So the Song Willow and Branch sing in this one is called "No Matter What" It's from the Steven Universe Movie and I love it.
(Branch)
There ain't no stopping us
Stopping us
We ain't pressing rewind
(Bruce, Clay, Willow)
Rewind, rewind, rewind
(Branch)
The Sky was the limit
Now the stars where we livin'
It's the vibe when we're in it
It'll blow your mind
(Everyone)
It's so perfect, perfect, perfect
Harmony so cold
Perfect, perfect, perfect
Let it go
"Stop," John Dory interrupted before they could finish the harmony. "Stop. Time-out." Willow groaned in exasperation. "Let's do it again from the top. Spruce, I want some smolder in those eyes. Clay, you're being too stiff. We need some sillier robot. Bitty B, I think we need to try with the diaper on this time. And Baby Sis," Willow glared at the oldest, daring him to finish his sentence. "Loosen up out there. You look like you don't want to be here."
"You try to put a diaper on him again, and it'll be the last thing you ever do," Willow promised with a snarl.
"And leave Willow alone," Branch glared. "She's doing great."
"Really great note, John Dory," Clay looked at his brother. "Super helpful. Thanks. Thanks." He grinned. "Now I have a creative note for you. Stop being bossy!"
"What?" John Dory argued. "I'm not being bossy. I'm helping us be better."
"No," Clay denied. "No, dude, you're forcing us to be perfect, just like you always have, so we can hit the perfect family harmony." Willow pulled Branch into a hug when she saw the look on his face at the brothers fighting.
"Yeah, for Floyd," John Dory argued.
"Is it?" Bruce questioned. "Or is this all just so you can tell people what to do again?"
"Wh-What?"
"Guys," Poppy stepped forward from where she was sitting with the other royals. "Guys, this really isn't helpful right now. Let's all maybe take five, huh?"
"Good idea," Willow muttered, making Branch sit down. He wasn't dealing with the argument very well. "It's not your fault, bro bro."
"This isn't gonna work if you keep on being the same old John Dory," Bruce said, aiming his sunglasses at the oldest.
"Yeah," Clay agreed. "We've all changed. Bruce settled down, Branch is slightly taller with zero glasses," Willow frowned at the description. He was so much more than that. "And I'm a licensed CPA. Put some respect on my name, fool!"
"Wel,l I'm not allowed to change," John Dory protested. "I'm the oldest. I had to be the leader."
"You love bossing us around," Bruce argued. "Just admit it."
"Why do you think I moved to the middle of nowhere?" The oldest brother asked. "So I didn't have to be in charge of anyone. Four little brothers and a new sibling on the way is a lot of responsibility."
"Why do you think I left?" Bruce asked. "So no one would treat me like you did." Willow felt Branch curl in on himself in her arms. This was becoming too much for him to handle.
"You know what, Spruce-"
"It's Bruce!" Clay snapped.
"Thank you, Clay," Bruce said, exasperated.
"Come on, guys," Willow said, handing Branch off to Poppy and standing up. "Get it together. We're doing this for Floyd, remember?"
"Look, Willow is right-" John Dory took a deep breath. "We're here for Floyd. Let's get this done, and we can go our separate ways."
"Wait," Branch looked up. "What?"
"What?" John Dory shrugged. "The mission's the mission." He scoffed and leaned onto the couch. "You didn't think we'd all live together when this was all over, did you? Singing songs and roasting marshmallows?"
With those words, something in Willow snapped. Maybe it was the brokenness she could hear in Branch's voice or the casual way John Dory made it sound like Branch's dreams of having his whole family back were ridiculous.
Looking back, Willow couldn't tell what exactly set her off, but one look at Branch, who had pulled his old picture of the bunker he had drawn so many years ago, and she was done pretending. "Tiny Diamond, pull over now!" She braced herself as Rhonda pulled to a sudden stop. "Poppy, Barb, Trollex," The royal trio startled at the tone in her voice. "Get the angler bus ready and get Branch out of here. We're done here. Tiny," The little Trolling perked his head up from the driver's seat. "Go with them." The trio plus Tiny and Branch hurried off, afraid to stay much longer.
"Now hang on a second," John Dory started before Willow turned her glare at them.
"Don't even start," she snarled. "You have been treating us like children this entire time, and I tolerated it because Branch wanted you all in his life. 'Branch is slightly taller and with zero glasses?' That's the best you could come up with?" She glared at Clay. "Branch is a survivalist. He's the safety inspector of the village and takes care of all the repairs. If you had spent half the time that you used fighting with the others getting to know your little brother, you would have known that. Branch stopped being a child a long time ago. He was stuck raising me when our family, the ones who were supposed to take care of us and love us left when it got too hard. When their fighting became too much."
"That's not fair," Bruce tried to argue. "You don't know what it's like to live with John Dory constantly on you about being perfect."
"And who's fault is that?" Willow snapped. "We didn't get big brothers to keep us safe and happy. We didn't get family dinners or game nights. We didn't get the chance to fight over stupid little things because we were all we had. We had to take care of ourselves." She sighed, feeling the strain of their broken family. "When this was over, I was going to yell at you. I had all these words planned out. Things I wanted to know. Like why Clay never came back to the pod. Yeah, Clay, I know you didn't leave the tree. How else would you have become a licensed CPA without knowing about the other Troll Tribes?" Clay winced at the words.
"But none of you came home, none of you wrote to let us know where you were, or that you were safe. You chose to leave us behind." She chuckled sadly to herself. "When Grandma died, we were alone. Branch was so sure one of you would come back." Willow shook her head. "I gave up on you all coming home a long time ago, but I think Branch was still wishing. It's probably why he was so excited for this trip. But I'm done with this. We tried to be a family, but you all came into our lives too late. We needed you growing up. We don't need you now." She stepped towards the door ready to leave. "We're going to get Floyd," She said, stopping just outside the door. "You all can just go home."
When Willow finally made it to the angler bus, she let herself collapse on one of the couches. "Are you okay?" Barb asked, moving to sit beside her girlfriend. "Do you need me to get you anything? You want your brother?" She gestured to where Poppy was holding Branch. Willow nodded and Branch was moved over to beside Willow. "What do you want to do, Babe?"
Willow buried her face into her brother's hair. "I want to go home," she muttered. She sighed and pulled her face away. "But we need to get Floyd. He's still in trouble. Angel Fish?" Trollex perked up at her voice. "Can you get a hold of the Funk Tribe? The perfect family harmony is off, but maybe they can come up with something that can work."
"On it," Trollex nodded and took off, his communicator already in hand.
Willow turned back to her brother. "I'm sorry it didn't work out," she muttered, holding on to him. "I'm sorry I probably made it worse." She sighed. "I don't know how, but I should have handled everything differently."
"It doesn't matter," Branch scoffed. "No matter what you did, or what you said, we were never going to be a family again. It's time I opened my eyes and realized just how hopeless it all was. Of course, they were going to leave me. Everyone always does." He looked at her sadly. "Even you will eventually."
Willow frowned at that. "Even if I do end up leaving Pop Village, I'm never leaving you. You and I have been in each other's lives since I hatched and nothing is going to change that." She grinned and nudged her brother. "You're stuck with me, big bro. Get used to it." Willow stood up and pulled Branch to join her.
(Willow)
In the light of the day
In the dark of the night
When you're raring to go
When you're tired from the fight
When you're losing your mind
Let me give you a thought
I'm gonna be right by your side no matter what
Willow began to dance to an imaginary beat, getting her big brother to join her with an amused smile.
(Willow, Branch) (Both)
In the dark of the night (in the dark of the night)
In the light of the day (in the light of the day)
When you're rising to shine (when you're rising to shine)
When you're hitting the hay (when you're hitting the hay)
I'll be hanging around (I'll be hanging around)
If you like it or not (if you like it or not)
I'm gonna be right by your side no matter what
Poppy and Barb watched as their partners danced together.
No matter what (no matter what)
No matter what (no matter what)
No matter what (no matter what)
No matter what (no matter what)
Oh, I'm gonna be (oh, I'm gonna be)
Right by your side (right by your side)
I'm gonna be right by your side no matter what
(Branch)
In the dark of the night
In the light of the day
When you're rising to shine
When you're hitting the hay
Willow nudged her brother in the side with a grin. "Just remember this song."
Branch raised an eyebrow and smirked "How's it go? I forgot." The siblings laughed as Willow shoved Branch away.
(Willow, Branch)
I'm gonna be right by your side no matter what
Through whoever you've been (through whoever you've been)
Through whoever you'll be (through whoever you'll be)
Through whatever you lose (through whatever you lose)
You will always have me (you will always have me)
At the end of your road (at the end of your road)
I'll be holding you taut (I'll be holding you taut)
Trollex walked into the room with his communicator. Barb held onto him before he could tell Willow the news. He smiled when he saw the siblings singing.
(Both)
I'm gonna be right by your side no matter what
Be right by your side
Be right by your side
Be right by your side no matter what
Branch grinned and gave his sister a hug. "Thanks sis. At least I know I'll always have you." He pulled away and held out his fist. "You and Me?"
"Me and you," Willow smiled and touched her fist to her brother's. "Always. You're stuck with me."
"Aww!" Poppy squealed, grabbing onto Barb. "They're so cute!"
Barb chuckled and pushed the excited Pop Queen off of her. "Easy, Popcorn." He nodded to Trollex. "So what's the news?"
"Oh, right," Trollex startled before smiling sheepishly. "King Quincy and Queen Essence said they're not sure if they have anything that could break diamond, but if you can get Floyd and the container out of there and to their ship, they'll be happy to help us get him out."
Willow sighed in relief. "That's more than I could have hoped for." She looked at Barb. "Is Riff driving?"
"Yeah," Barb grinned. "We going to Mount Rageous?" Willow nodded and sat back down with her brother, neither one too willing to let go yet. "Awesome. I'm gonna get you guys something to eat. We haven't eaten anything yet today." Trollex followed Barb and Poppy went to the front of the angler bus to let Riff know where they needed to go, leaving the siblings alone for a few minutes.
"You know," Willow said, after a moment of silence. "I spent almost this entire trip convinced you'd leave me after we found all your brothers."
Branch pulled away from her with a horrified look on his face. "Why would you think that? I would never leave you."
Willow looked away. "I hatched shortly after they left. It would make sense that you would only need me around because they weren't with you. And you were so happy seeing your brothers and you were dancing around with them like nothing had happened." She shrugged. "It felt like you didn't need me around anymore."
"So that's what you've been upset about," Branch nodded in understanding. He snorted and nudged her with his shoulder. "Look, even if this all worked out and my brothers had decided to stick around, my family wouldn't be whole without you." He grinned at his little sister. "I will always need my annoying little sister, don't you ever think otherwise."
"I'll always need you too, Branch," Willow grinned, leaning into her brother.
"Good," Branch nodded, his head resting on hers. "Because you're stuck with me just as much as I'm stuck with you." The two siblings sat comfortably on the couch as they waited for their arrival at Mount Rageous. The royals eventually joined them on the couch.
After a few hours, Riff arrived to see them lounging on the couch, various kinds of foods and beverages surrounding them. "Hey, Barb? Riff asked, getting his queen's attention. He pointed to the front. "We're arriving at Mount Rageous. Where do you want us to go?"
"There at the Rage Dome," Willow said, standing up. "We'll need to go there."
Barb nodded and looked at Riff. "You heard her, man. Let's get this thing to the Rage Dome, wherever that is." Riff nodded and moved back to the front. "You guys ready?"
"Nope," Willow shook her head. "But Floyd needs us now." Branch nodded and stood beside his sister. Hang on, Floyd. Just a little longer.
We're almost to Floyd! I hope this chapter is alright. It took me a while to get the words figured out, and I'm still not fully sure I wrote all I wanted to. Thanks for reading everybody!