Hello troll fans!

I wanted to start by saying I'm officially back to work from the covid lock down, but I am still hoping to keep updating weekly but it may lag a bit with updating.

This chapter does contain the funeral. I'm lucky to have never been to a funeral yet, so I'm not quite sure how everything goes. I was supposed to attend one but because of covid I couldn't travel to it.

I hope you enjoy reading this one. I love reading your comments so much! I don't own trolls but Rose is my OC.

—————————————

The night was rough. This was the fifth time Rose woke up screaming and crying. Branch and Poppy immediately went to see if she was okay every time, and they would stay with her until she fell asleep. Branch looked at Poppy who was mid yawn. "You go back to sleep, I'm going to stay with her for a while." Branch whispered to her as Rose had fallen asleep for the fifth time that night.

She shook her head, wrapping her arms lazily around his shoulders. "I'm okay, I don't mind staying up." She looked at him.

"Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and you will be giving a speech at the funeral. You should go back to sleep." He tilted his head and gave her a soft kiss. "And you know," He started, the corner of his lips lifting into a smile. "I love waking up to see your beautiful face." He chuckled when her face turned bright red.

She buried her face in his shoulder, smiling as she blushed. "Fine, I'll go back to bed." She muttered into his shoulder before she lifted her head to look at him. "And you know." She started grinning. "I guess this means I will be staying over more, because I love waking up to your handsome face as well." She quickly pecked his blushing cheek as she stood up and walked out of the room, knowing Branch was watching her leave.

Branch let out a soft chuckle as he watched her, before looking back at Rose. He rested his head on his hand, letting out a yawn as he held Rose's hand.

Poppy yawned, walking up a few hours later. She looked around confused as she didn't see Branch. She looked at her hug bracelet, seeing it hadn't gone off yet so it was still early morning. She moved to the edge of the bed, yawning again as she stretched before she stood up and grinned She could feel her chest flutter as she thought of her first night staying with Branch, even if he wasn't there at the moment. She went to the kitchen to see it was about seven thirty in the morning, around normal time she would wake up. She noticed Branchs wasn't in the kitchen, asn't on yet, which is odd for him since he's normally up around seven thirty for his coffee before the morning song.

She glanced around, still not seeing any sign of him or Rose. She thought for a moment before she quietly opened Roses door. Poppy froze at what she saw, a hand going over her mouth to keep herself quiet. She found Branch still in Roses room, asleep on the chair next to her with his head laying on the bed. She took a step inside and leaned in to see Rose had moved so her head was laying on Branchs hand, holding his hand like it was her toy. Poppy couldn't help but smile at them, before she quickly and quietly went around looking for a camera so she could show them later.

Once she had her photos she wanted, she went back to the kitchen to start making breakfasts. She didn't have the heart to wake them, they both needed as much sleep as they could get. As Poppy started prepping what she needed, she started humming a soft tune. Her soft tune soon became singing as she moved around the kitchen. She almost jumped out of her skin when a second voice joined her. She turned to see Branch smiling at her, a sleepy Rose in his arms as he walked towards the table. He placed Rose in her chair before he walked into the kitchen. "Did my singing wake you up?" She asked, grinning at him.

He shook his head. "Your singing is the best thing to wake up to." He started walking towards her, lifting his arms towards her.

Poppy quickly jumped into his arms, her legs going around his waist as her arms wrapped around his neck. She grinned as she held him, loving the feeling of having him in her arms. "Good morning Branch." She kissed him passionately.

Branch placed an arm under her, the other going around her back to keep her close as he kissed her back. "Good morning Poppy." He buried his face in her neck, smiling as he held her.

She giggled, slowly unwrapping herself around him as she nuzzled his cheek. "I have your coffee ready, and I started making breakfast if you're hungry." She said before going to Rose, seeing her falling asleep in the chair Branch placed her in. "Good morning Rose. Do you want some juice?" She giggled when Rose sleepily nodded, her eyes still closed.

"Would you like some help?" He asked, seeing her getting two cups and a mug and started getting everyone's drinks.

Poppy handed him his coffee once she had it prepared. "How about you get the table ready?" She kissed his cheek before placing Roses cup in front of her and went back to the kitchen to start cooking.

Branch took a sip of his coffee before starting to set the table, glancing over Poppys shoulder to see what she was cooking. "Are those the crepes from last night?" He asked, seeing her nod. "I can't wait. They were very good." He smiled, before going and sitting next to Rose who had her head on the table.

Poppy soon finished, walking over with two plates. "Here Rose." She placed the plate next to the child, smiling as she saw her head rise and look at the food. Poppy placed Branchs plate in front of him.

Branch gave her a soft smile. "Thank you sunshine." He saw her grin at the nickname and go back to get her own plate. Branch and Rose immediately started eating when she sat down, enjoying the warm meal in front of them as Poppy watched for a moment before digging into her own plate.

Once they finished eating Branch cleaned up while Poppy got herself ready for the day along with Rose. Rose let Poppy comb her hair as she brushed her teeth, looking at Poppy in the mirror. "Is something wrong Rose?" Poppy asked, looking down at her as she finished. She saw Rose look down, putting her toothbrush down. "Are you nervous? Or sad? Or both?" Poppy asked, putting the brush down as she saw Rose nod her head. "It isn't till noon that we have to be there, but we will go early so you can see the place before everyone arrives." Rose turned to Poppy nodding as Poppy kept talking. "I have a couple things to do before noon as well. Do you want to come with me? You can be my little helper!" Poppy smiled, seeing Rose's ears perk up as she nodded. Poppy gently moved Roses bangs out of her face, grinning when she saw Rose holding her arms up towards her. "Great! Then let's go see if Branch is almost ready then." She picked Rose up and hugged her, who hugged her back.

Poppy walked out of the bathroom to see Branch setting a pack ready. Branch looked up at her and gave them a small smile. "Are you two ready, or do you want to leave later?" He asked.

"We're ready. We even thought of a plan for the day." Poppy smiled, seeing Branch starting to smirk.

"You? Plan?" He teased, seeing Poppy rolling her eyes.

"Oh shush Branch. We decided to go check out the funeral home before it gets crowded so she knows the area, then she is going to help me with a couple things before the ceremony starts." Poppy explained, placing Rose on the floor.

Branch nodded in approval. "That is a good plan. Nothing else you need before we go? I have snacks and drinks for if you need anything, am I forgetting anything?" He looked down at Rose, shook her head. "Alright, let's go." He gave Rose a smile before walking towards the elevator. He stood by the lever as Poppy stepped on, seeing Rose quickly grabbing onto his leg as they started to ascend to the surface.

Once they got to the surface Branch opened the side entrance for them, taking a step outside as Poppy followed. Poppy looked back to see Rose standing at the entrance, hesitant about stepping out. "Come on out Rose. It's okay." She smiled, holding a hand towards her.

Rose waited a minute before taking her hand and slowly walked out. She covered her eyes with the shade from her hands as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, looking around as she saw Branch was a few steps ahead of them. Rose quickly ran to Branch, grabbing his leg as she looked around nervously. Branch immediately stopped when he felt her hands on his leg, looking down at her. "You're okay." He leaned down and patted her head. "Come here." He knelt down and picked her up, feeling her relax slightly in his arms.

Poppy smiled, seeing Branch holding a Rose in one arm so she took his free hand in hers. She brought his hand to her lips, grinning as she saw blush going to the tip of his ears. "Let's go." She said as she started dragging Branch towards the village.

As they got into the village Rose buried her face in Branchs shoulder, seeing a lot of trolls staring at her as they walked by. Branch felt her hands grip his vest. "They may stare at first, but it won't last long. Just ignore them." Branch whispered in her ear, letting go of Poppy's hand to place his hand on Roses back.

Poppy looked over at Rose, seeing her nervousness. "We're almost there. Just a little bit farther." She assured Rose, pointing to a pod close by. Poppy led them to a grey pod, opening the door and walked in. Branch followed with Rose in his arms, as their colours faded as they walked through the door. Branch looked down at his dull blue hand, before placing Rose down gently. Poppy saw Rose staring at their dulled colours. "This is normal for this pod." Poppy explained, seeing Branch staring at her. "This pod dulls the colour of trolls, to represent the sadness that everyone feels when we lose someone special. It helps others know that we understand what they are going through." She saw Rose nod as she looked around the pod, seeing the pod was full of chairs with two caskets already at the other end of the room. "Go on, you can look around." She said softly, seeing two large photos of Bea and Sterling next to the caskets.

Branch gently placed a hand on Roses back, seeing her staring at the photos. "We will be right here." He said, standing by the door with Poppy.

Rose didn't move. She stared at the photos for a few minutes, a tear coming to her eyes as she slowly headed towards the photos. Rose couldn't take her eyes off the photos, tears falling down her cheek as she sat down between the caskets, holding her bear tightly in her hand.

After fifteen minutes Branch and Poppy moved towards Rose, sitting in the front row of seats. Rose glanced at them, but stayed where she was for almost an hour. She slowly stood up and walked over to them,reaching her arm up towards them. Poppy picked her up, placing her on her lap. "Later on, we will be sitting right here. There will be a lot of people here, and I will have to go up and speak, but I will be right there." She pointed to the mic that was off to the side. Poppy continues to explain everything she could to Rose about the funeral, hoping that if she knew what will happen she will be less nervous. "It's ten now, so there's two hours until it starts. I know you said you wanted to come with me to do a few things, do you still want to? You can stay here if you want."

Rose looked up at her, before looking at the photos of her parents then back to Poppy. She opened her binder and started writing, turning it around to show Poppy once she was done. 'Go.' She then looked at Branch, showing him what she wrote.

"Go? You want me to go?" He repeated, seeing her nod her head. "I was going to…" He stopped when he saw her eyes, they almost were pleading for him to stay with them. "Of course I'm going to come with you two." He said, smiling as he saw Poppy smirking in the corner of his eye.

"Alright then, are you ready to go Rose?" She asked, ignoring Branchs look of confusion he was giving her. Rose nodded her head, holding onto Poppy as she felt her stand up. Poppy leaned towards Branch a she stood up, whispering in his ear so Rose couldn't hear. "She has you wrapped around her finger."

Branch looked at her, a small frown on his lips. "I am not." He stood up as he followed Poppy to the door.

"You so are. It's cute." She grinned at him as she walked out of the pod.

"I am not." He said, catching up to her. "If anyone was, it's you. You can't stop holding her." He smirked as he whispered to her, taking a few steps in front of her.

Poppy rolled her eyes as she continued to walk, before she headed into the center of town. "We're going into town. Do you want to hide in one of our hair, or are you okay like this?" She asked, seeing Rose looking at her before placing her head on her shoulder. "Alright, you stay right there. Oh, You are such a sweetheart." She grinned, holding Rose close as they got into the shopping section of the village. As they walked around, Rose could hear the whispers of other trolls as they watched her go by, her ears dropped before she moved her head from Poppys shoulder and pointed to her hair. "You want to go in my hair? Alright." Poppy gave her a smile as she took her ponytail out and let Rose hide in her hair. An hour passed as Poppy finished what she needed to do, and decided to shop for items Rose may need as well as more food. As they looked around a small booth full of books caught Poppys eye. "How about we get some books!"

"Books? Is there a certain book you want?" Branch asked as they headed into the booth. Branch was glad hey we're going to a smaller booth, he could hear the whispering from the over trolls as they walked by as well . He knew the staring and the whispers were getting to Rose, he could only hope that answering the letters will help. Once they were in the book shop Poppy took Rose out of her hair and knelt down so Rose could see more of the books.

"There's so many. I thought Rose would like some" Poppy smiled as Rose pulled a few out books from the shelf. "Oh I love this book." Poppy pointed to the book in her hand. "I love the ending. Have you read Beauty and the Beast?" She saw Rose shake her head. "We will get it! It's a sweet love story." She said, looking through the other books along with Rose as they picked almost a dozen books.

"That is a lot of books." Branch stated, staring at Roses arms that were full of children books and colouring books.

"They will be fun to read to her! And the more the merrier, right?" Poppy grinned as she walked over to the sales troll in charge, feeling Rose sink into her as they got close to the troll."Hey Nutmeg! How have you been? Any new books lately?" Poppy grinned at the green haired troll.

"Queen Poppy, what a pleasure seeing you! It's been a while since you last visited. Of course there's many new books, any kind you are interested in for yourself? And who is this with you?" She smiled, seeing all the children's books.

"This is Rose. She is very excited about the books! And surprise me this time." She grinned as Nutmeg laughed before looking at Branch.

"Is there anything catching your eye Branch?" She asked, seeing him browsing.

Branch turned to them before shaking his head as he walked over. "Not today, just whatever they want." He said as he pulled out his wallet.

"I'll pay Branch, put your wallet away." Poppy said, reaching for her wallet as well.

"I got it." He said, placing the money on the counter for Nutmeg. He saw Poppy pout as she put her money away.

"Oh yes, Queen Barb wanted me to give this to you Queen Poppy." She placed a wrapped package in the bag. "She told me to tell you to open it when you're alone." She smiled as Poppy looked at it confused.

"Barb did? Oh that's so nice of her! I wonder what it is." Poppy looked at it excited as Branch took the bag of books. Poppy waved to Nutmeg as they headed out of the booth. "Thank you Nutmeg! See you later." She saw Nutmeg wave back as they left the shop, and peered into the bag. "I wonder what it is. I'm guessing it's a book, since it's from the book store." Poppy guessed.

"Why would she leave it with Nutmeg and not give it to you personally? And why open it alone?" Branched asked confused, looking at Poppy who shrugged.

"I guess I'll find out later. We have everything we need right? I got what I need." Poppy looked at him, seeing him nod. "Alright. It's almost twelve, so we can go back and put this stuff in my pod before the event." She said, heading to her pod with Branch close behind her.

When they got to her pod she placed Rose on the ground so she could explore. She smiled as she slowly wandered around, going on her toes as she tried to look at the shelves that were high above her head. Poppy took her new book out of the bag along with the package from Barb. She thought about opening it for a moment, but placed it down. She couldn't wait, she had to know. She looked behind her to see Branch was watching Rose, so she took the moment to quietly open the package.

Once she saw the title, she almost dropped the book. Her face turned bright red as she stared at it. She quickly hid the book from Barb in a drawer, staring at the drawer still shocked. Why would Barb give her a book about how to pleasure a troll? She couldn't help but blush more at the thought. She placed her hands over her cheeks trying to calm down. She definitely had to talk to Barb later. She glanced behind her to see Branch had lifted Rose up so she could get a better view of the photos Poppy had up. He was so sweet with Rose, would he be his sweet to their own children? Poppy froze at the thought. She didn't think much of the thought of a family until now, she always wanted one since she was a trolling but she stopped thinking about that stuff once she became a teenager. She could feel a warmth growing in her lower belly, causing her to blush more. 'Stop! I can't think of that now! I still need to talk to him before I think about this stuff.' She told herself, placing her hands over her face.

Poppy took a deep breath, hoping her cheeks weren't as hot as they felt. She needed to calm herself down before she turned around, she knew Branch would ask questions if she was blushing. She waited another minute, looking through the books Rose picked out along with her book Nutmeg gave her. She read the back, nodding at the romance novel, it seems like a good read. "Alright. I think we're ready." She turned around, smiling. She looked to see Branch was close to the kitchen. "All the food is in the kitchen right? We can come back after and get the stuff to take back to the bunker." She smiled.

Branch turned to her, seeing her face was a darker pink then normal. "Is something wrong? You're looking a bit red." He walked over to her, placing a hand on her forehead.

She took his hand in hers before he could feel her forehead. "Yes! I'm fine. Let's get going, or we will be late." She started pulling him towards the door.

"If you say to." He said, but was still skeptical about her answer. They continued up the tree to the grey pod and entered, seeing a couple of trolls already there.

Rose held onto Branch, glancing at the other trolls before her eyes became glued to the caskets. Branch gently patted her back, causing her to look at him as he gave her a reassuring smile. They walked to the front down and sat down, placing Rose on his lap so she could get comfortable. "We will stay right here, but Poppy will go up there and talk later." Branch reminded her as more trolls started entering the pod.

A few trolls walked up to Rose, wishing their condolences like Poppy said. Rose couldn't help but hide her face in Branchs vest, still nervous about the amount of trolls that entered the pod. "It will start soon Rose." Poppy placed her hand on Roses, seeing the pod was almost full as the hug bracelets went off indicating it was twelve. Poppy wrapped an arm around Branchs shoulder, and gave Roses hand a gentle squeeze.

Poppy looked over at Branch. "Have you ever been to one?" She whispered to him, seeing him shake his head.

"Not attended one. I mean, I accidentally crashed one…" he muttered, looking down as his ears lowers. He really regretted that. He regretted a lot of things he has done in the past. He felt Poppys arm tighten around him as she leaned against him.

"Yeah, Evergreen was not happy about the funeral. She did say it made her birthday and wedding entertaining. She was not happy the other time." She saw his ears lower more. "But she forgave you! She is as happy as ever now! She still misses her husband of course, but still happy." She gently nuzzled his cheek, bringing him closer to her as she held him as the ceremony started.

Rose felt numb. She heard them talking about how amazing her parents were and what they did for the village. She had tears in her eyes but she felt like she couldn't cry anymore. She felt Poppy holding her hand, causing her to look at Poppy who was listening with a sad expression. She squeezed Poppys finger gently, causing Poppy to look over at her. Poppy gave her a soft smile. "I'm going up next. You stay right here with Branch, okay? I'll be right there." She whispered to Rose, who only squeezed her hand in returns. She felt Branch holding her gently, as she looked up at him she saw he kept an emotionless expression. She saw his eyes hold his emotions. His eyes read that he was sad, as well as he was lost in thought.

Rose stiffened when she felt Poppy let go of her hand. Rose reached for her but Poppy had already walked up to the podium to start talking. As Poppy spoke, she saw Rose edging towards her. Rose watched Poppy carefully as she spoke, before she slid off Branchs leg quickly and ran to her and hugged her leg. Rose hugged her leg tightly with her arm. Poppy stopped for a second and picked Rose up, holding her close as she continued to speak.

Poppy saw the trolls staring at Rose, so she decided to cut her speech short. As she walked back to her seat, keeping Rose close to her as she sat down and another troll walked up. Another hour passed as trolls said their last goodbye and the caskets were buried outside of town. Rose had transferred to Branchs arms, tears flowing down her face as she threw a rose into each grave as trolls threw flowers as well.

Some trolls went home, as others went to a small celebration of life party that was being held close by. The trolls that stayed went to a purple pod where a bunch of food and drink were already prepared. Branch and Poppy stayed back with Rose a bit longer at the gravesites. "There's a little party going on close by. I'm sure some trolls will be telling stories about them. Do you want to stop by?" Poppy asked Rose after a couple of minutes of being alone.

Branch looking around and saw the flower cart was still nearby. He went over and brought back two dozen roses and knelt down to Rose. "We can come back as often as you want." He handed her a bouquet of roses for her to place on the grave. She slowly took it, and placed it over her mother's grave and went back to Branch to take the other one to her father's grave. Once she placed them down she walked back over to Branch and held his arm tightly.

Poppy stood there for a moment, feeling the wind getting stronger. She thought for a moment before kneeling down to Rose. "Hey Rose, remember what I said yesterday about they will always watch over you?" She saw Rose look up at her and nod slightly. "Close your eyes, and takes deep breath." She said softly, seeing Rose close her eyes. She placed a hand on Branchs shoulder and pointed behind them, taking a step back herself as Branch followed.

Rose stood there for a moment, her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. She frowned as she opened her eyes, not feeling anything. A sudden gust of wind swayed her hair, causing her eyes to widen. The gust of wind died down after a few seconds, causing her to snap her head towards Poppy and run to her, jumping as she pointed to her hair. "You felt it, right?" Poppy picked her up, seeing Rose nod. "I told you, you may not be able to see them, but they will always be watching over you." She smiled, feeling Rose leaning against her as she nodded. Another gust of wind came, brushing through their hair as Rose closed her eyes.

Rose opened her eyes a minute later and pulled out her binder. She held it up for Poppy to see the word 'go' written on it. "You're ready to go? Alright, let's go." She smiled as Rose rested her head back on her shoulder as they started towards the pod the celebration of life was being held at.