Trolls with a twist

by Kitty Korner

What if Branch had a little sister growing up? What if she was his twin but hatched late and neither one of them knew because nobody told them? This is the story of Trolls but with a bit of a twist. Meet Kitty, Branch's little sister.

I sit in the darkness. I can't hear anything. I don't know how long I sit in the darkness for before I see a small amount of light. I put my hand on it and whatever I've been sitting in breaks and the amount of light becomes more. I keep making it bigger until my head can fit out of the hole and I completely break whatever it is. All of a sudden I'm bombarded by sounds that I can't yet identify. I look around. Then I see something moving towards me. I stay as still as possible not sure what it is.

It's moving on two legs with pink hair, purple eyes, as slightly blue tinted skin color and it's wearing a green vest, white shorts, and a white earring in one ear. I can see this being is clearly coming towards me so I just observe. When they reach they smile and say, "Happy Birthday. I'm Floyd. What would you like to be called?" with a kind look. I blink and think for a minute. I look back up at him and say, "Kitty" in a small voice.

His smile gets impossibly wider and he says "That's perfect." and he reaches his hands for mine. I put my hands into his and realize just how much smaller I am than him, his hands so much bigger than mine. He must've sensed my reservations because he said, "Don't worry, I'm gonna protect you." I stand up for the first time on unsteady legs, and hug him.

He picks me up and carries me saying, "Come on, I'll take you to meet my Grandma and my brothers." and he puts me into his hair. I don't know how long we traveled for or how far but I soon heard a voice almost as small as mine say "Floyd!" and I felt him bending down so I held onto his hair tightly. I heard Floyd say, "Hey, Baby Branch!" with so much affection in his voice it could only mean that this was one of his brothers that he wanted me to meet.

Just when I had decided to make my appearance I heard footsteps approaching and multiple voices say "Floyd!" one of which sounded very different than the others. "Hey brothers, Grandma." I heard Floyd say. Apparently they must've heard something in his voice that I didn't because the voice that sounded different than the others said, "Floyd whatever you have to tell us, tell us."

I felt him sit down and he reached into his hair, presumably for me. He didn't grab me, for which I was grateful. He held is hand out for me to climb into. I took a deep breath and released it as I climbed into his hand. He didn't immediately bring me out though, and I realized that he was waiting on me to give the ok. I smiled slightly, and patted his hand. I blinked my eyes against the light as I emerged.

Once my eyes had adjusted to the light I looked at what was in front of me. The biggest one had deep green hair, and was wearing ski goggles, white shorts, had green eyes, and had the same skin color as floyd. The one next to him had the same skin tone, purple hair, purple eyes, and white shorts. The one standing next to him had yellow hair blue eyes about the same skin tone it was a little greener, and white shorts. The one standing next to him was a whole lot smaller, almost my size so I assumed this one was 'Baby Branch'. He had a bluer tinted skin tone than the rest of them, blue hair and light blue eyes.

The only other being I saw was someone with mint green hair, a light purple skin tone with dark green eyes. I looked back at Floyd and I can definitely see the resemblance between them. "Floyd, who is this little troll baby?" the one with the goggles asks. "A few months ago, when I was jogging I found her egg. I left her there just in case her parents had left her there and were coming back but when I went back the next day the egg was still there. I moved it out of the way completely but left it in the area in case the parents came back and found it. But that was 3 months ago, and I went back every day to check whether the egg had been claimed or hatched or not. She hatched today and has chosen a name for herself." Floyd explained, looking saddened at the beginning.

The baby came up to us and climbed into Floyd's lap with me. "Hi, I'm Branch. What name did you choose?" he said waving slightly. " Kitty. I chose Kitty." I said softly, smiling back. "That's a really nice name." he said. "Thanks." I said. "I really like your hair though." He said reaching up to touch it. I watched his arm and said, "Why? I like yours." He looked at me surprised and jumped down and walked over somewhere. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked shook his head and said, "No, he's going to either get and mirror or a camera or both so you can see your own hair." with a slight smile on his face. Branch came back a moment later with two things in his hands, both too big for him to hold on his own. Floyd reached down and took them both and Branch hopped back up into his lap."Give her the mirror first, then we'll take a picture together." Branch said. Floyd nodded and held something out to me, the mirror presumably.

I took it and the way Floyd handed it to me there was something reflective showing me myself when I looked into it. I had almost the exact same shad e of skin as Branch, my eyes were about the same shade as Floyd's hair, my nose the same mint green as their grandma's hair. "But my hair was Red at the roots blend into orange and then yellow. "Woah." I said, softly.

At that point their Grandma walked over and said, "Floyd, it was really kind of you to keep an eye on that egg, but what are you planning on doing with her now?" almost like a statement instead of a question. Before he could even answer, the one with the goggles said, "We'll take care of her of course!" then walked over and said, "Hi, my name is John Dory." and grabbed the camera after he saw it and aimed it at us and hit a button on top of it.

The one with the purple hair came over there and extended his hand to mine, but not like he wanted to help me but like he wanted me to grasp it, so I did and he smiled and he moved our hands up and down a couple of times and then said, "Hi, my name is Spruce. I'm the second oldest." he then released my hand and backed up. Then the one with the yellow hair came over smiling and said, "Guess that leaves me huh? My name is Clay. I'm in the middle. Floyd there is younger and so is Branch obviously." "Huh, really? I would've guessed he was the oldest." I said, smiling. They all burst out laughing except John Dory knowing the joke was at his expense.

At that point their Grandma comes over and asks, "Well, would you like to join our family Kitty?" a small mysterious smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eyes. I look around at them and think back at how kind they have been since Floyd had found me. I smile and nod. The next thing I know Branch is hugging me and he whispers in my ear, "I'll try to be the best big brother you could ever hope for." I smile and blink the tears back before the others could notice them and say "I'm sure you will be."

Flash Forward to when Brozone broke up

I'm silently laughing at Branch, he looks ridiculous. Unfortunately he either hears my laughter or sees my reflection because he turns and says, "Quit laughing Kitty. This is what I have to wear and you know it." I stop laughing and hug him, saying, "Sorry, I know. It just looks soooo funny every time." I release him and he rolls his eyes. "Break a leg." I whisper as he heads to the stage.

I watch from the audience, cheering (ignoring the odd looks I get because of my appearance) as the show starts. Then everything goes wrong. I run to the backstage area and Floyd has to tell them to let me back there. I hug him and then I hug Branch in silence and then it's decided that it's time to head back to the pod. We break our hug and we walk behind our brothers in silence, thinking.

When we got to the pod the others were already there fighting. We watched as one by one they left, until it was just Floyd, but he was leaving too. He gave Branch his vest hugged him goodbye, and Branch said, "See you later." and that's when I cracked. I followed Floyd out yelling, "DON'T GO!" tears streaming down my face.

He turned around and hugged me and said, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." over and over again. "YOU PROMISED TO PROTECT ME!" I don't realize that I'm yelling until I see him wince and look around because of the time. I also realize that I don't care. "I'm so sorry -" He begins again but I cut him off saying, "Is that all you know how to say?" He stays silent, tears streaming down his face now.

I close my eyes, turn around and walk back inside. That night I woke up with a nightmare and looked for Floyd like every other time, cried when I remembered what happened, and crawled into bed with Branch because I realized two things: one, he had stayed and two he had taken Floyd's bed and I wanted the comfort. He opened his eyes slightly, saw my tears, hugged me and we went to sleep.

Time skip to Grandma Rosiepuff's death

I miss Floyd. Of course I also miss Clay and Spruce as well. John Dory not so much because if he wasn't so obsessed with being perfect we'd still have our family. Grandma says I'm slowly losing my color. Branch hasn't let it get down though. He also hasn't noticed, but that's because it's that subtle. "Kitty." I hear Grandma call. She only ever calls for me when she wants me to go get something. I go out into the living room and say, "Yeah Grandma?" in as cheerful a tone as I can manage, in case Branch is around. "Would you mind going to go get some more juice from the market?" she asked me. "Sure." I say, heading out the door.

I make quick work of the errand, getting a few looks of pity and even more odd looks, more than likely because of my appearance. I ignore them all. As I make my way back to the pod I hear Branch singing. Even now he's got an amazing voice, like an angel's. Then I hear Grandma yelling and I speed up and I'm just in time to see her knock Branch out the way and being grabbed by a bergen.

I drop the juice and run to Branch to make sure he is ok. We look at each other when I get there and it's at that point that I realize that we are utterly alone except for each other now. We kneel on the ground at the same time as if he had the come to the same conclusion as me. I look at him and see the color, his beautiful colors, draining from him, and in the reflection of his eyes I can see my own draining in the same way.

Time lapse to before first movie

The one year anniversary of Grandma's death, we left the Troll Tree with the rest of the trolls. When we got to the new area the king said we would live in, we stayed together. But I remembered seeing Branch and Floyd planning a hideout. I was shocked when I had an area right in between them when they showed me. We stayed in a pod until we had it built, but I didn't like calling it a hideout. I said we should call it a bunker, so that's what we called it.

The princess kept inviting us to things, even though we continually didn't show up. But I could see the way Branch looked at her. He never admitted it to himself or to me, which is why he never got his colors back, but I could see clear as day that he loved her. I never brought it up either, it's his own business.

Time lapse to First movie

Most trolls treat this as the day that we escaped from the bergens, but to Branch and I it will always be the day that we lost our Grandma. Wile others were getting ready to party Branch and I were gathering supplies. About a mile away from Troll Village we heard them singing. "Are they trying to lead the bergens right to us?" I mumbled under my breath. We headed back to the village. He stopped to try to talk Poppy out of the party while I went on ahead to the bunker, done for the day. I lay on my bed and try to rest.

A little while later I hear banging on the door and Poppy yelling for Branch. When he brings the elevator down I stick my head out of my doorway and say, "What's going on?" I'm looking at Branch but Poppy answers like I'm talking to her. "A bergen found us! It took Biggie, Smidge, Satin and Chenille, Fuzzbert, Guy Diamond, Dj Suki, and Creek!" she says Creek's name like it's supposed to be heartbreaking. "Eh, " I grunt nonchalantly.

I glance at Branch and we roll our eyes together. I looked Branch questioningly again. "She wants us to go with her since we know more about the bergens than pretty much anyone else here." he said in response to my look. I thought while they talked, giggling when he burned her. But when she went to leave on her own I said, "I will come with you." They both looked at me confused. "Look I'm not saying I'm friends with them or anything, but Satin and Chenille taught me how to make my own clothes when they noticed how uncomfortable I was having to go to someone else. So I have respect for them." I said remembering how easy it was for me to pick up the skill. Branch nodded like he was just now remembering and Poppy was grinning like a madwoman.

While Poppy waited by the elevator I went to Branch. I hugged him saying, "I will return, I promise. This is not like when our brothers left." too softly for Poppy to hear. We haven't told anyone in the village about us about having 4 other brothers, He released me and nodded. Poppy looked confused by the hug but she smartly didn't say anything. She must've been thinking the whole time as well because when we started to up the elevator she suddenly made it go back down.

The look on Branch's face when they started surrounding him for hug time made me fall down I was laughing so hard. She waited until I calmed down and helped me up. "So I've heard that you guys are siblings but is it true?" she asked unabashedly. "Respect for asking, and it's sort of complicated and a long story." I said not wanting to bring Floyd up knowing I'd start bawling.

"Ok, how about the revised short version?" she asked after thinking for a second. I think about it for a second and say, " I was found as an egg and the day I hatched, Branch's Grandma invited me to live with them as part of the family. Branch and I have never been apart for longer than a trip to the store ever since then." Poppy's eyes widened and she smiled so wide I thought it was going to split her face, "Well, that was extra super nice of them." she said. I nodded. After that she started singing.

I rolled my eyes and ran to keep up with her. I kept up with her up until the last second when I tripped and we collided in midair falling into spiderwebs. We land on the ground and the way we land she ended up on top of me. "OW." I mutter. All of a sudden I feel us moving. I hear grunts that sound similar to Branch. "Poppy, Kitty!" I hear and I know that Branch had followed us.

He cut open the spiderwebs and I scooched out from underneath Poppy and took a deep breath. While he worked on Poppy he asked, "You OK?" "Yeah." I said. When she was up again we headed out. She started humming and bouncing all over the place and of course Branch complained. Then Poppy asked a very dangerous question on why we were so gray all the time.

I hid my tears as best I could while Branch got her to be quiet. We then moved on and decided to make camp. After she sang AGAIN and Branch destroyed her ukulele (thank you Branch) I made sure she was asleep before I told Branch, "She asked if we were actually related earlier." in a small voice. "What all did you tell her about it?" he asked knowing I answered in some form of the truth. "Just that I had been found as an egg and when I hatched you and your Grandma took me in as part of the family." I said looking over his shoulder at Poppy.

"Just the absolute bare minimum then." he said, relief evident on his face. "I didn't want to bring up any unnecessary pain, or have to explain where the rest of them went or why they left. also I'm pretty sure that you didn't want Poppy to know that you were in a band." I said, teasing him with the last bit. He shushed me, eyes wide while looking over at Poppy making sure she was still asleep. He then turned back towards me and I said, "Relax, I'm only teasing. If, and that's a big if, we make it out of this, we can talk about telling them more about our past." He nodded and let out a yawn, so we layed down and went to sleep.

When we woke up we went on our way and eventually we made it to the root tunnels. We were trying to figure out which one to take when a cloud showed up. I could tell he was just trying to make Branch mad and that made me mad. We both got to the end of our ropes at the same time and we started chasing the cloud through a tunnel with Poppy behind us trying to get us to calm down. The cloud stopped running because we had reached the Troll Tree.

It was completely bare, but I could picture the way it used to look. I spotted our old pod and I felt tears pooling in my eyes again as I looked at it. Branch put his hand on my shoulder as he saw where I was looking. I put my hand over his squeezed it and took a deep breath. As soon as I felt the tears go away I looked at him and nodded, giving silent thanks and letting him know that I'm OK. He nodded back and we looked at Poppy hoping that she didn't notice the exchange. Luckily she was looking around at bergen town at all the bergens.

After she called us miserable we headed out. "Where do you think they've been taken?" Poppy asked. "Probably the castle." I said and we worked our way there. We hid working our way through among the rafters and unlit torch brackets, Poppy making her hair look like the fire when the guards passed through. Branch was being sarcastic again and I was laughing about it when Poppy's Hug Time bracelet went off and she shushed us. I immediately caught on to what she was thinking but Branch was thinking she just wanted to hug,

I put my hand on his shoulder and shook my head. He looked confused until we heard the tell-tale ding of the Hug Time bracelets. We looked the glow and when we saw it we headed that way. We hid in one of the chandeliers and watched what was going on. Then I saw HER. I looked at Branch but he must not have seen her all that well when Grandma was pushing him out of the way. I felt the hatred burning behind my eyes as I looked at her.

I wasn't even paying attention to anything else going on until Branch pulled me down. "What?" I asked him a little harshly. He looked a little surprised but didn't let it get to him and he said, "Their king just ate Creek and Poppy almost gave us away." "Oh." I said in a small voice. We looked back up and noticed a small bergen heading away with the rest of the trolls that were taken in a cage. All of a sudden Poppy jumps down and goes onto her apron string. Branch follows landing on the other loop. I take a more discreet route than they do and reach for their hands that are extended out, successfully grabbing them. I hold on tight as the bergen starts going some stairs.

She finally stops and we jump off and hide. After the bergen sang, (honestly she doesn't have a bad voice for a bergen) we go to the table where the cage was. Branch and I pull the cover off of it and they all cheered when they saw Poppy. Branch and I both shushed them and Branch grabbed Poppy's scrapbooking scissors and picked the lock. Honestly I think that was so he would stop getting glitter in his nose everytime she scrapbooked because I know for a fact that he has a lock pick in his hair. Just when we were getting ready to leave, the bergen shone a light on us. Branch and I immediately got defensive and everybody else started panicking.

Everybody scattered after Guy Diamond glittered her in the face. Poppy yelled and got her attention. Apparently this bergen is in love with the king. The others decided to help her out in exchange for information on Creek on whether or not he's still alive or not. Then they started singing so I started to leave, hoping they wouldn't notice. Branch stayed but wasn't singing either. Then the Bergen noticed that we weren't singing. Branch climbed up to the window with me and we opened the latch all the while telling Poppy who had climbed after Branch up to the window that we don't sing and then we won't sing, we finally lost our temper and yelled in unison, "Because singing killed our Grandma OK!" my voice cracking.

"How did singing kill your Grandma? What song was she singing?" Poppy asked gently but looking confused. "I was the one singing." Branch said. Poppy's eyes widened in shock. "That day, I was so lost in song that I didn't hear my Grandma trying to warn me." I could see it happen in my minds eye as if it was yesterday and not 21 years ago. Branch puts his hand on the window facing the Troll Tree clearly remembering it himself. "I haven't sung a note since." He says looking slightly back at Poppy. "I'm so sorry, guys. I had no idea. I just assumed you had a terrible voice." Poppy said, looking like she might cry. "No, no, it was like an angel's. At least that's what Grandma used to say." Branch said turning completely around now. At that point Poppy hugged him and he asked what she was doing but I saw the look of happiness in his eyes as he looked at her.

"So, why is Kitty gray and mopey too?" Biggie asked the question that was probably on most of their minds. "Branch is my brother. I'm sure most of you didn't know that. But I remember that day like it was yesterday. Grandma had sent me out for some juice. I was coming back when I heard Branch singing. Then I heard Grandma yelling his name so I dropped the juice and ran. I got there in time to see Grandma push Branch out of the way and a bergen grabbing her. At the time I had ran to Branch and that's when we lost our colors, but today I realized I had remembered what the bergen looked like. It's the one with the white hat." I said, glaring at the ceiling when I was done.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked down and saw that it was Poppy. "She's the one who grabbed everybody this time too." she said in a small voice. I looked over at Branch and nodded my head slightly. "OK, we'll help, but we won't sing." he said. I looked at the bergen and said, "One wrong move and you're gonna meet the wrong end of my temper." She nodded and extended her finger towards me and said, "It's nice to meet you Kitty, my name is Bridget." I took her finger in my hand and we shook.

Everybody was climbing onto her head at that point so I followed suit. I sat down with Branch and everybody else started extending their hair and harmonizing and I knew a song was coming. I looked at Branch and we rolled our eyes. Bridget left the castle and sang through the streets ending up in front of a place called Bibbly's. She was nervous but we got her in there. After Poppy coached Bridget on what to say to King Gristle (and after failing to recognize sarcasm again) we ended up at a rollerrink. After Poppy and Bridget and the other trolls all fail at the art of flirting I whisper in Branch's ear, "Pretend you're talking to Poppy like we don't have any drama."

He looked at me, eyes wide then looked at Poppy and then looked back through the gap in the hair and said, "Your eyes, they're like two pools so deep I fear if I dive in I might never come up for air." He turns to Poppy for a second and looks away, then continues, "and your smile, the sun itself turns jealous and refuses to come out from behind the clouds knowing it cannot shine half as bright." Bridget repeated every word he said. Gristle said, "I kinda do have a nice smile don't I?" sheepishly. Branch then turns to Poppy fully, who is smiling softly, and says, "Yes, you do." then as if realizing what he just did he looks away shyly.

I pull him a little closer to me and whisper in his ear, "Floyd would love the sensitivity you're showing Branch. Good job." small tears in my eyes. We look back out of the hair just in time to see Gristle open the Brooch on his cloak to reveal Creek. We were all shocked. While we were still reeling from the fact that Creek was in fact still alive Bridget and Gristle decided to rollerskating. We almost fell off at one point, but we were ok otherwise.

Then when they were about to kiss the chef showed up. Branch held me down before I could even get up. "Dang it." I mutter. "Sorry sis, we gotta keep our cover." He muttered back. Then for some reason Bridget started skating as fast as she can out the doors and down the stairs, losing a skate in the process. When we made it back to her room she freaked out that she just went on a date with the King. Then the other trolls freaked out that Creek was still alive, Branch joining in, or trying to I should say.

The confusion of the other trolls was funny for me but I wasn't exactly ecstatic that Creek was alive. Poppy noticed my indifference and came over and sat next to me. "Kitty, I know that you don't do the whole happy thing but, come on even Branch is celebrating that Creek is alive." she said, trying to put an arm around my shoulders.

I stood up abruptly and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not even gonna try. Creek has never been nice to me or Branch. He's never even given us a chance to explain what's going on with us, in fact before this happened none of you did. We warned all of you that the bergens might get us one day and you all laughed at us and blew us off. The only ones here who have ever been remotely nice to me were Satin and Chenille, when I asked them to teach me how to make clothes. They didn't ask questions on why I wanted to learn, or make fun of me either. Which is literally the only reason I'm even on this stupid trip, because I respect them. But literally the day this started Creek was making fun of both Branch and me, so no I'm not going to pretend to be happy that he is alive. I will help you guys get him back, but I'm not going to forgive him for that." I ranted.

At the end of my speech I felt two pairs of arms hugging me and knew it was Satin and Chenille. I gave them ten more seconds before I said, "OK, quit being sappy." and they let go. We started to leave to go get Creek but Bridget tried to stop us. I zoned out thinking of how my other brothers would react to learning about Creek basically bullying me.

John Dory would probably want to beat him to a pulp. Spruce would be torn between calming John Dory down or reporting it to someone who could punish him. Clay would act as a therapist and want me to talk to him about how I feel about it. Floyd would hug me and and cheer me up by calling me his beautiful little sister and tell me to ignore it.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts by a hand on my shoulder. I recognize the feel of it immediately: Branch. He steers me towards the door. "What're you thinking about?" he asks. "Them." I say looking into his eyes so he knows who I'm talking about, "And how they'd react to Creek's bullying." I finish saying. "Let me know later what you came up with." He mutters into my ear as we're getting closer to the others. I nod.

It's at this point that we hear the King's voice so we hide. Once he's out of earshot I say to the others, "We have to follow him." and they all nodded and we take off after Gristle. We make it to his room without a problem. He takes his cloak off and puts it on the bed, convenient. We go up onto the bed and over to the brooch, Poppy and Branch trying to open it now. I keep an eye on our surroundings.

I notice the King's pet coming up and say, "Just grab it and let's go." while getting ready to defend the others. They must've looked over because I hear gasps then the creature jumps. I dive and the rest of them run. Then I spot the rollerskate that Bridget lost, he must've grabbed it. "Guys, over there!" I say pointing. Everybody except Branch and Poppy head that way. I look for them and see them grabbing the brooch.

We head over to the skate and I make sure that they get up there first. Then I grab one of the laces and push. Before I can completely push the skate off the bed though, the creature jumps up on it and the weight makes the skate fly off. We use the momentum and go flying down the hallways. I don't pay attention to what's going on, other than making sure that nobody falls off.

When we landed after Branch pulled Poppy back in from catching the brooch and they opened it and it was empty I was SO mad. Then the chef showed up and put us in a cage, which was good for her because me seeing her again and being mad would not be a good combination. She moves us out of the hallway and into what I assume is the kitchen.

The delusional chef thinks she's gonna find our bunker she's got another thing coming. "You'll never find them, not where they're hiding!" Poppy says, basically reading my thoughts. "Oh you're right, I couldn't find them. But I could with someone they know. Someone they trust. Someone, like this guy." She says and with the last words she pulls Creek out of her bag.

Everybody except Branch and I are excited to see he's alive. We realize it at the same time and say, "He's selling us out!" while trying to choke him with our hair. "Branch! Kitty! Wait! I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. Please give him a chance." Poppy says and we release him. Creek massages his throat and says, "Thank you Poppy. I'm selling you out." Before I could start choking him again Poppy is.

Branch and I look at her wide eyed and lean back while everybody else tries to get her to stop. They finally get her to stop and Poppy says, "You better explain yourself Creek!" while holding the bars like she might try to choke him again. "As I was about to accept my fate I had what I can only describe as a spiritual awakening." Creek says rubbing his throat a little. "No, Creek please don't do this." Poppy says, sounding heartbroken.

"Believe me, I wish there was some other, me not getting eaten way." Creek says approaching the cage. "But there isn't" the chef says from where she was, sharpening a knife. "And now I have to live with this for the rest of my life. At least you get to die with a clear conscience. So, in a way, you could say I'm doing this for you." Creek says putting his hand on Poppy's cheek, then reaching into her hair and grabbing her cowbell. "Boop." He says using the stick for to boop her on the nose.

I felt my eyes widen as I remembered every encounter with the two of them together. They always do the boop thing, that's their thing. Before I could do anything to him he backs up away from the cage and the chef picks him and puts back in her bag. After she walked away one of the guards came and put us into a pot. I'm not sure how long we sat there for but nobody said a word.

Then the lid opened and the rest of the trolls from Troll Village got dumped in. Poppy being sarcastic is one of the best things I've ever seen. "I let everyone down." she said, walking towards the center of the circle. She dropped to her knees and Branch said, "But Poppy," getting ready to say she tried her hardest and that's all anybody can do. Floyd used to say it.

"You were right Branch, Kitty. The world isn't all cupcakes and rainbows." she said looking down. Then the color drained out of her. Satin and Chenille whimpered and Biggie whispered, "Poppy" and then everyone looked down, and their color drained as well. Branch and I looked around shocked. I gave him a look that said he had to sing to help her. Instead of the resistance I expected, he nodded. He took a deep breath and released it.

"You with the sad eyes" He began. I saw everyone look around, and Poppy looked over at him while he stepped up to the front. "Don't be discouraged." He continued. I could see in her eyes that she was happy that he was he was singing again but she wasn't feeling it in her heart yet. She looked back down so Branch walks completely up to her and makes her face him.

When she's looking at him again he puts his hand back down and continues, "Oh, I realize it's hard to take courage in a world full of people, you can lose sight of it all. The darkness inside you can make you feel so small." Poppy's Hug Time bracelet goes off so Branch offers her a hug. She denies it and closes the flower of the Hug Time bracelet. Branch drops his arms as all the Hug Time bracelets go off around us.

After the last one goes off Branch helps Poppy stand up and continues singing, "Show me a smile then. Don't be unhappy, can't remember when." she pulls away and walks a few steps "I last saw you laughing, this world makes you crazy, (he goes to his knees in front of her and acts very silly) and you've taken all you can bear, just call me up 'cause I will always be there. And I see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors and that's why I love you."

At this point she had her colors back, but she gasped and looked at Branch and I could already tell that she was beginning to see him a different way than before. "So don't be afraid." She started singing and she reached her hand out to Branch and he met her halfway. "To let them show. Your true colors, true colors are beautiful." They sang together while Branch got his colors back.

After that I stopped paying attention, no offense to Poppy or Branch, but I was just glad that Branch had found his true I looked around everybody had their colors back so I looked down at my hands, panicked, but nope still gray. When I looked up Poppy and Branch were hugging and when they let go Poppy said, "Thank you." Branch sighed and said, "No, thank you." Poppy looked confused and asked, "For what?" Branch looked her in the eyes and said, "For showing me how to be happy."

Poppy got so excited as she backed up and asked, "Really? You're finally happy? Now?" Branch shrugged a little and said, "I thinks so. Happiness is inside of all of us, right? Sometimes, you just need someone to help you find it." Then a child walked over and asks, "What's gonna happen now Princess Poppy?" Poppy kneels down and says "I don't know, but I know we're not giving up."

I walk over to Branch and hug him and say, "It's good to see you in color again." Then we can hear the lid being unlocked and everybody else starts to freak out. Then the lid comes off and I look up and see Bridget. "Poppy." she says. "Bridget. What are you doing?" Poppy asks climbing into the extended hand that Bridget offers. "I can't let them eat you. Come on! You gotta go!" Bridget says and flips the pot over. We all go tumbling out. "Hurry, Go! Go! Go! Get out of here!" Bridget continues. "No! Bridget, if you go in there without us you know what they'll do!" Poppy says climbing out of Bridget's hand.

At this point I'm helping direct traffic so I don't pay anymore attention to the conversation but Bridget has definitely shot up on my respect scale. When it's just Poppy left we leave and head to the Troll Tree as well which is where we sent the rest of the trolls. Branch and I make sure that they don't fall on their way into the tunnel and Poppy walks back over to the edge of the tree. "Poppy?" Branch and I both say questioningly.

Poppy turns back around and says, "Bridget just ruined her life to save ours it's not right. She deserves to be happy as much as we do." she turns to face the castle again and continues, "They all do." "I'll go get everyone back." I say and go down the tunnel. By the time I got to the end everyone was already through and gathered at the mouth. "Hey, we're going back to the castle. Poppy wants to make them all happy by helping them find their happiness that's already inside." I say, slightly rolling my eyes. We all piled back into the tunnel and when I reached Poppy and Branch she said to wait.

She also caught Biggie, Guy Diamond, Cooper, Fuzzbert, Satin and Chenille, and Smidge. We made a plan to go get Bridget's skate from her room and make an entrance that way. When I suggested that everybody except Branch looked at me weird. In response I said, "Who doesn't like dramatic entrances?' thinking of the way my brothers used to go onto the stage. I met Branch's eyes and I knew he was thinking the same thing. They all nodded.

We all headed out to Bridget's room and after we grabbed the skate we headed up the stairs. We made our dramatic entrance (nailed it!) and landed on Bridget's head. The others, including Branch surprisingly, extended their hair and showed the King that his date was in fact Bridget. I could tell he was shocked but not against the idea of being with Bridget at all.

Then the chef started yelling and made to grab for Branch and in my minds eye I saw him when he was little and just reacted, I pushed him out of the way. But much like before, she grabbed me instead and the next thing I knew I was being put on a tongue. I crawled backwards as fast as I could but the tongue was being pulled back into the mouth it belonged to. Then I felt something hit me from the side and looked up to see Branch.

He helped me up and I hugged him like I would never let him go. "It's OK, I'm OK." he whispered and I let go. I heard Poppy say, "Happiness isn't something you put inside it's already there. Sometimes you just need a little bit of help to find it." Then she started to sing. Branch looked at me like he wanted to join her. I nodded at him to go ahead.

He went and joined and then the chef decided she wasn't done just yet, but Bridget threw a spoon and hit her in the head, then a couple of glitter trolls squeezed some lemons in her eyes, then when she was reeling from that Satin and Chenille tripped her and she landed in the pot and started rolling, and as if that wasn't enough Cooper lit a match and threw it on her. "Cool, there is such a thing as justice." I muttered as I followed everybody out the door.

All the happiness in the air restored the Troll Tree to its former glory and I was watching with pride when Branch pulled me onto the mushroom with him and Poppy, then Smidge lifted us up. I hugged Poppy with Branch and waited until they were done talking and said, "I didn't get a chance to say this before, but thank you for making my brother happy again."

That's when Poppy got a good look at me and noticed I still hadn't got my colors back and her eyes went wide and she asked, "You're still not happy, Kitty?" I took her hands in mine and said, "I'm happy that everything turned out OK in the end, and I'm especially happy that you helped my brother get his beautiful colors back. But I had my own reasons for losing my colors besides losing Grandma, that just sent me over the edge. I'll get them back eventually, in my own time."

Then I looked at Branch and said, "Does this mean we have to start being social?" with a small scowl on my face. He laughed and said, "Yup!" I groaned, not looking forward to whatever the future has in store for us.