As you've guessed from the title of this chapter...

"Dearly beloved…."

"Dad, this is not a wedding," Willy murmured to his father standing next to him, not looking up from the snowy ground.

"It should be," Dr. Wonka hissed back. He cleared his throat. "DEARLY BELOVED! We gather here today to witness the end of a terrible tragedy…and the beginning…." He paused for dramatic effect. "Of a wonderful afterlife."

"Now what is that supposed to mean?" Willy asked.

"Will you hush," Dr. Wonka snapped in a low voice. "For today, we witness the burial of a Mrs. Lilly Wonka."

"Miss Lilly Redwood," Willy corrected aloud.

"Soon-To-Be Mrs. Wonka," Willy's dad said to the small gathering of people in front of them.

"Never actually settled the date…."

"That was to be settled in the very near future…."

Willy turned to his father. "Doesn't exactly matter…."

Dr. Wonka turned to his son. "Actually, it really should…."

"Not apparent how…."

"Mother of three children…."

"Three beloved children…."

"Three fatherless children…."

"I'm not the deceased one here, Dad…."

"Well, you should be!"

This received a few startled gasps from the crowd gathered to see Lilly's burial. Willy stared at his father, raised the staff, and waved it in his face. He was about to say something, yet was overcome by a number of emotions, and he stormed back into the factory, slamming the door shut as hard as he could behind him.

The silence from everyone was incredible.

Libby walked calmly up to her grandfather through the tiny crowd, which parted to create a path for her.

Dr. Wonka looked tiredly down at her. "You know I didn't mean that, Libby."

Libby frowned and went after her father, throwing her grandfather a dirty look over her shoulder.

But suddenly, she stopped walking, and while everyone including Dr. Wonka was watching her, she turned to him, pointed one shaking finger, and screamed.

Willy's father closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "Libby…."

"No!" Libby screamed, crouching once. "You…." She was cut off by her own shrieking and she ran into the factory, yelling something incomprehensible. Her voice was muffled and distant as the door shut behind her.

Dr. Wonka turned to look at everyone.

"What on Earth was that all about, Wilbur?"

Willy's father looked as if he was about to say something, but then he turned pale. "I'm closing my business," he murmured as he strode quickly away from everyone.

But several things happened at once.

Curtis Redwood came running up to the crowd, running headlong into Dr. Wonka. Once he recognized who it was that he ran into, Curtis grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, giving him a very livid scowl. "I cannot believe this," he spat. "You're worthless and a traitor."

Dr. Wonka looked positively frightened out of his mind. "I didn't—"

"I'm afraid you did," a voice rang out from behind everyone. In the doorway of the factory stood Willy, and he looked…rather lethal.

As a matter of fact, Willy looked very lethal as he made his way very slowly towards his father. There was another heavy silence, as everyone's eyes were on Willy. His head was tilted low, causing an opaque shadow across his eyes from the hat. His walk was deliberate; every other step, he swung the walking staff in a full circle.

He stopped in front of his dad—Curtis had set him down—and he grinned, looking up and letting his father see the fire flashing in his eyes.

"I was just told," he whispered loathingly, stretching his left hand and looking at his purple glove in an almost villainous way, "that I'm currently standing very near the person who…took away the life of my best friend…and my lover."

He looked at Curtis. When Willy stepped over to stand in front of him, Curtis gained a panicky look. Willy pointed the purple glove-clad index finger of his left hand right in front of his nose.

"Don't touch my father," he said simply.

Curtis nodded and swallowed, perspiration beading on his upper lip. "Y-yessir."

Willy then stepped over to his father.

He struck him hard across the face with the walking staff.

Everyone gasped, and Curtis stepped aside, watching as Willy turned, only his profile visible as he ed the knuckles of his right hand and looked at his father with a very hurt and disgusted look.

"I don't ever want to see your face on my property again, Wilbur," he whispered. Then he disappeared into his factory, leaving the entire crowd to gawk at Dr. Wonka in disbelief, and Curtis to take him away from the factory, somehow very stunned; yet he had expected this event to happen once Willy found out the truth….

His father had killed Lilly.

Twelve midnight and Willy sat on the steps leading up to his factory, staring across the open and empty space at the closed casket. He knew very well what was inside the coffin, yet as he sat there and stared at it, he felt as if he were disrespecting it in some way.

"I should…probably bury that thing, shouldn't I?" he muttered into the silence of the night, his breath against the cold air creating a thick vapor in front of his face.

"It would help a bit."

Willy nodded and gnawed slightly on his bottom lip, not moving from his spot on the stairs. "Should I do it…now? Or…can I wait? It's a little…upsetting."

"Whatever you feel like doing."

Willy sat in silence for a moment, and then he looked behind him to make sure nobody was awake. When he looked back at the casket, he sighed. "I'm going to do it now. I don't want to look at it anymore…."

"Do you need help?"

"No."

"You sure?"

Willy bit the tip of the middle finger of his right-hand glove and pulled it off. He did the same with his left one. "Yes," he said, taking his hat off and keeping the left glove between his teeth. He took the glove and tossed it aside. "I don't have a shovel…."

"There's one by the coffin."

"Right."

Willy got up and walked over to the coffin, bending over to pick up the shovel. When he came back up, his bangs—which were actually long enough now to be called layers (over the course of events, he'd forgotten all about his semi-annual haircut)—fell into his face. He looked at the steps, and he sighed at the young woman who was talking to him sitting down, her arms hugging her knees. Her own long black hair was in her face. She looked back at him, tilting her head ever so slightly.

Willy smiled softly, and then began to dig.

Yet Love is Sweeter.

Okay, people. Time for what you've been waiting for. Questions...and answers. Oyesh. These are a few questions my friends outside of FFN have asked me about the story, and following them are the answers I've given them (or close to).

Why is it so convenient that Willy happened to be in the Flower Shop when Lilly was there at the beginning? That's because Willy and George had set up a date after Willy ambled (shockingly) into the Flower Shop one day. They'd had a conversation, and Willy happened to bring up the subject of Lilly. From there, they set up one of the days Lilly was usually at the shop. Hence why Willy called out a thank-you to George in the first chapter.

Why does Willy hallucinate a lot? What are you talking about? He hasn't hallucinated any of those times!

What was Lilly talking about when she yelled at Curtis about not deserving to be released from the institution? I believe that's going to be explained in...A SPIN-OFF! Oh yes. A spin-off.

What was Willy's tattoo originally of? I was afraid of that...okay. It was originally supposed to be a little symbol thing, but I discovered that having Willy be branded by Neo-Nazis with their symbol of acceptance was...a tad too dramatic...so I changed it at the last minute to the LOSER thing.

Why was it Willy's father? That will be explained...

Why was the story so quick? Well. Because there's going to be a lot of flashbacks...

Flashbacks? Yes. There are going to be a lot of flashbacks...in the sequel. :D

Who WAS that young woman Willy was talking to at the end? Well...

What Was Once A Beautiful Thing is coming soon.