AN: This chapter has been in my Docs for about a month. I was going to post this along with the next chapter, but that one's taking a little longer than I would like. I'll finish it as soon as I can.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TROLLS (2016). IT IS OWNED BY DREAMWORKS.

After the emotional reunion with his long lost mother, Branch opened the door to the top layer of his bunker, carrying Poppy's basket and his collected sticks in with some difficulty. He turned to invite Ebony in, but was startled to see that she was right behind him. Her footsteps were so light, that he hadn't even heard her move.

As Branch closed and locked the door, Ebony carefully eyed the area in which she was. The young troll just watched her, still not believing that she was right in front of him. After scanning the rather barren space, she looked back at Branch.

"Is this the entirety?" Ebony asked, confusion present in her voice.

Branch seemed to be confused as well.

"Of your bunker," she explained.

Branch realized that they were only on the top floor and felt a twinge of excitement. He walked to the center of the floor, where the elevator shaft was, and set the basket down by his feet.

"No," he said. "There's more below ground."

Ebony gave the elevator shaft a somewhat wary onceover, before joining her son on the elevator platform. As soon as the elevator descended, her hand went around his shoulder, pulling him closer to her. Branch's eyes widened at the sudden movement, but he didn't say anything. He figured that she simply didn't know what to expect.

As they passed by the different floors, Ebony gasped in surprise. Any uneasiness she felt was gradually being taken over by pure fascination. Branch wasn't aware of this, as his eyes were downcast. This was the first time that anyone had been in his bunker. He never even expected that he would willingly invite someone in, but this was a different set of circumstances. Even so, he couldn't help but feel an anxious pit form in his stomach.

When they reached the bottom level, neither of them said anything. Slowly, Ebony released her hold on Branch and walked into the living area. Branch finally looked up at his mother and saw just how small she was. He had noticed while they were hugging, but didn't care at the moment. As far back as he could remember, she was always slender and not round bellied like most trolls. Now, she was noticeably skinnier and the sides of her waist went inwards, resembling an inverted triangle. He couldn't help but feel alarmed at the implications of her loss in weight. On top of that and the multiple marks on her visible flesh, she had a notched ear. It was on the top curve of her left ear, and was relatively small. Whether it was bitten off or snagged, the possibilities drove Branch crazy. What happened to her over the past ten years and how had she survived?

"Branch?" Ebony asked.

"Y-yes," he said, shakily.

"Did you… build this?"

"Yes," he said, uncharacteristically shyly.

"By yourself?"

He gave a simple nod.

Ebony had an understandable look of disbelief on her face. That anxiousness in his stomach kicked up a notch.

"How long did it take you to build this?" she asked.

"Five weeks," he said.

As Ebony stood there, processing what he just said, Branch looked away and nervously grabbed at the patches on his shorts.

"My God," Ebony breathed out.

Branch now felt his insecurities nipping at him. He was suddenly very glad that after his day of cleaning and organizing, the bunker looked presentable.

Ebony walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, making him look up at her. At that moment, he realized that she was now only taller than him by a few inches. When she looked at him, her eyes were filled with pride and reverence.

"You were always exceptional, but this-"

She stopped to look around once more.

"This is astonishing."

At that simple statement, Branch felt his face warming up and the corners of his mouth twitch upwards. To anyone else, he probably would have said something along the lines of "I planned it for months, it better be," but he was humbled by her words. Having her approval reassured him in a way that he hadn't anticipated. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that he felt...

Branch cleared his throat.

"There's, um, there's more rooms down the hallway," he said, awkwardly pointing in said direction.

Ebony nodded, giving him a look of understanding, and let go of Branch. Branch grabbed Poppy's basket and led the way.

As they made their way down the hallway, Branch pointed out and briefly explained each room that they passed. She seemed to perk up slightly when he mentioned his soon to be armory. He smiled, remembering her love of weapons.

Remembering something, he looked down at her hip to see a holster, carrying the knife that he saw last night.

That's why it felt so familiar , he realized.

Suddenly, he got a flashback of his hand reaching out to grab it. Only it wasn't from the previous night, it was long before that. He snapped out of that quickly as he turned his attention back to Ebony, who was now ahead of him, looking into the last room.

When Ebony stepped into the kitchen doorway, the first thing she noticed was the different texture of the floor. She looked down at the dark hardwood and realized what wood it was made from.

Ebony , she thought.

Branch, now standing next to her, looked almost embarrassed. Then, Ebony put a hand on his cheek and tenderly kissed his forehead. She looked at him with pure affection and Branch had a wide eyed gaze, overwhelmed by the action.

Out of nowhere, her stomach growled loudly.

Branch jumped at the sound and Ebony let out a snort of laughter.

"Of course I'm still hungry," she said, mainly to herself.

Branch cursed himself, remembering that he hadn't cooked anything before leaving the bunker. Then, he remembered what he was carrying.

"You can sit down at the table," he offered. "I'll grab something."

She quickly accepted, ran a hand over his hair, then went to sit in the dining area. Meanwhile, Branch was carefully peeling the wrapping off of Poppy's care package. Inside were fruit, nuts, cookies, cupcakes, new shampoo with conditioner (Castor and Hemp Oil), a large pack of coffee grounds, and a big, teal card that simply said BRANCH . He grabbed the card, turning it away to avoid the glitter shower. Oddly enough, he opened it and nothing came out.

Unbelievable.

When turned back around, the card revealed earth tones, much like at the get together. There were pop up figures of all of the Snack Pack forming a group hug around Branch.

Don't be afraid to open up to us. We're here for you.

Below that was the signature of everyone in the Snack Pack. He had a feeling that Creek's might have been begrudgingly, but he still signed it. That was something that he couldn't ignore. Also, Satin, Chenille and Poppy each wrote something personal with their signatures.

Hi Branch! I hope that you're feeling better, we were really worried about you. I know you want to be by yourself sometimes, but you're not alone. We want to take care of you, like you do us.

Love you bro,

Satin

Branch, I know that you're going through a lot right now, but don't think that we care about you any less. We want to help you, so please let us help.

Oh, and don't forget about next week, cuz I won't!

Love you jerk,

Chenille

Branch, I don't always get you, but you're still my friend. Even when you pull away, I'll be there when you come back, no matter how bad or unhappy you feel. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Love your buddy,

Poppy

Oh no. Poppy had gone into full sentimental mode. And he could not deny that it tugged on his heart strings.

Dammit Poppy.

Remembering who was waiting for him, he grabbed an armful of the food and headed into the living room. Branch placed everything on the table as neatly as he could.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," he said automatically, before sitting across from her.

Ebony wasted no time eating the fruit in front of her. She took large, but slow bites, savoring it as if it would disappear in moments. Branch barely ate anything as he mostly watched his mother. If she noticed, she didn't say anything.

After a bit of time had passed, Branch found himself in an uncomfortable silence. He had no idea how to start a conversation or if it was necessary. For a split second, he thought that Dr. Plum would be helpful at that time. Branch grabbed a chocolate chip cookie (his favorite), then took a bite. It was really good, no doubt, but it would be better with some-

"Do you want some hot chocolate?" he asked.

Ebony looked at him, with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes," she said.

Branch got up and went back into the kitchen, feeling somewhat relieved at having something to do.

He finally had his mother back, after ten years, and he couldn't even talk to her.

What is wrong with me?

Branch heated up the kettle and got out the ingredients, feeling a weird sense of deja vu. After preparing the mugs, he stood back, waiting for the water to boil. Looking back at Ebony, Branch's eyes wandered down to see that her wound had been covered up.

"It looked really ugly, didn't it?" Ebony said.

Branch looked a bit embarrassed for staring.

"It's alright, I understand," she said.

She rubbed her arm, flinching slightly.

"How did you get away?" he couldn't help but ask. "Horse wasps are huge."

Ebony frowned at the memory of encountering that damned bug.

"I stabbed it in the abdomen," Ebony stated. "Hit a few organs."

She actually killed it? He didn't expect that at all. The one time that he ran into a horse wasp, he'd managed a few hits on it before barely escaping.

"How?" Branch asked, eyes wide. "Their exoskeletons are incredibly strong."

"Not if you have a really sharp knife," she said, bluntly. "And besides..."

Ebony glared down at the floor.

"I've had a lot worse happen to me."

There was silence between them for a minute before Ebony's eyes widened.

"Oh dear God," she muttered.

She looked up at Branch with softer eyes.

"Honey, I'm sorry," Ebony said. "I didn't mean..."

"No, it's… it's okay," he said, unsure.

The kettle could not have chosen a better time to whistle.

Branch fixed up two mugs of hot chocolate and remembered to add the Mentha leaves. After waiting for them to cool down, he went into the dinning room. He gave his mother her mug, then returned to his seat. As he enjoyed the familiar smell before taking a relaxing sip, Ebony was having a different reaction. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the smell, but that she noticed the additional scent of the Mentha leaves. Of course she'd recognized it. It was a very distinguishable smell and one that she knew all too well. It fired up a bittersweet feeling in her heart. Ebony took a long, deliberately slow sip of the warm beverage. Afterwards, she gently set the cup down, then brought a hand up to her mouth. She breathed deeply and balled her hand into a fist. Branch looked away from his own mug, concerned at her change of demeanor. Her gaze was unfocused, her mind racing with memories. In seconds, Ebony's eyes filled with tears and her other hand went over her heart. Branch started to panic and was about to ask her what was wrong.

"Mentha," she said, barely above a whisper.

Just like that, Branch understood what happened. And he felt like an absolute idiot. One oversight and he made his mother cry.

Nice going Branch.

His feet moved on their own as he somehow ended up kneeling on the floor next to Ebony. Her eyes were closed and tears were running down her face yet again.

"Mom?"

Branch hated that he sounded like a scared child. Ebony reached out and took his hand, gently squeezing it.

"I'll be okay, baby," she said, sniffling softly. "I just need a moment."

Branch got another sense of deja vu that made him feel sad.

"I'm sorry," Branch said. "I-"

"No," she said, through her tears. "It can't be helped."

Ebony rubbed his hand as she looked off into the distance again. She thought about the family that they were currently missing. The ones that Branch had known when he was young. Images rushed through her head involuntarily, each one jabbing at her heart.

"I wish he could be here with us right now," she finally said. "Him and Grandma."

Branch ignored the guilt that panged in his heart and wrapped his arms around her as if to say "I do too". Ebony gave into her emotions with a crying gasp and pulled him closer to her, kissing his head repeatedly. Regardless of the circumstances, she was happy to finally hold her son again. That alone was a blessing.

"My baby," she said, voice cracking. "I was so scared that I wouldn't see you again."

Branch simply listened to his mother and leaned into her.

"I never would've stopped looking," she told him, firmly. "Ever."

Branch felt two things at that moment: the acceptance that his mother truly was with him and the absolute security that it gave him. They could talk about things later. At the time, they were too overwhelmed and needed some time to simply be. For the first time in a while, Branch just wanted to be in the moment.

AN: Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment! The next chapter will be up as soon as I finish.