Disclaimer: Despite my numerous break-in attempts on the Burton compound, Willy Wonka still remains out of my reach and therefore isn't mine.

AN: Sorry about the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter! To make up for it (and to celebrate the release of the movie on DVD), here is chapter seven!

Chapter 7: Unusual Feelings:

It had been wonderful to see his old friend again. Robert had certainly changed in thirteen years; his once thick hair was now fading away, he had a beard now, and a rounder form than before, but his sense of humor hadn't changed a bit. Willy felt relieved that Robert didn't hold any grudges against him for sending the Johnson family away to another life.

"So, what have you been up to, Willy?" Robert asked as they stood in the middle of the Chocolate Room. "The last time I got an actual letter with news from you was after you closed the factory all those years ago."

"Oh, just wandering the world," Willy replied, grinning like a loon. He was happy to be with his friend, but was occasionally glancing around as he searched for the little girl that he had missed for so long. "Exploring places, searching for new flavors for my candy, that sort of thing. I've hired some new, extremely loyal employees and I plan to reopen my factory soon, you know."

Robert jumped in surprise. "Really? Well, that's great news!" he said, slapping Willy on the back, causing his thinner, slightly shorter friend to stagger a bit. "You made so many children happy back then, and I'm glad that you're going to do it again."

Willy smiled. "Where's your little Starshine?" he asked, glancing around again. "Don't tell me you came all this way and didn't bring her along with you!"

"Oh, no, she's here," Robert said, smiling proudly. "She just graduated a few days ago from high school, you know, and we thought that this trip would be a wonderful graduation gift."

"Graduation…gift?" Willy didn't get a chance to fully process that information before Robert summoned his daughter.

"Astra, come say hello to Willy Wonka."

A hunched over form stood up from a candy flower patch and began walking towards them. As it drew closer, Willy realized that it was Astra. A lovely, grown up young woman stood before him.

"Hello. It's nice to see you again," she said in a soft voice as she held out her hand for him to shake.

For a few seconds, Willy Wonka did nothing but stare at the young woman in front of him. Dark brown hair fell to her shoulders in slight waves, framing a blushing face that held a trace of shyness and childish innocence. Eyes the color of rich chocolate looked at him with confusion and unease. Looking down, Willy saw that she was holding her hand out to shake.

Robert looked at her hand as well and touched his daughter on the shoulder. "Uh, honey, remember that he doesn't like to be-"

"Rude!" Willy quickly interrupted as he reached out and took Astra's offered hand in his gloved one. "Can't stand to be rude, it's a horrible thing! I just can't bear rude people, especially mumblers!"

Astra smiled as he enthusiastically pumped her hand up and down. After a while, though, her hand began to get tired and there was a slight cramp in her shoulder. When he didn't stop shaking her hand, she gave a mental wince as she spoke.

"Um, Mr. Wonka?" she said, her hand still being shaken by the chocolatier.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to need my hand back," she said, giving him a small smile.

"Oh!" Willy dropped her hand as though it had suddenly caught fire.

For a few moments, there was an uncomfortable silence. Willy merely stood there, the smells of the room fading as his mind raced to catch up with the situation. She had grown up! Little Astra, no longer a little girl with an eagerness for sweets, nor was she any longer sporting the mischievous nerve to spontaneously hug the Famous Chocolatier. And he had loved those hugs…deep down, he'd liked getting them from her, along with the broad grins of thanks for his gifts of candy.

'But now she is so grown up and beautiful,' he thought to himself, giving Astra a small smile, which she shyly returned.

WHOA!

Where did the "beautiful" part come from? Well, her cheeks were a cute rose color from blushing, and there was a cute little dimple on the right side, just above her mouth when she smiled. Her hair was thick and silky-looking, and her shy brown eyes were just adorable. Plus, she was so gosh-darn good looking in her red blouse and black pants…

Willy stopped his thoughts right there. Coughing a bit from embarrassment, he noticed an Oompa Loompa tugging on Astra's black pants, his free hand holding a bouquet of candy flowers. Recognizing it as Phil, the chocolatier made a quick inquiry in the little person's native language, asking what the little man was doing. Astra and her father gave him an odd look, but followed his gaze to Astra's side. Phil the Oompa Loompa replied that the young woman had liked the candied flora, but had forgotten the flowers she had picked and wanted to return them to her.

"Phil says that you like my flowers," Willy said, suddenly turning shy and slightly uncomfortable.

Astra blushed, which made Willy's stomach do weird things inside. "Oh, yes, they're wonderful," she said, reaching down for the offered flowers and nodding her thanks. "I like the red ones best."

Willy grinned, suddenly very proud of his work. "I'm glad you like them," he said, looking her in the eyes. "Did you try the rest? Everything in this room is eatable, even the grass."

"You can eat the grass?" asked a loud male voice.

Willy nearly jumped out of his skin; he'd forgotten that Robert was even in the room! "Oh, yes," the chocolatier replied. "Even the dirt, which is made from graham crackers of every flavor, from honey to chocolate, all of which is mixed to perfection to make the foliage grow better."

"Wow." Astra's mouth formed an astonished "O" when she heard this little tidbit of information.

A small giggle escaped Willy's mouth before he could stop it, and Astra blushed again. As her cheeks darkened, Willy would feel his stomach jerk once more. Her brown eyes suddenly darted away from his when a flash of brilliance hit him.

"Would you like a tour of my factory, Astra?"

Astra could feel her jaw drop. "Really?" she gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth in excitement. "A tour of the factory?"

She couldn't believe it. It felt as though all of her birthday and Christmas gifts from past, present and future were all being wrapped up and presented to her right here, right now. She would get a private tour of the greatest chocolate factory in the world by Willy Wonka himself! Astra felt like her heart and stomach were going to explode from all the excitement building up inside of her.

"Actually, that might not be such a good idea," her father said, shattering her joy. "We still have jet lag to get over, and Astra's going to need her rest if she's going to see the entire factory."

She could feel herself begin to pout. "Please Daddy?" she said, using her best begging face, the one she only used in Extremely Importantsituations such as this. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Can't I at least have a small tour before Mitchell and Mom get here?"

"Yes, Robbie," Willy said, smiling at her, which made her blush for the thousandth time today. "Think of it as…my graduation gift to Astra!"

Her father sighed. "Oh, all right," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'll go to the hotel, catch a quick nap, and be back here in two hours, okay?"

"Well, that's just a silly way to waste time," laughed the chocolatier. "I'll just have an Oompa Loompa take you upstairs to a room for a while so you don't have to go very far."

"An Oompa Loompa?" Astra blurted before she could stop herself.

"Yes, an Oompa Loompa," Willy said calmly, as though he were talking about the weather. "Directly from Loompaland. They lived in a terrible country where all sorts of terrible beasts preyed on them, so I brought them here to work for me." He opened his mouth and made a strange call that immediately summoned an Oompa Loompa. "They've been helping me get the factory ready for the reopening in a few months' time."

"You're reopening the factory?" she crowed, happy that others would once again enjoy his wonderful candies.

Willy only grinned. "Shall we get on with the tour?" he asked, looking at her father.

Astra was thrilled when her father slowly nodded his head. Squealing with delight, she threw her arms around his neck in a giant hug.

"Thanks, Daddy," she said, unashamed of her childish behavior.

Her father merely chuckled as he patted her on the back. "Be good, pumpkin," he whispered into her ear.

"I will," she replied, pulling out of the hug.

A moment later, Astra found herself walking through the vastness of the Chocolate Room as Willy pointed out various plants and what types of candy they were made out of. There was even a huge waterfall made out of chocolate! She stood spellbound as the greatest candymaker in the world told her that the waterfall was made of the same chocolate that would soon fill store shelves in candy bar form. As they walked side-by-side, Astra noticed Oompa Loompas gathering flowers and plants.

"What are they doing?" she asked, turning to look into violet eyes.

"Oh, they're just cleaning up a bit," Willy said, waving his hands around, his cane barely missing her head. "The flowers bloom and everything like normal plants, so whatever falls off needs to be cleaned up. Eventually, the gathered materials will be put into one sort of candy or another."

As Willy proceeded to walk and talk about the room, Astra's attention was diverted to a boat floating up the chocolate river that the waterfall created. It was made out of what appeared to be pink hard candy in the shape of a seahorse. It was quite lovely, except for the fact that it was pink. Still, she supposed the pink made it charming and more like a child's toy than an ordinary grownup boat. The paddles were slowly moving in time to a drum, and yet she couldn't see anyone rowing.

"Ah, good, our ride's here!" Willy chirped as he grabbed her by the hand and led her down to the bank of the river.

"Our ride?"

"Sure! Think of it as like a ride through an amusement park," he said, grinning broadly.

Shrugging, Astra allowed the chocolatier to help her into the boat, Willy sitting himself to her right. As she looked forward, she saw that the boat was powered by Oompa Loompas, all seated neatly in rows and grinning broadly as the two taller folk sat down. One of them winked at her, which nearly made her eyes pop out of her head in surprise. She leaned closer to Willy's ear.

"Did that Oompa Loompa just wink at me?" she whispered. Willy gave a half-nod. "Why?"

There were several reasons that the Oompa Loompa would wink at Astra, but none of it included them being "interested" in her. Willy knew that the tiny person had only winked at her to encourage whatever imaginary romantic plots were swirling through the little peoples' heads. Swallowing hard, Willy threw a glare at the offending Oompa Loompa, but only got a dozen giggles in response from the rowers. Rolling his eyes, Willy turned his attention back towards his guest.

"Oh, don't pay them any mind," he said, trying to cover his nervousness at being this close to the lovely young woman. "They're tremendous practical jokers, and love to try and fool around with your mind."

A fairly uncomfortable silence settled around the boat, the only sound being that of the drums and paddles dipping into the chocolate river. As the boat headed towards a tunnel, Astra got a frightened look in her eyes. Wanting to comfort her, Willy reached over and grabbed her hand in his. When she turned to look at him, he gave her a reassuring grin, which she gladly returned.

AN: How was that? Not too much romance too soon, was it? Is it turned Mary Sue? I hope not! Review and let me know, please!