Disclaimer: Despite my best burglary attempts, Willy Wonka remains safely within the Burton compound and isn't mine.

AN: Wow, I didn't expect such a wonderful amount of support from people! Thanks for reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me. Enjoy chapter three!

Chapter 3: Returning:

Two days passed without any visit from Astra Wonka, and the Buckets were growing worried. True, she said she needed some time between visits so as not to attract Mr. Wonka's suspicions, but it still worried them. What if the chocolatier already suspected her actions and wouldn't let her out of the factory? They would never know unless she returned…or not. Grandma Josephine was especially worried, since she like the girl so much, but the grandfathers were suspicious of her.

"It might be a ploy of Wonka's to win Charlie and the rest of us over, to get Charlie to accept the factory and leave us!" exclaimed Grandpa George.

The other Buckets paid him no mind and just sat around trying to keep themselves distracted, waiting for Astra to return.

Three days after she'd abruptly left, Astra returned to the Bucket house, sans Oompa Loompa attendant, but with somewhat happy smile on her face. The Buckets were ecstatic at her arrival, and she was soon situated at the receiving end of the familiar family gathering circle. As she made herself comfortable, Mrs. Bucket put a cup of tea in her hands and a plate of snacks at her elbow. Astra smiled her thanks and turned towards the family.

"Willy's locked himself up in his Inventing Room, so he's not likely to miss me for a few days," she said, her smile fading a bit. "Though I'm not sure if he's going back to normal or to escape his feelings about the whole thing." She shook her head. "Well, anyway, on with the story…"

For seven years Willy Wonka traveled the world, studying the different cultures of the world and their techniques at making chocolate, marzipan, fudge, and all other sugar confections imaginable (including some that most believed impossible). Finally, with his head stuffed full of ideas and recipes that he'd either invented himself or had been given by others, Willy decided to open his own shop.

On his eighteenth birthday, Willy opened his first candy store and filled it with sugary delights the likes of which children had never seen before. People came from miles around just to get one ordinary candy bar from his shop, and Willy constantly found himself in need of employees to help make his sweets. Hiring people was a difficult thing, though, and strange people were always showing up wanting to work for him. It irritated him to no end that he really didn't know any of his applicants, and the ones that he did hire were always too busy to attempt to make themselves known to him.

Tired of being without a familiar face, Willy sent out a note to the parents of his old friend, Robert Johnson. He knew that Robert would have graduated from college and moved out of his parent's home by now, but surely they would know where to find their son! In his note, Willy expressed a need for his friend to come and work for him at his successful candy shop, if only to see him again and to give him employment, should he need it.

Three months after the letter was sent, Robert wrote back, telling Willy that he was very much indeed in need of work, as well as a place to stay. His venture into college had been a failure, and Robert was broke in the way of money to pay off his school debts. Willy quickly sent a train ticket to his friend, as well as three months worth of wages so he could get an apartment as soon as he arrived.

Robert arrived a week later, luggage in hand and a grin on his face that quickly faded when he discovered how much his friend had changed. Willy had become a rather eccentrically dressed germaphobe, wearing gloves all the time with colorful coats, hats, and shirts. He also didn't like to be touched in any way, which Robert tried to respect as he learned to keep his distance. Robert also noticed Willy's childlike behavior, as though the candy maker hadn't really gotten the chance to grow up. Still, Willy's actions were somewhat charming and a bit refreshing, and Robert adjusted quickly to his friend's new mannerisms.

After making sure his old friend was comfortably situated, Willy assigned Robert the important task of taking candy orders over the phone and in person. It was a busy task, but Robert enjoyed it immensely (although trying to pronounce half of the unique candy names over the telephone was a bit difficult for him). Still, the job paid well, and during lunch breaks the two friends would catch up on what had happened to them or reminisce on old times. Life was good for the two of them…until Robert met Caroline in a fairytale love-at-first-sight romance.

A petite thing with black hair and eyes and golden skin, Caroline was a charming girl, but possessed a voice loud enough to make her opinion heard in the next county. She had come into the shop with her young niece to buy her a candy bar and had walked out with Robert's name and phone number in her hands, as well as a date scheduled for that Saturday. Willy didn't understand what Robert saw in the young woman, but it didn't take him long to figure out that his friend was smitten with her.

Sure enough, six months after they'd met, Robert married Caroline in a small private ceremony with only friends and family. Willy was present, of course, and though he didn't exactly like the idea of his friend marrying, he accepted it. Robert soon became busy with married life, but he still managed to spend time with Willy every chance he got. The distance between the two friends grew, but they still got together once and a while to sit down and talk about things going on in their lives. It was during one of these chats that Robert dropped a huge bomb on Willy, one that shook the poor candyman down to his boots.

Caroline was pregnant. Willy had nearly lost his mind when he found out that his friend was going to have a child, but Robert quickly assured him that he would not be leaving the candy shop unless he felt it necessary. Willy had been relieved. When the little bundle of joy arrived in early spring, Willy was introduced to the little girl and looked into her dark eyes, trying to figure out why people loved babies so much.

"Well, she is…kind of cute," the chocolatier said, looking down into the crib situated in the corner of the Johnson's apartment. "She looks a lot like her mom, though."

Robert laughed. "Well, then, she'll be a real beauty when she grows up, won't she?" he said, looking proud at his friend's comment.

Will simply kept his mouth shut and looked down at the tiny baby. A sudden thought occurred to him as he saw the little one yawn and drift off to sleep. "What are you going to call her?"

"Well, Caroline and I have talked about it, and we both decided on Astra, from our favorite song by Strawberry Alarm Clock." Willy gave him a confused look. "You know, that song you and I used to sing a long time ago that goes, 'good morning, starshine, the earth says hello?' Well, Starshine was way too hippy-like for Caroline, so we went with Astra, which means 'star.'"

Willy nodded. "I like it!" he exclaimed, grinning. Leaning over to peek at the tiny sleeping girl, he whispered, "Hello, little Starshine."

Astra opened her eyes and looked directly at him before falling back to sleep.

"You mean you remember all that?" asked Charlie. The other Buckets looked at her in awe.

Astra laughed. "No, I don't remember it. My father told me all about it when I got older, about the time I was thirteen."

"But you knew Mr. Wonka long before the factory!" exclaimed an excited Charlie. "I mean, he saw you when you were born and everything!"

"Well, yes, and I knew him for a few years after he first saw me," she said.

"After that? Did you know him when he opened the factory?" asked Grandpa Joe, leaning forward. "Not many people can say that they've known Willy Wonka their whole lives, or that their father was best friends with him."

Astra merely smiled at the eager old man. "No, I'm afraid I haven't known him my whole life," she softly replied. "The story gets a bit more complicated after the first time Willy saw me."

Before she could begin another part of her story, a soft chiming sound came from within her black coat. Reaching in, she pulled out a small silver pocketwatch with elegant silver engraving forming the shape of a blazing star. Wrapped around the star were silver vines and tiny rosebuds formed out of sapphires. It was a beautiful watch, and Mrs. Bucket gave a small sigh of envy at the sight of it. Astra gave the older woman a small smile as she flipped the watch open.

"Oh, dear, I'm afraid I've reached my time limit," she said, closing the watch and tucking it away as she rose from her chair.

"But you said he wouldn't miss you," protested Mr. Bucket as he also stood up, hoping to stop her from going so soon.

Their guest chuckled. "Well, sometimes he comes out of his little 'inventing' daze and comes looking for me," she replied, walking towards the door. "When he does, Willy tends to send the entire Oompa Loompa population out searching for me until I'm found, and they're very good at finding things." She winked at them. "They're the masters at hide-and-seek, and I always loose whenever I play against them. You just can't hide from Oompa Loompas."

"Won't you at least stay for some supper?" asked Charlie, who appeared to be as desperate as his father was in keeping her in the house as long as possible.

Stepping back into the center of the house, Astra pressed a kiss to Charlie's forehead. "Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I can."

With those parting words, she headed out the door and back to the enormous factory down the road.

AN: So, what does everyone think? The chapters should start getting longer as I sink further into "Willy Wonka" mode. Please let me know how I'm doing by reviewing (hey, that rhymed)!