Title: To Those Who Speak In Riddles

Summary: the earth may say hello but the moon has other ideas. When Aleera (17) almost freezes to death and is brought to the factory, she meets and befriends Charlie. Her odd behavior and distrust of all adults has everyone thinking she's less than sane. But it's her riddled remarks that awaken the curiosity of a certain chocolate maker…

Disclaimer: to avoid a law suit, which would take up a horrendous amount for my precious time, I will simply say that Willy Wonka and all of those, whom you recognize, do not and never will in any way shape of form, belong to me. I own only Aleera.

Chapter one: cold. It's a good thing

Aleera loved winter, loved the cold and the snow. She loved the way that a few moments of being in the cold could make her completely numb, make her pain and sorrow go away, even if only for an instant. What she did not like was the fact that the place she'd crashed at the night before was more of a whore house than a warm place to stay. Not too fond of being treated like a dog by some rich pimp, she opted to find another place to stay.

Unfortunately, not many people liked the idea of sharing there home with a 17 year old girl who looked like she'd spent the last few months in the cargo hold of a ship, even if that was the case. Pulling her thin jacket tighter around her, she decided that, although sufficiently numbed, she was very much so uncomfortable exposed to the icy wind. Looking around, she brushed her tangled black hair out of her eyes. Through the gusts of wind and snow she saw a large gate in the distance. Logic told her that if she could shield herself from the now blistering cold wind, she'd be alright. As she made her way to the gates, she felt the feeling leave her legs. Losing her balance because of this sudden loss of limb usage, she fell to the ground getting snow in her shirt. Swearing viciously, she crawled the rest of the way to the gate. Leaning against the concrete pillar, she closed her eyes. Aleera had always liked the cold, and now she was going to die in it.

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Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka walked down the street, arms full of groceries.

"Let's walk Willy," Wonka mimicked Charlie "it's a lovely day! And it'll be fun!" he tossed his head from side to side almost causing his hat to fall off his head.

It was true; Charlie had managed to not only convince Willy to come grocery shopping with him, but had even managed to get him to walk. Now, even Charlie had to admit that the later of the ideas hadn't been his best. Never mind that fact that the day had started out nice enough.

"I'm sorry Willy ok? How was I supposed to know that it would begin to storm before we got back?" he asked as they approached the gates.

"Well Charlie, I hope you learned something from all of this." stated Willy "and remember this when I tell you no the next time you say lets walk" they stood at the gates and waited for them to open. It was then that Charlie noticed the girl huddled up next to the gate.

"Willy look!" he said pointing at her. Willy looked down at the ½ unconscious form of Aleera who had made a little den out of snow in attempt to help her keep warm. "Hmm. She looks warm enough." Willy said as the gates opened. He started to walk through but Charlie grabbed his arm.

"Willy" he said pleadingly, "we can't leave her"

Willy looked wide eyed at Charlie. "No!" he said sternly "Absolutely not!" he shook his head wildly and grabbed Charlie's shoulder. With a parental like tone he said "Charlie, just because you see something in the street doesn't mean I'm gonna let you keep it." He looked at the girl. "I mean really Charlie, it's filthy. With …germs and such"

"Willy she's not an it she's a she." When Willy didn't respond, Charlie frowned "don't make me use my important voice Willy" he said threateningly.

Willy's eyes grew wide as quarters and he squeaked a little before saying "oh all right. But remember, it's your responsibility, you have to feed it and clean up after it." He then turned to an oompa loompa who had come out to see what was wrong. Gesturing to Aleera, he said, "Why don't you help Charlie with his new pet?" before sweeping past and entering the factory.