Chocolate Heart (Wonka And Noodle) #1

Chapter 22

"You have caused us a lot of trouble, Mr. Wonka" Mr. Slugworth exclaimed "You and your nit"

Wonka narrowed his eyes "I don't think she's a nit, right, Mr. Slugworth?" he muttered "She's your family" added

Noodle turned to look at him confused "What are you talking about?" she asked

"Your necklace... Mr. Slugworth has one just like it" Willy said

The girl looked carefully at the necklace, seeing the letters that were printed on it

"Right" Mr. Slugworth murmured "It belonged to my brother... he fell in love with a common woman and died before getting married, which made me the sole heir"

Noodle narrowed her eyes, overwhelmed by the sudden information of her past, Willy gave her a sympathetic look

"...Or that's what I thought" Mr. Slugworth continued telling "But nine months later, your mother showed up at my door, begging me to help her take her sick baby to the hospital... I told her I would help her"

"But you didn't..." Noodle muttered, looking down, devastated

"Of course not" Mr. Slugworth spoke

"You threw me down the laundry tube and Mrs. Scrubbit found me..." the girl concluded

"That's right"

Wonka noticed the state Noodle was in, probably reliving memories in the laundry room, enduring the long days of work given by Mrs. Scrubbit

"When your mother came back, I told her that you had died, she was devastated, of course, but I have her a handful of sovereigns" Mr. Slugworth explained "Although it was a waste of money because shortly after some acquiantances told me that she had died"

"...What?" Noodle's voice began to break

Wonka bowed slightly, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall from Noodle's eyes "Hey, hey, I'm here with you, don't cry" he said softly

"I...I couldn't met my mother..." she sobbed, turning to look at Mr. Slugworth "What was her name?"

The man thought for a few seconds, noticing that Willy had opened the book, reading carefully "Oh, I don't think I'll remember it, but one thing is for sure, she was very poor" he said

Mr. Fickelgruber gagged slightly

"Sorry" Mr. Slugworth said

"...Dorothy" Wonka murmured, reading a name "Dorothy Smith, here it says it"

"Dorothy?" Noodle repeated with a smile

"Huh, you managed to teach me to read" he said happily

"How moving, but back to the present" Mr. Slugworth spoke

"I take this" Mr. Fickelgruber moved forward to take the ledger out of his hands

"I think it would be a sweet way to die for chocolate" Slugworth smiled

•  •  •

The creaky door opened, revealing a dark, massive chamber half full of chocolate. Wonka looked at the large place as they were forced inside, walking on a long platform that led to the center of the chamber

The events that the young chocolatier had had to go through during the last few months sounded unreal now that they were just memories, but he didn't imagine it would end like this

Although originally he wanted to be just a magician, fighting to try to fulfill what his mother had not been able to finish had been his goal for the last years, sharing his chocolate with the world

"Good luck, Mr. Wonka" Mr. Slugworth muttered, leaving the room

Mr. Fickelgruber activated a lever next to the door, which caused a tremor throughout the chamber, then he left the place, just like Mr. Prodnose

"What are we gonna do, dad?" Noodle asked, looking terrified

"I don't know..." Willy looked around, seeing that the river of chocolate had started to rise "Don't... don't worry, everything's going to be fine... I promise" he murmured

The chocolate slowly reached his feet, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop yet

"We have to swim, okay? When we get to the top I will try to break the glass up there" Wonka announced, holding Noodle's hand

The girl nodded, both watching how the chocolate continued to rise, now reaching his waist and Noodle's shoulders

The chocolate turned out to be thicker than water, so it would be difficult to swim, because when trying to do it, they both noticed how their limbs were getting tired faster than expected

Noodle's breathing had begun to accelerate, making her best efforts to swim, she started to crying "I can't... I can't..." she gasped

Wonka sobbed, taking the girl's arms to try to help her, but that only stopped him from swimming

When the chocolate reached the middle, young Willy looked up to see the glass, it wasn't long before they both got there

"Dad!" she clung tightly to him

"I'm here, sweetie, I'm here" once they reached the highest part of the chamber, Willy began to hit the glass, realizing that he no longer had enough strength to do so, his arms were tired "Oh no... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry, Noodle" he said softly

"...Thank... for being my dad..." Noodle said with her little strength

"I always will be... now take a deep breath" he said

Then the chocolate covered them completely, clouding the thoughts of the young chocolatier, now Wonka only had to wait for the worst, still without letting go of the girl's hand, even though he could no longer see her

He could only think about the people he had met along the way, his friends, his enemies, his mother and his daughter, who now seemed like they would be nothing more than empty memories

Wonka felt his lungs burning for fresh air, to which his body betrayed him, breathing involuntarily... the worst feeling in the world