For A Moment - A Wonka AU

Chapter 24: Margaret Fickelgruber

Willy's smile faded into a look of worry at her question, his face going pale. He took a deep breath before replying, "You...you said her name was Margaret Fickelgruber...?"

She nodded anxiously. "Yes! I asked Lottie if she could try to find her earlier, and I was hoping you'd know if she was successful or not..?"

"I..." He looked away for a moment, before meeting her eyes again. "Well...we found her, Charlie...but..."

Her heart skipped a beat.

They found her?

They found her mother?

But...

...why did he sound so hesitant...?

"You- you did?" she asked with a tone of both hopefulness and nervousness.

He nodded reluctantly. "Yes, we found her, but..." he said again, his words coming out in small mumbles.

What...was he so nervous about...?

"...But?" she said, getting slightly impatient.

"Charlie, I dunno how to tell you this, but..." His voice was barely above a whisper, and Charlotte was getting scared. Maybe she didn't want to hear his answer anymore.

"Charlotte, your mother died seven years ago."

There it was.

Those words.

The words she desperately did not want to hear.

Her mother...

...dead...?

"What...?" she whispered, searching his eyes for any sense that he was lying.

But she found none.

"It took some digging, because any records of her had been wiped for some reason." He let out a heavy sigh. "But we eventually found out from someone who was said to be a friend of hers long ago. Charlie...when your mother left, seven years ago, I don't think she actually left. Well, I mean, she left, but not in the sense you were thinking of."

"She's...dead...?" Her voice trembled. She couldn't believe it. She was in shock.

He nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We couldn't figure out how, but my best guess is that she fell ill."

"Y-You're sure the person you're talking about is my mother?" She could barely get the words out.

"Fickelgruber isn't exactly the most common of names, Charlie. And putting a first name to that only dims it down even more." He pulled her closer, allowing her to lean on him if she needed to. "It's her, Charlie."

A lump formed in her throat. She genuinely didn't know how to feel right now. She just leaned against him, her hands laying limp at her sides. "W-Why?" she croaked. Her voice was weak and barely audible.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a full hug. He rested his hand on the back of her head, holding her head against her. "I know, Charlie. It'll be okay. You can let it out if you need to."

She sniffled and made a noise of gratitude. But nothing came out of her except for a couple of tears and a few small whimpers. She was too shocked to even feel genuine sadness right now.

But her mind kept going back to one thing.

Why her?

Willy had been able to see his mother, and they reunited Noodle with hers. And the Wash House gang were finally able to return to their jobs and homes.

So why did Charlotte have to be the one without a happy ending?

No...

No, that was wrong.

She did have a happy ending.

Her father was gone, Willy and the Wash House gang were safe, and the Chocolate Cartel wasn't able to bother them anymore.

So...what was it?

17 year old Charlotte Fickelgruber had wanted one thing. And that was to put her dad out of business.

So why was it that when her biggest desire had finally come true...

...she wasn't happy...?

Maybe it was that...

...that wasn't what she truly wanted after all.

Maybe she wanted more than to just put her father out of business.

No, it wasn't maybe.

It was the truth.

Putting her father out of business was just one of the steps she had to take to find the truth about her mother.

So, learning that after all she had done in these past seven years, her mother had already been long gone, it hurt her.

A lot more than any other family member's death would.

And she felt guilty for feeling this way.

She wanted to feel happy. For Willy. And for Noodle.

And that was when she remembered something- something that made her smile.

The pinky promise that Willy had made to her...he had kept it.

Just not in the way she had imagined it to be.

"Are you going to be okay, Charlie?" Willy asked after a few minutes, moving his hand under her chin and gently lifting her face up.

She sniffled and gave him a small nod. "Yeah...I think I will be."

"So goes a good deed in a weary world," a voice that definitely did not belong to Willy said from behind them.