Chapter 23

The following day the Smurfs started to head back to Smurf Village in smaller groups to keep from behind tracked. Smurf Willow lead the first group, followed by Papa Smurf in the second and Smurf Storm in the third. Each group had a leader who knew the way and was cautious enough not to get anyone caught. Hefty was to be the leader of the last group.

More than once Hefty made the offer to stay or for Branch to come along. Also, more than once, Branch very strongly considered both options. There were others that could lead Hefty's group back to the village or, alternatively, it wasn't like Branch was needed at the Troll Tree. Still they both knew distance would be an issue before they started dating and they wouldn't figure out how they would make it work if they avoided it.

In the end they, reluctantly, agreed that Branch would stay at the Troll Tree and Hefty would return to Smurf Village. Branch would have his session with Therapist Smurf before his group left so it would be a week before Branch would go to Smurf Village for his next session and to see Hefty. Needless to say, Poppy would be coming along for moral support, which meant glaring at Therapist Smurf, and to see Smurfette.

After his session with Therapist Smurf was over, Branch wished more than ever he could control his emotions better, coming out of it pale blue again. He knew it made Poppy worry and take it out on Therapist Smurf even though Hefty and Therapist Smurf continued to assure her that therapy was a process. At least the timing of the session was good for covering another reason for being pale blue; his own anxiety over Hefty leaving and their first time apart since their relationship began.

Would distance make Hefty realize he was better off without Branch's constant shifting of colors and tip toeing around the issues of Branch's past? Without Hefty around would Branch revert to being gray and find excuses for them to stay apart?

While Hefty was making arrangements with his group, Branch absently packed a few things into Hefty's pack; some medical supplies in case of emergency, a bit of food and one of the blankets Branch had made at some point or another. After he sat at the table, trying to think of the things he might need when he went to Smurf Village next when he heard the lift land on the main level. He turned just in time for a flash of light.

"And I'm blind," Branch tried to blink away the spots in front of his eyes, knowing rubbing wouldn't help but instinctively doing it anyway.

"Miss Frizz didn't say anything about this blinding you!" the blue blob that almost had to Hefty sounded panicked.

"It's, um, temporary," Branch squinted and blinked some more. "What are you doing with Miss Frizz's camera?"

"She said I should have a picture of you and to get her a few of you too since you won't let her do it," said Hefty, still sounding worried.

Branch stood, vision returning enough to walk over to the Smurf, and take the camera, "She must have not adjusted it after the last time she used it at night." He fiddled with it a bit before finding the right button. "There's now it won't temporarily blind anyone anymore." He then noticed the picture had popped out and ripped it from the camera, frowning a bit at his pale blue skin frozen in time. Immediately he moved to rip it in half.

Slipping it from Branch's hands, Hefty saved the picture and looked at it, chuckling a little, "I really caught you by surprise."

"Being blinded has that effect on people," Branch frowned, reaching to take the picture back, "Get rid of that picture, and don't give it to Miss Frizz either."

"But I like it," Hefty held the picture out of Branch's reach.

"You can take a different picture," Branch offered Hefty the camera.

Taking the camera, Hefty kept the picture, "Will you smile for this one?"

Frown deepening, Branch sighed. He really hated having his picture taken and this was one of the reasons why. Still if Hefty wanted a picture, he should at least try. Slowly he tried to smile, it feeling weird and crooked on his face.

The Smurf took the picture but busted out laughing immediately after, "You are the worse fake smiler I have ever seen."

"Then why did you take a picture?" Branch frowned and reached for the new picture, only for it to be held out of reach again.

"So I have proof that you aren't perfect," Hefty smirked.

Blushed burned onto Branch's cheeks but flared into anger at another flash, "Ah, top taking stupid pictures!"

"Ah no, Miss Frizz said I could use the whole roll of film, whatever that means," Hefty saved the third picture from Branch and smiled, "If I'm lucky maybe I'll get a picture of you in every shade."

Giving up on the pictures, Branch gave Hefty a flat look, "Hefty, I love you, but if you ever took a picture of me gray I may have to murder you." He turned and went back to the table, sat and tried to focus on his list.

After a moment the pictures and the camera were set down in front of Branch on the table, Hefty pulling his chair over to sit closer to Branch. He sat and waited.

Slowly, Branch looked up at Hefty.

Giving him a small smile, Hefty took Branch's hand and held it, "I know that being gray means you're unhappy but I've told you before that you're beautiful in every shade. Plus, it was a large part of your life for a long time; would having a picture of that be so bad?"

Absently, Branch rubbed his thumb over Hefty's hand, looking at their hands rather then at Hefty's face for the time being, "I know that I'm probably never going to be a brightly colored Troll all the time but being gray wasn't just a part of my life; it was my life. It was a visual que that I was different; that I was alone. I don't want to be that Troll anymore that was more concerned with loss and survival than with living… The Troll that tried to push you away…"

Reaching up with his spare hand, Hefty took hold of Branch's chin, gently lifting it up and giving him a soft kiss, "Alright, no gray pictures."

A soft smile slowly spread across Branch's face.

"There we go," Hefty kissed him again, "There's that beautiful smile I love."

Again, blush burned Branch's cheeks and he could just feel that he was turning brighter.

Between kisses and finishing getting ready to go, Hefty managed to get a few more pictures of Branch. He even convinced the Troll to take a couple together, all of them coming out crooked since neither of them could hold the camera straight at arm's length.

For his part, Branch did his very best to hold onto the happy feelings and his bright colors, replaying Hefty's "I love you"s in his head each time he felt worry try to creep in. He wanted to see Hefty off with a smile and without causing the Smurf to worry any more than he already was if his frequent offers to stay were any indication.

Smurfette had led the second to last group back to Smurf Village, so Poppy was at the meeting point already when it was Hefty's time to go. The Troll princess gave Hefty a hug and then gave them some space.

"Um, please thank Miss Frizz again for loaning me her camera for me when you give it back to her," Hefty fiddled with the camera a bit, having so much to say but unable to find any of the words.

"I will," Branch nodded, stuck in a similar situation. "Though I believe you owe her some pictures of me as payment for the loan."

"Tell her I didn't trust you to deliver them in one piece," Hefty managed a smile.

"A wise decision," Branch nodded, smiling slightly in return.

Thinking of something, Hefty held up the camera, "One more picture."

At first Branch was going to protest, but fell silent when he saw Hefty awkwardly held up the camera to face himself and took the picture.

"There," Hefty handed the camera and the picture to Branch, "Now you have one of me too."

Branch smiled a little at the weird angle of the picture, Hefty having managed to make himself look like a floating head. He could have taken a new picture but, "Thank you, it's perfect."

Stepping closer, Hefty kissed Branch softly, lingering before putting back, "I'll see you in one week; promise?"

"I promise," Branch nodded, kissing him again. "Tell Handy he'll have to keep his hands to himself because there's a few projects I want to do around your village and I don't want him getting any ideas."

Hefty smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be telling everyone."

Branch rolled his eyes but kissed him again, "I love you, Hero."

"I love you too, Siren," Hefty kissed him one more time before stepping back and going to join his group for the trek home.

Each time Hefty glanced back, Branch waved, staying there until the Smurfs were out of sight.

Quietly, Poppy came to stand by him, "Ready for those cupcakes I promised?"

"Maybe later," said Branch, knowing that the Smurfs were gone but unable to look away just yet.

Silently, Poppy took Branch's hand and stood there with him, trying not to let her heart ache at the sight of her friend fading into pale blue with the setting of the sun.

The following morning Branch didn't want to get out of bed. Or rather, off of Poppy's couch. The princess had dragged him to her pod and they baked an obscene number of cupcakes, eating them for dinner until Branch felt sick and Poppy passed out. He had put Poppy to bed and cleaned up about a third of the mess Poppy baking always caused before curling up on her couch, too tired to go to the bunker and, for the first time since it completion, not wanting to be there.

Still there were things Branch needed to do. He needed to figure out all the things he needed to make the tension coiled clothes washer for Laundry Smurf. He needed to make a few sketches of ideas he had to make Chef and Baker's lives cooking for so many Smurfs a bit easier. Plus, most importantly, he needed to get some clay and paint to make a mug for Hefty to use the next time he came to the Troll Tree.

With that thought in mind, Branch managed to roll off Poppy's couch. He finished cleaning the mess from last night and ate a couple more of the cupcakes, waiting to see if Poppy would wake up and join him for an unhealthy breakfast. When Poppy didn't stir, Branch left a note and headed out.

In the living room, Branch paused in front of Poppy's full-length mirror. His skin and hair had returned to his pale state but at least it wasn't gray. He could live with pale blue.

As Branch walked through the village he couldn't help but feel like something was different. He kept catching other Trolls staring at him and they would just giggle and smile when he caught them instead of quickly looking away like normal. If Branch hadn't seen his reflection before leaving Poppy's pod he'd suspect he had really bad bed head or something but as things stood he had no clue what was causing this sort of reaction.

When Branch got back to his bunker, he almost doubted that he hadn't gotten lost along the way. If it wasn't for the distinct boulder, he wouldn't have recognized where his bunker hatch was with the pile of gifts covering it up.

Now this was weird. It wasn't Branch's birthday and, even if it was, only a select few Trolls even knew when it was. It was also not a gift giving holiday and, even if it was, no one but Poppy and Miss Frizz ever left him presents before. Some sort of trap perhaps?

Find a long stick, Branch poked at all the gifts, trying to figure out if any of them were dangerous under the brightly colored wrapping paper. When nothing exploded or made suspicious noises from being moved about, he pulled one closer for closer inspection. There was a tag saying who it was from but not why. Each gift he looked at was the same.

Not opening any of the gifts, Branch cleared them off his bunker door and went inside, grabbing his pack. Coming back up he managed to squeeze them all into the bag to carry them back to the village. Maybe he could figure out why these were all left on his door or, at the very least, give them all to the mail Troll to return to sender.

The staring and the giggling returned immediately when Branch got back to the village. This was like the weirdness that followed the first day Branch came to town after he stopped being gray and he really, really wanted to hide in his hair. He didn't even have Poppy to be her natural diversion self this time around.

"Excuse me, Branch?" a female Troll called to him, making him turn. He barely got a look at her, a sparkling yellow glitter Troll, before she shoved a gift into his arms, "Please accept my gift," and promptly ran off to giggle with a few other Trolls and they scurried out of sight.

"W-Wait," Branch called after her, "What is this for?"

"You seriously don't know?" asked an all too familiar male voice.

Sighing, Branch turned to Creek, "I wouldn't be asking if I knew, now would I?"

"I suppose you've always been a bit oblivious in certain manners," Creek reasoned. "She took advantage of the Smurf finally being gone to give you a wooing gift."

Blush spread across Branch's face and he quickly dropped the gift as if it burned him, barely even noticing that Creek caught it before it hit the ground, "Why the Split Ends would she do that?! She- they all- the whole village was there when I got together with Hefty!"

"Which is why she waited for him to leave to start the wooing," said Creek. He eyed the pack Branch was wearing, "I take it that she's not the only one."

Groaning, Branch took off the pack to open it. Taking the gift from Creek, he tried to fit it pack into his pack with the other gifts, speaking more to himself than to Creek, "I don't understand these Trolls. Why would they want to woo me?!"

A soft chuckle escaped Creek, "You can't be serious." He smiled when Branch shot him a glare, "Branch, you've always been attractive but extremely unapproachable. Even after finally giving into Poppy's charms made you less hostile, most Trolls would be hesitant to pursue a Troll they thought wouldn't sing with them. That night your voice and showing your true colors was like the rainbow that revealed the pot of gold and everyone wants a piece."

Branch almost broke a gift, or at least its box, while his face burned in his rush to get the pack closed again. He stood and took a few steps away from Creek, remembering Hefty's suspicions about Creek's intentions towards him.

Tilting his head, Creek looked at him oddly, "My metaphor wasn't that bad."

"It's not that," Branch mumbled, wishing again he could just hide in his hair and pretend this really weird, uncomfortable thing wasn't happening. He stared at his feet, trying to think of a less stupid way to ask this but his brain refused to cooperate. Finally, he looked up at Creek, "You, um, don't want a piece… do you?"

Creek stared, then blinked. He tried to hold it in but almost spat when laugher forced its way out of him, holding his stomach and bending over with how hard he was laughing.

"It's not that funny!" Branch protested, feeling his blush worsened. He should have just let Hefty's suspicions stay that instead of asking and making this whole day even worse.

"N-no, it's not," Creek stammered, trying to calm down, but took one look at Branch and started to laugh again, "That was adorable! That Smurf cannot leave you unattended like this; someone is going to snatch you up and have their wicked way with you without him around."

"Shut up," Branch growled, practically throwing his pack back onto his back, "Any Troll that would try anything should worry about my punching their lights out!"

"O-Of course," Creek wiped some moisture from his eyes, calming down from his laughter. "Because you are very intimidating when you're flustered like this. I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't more wooing gifts on your door when you get home."

Ears perking, Branch looked up and around him, letting out a noise that could only be described as a squeak when he saw that they were, or rather he, was being openly stared at by numerous Trolls.

At the squeak, Creek started to laugh again, "So intimidating; I'm going to die."

Branch glared at him, "Good, saves me the trouble of making it look like an accident."

"Oh, come now," said Creek, straightening, "I come here to apologize and this is how you treat me?"

"Apologize?" Branch questioned.

"Yes," Creek sighed and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry about the challenge. Or rather, that song at the end; I promise to never sing it again."

Some of his anger dissolving at the apology, Branch took in a deep breath and released it slowly to calm down further, "Thank you Creek and I don't care if you sing the song, just not around me, alright?"

"Fair enough," Creek nodded. "So, what are you going to do about all your many admirers?"

"I don't recognize even half the names on the boxes," Branch admitted, "I'm taking them back to the mail Troll to return them to sender."

"Branch, you can't return wooing gifts," Creek scolded, "Didn't Miss Frizz teach you any manners?"

"No," stated Branch. "And I have no reason to keep them; I've already been wooed and I'm happy with that."

"Yes, so happy your colors are blinding me," Creek suggested to Branch's pale blue skin, "And the Smurf is your mate now?"

"Stop calling him 'the Smurf', his name is Hefty and you know that," Branch scolded. "And that's none of your business."

"That's a no then," stated Creek, raising his hands in defense when Branch glared at him again. "Look Branch, until Trolls see or know something that officially takes you off the market, your Hefty Smurf is just another suitor."

"He's the only one that matters," stated Branch, "And if I can't return the gifts, I'm burning them."

"You better open them first, some Trolls are known to use cute little creatures like fireflies as wooing gifts," Creek warned, sighing at Branch's horrified face, "Though you probably would have noticed air holes if that was the case. Look, by way of apology, why don't I help you go through the gifts and send decline letters?"

"I just need two letters," said Branch, "N-O."

Creek chuckled, "Always straight to the point with you. Can I at least get you to properly sign the letter?"

"How about, 'N-O. Not in a million years. Never to be yours, Branch'?" suggested Branch.

"Well we're up to a sentence now so that's got to make the heart crushing rejection easier to take," Creek rolled his eyes, pulling the formally gray Troll along to get some paper.