Taking Care of Her

The wormhole flicked and Branch jumped into his original dimension. His feet met cold and white snow, burying him to his knees. If he wasn't panicking before he certainly was now. He had no idea the storm would be so bad and he turned around, gyrating completely to spot any sign that Poppy had landed there.

She had been wearing nothing but her red bathing suit!

The wind was so chilly it felt like it was cutting his body open.

"Poppy!" He shouted but he realized his voice was lost in the wind. His vision was filled with white and his survival instincts made him look at the ground, searching a trail of steps that could lead to his queen, hoping the storm hadn't obliterated the footprints that fast. The snow swirled around him, closing off the world. The wind hollered, almost stealing his breath from his lungs.

A glad surprise gave him a tiny hope of finding her. He saw a path in the snow that seemed to be open while someone struggled to walk through. Branch ran as fast as he could, realizing that the trees looked familiar, even if they were covered in white.

It was the road to the bunker. She had found the way even under the heavy storm.

His own teeth started chattering, but he wouldn't give up. Relieved, he noticed that he was standing on the rock that marked the entrance to his home and the marks on the snow ended there. Looking down, his good spirits were instantly killed when he saw blood on the bluish stone and with a heavy heart he spotted his gray queen with a bleeding leg passed out just above the trapdoor.

Poppy winced painfully, moving slowly to the side. Her head throbbed and her sight was blurred. Her tongue felt different, like she couldn't control it enough to speak.

"Shhh…" She recognized Branch's voice and his warm touch, caressing her so she would understand he was there watching her. "You'll be fine. You're safe." She noticed her hand was gray and Branch pulled the blankets around her more tightly. "Sleep. I'm here."

She couldn't fight it and sleep instantly wrapped its welcoming arms around her again, taking her into a dreamless and dark place.

Branch had soup ready when Poppy stirred the second time. He was worried sick about her, not only because of the cold or the cuts and bumps, but because she was nearly twenty four hours asleep and if she didn't eat anytime soon it might cause hypoglycemia.

"Poppy, try not to move." He whispered in her ear not to startle her. Her eyes opened in confusion, taking a while to adjust to the light and the sight before her. She recognized her room inside the bunker.

"Here." Branch placed another pillow on her back and the slight movement made her bent her head forward, causing a sudden wave of pain. "You hit your head." He offered an explanation to the gray girl.

She still didn't talk. For the first minutes Branch thought she was trying to recollect the events of the day before to understand how she ended up in that situation, but when time passed and she didn't even look him in the eyes he realized she was still hurt.

"I have soup." Doing his best cheerful voice, Branch picked up the steaming bowl and put it in front of her. "Open up."

Wordlessly, she pushed the bowl and his hand away, as if offended he would come so close.

Branch wasn't the most patient troll. Sighing in defeat, he set the bowl at the night table and turned to his girl who seemed to have just realized she was naked under the blankets.

"Poppy, I swear, if I knew you'd be so sensitive about what that elder said I wouldn't have told you." He should have known that, as queen Poppy was connected to everyone through friendship and she made a big effort to be liked. He had seen that during the Royal Review.

She scoffed, interrupting his thoughts, and Branch's eyes widened. Poppy never scoffed. He doubted she had a drop of sarcasm or irony in her body.

"I can take an elder's opinion any day." The gray queen explained, causing her clueless boyfriend to frown. "But listening to you…" Her eyes filled up with tears and she turned to face him to show she meant every word, "... doubting my feelings for you. That hurt."

Once again, Branch felt that squeezing sensation inside his ribcage. Poppy raised her hand to grip the blankets to her chest so strongly her knuckles turned white.

"I've loved you for years and I've tried to show you over and over again that I wanted you near." The pain in her voice was so evident that he felt like jumping on the bed with her and holding her until he had absorbed it all, but the words she was saying made him solid in his place. "From the first invitation that you heartlessly tore to pieces on my face, I tried to make you feel how much I love you."

Until that point, Branch didn't fully understand what had happened, but as she spoke, his face grew paler as it downed on him that Poppy's grayness wasn't the result of the elder's words, but his own.

Queen Essence's speech had finally made sense to him. She had said love and trust must walk together and Branch had thought he had understood its meaning then. He had to trust Poppy to dismiss anyone who approached because of loyalty to their relationship, right?

But it wasn't what the older Queen had meant! He could feel it now. It meant he had to know Poppy's love to be so strong that it shielded her from anyone who tried to interfere. Nobody's words could pierce through her armor when it was reinforced with the certainty that love was real.

And when he doubted her feelings, when he wondered if she could put up with him - even if initially he had thought he wasn't good enough for her - he had indirectly accused her love to be frail and to fall apart at any obstacle.

He had been the one to spear through her shield and go straight for her heart.

"I'm sorry I failed." Her voice alerted him that she was on the edge of giving up on them, feeling defeated, after years - hair, decades - of pointless resilience.

"Don't!" Branch practically yelled, startling the gray queen when he jumped on top of her, clumsily falling on her lap, with his nose buried deep in her stomach. A river of tears soaked the blankets and he gripped her so strongly he was afraid she'd slip through his fingers. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize." Parts of words came out and he desperately tried to make sense. "Forgive me. Hair, please, forgive me."

He blinked a wave of tears away, succumbing to another sequence of sobs. Her gray hand was glimpsed through his watery sight and next he felt her fingers softly caressing his hair. She dove her fingers deep, massaging his scalp while smoothing the strands out of his face.

He couldn't tell how long he had been like that. The steam of the soup had disappeared, indicating they had been long enough for it to grow cold.

"When the rain is blowing in your face

And the whole world is on your case

I could offer you a warm embrace

To make you feel my love"

Relief washed over him when he heard her quiet voice. Her hands once again caressed him, soothing his sobs and waiting until he was feeling better.

"When the evening shadows and the stars appear

And there is no one there to dry your tears

I could hold you for a million years

To make you feel my love"

It was odd being the one who was comforted when he had been the one to hurt her in the first place. Internally, he swore that no matter how much he thought he wasn't good enough for her, he would die trying. She wasn't like Demo, she was her own person and while feelings did seem to change through the years, hers only grew stronger.

"I know you haven't made your mind up yet

But I would never do you wrong

I've known it from the moment that we met

No doubt in my mind where you belong"

Branch had to show her he loved her as well. While feelings were entirely new to him, once he recognized that warm sensation any time he was near her, he connected the dots. He also had loved her for a long time.

Before he realized it, like King Peppy had said.

"I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue

I'd go crawling down the avenue

No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do

To make you feel my love"

He moved to try to recompose himself. Her hand that had been in his hair moved in front of his face and he gladly saw it was back bright pink. Tentatively, he raised his own hand to try to touch hers and she made no attempt to move away. Intertwining their fingers, he brought it to his face to place a light kiss on her skin.

"The storms are raging on the rolling sea

And on the highway of regret

Though winds of change are throwing wild and free

You ain't seen nothing like me yet"

Awkwardly, he sat on his ankles taking a full look at her face. Her bright freckles sparkled when she stared at him. The swelling feeling in his chest made him realize she was strongly happy again. The timid smile on her lips showed him she was sorry for losing her colors over a quarrel.

"I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothing that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the Earth for you

To make you feel my love

To make you feel my love"

"I'm sorry," Branch started speaking, "I'll never doubt our love again. I swear." Leaning forward, he gave her a light kiss to seal his promise. Poppy quietly nodded and he looked at the cold soup at her side again. "I'll heat that soup up. I'll be right back."

The counter felt so cold Branch double checked to see if there was ice on it. He approached the pan that was starting to warm up on the stove so he could feel a little heat. Exhaustion had a whole new meaning now. He was used to feeling tired after a day of hard work, or after a day of games or even when he tried to make friends and it demanded too much energy.

But he had never felt so tired like he did at that moment. It had been their first fight and he still felt the bile rising when he recognized that leap that Poppy was going to take to break things up. Feelings consumed him to the bone. They drained him like a vampire and it took his mind, body and energy to set his emotions at ease.

All he wanted was to crawl by her side, slip under the blankets and hug her all night.

But she needed to eat first.

"I hope you like the soup, I put everything nutritious I could find-" Branch entered the room balancing the soup on a tray and everything almost went to the floor when he noticed Poppy was sitting on the edge of the bed, wrapped on the blanket, like she was trying to stand up. "Don't bend your knee!" He hurried to her side, helping her to stretch her leg over the bed again.

"Did you… stitch me up?" She asked in confusion, feeling the pull of flesh the stitches caused when she tried to move her knee.

"I did my best, but I'm afraid it might leave a scar." He tightened the blankets around her once more. "I considered going to Dr. Moonbloom, but I couldn't risk exposing you to the weather anymore."

"And you undressed me." In shame, she pulled the blankets up to cover her head.

"Yeah… sorry about that." Branch finally managed to put the soup in front of her and Poppy sat up, exposing only her head. "It was either that or having you freezing to death in that bathing suit. I was still wet."

The soup was slurped down in suspicion at first. Branch watched when his girlfriend took in the taste and the warmth, closing her eyes with a satisfied gleam and proceeded to another spoonful.

"Do you think everybody is okay? I never thought the snow would be so bad." Poppy couldn't hide how worried she was about the others. As queen, she wanted to make sure her people were safe.

"We are in the middle of the night." Branch pointed out. "But in the morning, if you want, I can take you to my surveillance cameras and see if we can spot them."

"Oh, no. I would rather go outside and check it for myself." Poppy took another spoonful and Branch looked away. He had to tell her.

"You see… while you were out the storm got even worse…" She merely raised her eyes to him, waiting for the conclusion. "We are deep under… I tried all the emergency escapes…"

"You mean…? We are snowed in?"

"At least for a couple of days."

"And the portal shifter?"

"Lost it in the snow…"

Seeing that there was nothing she could do; Poppy finished the soup in silence with Branch giving her an apologetic look. It wasn't going to be so bad, she decided. She could look at that moment with her endless positivity, right? After all, she had planned to stay inside with him all weekend.

Once again, moving to the side, she made an attempt to stand only to have Branch giving her a reproachful look once more.

"Stitches, Poppy!"

"I need to use the toilet."

Yep, Branch didn't think about that. He worriedly looked at her knee and even worse, he looked at the dark purple bruise that started on her forehead and trailed down to the side of her face. She hadn't seen that one, yet.

"Fine, hang a second." Leaving her bedroom, Branch went straight to his room and opened a drawer full of sweatshirts. She was going to swim in it, for the size was big even for himself, but it would do. "Try this one." He said before turning around to give her privacy to get dressed.

A smile broke on his lips when he heard her giggling. Peeking to make sure it was safe to turn around, he saw her trying to find her hands in the middle of the long sleeves.

"Satin and Chenille would freak at my latest fashion." Poppy once again inched to the edge of the bed and Branch was right there to help her up.

"Don't stand on that leg." He explained while pulling her up. The hem of the shirt went down, covering her down to her knees and once again Poppy giggled at the ridiculous outfit.

It was challenging to walk with a straightened leg when she couldn't even put her weight on it. To bend the knee was painful enough. Branch tried to ease the process by supporting her around the waist, but they still struggled to get to the bathroom.

"I just want to warn you that you have a bruise on your head." Branch said, helping her hop to the latrine. "Don't freak out."

She hadn't thought about even looking in the mirror until he mentioned it. Her hair was stuck to her head and she had the impression blood had dried there, causing her to have a weird crust sensation, but to know she had a bruised face… how horrid did she look?

"Is it safe to have a bath?" Poppy asked him, suddenly remembering she hadn't had a decent bath and she had been swimming in the ocean. She was covered in salt and sand.

"Sure. Huh…" Branch quickly opened the water to fill the tub. "Don't try getting there by yourself. Call me when you're done and I'll help you inside."

Of course, his stubborn girlfriend wouldn't follow his suggestions and a couple of minutes later he heard from outside when she flushed and cheered in victory with the sound of water being splashed as she sunk into the tub.

"Why do as I say…?" He muttered to himself, but decided to let it drop and hurried to her room to change the sheets. The pillowcase had a massive blood stain and he was relieved she didn't see it.

"Branch?" He heard her calling after he was done straightening the sheets.

"Hm… Poppy…" He called back from the door, holding the handle before he pulled it open. "I'll walk in with my eyes closed, okay?"

"It's okay…" Poppy replied from inside. "You undressed me, remember?"

How could he forget that? But since she was awake, he wanted to give her a little privacy. They were still sensitive after the fight, so Branch figured it was better not to push his luck.

He immediately understood why she had called him once he opened the door. The water was red with the blood she had washed from her hair and she still had a lot of bubbles to rinse out.

"I'm a little grossed out…" Poppy explained. "Can I change the water?"

"Let's use the shower now, shall we?" He offered, unplugging the drain. Poppy nodded and took his hand to stand up.

Branch had a strong will. He didn't even blink down. The queen was feeling ugly. Twice she avoided the mirror after glimpsing at her face. He held her hand while looking to the opposite direction.

The water fell on her head, dripping hair fell over her face and water running down her bosom made the survivalist bite his tongue to avoid stealing a glance.

"Are you feeling clean?" He asked, holding her hand firmly so she could finish rinsing the conditioner off.

"Yes," She smiled brightly, straightening with the lightness of smelling fresh. "I brought some warm pajamas. They are in my luggage."

"I'll get them." Branch was glad to have something to talk about and ignore her nakedness. He turned off the water and gave her a towel before leaving.

Branch poured some warm tea in a cup and returned to his place, on the floor, sitting down next to his girlfriend and snuggling into the warm blankets. It was growing even colder and he realized his sweats weren't enough to keep him warm.

Poppy didn't seem to mind staying on the floor, after all she could stretch her leg on the pillows. She smiled brightly at him when he handed her the warm drink. It was his new favorite thing: sitting by her side while he played with puzzles to relax and, well, she'd rest her cheek on his shoulder and point at the pieces he was looking for.

Her hand slowly caressed the back of his neck, with her fingers mindlessly playing with the back of his neck as she sipped on the chamomile tea before it was time to head to bed.

"I visited Queen Essence and King Quincy when I got the hovering lessons from Prince D. I never got to tell you." Branch said and Poppy hummed in response, encouraging him to continue. Her eyes didn't move from the puzzle pieces on the floor, but he could tell she was paying attention by the way her cheek moved against his shoulder. She had clenched her teeth. "The Fuzzlings training is going well, by the way."

"I wouldn't expect less." Poppy said after a while. He knew she didn't like to have the lightness of their private heaven under vigilance, but she wouldn't speak against his decisions.

Silence fell once more and she pointed to a piece that he had been looking for the past five minutes. It fit into place. Her warm breathing tickled his neck and he closed his eyes in bliss and a slight worry.

"After leaving Vibe City I went to Lownote Jones…"

Poppy sat back, looking quietly at him. She wasn't going to ask, but curiosity was distracting sometimes.

"I think I'm ready to talk about it."