Rising Dawn (Willy Wonka X OC)

Gone Again

Strap yourselves in, make sure you have a warm blanket, a cup of tea (or coffee, whatever's your jam), and at least twenty minutes for this. The emotional rollercoaster begins now!

"Starshine..." I murmur as I look up at Will, now older, now standing in my current house, now smiling down at me kindly. "I remember..."

"And I could never forget. I knew it was you the second I saw those green eyes." He cups my cheek with a warm hand and looks about as happy as I've ever seen him. There are so many things I remember now. I must have just forgotten about my time with Will because so many other memories took their place. I look up into his eyes and suddenly realize how close he is. The hand on my cheek slides down a bit and he tilts my chin up. His other hand rests gently on the small of my back, seemingly unable to make a rough move. I let my body melt into his arms and rest tentative arms on his shoulders loosely, hands just touching around his neck. He smiles and brings his face closer to mine.

"Mr. Wonka says I've won something, Mum!" Charlie shouts. I jolt back, shoving my hands into my pockets, cheeks flushing madly. Will lowers his arms reluctantly and turns a slightly disappointed face to Charlie. Charlie bounces over to our mother.

"Oh, Charlie. They were having a thing." She folds her arms, but Charlie only frowns in confusion.

"It's alright. And it's not just 'something,' it's the most something something there's ever been! I'm going to give this little boy my entire factory!" Will turns to me to see my reaction with a pleased smile on his face. My mouth falls open and I yank my hands out of my pockets to cover my mouth and stifle the gasp. In doing so, I cause the little paper scraps from the Oompa Loompas to fall out and land on the floor.

"You must be joking!" Mum exclaims. I can see her hands tremble at the prospect of Charlie being that rich.

"No, really, it's true!" Will swears, nodding and clasping his hands. A gentle breeze tickles my cheek and lifts the strands of hair framing my face. I turn to make sure the door is closed and see it shut tight. The breeze must have come from the window then, I turn to check it and see it closed and locked as well. The thin, dirty curtains are inert, not even rustling. The breeze seems to wrap around me and I smell chocolate, faint, but definitely there. "You see, a month ago I was having my semi-annual haircut, and the Oompa Loompa found the strangest thing."

The breeze makes the papers at my feet dance and mix. I look up to see if anyone has noticed, but they haven't. The papers' motion is similar to when that powerful wind took that money from me the night before Charlie found money on the ground and bought the winning chocolate bar. The wind is similar, maybe calmer now, but they had the same smell. Come to think of it, I experienced this wind only one other time...when an Oompa Loompa gave me the final letters.

"The Oompa Loompas..." I mumble.

At the same time, Will declares, "A grey hair! My first grey hair, and in that hair, I had a terrible realization. Who would watch over my factory, my beloved Oompa Loompas, my recipes, my chocolate when I'm gone?! I realized in that moment, I needed an heir. And Charlie, that's you!"

I tear my gaze away from Will and instead look at the papers one last time. The chocolate breeze had rearranged them for me, deciphered the words I had been trying to find for an hour. H E L P H I M. Help him. Help Will.

"Will, how old are you?" I ask, furrowing my brow, trying to put the pieces together.

"Twenty-five. Why?" he answers.

"Because that's too young to get a grey hair..."

"Is it?" Will shrugs. "Well, I guess I never actually saw the hair, but an Oompa Loompa told me." I point at the papers on the floor, and Will comes over to me and looks at them.