Poppy lead her friends, (Cooper, Smidge, Fuzzbert, Satin, Chenille, Biggie, DJ, and Guy Diamond) through the forest, holding an invitation in her hands. As she was skipping along, her friends didn't seem like they wanted to be there.

"Why do you keep trying, Poppy?" Satin asked. "He's just going to say no again," Chenille added.

"And he's going to ruin your hard work," Biggie told her, frowning sadly, Mr. Dinkles in his hand.

"Guys, please! I'm sure he has happiness inside him. He just needs our help! And tonight's party is going to do the trick!" Poppy encouraged the other trolls. "And who knows? Maybe he'll sing a song with us."

"As if. The guy hates it when other people sing," Suki said, thinking about his constant interruptions during songs. He was such a party-pooper. Poppy ignored her friends' negativity.

"C'mon, guys! Just stay positive! Even if he might have a terrible voice, he needs to have fun!" she replied, not fazed.

They reached a large pile of boulders and Poppy knocked on the biggest one loudly. It had a "Go Away" mat on it. Of course, Poppy always ignored it.

"Branch! BRANCH! Are you in there? I have something for yoouuuu!" she called in a sing-song voice. There was no response. The Pack, who usually didn't accompany her, looked at each other.

"Maybe he doesn't want us here," Biggie offered. Poppy pressed her ear to the mat, listening for anything.

"Usually he replies, though. Sometimes, he tells me to go away, and occasionally he lets me come in if the weather's bad," Poppy replied, standing back up.

"Branch lets you in?" Guy Diamond asked, surprised. Everyone thought the grey troll didn't care about her and just pushed her away. Poppy nodded, then hummed in thought.

"Hmm…maybe he's out getting more firewood or something!" Poppy said, racing back towards the forest. The Pack were pretty much obliged to follow her and so they did. Not matter how doubtful they were that Branch would accept her invitation.

It started to rain. Did that stop the princess? Nope!

However, as they scurried through the forest Poppy made an immediate halt. Everyone else paused.

"What's wrong?" Suki asked in alarm, watching Poppy listening for something in the air. They all remained silent…then they heard it.

"You were my sun

You were my earth,

But you didn't know all the ways

I loved you, no…"

In the distance, they could hear the most angelic voice of a male singing, accompanied by music. Very depressing music, but music all the same. It intrigued Poppy, since she didn't recognise that singing. How? She knew everybody in the village and they're singing voices were nothing like this.

It seemed to have intrigued the others too.

"Who…is that?" Satin asked, curious and a little dreamily. Poppy didn't answer her directly, but she set off to follow the voice.

"Come on," she whispered to them. She just had to know who it was and applaud them. Or sing along. Or something! She just really wanted to find the owner of that charming singing. She could give Branch his invitation later, but this was a real mystery.

"So you took a chance

And made other plans

I bet you didn't think

That they would come crashing down, no..."

As she listened to the lyrics, she realised it wasn't the most happy song. That didn't stop her, though. They approached the voice quickly and quietly. Silently they found a clearing surrounded by bushes by the river. The clearing had a giant mushroom (by Troll standards) much like the one in the middle of the village. Rain dropped down into the river and onto the mushroom. Under the fungus, there was a figure. Holding sticks. His vest….his hair…his grey skintone…

Oh.

They all gasped very loudly. Branch paused his singing and looked at them, but he saw nothing. Just in time, Poppy had used her hair to camouflage them all with the bushes. They watched through her strands of hair at the grey troll. Branch looked around once more to make sure no one was there, then leaned against the mushroom's stem again, clutching all the firewood tightly.

It took a while, but the music continued. No one was sure where it came from, but since when did they question it?

"You don't have to say

What you did

I already know

I found out from him!" he sang, stepping out of his shelter and into the rain a bit. It certainly looked dramatic. Strange creatures around him started joining in, such as critters and flowers, but he paid them no mind.

"He can sing!" Poppy exclaimed, whispering. She couldn't help but beam. He's going to be the life of the party!

"Wow. Who knew?" Cooper commented.

"Now there's just no chance,

For you and me,

We'll never be

And don't that make you sad about it?" Branch sang to himself, stepping more into the rain. His song was sad…but, they still wanted to listen. I mean, the grumpiest troll in the village could sing! And he could sing really well! What did he have to hide?

"You told me you love me,

Why did you leave me,

All alone?

Then you tell me you need me

When you call me

On the phone…

Girl, I refuse

You must have me confused

With some other guy…

Your bridges were burned and now it's your turn,

To cry…"

Yup. That was definitely Branch. Ignoring the weather and lost in song, Branch used his hair to climb on top of the mushroom, dropping his sticks on the ground.

"Cry me a river,

Cry me a river,

Cry me a river,

Cry me a river-er, yeah yeah…"

Poppy had the biggest urge to sing along, but she kept her mouth shut for now. The others seemed to have been thinking the same thing.

"I know that they say

Some things are better left unsaid,

It wasn't like you only talked to him and you know it

Don't act like you don't know it!

All of these things people tell me

Keep messing with my head…"

"(Messing with my head…)" the pack all echoed quietly. Poppy could only stare at the grey troll and admire his singing. He had talent. He knew when to go high or low, and his delivery was amazing.

"You should've picked honesty,

Then you may not have blown it…

You don't have to say

What you did

I already know

I found out from him!"

He started subtly and smoothly dancing atop the mushroom. It wasn't crazy dancing, it was just enough to fit the music.

"Now there's just no chance,

For you and me,

We'll never be

And don't that make you sad about it?

You told me you love me,

Why did you leave me,

All alone?

Then you tell me you need me

When you call me

On the phone…

Girl, I refuse

You must have me confused

With some other guy…

Your bridges were burned and now it's your turn,

To cry…"

The rain started clearing up. Branch looked towards the sky while proceeding to climb down the mushroom. All of the singing critters continued with him.

"Cry me a river,

Cry me a river…

Cry me a river…

Cry me a river-er, yeah…"

Branch sang as he gathered his sticks and headed towards the direction of his bunker. He passed by the Snack Pack, who were still hidden by Poppy's bush camouflage. They watched him leave, speechless. As he walked away, the music died down and the creatures all stopped singing and resumed their normal lives.

Once the grey survivalist was gone, Poppy retracted her hair, staring in the direction of where he went.

"Wow…" Chenille whispered, amazed. The others were speechless, too. They always thought Branch couldn't sing and that's why he didn't like joining them. But on the contrary…

"That pooper can actually sing!" Cooper exclaimed, beaming. They all talked excitedly about it. It was only Poppy (And Fuzzbert) who was still speechless.

"We gotta tell everyone!"

"No. Don't tell anyone…for Branch's sake. He probably doesn't want anyone to know. It can be our little secret," Poppy said, not looking at them. Her expression was…dreamy?

"Poppy, are you okay?" Smidge asked. Poppy blinked and then smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Let's just go plan the party," she said, turning in the direction of the village.

"Okay, so we won't tell anyone. Can we at least tell Creek?" Cooper asked like a little child. He wanted at least for Creek to know, since he didn't accompany them.

"Yeah, sure!" Poppy said, happily skipping to the village. She was so distracted that she completely forgot about the invitation.

The princess was just so excited to hear him sing again…

There, another story I made just to procrastinate. Hope you enjoyed it anyway! I'm not sure if I want more chapters on this, if you guys do, then tell me. For now, I'll leave it like this. This is kind of like an AU that takes place before the movie, where if Branch is alone he'll start to sing to himself.

Thank you for reading!

This is me signing out,

Bye!