Chapter 1. Afternoon Walk
It was a beautiful morning in Troll Village, and Queen Poppy was taking a stroll through the misty meadows in search of an adventure.
" Wow, what a nice day it is today" she thought to herself as she stooped down to pick up some wildflowers. "The birds are singing, the wind is lightly blowing into a nice breeze, and the sun could not be shining any brighter! She smiled warmly "I love this time of year, summer is truly the best."
Poppy continued walking through the meadow, sniffing the sweet smells of the wildflowers in her hand and admiring the scenery, she soon came to a bend in the road,
and as she started to go down it, her sensitive ears picked up a sound of somebody sniffling in a hollow log nearby.
The Queen froze in her tracks and carefully started to approach the log. "Hello? is anybody there?" she asked with a slight hint of fear etched in her voice. she got closer to the log and knelt down on her knees, peeking into the entrance. "Hello?" she asked again "who is there?"
A tired voice answered her back sorta cautiously "Poppy? is that you?" Relief flooded through the Queen as she realized who was inside the log.
"Branch!" she said with a happy sounding cry "C'mon out of there and let me see you!" as she said this, she stood up from her knees in order to let Branch crawl out.
Branch hesitantly walked out of the log, he looked terrible. His eyes were red, most likely from crying, his hair was very unkempt and frizzy, and he had some loose tears on his cheek. Poppy gazed at him in shock, why did he look so bad? Branch never cried as far as she knew.
"Branch?" she asked with concern filling her voice, "Have you been crying? you look dreadful." she sat down in the middle of the log and softly patted it with her hand, motioning him to sit next to her.
Branch eyed Poppy, and then slowly sat down next to her. He turned to look at her shining pink eyes, which had a look of worry inside of them,
and he answered with a light sob in the middle of his throat. "Yes, I have been crying" he sighed "is it really that obvious?"
Poppy reached her hand out, and wiped the tears of his cheek. "Yes Branch, very obvious" she said with a small smile, she then grabbed his hand and rubbed it with her thumb in circles. "Can you tell me why you were crying?" she turned to give him her undivided attention.
Branch looked at what her hand was doing, and he blushed at her touch. He gently squeezed it in response and then he looked into her eyes boldly he was ready to tell her what was on his mind, no matter how hard it could be.
"Today marks the anniversary of my Grandma's death, every year I always take it very hard." he squeezed Poppy's hand harder, this was tough.
Poppy gave him a sweet, but understanding smile. "So, you miss her right?" she said in a caring tone of voice.
Branch crossed his legs and put his head in his hands, in doing this he had let go of Poppy's. "Yes, very much so" he replied, unable to hold in emotion anymore,
he began to break down in a full force sob.
Poppy immediately responded to this action, she scooted closer to Branch and placed her arms around him tenderly, he stood up and melted into her warm embrace.
She rubbed his back slowly and said "Shhhh" with a soothing voice "just let it out Branch, its okay have a good cry." She lightly kissed his cheek while he cried bitterly.
After a long time in the Queens embrace, Branch finally stopped crying. He let go of Poppy and sat back down on the log. "I am sorry Poppy, for letting you see me like this" he finally said after he had calmed down a bit. "Truth be told, I'd only let you see me like this, nobody else. his cheeks darkened a little as a light blush formed on them.
"Why is that Branch" Poppy said with curiosity. In her mind, Trolls only exposed their tears and true feelings to each other if they had a tight bond, or if they had a crush on the other Troll.
she leaned her head on Branch's shoulder and gazed into his eyes, waiting for an answer.
"Well," he said grabbing her hand gently. He sighed to himself before continuing, he was really going to tell Poppy how he truly felt about her. "Because, I love you Queen Poppy, I love you so much, I always have." he grabbed her other hand and held it tightly "and I trust you." he looked into her eyes deeply and waited for her response.
Poppy beamed brightly, and her face also darkened with a light blush. "Oh Branch!" she said "I love you too so much! and I want to say that your Grandma would be so proud of the troll you have become." she leaned down and kissed his hand lightly and he smirked at her source of affection.
Branch beamed back at the sweet smile of the Queen, he gently leaned forward, cupped Poppy's cheek with his hand, and grazed his lips against hers, asking for a kiss.
Poppy looked a bit nervous at first, but then she met his lips with hers, granting their permission. Branch was shocked but also very surprised when Poppy deepened it.
they held there for a while, until the two Trolls needed to breathe again.
Branch and Poppy pulled apart, and then Branch hugged her tightly. "Thank you Queen Poppy, and I just want you to know that I don't feel so sad anymore." he said keeping a tight hold on her hands, she blushed and kept her grip on them too.
" I am glad to hear that my love" Poppy said with a smile as pure as gold. "How about we head back home now, does that sound good?" she turned to look at the handsome blue troll next to her.
"Id love that" Branch said. He stood up and grabbed Poppy's hand, pulling her up. The two then began the long walk back to Troll Village to tell everyone the good news of their new found romance.