Hello, everyone! I've had this story on my mind since the 2005 movie came out. I absolutely love Depp's Wonka and the original story from the books. I've been inspired to write so I finally decided to give it a try. However I don't intend to keep on posting before having a Beta Reader review, since I'm not an English native speaker. So, if you're interested in reviewing it, please DM me!

Chapter 1

"It's going to snow, I can feel it." Lyyli thought to herself. She had always had this sensitivity to know when snow was coming, something she inherited from her deceased mother, besides her deep green eyes.

Lyyli Rikkunen was a 16-year-old finnish girl who lived with her father, Sami Rikkunen, a chocolatier in charge of making the famous massive chocolate bars from Lapland. His chocolates were specially ordered to be sold at the gift shop in Rovaniemi, in Santa's Village, but were also shipped all around Finland.

They owned a small isle next to Rovaniemi, in Salmijärvi, where the Rikkunen family had lived for many generations. Eni Rikkunen, Lyyli's mother, died when she was 7 years old, victim of lung cancer. Despite the terrible loss, the girl and her father had a very loving and close relationship, and were always together.

A freezing wind blew her long dark hair while she stood there, enjoying the beautiful landscape of the lake. Lyyli didn't mind the wind though, she actually liked it very much. Winter was her favorite season.

"I'm home!" she said entering the house.

"How's school?" her father greeted her from the kitchen.

"Torture." the girl answered. "But music class was great! Some guys called me to join their group today. We're going to perform at Christmas party."

"That's great, kid." her father raised up his brown eyes from the newspaper. "But don't forget I'll need your help soon for Christmas orders, luckily this year will be very busy for us."

"I know. Don't worry, I can handle it." Lyyli answered and sat down at the table with her father in the kitchen. "What's in the oven?"

"I'm making Joulutorttu(1)." Lyyli gave him a smile. "Chocolate flavored." Her eyes grew bigger.

"Just what I needed after an algebra class." the girl smiled. "Is it ready to eat?"

"Calm down, there's still 10 minutes left." her father replied putting the newspaper down. "Which reminds me, by the way, to tell you that we're having a guest at the lake's house soon before Christmas."

"A guest? What do you mean?"

"Well, this English young man is traveling all around to learn about candy making and he wrote asking me if I could teach him some since he's an admirer of our chocolate. So we agreed that I'd rent him the lake's house and that he'd work with me to learn about our chocolate production. Guess a little help for Christmas will be welcome, don't you agree?"

"I guess so…" Lyyli replied thoughtfully. "What's his name?"

"William Wonka".

He tried not to panic during all the way to the isle in that boat, but every time it swung just made him feel more nauseous.

"Keep yourself together. Don't think about it." Willy Wonka said to himself with his eyes closed. The man driving the boat looked at the strange young man in fancy clothes and held a laugh. He was shaking like a leaf.

"Gosh darn it. Is this nightmare never gonna end?" Willy thought again. It seems like they've been on that boat for an eternity. Besides the swinging, he was also freezing to death even in his warm purple suit. "I guess I've underestimated winter here."

Finally, the view of a small isle emerged and Willy sighed in relief. As they approached the land, he saw the figure of a young woman in a white winter cloak entering the isle and running towards a large white wooden house.

The boat stopped and the man driving it helped Willy get down with his luggage. He said something in finnish pointing to the white house but the only thing Willy caught was "Herra(2) Rikkunen".

"Kiitos", Willy thanked the man with one of the few words he knew in Finnish. "I hope they speak some English."

He walked his luggage towards the house and looked around him. It was a beautiful and peaceful place, with many trees and rocks, and the view of the lake was just breathtaking.

"Guess I can keep my mind concentrated here." he thought.

Suddenly, a tall gray-haired man in a black sweater came out of the house and walked towards him.

"Ah, my young man. Welcome!" he had a nice and warm smile. "I'm very glad that you came. I hope the trip wasn't too tiresome?"

"Hello, Mr. Rikkunen. It's a pleasure to meet you." Willy shyly answered and offered his gloved hand to his host, who gave him a curious look before greeting back. "I'm absolutely delighted to be here, I can never thank you enough."

"You certainly let me curious. How a young man like you came to end up here, so far from home? And interested in such a peculiar business?"

"Yeah, that's a very long story, heh." Willy had started when the young woman he saw previously came out of the house behind her father. She had a very long dark hair that fell to her waist and keen green eyes. He stared at her a few seconds until Mr. Rikkunen turned his back.

"Oh, let me introduce you my daughter, Lyyli. This is our guest, Willy Wonka."

The girl approached him. Willy stood there frozen. He wasn't the most sociable person since he ran away from his father, especially with girls.

"Hello." the girl's sweet voice came out and before he could answer, she hugged him, which caught Willy by surprise. "It's good to have you here." she stepped back and looked at him.

"Th-thank you." was all that he could answer as he was still confused about how to react.

"Let's get you settled, shall we?" Mr. Rikkunen said and he helped Willy with his luggage up to another wooden house on the other side of the isle. They walked a few minutes through a path until they reached the house, as Mr. Rikkunen introduced the isle and told Willy about it.

"Well, this is it. And here is the…" before Mr. Rikkunen could finish, his Nokia mobile rang and he answered. "I'm sorry" he continued after the short call. "I need to send an e-mail urgently. Lyyli, could you show Willy his house? I'll be right back." He handled some keys to his daughter and excused himself.

Lyyli opened the front door and offered to help Willy with his luggage. "Don't worry. I'm very strong, you know?" she said in a joking tone and they stepped in.

The house was all wooden made, with a large fireplace next to the sofa, which made it even more cozy and warm. There was a living room and a kitchen in the first floor, already furnished and a spiral staircase that led to a bedroom and a bathroom. It was quite a big house for Willy himself, he thought, but at least it was very clean and welcoming, better than the other places where he stayed before in his trips.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting for such a hospitality. I really hope I'm not giving you any sort of..." he stopped speaking when he noticed the girl observing him with her piercing look.

"I like your suit." she said.

"Oh, thank you. I like it very much too." Willy smiled.

"Where did you get these eyes?" the girl said coming closer and making him froze again. "They kinda match your clothes, you know?"

"M-my mother gave it to me."

"Well, I think she was very kind to you." she gave him a warm smile that made him blush.

"Yes, she was. I wish I could remember her. She died when I was still a child."

Lyyli gave him a comfort look. "I know how you feel. I lost my mother when I was young too."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We'll me them again someday."

"How can you tell?"

"Because my mom told me so, in my dreams."

"She seems nice", Willy thought. "It doesn't seem so hard to go through a conversation with her. And Mr. Rikkunen looks very friendly too, I hope I'll learn many things here and refine my chocolate recipe."

Lyyli finished showing Willy around his new home when her father came in. "Oh, here you are. Sorry for my absence. So I hope you'll feel comfortable here, Willy. You must be tired, we'll let you rest for a while. Lyyli will call you for dinner later, okay?"

"Mr. Rikkunen, thank you very much again. This place is great. I'm very grateful. I can't wait to start working with you." Willy answered happily.

"I'm glad then. See you later for dinner." the man answered heading to the front the door.

"Bye, Willy." the girl smiled at him and left the house with her father.

"This is going to be a nice stay." Willy thought and started unpacking.

(1) Christmas Tarts.

(2) "Mr." in Finnish.