Lessons continued for both of them for a few days, neither making much progress. Slowly, but surely enough, Veronica's chocolate was looking more and more edible, but Wonka didn't get much farther than he had on his first day. Finally, Veronica began to give up on her long kept theory of 'less talk, more action,' and decided to try a new tack.

"Willy, I think we should talk."

"Talk away!" He said absently, poring over a batch of caramel.

"But you won't talk if you're working. The operative word in my statement was 'we.' We should talk."

He looked up, eyes flashing for a moment, then a smile crept over his face.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm really very busy at the moment!" He sounded slightly like the message one might hear when being put on hold.

"And I don't care!" Veronica smiled back, the same toothy, creepy grin that he was rapidly acquiring. Startled, Wonka slowly shut off the massive burners heating the caramel. "Your room or…"

"Mine…" Wonka sighed. "As if we didn't know the answer to that question already!"

They went in silence, stepping into the great glass elevator and watching the doors slide closed behind them. Wonka reached up to press the button, but Veronica stopped him.

"What?"

"Well, here's as good a place as any to talk privately, right?"

"Umm… no. See, if I don't push a button, this little beauty is programmed to pick a room at random and…" He made a swooshing motion with one hand. "Off we go. So unless you'd like to try and talk during the ride…" He smiled.

"No…" Veronica looked up at the cable suspended above their heads. She definitely didn't relish the thought of holding serious conversation during a roller-coaster ride. Wonka resumed his reach for the button, pausing and looking back once, devilish smile on his face.

"Sure?"

"Positive."

He pressed the button.

At first it seemed like nothing was going to happen. The elevator didn't fly off immediately, but instead seemed to be contemplating its direction. Then it dropped straight off its cable in free fall for almost a full ten seconds before catching another cable and zooming off in a swirling, looping path through the factory. When it stopped, they were definitely nowhere near Wonka's room. They were facing a room full of strange exotic plants that gave off a scent very similar to the mysterious one Veronica sensed on Wonka's frock coat so long ago. But before they could exit the elevator, the doors slid shut again and the little box zoomed straight upward, like a rocket. It bounced from room to room for awhile, never finding the right destination, and then slowed to a complete stop in the middle of nowhere.

"Welcome to the… geographical center of the factory?" Wonka said quietly. "Hmm… I'll have to have an Oompa Loompa look at this thing later…"

They were hanging, suspended on the cable, with complete darkness surrounding them. The only lights were emanating from the elevator itself. Veronica tried not to look down, but there was nowhere else she could look and still feel safe, so she concentrated very hard on Wonka's blue velvet eyes.

"Well, looks like we'll be having your conversation in here after all, smartypants!" Wonka said cheerfully, gazing around at the nothingness that surrounded them. Veronica whimpered when the doors slid open onto the void. "We'll be here awhile. Sit down." Wonka said, very quietly and very low. He slid to the floor and Veronica did the same. Wonka was sitting in the rear corner of the elevator. Veronica was closer to the open door. The elevator gave a nasty, jerking lurch forward. She shrieked and clung to his arm, tears already sliding down her cheeks.

"What's wrong with it?" She asked, not daring to look toward the darkness.

"It's broken, silly." Said Wonka. "Nothing to be scared of… At least I don't think." This last part was slightly ominous.

"I don't like it. Why did the door open?"

"It's broken, like I told you." Wonka said carefully.

The elevator gave another swinging lurch as one of its cable-wheels unhitched from the cable, and then reclamped again.

"We're gonna fall and die…" Veronica whispered.

"Poppycock."

"I'm scared."

"I can see that. I'm not." Wonka said cheerfully, in an attempt to reassure her.

At length, the doors slid shut and the elevator rolled backwards about ten feet. Then, just as it began to shoot forward at top speed again, it seemed to catch on nothing and came skidding and swinging to a halt. The doors flew open again and Veronica slid dangerously close to the void. Shrieking, she scrambled back to the corner and clung to Wonka like a frightened cat.

"I woulda caught you." He said indignantly.

She wasn't paying attention to what he was saying anymore. She climbed, very uninvited and very awkwardly into his lap and latched her arms around his neck.

"I don't want to fall…"

"Jeez, you are scared." Wonka said uncomfortably, trying to look down at her. She whimpered in reply and her grip on him tightened. She was definitely crying, he could feel her shaking, and her breath came in heaving sobs. Cautiously and very awkwardly, he lay a hand on the side of her face and began brushing her hair back. He didn't really know what had triggered such a thing, it was automatic. A few moments later he rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. Her shuddering breath calmed down just a little.

"Hey, whaddya know? You ok now?" He asked her.

"No." She mumbled thickly. "I'll be ok when the elevator goes where it's supposed to."

Wonka reached up and pressed a random button. There was no reaction. The great glass elevator still stood in the middle of nowhere, doors open on nothing.

"Would this be an inconvenient moment to ask if you're afraid of heights?" Wonka asked.

"Not especially…" Veronica said, looking up at him. "Why, what're you…"

"Oh good!" He stood up, pulling her to her feet. A moment later he had pulled a tiny, grooved wheel out of one pocket, handed it to Veronica, and produced another for himself. "Then we can get out of here." He snatched Veronica's wheel back out of her hands and latched it to the elevator cable. "Now, hold on to that little bar, and push off."

"You want me… to just… Do you have any idea how high up we are?"

"No!" He giggled. "I'll be right behind you!"

So Veronica, praying that Wonka knew what he was doing, did as she was told. A moment later, she was rolling slowly along the cable on its downward slope. Wonka was following. And then they saw the elevator give a lurch.

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh? What uh oh?" Veronica asked. Then she saw it too. About twenty or thirty feet from them now, the elevator doors had slid shut and it was slowly backing up the cable. Because of the slope, Veronica and Wonka were now traveling somewhat quickly, but if the elevator were to take off at top speed… It lurched to a halt. Veronica breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jump." Wonka whispered.

"Excuse me?"

"Jump." He said again.

"Why?"

"That's why."

The elevator had now begun sliding toward them, picking up speed.

"I can't see the floor."

"I don't care!" Wonka said. "Jump!"

"On the count of three… one…"

"THREE!" And Wonka let go of the little wheel. Veronica followed suit, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her breath. The elevator crashed past where they had been barely seconds later.

Veronica free fell for what seemed like an eternity. It was like she wasn't even falling, simply floating in some void. And then she felt an elevator cable just barely miss her. She opened her eyes. The ground was looming toward them. She squeezed her eyes shut again and… landed in the midst of something very soft and very fluffy. She opened her eyes again. She was sitting in an immense pile of fluffy pink material. She could hear sheep somewhere too. Wonka was standing nearby, brushing pink wool from his clothes.

"Wasn't that lucky?" He said cheerfully. "Now come on, let's go!"

"What is this place?" Veronica asked.

"I'd… rather not say." Wonka said awkwardly. "Follow me."

They walked on for a long time, through empty back hallways and darkened rooms. Veronica was still very shaken when he led her through a door and back into the brightly lit main hallway. From there it was only minutes before they were seated in his room, on the end of his bed.

"You still wanna have that talk, or can we go back and finish my caramel?" Wonka asked cheerfully.

"Truthfully?"

"Uhh, ye-eah!" He said, dragging out the 'y' a little longer than necessary.

"Truthfully I want to just curl up here and never move again." Veronica said quietly, twisting a bit of the purple comforter in her hands.

"Well, unfortunately, you can't, one; because this is my room, and two; because you have to eat and stuff or you'll die."

"Well, will you at least sit here with me for a little while?" She asked.

"I guess…" He said grudgingly. "But I don't see how that's gonna help."

"I do."

So Veronica tried to curl back up in his lap, but he shifted and looked at her uncomfortably. She settled for leaning once again on his bony shoulder. She kept shooting him nasty, miserable looks, and trying her hardest to dig her chin into the most uncomfortable spot possible on his shoulder, until he shrugged her off and looked at her squarely.

"…If you must."

She surpressed a watery smile and clambered back into his lap, latching her arms once again firmly about his neck.

"We're wasting time." He said after awhile.

"Mmm…" Veronica buried her face in his chest, a bit awkwardly at first, to avoid his shiny silver 'W' pin.

"You seem fine now, can we go?" Wonka said, getting antsy.

"I seem fine?" She said into his shirt. "How can you say that? Can you even see me to make an assessment?"

"The fact that you just said that leads me to believe… yeah." Wonka smiled stiffly. "Smartypants."

"But now I'm all warm and cozy." Veronica said, still refusing to lift her head. "If we go off, I'll be all cold and…"

"I hardly see how that matters. We have work to do."

"Can you just shut up and enjoy the moment?" Veronica snapped. She reached around blindly for his arms and threw them around her shoulders, then cuddled back as close to him as she possibly could.

Enjoy the moment? Why would he even dream of just… sitting there doing nothing when there was something, somewhere else, that needed doing? This factory was a like a tightly wound clock, everything worked smoothly, but only if all parts were functioning. And Wonka knew distinctly that there was one part not doing its job… him. If only he could somehow just…stop that!

She said enjoy the moment, now enjoy it, gosh darn it! But how to do that…

He shifted slightly, his leg was falling asleep. To his surprise, Veronica responded, and he felt his circulation return.

How had he done this before? In the elevator it was just something that had to be done, how was it so much more difficult now? He tried to find a comfortable way of putting his arms around her, but she was hunched unnaturally, trying to avoid the silver pin at his throat.

"Umm… Veronica?" She looked up. Well, at least this had gone right. He unfastened the silver pin and laid it on the table next to the bed. His collar slipped open a little, revealing a paler, if possible, throat. Veronica smiled and leaned in, much more naturally this time, and Wonka found himself able to hold her much more comfortably. But he was still somewhat tense, and Veronica could sense it. She removed her hands from their clasp about his neck and slipped them around his waist instead. He gave a shuddering start, and then relaxed a little more. And finally, after a long time, he bent and kissed her forehead, and then let himself relax, head bowed slightly, lips just brushing her forehead. Upon inhaling, his clever sense of smell picked up the flowery scent of her shampoo, still lingering in her hair. She sighed.

"This is what I wanted to talk to you about." She murmured.

He didn't reply. He was too busy enjoying the moment.

Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka, the amazing Chocolatier...

The two of them stayed that way for a long time, on the edge of the bed. Eventually there was a knock on the door. Wonka looked up, blinking, as if coming out of some trance. Veronica rose first and tried not to look guilty or awkward standing there, and Wonka answered the door. There were two Oompa Loompas standing beyond. After a series of elaborate gestures on the parts of both the Oompa Loompas and Wonka, the two tiny men left, casting a very knowing look at Veronica, and Wonka turned back to her, shutting the door behind him.

"They found the elevator."

"Oh? Where did it end up?" Veronica was aiming for casualty, but missed the mark miserably.

"It keeps ramming into its docking port outside the nut room." Wonka said, with a hint of a little smile. "We can go watch until they fix it. The Oompa Loompas seem to think it's pretty funny."

"Don't you have some caramel to get back to?" She asked quietly.

"No." He said simply. He reached for the table and retrieved his silver pin, reclasping it at his throat. Then he turned to Veronica with a cocked head and quirky smile.

"Let's boogie!" And he made for the door without another word. Veronica reached out and touched his shoulder, and he stopped and turned back to her.

"…You are the single most bizarre man I've ever met." She smiled and followed him out.

She found herself giggling, actually amused by the great glass elevator, not long ago the source of her worst fear. It was bouncing determinedly and repeatedly into its dock just outside the nut room. Both sets of doors were open and Veronica could see that the machine was just daring the Oompa Loompa mechanics to try to jump inside to repair it. Wonka was standing beside her, giggling absently and watching the poor Oompa Loompas trying to figure out a way in. Finally, he picked up one by the collar of his uniform, and jumped deftly into the elevator himself. He ferried in a team of mechanics, all without losing his balance, or threatening to fall. Veronica applauded enthusiastically.

"Bravo!"

"What are you clapping for?"

"That was some trick!"

"Just elementary physics." Wonka smiled mysteriously, tapping his temple, and then tapping Veronica on the nose. "NOW I have some caramel to get back to, and there's no time to dilly or dally!"

As they walked back to the caramel room together, something occurred to Veronica. She turned to Wonka and stopped him from going further down the hallway.

"How are we ever gonna get anything done if you don't move those feet?" He asked, attempting to press on.

"It seems to me things tend to go wrong when I'm around…" Veronica said shyly.

"Oh no. Things go wrong all the time." Wonka brightened and stopped trying to dodge her. "It's just much more fun when you're around!"

"Thanks… I think…" Veronica said, stepping aside and gesturing for Wonka to lead the way. He strode off quickly, leaving Veronica trotting along behind.