Note: After the events occurring in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, a middle aged woman from Japan named Sokora Meiji travels to London just to meet and visit the Chocolate Factory that Willy Wonka owns and runs. She has been following up on Willy's work through media and is very excited to meet him. She falls head over heels in love with him though but he's completely oblivious…
"You see, chocolate releases chemical endorphins into the blood stream. Gives one a feeling of being in love."—Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005
"First we hug, then we dance, and then we do the LAMBADA !"--Al Roker, 'Today', 7-29-05
Chapter 1—Faithful Follower
Sokora Meiji was Japanese from the moment she entered life, but her one love in life besides anime and manga was chocolate. Her favorite chocolateer happened to be the famous Willy Wonka, who had a factory in London. From the beginning of his career, she had watched him on television and read about his escapades in the local Japanese newspapers. Since reading about him, she had always wished to meet him in person. Of course, she realized that going to London was going to cost a lot of money and she was living a comfortable life with the income she was making. She would have to go outside of her comfort zone and take the trip to London.
After all, it would be worth it just to travel from her home country to London and she had always wished to travel there since she was young because of all the history it held. She would have to plan ahead and have someone tend to her kittens, Alfonse and Ai.
After a couple days of planning, Sokora called her best friend, Fujiko to take care of her adorable tabby kittens, Al and Ai while she was away in London. She would be away for probably a couple of weeks, and then she would return home to her job and her friends. Of course, her friends were going to miss her, but they were overjoyed that she was finally realizing her dreams and being able to embrace her childhood once more.
Chapter 2—Landing in London
The flight from Tokyo to London was a bit long and Sokora had found her rent-a-car and drove herself to the motel where she had placed her reservations. Already extremely tired, she didn't have much trouble going to sleep, but she would have to have help from the locals the next day to find the incredible chocolate factory. Although she slept well, there still lurked within her a sense of excitement, eagerness and anticipation before the big moment of meeting Willy Wonka in person.
Once the sun rose, Sokora had a full breakfast, took her multivitamins and went for a drive throughout London. With directions from the locals, she was able to make her way to the chocolate factory. She stood there for a few moments, wide-eyed, mouth agape, looking at the beautiful factory in awe. She stood at the gate and heard the voice of Willy Wonka over the speakers.
"Welcome to my chocolate factory. State your business.", Wonka said, in a gentle voice.
"I'm Sokora Meiji. I came to have a tour of your factory and of course to meet you.", Sokora answered.
"Very well then. You may enter, Sokora.", Wonka responded and the gates flew open. They had been oiled thoroughly and didn't even squeak but an enormous whoosh happened when the gates finally allowed her to enter. Soon, she was greeted by animatronic singing robots and Wonka and his family standing behind her. She had never seen Willy in person and instantly she fell in love with him. He was more handsome in person than she ever imagined he would be. She couldn't help blushing in his presence and found it hard to speak but she remained calm and even a bit shy, listening to every word he said.
Chapter 3—Meeting the Buckets and Taking the Grand Tour
Sokora thought the Bucket family was simply charming, especially Charlie himself. He had given Willy what he had always wanted, a family and a better relationship with his father.
Willy couldn't have been happier but Sokora didn't have the nerve to tell him that she had fallen in love at first sight. She would have to drop hints subtly, but if that didn't work, she would tell him when the time was right. Even if Willy didn't feel the same way, there were plenty of other "starfish in the sea" as her mother was so wont to say.
Just as she had expected, everything within the factory walls was edible, but she didn't wish to touch anything. Even though she adored sweets, the elements in the factory were far too beautiful to touch or eat. On the boat ride to the different rooms of the factory, Willy scooped up a ladle of chocolate from the chocolate river. He had mentioned that the waterfall was the natural method of mixing the chocolate and it was the purest chocolate that one could find anywhere on the planet. It was true that she had never tasted chocolate so delicious before. It melted in her mouth, danced on her tongue and she almost felt like dancing. If she had not been in that seahorse-shaped boat, she would've danced to her heart's content.
Her favorite part of the tour was taking the incredible glass elevator anywhere she could think of. She was able to see London from above during the day. Before in the airplane, she saw it at night, the lights below twinkling like stars. Now, everything looked like miniature models and she smiled with delight at what she was observing. She still hadn't had the opportunity to allow him to know her affections but she would let him know somehow.
Chapter 4—Tea Time With Willy
It was common practice to have "High Tea" at about 12:00 AM every day in England. The Buckets had gone out for the day to run some errands, leaving Sokora and Willy alone to enjoy tea together. Believe it or not, William was an exceptional cook and he could make more than scrumptious chocolates.
"What do you think of my factory, Sokora ?", Willy asked, taking a sip of cold Earl Gray tea.
"It's absolutely gorgeous. I could stay here forever if I wanted to.", Sokora answered honestly, and suddenly blushed rouge.
"Something wrong with your cheeks ? You seem to become flushed an awful lot.", Willy said, eating his chicken salad sandwich. Willy was an incredibly brilliant man, but when it came to the matter of romance, he seemed to be a little clueless.
"I didn't want to seem too forward, Willy, but I like you an awful lot. I've been dropping you hints here and there. Those red paper cranes outside your office, I made them for you. Those poems on sticky notes on your door, I wrote those for you.", Sokora confessed. It was now Willy's turn to flush dark red.
"I…Didn't realize you felt so strongly about me, Sokora. Forgive me. I must say, I have really enjoyed your company but I don't know much about romance. However, I can give it a try.
After all, isn't it worth a go ? I think it is.", Willy said, finishing his meal and sipping the rest of his ice-cold tea. Pacing herself by watching Willy eat, Sokora had finished her meal at about the same time that he had, and they decided to take a walk hand in hand outside of the factory.
Chapter 5—Seeing The Sights Through Eyes of Love
Willy had been outside of his factory more since he had gotten a family and a father, so he knew his way around the historic city quite well. He was able to tell Sokora all about the metropolis in which he lived. Of course, he had a lot of questions to ask about life in Tokyo because he only knew a little bit about Japan in general. Sokora was more than pleased to tell William about her home metropolis, and said that she would be more than happy to see him there someday. Willy would have to take that into consideration. It wasn't that he adored working there but he wanted something more out of life. Besides, he was beginning to see what romance was all about and he enjoyed being in love. For the first time in his life, he felt warmth and joy. It was almost as if he had been walking amongst the clouds and he never wished to come back down.
Although initially Sokora had to return home, Willy kept in touch with her, contemplating his move from London to Japan. He had been learning how to speak Japanese but with Sokora knew he wouldn't have to speak Japanese as much since she could speak perfect English. He thought about what he would have to do in order to live in Japan, but love was most assuredly worth it even if it would be difficult for him to start out and find a new line of work. The Buckets could run the factory and tend it and they could look after the Oompa Loompas as well. It would be a sad day when he packed what he owned to join Sokora but he would never leave them uninformed. He promised them he would always contact them and let him know of his progress.
Chapter 6—In the Name of Love
In a couple years, Willy had been able to settle down and he had married Sokora. He had never been so blissful before, but he was really looking forward to having a new life in Japan and having a child of his own. He didn't need to have an heir, but he really wanted to be a father. Charlie, upon hearing that Sokora was expecting either a baby boy or girl, was pleased, and Willy's own father was pleased to hear that he would be a grandfather soon. The Wonka family was about to grow, but as Willy always said, "The more the merrier", and he meant what he had said.
Soon, Yukina Marie Wonka was born into the world and she was the bounciest, most adorable chubby baby that anyone had ever seen. She had her father's dark chocolate hair and her mother's dark occidental eyes and button nose. Willy was practically giddy when he had a chance to hold her. She wasn't going to be spoiled because he knew what spoiling could do to a child (he had seen what that could do first hand with his Golden Ticket contest so many years ago) but Yukina was going to have plenty of love, as she grew older. She would get to meet everyone in the Meiji family and in the Wonka family, learning all about the legacy that had brought her into the world.
EpilogueToday, you can find Yukina learning in preschool and making new friends every day. Although Willy is a celebrity the paparazzi in Japan only interview him from time to time. They aren't like the paparazzi in America, who can be bothersome at times. But, Willy, as well as with Sokora, they always aimed to please and usually allowed most media persons to interview them. Whatever they did, they did it for the good of children everywhere and were thinking of using the money the chocolate factory made to help low-income families in the US and abroad. Whatever came in the future, the Wonka's lives were incredibly blessed and, dare I say it, sweeter than anyone could've ever imagined. Love was the one thing that Willy hadn't had before and he wasn't ever going to let it go.
The End
July 29, 2005