Pink Meets Gray With Blue

A/N: I haven't seen "Ella Enchanted" in a really long time, but it is such a cute and funny movie. And when I was thinking about how Ella and Prince Charmont met, it got me thinking. Maybe Poppy and Branch met in a similar way; the bubbly pink Troll princess curious about the Troll she had met and how different he was than the other Trolls, and our favorite grumpy gray grouch wanting nothing to do with her but soon finds himself helping her out of a tight spot.

So yeah. This is how I think Poppy and Branch first met, and it's inspired by that scene from "Ella Enchanted", where Ella meets the prince. I hope you guys will enjoy this little one-shot while you wait for an update for both "Catch a Rising Star" and "Song Defies Color.

Here we go! And action!

Thirteen-year-old Princess Poppy was currently on the run, panting heavily as she headed deeper into the forest, once in a while wiping little beads of sweat from her brow or looking behind her to see if they were still after her. The day had actually started off so great; with an amazing morning musical number after breakfast, going to school, and then enjoying a nice lunch break with her friends. But now, it had pretty much turned into her worst nightmare.

Why did she have to sneeze?! It was just a simple, itty-bitty sneeze! Which happened only because her nose was a little itchy. Nothing drastic or concerning. And yet, that was enough to send the entire village into a panicked frenzy, thinking that their young and beloved princess could be very ill.

They were about to tuck her into bed and make her "rest" for a week, having thirty bowls of hot soup at the ready, spoons out, and the doctor was holding both a thermometer and an ice pack in her hands when Poppy decided to just make a run for it. However, that apparently wasn't enough to deter them as they all went after her, shouting out to her to not "overexert" herself and get her into bed, with every other Troll having a bowl of soup in his or her hands, being extra careful to not spill a single drop of the warm broth.

She was running as fast as she could to try and get away from the crowd of overly worried Trolls when suddenly, she crashed into something pretty solid, firm and warm. For one brief second, she was mentally berating herself for not looking where she was going. That was, until she heard the somewhat sturdy surface that she had bumped into exclaim, "Ow!"

Okay, it wasn't a something. It was a someone. A guy, apparently; sounding a little bit like he could be around her age. But she couldn't put a name to it. It was….an unfamiliar voice? She thought that she knew everyone in the village. But his voice just doesn't ring a bell.

Suddenly, Poppy knew that she had to put that on the side for now, since there was hardly not enough time for her to get back to running. She had to come up with a plan and fast.

However, the person that she crashed into started to speak again. "What is your-"

"Quiet!" Poppy said, cutting him off.

She quickly grabbed the person and brought both of them down into a nearby hole. She then immediately placed her hand over his mouth as the Trolls continued their unnecessary search for her. Once she was sure that they were gone, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

But then she remembered too late that she was still covering the male Troll's mouth, and he forcefully pried her hand away for him to actually breathe. "Princess Poppy." He said simply, acknowledging her in a curt manner.

His voice sounded a little bit gruff, but at least he was being polite to her, and he apparently does know who she is if he was addressing her by her title and not just her name. So it seemed that they never had met face to face before, and they weren't even...acquaintances, the pink princess almost shuddering with discomfort at the word.

"No, please. Just-" She was cut off when she finally got a good look at the Troll next to her.

What first jumped out to her was his beautiful sky blue eyes that were looking over at her with slight apprehension. But then, she realized that that was the only bright color that he had, for the rest of his appearance was like a storm cloud. His skin was a dull, flinty gray color and his surprisingly short hair, at least compared to most other Trolls his age, was as black as ebony. His ears, they were also not like other Trolls; slightly pointed and spreading outward from his head a little bit like a goblin's. He looked about a couple of years older than her; probably around sixteen, and looking fairly strong and built. His clothes were also looking pretty shabby, wearing only a handmade leaf vest and dull brown shorts that had a few patches on them.

Wait a minute. Now she remembered. She thought that she had seen him a few times back when she was much younger; probably around five or six years old. Doing the math in her head, this gray Troll must've been about nine the last time she caught a brief glimpse of him. He had always stayed away from large crowds, or sometimes even from the village entirely, always having a bundle of sticks in his arms. At school, she would often catch him sneaking away from his group over to the forest rather than join in on the fun with everyone else. She had wondered about him and wanted to go talk to him, but everyone else about her age, and those older and younger, seemed either disgusted or afraid of him, and she never understood why.

Despite his dull pigmentation, she felt heat rushing up to her cheeks when she saw that he was actually quite handsome. These past few years certainly had been kind to him, his body actually decently toned and his arms being quite thick and strong. Being a thirteen-year-old girl, she had been noticing boys a little more than usual, but this one, he certainly seemed….different than all of the other boys she knew.

"Just Poppy is fine." She said when she realized that maybe she was a little too quiet for the past second and a half.

The gray teen just rolled his eyes as he turned away from her, looking a little….disgusted? "Um, sorry about that. They worry too much about me." The pink princess apologized to him.

Poppy managed to climb out of the hole pretty easily, since it wasn't that deep. Once she was out, she offered the Troll a hand. "Here. Let me help you."

But the teenage Troll just pushed it away. "I don't need your charity or your concern, thank you very much." He said to her bitterly as he pulled himself up with much less struggle than she did, and then he began brushing his shorts off. "And I don't intend on bowing to you either, so forget it." Once he was done, he then started to walk away from her.

Poppy blinked with surprise. He certainly was….different. He wasn't treating her like she was some sort of china doll, and that only piqued her curiosity. She then ran over to catch up with him.

"Well, you can bow or not. That's up to you." Poppy said, getting his attention. When he looked back over at her, he just rolled his eyes with disdain and continued walking forward as the pink princess continued to talk. "There's really nothing I can do about it. Except reporting you to my father. And I doubt he will be as nice as I am right now."

The gray Troll just scoffed, clearly unamused. "Charming." He said dryly and with a sarcastic grin. "Why don't you go and do what your people usually do? Which is send out your daily Bergen call and have no respect whatsoever for personal space." He then picked up his pace while Poppy just stopped, surprised at his harsh words. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

A little frown came on Poppy's face when she registered his harsh words and placed her hands on her hips. "Now wait a minute." She said. "Come back here."

The gray Troll stopped walking, his pointed ears slightly twitched over in her direction. "Is that an order, Your Highness?" He asked, not looking back at her.

"For once, yes." Poppy answered, trying to sound stern.

The gray Troll sighed heavily through his nose, and then came back over to her. His arms then crossed against his chest and he was waiting patiently for what she wanted from him.

"Hmm?" He asked her, wanting her to get on with whatever she wanted to say.

"What's your name?" Poppy asked.

He raised a brow. "Branch." He answered.

Poppy lifted up her own brow, a little amused smile appearing on her face. "Well, Branch." She said. "You're the first Troll I've met who hasn't answered at my every beck and call or started coddling me."

"Then maybe I've done you some good." He said stiffly before slowly turning around and walking away again with another roll of his eyes.

Poppy had to bite her lip slightly to continue holding back an amused smile at his response. Definitely intriguing, that Troll is. But then, she saw that he was walking further and further away. She quickly started running to catch up to him, remembering his previous words.

"Look, I don't like the Bergens any more than the rest of us." She said.

Branch turned around and saw the bubblegum pink princess still trailing behind him, and he rolled his eyes with a groan as he continued to walk away from the chattering Troll. "I want happiness in the village just as much as anyone else, and I want the other Trolls to be protected as well."

That got Branch to stop, which in turn made Poppy stop as well. He then turned around to face her. "So you've made a plan on how to do that once you take the crown?" He asked.

Poppy blinked. No one had ever asked her that kind of question before. She knew that one day, she was going to be queen, but she hasn't thought that far ahead on how to accomplish her goals yet.

"Well, um…." She slightly stammered, trailing off, which Branch only made harder for her to think straight when he tilted his head expectantly at her, waiting for her response. How is it that a gray Troll, or any boy, could look so….mesmerizing when he did that?

"Sort of." She finally answered him, trying to hold back the embarrassed blush that threatened to bloom across her cheeks from his deep, analyzing stare. "But my dad says that I can't exactly share with everyone until I'm ready to take the throne."

Branch just laughed dryly, crossing his arms against his chest again. "Uh-huh. That's what I thought." He said, an annoyed glare appearing on his face. "You're all just the same. You and all of the other Trolls care more about singing your lungs out and planning the next death trap of a party to even think about what you really want in the future. I bet that you just love having everyone treating you like a princess; them ready to wait on you at a moment's notice."

Poppy then realized that he was talking about what had happened earlier, which led to this encounter between them. "Oh, that. That was just another false alarm of a Poppy 911." She answered. "I've never really liked that part of being a princess. It could be kind of suffocating."

She then focused back on the gray Troll in front of her. "Maybe that's why I find your obvious disdain for me so refreshing."

"Obvious? I was trying so hard to hide it." Branch said sarcastically.

But Poppy didn't get it. "Really?" She asked.

He simply narrowed his eyes at her, a deep frown etched on his face. "It's called 'sarcasm', princess." He sniped before turning away and walking again.

This time, Poppy couldn't but let a small, amused smile appear as she continued to follow Branch. He was definitely not like other Trolls. He was just so….mysterious.

But then, he stopped walking. "Where's my pack?" He asked out loud. He then groaned as he slowly turned around. "It's back there." He realized.

Poppy didn't remember a pack on him, and that was when she realized that it must still be in the hole that they ducked into earlier. "Hold on!" She said, stopping him. "I'll get it!"

Before Branch could say a word, Poppy was already running back towards the hole they were in earlier. But even from where she was, she could hear his annoyed sigh as he quickly realized that he was left with no other choice but to wait for her to come back.

Soon, Poppy had arrived back to the hole that she and Branch were in earlier and saw a large, brown survival pack inside of it, with a little handmade slingshot hanging from the side of it. She reached down with her hair and then pulled it out, catching it in her arms, grunting a little from the weight. What was he even carrying in there? It felt like rocks.

Just as she swung it up and over onto her shoulder, she suddenly heard something coming in her direction. Voices. Lots of them.

She quietly groaned with frustration. "Not again." She then started running back to where Branch was waiting for her. He was quite surprised to see the young princess running for her life away from the crowd of Trolls that were starting to catch up to her.

He then groaned himself with annoyance at the sight of the incoming swarm. "Oh, great." He muttered.

Once Poppy was within his reach, he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. Instinctively, Poppy wrapped her free arm around his neck as he stretched out his hair and then pulled both of them up into the shadowy branches of a nearby tree. And just in the nick of time, too; as the crowd of Trolls passed by the tree.

Branch then sighed as he released Poppy's arm, and she carefully untangled herself from him. "Aren't they taking this coddling thing a little too far?" He asked her, his eyes trained on the disappearing crowd of Trolls.

"They worry too much." The pink Troll princess answered, handing Branch his pack, her arm slightly trembling from the weight. "And it's not coddling. It's unnecessary attention."

Branch quirked up a brow in surprise as he swung his pack back onto his back with more ease than she had. "I bet that's gotta be really annoying. Even for you." He said.

Poppy slightly smiled up at him. Finally, someone who gets it. Her friendly smile, though, was apparently taking the teenage Troll by surprise.

"Branch, you are not like other Trolls." She said.

He just rolled his eyes. "You have no idea." He muttered under his breath.

But then, they both saw that they were narrowing down the search area, getting closer and closer to the tree they were hiding in. "What now?" Poppy asked out loud. "I don't want to be stuck in bed for a whole week, even though I'm not sick."

Branch assessed the situation before an idea came to him. He then looked over at the princess next to him.

"I've got an idea." He said. "You wonder why you hardly ever see me in the village?"

"Why is that?" She asked.

"Most of the other Trolls believe that if you touch a gray Troll, you'll turn gray as well." He explained.

Poppy raised a brow at him. "Really?" She asked. She remembered just holding onto his neck not even a minute ago, and she was still as pink as a rose.

Branch just scoffed. "Yeah." He answered. "Pretty stupid, huh?"

"Well, I know that's not true." Poppy said, holding up the arm that had been around his neck. "I figured that out myself."

Branch raised his own brow at her. Maybe the princess was a little smarter than he gave her credit for.

"The thing is, they won't come near you and allow you to explain…." He trailed off to try and get her to figure out the rest of it.

Poppy was silent for a few seconds, thinking. Then, it hit her as well as a wide and knowing smile appeared on her face.

Soon, Poppy calmly lowered herself back down to the ground by using her hair. The Trolls saw her come down and were about to quickly crowd around her when Branch suddenly appeared behind her from above, the strap of his pack hanging in the crook of his arm. They all gasped in surprise and quickly came to an immediate stop when they saw him. That briefly got Poppy taken aback by their reactions to the teenage gray Troll. But she quickly reminded herself of the plan.

"Everyone, I appreciate the concern," she began, "but I'm feeling much better now." She then took a step backward, closer over to Branch, who looked a little bit off-put from her action. "Thanks to Branch here, who is a self-taught healer, I now have a calm and proper diagnostic."

Branch narrowed his eyes at the crowd of Trolls, his arms crossed against his chest. "It was just a sneeze." He said bluntly. "A natural reaction of the body due to mild and brief irritation of the nose." He put heavy emphasis on the words, "mild and brief", hoping to make his point doubly clear to them.

The Trolls all muttered with relief and the crowd began to disperse. Both Poppy and Branch let out quiet sighs of relief. The pink Troll princess then looked over at her gray companion with a grateful smile.

"Thank you." She said.

For a millisecond, Poppy could've sworn that she saw the corner of Branch's lips slightly twerked upward; a faint glimmer of a smile on his face. That brief little movement sent butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. But then, she heard someone calling her name.

"Poppy!" She turned around to see one of her friends, Creek, come over to her. And then just like that, the young princess could feel the presence of her companion immediately turn from knowing and somewhat pleasant to rigid and cold at the sight of the guru-in-training.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Creek asked her.

Poppy shrugged him off. "I'm fine, Creek." She assured her friend. "I trust Branch."

She then looked over at said Troll, and was a little surprised to see a dark and hateful glare on his face, his pretty blue eyes narrowed fiercely at the young guru next to her. He doesn't like Creek? Why not? Creek's one of the nicest Trolls in the village.

Creek himself looked a little taken aback by how Branch was glaring at him. "I see." He said, feeling a little uneasy and finding it harder to keep his smile on his face. "Well, aren't you full of surprises, eh mate?"

Branch didn't answer him as Creek lightly pushed the princess away from him with his hand. Poppy was confused by their actions, but for some reason, her instincts were telling her that she should stay closer to Branch. Probably because if it does get ugly, she might help him relax before he could seriously hurt Creek. He certainly looked capable of defending himself, but if he is as unpredictable as everyone else believes he is; and since right then, she was the only one that he allowed to come close to him, she could stop the possible impending fight.

"Maybe you can go and find better use of your talents." Creek said, his smile strained. "Since the princess won't always be needing your help."

Poppy looked over at her friend with wide eyes. How could he say such a thing? He doesn't even know Branch, so who was he to judge?

"Plus, one day, she will be queen, and she is going to need the best of the best around her to help her make the best decisions for the village." The purple teenage Troll said.

Branch just smirked at him. "Yeah, and your place will be on top of a table with an apple in your mouth." He said sassily.

His dry comment not only made Creek's jaw drop in indignation, but it also made Poppy briefly chuckle before covering her mouth with her hands. She shared a wide-eyed glance with both an unamused Branch and a shocked Creek, and she took a couple of steps further away from them. She probably wasn't helping the situation.

Once the teenage princess was further out of earshot, Creek narrowed his own indigo eyes at Branch, who returned the spiteful glare. "Why don't you go and do what you do best?" He asked him hatefully. "Collect sticks and hide for days in that dark bunker of yours?"

"It's underground." Branch answered back coldly. "Of course it's dark. But I make or find my own light source."

Then, without saying another word, Branch began to leave the scene, heading deeper into the forest while swinging his pack back onto his back again, his posture rigid with hate and anger. Poppy watched him leave with confusion, wondering what Creek had said to him to upset him. That wasn't like him at all. Was she missing something?

"Branch!" She called out after him.

Branch only managed to give her a quick little glance over his shoulder, but he still continued on into the shadows of the forest. Poppy wanted to keep her eyes glued to his retreating figure and follow him, but then Creek stood in front of her. For the first time since she knew him, the pink Troll princess felt a hint of annoyance at her friend.

"Don't bother with him, Poppy." He said, a charming little grin on his face. He then placed a gentle hand on her back to guide her back towards the village, the opposite direction in which Branch went. "He's not worth your time."

Poppy wanted to narrow her eyes at the Zen Troll, feeling a little surprised at how annoyed she was feeling towards him. But she knew that it was because of his own questionable actions towards Branch earlier.

"Why?" She asked him, trying her best to disguise her odd annoyance as curiosity. "Why is Branch gray anyway?"

"The adults say it's because he's unhappy." Creek explained. "They say when a Troll feels immense negative emotions, they lose their colors and turn gray."

Poppy looked back over in the direction where Branch went off in. So that's why he's gray. He's unhappy. She wondered why and what caused him to lose his colors, but she wasn't going to pry when she had just met him properly today. Even she knew that one couldn't learn everything about a person in just the span of one day, even if they tried.

Just then, an idea came into her head. One of the greatest ones she ever had.

"Well, then." She said. "I'll help him learn to be happy again."

Her statement almost made Creek trip over his own two feet. "Are you sure, Poppy?" He asked her. "Most of the other Trolls think he's a lost cause. He's been gray for a very long time now. He doesn't like doing anything fun, he hates singing, he hates dancing, he hates parties, and he's always worrying that the Bergens would one day find us again."

Poppy blinked as she took in Creek's words. So everything that Trolls love to do, Branch hates. Already, she could tell that she has her work cut out for her. Well, the young Troll princess never backed down from a challenge before.

"Well, there's got to be something in his life that can help him learn to be happy again." She said, slowing down her pace, away from Creek, and then turning around to look once more in the direction where Branch had left. "Everyone deserves to be happy, and I won't stop until I find him find it again."

With that resolution in her mind, Poppy quickly skipped ahead of a surprised Creek, ideas already swarming in her head. There were so many activities and events in the village that he could join in on. Ooh! There's that big party that's coming up soon. Maybe she could invite Branch to come.

Her fingers were already beginning to itch with excitement, eager to start scrapbooking. The wide smile that was on her face threatened to split it in two with impulsive anxiousness. She really hoped that Branch would accept her help on helping him learn to be happy again.

But little did Poppy know, at that very moment, when she made that promise to help the gray Troll, there was no turning back for her. The butterflies that would sometimes make her stomach feel aflutter; whether it was because of something oddly kind or amusing from Branch, she wasn't sure what it was. But whatever that meant, she really liked the feeling of it, and it was all because of her peculiar new friend.

A/N: Maybe soon, I could just have this and "Asking the Same Question" in a separate one-shot collection; a different one than "Feeling the Love Tonight." But that's up to you guys. So let me know. Do you guys like these kinds of one-shots separate and independent, or do you think these should be a collection?

I'm working on "Catch a Rising Star"; it's just been really crazy for me recently. Summer's almost over, college classes will be starting up again within a few weeks, and I'm on the search for a job, which hasn't been easy, of course. Well, I shouldn't be dwelling too much on any of that, otherwise I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.

Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoyed this little one-shot. Especially because I did add a teeny bit of an attraction between them, but not well enough to be identified yet. Later in time before the events of the movie, Poppy might've easily dismissed that as simple teenage hormones, and she was only starting to notice boys at that age. Branch on the other hand, he wasn't sure what to think about Poppy, and then as the years went by, he does fall in love with her, but of course hides it because he thinks he's not worthy of her.

Until next time, y'all! Please leave a review about what you think. And please remember to stay healthy!

Got to fly! ;)