Trollstopia had been a massive success. The Tribes were getting along and everyone had friends from different tribes. Willow grinned as she walked around TrollsTopia with Poppy. The two of them were checking that everything was alright after their latest meeting with the other royals.
After four months of running TrollsTopia, the duo was proud to say they had things figured out. "You know what we should do?" Poppy asked as they made it to her pod. "We should celebrate."
"What kind of celebration are you thinking?" Willow asked with a smile. She sat on Poppy's bed while the Pop Queen paced the floor.
"I am so glad you asked," Poppy grinned, facing her friend. I'm thinking of a Holiday Gift Swap. We send invites with everyone's names in them, and everyone gives a gift to the person whose name is in their invite."
Willow nodded thoughtfully and smiled. "I love it. No notes." She stood up. "What do you need from me?"
"I need your help getting a list of every Troll," Poppy instructed. "Get the other ambassadors to help out. This will be the biggest holiday celebration we've ever had."
Willow nodded and took off to find the other ambassadors. She likes spending time with the ambassadors. They were fun and more than a little chaotic when they got together even though Val and Synth liked to tease her about dating their rulers.
When she rounded them up, the ambassadors were happy to help get the names of every Troll in their respective tribes. And there were a lot. Willow ended up helping each of them with their tribes as she had the smallest list to get through. It was still hard to talk about why that was when any of the other tribes asked about it.
By the time Willow had finished gathering the names, it had taken three more days of her and Poppy adding all of the names to invitations to give to the other Trolls. "This is going to be perfect," Poppy grinned when they finished the invitations.
"How are you planning on giving these out?" Willow asked, getting up from the floor after finishing the last invitation. "I'm supposed to be heading out for date night soon, so I won't be able to help with that." The trio had planned on bi-weekly date nights, sometime it would be to Vacay Island, other times it was at one of the three kingdoms, and it was coming up that weekend. This time, it was Vacay Island.
"I've got a plan for that, don't worry," Poppy smiled and waved her friend away. "You go enjoy your date." She grabbed three invites. "Since you three will be on Vacay Island, why don't you take these? Don't open them yet. I want you to enjoy your date. Open it when you get back home."
Willow nodded and grabbed the invitations. "I'll put it in my room so I'm not tempted to open it later." She grinned and hugged her friend, leaving her pod to grab a small overnight bag. The bus that was taking her to Vacay Island was set to take off the next day and she wanted to be ready.
"Hi Branch," Willow yelled as she passed her brother in the bunker.
Branch blinked in confusion as he watched his sister run to her room. He went over to her still-opened door and grinned as she started packing a bag. "You got caught up in Poppy's latest scheme and forgot to pack for the weekend, didn't you?"
Willow shoved her swimsuit into the bag and grinned. "Yeah. But it's fine. I'm excited to see how it all turns out later. And at least it won't take very long to get packed." She zipped up her bag. "I'm just glad we finished in time so I can get packed." She looked up in thought. "I wonder if I should pack some cookies for Bruce. He mentioned needing new baked good recipes." She looked at her brother. "Do you think he'd pay me if I let him use my recipes in his restaurants?"
"Maybe hold off on that for a non-date trip," Branch suggested with a chuckle. "I'm pretty sure your dates are going to want the majority of your attention."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Willow nodded. She grinned and looked away from her brother while she put some extra clothing in her bag. "You're being awfully calm about me dating Barb and Trollex. Getting used to them yet?"
"Oh no," Branch shook his head with a grimace. "Your dating will always be gross to me." His face softened. "But you're happy with them, and I like it when you're happy. So I'm willing to let it be."
Willow smiled and set her bag down to hug her brother. "I like it when you're happy too, bro." She pulled away. "You know, someday I need to take you with me to Vacay Island. Bruce makes some nachos I think you'll love. And I bet Poppy would love a vacation."
Branch chuckled sheepishly. "I don't know if I'm ready to have a vacation with just me and Poppy, but I'll consider it." The siblings finished the day with lasagna for dinner and their nightly hair brushing. "I'm taking your paperwork," Branch warned as he finished putting his sister's hair in braids. "The last thing we need is you falling asleep in the middle of your date, again."
Willow rolled her eyes and stood up to follow her brother into her room where he took the paperwork she was planning on working on before bed. "You pass out in the middle of a date one time-"
"Three times," Branch corrected. He put her paperwork in his hair. "You passed out in the middle of three dates. It's a good thing your dates are usually laid back." He sighed and looked at his sister. "You do a lot for TrollsTopia, sis. And you know everyone appreciates it. Not to mention you've been working with Bridget to plan her wedding in a few months. But you gotta take better care of yourself. You need to sleep."
"I know," Willow muttered. "But I get so distracted with everything I need to do, I forget sometimes."
"And that's why I'm taking the paperwork," Branch nodded. He grinned. "It's easy to forget to take care of yourself. I know I do it too sometimes. It's why we have each other. To remind each other to take care of ourselves." He hugged his sister before leaving her room. "Have a good night, sis."
"Goodnight," Willow muttered sitting on her bed. She sighed and lay down and closed her eyes with a grin. "I can't wait to see Barb and Trollex tomorrow."
When morning came, Willow told her friends bye and got on the caterbus that would take her back to Vacay Island. She grinned in excitement as she watched the caterbus get on the ferry and make its way to the island. When the caterbus finally pulled to a stop off the ferry, Willow grabbed her bag and ran off the caterbus.
"Sweet Beat!" Trollex called, excitedly. He ran up with Barb and hugged the Pop Troll.
"Put her down, Fish Stick," Barb laughed. "You act like we didn't see her less than a week ago." She smirked and looked at Willow. "Hey, Pop Star."
Willow grinned. "Hey, Barracuda, Angel Fish." She hugged Trollex before he put her down. "I know it's only been a little while, but that was for work." She reached into her hair and grabbed two envelopes. "These are for you." The two Troll royals looked at the invitations curiously. "They're invitations to a new holiday Poppy's trying to start. Don't open them until after our date though, okay? I haven't opened mine and it's at home."
"No worries," Barb grinned. "We've got a big day planned. Starting with lunch at Bruce's restaurant." She linked her arm with Willow's. "Let's get this party started!"
"Tech-yes, baby!" Trollex grinned as he linked his arm with Willow's on her other side. "Today, we're surfing. The waves here are some of the best I've seen anywhere." The trio laughed and talked about their plans as they made their way to the bar where Brandy was waiting with their plate of nachos.
Date night lasted for hours. After lunch, they went to the beach and surfed until the sun went down. Then they had dinner and ended the night staring at the stars. "I think next time, we need to go rock climbing," Willow said, closing her eyes. "We haven't done that in a little while. Maybe at Volcano Rock City."
"Yeah," Barb grinned. "I know a great place for Rock climbing. I'll even make sure there's plenty of water for the Fish Stick. And then, we can get matching tattoos."
"Let's make plans later," Trollex suggested standing up. He had watched Willow's eyes shut and knew she was about to fall asleep on them. "I think it's time for bed."
Willow sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably for the best." She stood up in between her two partners as they led her to their guest room in Bruce's house. After the trio got ready for bed, they climbed in and relaxed against each other, Willow still in the middle. Willow smiled, feeling comfortable and safe in her partners' arms as she started to fall asleep.
The unfortunate thing about date night, is it eventually had to end. Trollex and Barb hugged their girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek before watching her get on the caterbus to go back to TrollsTopia. "We're not waiting to read these invitations, right?" Barb asked as they waved bye to Willow.
"Absolutely not," Trollex grinned. He opened the invite. "It's some kind of gift swap," He pulled the name out of his envelope and grinned. "Hey, I got Willow!"
Barb grinned and opened hers. "Nice, what are you going to get her?" She laughed when he shrugged and looked at the name in hers. "Who's Mr. Dinkles?" The two royals looked at each other and shrugged. "Guess we'll find out later."
When Willow made it back to the bunker, she tossed her bag in her room and went around to look for her brother. "Branch! Are you in here? I'm home!" When nobody answered, she shrugged. "Maybe he's hanging out with Poppy." She walked back into her room and flopped onto her bed. "May as well see who I got for the gift swap." She opened her envelope and pulled out the name in it. Her eyes widened when she saw the name. "I got Barb?" She furrowed her brows. "But what can I give her?"
Willow was in the kitchen baking when she heard the elevator. "Hey Branch," she looked up with a smile only to frown in concern at the look on his face. "You okay?"
"I got Poppy," Branch said, stressed. He was holding his invitation. "The best gift-giver in the village, and my girlfriend." He watched his sister. "You're stress baking." He looked at the assortment of treats that littered the kitchen.
"Yep!" Willow grinned as she pulled brownies out of the oven to cool. "I get why getting your girlfriend would make you stressed. I got Barb, and I have no idea. I was hoping I could think of something while I focused on baking, but nope!" She laughed incredulously. "I got nothing. What do you even get for one of the most amazing people in your life? She's not into many material items and it's not like I can build her anything. I could bake her something but that feels like I'm cheating. But that's the only thing I'm good at!" She took a deep breath and looked at her brother. "I'm sorry. You came in here stressed about what to get Poppy. Not to listen to me. Do you have some kind of idea?"
Branch looked at his sister cautiously. "I think I'll be alright. And you know, it doesn't have to be something huge. Barb cares about you, so she's going to like anything you give her."
"But it has to come from the heart!" Willow insisted. "This is the first gift-giving of our relationship and it has to be perfect." She sighed. "What if I let her down?"
"You're right," Branch muttered to himself. "This is too important to leave to chance." What if he messed up with Poppy's gift? Where would that leave their relationship? He looked at his sister apologetically. "Sorry, I have to go figure out what I'm getting Poppy. Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah," Willow waved her hand dismissively as she stared at the pile of cupcakes on the table. "No offense, bro, but I don't think you'd be able to help me any more than I could help you." They'd just get in each other's way. She grabbed a basket and filled it up with cupcakes. "Maybe I'll get some inspiration around the village."
Hours later, and despite not wanting to bake, Willow knew that was her only option. She finally narrowed her gift options to a few desserts. She had some mini salted dark chocolate tarts, dark chocolate bourbon balls, some dark chocolate raspberry fudge, or some dark chocolate cupcakes. She looked at all the treats she made and groaned. "None of these are right!" She sat at the kitchen table with her face in her hands. "What am I going to do?"
"Sweet Beat?" Willow's ears perked at the sound of Trollex. "Branch let me down, are you in here?" She heard him enter the kitchen. "Wow," he let out a whistle. "That is a lot of chocolate. You okay?"
"Not really," She muttered. She leaned into the Techno King when he wrapped his arms around her. "I got Barb and I've been stressing out on what to get her. So I thought I could bake her something. You know Rock Trolls really like dark chocolate, so I've been trying to come up with something. But nothing here screams 'Barb,' you know?"
"You wanna know what I think?" Trollex asked after a while. "I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself. You love baking and you've made so many treats Barb is sure to love. What if, you take these treats, and make put an assortment of them into your present for her?"
"You really think that'll work?" She asked, looking up at him. "I just want this to go well."
"You love her, right?" Trollex grinned when she nodded. "And you know she loves you. She's going to love it."
Willow smiled. "Thanks, Angel Fish. You always know what to say." She pulled her gift box out and started filling it with an assortment of dark chocolate treats.
The duo walked to the elevator and left the bunker. "Well I'm going to finish wrapping my present," Trollex grinned. "I'll see you later alright? Love you."
Willow grinned and kissed the Techno King on the cheek. "Love you too. I'll see you later." She started walking to the village with her present when she felt an explosion behind her. She looked back startled and found a hole in the ground leading into the bunker. She looked down in confusion to see the Funk princes Cooper and Darnell looking back up at her. She waved at them before turning back to Trollex who shrugged. "I feel like I'm missing something."
"You wanna go check it out?" Trollex asked. "I'm pretty sure we got time."
"Nah," Willow shook her head. "I don't think it's anything I'll be able to help Branch with. He was stressing about what to get Poppy and I don't think he's in the mindset to listen."
The Holiday Giftswap started at sunset. Willow found Barb giving her gift to Mr. Dinkles. It was a new hat with a string attached so he wouldn't lose it. "Hey, Barracuda," Willow smiled and walked over to her. "I got you something."
"You got me?" Barb grinned at her girlfriend. "Awesome!" She pulled open the box when Willow handed it over. "You made me stuff?" Willow nodded and pointed out the different treats and what they were called.
"I know it's not much," Willow said with a grimace. "But I couldn't think of anything else you might like."
"Are you kidding? This must have taken you hours." Barb ate a dark chocolate bourbon ball. "And they taste fantastic. Thank you." She looked over to where Trollex was standing and waved him over. "Looks like someone has something they want to give you."
Willow grinned at Trollex. "You got me?"
"Yeah," Tollex grinned sheepishly. "It was so hard not telling you earlier. You have no idea." He pulled a small box out of his hair and handed it to her. "I hope you like it."
Willow opened the box and pulled out a necklace. It was a little red stone with a wire wrapped around it to keep it attached to the necklace. "It's so pretty," Willow smiled and looked at Trollex. "Thank you." She held it out to him so he could help her put it on.
"It's also magic," Trollex grinned as he placed it on her. "Now, you'll be able to breathe underwater. No matter what kind of water it is." And with the amount of time, she's fallen off the surfboard, it would put his and Barb's mind at ease if they didn't have to worry about her drowning.
"This is amazing," Willow grinned and hugged Trollex. "I love it."
Willow looked up when she heard Branch and Poppy speak over each other. "Who did you get?"
Branch grinned. "I'll tell you if you tell me," he offered.
"Both of us at the same time?" Poppy asked. Branch nodded. "One, two, three." The duo held out each other's names. "You." Poppy blinked and looked at her present nervous. "Okay, um..do you wanna go first?"
"Well," Branch started. "I made you this really, really cool thing. But it exploded and blew me into a tree." Willow winced. Maybe she should have gone to check on her brother. "I may have overdone it a bit." He sighed and pulled a book out of his hair. "Anyway, this is all I could scrape together." He held it out for her to take. "Here."
He made her a scrapbook! Willow could scream with the joy she was feeling. Her brother didn't scrapbook for anything and he made something he thought Poppy would like. She smiled at how touched Poppy was.
When it was time for Poppy to give Branch her present, the box opened to reveal..nothing. Poppy admitted she was struggling to think of what to get him and she couldn't come up with a single thing.
Willow smiled and hugged Barb. "I was struggling like that too," she admitted while Branch told Poppy his favorite part about the holidays was spending them together. "I couldn't think of anything to get you."
Barb chuckled and hugged her back. "You could have gotten me anything and I would have loved it, Popstar."
Willow nodded and watched as Poppy hugged her brother before grinning. "Somebody uk me," Poppy said before a ukelele was tossed into her open hand. She pulled away from Branch and started playing.
(Poppy)
You always wanted to be hiding
Like no one wants you around
Hold your head a little higher
It's pretty simple
I'm in luck, I'm in luck, I'm in luck
'Cause we're together now
Never stop looking up, if it's love don't even mess around
Together now
Barb pulled Willow into a hug before kissing her cheek. "Best. Holiday. Ever." She grinned. "Love you, Popstar."
"Love you too, Barracuda." Willow grinned and kissed Barb's cheek.
(Branch)
I said I didn't wanna light up (Light up)
So I turn the radio down
Maybe I was in denial (Yeah)
But I've changed a little
(Poppy & Branch)
I'm in luck, I'm in luck, I'm in luck
'Cause we're together now (Together now)
Looking up, looking up, looking up
Don't need to look around
'Cause I know
I'm in luck, I'm in luck, I'm in luck
'Cause we're together now
I'm in luck, I'm in luck, I'm in luck
'Cause we're together now
(King Trollex)
'Cause we're together now, 'cause we're together now
Willow grinned when Trollex pulled her into another hug. "Love you, Sweet Beat."
"Love you too, Angel Fish," Willow kissed him on the cheek before he set her down to keep dancing.
(Tiny Diamond)
Go together better than a snowflake on a sweater
Or a tiny diamond funk on my daddy's favorite record
Now my journey's finally over (Wow), I just wanna settle down
Through rain and stormy weather, we'll always be together now
(Prince D)
It feels so good to see you again, you know?
Ha, come here
Willow joined Holly Darlin' and Val as they danced to the song Poppy and Branch were singing.
(Poppy and Branch)
Together now
The bad days are over
'Cause we come together
The bad days are over
'Cause we don't stop
(Poppy)
Looking up, looking up, looking up
Don't need to look around
'Cause I know
I'm in luck, I'm in luck, I'm in luck
'Cause we're together now
Together now, now, now (Yeah)
Together now (Yeah), now (Yeah), now
Together now
(Poppy & Branch)
The bad days are over
'Cause we come together
The bad days are over
'Cause we come together now
When the song ended, Willow watched as her brother and Poppy discussed a balloon ride across the Troll kingdoms as snow fell around them. "So what do you want to do now?" Barb asked when she and Trollex joined Willow.
Willow shrugged. "I still have a lot of desserts left over in the bunker," she offered. "We could go there and eat sweets and drink hot chocolate if you want. I can even make some popcorn so we're not just eating sweets."
"Sounds good, Sweet Beat," Trollex grinned as they walked to the bunker.
Willow smiled. Barb had it right. "Best. Holiday. Ever." She put her arms around her partners' shoulders and led them to her and Branch's bunker.
Fun fact, Willow works too hard and forgets to sleep sometimes. Much like Branch forgets to eat. It's a good thing they have each other. The next chapter will be the beginning of the long-awaited Trolls: Band Together. I'm so excited to start that. Thanks for reading everyone!