-O-

Picturebook Romance

A Trolls fanfic

By Dreamsinger

Chapter Twenty-One

Poppy Tells All

Poppy was content to sit for a few minutes with Branch, snuggled up next to him with his arm around her as the wind made a gentle shhhh sound through the leafy branches above them. She found herself pulling in deep, full breaths; it smelled so fresh and clean. Placidly she watched the grass ripple in the breeze, the longer grassfronds bobbing and dancing as if to a melody only they could hear, and admired the way the sun-dappled shadows wove lacy patterns upon the small field surrounding them.

"Thank you."

Surprised, she leaned away from her boyfriend so she could look up into his eyes. "For what?"

"For listening. You were right. I do feel better."

She gave him a fond smile, wanting to kiss him on the nose. "Any time, Branch."

He surprised her again by booping her own nose as he got to his feet and held out his hand. "That goes for you too, Poppy. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, always."

She reached for his hand and pulled herself up, holding on to him as her eyes traced attentively over his features, glad to see that he was back to his usual self. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

They cleaned up their picnic area and headed back into the Beadfest. Poppy felt rested and alert and saw that her boyfriend did, too. I'm glad we decided to take a little break from the action. Sometimes that makes all the difference.

-O-

Poppy and I spent the next few hours having a great time at the Beadfest, reveling in the fun and festivities with nary a care in the world. We competed in bead-decorating and jewelry-design contests, enjoyed bead-themed rides and games, danced and sang in half a dozen of the impromptu songs that sprang up here and there as a normal part of every day in Troll Village, and took advantage of every Hug Time that came around to indulge in some long, close hugging. It was as close to bliss as I'd ever imagined.

As the afternoon progressed, every now and then I would remember my dream. I'm kind of embarrassed that she saw me like that. No wonder she treated me like a little trolling. Yet it had also felt kind of good to have her take care of me. Maybe remembering how natural it had once felt to be taken care of by my foster parents had something to do with it.

It had been a long time since I'd allowed myself to think about my foster dads, let alone talk about them, but it hadn't been as bad as I'd expected. Fourteen years is a long time, after all. And I'm not the same person anymore.

In my bunker years I had learned not to think about my foster dads, because even when the memories were pleasant, invariably I would recall the way it always ended: with me all alone again. I replayed the memory of our parting in the doctor's pod a thousand times, changing the words I'd spoken in my mind, but no matter what, the ending was always the same.

Sometimes I would get stuck in a loop of negative thoughts and feelings that could be very difficult to pull out of, with no real interaction with other trolls apart from irregular visits from Poppy, which grew more and more rare as the years passed. I never admitted it to myself, but I grew to treasure them.

I had spent well over a year at Leafe's pod subconsciously waiting for my foster dads to come for me, so when I'd heard they had their own trolling it had felt like the final betrayal. I'd even resented the trolling who'd taken my place, knowing I had no right to, since I'd given that place up of my own free will, but it was all I could do to force it all down inside me and continue to be the same serious, sometimes sour-tempered teenager Leafe had unwittingly taken in.

Fortunately, Leafe Sage was as wise as his name, never mentioning my foster parents or my undoubtedly adorable usurper to me after informing me of the new arrival, for which I was keenly grateful. My clever roommate could definitely take a hint.

Looking back on my time with Jaunty and Courtley from my current, happy perspective, I realized now that there was a lot of my foster dads in me. My love for routine, for one; the healthy habits of which my foster dads had taken such care to thoroughly establish had given me a good foundation. Things like regular meals, exercise and sleep had become so much a part of me that I followed them out of habit, which I suspected was one of the main reasons I had come through my bunker years as well as I had. Yes, I had been suspicious and pessimistic, but physically healthy and emotionally stable, mostly.

I had a lot to be thankful for.

Especially these days. I couldn't remember the last time someone had been there to comfort me when I had a bad dream. Not that I was looking for comfort. I was happy now, after all, and perfectly capable of ignoring the lingering feeling of sadness such dreams often left with me.

Really. I am. Of course, it would be better if I didn't have bad dreams at all, but well, it is what it is. I just have to learn to roll with it, to accept it like a good troll should, right? I know Poppy wouldn't agree, but sometimes you really do have to accept a few unpleasant things in life that you can't change, and try to be happy anyway. And I'm getting better at that every day, I thought proudly.

No, I don't need help. But I'll always be grateful to Poppy for everything she's done for me.

-O-

Late in the afternoon, several trolls approached me, asking me to be the caller again for the Double-Helix dance.

"You're a natural," one troll said.

"A tough act to follow," said another, beaming eagerly at me.

Considering the unmoving hairball we saw when we arrived on the scene, I had to agree.

Poppy and I had fun for a while; we even made a game of our own out of it, alternating commands to see if we could keep things going smoothly or if we would foul each other up. If we each started guiding the trolls into different patterns we'd get a spectacular mess, but when we focused on each other, we really made some magic.

"You two sure work well together," Conifer commented. The little orange trolling had chosen to sit near us on the tall mushroom we stood upon, watching cheerfully as between the two of us, we engineered some gorgeously elegant geometric patterns in a spray of rainbow colors as the hair-joined trolls below us glided and twirled in glorious, trippy spirals.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I feel like this game is a metaphor for life; how we live and work together in the real world."

"What game isn't?" Poppy replied, surprising me.

My face must have showed it, because she asked, "What?"

"You don't often get philosophical." I tilted my head and gave her a slow grin with heavy-lidded eyes, then winked at her. "I like it."

Poppy flushed a little and her hand came up to brush at the hair near her face, as if she was self-conscious.

Man, I love flirting.

To see if I could get her to blush some more I added, "You know, if this little dance session means anything, it bodes well for our future, doesn't it?"

I wasn't disappointed.

And I wasn't really joking, either. Working seamlessly as part of a team was an important skill that I'd had trouble with in school sometimes, when my independent mind refused to go with the flow. Kind of hard to throw yourself into the role when the goal is to create the ultimate tower of cupcakes, or something equally useless and frankly, kind of bizarre.

But now that my goals were more about having fun and exploring new things, I found it was a lot easier to try myself in roles I'd previously dismissed. At times, I marveled at the openness of my own mind, as if I'd gone back to being the trolling I used to be before I ever lost my family.

"You know, Poppy, I truly feel like I have a world of possibilities in front of me." I put a hand over my heart, smiling sincerely now. "I have you to thank for that. And I really look forward to exploring them with you by my side."

"Aww…" Poppy gave me the glad smile I loved to see, making me proud that I was the one who put it there.

"You guys really like each other, huh?" Conifer asked.

I looked at Poppy. Did that count as someone asking if we were a couple? She shrugged, and I shrugged back. Then she smiled, and I felt soft inside.

I turned back to Conifer, who had been following our silent conversation with curious purple eyes. "We sure do," I said enthusiastically. Sometimes it was easier to be honest about my feelings around trollings. "We love each other very much."

"So you're best friends?"

"Definitely." Poppy nodded her head. "Best friends for life."

"That's nice." Conifer beamed up at me, and I couldn't help but reach out to ruffle the little trolling's brilliant orange hair, looking into Poppy's eyes over his head.

"It sure is," I said, but I wasn't really talking to Conifer.

-O-

As the dinner hour approached, another pair of trolls asked to take a turn as callers for the dancers. Poppy and I received a rousing send-off cheer from the dancers and the tiers of spectators who had gathered in the surrounding trees as we high-fived each other and used our hair to swing down to the ground.

I was in a great mood; all my dark thoughts forgotten, except for a vague feeling that I'd forgotten something. I started to retrace my mental steps through the days' events, but Poppy tugged at my hand, and whatever it was dissolved.

Well, it probably isn't important, or I would have done something about it by now…

-O-

"Come on, Branch! I'm starving," Poppy said, taking his hand and pulling him toward the food vendor section of the Beadfest.

Just then Branch pointed ahead of them. "Hey, look, there's our friends."

They jogged to catch up with the group and at their greeting, their friends turned in surprise.

"There you are! We were wondering where you'd got to," said Biggie.

"Hey, nice duds, dude." DJ Suki gave Branch a thumb's-up.

"I like that vest. The embroidery is exquisite," Biggie commented. He wore a lot of vests himself.

"Thank you. It's our own design," Chenille replied before Branch could answer.

"Doesn't he look fabulous?" Satin gushed.

Poppy saw Branch glance at the twins as if he couldn't decide whether they were really complimenting him or the clothes before turning back to their friends. "Thanks, guys."

"Pink and white are definitely your colors," Smidge said admiringly. She had always liked pink, and she wore it a lot herself.

"Thank you," he said again, smiling.

Impulsively giving in to the urge to show off, Branch leaped into the air and twirled around twice, landing with his back to the group. The pink-beaded heart on his white shorts drew Poppy's eyes like a magnet.

He put his hands on his hips, swiveled his upper body so he was looking over his shoulder and gave them all a totally adorable flirty face, with lowered lids and pouty lips. Instantly Poppy wanted to kiss the lips that he was offering like a gift and quickly looked down, stuffing the side of her finger between her teeth to quiet the urge.

Then he lifted his shoulder and cocked a hip, his hair swaying forward in a dashing manner as he winked and gave them all a slow, charismatic smile.

Their friends stared in silence, then burst into applause.

He broke his pose, dipping forward in a grand bow that was kept from being pretentious by the cheeky grin on his face. "Thank you, thank you."

"Well, Branch, you're in an unusually chipper mood today," Biggie commented cheerfully.

Guy Diamond added, "Yes, if I didn't know better, I'd almost think you were in love. Dressed to impress a certain someone?" he asked slyly, giving the aquamarine troll a knowing grin.

Both Poppy and Branch froze, but before either of them could blurt out a confession a feminine voice called out, "Yoo-hoo, Branch!"

Everyone turned to see a deep ruby-red troll with pale pink hair in a flower-shaped style coming toward them.

While they were distracted, Poppy quickly wiped her sweaty hands on the back of her skirt. Guy probably didn't mean anything by that. He just loves to tease.

"Hi, Cherry Blossom," Branch greeted the teacher with the warm familiarity he normally reserved for his friends, and Poppy recalled that Cherry Blossom had been in his Heimlich Maneuver class a few days ago.

"Afternoon, everyone," Cherry Blossom said. "Branch, I know you're probably busy, but do you have time to talk? I have a request for you."

"A request?" Smidge repeated.

"For me?" Branch traded surprised glances with Poppy. It was unusual for trolls other than Poppy or their friends to ask Branch for help.

Huh. Another request for Branch, not me. She frowned slightly as an unaccustomed wash of strange, not-happy feelings splashed Poppy's insides before she was able to dismiss them and focus on the conversation in front of her.

"Anything we can help you with?" Guy offered.

Cherry Blossom turned to the silver glitter troll. "Thank you, but no. I have need of Branch's specific skill set."

"Well, I have specific skills, too," Cooper bragged.

Cherry Blossom smiled at the giraffe troll. "Of course you do. I always appreciate the magnificent pyrotechnic displays you create."

"Yeah!" Cooper agreed, looking satisfied.

"Well then, we'll just be running along then, won't we, Mister Dinkles?" Biggie said, and the worm meeped in agreement.

As their friends turned to go, Poppy quickly said, "Wait for me."

"Poppy?" Branch gave her a questioning look.

"I'll just hang with our friends while you go help Cherry Blossom. Come find me when you're done, okay?"

He hesitated, and then a knowing look crossed his face and he nodded. "Okay."

"It shouldn't take very long, Queen – I mean, Poppy," Cherry Blossom said reassuringly.

I wonder what Cherry Blossom needs from Branch that I couldn't do just as well? Poppy mused as she followed her friends through the Beadfest, weaving their way single-file through the clusters of merrymakers. Maybe she wants him to build something for her? The pink troll was genuinely puzzled. It couldn't be about-

Just then she caught a tantalizing whiff of hot buttered popcorn in the air and her belly rumbled so loud it could have rivaled one of Branch's growls. Well, whatever it is, I hope it doesn't take too long. I wonder what Branch wants for dinner? Maybe we should head back to my pod and cook together like we did last night. That was fun.

She smiled softly as she recalled the previous evening's closeness, but then her smile faded as she remembered how it had ended. Aw, man, I wanted to talk to Cherry Blossom! She knew Branch during the years he lived with Leafe. And she's married. Maybe she can tell me what to say or do to help Branch be more comfortable around me. It's like he can go up to a certain point and then - bam! He hits a wall. Maybe she can help us; help him have a breakthrough.

They came upon a tent she recognized, the same one she and Branch had been in that morning, when she had flirted with him about his hair. There were no customers inside, and after she entered, Guy closed the fuzzy door-flap, cutting off most of the light except for what came through around the edges.

"Guys?" she said into the darkness. "What's going on?"

"Sorry. Mister Dinkles, if you wouldn't mind?" came Biggie's voice. Obligingly, the pink-and-yellow striped glow-worm lit up brightly, giving the little room a warm, cozy feel.

Poppy looked around, noting that most of the glitter-fied items were gone now, off to new homes. Then she recognized the mirror Branch had used and recalled his adorably anxious query:

'Do all trolls lose control of their hair when they're in love?'

She sighed heavily. He's so cute, and yet…

"What's wrong, Poppy?" asked Guy Diamond sympathetically. "Isn't your date with Branch going well?"

"It's not an official date, exactly. That's the day after tomorrow, assuming Branch still wants to-" Finally her brain caught up with her mouth and she sputtered, "Holy melted glue sticks, are you saying you guys knew about Branch and me all along?"

Her friends practically exploded with hilarity. Both twins dropped to the ground, helplessly giggling, Smidge made a fist with her hair and drummed the nearest mushroom until it vibrated like an enormous gong, Biggie was practically in hysterics, bursts of glitter showered Cooper as Guy Diamond laughed so hard he literally lost all control of himself, and Cooper danced a silly jig, silver glitter flying out in waves from his long fur.

Although her 'chuckle factory' soreness had eased for the most part, Poppy was too stunned to feel like joining in.

Eventually they calmed down enough to explain. "Well, you know how you were late getting to the festival, right?" DJ said. "Smidge, Cooper and Guy Diamond overheard you talking with Branch this morning when they went to see what was taking you so long."

Cooper announced proudly, "We saw you huggin' and everything. We were spies!"

"Not on purpose," Guy said with a hint of apology in his tone. "Your door was open."

Smidge added, "That's when we found out that you and Branch were finally together (which Satin, Biggie, Cooper and I totally called by the way), and that you were having trouble reconciling your duties as queen with your needs as a woman. So we decided to help you out."

"We tried to stay out of your way whenever we saw you coming, even leaving our display tents to give you some privacy," Guy continued. "And did you like my distraction when those teenagers interrupted you in my tent?"

"So that's why we hardly saw you guys all day!" She paused, touched at her friends' thoughtfulness. "And you've been helping me and Branch keep it a secret?"

Smidge nodded. "Yeah, and we spent all day intercepting any troll who looked like they were coming to ask you to help with something, and then we helped them ourselves."

"And boy, do we have some newfound respect for you." Guy Diamond spread his glittery hands to the sides. "Being queen is a lot of work, and people expect you to be omniscient."

"And they want you to know all the answers, too!" chimed in Cooper.

"You did so much for me! Aw, guys, thank you so much!" Poppy threw her arms wide and they all gathered together for a big group hug. When they let go, Poppy added, "I can't believe I didn't notice."

"Well, you might have heard us – we weren't exactly discreet. Plus Cooper kept trying to talk to you and we had to keep stopping him."

"I didn't, but I think Branch did. I guess I should have paid more attention, but I was a little…distracted."

A goofy grin spread over her face as she remembered the many waysher aquamarine boy had distracted her today; looking so cool while he directed traffic and their new dance with smarts, style and grace, flirting with her, admiring his beauty in the twins' tent, his dreamy singing, and a certain unexpectedly delightful treat involving caramel chocolate…

Heat spread over her face, but she wouldn't trade those wonderful memories for anything.

Then DJ Suki spoke with an air of ancient wisdom. "Well, my friend, if he can't distract you, you're not in love."

Everyone stared at her in surprise. The apple-red troll shrugged. "What? It's in the lyrics of a dozen songs."

"Oh, and what Branch said when you were sneaking some alone-time in my tent? Silver glitter is too 'in' right now!" Guy exclaimed, waving his arms. "It's classic! Never goes out of style!"

Diplomatically Poppy said, "I'll let Branch know that."

"Oh, I can't believe our Poppy is in love! Our little princess is all grown up." Biggie wiped away a happy tear.

"Yeah," Smidge sniffled, then jumped and clung to the giant blue troll, wailing, "It happened so fast!"

In the company of the friends who loved her and knew her well, for the first time since she had made her life-altering choice a great sense of warmth and freedom relaxed the young queen almost to the point of giddiness.

"Ooo, I'm so happy you guys already know about us and that you're willing to keep it a secret for now," she babbled. "I really really wanted to ask someone for advice."

"About what?" asked Biggie.

"About how to make Branch feel more comfortable with me when we're alone. After all, once our secret is out I'm sure we won't have much alone-time and he's skittish enough as it is!"

"He's skittish?"

As if her request had opened a door, a mass of insecurities she hadn't known she was suppressing came bubbling to the surface. "The thing is, I don't really know what I'm doing. I mean, Branch is relying on me to be the one who leads the way," she pointed to her chest, "but while I may be more social than he is, that doesn't mean I automatically know how romantic relationships work. Especially with someone like Branch."

She twisted her hands together, and admitted, "I'm afraid of scaring him off. He hates feeling vulnerable more than anything. I mean, if I'm a little nervous, then he's probably terrified. What if he changes his mind?"

Her friends exchanged looks of surprise and confusion.

Delicately, Biggie asked, "Where is all this coming from, Poppy? Are you having doubts about him? Or does Branch not want to be your boyfriend?"

"He doesn't?" Smidge growled, pulling a large club out of her hair and pounding it into her other hand. "Want us to 'persuade' him a little?"

"Yes. No. I mean, that's not what I meant! Urrgh, you guys!" she yelled a little louder than she meant to, and her friends looked alarmed.

Biggie leaned down to ask, a little hesitantly, "Did - did we do something wrong?"

"No, it's not you. It's just- I'm so – Of all the trolls in the village, why did I have to fall for him?" She buried her face in her hands.

She felt a tiny hand pat her leg. "Poppy, what's wrong?" Smidge asked as gently as her rough voice could manage. "You do love him, don't you?"

She closed her eyes, thinking about how every moment she had spent with him over the past day had seemed so special, how happy it made her just to be near him, and how easy it had been to ignore the twinges of worry in the back of her mind.

"I do, Smidge. I really do. I've never felt like this about anybody before, and considering how social we trolls are, that's saying a lot. When we're together, everything is so wonderful…"

"That's good, isn't it?" DJ looked puzzled, and Poppy heaved a big, unhappy sigh.

"But I'm the queen, guys. That means I have to consider the welfare of the entire village, not just me. Am I making the right choice?"

Her friends exchanged glances, and she caught the hesitancy on more than a few faces.

But then Satin stepped forward. "What do you think, Poppy?"

"I think I am," she said honestly. "But maybe I've just convinced myself that Branch is the right person because I love him, not because he's the best choice for the village. I mean, there's his obsession with safety, how he has trouble relating to others emotionally, the fact that he lives in a bunker…"

Cooper laughed. "Yeah, too bad you fell for someone whose hangups have hangups."

She moaned. "Oh, why do things have to be so complicated?"

Guy put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, they do say opposites attract, so it's not surprising that there's bound to be some uh, challenges." He winked at her. "Besides, that's part of why you like him, isn't it? Because he's not your typical troll."

"He's unique," Chenille stated.

"Special," Satin agreed.

"Face it, Poppy, you've always had a thing for him." Smidge said. "Remember when you were a teenager?"

DJ grinned at her. "Yeah, why else would you have waited so long to start dating? Not even Creek?"

"It seems as if your heart was set on Branch a long time ago," Biggie said softly. "Maybe his was, too."

"Aww." Touched, Poppy put a hand over her heart.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then Guy said, "But as for Branch being the right person to help you lead the village, well…" He looked uncomfortable. "I'll admit I have some doubts about that. I mean, the old Branch definitely wouldn't have been my first choice."

"Oh." Her face fell as her heart sunk into her stomach. "Well, thank you for being honest."

She sighed unhappily. There was a pause, and then she heard Guy clear his throat.

"But then, he's not the same person anymore, is he?"

True to her sunny-sky nature, the pink troll brightened instantly, giving the silver glitter troll a hopeful smile. The others recognized an opportunity to give compliments and emotional support, two things that every troll loved to do.

"You're right," DJ agreed.

"He's changed a lot," Chenille acknowledged.

"For the better." Satin clasped her hands together, and Poppy wondered if she was thinking about the special attention Branch had given her while they were choosing clothes together.

"He's weird!" Her friends all glared at Cooper, who laughed in that half-crazy way of his and added, "Good thing I like weirdos."

Everyone looked at Smidge, who shrugged. "He deserves a chance."

Poppy grinned, then turned questioning eyes on her large cobalt-blue friend. "Biggie, what do you think?"

"I think…that it's a good thing you've got Branch lined up for the job," said Biggie. "Between the two of you, I'll bet there's no problem you can't solve." Poppy beamed lovingly at her friend. Biggie had always been one of Branch's staunchest supporters.

Then she looked around to include all of her friends in her affectionate approval. "With a little help from you guys."

As one, the group went, "Awww," and converged on her. She spread her arms wide to encompass them all as they embraced her once again. Maybe we should save time and just keep hugging, she thought happily, not minding that Satin and Chenille's multicolored hair was in her face. In case they have any other revelations for me-

Then something clicked and she pulled out of the hug. "Wait a minute, if you two knew Branch and I were dating, then that's why you gave him shorts with a heart on them!"

They both burst out laughing.

"Right. It was our little joke. When you came to our tent, we ducked down because we thought you wanted some privacy to kiss and stuff…" Satin giggled.

Chenille grinned. "But then Branch called for us and we saw that you totally needed some new clothes."

"We tested him, too," Satin added.

"What do you mean, tested him?"

Chenille pointed at her sister. "Satin flirted with him."

"So did you! You had your hand on his butt!"

"Well, so did you!"

Poppy cut off the incipient argument. "Wait, wait. You did that on purpose?"

"We wanted to see if he'd flirt back. We had to make sure he was serious about you."

"And he passed. He's so into you, Poppy, he didn't even realize we were flirting."

"As he should be."

For one of the few times in her life, Poppy was speechless.

"You know, when we first saw you that morning, we hadn't heard the news-"

"-but later, we wanted to do a little something to celebrate your union. You're kind of like us, now. Together forever." Satin's face went dreamy.

Chenille wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. Maybe I should be offering you my condolences instead."

"Chenille!"

"Just kidding." The powder-blue troll hugged Poppy. "We're so happy for you."

Guy leaned toward Poppy, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Sooo, tell us how it happened. Did you confess first, or did he?"

"Yeah, we wanna hear all the details!" Smidge demanded with a big grin on her face.

"Oh, I can do better than that. I've been making a scrapbook of everything that's happened so far," Poppy said proudly, pulling out her 'unofficial date/ice cream' scrapbook from her hair. She held it up toward the circle of attentive faces, and stood still for a moment to compose her thoughts.

"It all started yesterday morning when I woke up from a beautiful dream where Branch and I were together." The first page had a tiny sleeping Poppy with a smile on her face and a thought-bubble above her head with an even tinier pair of nude pink and aquamarine figures who were also asleep, snuggled together with a blanket partially over them. The little felt figures were smiling.

"And then I woke up and he wasn't there, and I missed him so much." The scene showed Poppy sitting in bed with a teardrop on her cheek, and Branch in a nearby thought-bubble. "And I kept missing him all day long. Then last night he came to my pod on an errand," she showed an image of Branch standing inside her pod carrying a box, "and he ended up using my bathroom to take a bubble bath."

A dark-haired troll cheerfully scrubbed himself in a tub full of cotton-fluff bubbles. Poppy pressed a round circle on the page that covered a button and a tiny voice could be heard singing 'la la la…".

"And then when he got out, I-" Suddenly she remembered what was on the next page, and stopped, oddly reluctant to continue.

"You what?" Smidge asked.

They all looked curiously at Poppy, who hesitated, then answered honestly, "When I saw him, I wanted to – to touch him." She looked away, heat blooming on her cheeks. "You know. That way."

"What way?" Biggie asked innocently.

"Meeep," Mister Dinkles commented, somehow making it sound a tad racy, and her audience's eyes popped. Now she wasn't the only one blushing.

Everyone carefully avoided looking at one another for a few seconds until curiosity got the better of them.

"So, what happened?" DJ asked, and added hastily, "If you don't mind us asking."

"I did it."

Everyone squealed, and half the group grabbed hold of the other half out of sheer excitement.

"Go on!"

She turned the page. The Branch figure was standing with his back to the Poppy figure, his face uplifted and his hair spread out like a flower. A bit of fuzz represented the towel he held in a rather special location. Poppy's little arm was touching his back.

Some of her friends looked enthralled, others embarrassed, but all of them had a look of wonder in their eyes, as if thinking about when it would be their turn to find their special someone.

"Um, so, yeah, I touched him. And then…" It got weird, she wanted to say, but as her face went from warm to whistling-teakettle hot she decided that maybe she didn't need to describe every detail. "Well, he seemed to like it. At first. But then he kind of freaked out and so did I, and he started to run away from me. I was afraid I'd lost him for good."

"No!" they all said in horror.

"What did you do?" Biggie whispered.

"I called out to him, asking him to come back to me."

She turned the page to show a cutaway image of her pod, with herself reaching out with both arms toward the aquamarine troll, who stood facing away from her. Shiny bits of satin represented the raindrops outside. She pressed a button and her miniaturized voice called out "Wait!"

Then she pulled a tab, drawing the Branch figure to the side, toward the open door.

"No!" Smidge put her hands to her peach-colored cheeks.

"Don't go!" Satin cried out.

"And then…he stopped, literally on the brink." Poppy left the figure standing in the doorway.

Her friends sighed in relief.

Poppy announced dramatically, "It was the moment of truth. Stay or go? Should he run back to his bunker and live the rest of his life safe but lonely, or should he open up his heart for the first time in his life and take a chance on love?"

"Take the chance!" her friends called out, encouraging the little figure, whose sad little face held a great big longing.

"My heart was pounding. He could so easily have turned away from me, just like he's been doing his entire life…but he didn't. Not this time. This time, he took the chance."

She pulled a different tab, and the figure flipped over to face the pink troll. Now he was smiling.

"Yay!" everyone cheered, with Guy Diamond's silvery vocals rippling throughout.

Poppy smiled as she pushed the first tab toward the Poppy figure until he slid between her arms. Then she shifted her scrapbook to one hand so she could gaze at her sweetheart, already starting to miss him. She stroked a gentle finger over the silky tuft of purple hair, an unmistakable look of love softening her features.

"So then what happened? Did he declare his undying love for you?" Biggie asked eagerly.

In answer, she turned the page. The next page was covered in glittery hearts, with a tiny Poppy and Branch hugging with big, happy smiles on their faces and a huge pink, blue and purple rainbow with the word 'LOVE' on it above their heads.

"Awww…"

"That's so sweet!"

Caught up in the story, her friends hugged one another.

Amid the happy cries of her dearest friends, Poppy quietly closed her scrapbook and slipped it into her hair, deciding in the back of her mind that she didn't feel like showing the rest of it. Some of it makes me feel kind of awkward to share. To soothe her guilt she reminded herself, Branch told me that it was normal to want privacy in relationships. And anyway, now I can have the fun of making a new one to tell our story to the entire village later.

The storyteller in her decided that the ending had been a little abrupt, so she added, "We had a long talk and figured things out together. I finally realized that somewhere along the way I'd fallen for him, and he confessed that he's been in love with me for years."

"I knew it!" Biggie, Smidge, Satin and Cooper shouted.

Poppy blinked. "Wait. Seriously?"

"Well, maybe not years, but since Bergentown, yeah," Smidge confirmed.

"He said so right in his song," Satin pointed out.

"Yeah, that was not friendship he was singing 'bout, yo," said Cooper.

"Actually… I suspected it," Biggie said unexpectedly.

"You did?" Poppy and her friends chorused in astonishment.

A light dawned. "Oh! Is that why you were playing dress-up with Mister Dinkles that time I walked in on you?"

"Dress-up?" the twins asked together.

"Yes. You really didn't see it? None of you?" Biggie gazed down at everyone's clueless faces. "The way Branch always seemed to be somewhere near Poppy? Mister Dinkles and I used to see him hiding all around the village, watching her."

Chenille shuddered. "That's creepy."

"No… Well, maybe it was a little creepy, but really it looked to me like he was…shy. Like he wanted to approach her but couldn't figure out how."

Her friends looked touched.

So was Poppy. "Aww, really?"

Her big friend nodded. "I used to 'accidentally'" he made air quotes "run into him and chat with him sometimes. He used to complain – I mean, say some, er, not-very-polite things about you, sometimes, but he also asked me a lot of questions about you, and he always listened very carefully to everything I told him. I suspected he was smitten, but he would make excuses and run off whenever I started talking about feelings, so I couldn't be positive."

"Sounds like Branch, all right." Smidge nodded.

"Wow." So I wasn't just an annoyance to him all these years! Grumble though he might, he really cared! A surge of love made her stomach flip-flop, imagining him with hand over heart, earnestly whispering wistful poetry in the hopes that someday he'd have the courage to declare his feelings to her for real.

Biggie continued, "And then after spending his entire life terrified of the bergens, our resident expert in survival techniques followed you to the one place he should have avoided at all costs, the scariest place in the world to him: Bergentown."

"Yeah…" Cooper said gently. "If that's not love, what is?"

"I didn't know that." Suddenly Poppy's elation evaporated. Her body drooped as she looked forlornly down at the ground, her hands twisted together over her chest.

"What's wrong, Poppy?" Biggie looked concerned.

She sighed miserably. "I could have helped him learn to be happy years ago if I'd paid closer attention to him. If I'd tried harder. Instead," her voice grew rough with emotion, "he went on growing further and further away from us all, to the point where he could barely stand to be hugged, let alone…"

She closed her eyes and sighed again. "Well, I mean, last night in bed-"

She jumped in startlement at the sudden outcry as her friends recoiled.

Biggie covered his glowworm's nonexistent ears. "Are you sure we should be hearing this?"

"Not that we don't enjoy sharing, Poppy, but in this case I'm gonna have to agree with Branch!" Satin said with a look of supreme discomfort.

"Yeah, there is such a thing as too much sharing!" Chenille looked even more distressed than her sister.

Poppy turned redder than her namesake and waved her hands wildly. "It wasn't like that!"

Everyone gave her puzzled looks.

"I just wanted to cuddle with him, that's all."

"Oh," they all said together in relief.

"But he had a panic attack," she finished, a little dispiritedly.

Several of her friends winced.

"Was it awful?" asked DJ sympathetically.

"No, it wasn't like it used to be. He just…froze. So I asked him if he wanted me to let him go and he said, 'Stay with me.'"

"Aww," they all said feelingly.

"And that he wanted to get used to being close to someone again."

Some of her friends started sniffling. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry!" Biggie started frantically fanning himself. "This is so touching!"

"So what happened next?" Guy asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"Not much. He calmed down after a while and we went to sleep."

Everyone looked disappointed.

"That's all?" Smidge put her fists on her tiny hips.

Suddenly she felt the need to defend her boyfriend. "Look, you all know Branch has intimacy issues. I just didn't want to push him before he was ready."

Guy Diamond spoke up. "But sometimes you have to push him, or he'll never come out of his shell."

"Yeah," Smidge agreed. "Sometimes you have to be the one who makes the first move."

"Well, I did make a move." Her voice went husky with emotion. "I just wish I'd made it sooner."

Her friends were silent for a minute, and then Biggie spoke up. "Listen, Poppy, I know this may not be much consolation, but I doubt things would have changed much until the whole bergen issue was settled, no matter what you tried with him."

The others murmured their agreement.

"He was obsessed with them."

"And he still felt bad about his grandmother. It was only because of Bridget that we found out about her, remember?"

"And then we found out he was a poet and a wonderful singer."

"He came through for us, just when we needed him most."

"And he did it all for love of you, Poppy," Biggie said softly, smiling down at her, and her heart felt light again. She threw her arms as far as she could reach around him, and felt the comforting soft thumps of warm bodies, arms and hearts of her friends as they joined in the hug.

"I love you guys," she said happily.

Author's Note:

I figure that Poppy probably has a collection of real hair from everyone, donated in advance for her scrapbooks.