Chapter 64

When Branch got back to the recovery mushroom, he went over to the bed and shook Poppy's shoulder, "Poppy, wake up."

Though Poppy responded, it was only to roll further away and snuggle her pillow.

Frowning, Branch rolled his eyes at her. Slowly he smirked and faked having a cheerful tone, "Good morning Smurfette."

"Smurfette," Poppy bounced up with a grin but pouted at Branch when she saw that her girlfriend was nowhere in sight, "That was mean, Branch."

"It was that or tickle you," Branch deadpanned.

Scooting away, Poppy just smiled, "Complaint retracted." She looked around and her frown returned, "Where's Creek?"

"With Brainy," Branch held up his hand to stop Poppy from squealing, "It's not under the best of circumstances."

Reaching out, Poppy pulled Branch's hand to sit on the bed beside her, "What happened?"

Sighing, Branch rubbed over his face. He began by explaining that Creek woke up from a nightmare, a bit of their conversation and Creek needing to go out for air. Though he had convinced Creek to take Pudgy with him, Branch had still been worried and went looking for Creek and saw the end of Creek and Brainy singing to together, leading to a kiss.

Instantly Poppy squealed, "Way to go Brainy! I'll have to get him back for doing it without me but how could he resist the romantic moonlight?" She paused and turned back to Branch, "I thought you said Creek being with Brainy wasn't on the best circumstances."

Turning to her, Branch gave her a tiny smile, "Wait until the end of the story princess." He explained about Creek fainting and the three of them going to Papa Smurf's to look him over and sighed again. "He's fine physically, well, mostly. There's an issue with his colors."

"He's still gray?" asked Poppy.

"Not exactly," Branch tapped his fingers over his legs. "He had his colors back, for the most part, but the gray went to his eyes."

Poppy's eyes went wide, "But that has never happened before."

"I know," said Branch.

"What could have made this happen?" asked Poppy.

"I don't know," Branch shrugged, "Creek's magic going haywire?"

Frowning, Poppy looked down at her knees, "Does this mean we can't go back home tomorrow?"

"We've been gone for a few days again, we should head back," said Branch, "Especially you; your dad must be worried."

"That's true," Poppy sniffled.

"We can always come back soon if Creek needs more magic lessons," said Branch.

"That's true," Poppy sighed, "Think Papa would come with us?"

"He might but he does have a village to run and expand with Willow and all the new girl Smurfs," pointed out Branch.

Poppy smoothed out her dress, "It doesn't hurt to ask."

Scratching his scalp, Branch wondered if he would regret his own question, "Well, at least this gives me the chance to ask you some things."

This caught Poppy's interest, "What kind of things?"

"You and Creek rate each other's dates," Branch started, not exactly sure how to ask his question. "Do you remember all the low-ranking ones?"

"Of course," Poppy nodded, "That was about ninety percent of them."

Branch frowned, "Ninety percent? Seriously?"

Poppy shrugged, "Well considering Creek said yes to pretty much anyone who asked, it's not like there were a lot of good matches. Nor did they last very long."

"Nutmeg, I'm assuming, was the worst," commented Branch.

"That I saw," Poppy nodded.

"Could you get me a list of the other bad ones?" asked Branch.

"If I go through my scrapbook diary, probably," said Poppy, "Why?"

"Something Creek said makes me want to shave their heads," commented Branch, rolling his eyes at Poppy's gasp. "But I'll think of something less drastic later."

"What did Creek say that makes you want to mess with a Troll's hair?" asked Poppy.

Sighing, Branch drummed his fingers over his legs, "Basically that Creek doesn't see the different between being in a relationship and being controlled."

Narrowing her eyes, Poppy pursed her lips, "Hair shaving might be too good for them."

A small chuckle escaped Branch and he felt a little better about his negative thoughts about his fellow Trolls.

Scooting closer, Poppy gently nudged Branch's arm with her own, "I'm proud of you."

Blinking a few times, trying to figure out if he heard right, Branch turned to her to stare, "What are you talking about?"

"Branch, it took me twenty years and a near mental breakdown for you to be my friend," Poppy exclaimed, "And you are so super, over the top, stupidly self-sacrificing, extremely, over-protective of me."

"Are you sure you used enough descriptors there?" Branch deadpanned.

Scoffing, Poppy playfully shoved him, then continued, "I'm not sure what Creek did to get through to you before this all started but I'm glad you let him in and that some of that loving protective streak is diverting to him as well. At least more obviously."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that assessment," commented Branch.

"Embrace the power of friendship Branch," said Poppy, exaggerating each word in a willowy voice as she wiggled her fingers. She then all but fell on him to hug him, "Embrace it."

Rolling his eyes, Branch kept his arms to himself, "I think you mean, embrace you."

"Same difference," Poppy continued in the willowy voice.

"If I hug you, will you stop that?" asked Branch.

"For now," Poppy nodded.

Grunting as if this was a horrendous task, Branch turned a little in Poppy's hold so he could properly hug her back, "Happy now?"

"Pretty happy," Poppy snuggled into Branch's hold. "You know, this whole date rating thing started because I didn't like Creek's dates."

"Were you jealous?" teased Branch, all too aware of Poppy's old crush on Creek, back when he didn't understand his own feelings for the princess.

Staying in his arms, Poppy shrugged, "A little but, I don't know, I just didn't like how those relationships were. Most bossed Creek around because he'd be a gentletroll and always try to do as they asked. And some just seemed purely physical and they didn't have an interest in each other otherwise."

"There's nothing wrong with casual relationships," said Branch.

"I know but, it just felt like Creek was being used," commented Poppy, "He seemed fine with it so I never said anything but maybe I should have instead of hiding behind the ratings."

"You had no reason to think differently," pointed out Branch.

"But I saw him, Branch," Poppy held on tighter, "I saw him after Brocade, after what he did. I knew Creek was hurting, I knew Creek was scared, but I didn't know why."

"You kept him together," said Branch, "You took care of him and helped him until he could stand on his own again."

"By suppressing his memories," said Poppy, pulling back and trying to blink away tears. "And I let him do it. I just let him cover it up instead of dealing with it so he could be happy again." She scoffed at herself, then sniffled, "On the surface anyway."

Reaching up, Branch brushed back a tear that had snuck out of her eyes, "Poppy, I know it feels like you could have done more but there really wasn't. Even if Creek told you what happened, no one back home would understand what it really meant, let alone how to help him. You did what you could so Creek could survive until a time came where he could get the help he really needed." He sighed, "Sometimes surviving is all someone can as for."

Taking Branch's hand, Poppy squeezed it, "Life is about more than surviving." She smiled softly, "You know that, right?"

Though Branch rolled his eyes, he smiled back, "It's something I learned recently."

Smiling more, Poppy kissed Branch's cheek, "I'm glad."

Taking in a deep breath, Branch relaxed a little, allowing some of his grey to lighten into his pale blue, "I don't know about you but I don't think I can fall back asleep here."

Poppy grinned, "Wanna crash the Smurf slumber party?"

Branch smiled back, "You read my mind."

The two of them slipped out of the Recover Mushroom and into the night, Poppy knowing the way to Clumsy's mushroom. Unsurprisingly, the door was unlocked.

"You know, they really should lock their doors," commented Branch.

"I like that they're trusting," rebutted Poppy, "Makes it easier to be sneaky."

"So glad we're on the same page," Branch made a show of rolling his eyes at her.

Mockingly rolling her eyes back, Poppy stifled a giggle and led the way inside.

Since they knew that Brainy was with Creek, they were not surprised to find only three Smurfs inside in a makeshift nest of pillow and blankets on the floor. In the middle was Hefty, sleeping on his back, with Smurfette and Clumsy sleeping on either side of him, using his arms as pillows.

"This might be harder than I thought," commented Branch.

"Not for me," Poppy bragged, practically skipping over to the Smurf trio and snuggling up to Smurfette's back, wrapping her arms around her slumbering girlfriend.

"Cheater," frowned Branch.

"Jealous," Poppy stuck her tongue out at Branch before settling down to try and fall back asleep but was smiling so much it could take a while to calm down enough to do so.

Stepping closer, Branch looked the group over. There definitely was not room between Hefty and Clumsy to try to slip in between them. Nor was there room between Hefty and Smurfette to try and cuddle up to Hefty there. Branch probably could lay on top of Hefty but Hefty would probably enjoy that a little too much and this wasn't the best place for that.

So, Branch grabbed one of the blanket at the edge that no one was sleeping on and moved it so it was laying behind Hefty's head. Since Branch couldn't snuggle up to his mate, he'd at least be able to sleep near him, head to head.

Looking down at Hefty, Branch smiled softly, brushing back Hefty's hair fluff of bangs and leaned down to kiss his forehead. Even with all the hardships going on right now, he was glad Hefty was able to share his own problems with three of his friends and they were obviously doing their best to support and comfort him.

No matter how strong Hefty was, he shouldn't have to shoulder all of his problems by himself. Sharing their burdens was something he and Branch both needed to work on, but at least they were learning together.

Settling down, Branch watched the profile of Hefty's face, watched him breathe and smiled softly to himself. Being close to Hefty like this, Branch could practically feel his colors changing from pale blue to his lighter shade of happiness.

"I love you," Branch whispered as he closed his eyes.