The next morning, Luella decided to dye her hair back to brown. She loved white, but wanted her natural colour back. "Another day, another adventure. I should probably go see what Charlie's doing. ."

She grabbed her basic needs and left out of the house as soon as her hair was finished. When she arrived, she saw Charlie polishing a man's pair of shoes. She ruffled Charlie's hair when she approached him, making Charlie look up at her and smile. "Hey, Charlie."

"Hey, Lue!" He beamed, and continued to polish the man's shoes. "How was recording and writing?"

"It was. . average. . well, the recording at least. But writing it was fun." She grinned. "You look like you've been doing well."

"Oh yes, very well! We fixed the hole in the ceiling, and Grandpa Joe stayed out of bed for the entire day! Also, dad got a new job at the toothpaste factory, repairing machines."

"That's great!" Luella cheered, "I'm so glad things have gotten better for your family!"

"Pity for that chocolate fellow, Wendell, er, Wally. Walter." The man spoke from behind his news paper.

"Willy Wonka?" Luella asked, she sighed.

"That's the one. Says here in the paper that his candies aren't selling well." When the gentleman said so, Luella's face softened. She frowned slightly. The man continued; "But I suppose he's just a rotten egg who deserves it."

"Yup." Charlie nodded. Luella did so too, but reluctantly.

"Oh really? Ever met him?"

"I did. I thought he was great at first, but then, he didn't turn out so nice. And he has such a funny haircut."

"I think the haircut suits him honestly. It is a bit funny looking, though." Luella said, shrugging. The man put down his newspaper.

"I do not!" It was the man himself, Willy Wonka. Luella grinned, but Charlie stayed skeptical.

"Why are you here?" Charlie asked, and continued to polish his shoes.

"I don't feel so hot." He retorted rather aggressively. "What makes you feel better when you feel terrible?"

"My family." Charlie answered.

"Ew." Wonka sat back in his seat, his face scrunched up in disgust. Luella crossed her arms at this.

"Do you not remember the advice I gave you?" Luella snapped, "Sometimes, family is all you need in times like this." She pointed at Wonka, "You need it especially. Seclusion can't help people that much, especially if it's a group effort, like your factory."

"And your family is usually trying to protect you." Charlie added, "Because they love you."

Wonka says nothing in response, but keeps making a face of disgust.

"If you don't believe either me or Charlie, you should probably ask your parents." Luella commanded, but not in an aggressive way.

"My father? Oh no. . " He shook his head, "Not by myself at least."

"We'll go with you." Charlie said, standing up from his little seat. Luella nodded.

"What a good idea!" Wonka cheered as he too stood up. "And you know what? I've got transportation right here--"

Once again he bumps into the glass of the elevator.

Luella started laughing, both Charlie and her helped him up. "Maybe you should make the door stained glass."

Wonka shrugged, "I just need to park it a little better."

They enter the elevator and take off, few minutes later they were on an hill where the old Wonka house used to stand. Willy read the plaque and grimaced a little bit, Luella put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine, Willy. Charlie and I will be right there with you."

When they got to the door, Charlie rang the door better. Someone called "come in", and the three of them went in. The atmosphere seemed to have gotten a little tense due to the nervousness of Willy.

"Do you have an appointment?" The man at the desk asked. He seemed way older than all of them, so Luella assumed this was Willy's father.

"No, but he's overdue." Charlie replied.

Willy's father got up and went over to the dentist table, Luella encouraged Willy to go on. Reluctantly, he walked towards the table, but kept an eye on Luella. He laid down, and as his teeth were getting inspected, he kept looking at Luella who gave him a  thumbs up.

"Heavens, I haven't seen bicuspids like this since. . Willy?" His father mutters in disbelief and surprise that this could be his son. Willy sits up and smiles nervously.

"Hi, Dad."

"All these years. . and you haven't flossed." Wilbur shakes his head, but despite that, he is still happy that he found his son.

"Not once." Willy replied.

Their hug just added more awkwardness to the tension that was already there. Luella smiled, but it was almost a concerned smile. She spoke up, "Hi, Dr. Wonka. I'm Luella Lark, and this is Charlie Bucket." Charlie waved.

They pulled away from their hug, Dr. Wilbur Wonka smiled a little bit. "Ah, well it's nice to meet you both. Have you had your check ups yet?"

"Oh no, sir. But we would be glad to."

< • >

Luella spent the rest of her day recording her new song. When she would go see the Buckets, she would play if for them. She always did this for them.

Willy and Charlie spent the entire day at the factory, brainstorming ideas for new candy flavours. When they arrived home, Charlie made sure to tell them why their absence was prolonged.

"Will you be staying for dinner, Willy?" Mr. Bucket asked him. Willy nodded.

"Yes please! Say, where's Luella? She say she would-"

The door opened, and Luella walked in with a vinyl record and record player. She had one of her own shirts on, and her hair was put into a low ponytail--a new hairstyle that she had been rocking recently. "Hellooo!" She put her record player on the bed and hung her jacket up on a hanger. "So sorry I'm late! Recording my song took a little longer than usual."

She hugged everyone else, but stopped at Willy. She smiled and hugged him tightly, and he gasped at the sudden move. He wasn't disgusted by the hug now. Afterwards, Luella grabbed a seat and pulled up to the table.

"Can we hear your song, Luella?" Charlie asked, Luella nodded and stood up once more.

"Gladly!"

She picked up the record and put it on it's player. She put the needle on the record, and it started to spin.

Right now I'm in a state of mind
I wanna be in like all the time
Ain't got no tears left to cry
So I'm pickin' it up, pickin' it up, I'm lovin I'm livin' I'm pickin' it up
I'm pickin' it up, pickin' it up, I'm lovin I'm livin' I'm pickin' it up
Pickin' it up, Pickin' it up, lovin' I'm livin', so we turnin' it up, yuh. We turnin' it up.

Ain't got no tears in my body I, ran out but, boy, I like it. I like it, I like it
Don't matter how what, where, who tries it we out here vibin, we vibin'. . we vibin'.

(Coming Out) Even when it's raining down
(Can't stop now) Can't stop so shut your mouth
(Shut your mouth) and if you don't know then I ain't know you, babe. Know you babe, yeah.

This very song lifted the atmosphere a lot more, especially with the lyrics, vocals, and beats (the general sound) of the song. When the song ended, Charlie asked: "Why do you have no more tears left to cry?"

"I found you guys. . I know it sounds cheesy, but helping you guys out and just generally conversing with you all just makes me feel better. Things weren't doing so well last year, it's not helping that the tabloids think I've gone missing either." She picked slightly at her food, but ate a piece.

"Well, the song is wonderful." Wonka said, smiling widely.

"You think so?" Luella's eyes lit up in excitement. She grinned.

"Absolutely!"

She got up to go change the record again, but hugged Willy in the process of making her way over there. "Thank you, again."

< • >

WORD COUNT: 1353

ik, i should've chose sweetener to put at the end because of the title. i just don't like how the song was produced overall, it just sounds unfinished.
anyway, this probably marks the end of the book! but wait, there will probably be more >:)

stay tuned! comment and vote if you enjoyed! love yall!