A/N: TA-DA!! Hello, my wonderful faithful readers! I bet you're all surprised to see me back after all this time, eh? Well, I left a note on my profile to apologize for my absence, and as I said there I'd like to remind you that I have, to this day, no intention whatsoever of leaving my stories unfinished! So have no fear, the updates shall continue appearing – even if I am not able to tell you exactly when, lol.

Although it's been a long, long time since I last updated this story, I hope you'll still enjoy it and (please!) review! Charlene and Willy's story has just begun, trust me on this one! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about it, now that I don't have a movie plot to follow. Thank you for your patience and for waiting for my unbearably slow updates…I tried to make this chapter extra-long, I hope it'll make it up to you!

Looking forward to hearing what you all think about it.

To our next update!
xoxo
-Kayla

Chapter Two – Letters

"I'm home!" Charlene called, stepping through the front door of her house.

She dropped her keys on a nearby table, taking her coat off and hanging it up besides the door. She walked through the atrium, wondering where her family had gone, and called out once again, "Hey! Anybody home?"

"Hello, darling," she finally heard someone greet her as her father appeared from the living room, walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek, "Home already?"
"Yes," she answered, "I finished work early today. Where's mom?"
"She's out with the Grandmothers," explained, "The Grandfathers and I were watching a little bit of television. Care to join us?"
"Sure," Charlene replied, following him.

"Those are for you, by the way," her father informed her, referring to a stack of letters piled up on a table, "I took the liberty of opening them for you – I didn't want to miss out on the fun," he added with a slightly sarcastic smile.

For a split second, Charlene eyed the letters curiously, but her interest was quickyl lost as soon as she picked them up and realized where they came from. Rolling her eyes, she let out and exasperated sigh and then turned to walk into the living room. The girl greeted her grandfathers, who were deeply immerged in the viewing of a comic sit-com, before ungracefully slumping down on the sofa, holding the letters on her knees and resting her head back on the cushions.

"What's the matter, dearie?" asked Grandpa Joe, "More mail?"
"Yes," she answered, still looking at the ceiling.
"Well? Aren't you going to read them?"
"As if I need to read them to know what they're about," the girl grumbled in response, before straightening back up, "This is seriously starting to get on my nerves."
She began flipping through the stack of papers. Her eyes quickly scanned each letter, her frustration growing with each flick of her hand: Invitation…Interview…Job Offer…Meeting…Interview…Special Guest…Interview…Première…Interview…Culinary school…Interview…
As soon as she read the last piece of paper, she tossed the whole pile aside and slumped her head back again.

"I cannot believe these people! Why do they keep sending me all these letters?"
"Maybe they're hoping you'll answer them," her father suggested.
"But why me? What on Earth have I ever done to deserve all this attention?"

"Goodness' sake, child!" Grandpa George exclaimed, "You inherited the most famous chocolate factory in the world! Did you really think something like that would go unnoticed?"

"I know," she answered after a brief pause, taking a deep breath and straightening up once more, "It's just so…strange, for me." She leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees, resting her head on her hands. "I mean…the first interviews were fine," she admitted, recalling the days after her first visit to the Chocolate Factory, when the media had suddenly become interested in her and some journalists had asked her for a couple of interviews, "But right now, I'm feeling like this is getting out of control. I mean…" she turned and picked up one of the papers, reading it aloud, " 'An offer for a four-day exclusive seminary at the International Culinary School'?What am I supposed to do at a culinary school? These people have been studying for years, and they want me to go teach them?" She tossed the letter aside, "Willy's barely been able to teach me the basics, and they think I can just walk into a professional cooking academy and teach!" she shook her head at the idea, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Well, Charlene," her father said, "You should expect them to at least try and invite you. It's understandable that they'd want you to go, seeing how Willy closed himself in that factory for all those years. And now they know he's training you, they know you see how he works…I bet they're all just waiting for you to tell them how he makes it all happen, aren't they?"

"As if I would ever do that," she mumbled.

"Not everyone is good at keeping secrets, darling," he said, "They're probably hoping you weren't as loyal and decent as you are."

"Well then, it's too bad for them I guess," she sigh once again, "Oh, whatever. I'll just throw these in the trash, just like every other day."

"This one looks interesting, though," interrupted her, eyeing another letter and picking it up from the pile to read it, "It's from another culinary school. But this one's actually an invitation to join the school – they say they'd be honoured if you joined their courses. Says here they have a full course entirely for desserts and sweets."

Charlene took the letter from him and scanned it quickly. The headline read 'Royal Culinary Academy' in bold golden letters, and the girl saw that the headmaster himself had written to her. This took her slightly by surprise, she hadn't expected an offer like that.

"I think you should keep that one," suggested, but Charlene suddenly shook her head.

"No," she answered, putting the letter back down and looking up at him, "What would I need a course for? Willy's an excellent teacher, I'm sure he'll be able to teach me everything I need to know."

"But, sweetie," he father insisted, "Why don't you…well, listen, just keep the letter for now, will you?"

"Dad!" she exclaimed, incredulous,"Are you saying you don't believe Willy's a good enough teacher?"

"I'm not saying that, honey," he responded, "I just think that an opportunity like this shouldn't be taken so light-heartedly. I'm not saying you should accept it, just…don't throw it away, okay? Keep it. Think it over. You never know, it could come in handy."

The girl huffed, "Fine, I'll keep it if it makes you happy. Willy's going to say it's a silly idea anyway," she added in a lower voice, before she saw the time and sprung to her feet, "Speaking of which…I've got an appointment to attend to!"

"Let me guess," said, "Willy must be waiting for you at the factory?"

"Yes," she said, suddenly radiant with happiness.

To her surprise, it was who sigh now, looking down at the floor, "Charlene…" he began.

The girl frowned slightly, taken aback by his reaction, "What?"

"Well, it's just that…sometimes, it seems like all you do is spend your time at the Factory."

"But, Dad…I have to!" she exclaimed, trying to hide the slight note panic in her voice due to the secret romance involved with her visits to the Factory.

Although five months had passed since Willy and Charlene had become a couple, they still hadn't told the Buckets anything about their relationship – not directly, at least. The family had long since begun to suspect that there was something going on between Willy and Charlene, but they had both of been good at hiding their feelings. They had decided that it would make things much less complicated for them, and although they had agreed that they would announce their relationship to the family as soon as the appropriate time came, they had decided to keep acting as though nothing had happened between them for the time being.

"Willy needs to teach me everything there is to know about the Factory, and you know how difficult it is for him…after all, it is the biggest factory in the world!" she pointed out, shooting a meaningful glance towards her grandfathers, "Not to mention, we're still working on those Valentine treats, you know we've got a deadline to respect…and the last recepie we tried keeps getting messed up, we're trying to figure out what's wrong with it…I know that I'm not spending a lot of time with you at home, and I'm sorry, but I can't help it if I have to stay there with him!" she justified herself, "Not that I mind," she added mentally.

"All right, all right…never mind," said, hastily ending the argument before it even started, "You go ahead and run along to the Factory. Remember to let us know at what time you'll be coming back home, and please, at least warn your mother beforehand if Willy's going to join us for dinner? You know she wants to know when we have a guest."

"Sure," Charlene answered, satisfied, walking over to him and kissing him on the cheek, "I wonder why you still treat him like a guest, thought. He's been around for ages now, he's basically part of the family! There's no need to be formal, really. Besides," she added with a shrug, "You know he's going to join us anyway. We've been working ourselves to death until nine o'clock, it's the least I can do to offer him a rewarding meal, isn't it?"

She winked at him, ignoring his slight sigh, and then bid her grandparents goodbye before sprinting out of the room to fetch her coat and leave. She merrily made her way to the Factory, half-skipping, and soon enough she saw its gigantic outline appear in the distance. Hurrying up, she raced the rest of the way, eager to see if he was waiting for her.

Sure enough, as soon as the gates came into view, there he was, standing on the front steps just like every day. He lifted his gaze and saw her, and his face lightened with a warm smile. Charlene also felt a big grin spread on her face. She ran through the gates, across the front lot, and practically flung herself into his arms, kissing him before he had time to do or say anything.

Willy, who had to take a step back from the force of the impact, was pleasantly surprised by her greeting, and quickly recovered in order to return the kiss. They broke apart, Charlene slightly gasping for air.

"Why, hello Starshine!" he exclaimed, amused.

"Hey," she answered bashfully, realizing her enthusiasm had probably been slightly over the top. She never quite realized how much she missed him until she saw him waiting for her.

"I missed you today!" she said suddenly, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest.

"I missed you too, Starshine," Willy replied, beginning to wonder if something had happened for Charlene to behave so affectionately as he rested his head on top of hers, "Hey…Is everything all right?" he asked after a moment, looking down at her.

"Yes," she answered, "It's just…sometimes I feel like I don't show you how much I love you enough."

Willy laughed, "Oh, Starshine, are you kidding me? Of course you do!" he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead lightly, "But hey, if this is what I get in return, I'm not going to complain!" he added with a wink and a chuckle.

Charlene giggled and reached up to kiss him lightly on the lips, before Willy turned more businesslike and said, "Now, we've got an enormous number of things to get done today, so we better get going! Shall we?" he asked, offering her his arm as always.

She took it with a smile, and the two entered the factory, Charlene eager to hear what the day's plans were.

A couple of hours later, they were in the Inventing Room, working on their latest recepie.

"Charlene, fetch me the syrup!" Willy called out, keeping his eyes on the large bowl in front of him and carefully making sure he kept stirring the ingredients so that they smoothly blended together.

"Coming!" she called back, rushing by his side with a bowl of maple syrup. The Chocolatier took the amount he needed and added it into the mixture.

"I think we got it right this time," he said, "I added the vanilla with the flour and I swapped the walnuts with hazelnuts."

"Sounds fine to me," she answered, looking at the mixture.

"Well, only one way to find out," Willy said, and with that he took the bowl and tipped its contents into a metallic baking pan. He then took the pan and placed it carefully into a large oven used to bake all their new creations, setting the time. When he was finished, he straightened up, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Phew," he sigh, "There, that should do it. I do hope this works, this stubborn recepie is starting to get annoying!"

He then noticed that Charlene was not besides him, and turned around to see where she had gone. He saw that she had returned to the other side of the room, and was intent on mixing a barrel of another new recepie they were trying out, with her back to him. He smiled mischievously as an idea came to his mind, and silently walked up behind her. Charlene nearly jumped a foot in the air when she felt his arms around her waist.

"WILL-!" she began, spinning around, but she was unable to finish, because suddenly his lips were on hers, and her head began to spin for the intensity of kiss. She was not used to being kissed so passionately, though she had to admit she didn't mind the change at all.

She struggled to recompose herself when they broke apart.

"Wow," was all she managed to say, "What was that for?"

"Oh, nothing really," he answered with a chuckle, "I was just wondering how sometimes I feel like I don't show you how much I love you enough," he quoted her with an impish grin.

She raised an eyebrow and remarked, playing along, "Well, if this is what I get in return…keep wondering, I say!"

He laughed and gave her another light peck, then reluctantly released her from his embrace and went to check what else had to be done for the day. Charlene also returned to her work, a small smile still playing on her lips as she thought about how much she loved kissing Willy. She sigh contentely.

The hours slipped by quickly, and Charlene didn't get another chance to stay alone with Willy, as a group of Oompa Loompas had joined them shortly after their little display of affection and he had since then been kept busy working with them. Soon, she glanced at her watch and saw that it was already eight forty-five. She gasped: every time she was in the Factory, she lost her sense of time. She hoped her parents wouldn't be too upset that she had forgotten to call them. She hastily put away her supplies and dug in the pocket of her apron, searching for the small cellphone theey had recently brought her. She found it and pulled it out of the pocket, flipping it open and dialling her house's phone number. Her father answered after a couple of rings.

"Buckets'," he spoke.

Charlene bit her lip, already feeling guilty, "Ah…Dad? It's me, Charlene."

"Charlene!" he said, his voice slightly reprehending, "I thought I asked you to call us to let us know when you'd be coming home for dinner?"

"I know," she answered sheepishly, rubbing her neck with her hand, "I'm sorry…Willy and I were working and I lost track of time…"

Her father sigh, "Well, when are you coming home? It's almost nine o'clock, the grandparents are getting hungry…"

Charlene felt another wave of guilt wash over her. How irresposible could she get? "I'm on my way right now," she answered, "I'll be there as soon as possible. Tell everyone I'm sorry, okay?"

"All right," he said, before adding, "Oh, Charlene?"

"Yes?"

"Is Willy coming over?"

"Ah…actually…" the girl answered, shooting a glance towards Willy, who had left the Oompa Loompas and was now walking towards her, eyeing her curiously as she spoke. "…yes?" she said tentatively, hoping her father would make this easy for her and just hang up. Fortuately for her, he seemed to catch her drift.

"Okay, I'll set the table for him too, as usual."

"Thanks Dad," she said, grateful, "We'll be right over," she then ended the conversation, closing the phone and turning her attention to Willy.

"Dinner ready?" he asked her.

She nodded, "I forgot to call them before to let them know I'd be working late again…I found out my father isn't too thrilled about me working so late, this afternoon before I got here."

"Oh…I'm sorry, Starshine," Willy apologized, feeling responsible, "I shouldn't be keeping you so long from your-"

"What are you talking about?" Charlene cut him off, "I love the Factory! I love staying here with you. I love having you teach me everything you know," she said, embracing him to emphasize her point as she added, "And in case I haven't shown you enough already, I love you," She glanced up at him, "I'm sorry I can't spend much time with my family too, but trust me when I say," and she rested her head on his chest, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here."

He smiled sweetly down at her, returning her embrace, and they stood like that for a couple of moments before he suggested that they head for the Glass Elevator if they didn't want to miss out on dinner completely. She nodded and he took her hand, leading the way. As they were walking, though, something caught Charlene's eye: a pile of papers that she hadn't noticed before, standing on top of a nearby table.

"Willy?" she said, and he stopped, "What are those?"

Willy followed her gaze and understood what she was talking about, "Oh! Those? They're just the usual bunch of random letters I've been getting every day since the Contest, inviting me to television shows and asking for interviews, or else asking me to go to some cooking academy to teach," he snorted, "As if I would ever consider revealing my secret recepies like that!"

Charlene was awestruck, "You get those letters too?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been getting them too!" she exclaimed, "Ever since the press found out what happened after the Contest, I've been getting bucketloads of letters like those every day and throwing them in the trash! It's been driving me nuts!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…I don't know," she admitted, blushing slightly, "I guess…I was afraid it would bother you."

"Bother me?" he asked, bewildered.

"Yes," she responded, "I thought it might annoy you to know there were people begging me to go reveal your secrets..."

"Annoy me?" he repeated, now incredulous, "Starshine, if anything, I would've been proud of you for ignoring them, not to mention immensely grateful!"

Charlene smiled faintly, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

"No harm done," he reassured her, before changing tone and adding, "Well, we better get going now, or-"

"Wait!" Charlene suddenly exclaimed, as one particular letter suddenly caught her eye. She walked over to the pile and picked it up. It was written in an elegant, formal-looking calligraphy, and the paper it was written on seemed to be parchment. "What's this?" she asked curiosly.

"That's just one of Prince Pondecherry's letters," Willy explained, walking up besides her and gently taking the letter from her hands to set it back down with the others.

"Prince Pondecherry?" Charlene repeated, turning around to look at him, her eyes wide with wonder as she recalled the name as the one of the Prince for whom Willy had once built a chocolate palace. The Prince had refused to eat the palace once it had been completed despite Willy's warnings, and so it had soon ended up melting under the boiling Indian sun. Grandpa Joe used to tell her that story. He had also told her how the Prince had continued to write letters to Willy, asking for another palace, and how he had never answered to his request, but she hadn't thought he would still be trying to contact him after all the years that had passed.

Willy nodded, "Yes, he's still asking me-"

"-to go build him another chocolate palace?" Charlene asked eagerly, finishing the sentence for him.

"Yes," he answered, surprised she knew the story, "How do you know?"

"My grandfather used to tell me that story from when he worked here with you," she explained, before adding excitedly, "Oh, but Willy, why won't you answer his request? I bet we could come up with a solution so that his new palace wouldn't melt down like the last time…and then, travel all the way to India! And live in a royal palace! Oh, that would be fantastic! I bet it's an extraordinary country! I-" she stopped hastily, fighting against her enthusiasm as she caught sight of his perplexed face, "Oh…of course, it's none of my business, you're the one he's looking for…"

"No, no, it's not that," he answered, quickly changing his stunned expression, "I was just surprised it interests you so much. Do you seriously think it would be that amazing?" he asked sincerely.

She nodded, but then said, "But never mind, I got a little bit caught up with my imagination. It happens." She smiled to show it was really no big deal, "Well, come on, we're going to be late!"

And with that she turned and headed for the Glass Elevator. Willy looked at her, then at the Prince's letter, and then back up at her.

And then, he made a decision that made him smile.