12A.N. Hey guys! Sorry about the wait...I lost inspiration and motivation...and I've been procrastinating...and I've come to a decision. I am NOT abandoning this story, but I WILL finish it...eventually. As for now, since you have been waiting around TWO YEARS for this...I'm posting what I have so far of this chapter as a Christmas present. When I DO finish this, it will be a new chapter and I'll delete this one. Again, I am REALLY sorry.
Branch was frozen in disbelief...but there was no denying it!
There was his night table!
There was his storeroom!
And how could he not recognize the feel of his comfy mattress?
He started to smile, which swiftly dissolved into laughter.
"It's not too late! I can right all the wrongs I've done!"
Branch leaped out of bed, swiftly changed into his usual clothes...then stopped.
"But wait! What if I've missed Trollmas?" he frowned.
Hardening his resolve, the former miser swiftly ascended the elevator and poked his head out of the trap door.
Spotting a young troll boy, Branch tried to get his attention.
"Hey! You!"
The boy yelped, and tried to run away, but the outcast's next words stopped him in his tracks.
"What's today?"
"What?" the boy asked, confused.
"Today! What's the date?"
"Why, Trollmas Day of course!"
Branch chuckled to himself.
"The Spirits have done it all in one night! Of course they have, they wouldn't be so unkind as to let me miss the happiest day of the year!"
He turned back to the boy.
"My boy, what's your name?"
The lad scratched his head, a bit confused, but answered anyway.
"Pine, sir."
"Well, Pine, do you know the poulterer, Butch?"
Pine brightened and said, "Of course! My father goes there every year to buy our Trollmas feast!"
"Do you know if he's sold the prized turkey?"
"The one as big as me?"
"Splendid boy! An intelligent boy! Yes, that's the one!"
"It's hanging there now!"
"Well then, I want you to go and purchase it for me!"
Pine stopped in disbelief, then waved a dismissive hand.
"You're crazy!" he shouted, continuing on his way.
Branch pulled his entire body outside and grabbed Pine's arm.
"Wait! I promise you, I'm serious! Come back with Butch, and I'll give you twenty-five silver buttons! Come back with him in less than five minutes, and I'll give you one hundred gold!"
Pine's face lit up with visions of what he could buy with that kind of money, and as soon as Branch let go of his arm, he was off like a shot!
Branch quickly went back down into the bunker and got his money box, then went back outside to pace in anxious giddiness.
"I'll send it to Biggie's house, anonymously of course. I should like to surprise him the day after Trollmas with my new demeanor!"
In fact, his demeanor was so drastically changed, that Branch was turning less gray by the minute!
He didn't have time to notice it, however, because that's when Pine came back with Butch not far behind, the turkey under the poulterer's arm.
Butch was as surprised as ever when he noticed how happy Branch seemed, but did his duty fairly well by memorizing the address of Biggie's pod and accepting the buttons the former miser paid him.
"Thank you, Branch! Merry Trollmas, and might I say that it's nice to see you smiling!"
"A merry Trollmas to you as well! And should you notice some extra buttons in the payment...keep them! Consider them my Trollmas gift to you!"
Indeed, when Butch did eventually return to his shop, he noticed fifty silver buttons!
But as for Pine...
"Well, Pine, you've done very well!" Branch praised the lad.
"As promised, here are your one hundred gold buttons!"
He handed them to the boy, and Pine was so happy that he hugged Branch, who eagerly returned it.
Soon after Pine left, Branch walked into the village, finding pleasure in everything that caught his eye.
He sang with carolers, threw a snowball or two with the children, and eagerly wished everyone who crossed his path a Merry Trollmas.
Soon enough, he came across Rudy and Dr. Plum.
"Merry Trollmas, my friends!" Branch called to them.
The looks on their faces suggested that he had lobsters crawling out of his ears...not that he cared.
"I hope you have raised a sufficient amount of buttons for the poor!"
He shook both of their hands vigorously.
"Mr. Branch Scrooge...?" Plum forced herself to say, as if she had half a mind to check him for head trauma.
Branch looked down in humility.
"Yes, that is me, and I understand my name may not be pleasant to you. Rest assured that I intend to make up for my nonexistent contributions, both for this year and the years before!"
He whispered an undisclosed amount into Plum and Rudy's ears, but it must have been significantly large, judging by the way their eyes bugged out.
"Are you serious, Mr. Branch?" gasped Rudy.
"Quite serious! I have seen the error of my ways, and I intend to have the spirit of Trollmas in my heart all year long!" smiled the less-gray troll.
Concerned as she was for his well-being, Plum managed a weak smile and thanked him for his generous donation.
And soon after that, Branch shook both of their hands once more and continued on his way to Guy Diamond's pod.
As soon as he reached the door however, his resolve weakened and he started pacing.
"I've been so horrible to him...why should he let me in?" Branch worried.
At last, in a moment of pure spontaneous action, he willed himself to knock on the door.
Not ten seconds later, the sparkly glitter troll himself answered and as surprised as he might have looked, Branch discerned a bit of gratitude in his eyes.
"Well, bless the ancestors! Who is this?" Guy jovially asked.
Branch managed a small smile.
"It is I, your Uncle Branch. I have come to dinner. Will you still have me?" he asked.
And how did Guy respond?
Why, he pulled him inside, of course!
Most every troll in the village was there, and they all welcomed the former-miser with open arms.
However, Branch noticed a certain troll was missing.
"Where's Poppy?" he wondered.
Silence suddenly overtook the party, with Branch looking around.
"What'd I say? Isn't she normally at your big Trollmas party?"
"..."
"..."
"...I'm guessing you haven't heard?" a soft voice said to Branch's right.
The former miser turned to see an unusually dower Guy Diamond.
"...Heard what?" Branch asked fearfully.
"She isn't...DEAD, is she?"
"No, nothing like that...but she's...GRAY," said the nephew solemnly.
"What? What happened?!"
"Well...Creek died around Trollsgiving this year, and she's been heartbroken ever since..."
When Branch heard that, a mixture of feelings flowed through him.
On one hand, he was happy his former rival would no longer bother him, not to mention that he now had a chance with his crush due to his new outlook on life...but on the other, he felt strangely sad.
He knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved, and his heart went out to Poppy.
He turned around and went out the door, to the bemused and concerned trolls yelling out to him.
Branch walked along the branches to Poppy's pod and knocked on her door.
Inside, the gray princess hardly heard him.
She was currently sitting in an armchair and staring into the fire, memories of Creek playing through her head like a film reel.
Branch frowned and knocked louder.
When the door finally opened, his mouth hung open in shock.
Poppy wasn't only gray, she looked like she wanted to DIE.
"...Poppy?" the less-gray Branch choked out.
"...Branch?" she whispered, not knowing if she was dreaming of seeing her old lover at the door.
Poppy's face darkened even more.
"What are you doing here? To comfort me? Tell that to all the trolls who have tried already!" she snapped.
