That's Why I Love You Chapter 2
I do not own Trolls or any of its characters or the title
*This is a genderbent fanfic of Trolls
"Thank you, that was most wonderful."
Poppy opened his eyes as the dream finished; once again it was always just those words and nothing else. He had been having the dream for some time now and he could never understand why. He didn't know why it was always just those words and he could never remember where he heard them from. And yet they felt so familiar. All he knew was that there was a sense of comfort and happiness whenever he dreamt of those words and when he heard it in the same voice over and over again. It made him happy for some reason; he wished he could figure out why. Well he guessed there were some things that would never be answered.
He yawned as little and that was when he felt the warmth of the sun hit his room in the pod he shared with his mother, Queen Peppy. He immediately stretched his arms and jumped out of bed to get ready in his normal routine, as always there was a pep in his step. That was normal for a Troll especially one like him, he always loved to greet the new day with a big smile and think about all the fun things he was going to do. For today it was the same as always but it never got old to the Trolls or to him. They all loved to dance, sing and hug whenever they could, their other favorite past times were partying, playing games and scrap booking. Really anything related to fun made a Troll's life worth living for. It was also the same reason why they had to flee the Bergens twenty years ago; they were envious of their happiness. Happiness was what made a Troll who they were. Well Poppy couldn't say the every Troll was that way. There was one particular troll that defied all expectations of being one.
Her name was Branch. The only gray troll in their village and probably in the whole world, or at least that's how he saw it.
Everyone in Troll Village was very familiar with Branch due to how different she was from them. She was paranoid, cynical, sarcastic, and blunt and she never liked to do anything that the other Trolls did. Instead she spent most of her days either staying in her secret bunker or going out to collect more survival supplies from the forest or trying to warn the village about possible Bergen attacks. She wasn't very popular in the village due to these reasons but she was still a troll and therefore one of the people he was going to be responsible for when he became king. He cared about her in the same way he cared about all of his fellow Trolls. She was different; he wasn't going to deny that but at the same time that's what intrigued him the most. She never fell into the normal crowd here in Troll Village, she stood out from the rest for a multitude of reasons and it was because of these reasons that Poppy was determined to get her to be happy. He wanted her to be happy especially when it looked like she hadn't been happy in a long time. He never understood the reasons why and he never asked her but that just made him even more determined. Somehow and someday he would get to see Branch happy, he just knew it.
"And speaking of Branch I have to give her an invitation to tonight's party," Poppy reminded himself as he finished getting ready.
Tonight's party was celebrating DJ Suki's new music equipment he had constructed with the use of bugs, it was supposed to create colorful dance lights as the music played. Tonight would be the first time he would get to test it out. Poppy was looking forward to it, then again he always looked forward to having a party. When they went all out, they went all out and today was no different. And just like any other party Poppy made an invitation especially for Branch. He was going to deliver it to her after he met up with his friends to make sure that everything was planned for tonight's party. Even though he knew that she would most likely reject it again at the same time he wanted her to feel included and that she had a choice. He didn't realize that was ironic especially when he didn't know about Branch's situation, she didn't have much of a choice when it came to her current situation. And little did he know that the female Troll he was currently thinking about was no longer at her home. He placed the invitation in his hair and was now ready.
"Well time to greet the new day!" Poppy exclaimed as he skipped to the other part of the pod he lived in.
Along the way he ran into his mother, she was enjoying a morning cup of tea and reading a book. She looked up from her book to see her son, he looked ready to go. This wasn't surprising; her son always looked ready to go. It was one of the reasons he was so popular and why all the girls adored him. She smiled at her son and welcomed him.
"Good morning Poppy," Queen Peppy greeted.
"Good morning Mom," Poppy replied. "I'm just on my way out."
"Are you getting ready for the party tonight?" she asked.
"Yeah, DJ Suki wants to show off his new dancing equipment. And what better way to do it than at a party?" Poppy said with enthusiasm in his voice.
Queen Peppy chuckled at Poppy's tone but she was quick to remind him of something.
"Well that's great and all but remember not to go too crazy," she stated. "Remember what happened the last time you did so?"
Blush spread across Poppy's face, he placed a hand behind his head and rubbed it sheepishly. Yeah he remembered what happened the last time he partied too hard, well honestly he didn't really remember anything. The last thing he remembered was following a glow bug into the forest and then he woke up next to a mushroom next to the village. He blamed the fact that he went overboard with sampling all of the fruit drinks and the sugary food there, then there was the fact that he had done so much dancing with everybody especially with Creek. After all it was her birthday that day, he wanted her to enjoy it as much as possible but he kind of ruined it by making everyone worry about him until they found him next to the mushroom. After that incident the other Trolls always made sure that he didn't have a repeat of it. The last thing they wanted was for him to get seriously hurt, he was lucky that he didn't the first time. Well thankfully there had yet to be incident like that again.
That was about two months ago.
"Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine. The Snack Pack will keep an eye on me, they've been doing so for the past two months," Poppy assured.
"I know but be careful still and don't go overboard," Queen Peppy said. "Other than that have fun. I love you."
Poppy went over to his mother and gave her a hug before leaving, Queen Peppy returned the hug.
"I love you too Mom, bye!" Poppy exclaimed as he ran out the pod.
Queen Peppy was still smiling as she watched her son leave. Then her expression became serious, the time was coming for Poppy to take his place as King of the Trolls. She that's what her husband wanted before his sacrifice at the hands of the Bergens, Poppy never got the chance to know his father since she was still pregnant with him when his father was eaten. Even before he was born his father always used to say that their baby was going to be a boy, he just knew it was going to be a boy and after his death she was happy with the fact that he was right. She saw her husband in their son and he wanted him to become King so he could protect the future generation of Trolls. His death was one of the reasons why she revolted against the Bergens and got the Trolls to safety, she didn't want to see to any one of them go through the same pain she went through when she lost her loved one. Raising Poppy alone was difficult but she kept going for him and for his father.
Poppy was old enough to take the crown, he took care of his people and every Troll in the village adored him. He would make an excellent King; she would discuss it with him tomorrow since she wanted him to enjoy the party today. She took a sip of her tea and returned to reading her book.
Poppy felt the warmth of the sun hit his body and he twirled around a little before seeing his friends. They were known as the Snack Pack, it was his idea to give them that title. He thought it was cute and very fitting of the group of colorful Trolls. There was Cooper, DJ Suki, Girl Diamond, Fuzzbert, Biggie and her pet Ms. Dinkles, Satin and Chenille, Smidge and Creek. He saw that they were gathering around DJ Suki, he was giving them a sneak peek of what they would be expecting at the party. Poppy smiled and he used his hair to jumped to where his friends were. Once he landed safely he was greeted by the smiles of his friends.
"Poppy!" they exclaimed.
"Hey you can't start the party without me!" Poppy stated. "Even if the actual party hasn't started yet."
The female Troll known as Creek turned around to see that it was Poppy, the son of the Queen of Trolls. Creek had purple skin, sky blue eyes and blue hair with teal at its tips. She wore a bright yellow dress that had a strap around one of her shoulders. She was considered to be very beautiful amongst the trolls and popular amongst the males. She was aware of her status because of this and couldn't be any happier with it.
"Don't worry Poppy, DJ Suki was showing us a demonstration," Creek said as she walked towards the prince. "Good morning Poppy, boop."
Creek tapped Poppy's nose as she said this making the male Troll blush, he chuckled a little as well. The rest of the Snack Pack couldn't help but notice the look Poppy was giving to Creek; it was one full of love and admiration. It was no secret that Poppy had a crush on Creek, she was aware of this fact but she waited for the right time for Poppy to say it. He had yet to say it due to his nervousness and since he didn't really know how to tell someone he liked them to that extent. She would wait though since she knew he couldn't resist her for long.
"So anyway," Cooper started. "What are the plans for tonight's party Poppy?"
Poppy took his attention off Creek and turned it to Cooper and the rest of his friends.
"Okay so first we need to start decorating. Girl Diamond and Satin and Chenille, you three get some of the Trolls in the village and start making the decorations. After you're finished with that start putting them up. Biggie and Ms. Dinkles and Smidge you can help DJ Suki get his gear and equipment ready and set up. Creek, Fuzzbert and Cooper, you send out the invitations that I made last night. They're in the arts and crafts pod."
Poppy was already sounding like a king despite still being a prince; his friends couldn't help but admire that about him.
"But wait what are you going to do Poppy?" Biggie asked.
Poppy looked at the blue Troll with a smile they were all too familiar with, they had only seen it when a certain Troll was involved. That Troll's name was Branch, the gray Troll that everyone tried to avoid due to her personality and kill joy attitude. They didn't like having her around since she was always trying to ruin their fun and warn them about the Bergens, something she would go overboard with. They just couldn't understand why the Troll was the way she was, why couldn't she be happy like the rest of them? But for some reason their bright and happy friend Poppy would always approach the girl with an invitation to a special occasion. Needless to say she never went to any of those special occasions. They couldn't blame Poppy for always trying though, after all he always found the good in everything and he always saw the bright side.
Other the other hand, Creek found it to be annoying and useless. Even with Poppy's personality she never understood why he put up with the gray Troll. Poppy always treated Branch differently than he did the other Trolls; he spent more time thinking of ways to incorporate Branch into their village's lifestyle than he did with her. Another thing that made her mad was the fact that he put more effort in making invitations for Branch; he never did that for anyone else. Not even for her. True he had done other things for her like throwing her that nice birthday party but that was still not enough. She didn't understand what made her so special. Was it because she was gray? Or because she had no one? Did Poppy feel sorry for her? If that was the case then he needed to learn to stop doing that especially when Branch had never given him the light of day despite him doing so multiple times. She never voiced her thoughts but sometimes she wished that the gray Troll just disappeared. After all Branch didn't have anything to offer to anybody, forget the invitation attempts she found Branch in general to be annoying and useless. But Poppy was so determined still, she let out a sigh and approached the Prince of Trolls.
"If you say so Poppy, then go do it," Creek said. "You're such a good person."
Poppy blushed.
"Thank you Creek," Poppy responded. "As soon as I deliver the invitation I'll come back to with y'all and the rest of the village with the preparations."
The Snack Pack looked at each other before finally relenting; they nodded their heads in agreement.
"Okay then see you in a few Poppy!" Cooper exclaimed.
"Don't be late now!" Satin said.
"And don't forget to bring your partying spirit with you!" Chenille added. "But not too much, you remember what happened last time!
The other chuckled at Chenille's comment; they remembered the last time Poppy partied too hard. It became a little joke amongst their group. Creek in particular found it funny since it was done at her birthday party. Poppy gave them a mischievous smile, one that showed he was a good sport when it came to the joke.
"Oh don't sound like my mom, you know I'll never forget either of the two!" Poppy replied as he started to walk towards the forest.
The Snack Pack went their way to do what Poppy had said as he went to go deliver the invitation. Only he knew where Branch lived and Branch always insisted that she didn't like anyone else knowing where she lived, that's why he would always be the one to give her the invitations. He smiled and hummed a little as he skipped to Branch's home. Along the way the words in his dream kept repeating in his head.
"Thank you, that was most wonderful."
It was starting to bother him now, the fact that he didn't know where he heard those words before and the fact that he didn't know who muttered them. The voice was so soothing and was like an angel's; one thing was for certain though it belonged to a female. Maybe it was supposed to be his mother? After all she had those traits in her voice. But why would she say something like that? He shook his head in confusion; despite what he had thought earlier about some things being left unanswered it still bothered him. Well he couldn't dwell on it for long; Branch's home was just in front of him. He smiled and quickly ran up to the floor mat that said "GO AWAY" on it. He took out the invitation from his hair and knocked on the rock, Branch always heard him when he did it like this.
"Branch!" he called out. "Branch! Are you in there?"
To his surprise there was no answer, he looked at the mat to see that there was no disturbance. He found that strange since the gray Troll would normally respond quickly. She would slide the secret compartment of the mat to see who was out there. That was usually when she told Poppy she wasn't going anywhere and he would leave the invitation there only for it to be gone the next time he went. He never knew what Branch did with the invitations he had given her throughout the years, he just assumed she would throw them away or something since she had no problem with destroying them right in front of him and the others.
"Branch?" he questioned.
There was no answer.
"Branch? Are you there?" he asked. "I just came by to give you your invitation to tonight's party. DJ Suki is going to try out his new music equipment tonight. I thought you might be interested… you know in case you change your mind about singing and dancing."
There was still no answer. Poppy titled his head in confusion, Branch would normally be arguing with him right now over the party. She had always done so in the past. But she wasn't talking and it was too early for her to be out and about, she normally waited a little after morning to leave her bunker. He knew from past experiences of delivering her invitations. Today felt different though, it felt like something was missing. He knocked on the rock again with a little more force.
"Branch?" he called out. "Are you okay? Are you in there?"
No answer, there was nothing but silence. He thought this was really off; this wasn't Branch's normal behavior. Maybe she went out earlier than usual? He decided to wait for a little bit to see if that was the case, if it was then she should be back within a few minutes. He sat next to the rock and waited; he played with the invitation a little bit. It was designed to shoot glitter at the person who opened it; it also had a little handcrafted Branch inside it as well. He hoped that maybe this would be the day that Branch would decide to join them in the festivities; he wanted Branch to be happy just as much as he wanted the other Trolls to be happy. He waited for several minutes to see if there was any sign of Branch, there was nothing. He had a worried look on his face as he just looked around to see nothing but forest. He wondered what Branch could be doing right now. He looked at the invitation some more while looking around him. Branch was still nowhere to be seen.
After a while he could hear the commotion going on inside the village, he knew that everyone must have heard about DJ Suki's party and were all getting ready right now for it. He felt a little guilty that he wasn't there to help like he said he would but he wanted to give Branch her invitation. He always had to be there just in case she decided to come with him to the special occasion. However, after several more minutes and with more noises coming from the village Poppy decided to just leave the invitation. He hesitated at first but he did promise his friends he would be there as soon as he was done with this task. He stood up from his place and looked around once again to see if Branch was coming. To his disappointment there was still no sign of her. He sighed and looked at the mat, he placed the invitation on the mat and then put a rock over it so the wind wouldn't blow it away .
"Hey Branch!" he shouted. "If I don't know if you're in your bunker or in the forest right now but I left your invitation on your mat!"
There was still no answer, he sighed again and started to walk back to the village. This time there was no pep in his step, his shoulders were hung low as was his head. He wondered if Branch resorted to ignoring him now, maybe that was the case. After so many years of coming to her maybe she had enough of it and this was her way of telling him that. He couldn't be for certain though until he saw her again. He really hoped that this wasn't the case; he didn't want Branch to ignore him. He wanted her to open up to him but maybe today wasn't the day as he hoped it would be. He decided to let it go for now.
Along the way he noticed a certain mushroom as he entered the village. It was the same mushroom that he had been found laying next to after Creek's party. He remembered the bright sun hitting his face when he woke up, his body was a little sore but he figured it was because he had been sleeping on the ground instead of a bed. He also remembered how there was a sweet scent that lingered around him, everything about him felt so right and he felt as if his body and spirit were floating. He felt so happy but not the usual kind of happy he regularly experienced. It was different and almost indescribable, he wished that sweet scent stayed with him for a little longer but it was gone as soon as it appeared. That was right around the time he started to dream about those words.
He kept that scent, those words and that feeling in his heart and mind. He didn't know why he experienced them but he was happy he did even if it was for just that moment. He would have liked to experience it again but if he didn't know what caused it in the first place then there was no chance of that happening.
"Hey Poppy!" a voice called out.
Poppy looked to see that it was Creek, she was running towards him.
"There you are! What took you so long?" she asked. "Everyone is already getting ready for the party!"
"Sorry I was trying to give Branch her invitation but she didn't answer like she always does, I found that strange so I stayed for a little longer. I thought she might have gone into the forest to look for more survival supplies but she never showed up," Poppy explained.
Creek smiled internally, she had a concerned look externally though. Deep down she was happy that the gray Troll didn't answer Poppy's call. She hoped that Branch was ignoring Poppy now; if that was the case then maybe she could convince the Prince of Trolls to forget about Branch entirely. It was not only for his sake but the rest of the village's as well, it would have been better if they forgot about Branch. After all she didn't fit in, one should question if she was really a Troll for this reason. Whatever she was Creek was happy she didn't appear.
"Oh I'm sure she has her reasons," Creek said. "Maybe she just needs her space."
Poppy looked unconvinced but he nodded his head.
"I guess," he responded.
"You guessed right," she added. "Boop."
She tapped his nose again which made Poppy smile, he felt a little better. Creek then took Poppy's hand into hers, she started to lead him into the Troll Village.
"Now come on let's go help the others," Creek stated with a big smile on her face.
"Yeah let's go," Poppy replied.
The two Trolls went back to their home where they were greeted by the rest of the Snack Pack. They had questioned what took him so ling as well, Poppy told them the same as he told Creek and they agreed with the purple Troll's assumptions about Branch needing her space. They were happy as well since they felt like they wouldn't have to worry about Branch spoiling the fun but deep down they couldn't help but wonder what had caused Branch to suddenly ignore Poppy, this didn't include Creek though. And deep down Poppy felt the same. For the rest of the time he thought about her and little did he know she was thinking about him too.
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