-O-

Taming Branch

By Dreamsinger

Chapter 14

Friendship Anniversary

Before Poppy even opened her eyes, she was smiling. Today is a special day. As of today, Branch and I have been friends for three whole months. A whole quarter-year has gone by. It's our anniversary!

The pink troll gave Branch's adorkable poster an affectionate look as she leaped out of bed. See you soon, Branch! Having long since cleared her schedule, she had the entire day free to spend with her forest friend, if he wanted.

The young princess sang friendship songs all through her morning shower, then pulled on a pretty lemon-yellow dress and matching fuzzy legwarmers. I wonder if Branch will dress up? Or if he has anything special he wants to do to celebrate how far our friendship has come? He's made so much progress…

p"We both have," she said to her smiling reflection. Nostalgia gave her voice a warm, fuzzy quality. "Remember the days when he was like a wary little foxfluff? So cautious and elusive… He didn't like to make noise. He didn't even talk much. And now he's like a…less-wary foxfluff. Still trying to keep parts of himself hidden, but he talks a lot more. He smiles now, and laughs. He even plays with me. And now, he's actually letting me give him a party! A small one is okay, he said, as long as we're quiet."

Poppy beamed at the pink troll in the mirror, who looked just as happy as Poppy felt, if not happier. "Without music, being quiet won't be that hard. I don't expect him to want me to sing either, but I'm hoping I can get him to dance with me, at least. He likes being active, right? Hmm, I wonder if there's a way I can encourage him to let loose a little…" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

It didn't take her long to default to her favorite way to get anyone in a festive mood: decorations!

Since Poppy always carried emergency party supplies in her hair, she was ready to go in no time. Her dad and Milton already knew she was probably going to be gone for the entire day, so they wouldn't worry. In her hand she carried the yellow wicker treat basket, stuffed with extra-special goodies.

Her heart was so light and joyful that she had a hard time keeping her promise about not singing in the forest on the way there, but she managed. Today was not the day to finally get attacked by something and make Branch worry – or prove him right about this part of the forest being more dangerous than the part the trolls knew well.

After all her travels through it, Poppy had begun to love Branch's forest. It was a beautiful place, bursting with all kinds of plant and animal life, many of which were unique to the area. She could see why Branch had chosen to live in it.

There were some predators, of course, but they mostly went after animals bigger than trolls. She had been chased by a few, but had had no real trouble escaping. In fact, she was often able to turn the situation around simply by talking to those creatures that understood speech, which turned out to be a fair number of them. She would offer to help her pursuer find some other type of delicious food that it had never tried before, or help to fix some problem it was having. That's how you make friends, Branch, she told him in her head. You keep saying how dangerous it is, but as far as I can tell, it's not much different here than the parts of the forest we trolls know well.

The only real difference was that these plants and critters hadn't been befriended by a troll before. All they knew of trolls was the undoubtedly unpleasant experience of being caught in one of the net-traps Branch used to defend his meadow. Some of the bolder predators even got shot with knockout darts from Branch's slingshot, even though all they'd been doing was trying to hunt an honest meal for themselves, or for their babies. Not that she wanted Branch or herself or any other troll getting eaten – especially after their past bergen history! – but she understood things from the predators' perspective, too. The trolls had a saying: Find them food, find a friend.

Branch, it seemed, had forgotten that. Or more likely, just didn't trust that it would keep him safe. He regarded the world with fear and suspicion, which led him to treat others with hostility, which made every other creature fearful and suspicious of trolls. Imagine innocently going about your business and suddenly fwooop! You're hanging from a tree for hours, or however long it takes Branch to check his traps. No wonder they all avoid this meadow. Branch told me the traps are really meant for predators, although he didn't seem too bothered by the idea of trapping harmless creatures. I know he sees them all as intruders, but that's only because he isn't friends with them.

Yet. She'd been doing her best to amend that, to good effect. When she passed by, lots of the local flora and fauna waved or called greetings to her now. Someday soon she was going to bring Branch out here and show him what a little friendliness could do.

But today was just for the two of them.

When she landed on the big, wide tree branch they often used for activities, she looked down to see her dark-haired friend walking toward the swift-running stream at the far edge of the meadow. He was carrying a bucket, so she assumed he was on his way to get some water. "Hi, Branch!" she called to him, jumping up and down and waving as energetically as if she hadn't seen him for a year. "Happy Three-Month Friendship Anniversary!"

He turned and looked up at her. "Hey, Poppy," he replied calmly. "Happy Anniversary." The gray troll lifted his free hand in a wave that was considerably more casual than her own wild gyrations. But even so, she felt a flutter of excitement in her belly. It had taken her a long time to get that kind of recognition from him, and even now it felt so good to see him welcome her.

She'd been eagerly reminding him of their upcoming anniversary every day – multiple times a day - for the past two weeks. He hadn't seemed particularly enthusiastic about it; but then, he was Branch. He wasn't into parties. But even so, he had seemed to like the idea that she considered today to be extra-special just because he was her friend.

Since she was early and Branch looked busy, she told him, "If you have stuff to do, go right ahead. I've got a few things to do myself."

He looked up at her curiously, then shrugged. "Okay. I just have a few last chores to take care of."

-O-

Branch had gotten up early and already taken care of most of his daily tasks, not knowing how long this anniversary thing was going to last. As he worked, he was quieter than usual, still thinking about what she had said to him yesterday.

Poppy wanted to be closer to him. She also knew there was a lot he wasn't telling her. He knew it hurt her to be on the outside, and he felt bad about that, but he just didn't see how talking about what was over and done with could do any good. Worse, it could do our friendship a lot of harm. It might change how she sees me, or even make her not want to be friends with me anymore.

Also, he just plain didn't want to drag up his past. Why should I? My life is good now. Better than it's been in a long time. He'd managed to leave all the bad stuff behind; to block it off, to ignore it. Not that everything about my old life was bad, but I can't remember the good things without also remembering the bad, so there's really no point. Talking about stuff I don't want to remember in the first place is a waste of what precious little time I get to spend with Poppy every day.

But the gray troll knew Poppy well enough to know that she needed something from him. Some kind of gesture on his part to let her know that he was just as much her friend as she was his. An acknowledgement for all the time, energy and emotion she spent on him. Friendship was a two-way path, it was said. It wasn't fair for one person to do all the giving and the other to only take. It wasn't right.

He still resisted the idea of breaking down his mental walls and dragging himself through his past for her sake – her sake, not his. Definitely not his.

But he did have some thoughts on what else he could do. For weeks now he'd been debating between two possible plans to give her some of that bonding stuff she craved so much. Each plan carried a degree of risk, though. In the end, he'd opted for the one he deemed the lesser risk, but he was still gathering up the nerve to take it.

-O-

Half an hour after she arrived, Poppy heard the telltale swish of a troll's body swinging through the air, and then the almost noiseless padding of his bare feet on the thick wooden branch. She turned around to see her friend standing there, smiling and looking genuinely happy to see her.

"Hi, Poppy," he greeted her. "Hey, you cut your hair, didn't you? It looks nice."

At his unsolicited compliment, she put her hands to her cheeks. "Why, thank you, Branch!"

His social skills were definitely improving. Giving compliments was a very important social skill for a troll. A few days ago she had mentioned that to Branch, and ever since, he had been faithfully practicing. It was a skill he'd never really been very good at, even when he still lived in the village, but she was pleased that he cared enough to make the effort.

Poppy took a closer look at his own hair. "Your hair looks nice, too. You cut it again, didn't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." He put a hand thoughtfully on his chin, studying her new look. "Short bangs really suit you. They show off your glitter-freckles."

She made a little noise of pleasure, swaying from side to side. "That's so sweet of you to say. Thank you."

Looking encouraged, he added, "Yeah, without all that extra hair, your facial features don't look as crowded."

She stopped preening and stood upright. "Um, thank you?"

A look of dismay crossed his face at her less-than-pleased response. Hastily he tried to fix his blunder. "Uh, th-that's not what I meant. What I meant to say was, it makes your eyes look bigger and rounder."

Her forehead wrinkled. Honestly perplexed now, she asked, "Just what are you trying to say, Branch?"

His cheeks flushed. Sweating now, he stuttered, "I-I-I meant- Your eyes are- Argh! Eyes are-"

Not wanting him to go nonverbal, Poppy said soothingly, "Take a deep breath, Branch."

He huffed a panicked breath, and then a slower, deeper one. His eyes closed. His nostrils flared as he pulled in a full, long breath, held it for a few seconds, then slowly released it.

"That's good, Branch. Now, try again," she said softly.

"I just meant to say, short bangs make your eyes look p-prettier.Yeah, that's it. Prettier."

She melted. "Awww, thank you! See, you're getting better at giving compliments every day."

He looked pleased at her praise. Branch was getting better at giving compliments, but she would be glad when he started singing again. A good round or ten of Compliment Rap Battles would be just what he needed. Having to think fast and come up with valid, rhyming compliments on the fly would keep him too occupied to get all flustered and tongue-tied.

She decided to take the pressure off him, commenting, "I didn't actually cut it myself; I went to Maddy for a trim. But I'm really happy with how it turned out. And- Is that a bow tie? Oh my gosh, I love it!"

Enchanted, she zipped closer to look at the little light-yellow bow tie fastened to the top of his leaf-vest, her head practically under his chin. He lifted his own head quickly, holding still while she reached out a curious hand to take the shimmery bit of fabric between her fingers. She tilted it from side to side, admiring the pretty way the light flowed across its silky surface. "Looking good, Branchifer," she said enthusiastically. She was delighted to see him getting into the spirit of things.

"Uh… Thank you."

He sounded a little off. Suddenly realizing that she was touching him without permission, she froze, flicking her eyes up to his. He didn't seem scared, thankfully, but he was giving her a dubious look, as if wondering what she was about to do next.

Only then did she realize how close they were standing. Trolly instinct flared. With his cuddly body right in front of her nose, nothing would feel more natural at that moment than to wrap her arms around him in a great big warm hug.

Branch must have seen that. His eyes went big and he tensed, waiting, but did not jump away.

Seeing him hold steady, her new restraint kicked in. As strong as her instinct to hug was, the need to keep Branch's trust and make him feel safe with her was stronger. Controlling her first, second and third impulses to greet her little foxfluff with way more physical affection than he was ready for, Poppy merely stood up and stepped back a little.

Her self-control was rewarded when she saw Branch smile and relax, his trust in her upheld. He even made casual conversation. "Well, like you've been saying, today is a special occasion." He reached up to tug his tie straight, but didn't so much as frown about her leaving it crooked. "I, uh, I guess I wanted to do my part. So I figured, the least I could do is wear a little something festive."

"Aw, Branch…" She was touched that he would do this for her. The Branch he used to be would never have "wasted" time, effort, and resources on something "not important". I wonder, did he dress up just to please me, or does some part of him want to celebrate, too? He is a troll, after all, and trolls love parties. Her heart beat faster as his next comment got her hopes soaring.

Branch's thick dark hair swung in a circle as he looked all around them. "Hey, nice decorations. This place looks great."

"Thank you!" she burbled, overjoyed at his rare praise.

Poppy had turned the inner branches of the massive oak tree into a kind of flower-themed garden glen. Long flower garlands were gracefully draped all around them; bright and cheerful in every color of the rainbow. Small bouquets of daffodils, sunflowers, yellow roses, and pink tulips were placed here and there. There were even friendship garlands wound around the thorny vines Branch had set up as traps for bergens and other predators, making them seem much nicer.

On a low wooden folding table a delightful spread of tasty party foods was laid out, waiting to be savored. The only thing absent was glitter, but Poppy found she didn't miss it. Nature had its own special charm.

"Nice choices for the bouquets," Branch commented. "All flowers that symbolize friendship."

"That's right!" she said, half gleeful, half surprised. "How did you know that?"

"I did grow up in Troll Village, you know. It's not like I lived under a rock." Something about his statement seemed to amuse him, for he suddenly chuckled quietly.

Instantly intrigued, Poppy asked, "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing important."

She leaned closer, grinning. "Come on, Branchifer; if it made you laugh, it's gotta be funny."

"Not so much funny as ironic," he commented cryptically.

She put her hands on her hips, still smiling. "Branch."

He hesitated uncertainly. His smile faded, and so did hers as she suddenly got the distinct impression that he was about to tell her something big. "Say, uh, Poppy…"

She took a step closer, clasping her hands in front of her. "Yes, Branch?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, then gave a slight shake of his head. "I, uh, guess what? I brought you a gift."

"Really? What is it?" she asked curiously, then gave him a look. This is a distraction, isn't it, my clever little foxfluff?

If it was, it worked. Her mouth dropped open as the gray troll pulled an actual scrapbook from his hair and held it out to her. The neatly embroidered dark green letters on the light tan cover said Recipes from the Forest.

"Oh, Branch… You scrapbooked? For me?" Her heart was fluttering in her chest, and her breath came in whispers.

He looked down, then met her gaze shyly. "Yeah. It might be kinda lame, but I thought maybe you'd find some of it useful."

Slowly she took the book, looked into his eyes, and opened the first page. It was a recipe for the first treat he'd ever made her: gladnut brownies. She actually already had that one, plus a few more that he'd given to her just as he'd promised not long after they started seeing each other. But those recipes had just been written in pencil on a piece of boring brown paper. Nothing like this.

Not that it was the most elaborate scrapbook Poppy had ever seen. The layout was exceedingly plain and simple. Aside from the title and a single image of a cake made from various pieces of felt, the cover was bare. The spine had a similar image just before the embroidered title. Inside, no glitter or glued-on embellishments decorated the cream-colored felt pages; there was just the name and image of the dessert, and the recipe itself.

But none of that mattered. The pink troll was utterly enchanted that her grumpy forest friend had taken the time to make this adorable little scrapbook just for her. As she slowly turned the pages, she noticed that while the felted images were sometimes cut a little raggedly, his embroidered script was exceptionally well done.

She looked up to see him watching her nervously. "This is perfect, Branch. I love it," she told him sincerely.

"Really?"

"Yes. I like how easy it is to read," she praised him. "Your embroidery script is beautiful. So neat and precise." His anxious expression went away, and he stood a little taller.

Smiling in pleasure at seeing her little foxfluff so proud of himself, Poppy turned to the next page to see a recipe for coconut cream cake. "Nice. My dad loved the cake I baked him using your recipe."

"He did?"

She nodded, and a warm ripple spread through her belly at the way his face lit up. He was so cute!

The next pages held many more recipes filled with all kinds of scrumptious-looking goodies. Pastries of all kinds and flavors: caramel crunch, cinnamon sugar, vanilla, lemon. Fruit and jelly tarts. Crunchy cheese-chips and spicy nachos. Peppermint hot chocolate. Trollberry lemonade. Pizza. There were even recipes for things she'd never heard of, which must have come from foods unique to Branch's forest: pink popper candy, savory five-flavor dumplings, sugarfruit soup, gladnut-and-mellowberry sandwiches. Her mouth began to water just looking at it all.

"Everything looks amazing, Branch. Gosh, I can't wait to try them out!"

As she got closer to the end of the book, she noticed that he had begun to add a little something extra to most of the pages. Another good sign. Dressing up for a party and creating scrapbooks are two things that every troll loves to do. He really is starting to get back into the trolly swing of things. "Aww, I love the little embroidered jimmies on this donut," she said enthusiastically, to show him that she had noticed. "That's a nice touch."

He looked pleased. "Thanks."

"I can see you really put a lot of work into this." She went on to admire each and every page, then closed the book and slid it into her hair. Deeply moved, she stepped closer to him, almost nose-to-nose. "Thank you, Branch. This is such a thoughtful present."

His cheeks turned lavender, but he didn't look away or take a step back, as he once would have. His voice was warm and deep as he said with a smile, "I'm glad you like it, Poppy. It's the least I could do, to thank you for being my friend."

"Aww, Branch…" Her arms quivered, but all she did was put her hands over her heart. Mentally, though, she couldn't help putting her arms around his big warm body and holding him close. By our six-month anniversary, he'll definitely be ready to hug me, she reassured herself. I shouldn't be disappointed. Instead of focusing on what he hasn't done yet, I should be celebrating everything he has accomplished.

Out loud she reminded them both, "You mean a lot to me, Branch. My sweet little foxfluff." She winked at him, and he rolled his eyes and gave her a wry smile, but did not object to the cutesy nickname. "Seriously, though, you have made so much progress, Branch. I'm really, really proud of you, and to show you what a special friend you are to me, I made you something, too."

She reached into her hair and handed him a flat, brightly-wrapped box. He accepted it and thanked her, making an admiring comment on her expertly-done wrapping job. Now that he'd been reminded about compliments, Branch had begun doing things like that, as if polite social conventions were slowly coming back to him. Or maybe he just genuinely admired her wrapping job. His own gifts were haphazardly wrapped in leaves or scraps of cloth, if they were even wrapped at all.

His blue eyes alight with curiosity, the forest troll tore off the yellow-and-pink flowered paper and lifted off the top of the box. He reached inside and pulled out a pair of brown shorts with four extra-large pockets; two in front and two in back. The pockets were made from oversized green leaves. Each pocket had a flap at the top that could be buttoned to hold the contents securely inside.

"Wow, cool! Thanks, Poppy," he said, looking pleased. "They'll go great with the vest you made for me."

"That was the idea." She was tickled by his obvious delight. "I was keeping with the camouflage theme. I'm so glad you like them!"

He studied the shorts, sliding his big hand easily into the large front pocket, then smiled at her. "Lots of storage space. Nice."

"Do you want to go try them on?" she asked, enjoying his pleasure immensely. Nothing was better than figuring out exactly the right gift to make someone happy! Most trolls were content to carry a few dozen items in their hair, but even a troll's hair had limits. From past conversations, she'd figured his hair was probably carrying all it could hold already. Her friend sure liked to be prepared for anything! "I'd like to make sure they fit."

"Sure."

Branch quickly changed inside a clump of thick foliage, then emerged wearing his newly coordinated outfit. He tucked his old, patched shorts into his hair, then spread his arms. He even did a little twirl as he walked toward her.

Poppy laughed and clapped her hands. "You look awesome, Branchifer! How do they feel?"

His eyes lost focus for a moment. As he stopped in front of her, he said thoughtfully, "Good and sturdy. Not too tight or too loose." He put his hands inside the front pockets. "I especially like the pockets. My old shorts had pockets on the inside, but only two, and they were smaller." The front pockets flowed gracefully from his hips down nearly to the folded cuffs halfway down his thighs, matching the curves of his body. The back pockets were half the length of the front ones, so he could sit comfortably.

As he gazed at her with his hands still in his pockets, she watched as he tilted his head, a look of unmistakable affection crossing his face. "Poppy, thank you. Thank you for being so thoughtful. Thank you for caring. Thank you for being my friend."

Again, the unexpected recognition and even more unexpected tenderness made her eyes well up with happy tears. She sniffled. "Awww… Braanch…"

Oh, how she wanted to hug him! Without meaning to, she leaned toward him, her arms lifting ever so slightly in his direction.

His face changed as he saw her longing. She expected him to back away, but instead he gave her a pensive look, as if he was actually considering letting her do it.

"Poppy," he said, and stopped.

Her heart began to speed up. "Yes, Branch?"

"Poppy…"

She waited for a few seconds, then dared to take a single step toward him. "I'm listening."

"I… I, uh. I wanted to ask you something."

"Go on."

"Will you…"

"Yes?"

"Will you…dance with me?"

Author's Note:

I decided that up to now in this story, Poppy had the extra-long bangs she wore in the first movie and TV series. Her new hair trim matches her new look from Trolls: World Tour, which I think suits her much better. The only other difference I noticed when I compared her new character design to her old one was that they changed the shape of her eyes. Because they got rid of some of her bangs and made her face look a lot more open, the new eyes look even bigger and prettier than they would have if the movie people had kept her old hairstyle. Branch approves her new look, too. 😉 Even though Poppy didn't really notice that he said her eyes were pretty, lol.

Compliment Rap Battle refers to the episode in Trolls: The Beat Goes On.