Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story!

A/n: Well, here's my Valentine's Day gift to you....the next chapter of Confusion! As always, I love reviews (and thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!), so please keep 'em coming! Flames, as always, will simply be thrown in the Chocolate River!


The sight that met Ronnie's eyes nearly took her breath away. The room that she and Willy had just entered was full of bushes containing the most gorgeous, delicious looking strawberries she had ever seen. In the center of the room was a huge mountain that appeared to be made of chocolate. "That's incredible!" Ronnie exclaimed, indicating the mountain. "It's Fudge Mountain, where we get all the fudge for Strawberry Flavored, Chocolate-Coated Fudge!" Willy said proudly.

"May I try a strawberry?" Ronnie asked, still in awe of the utterly amazing and beautiful room. "Of course you can! Everything in this room is eatable, just like in the Chocolate Room!" Willy responded. Ronnie happily reached out, grabbed a strawberry off the nearest bush, and took a big bite. The strawberry was like none she'd ever tasted before. It was the juiciest, sweetest, and all around-tastiest strawberry she had ever tasted! "Do you like it?" Willy asked eagerly. "I love it!" Ronnie exclaimed.

The chocolatier giggled with delight. "Did you know that this type of strawberry is unique to my factory?" he asked. "I thought so. I knew a strawberry this delicious could only come from this factory," Ronnie replied. "Thank you!" said Willy. "Strawberries are the one thing I love almost as much as I love chocolate," remarked Ronnie. "That's interesting, because I love strawberries almost as much as I love chocolate, too!" said Willy.

"Is there anything you love more than chocolate?" Ronnie suddenly found herself asking. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to kick herself. "What a silly thing to ask!" she thought After all, the man was the owner of the world's largest chocolate factory. Of course he loved chocolate more than anything in the world! To her great surprise, however, Willy did not immediately retort "Of course not!" or "What kind of question is that?" In fact, for some reason that Ronnie could not figure out, the chocolatier suddenly appeared very shy, and his cheeks had taken on a pinkish tinge.

"Well....I....uh....er.....you see....." Willy stammered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that," Ronnie apologized. "It's 'kay. I just....um....it's just that.....what I mean is.....you're really weird!" Willy finally managed to say. "You know, I'd love some to try some Strawberry Flavored, Chocolate-Coated Fudge," Ronnie said, sensing that Willy was very eager to change the subject.

"Of course you do! Follow me," Willy said happily. Ronnie followed Willy to an area of the room that resembled the Inventing room a bit, with a few machines and other candy making equipment. Willy reached over to a large tray and grabbed something off of it. Ronnie eagerly accepted the candy and took a bite. It tasted so good, she thought she'd pass out just from the sheer joy of it! "This...this is incredible! It's the best fudge I've ever tasted!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you! Go ahead, have some more!" said Willy. Ronnie didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed another piece of fudge off the tray and ate it happily. Then she ate a third piece, and was just about to reach for a fourth when she remembered that it was close to lunchtime. She figured she and Willy would probably be eating lunch with the Buckets (since they had eaten supper with them on Ronnie's first visit to the factory), so she didn't want to spoil her appetite. "Why did you stop eating the fudge? You can have as much of it as you want!" Willy said. "Well, I probably shouldn't spoil my appetite for lunch. We're eating with the Buckets, right?" Ronnie replied.

Willy suddenly looked shy again. "Actually, I had something else in mind," he said. "And what would that be?" Ronnie asked. "We're going to have a picnic in my favorite room in the entire factory," Willy responded. "You mean, just the two of us?" Ronnie asked. "Well, yeah," said Willy. Ronnie smiled. "I'd love that!" she said. Willy grinned back. "In that case, to the elevator!" he said.

Ronnie blushed, remembering what had happened the last time she and Willy had been in the elevator together. "Hopefully this time I'll...." Ronnie's thoughts were interrupted when both she and Willy ran head-long into the glass elevator. "You really..." Ronnie began. "Need to be more careful where I park this thing!" Willy finished. They both laughed as they picked themselves up off the floor and stepped into the elevator.

Willy pressed a button, and the elevator took off (vertically, to Ronnie's relief. She was glad she at least had time to prepare for any horizontal movement by the elevator this time!). "I'm really glad you came back to my factory," Willy said. "Well, I'm glad you invited me back," Ronnie replied. "My pleasure!" said Willy. Much to Ronnie's mortification, her stomach picked that moment to let out a very loud growl. Her face turned the color of a firetruck. "Sorry," she said meekly.

"No need to apologize. It's lunchtime, of course your tummy is going to be hungry!" Willy assured her. Ronnie smiled gratefully. "Thanks. What are we having for lunch, anyway?" she said. Willy giggled and clapped his hands together. "I'm not telling, it's a secret! I think you're going to love it, though!" he said happily. "Well, I..." Ronnie's sentence was interrupted by a loud squeaking noise, which was followed by the elevator coming to an abrupt stop. The sudden movement (or rather stoppage of movement) caused Ronnie to lose her balance. She fell forward, bumping into Willy, which caused him to lose HIS balance. This, in turn, caused Willy to topple backward onto the floor of the elevator, and Ronnie to land on top of him.

Needless to say, neither Willy nor Ronnie knew quite what to say about the rather awkward situation at first. Willy absently reached out and started stroking Ronnie's hair. "That feels good!" Ronnie said, finally breaking the silence. Willy looked puzzled. "What does?" he asked. "You stroking my hair," Ronnie responded. "Oh! I didn't realize I was doing it," Willy said sheepishly as he pulled his hand away. Then, suddenly, he found himself asking Ronnie, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have beautiful eyes?"

Of all the things Willy could have possibly asked her right then, she had definitely NOT expected him to ask that! She was very flattered by the compliment and, for what seemed about the ten millionth time that day, she felt her cheeks turning red. "Thanks, and actually, no. No one has ever told me I have pretty eyes before. Well, of course my mother always told me I was beautiful when I was a kid, but I think all parents think that about their kids," she replied. To her surprise, Willy suddenly looked sad. "I don't think my f-f-f-f....well, you know, HIM, I don't think he ever thought anything like that about me. He never complimented me on anything. All he ever saw were the ways I messed things up," he said softly. Hearing Willy say those things suddenly made Ronnie remember something....

Ronnie and her mother were sitting in the waiting room at Dr. Wonka's house/office. It was time for her six-month dental check-up, which she was NOT thrilled about, to say the very least. Not only did she, like many kids, simply dislike going to the dentist in general, but Dr. Wonka was constantly lecturing her about eating too much candy. He made no secret of the fact that he hated candy, and didn't think it was acceptable for anyone to eat it.

"At least he's not my father!" she reminded herself. She couldn't even imagine what it must be like for Willy, having to live with Dr. Wonka day in and day out! As she sat there thinking about that, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten to brush her teeth before she and her mother left for Dr. Wonka's. She knew from past experience that Dr. Wonka, like many dentists, kept a supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste in the bathroom for situations like hers. So, she got up and headed to the bathroom (after letting her mother know what she was doing first, of course!)

Once in the bathroom, Ronnie grabbed a toothbrush and started vigorously brushing her teeth. As she was finishing up, she heard footsteps in the hallway, along with what sounded like someone crying. She stopped in her tracks, not sure whether she should go out in the hallway or wait for whomever was out there to leave. While she was pondering that, she heard a sad-sounding voice say: "Why is dad so against candy? Has he ever even tried it himself?"

Ronnie recognized that voice instantly. It was Willy's. She didn't want to intrude on him, but Dr. Wonka wouldn't be happy with her if she ended up being late to her appointment (especially since she was already in his office and thus had no excuse for being late!). Not to mention the fact that it was very possible that Willy was waiting to get into the bathroom. So, she opened the door and stepped into the hallway. When Willy caught site of her, he ran into the bathroom, looking embarrassed and ashamed. As he ran past her, Ronnie could see that his face was tear-stained. She also thought she noticed a redness on his left arm, as if it had been recently slapped or gripped hard.

Ronnie felt awful for Willy. She couldn't understand how Dr. Wonka could hurt his own son that way. She sighed and started to head back to the waiting room. She hadn't taken more than two steps when she heard what sounded like paper crinkling under her feet. She bent down to check, and found a piece of paper that Willy had apparently dropped. On it, he had drawn a picture of what looked like a factory, and written: "Someday, this will be my chocolate factory". The writing went on to list what Ronnie assumed were ideas for new candies. Ronnie picked up a pencil that she noticed laying on the hall table and wrote on the paper: "Go for it, Willy! I believe in you, and I know you'll be a great chocolatier some day!"

The next morning, Ronnie ran into the classroom the second the bus arrived at school (ordinarily, she, like the other kids, went to morning recess, as the school called it, until the bell rang to signal the start of the school day). She went over to Willy's desk and slipped the paper and a chocolate candy she'd found at home into it.....

"Er, Ronnie? Are you there?" Willy suddenly asked, startling Ronnie out of her flashback. "Yes. Sorry about that," she apologized. "Were you having a flashback?" Willy asked. "Yes, I was," Ronnie responded. Then, thinking about what she had remembered in that flashback, she instinctively reached over (by this time she and Willy had sorted themselves out and were sitting side-by-side, rather than her laying on top of him!) and gave the chocolatier a hug. Willy was understandably surprised by the gesture at first, but he quickly relaxed and returned the hug. Then, just as he was about to thank Ronnie for the hug, he heard the unmistakable sound of giggling coming from below the elevator.

Willy looked downward, and saw the Oompa Loompas in the room below looking up at the elevator. They were gesturing to each other and giggling. "Those little sneaks! I'll bet they're behind the elevator malfunction!" he thought. By this time, Ronnie had noticed the Oompa Loompas as well. "I guess they find us quite amusing!" she said with a laugh. "I think those little mischief makers made the elevator stop on purpose!" Willy replied. Then he pressed a button in the elevator marked "Maintenance". There was a beep, and then a voice said, "Mr. Wonka?" "Yeah, I know what you guys did. Now please, start the elevator back up," Willy said. The response was a giggle, followed by a voice saying, "All right, all right!"

"Was that an Oompa Loompa?" Ronnie asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to kick herself. The voice wasn't Charlie's or one of the other Buckets', and the Oompa Loompas were the only other people other than the Buckets and Willy who lived in the factory. So obviously it had been an Oompa Loompa on the intercom!

Luckily, Willy did not seem to mind the question or think it was silly. "It sure was!" he responded. "I was under the impression that they couldn't speak English," Ronnie remarked. "Well, most of them can't. A few of them, such as the maintenance Oompa Loompas, have learned it for when situations like this come up, though," Willy explained. That made sense to Ronnie. After all, Loompish was a language made up mostly of gestures rather than words, so obviously it was impossible to be able to hear it over an intercom!

"Good idea for them to...." Ronnie started to say as the elevator came to a stop once again. This time, since it had stopped at it's intended destination, the doors opened, and the sight that met Ronnie's eyes made her stop in mid-sentence. She was looking out at what appeared to be an island made up entirely of various candies! Willy noticed her awe-struck expression and smiled. "Welcome to Dessert Island!" he said proudly.


Chapter 12 Preview: Willy and Ronnie have a picnic on Dessert Island, Ronnie learns why Dessert Island is a very special place for Willy, and Willy gives Ronnie a very special Valentine's Day gift!