to grab one of the crab's legs in her jaws and pulled with all her might. Instead of pulling the crab out of the cave, she ripped the leg off of it instead. 

"Ugh! That's the third time today!" Corkscrew groaned. He loved chasing crabs but the best part is eating it at the end when you catch it.

"Yeah..." Ali grunted, with the leg still in her teeth. "You wanna split this leg with me?" Corkscrew perked up as he grabbed the opposite end of the leg and bit it off. The two of them ate on the leg happily while they pulled the shell off.

Now that Spirit, Askar, Ali, Corkscrew and Ula were home safely with their pod, the lykars all around could celebrate and relax, knowing that they were all together again. Spirit lay by the water as she felt the salty air on her face, she had missed the feeling of it. As she relaxed, she heard a small voice coming from the glass panels, it was a small troll standing with her mom and pointing at Spirit excitedly.

"Mommy look! Look at that one!" The young troll squealed as she jumped up and down with excitement. Spirit smiled at her and dove into the water. She swam in front of the glass panels right where the little troll was standing. The little troll's face lit up when she saw Spirit swimming, she put her hands against the glass as if she was touching Spirit's face. The young troll reminded her of when Branch came to the glass panels and she would press her nose against the glass while he put his hand against it. This is why she loved interacting with the trolls, seeing their faces light up when they see her, she loved the feeling of making them happy and inspired. As the young troll and her mom skipped away, Spirit was reminded of the pain in her flukes. Her tail definitely wasn't fully healed and she needed another brace for it. She soon spotted Poppy and Iris headed towards her. She jumped out of the water and ran over to meet them. She nuzzled both of them with her head as she made a purring-like sound.

"Ha! That's the Spirit I know!" Iris stroked Spirit's head.

"Awww I've missed this adorable furry face!" Poppy cooed as she hugged Spirit's head. Spirit then looked at Iris as she tilted her head. Iris knew exactly what Spirit was thinking.

"Don't worry girl, Branch is okay." Iris said to her. "I know you want to see him. And we'll reunite you two the moment we can-" Iris paused as she started to get an idea. She looked over at Poppy who had the same look on her face. They both had the same idea.

***

The sunlight through the window hit Branch's closed eyes, causing him to squint. He could feel his surroundings as he started to regain consciousness. He soon became aware of the aches and pains in his body, especially around his back and sides. His head was also aching, but it wasn't too bad. As he slowly opened his tired eyes he looked around. He wasn't familiar with the area. Where was he? A hospital room? His ears twitched as he remembered what happened. Those lykars attacked him and Spirit....

"Spirit!" Branch loudly yelped as he sat up quickly. His voice alerted a few nurses as they poked their heads around the door of the room.

"He's awake!" One nurse stated to Iris and Poppy who had just walked down the corridor. They both ran into the room to see a very shocked-looking Branch. Poppy approached him and gently placed a hand on his knee.

"Where is she?! Is she okay?! I need to get to her!" Branch panicked. Poppy moved her hand from his knee to his cheek.

"Branch, easy." Poppy said gently. "You're okay, you just woke up." Branch calmed down slightly.

"H-how long have I been unconscious?" Branch asked. 

"Not long, you've been here since yesterday." Poppy replied.

"Do you remember what happened, Buddy?" Iris asked Branch. He brought his hand to his forehead.

"Last thing I remember was that dark lykar pouncing at me...and Spirit...she was being attacked..." Branch trailed off. "Is she okay?"

"She's absolutely fine," Iris assured. "She reunited with her pod and so did the other lost lykars." 

"She's been at the lagoon, she was pretty tired when she returned." Poppy explained, she stroked Branch's aching back up and down gently in a slow rhythm. "She really misses you." Branch smiled, he also missed Spirit. Sure, they helped each other fight off the lykars but that wasn't a proper reunion...far from it.

"Well the moment I can, I'm going to see her!" Branch assured. Both Poppy and Iris looked at each other mischievously, Branch tilted his head. "What?"

"It's nothing!" Both of them said. 

***

A few hours later, Branch was released from the hospital and Poppy and Iris helped him back to his bunker so that he could rest.

"So what were you two smiling about back at the hospital?" Branch asked.

"It's just...we have a surprise waiting for you!" Poppy squealed. Branch was confused and just shrugged his shoulders. When they got back to the bunker, Spirit was sitting there wagging her tail. Branch didn't know whether to be surprised and happy to see her, or terrified that she'll crush his bunker beneath her paws, he seemed to be a mix of both which gave him a very strange expression on his face. Spirit spotted Branch and ran over to greet him, her tail hitting the periscope on top of Branch's bunker and snapping it which made Branch cringe noticeably. 

As Spirit lowered her head to meet Branch's eye level, he couldn't help but smile and laugh at Spirit's excited face. He didn't have the guts to be mad at her for possibly crushing his bunker, all he could think about was that Spirit was finally back with him again! He had tears of joy forming in his eyes as he hugged her head.

"I knew you'd come back, Spirit!" Branch chuckled. Spirit then nudged him with his snout and let him climb up onto her head.

"And this time, I'm here to stay!" Spirit added as Branch slid down the side of her face and onto the ground, nuzzling her face against him. Tekai suddenly came sprinting towards the other trolls and soon got a confused yet surprised look on her face when she saw them with Spirit.

"Ah! Should have known this started with you guys!" Tekai chuckled. The three trolls all looked at each other, puzzled.

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked. Tekai led them into the main square of the village to find several lykars exploring and trolls of all ages interacting with them, surprisingly they weren't freaking out. 

"I'm guessing they saw you lead Spirit here and they followed!" Tekai said. Spirit perked up as she leaped over to greet the other lykars, almost crushing several buildings on her way. Spirit caught up with Askar who was sniffing at one of the trolls' colorful pods, when they spotted each other, they both nuzzled their heads together.

"Awwwhhh!!!" Poppy, Branch and Iris cooed. 

"How adorable! They love each other!" Poppy said. 

"Get a room!....or a...rock-pool?" Tekai shouted, then she leaned over to Poppy and Branch. "Besides you two are the real love-birds here!" She teased, punching Branch in the arm.

"Well...you're not wrong," Poppy wrapped her arms around Branch's back and pulled him in towards her. Branch went bright purple with blush. Iris could tell the two of them wanted some alone time so she and Tekai left them and went to go control the lykars.

"You know...I really appreciate you supporting me through this," Branch said. "And doing whatever you could to make me feel better...I don't know what I'd do without you." Poppy smiled from ear to ear.

"For you Branch, anything! I know you would do the same for me." Poppy replied as she kissed his lips and moved her hands to the small of his back. "You mean the whole world to me!" Branch's cheeks and ears turned more purple than Poppy had ever seen them.

"You are the world to me," Branch said back to her. 

"Aren't they cute?" Iris said while stroking one of the lykars' heads.

"That's disgusting!" Tekai joked. Iris raised an eyebrow at her. Spirit then nudged Branch's back with her snout to get his attention, she then used her snout to point to the direction of the lagoon, indicating Branch to follow her.

"Alright girl! I'm coming!" Branch said to her.

"Are you sure you don't want to rest, Branch?" Poppy asked.

"I've been sleeping since yesterday, I think I've had enough rest!" Branch chuckled. Poppy smiled back at him, following him and Spirit to the lagoon.

"Uh just one more thing!" Tekai added. "What are we gonna do with these guys?" Tekai pointed to the lykars still in the village. Spirit made a squeal sound to call the other lykars, telling them to follow her.

***

When they arrived at the lagoon, Spirit ran ahead and jumped up onto the lagoon edge to wait for them to catch up. Storm then suddenly rammed into her, knocking her into the water. When Spirit surfaced again, she saw Storm giving her a smug look.

"Got you that time!" Storm exclaimed. "I have to make up for the time you've been gone!" Spirit smiled before jumping back onto the ledge and pushing Storm in the water with her.

"You're in for it now!" Spirit said with determination. 

"You're gonna have to catch me first!" Storm suddenly dove into the water swimming as fast as he could with Spirit following behind. She tried to catch up to him, but couldn't swim as fast because of her tail flukes. Branch watched through the glass panels and noticed Spirit's strange swimming, just like how she swam before her brace was made. He looked at her, concerned. He then jumped up onto the lagoon edge and called Spirit over to him. She obeyed and swam over to meet him, nudging his face with her nose in the process. Branch went over to where her tail was and tried to reach out to touch it, causing Spirit to freak out slightly.

"It's okay, girl." Branch calmed her down. "I just need to check your flukes." Spirit's flukes were bent again, but this time they looked even worse than before. "What happened to your brace?"

"It broke off when we became separated with the pod," Spirit answered. 

"Tekai, do you think you could build another?" Branch asked.

"It's always Tekai to the rescue, isn't it?" Tekai said sarcastically. "Yeah I'll make another one, but you have to help me this time!" 

"Okay, deal!" Branch chuckled. Spirit grunted, wanting to spend time with Branch. "It's okay, I'll be back soon!"

***

While Branch left with Tekai to work on the brace, Iris was playing with Spirit. She sat by the panels and did actions so that Spirit could copy her, such as waving her hands and Spirit waved her flippers. She lay on her back and looked at Spirit upside down, before she knew it, Spirit had also flipped herself upside down and stuck her tongue out. Poppy came down to the glass panels with something in her hands.

"Hey Spirit! Look what I found!" Poppy called. She was holding the toy that she made for Spirit when she was stuck in the lagoon, the toy was made up of two coconuts connected by a rope and each coconut was filled with beads, like maracas for a lykar! Spirit's face perked up as she saw it. Poppy threw the toy over the panels and it splashed in the water before Spirit grabbed it in her mouth and shook it around, loving the sound the beads made.

"Where did you find it? I thought we lost that!" Iris asked, smiling as she watched Spirit share the toy with some other lykars. Both Iris and Poppy started walking to the lagoon edge.

"I kept it after she left," Poppy said. "As a little reminder of her!" As they knelt down by the edge, Spirit surfaced with the toy in her mouth. "But I could never forget this little goofball!" Poppy exclaimed as she stroked Spirit's head. The two trolls soon spotted Branch walking back to the lagoon.

"Hey Branch!" Iris waved, Spirit thrashed her head around as she spotted him and swam over to the glass panels to meet him. Branch smiled as he saw her. "What happened? I thought you were helping Tekai build a new brace." 

"Well, I was..." Branch said as he sat down on the edge with them. "But every time I tried to help, she shouted 'get your butt out of my workshop!'" Poppy and Iris looked at each other, confused. "So I left her to do it."

"What did you do to make her say that?" Poppy asked.

"I picked up a hammer." Branch replied. "But hey, at least I can spend time with-" Before Branch could finish his sentence, Spirit grabbed Branch by his vest and pulled him into the water. He surfaced and coughed. "Thanks for the early warning!" Branch said sarcastically as he splashed Spirit, causing Spirit to spit water at him before nuzzling her head against his. They both dove underwater and swam alongside each other, Spirit nudged Branch with her snout and surfaced her head with him on her nose. "I'm really glad you're here again, girl." Branch said, still on Spirit's nose. Spirit made a purring-like noise before dropping him back into the water. 

"Want to see something fun?" Spirit asked, excitedly.

"A good fun or a bad fun?" Branch chuckled. Spirit let him climb up onto her head.

"Both! Now hold on!" Spirit commanded, before Branch could react, Spirit dove underwater with Branch holding on to her ears. She then jumped high into the air with Branch who was barely holding onto her head, screaming. They both landed with a large splash. 

"Don't EVER do that again!" Branch panted, Spirit let out a squeal of happiness. They both saw Poppy and Iris laughing on the lagoon edge. They swam over to them and Branch jumped up onto the edge, completely drenched from his ears to his tail. Spirit rested her head on the ledge her big blue eyes looking into Branch's, causing him to smile. They both knew that they were now officially reunited.