Trolls Fanfiction: Iris

Chapter 10

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀< ❈Iris' POV❈ >

Iris stared at Creek questioningly. Bring him back to life? How? That was impossible.

"How could I do that?" she asked him. This guy was just full of surprises. She was still pretty shaken from his story and now he was speaking of bringing him back to life? He acts like I have some magical powers. Just because I'm the Princess of Troll Tree doesn't mean I can bring dead Trolls back.

Creek smiled at her, a friendly, warm smile that made her relax instantly. "I will show you," he replied, rising up to his feet.

They both jumped as the door to Iris' room creaked open just a bit. Creek vanished immediately and Iris was beyond disappointed. He was about to explain to her! What if she had some special power to where she could recover the dead? But she flung that aside. That couldn't be possible. Could it...?

Her thoughts were interrupted as she got a clearer view of who was entering the room. It was her father. He stared at her in the darkness. Iris could just make out the worry plastered across his visage. He was awkwardly held up with his crutches and the Princess was painfully reminded of her idiot mistake once again. She didn't want to meet his gaze. He might've said he didn't blame her for it, but that did not make her feel any less guilty.

Of course he'd say that, she thought bitterly. He's my father.

"Iris?" Branch muttered softly as he shuffled himself into her room, moving in the direction of her bed.

The blue-skinned female was sitting upwards with her legs crisscrossed and her hands resting in her lap. She thought she could still sense the presence of Creek and internally sighed. Was his story right?

She gazed at her dad. He didn't seem like the type of Troll to break a heart. But Creek had seemed so depressed that she had bought the whole thing. She didn't want to bring up the ghostly stranger to Branch. She was too afraid of discovering the truth. She didn't want the restrained male's story to be real. She did not see her father as a horrible Troll.

During these rapid thoughts, Iris had begun to tremble just slightly.

Branch rested his crutches against the side of her bed and sat down, staring at her. "Hey, Cupcake?" he murmured, cupping her face in his hand. "Are you okay?"

Iris once again would not look at his face. She felt a lump rising up in her throat, her eyes threateningly watering up. She was crying for two reasons. One, her mistake of putting her father in danger and two, the fact that Creek's story could be real. She didn't want to believe she'd been raised by two jerks. Stomping on hearts like that. Creek had loved her mother, as he said. But she had just turned on him and triumphantly broke his heart by going for Branch instead.

Iris grabbed her father's arm and moved his hand away that was still under her chin. She didn't want his sympathy right now. "I'm fine," she replied. Her voice was slightly hoarse. She realized she had not failed to keep out her negative mood in her tone.

Branch scooted closer to her, wincing slightly as he moved his leg. "You are not fine," he corrected.

"Then why did you ask if you already knew the answer?" She slumped back down on her bed, curling up in a ball with her back turned to Branch.

She heard him sigh before he spoke again. "Your mother wanted to come and check on you. But I told her I would instead because I figured you were still blaming yourself for what happened."

She felt his hand brush over her back and fought off the urge to shake him off. He was being so nice and caring...it was hard to be rude to him.

Iris forced herself to turn over on her other side, to finally meet her father's gaze. He was staring down at her, the dim moonlight shining into her room lighting up his countenance just enough for her to take it in. He looked a little concerned as well as sympathetic. "Please," he muttered. "Tell me what's wrong."

Iris couldn't hold back the tears anymore. They spurted from her eyes and she had no control over them. She scrambled up to her hands and knees an crawled into Branch's lap like she was some dog happy to return to its owner. She buried her nose into his shoulder, breathing in his comforting scent. She remembered all the times her father would hold her when she was little. She remembered scraping her knee and crying from the pain. He had held her and softly muttered sweet words and joked around a bit. She had instantly felt cured and did not pay anymore attention to her minor injury.

How could she even begin to believe her father was a bad Troll? Maybe even if Creek was telling the truth, Branch had learned from his cruel actions and changed. He was just too sweet.

Branch's strong, firm arms lifted up to wrap around Iris. He held her close to him, almost in a protective barrier. "It's okay," he murmured. "What, do you think I'm gonna bite you after you tell me what's wrong?" He chuckled softly and she smiled.

She relaxed more and pulled her face away from his shoulder to gaze up into his concerned yet sweet expression. "I just don't know what to think," she admitted in a scratchy voice. "Are you sure you're okay, Dad? Please don't lie to me. If I hurt you more than you'll say, then please tell me. I don't want you to sugarcoat everything just to make me feel better. You can't eliminate disappointments in life. I need to learn..."

"Shh!" Branch protested, hugging her tighter against him. "I promise I'm telling you the full truth about my pain. And honey, you've already learned your lesson. Knowing how painful my injury is won't help you a bit." She felt his fingers gently brush through her soft, split-colored hair, calming her instantly. "There will be no punishments at all for you. What you saw in the forest was enough and I understand you're traumatized." He began to rock her back and forth just as he did when she was little, holding her against him as if she was a baby all over again.

Iris was becoming too tired to respond to her father. The comfort of his presence was making her relax so much she was on the brink of passing out. She was aware of Branch lowering her back towards her bed, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," he murmured before sliding off her bed. She heard him shuffling out of the room with his crutches and soon...she fell into a deep slumber.

That's it for now, folks!

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