Please read and review! Thanks! (Constructive criticism is great, however, no flames!)
"Um . . . Branch?"
Branch turned his head to look at his beautiful fiancee, haloed in pink-orange light from the sunset they were watching together. It was the last day before their wedding, and since she'd talked him into humoring the "you can't see the bride before the wedding" tradition, they were savoring their last moments together before officially being husband and wife. "Yeah, Poppy?"
She looked kind of nervous, he realized, the way she fidgeted with her own fingers and glanced down at the soft grass and had to take a deep breath before talking. "You know, tomorrow's our wedding, and . . ." She trailed off.
At any other time, this might've made him impatient, but right now . . . well, he'd never been more relaxed. So he gently prompted, "And. . ?"
"A wedding is a pledge . . . a pledge to whoever you're marrying, and . . ."
He smiled, somehow finding the humor in having to ask twice. "And. . ?"
"Branch, I don't want to be dependent on you."
Slowly his smile faded as he tried to figure out what she meant. "What?"
"It's not that I don't want to marry you, it's just . . ." The pink Troll paused, and he could almost see her trying to find the right words. "I don't want to be some insignificant add-on to Branch. I want to marry you, but I want to be my own person. I'm worried . . . I'm worried that everyone will see me as the housewife now, the queen who sits there and looks pretty while strong King Branch does all the hard work. You know?"
Branch took in her features, so full of worry for the future, so tentative as she confided in him, afraid he wouldn't understand—he could see it in her eyes. She bit her lip as she waited for him to respond—she was afraid of that, too, that his response would be brash and power-hungry like something Creek might've said to her.
His face melted to sympathy, melted to a sympathetic smile, as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "Oh, Poppy," he said, leaning their heads together. "You are the most independent Troll I've ever met. No one in their right mind will think that about you, I promise. We always said you were nothing like that, right? And you're going to continue to be nothing like that, all your life, because you're Poppy and everyone knows that Poppy can do anything she puts her mind to. Alright?"
She gave him a small, scared smile and nod. "I guess so."
"So tomorrow I'll pledge myself to you, and you'll pledge yourself to me, and we'll be married, but you will still be Poppy, the queen who saved her Trolls' lives more than once. And who showed her husband the ropes of running a kingdom, which I'm sure took him forever to get the hang of."
Poppy laughed and nuzzled into him. "Our friends say you don't have a fun side, but they're wrong."
"Glad you think so, Pops."
Also, what she says at the end is separate from my "Fun Side" story, since I know it doesn't make sense time-wise. I had just the beginnings of an idea for that when this was written. Please review, but no flames! Thanks!