-O-

Picturebook Romance

A Trolls fanfic

By Dreamsinger

Chapter Nine

Uncle Branch

"Poppy!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs, and the trolling started, squeaking in fear. Overwhelmingly relieved, I hugged her against me. "I'm sorry, little one. Sorry for scaring you."

Her little arms went around my neck as the frightened trolling started to whimper. Instinctively I began rocking from side to side, rubbing her back soothingly. "Shh, you're all right. I caught you. You're safe."

"Branch?" Poppy yelled as she came racing up, barely coming to a stop before she ran us down. She took in the scene and gasped out, "What happened? Is she okay?" before leaning over with her hands on her knees to pant.

I looked up to see a group of concerned trolls gathered around us, including our friends and a pair of trolls I recognized from the class on the Heimlich Maneuver I'd taught a few days ago.

"Yeah, she's fine, just a little scared. She fell out of the tree, but I caught her. She's okay."

"Well, thank goodness." Poppy put a hand to her chest. "I don't think I've ever heard you yell like that."

The little one made a noise of distress. "Oh, I was just surprised," I said in a blatantly fake-cheerful tone, giving Poppy a glare to stop her from saying anything else. "It's not every day that a pretty little trolling like her falls into my arms. Hey, kiddo," I said gently to distract her from her fear. "What's your name?"

"Fern!" came a distraught shout from behind me. I turned to see a young violet-colored trolling with a pink nose and turquoise hair hurrying toward us.

"Hickory!" Fern called, leaning from my arms, reaching out to the male trolling, who looked about seven years old. I got ready to pass Fern to the troll I assumed was her brother, but when he reached us he didn't stop, he just threw his arms around both of us. Fern clung to her brother as he asked her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I was gonna go splat, but he catched me, Hickory!"

"Thank you!" Hickory's small arm around me tightened in gratitude.

"No problem, little nut." I smiled down at him before I realized what I'd called him. 'Little nut'. That brings back memories…

Hickory turned to his sister. "Why didn't you catch yourself with your hair like I taught you?" he scolded her, his amber-brown eyes unusually stressed for such a young trolling. He kind of reminded me of myself at his age, which piqued my interest.

I felt a tug at my hair and heard a squeaky giggle as Fern answered, "I couldn't see."

She seemed to be all right now so I set her on her feet, noting that her eyes were barely visible under the edge of a thick paper headband with an inadvisably enormous number of beads glued to the front. She had purple skin a few shades lighter than her brother's, with pretty pinkish-lavender hair instead of turquoise, and a mint-green nose. She looked to be about four, the age all trollings began to attend school.

"See?" She pushed it up with her fingers, revealing big grass-green eyes. "It won't stay up."

"Well, that's because it's unbalanced," I explained, just as Poppy also began to say something.

"Huh?" Fern looked confused.

"Sorry; didn't mean to cut you off," I said to Poppy, who nodded and smiled.

"That's okay. Go on." She gestured toward Fern and Hickory.

I looked down at the two trollings, taking in their puzzled expressions. "Do you understand what I mean by 'unbalanced'?"

Brother and sister exchanged glances. "You mean…Fern lost her balance and fell off the branch because she couldn't see, right?" said Hickory.

"Good guess, but that's not what I… Here, let me demonstrate." I looked up at the crowd of trolls still surrounding us, spotting some familiar faces. "Hey, guys, could I get your help for a minute?"

My friends agreed cheerfully.

"Okay, let's move…um, over to that seesaw." Fern, Hickory, Poppy, my friends and a herd of curious onlookers followed me.

"Thanks. Okay, Guy, would you go sit on that seesaw? And Biggie, please go stand near the other end."

"Oh, I get it." Poppy grinned at me.

"What?" Fern asked, lifting up one side of the headband and peering out at the cobalt-blue giant troll standing patiently beside the silvery glitter-troll who was sitting on the bottom end of the seesaw.

"What do you think will happen when Biggie gets on?" I asked the trollings.

"Ohh…" Hickory's eyes widened in realization.

Fern looked up at him, then back at the waiting trolls, then up at me. "Um…they'll have fun playing on the teeter-totter?"

"Oh, will they? Well, we'll see." I turned to Guy Diamond. "Are you ready?"

"ReaADdy for actioOoOn!" he trilled dramatically, an anticipatory grin lighting up his already naturally dazzling face. He did so love to be the center of attention; something I'd counted on in my choice of recruits for this impromptu lesson.

"Okay, then. Go, Biggie!"

"Whee!" the big troll exclaimed joyfully as he leaped into the air and came down hard enough on the top end of the seesaw to launch my glittery friend into the air like a rocket.

"YahooOoOoOooo…" As his mellifluous happy-shout faded we saw the bright white hairbrella fan out, drastically slowing his fall. Then he shifted it to hair-glider shape and caught the wind, beginning to fly back toward the village.

"Wow…" breathed Fern and a number of other trolls. That was when I realized that the crowd around us was much larger; at least half the village, including quite a few trollings. "That was really cool!" she exclaimed, her big green eyes shining.

Something about her reaction set off a faint alarm bell in the back of my head, stirring up an odd, uneasy ripple in my hair, and I made a mental note for later.

"So, Fern, when I said that your headband was unbalanced, I meant there were too many beads on one side. In order to balance, you need to have about same amount of weight." I held out my hands, shifting them in opposite directions as if they were the ends of the seesaw.

"Okay, DJ, Satin, and Chenille, could you go sit on the other end of the seesaw?"

"Sure," they chorused, and when they were all in a row, Biggie's side of the seesaw rose slowly but stayed below theirs. I kept my hands in the air, matched to the positions of the seesaw ends, and realized they needed just one more thing. "Umm, Smidge?"

"You got it," the tiny yellow teacup troll acknowledged, her gravelly bass voice as imposing as ever. She punted herself off the ground with her hair and onto DJ's shoulders. With her miniscule weight, the two sides were finally even. They cheered, and so did the watching crowd, as if my friends had just performed some kind of magic trick instead of a demonstration of one of the basic tenets of physics.

I rolled my eyes, smiling indulgently as I turned back to the trollings. "Fern, can you think of a way you could fix your headband so that it will be balanced like the seesaw?"

She took it off and looked at it, studying the massive clump of beads glued to the front. "This part is big and heavy, like Biggie." She poked a finger at the clump. "Maybe I could add a whole bunch of beads to the other end, like your friends?"

"And what will that do?"

"It will make it flat," she pantomimed drawing a level line from her temple to the back of her head.

"That's right! It will make it balanced, so the weight on the front and the back will be the same. Then it won't slide down over your eyes anymore." I wanted to hug her but it wasn't Hug Time and I didn't want to set a bad example, so instead I affectionately ruffled her hair. "Good girl. I'm proud of you."

She beamed up at me, her happy face making me feel warm all over. Is this how a parent feels? It's…kinda nice, actually. Oh, that reminds me.

My friends had begun to gleefully ride the virtual representation of every major life choice, wittily shouting, "Pro!" and "Other pro!" as they soared and sank, since no troll ever wanted to be the 'con'. Against that backdrop, I held up a finger and stated firmly, "Now, I don't want any trolls to copy what Guy Diamond and Biggie just did."

"Awww…" chorused most of the crowd, staring at me with big woebegone-puppy eyes.

"…Until they've shown me they're comfortable with parachuting and hair-gliding skills. Any troll who wants to practice them can ask me for help," I finished, purposely projecting authority and assurance so they'd know I meant it. I wasn't about to be the cause of a mass of flight-related accidents.

"Yay!" came the expected cheer, hands and hair wildly waving in the air.

I crossed my arms and smiled affectionately. Although my fellow trolls could be seriously annoying at times, their irrepressible enthusiasm was also totally endearing. No matter how many times I'd tried to cut myself off from everyone, I could never go more than a couple of weeks alone in my bunker before I started missing their smiling faces. Even if half the time they were smiling and/or laughing because they thought I was silly for worrying about things none of them ever gave a thought about. I could never write my people off completely.

Or maybe I missed one smiling face in particular…

Like a flower toward the sun, I felt that familiar dreamy pull drawing me back to my love. As I turned to smile at her, I saw her giving me an odd look; half proud, half pensive. Is something bothering her?

"What-" I began, but was distracted by a sudden rustle from within my hair. My eyes popped and sweat broke out all over me, panic jolting my spine straight.

"What's wrong?"

"Poppy," I squeaked hoarsely, trying not to upset whatever it was. "There's something in my hair. Some kind of creature!" At any moment I expected to feel needle-sharp fangs stabbing me. How had I not noticed something sneaking up on me?

The trollings gazed up at me, their little faces reflecting my fear. Hickory swept Fern back behind him with a wary glance upward and even in the midst of my controlled panic I felt a warm flash of approval. Creek could take lessons from him on bravery.

Poppy squinted, then used her hair to gingerly part mine. Then she gave a soft little laugh and I heard the remaining members of the crowd sigh in relief.

"What is it?"

"I think you have a little visitor."

"What?"

Just then I heard the same high-pitched giggle I'd heard earlier, and Hickory and Fern burst out laughing. I shifted my full attention to the contents of my hair. Since a troll's hair tended to negate the weight of anything carried within it, it was easy to forget what one was carrying, but now that I thought about it I remembered the tug on my hair earlier, the tug I'd assumed had been accidental; a result of the excitement of the moment.

"Wait a minute…"

"Whimsy," Hickory chortled. "Are you in there?"

I parted my hair and sure enough a little head with a fluffy tuft of hair poked out, beaming with babyish delight at his game. The entire crowd was in hysterics now, even Poppy, who snorted and bent over, clutching her no-doubt-still-sore stomach, her bright topknot flapping like a flag in the wind.

At the feel of little feet shuffling within my hair, the annoyance I felt was swept away by an unexpected surge of protective tenderness that rose up inside me at the thought of sheltering a little one in my hair again, shielding him from the dangers of the world. It brought back a surge of memories, of times long past when I'd been a burdened soul, always restless, save for rare moments of peace. Acorn. My little nut.

Not that I was in the same place at all, mentally or emotionally. Thank goodness. With a chuckle of my own, I held out my hands and said with tolerant affection, "Okay, come on out now."

Baby Whimsy climbed down into my hands, so small he fit within them completely. Like his brother and sister he was purple, a mid-shade that went well with his vivid coral-colored hair. He shared his green eyes and nose with Fern, although his were more of an apple-green. He looked about two years old.

I shifted him to the crook of my arm and held him securely against me, then booped his nose and grinned at him. "What were you doin', eh? Playing hide and seek?"

Fern informed me, "Whimsy likes to ride in Hickory's hair."

"He must have hitched a ride with you at some point," Poppy guessed.

"Oh, yeah? Who's a silly boy?" I ruffled the soft wisps of hair and Whimsy giggled, grabbing my arm in a cute little mini-hug that had every troll in the crowd sighing, "Awww…."

"Yeah, he loves to make people laugh. Daddy said he's gonna live up to his name," Hickory said proudly.

"Well, he's a real cutie. You all are!" Poppy beamed at the trollings and they basked in the glow of her approval the same way I always did.

That's my Sunshine.

Fern tugged on my free hand. "What's your name?"

"Branch."

"Oh. Hi! You're a good teacher, Uncle Branch. I like you."

"Um, thank you, Fern. I like you, too." Over her head I mouthed at Poppy, 'Uncle Branch'?

"Aww…" Poppy had that 'Branch is being adorable' look on her face, which usually meant I was involved in something embarrassing, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to mind.

Fern announced, "I'm gonna have a new baby brother or sister soon, and I'm gonna teach them everything you showed me, Uncle Branch!"

Well, that news explains why Hickory looks so stressed out. "That's very good, Fern, but you need to listen to your big brother, too. He's a good boy to help your mom and dad take care of you and Whimsy, isn't he?"

"Yes!" Fern exclaimed happily, and hugged her brother around the waist.

He put his arms around her, gazing down at the top of her head and smiling, and then looked up at me. "Thank you."

I knelt on the grass in front of her. "So, Fern, will you remember to do what Hickory asks you to do?"

"Yup," she said agreeably, and transferred her hug to me and Whimsy. I embraced her warmly, marveling at how small she was. My big hand easily covered her entire back. Again I imagined being able to hold a trolling of my own like her, and welcomed the gentle ripples of tenderness, comfort, and hope that flowed over me at the idea.

The remaining trolls around us 'Aww'd' along with Poppy.

Doesn't take much to move us trolls, does it? I thought with amusement. Me included. I didn't object to the non-Hug Time hug. Exceptions were made for very young trollings, of course.

"Okay, Fern, we'd better be going. Nana and Pop-pop will be wondering what's taking us so long," Hickory said, and I handed Whimsy back to his brother. The trollings began to walk away, and at the edge of the green they turned and waved.

"Thank you again for saving her, Uncle Branch."

"Bye, Uncle Branch!"

"Why are they calling me their uncle…?" I wondered under my breath.

As I stood up and turned to look at Poppy I saw her give the thumb's-up signal to someone in the crowd, but when I looked back I couldn't tell who it had been. Most of the gathered trolls were leaving, including our friends and the trolls I'd recognized who had been part of the class I'd taught earlier that week. None of them were behaving suspiciously, but my instincts told me that Poppy's extended absence was noteworthy.

She was gone a lot longer than it should have taken her to grab some snacks and visit Mandy Sparkledust. I turned back to Poppy. I don't see the candy apples, and it's unlikely that she'd try to carry something that sticky in her hair. She's not wearing her Hug Time bracelet, either...

"Poppy, where's your bracelet? And who were you signaling to?"

She looked away. "Um, nobody. And I needed some work done on my bracelet, so I left it with Mandy. So, did you have a nice chat with the Whizbangs?"

Something's going on here, and since she hasn't tried to rope me into it, it probably involves me. Not that every idea of Poppy's was bad, but they had a tendency to escalate into projects of ridiculous proportions that sometimes got out of control, and then it'd be up to me to fix the mess.

"I know what you're doing. This is a distraction, isn't it? You're planning something again, aren't you?" I asked flatly.

"No," she replied, but I heard the denial in her denial. I crossed my arms and waited.

"…Yes."

I rolled my eyes and smirked at her. Like the Whizbangs said, most trolls can't keep a secret. Not when someone flat-out asks them, anyway.

She clasped her hands together. "Branch, please don't ask me to talk about it. I want it to be a surprise."

"Poppy, your surprises are-"

"I know you'll like this one, Branch. You really will." My pretty girl came up to me and put a hand on mine, smiling up at me.

I held out against her sincere gaze for about five seconds before I growled and relented. "Fine. It's just that you know how I hate to be kept in the dark."

"Well, there is something you should know, Branch. It's about our-" She caught herself and glanced around at the dozens of trolls roaming the festival and said lamely, "Uhhhh, that thing I asked you to do for me this morning?"

My mind flashed backward over the morning's events: my arms around her as we rode the slide together, Poppy brushing my hair, her holding me while we were cozily wrapped within her hair, and the reason I'd needed to be held-

"Oh, right. That thing, uh-" We really need a code word or something so we can talk about our relationship in public. Which reminds me-

"I told someone," we said simultaneously.

Both of us blinked and spoke again. "Already?"

"They asked me," we answered.

"Oh," we responded.

I lifted an eyebrow and gave her a wry smile. "Well, that didn't take long." So much for keeping this a secret. "So when should I expect the horde to descend on us?"

"Actually, I think it'll be all right. They were very understanding." Poppy's cheerful smile seemed genuine.

"Huh." I was mildly surprised, but then, as I well knew, Poppy could be very persuasive. "Well, 'they' promised to try to keep a lid on it, too," I reported, following Poppy's lead and not mentioning names. "I'm not sure how long it will last, though. We'll just have to see how it goes."

We started walking, but something else was nudging the back of my brain. "So where's the candy apples you promised Finetune and Savvy?"

She slapped her forehead. "Ooo, sorry, I forgot. I dropped them when you called for me. We'd better go get-"

I held up a hand, giving her a smug look. "Already did that. You're covered."

Poppy gave me a grateful smile. "Thanks, Branch."

As we wove our way through the bustling Beadfest, I found my thoughts turning inward as I something Poppy had said echoed in my head. 'You called for me.' A year ago, it would never have occurred to me to turn to someone else for help. I hadn't realized just how much I've really changed, to instinctively expect someone else to be there when I need them.

I didn't know if that should bother me or not.

And I didn't just call for help; I called for Poppy. Would've made more sense to shout for one of the village doctors if I thought someone had been hurt. So what does that say about me?

I laced my fingers behind my head and contemplated the girl of my dreams as she merrily skipped along ahead of me, humming some happy little tune. The image of an earnest, brave, determined princess with a heart big enough to include bergens and even a certain rough, rebellious loner rose before my eyes, bringing a wide, contented smile to my face. It says that not only did she win my heart; she's earned my trust. Completely. It said something that I could admit that to myself without a single twinge of misgiving.

Just then Poppy turned and saw that I'd lagged behind. She came right back to me, her steps as light as a fairy sprite's, and held out a hand. "You know, all this talk about candy apples is making me hungry. Want to go get some?"

I gazed at her bright pink hand which was offering so much more than mere food: companionship, love and support, and enough stubborn optimism to bolster me when mine faltered and I took it gratefully in mine, not caring if the entire village jumped to the right conclusion.

"Wherever you lead, Sunshine, I'll gladly follow."

Author's Note:

One of my headcanons is that Branch as a trolling had a very hard time trusting anyone, as we will see in the next chapter, and to realize that his trust in Poppy is real and unshakeable is a huge step forward for him. He's still healing. Twenty years of being gray and emotionally unstable don't just go away overnight. As Poppy is beginning to recognize, some parts of him will never change. But some will, for the better.