Disclaimer: Tim Burton still has Willy Wonka under lock and key. We are trying to come up with a plan, here's what we have so far. Using mostly spoons we'll dig our way into the heavily guarded compound and sneak him out. There are still a few details to work out but HE WILL BE OURS! He just isn't yet…

A/N: This is a sappy/sad chapter, so be prepared to maybe shed some tears or say "awww" at some point or another. Enjoy!

Chapter 11-Learning to Understand:

Later that day, Nika was surprised to find a beautiful green dress stitched with gold when she came back from the library. It had gold trim around the neckline, the hem of the sleeves, and bottom of the dress. The sleeves were made of an almost transparent material that came to her elbows and hung, and this particular dress flared out more at the waist than the last one the Oompa Loompa dressmakers had made for her. It was more like a ballroom gown.

She smiled when a few of the Oompa Loompa women came in to help her get ready for the dinner. About two hours later, after a lot of curling, pinning, twisting and brushing, she was all dolled up. Her long hair was in dark auburn ringlets all pulled up in a complicated twist, leaving one ringlet on the left side of her face. Looking in the mirror, Danika had to admit that the Oompa Loompa women knew what they were doing. She smiled sweetly at them.

"Thank you, very much." She said. They nodded and ushered her out the door where Wendell was waiting.

Willy put his dark purple hat on his head, completing his outfit. His suit was much like the normal one he wore, but a bit more formal. The pinstripes in the plum jacket were gold and the cufflinks were a shiny gold as well. He straightened his jacket and took his cane from the wall.

An Oompa Loompa stood next to him and smiled. "I suppose it's time then?" he asked. The tiny man nodded and proceeded to lead the tall man onward to the room they had chosen.

Willy had arrived naught a minutes before a door was opened and Nika was pushed through. Somewhere a waltz began to play as she walked up to him. He held out a purple, gloved hand to her and she took it politely.

"I would like to thank you for the roses, they were beautiful and delicious," she said smiling.

Willy Stopped. "What roses?" he asked, his cheery expression now replaced with a confused one.

"The ones you sent with your invitation letter," Nika replied, now confused as well.

"I didn't send you and invitation, you sent me one," Will said, looking at her oddly.

"I did not; Wendell even had to convince me to…"

Suddenly what had happened sunk in, and they turned to Wendell, who was trying to sneak out of the room.

"Then that means, you didn't apologize?" Nika asked.

"Of course not, you should be the one apologizing," the chocolatier said coldly.

"Me? Why should I apologize!" she asked angrily.

"You butted into my business."

"Well if you wouldn't be so secretive, maybe I wouldn't butt in so much," Nika snapped, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Well you shouldn't have pushed me to talk about my past!"

"You should learn not to bottle up your feelings!"

"You should know that my feelings are my problem!"

"You should learn some people are just trying to help you!" she exclaimed.

"You wouldn't understand!" he shouted back, his amethyst gaze burning into hers. She looked shocked for a moment then poked him hard in the chest with her finger.

"Wouldn't understand what? That you were rejected by the only woman you ever loved, knowing that she will never love you like she loves my Uncle Geoff?" For the second time in his life, Willy Wonka was speechless. Perhaps she did know how he felt.

"Well how about this for understanding Willy Wonka?" She poked him again to get her point across. "I was in love with the man my father told me about, the chocolatier that was happy and go lucky, who was kind and gentle, and who made so many people happy through his candy. So I move to England, all the way from the States, hoping to get a glimpse of the man my father had told me about, the man he'd worked for. When I finally got to see the famed Willy Wonka, my hopes were crushed." By now tears had formed in her eyes and her voice was taking on an upset tone, crying as she shouted the words, spitting them in his face…

"You are NOT the man I heard all about, you only look like him, but you can't be the man I loved as a child!" Tears were now running down her cheeks, creating trails through the light makeup the Oompa Loompas had used, "So yes I do know what it's like to loose someone I have loved since I was a child! Perhaps it is you who does not understand how I feel!"

Although she was crying her emerald eyes never left his indigo ones; they bored into his, making him feel guilty beyond compare. He truly was speechless. He had greatly underestimated this girl. She knew exactly how he felt, and he was the cause of it. Willy then did the only thing he could think to do: he reached out to her and wrapped her in a hug. He was afraid of crushing her, so it was a gentle but firm hug.

When he hugged her, she surrendered to his embrace. For so long she had wanted someone to just hold her, but she was in her 20's, and by an unwritten rule, she was too old to be held. The emotions running through her that had caused her outbreak were hard to stop, but eventually the tears did stop as his hands rubbed her back gently, calming her down.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I…I didn't know…" She just shook her head on his chest. His hands continued to rub her back soothingly.

"You couldn't know, and I'm sorry for pushing you to talk about your past, I really am. I should have known you wouldn't want to talk about it," she said, looking up at him. "All is forgiven?" she asked as he smiled at her and nodded.

"All is forgiven," he said. "Now, these Oompa Loompas put together a nice dinner for us, we'd be smart not to waste it." Nika nodded, smiling as he guided her to her seat.

As the two adults sat down for their dinner, an excited Wendell rushed out of the room. Bursting into a large room holding the rest of the Oompa Loompa population, he began singing like crazy, relaying the events that had just passed. Their faces went from happiness, to horror, then delight as they watched.

So they are happy with each other? one elder signed to Wendell.

Yes, as much as we'd hoped, if not more, he signed back.

I've seen the way he looks at her; he likes the fire-haired lady, signed another elder.

She will make him happy, signed Wendell. We must get them together, but how?

The Oompa Loompas quickly huddled together and began a frantic signing conversation, one that ended up with Wendell standing by the Oompa Loompa musicians and giving them specific instructions. The musicians nodded and struck up an upbeat waltz that caught the two humans' attention immediately.

Willy stood up and made his way over to Nika and held his hand out to her. "W…Would you care to….to….to…" He tried swallowing but it didn't help.

"Dance?" she finished for him smiling. He nodded. "I'd love to."

She took his hand and let him lead her to the middle of the room. He placed his left hand on her waist and held hers with his other as she placed her right hand on his shoulder. They stood there for a moment as Willy picked up the beat until he suddenly pulled her hand and they began dancing. He led her in a circuit of the room and turned them in wide circles. As the song ended and a slower song began, he led her in tighter and tighter circles until they were softly swaying to the beat of the music.

As the beat of the music slowed, the two found themselves pulled into a soft, warm cloud, one that kept the outside world away and the comfort of each other's arms there with them. Nika suddenly found her head resting on Willy's chest, his cheek gently finding a place against hers. She smiled at this; no longer than twenty minutes ago they were screaming at each other, and now they were dancing cheek to cheek with each other.

In his own mind, Willy was in heaven. This woman was so unbelievably wonderful to him, how could he have ever yelled at her? He smiled at the warmth of her cheek on his and felt a satisfaction that he'd never felt before. Willy then realized that he'd never felt this way about Marian, she'd rejected him, but from what he could tell, Danika was accepting him as he was, even if he wasn't what she'd thought. He rubbed his cheek to hers and wondered how long they had been standing like this.

It was then that Nika realized that the music had stopped. Pulling away, she looked up into violet eyes and swallowed nervously. "Um, I think the music stopped," she whispered.

Willy gulped as well. "Um, then I guess I'd better take you back to your room," he softly replied, still looking into deep green eyes.

Nika gave a small nod and the two of them left the dining hall, the Oompa Loompas giving each other high-fives behind the humans' backs.

Neither of them talked on the way to her room, both lost in their own thoughts. When they reached her door Willy turned to her and smiled.

"I guess this is where I leave you…" he said quietly.

"I guess so," she said.

Nika smiled and turned to open her door, but stopped when she felt his hand on her arm stopping her. When she turned back to look at him, she saw a look in his eyes she wasn't quite sure she trusted.

"I…thank you, for…for everything," he whispered uncomfortably.

She just smiled and shook her head. On spur of the moment, he slid his gloved hand to her cheek and pressed his lips lightly to hers. Nika started at the contact, then relaxed into it. When he pulled away, she slowly opened her eyes, smiling.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, putting his other hand to her cheek. "I'll try to be a more open and better person." He pressed his forehead to hers. "I promise." She smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek before she opened the door and stepped in.

"Goodnight," she said, still smiling.

"Goodnight…my Starshine," he said quietly as she closed the door behind her.

Leaning against the wall, he let out a breath of happiness. Willy was so happy he felt as if he could fly. He pushed himself off the wall and made the walk back to his own room, his cane clicking all the way.

AN: Like we said, sappy! Aw, come on, we all know people like sap, don't you? Well, even if you did or didn't, show your love and support by leaving a review with the Oompa Loompa!