Who's that girl?
Summary; The moon was full, the stars were bright, but neither appealed to Jack as much as the masked beauty who somehow managed to arouse his curiosity. Who's that girl? And why is she so secretive? Will Jack find out who she is or will she disappear into the night without a trace the moment the masquerade ball is over?. [Jack and Sally, One Shot. (Possible Sequel)] R&R!
The soft, harmonious yet slightly spooky music filled the air as the pumpkin king, Jack Skellington, once again danced with a masked fan girl. In the past hour he has danced with more than fifty of them and still they threw themselves at him, usually within moments of a song ending. Despite his annoyance at constantly being surrounded by hopeful ghouls, he was far too polite and gentlemanly to turn down any one of them, Even though it was a masquerade ball and he was wearing a simple black suit that fit his skeletal frame perfectly. In place of his normal black, bat bow-tie was one as red as blood and around his shoulders was a silk cape, shiny black on the outer side and crimson on the inside. His mask was simple yet haunting none the less, It was red with silver spider-web patterns intricately weaving through it and it made his already pale bones even more ghostly under the full moon that shone through the glass roofing. But what puzzled him was how they were recognising him; the only thing that would give him away was his height. As the song finished he bowed and kissed the hand of the humanoid he was dancing with halfheartedly, just as another ghoul, Undersea Gal, to be exact leapt up to dance with him and after a few moments of politely refusing her under the pretense that he needed some fresh air, Jack promptly excused himself from the ballroom and headed out to one of the balconies.
The cold air hit his thin frame as he stepped through the doors, his cape billowed in the wind and he momentarily hesitated as he saw someone already outside, a woman he supposed. As Jack stood there, examining the figure with his wide eye sockets, he noticed that she was almost his height, which was unusual because most of the other ghouls were half his height, some barely even came up to his knees! As he approached her he noticed other things about her, how her hair was a soft mahogany colour and how it fell to her waist. She turned towards him, immediately standing, turning her head to see him she stood silent for a moment before saying "Are you looking for something?"
Jack just looked at her in awe; her dress was as black as the midnight sky, laced with silver and gold spider-web patterns, all interlocking so intricately that it was impossible to believe that it was made by hand. Her low but modest neckline on her bodice was silver with black trim, tied around her waist was a silver bat bow and on her face was a silver mask and around each eye were deep black circles in order to show her bright eyes and stand out. Her skin was a pale Alice blue and from what Jack could see, covered in royal blue stitches; the ones that he noticed the most were the ones from the corners of her slightly lopsided, ruby red mouth. A ragdoll, Jack realised as he saw how her thick stitches were all that was holding her together, he bowed to her and answered her softly. "Only fresh air madam." He straightened up, content to watch her for a moment before asking her "Pardon me, but may I ask, what are you doing outside without a chaperon?"
She looked to him, a small smile on her face. "Why would I need one, Pumpkin King?" Her voice was playful and somewhat challenging, "Though if you are offering… I'd like to have one." She smiled as he blanched visibly but bowed to her, offering her his hand which she took with a smile. "Would you like to dance with me, Jack?" His eye sockets almost doubled in size until they looked like they might just split his skull in half. Straightening up he began to lead her indoors as he said. "Now I am at a disadvantage, you know my name, but I do not know yours, Will you please tell me?" The girl only smiled and shook her head. "That is for me to know and for you to dot-dot-dot."
Jack could only stare at her masked face as they took up a dancing position as the music began, Their steps were in time, except for the occasional stumbles from the mysterious ragdoll beauty, for which she apologised on many occasions and each time he assured her it was alright, personally he thought it added t her mysterious charms, but there was something bothering him, she knew him, but he knew absolutely nothing about her. That was saying something considering The Pumpkin King is supposed to know everyone and anyone no matter who they are and he knows he's met her before but he can't remember her name or who she is at all. They danced on through the night and made little to no conversation, They didn't need to, Their eyes (and sockets!) told the other things that couldn't be expressed in words. But finally words were needed when they noticed people staring at them.
"What are they staring at?" The masked beauty asked quietly, the words leaving her ruby-red lips almost in a whisper but she knew he would hear, he replied softly, his voice low and quiet. "You, My dear, you're the first woman to dance with me that hasn't been pawing me all over like my fan girls." He cringed at the thought of the many times he was pinned against a wall by many of them. "You won't believe how many ties of mine I lost trying to escape them." To this she let out a soft giggle and smile to which Jack couldn't help but smile as he lifted her for a twirl, bowing to her as the music ended he took her hand and placed a soft, lingering kiss upon it. He straightened up with a smile, noticing her soft blush with a grin. "Would you like to join me for a drink?" With a flourish he took two glasses from a passing waiter and offered one to her, inside was a sweet pumpkin punch. He raised his glass slightly. "To another year of a wonderful Halloween." She smiled and rose her glass to meet his with a soft chink and added with a grin "And to the man who makes it all possible, Jack Skellington."
Jack's grin only grew wider as he slowly began to drink from his glass, His eye sockets not once leaving her face as she drank from her own glass, For the first time ever since coming inside with Jack she glanced at the clock, her large eyes widening, it was 11:58, Only two minutes until the unmasking, She had to get out, Now. Before Jack discovered who she was. She curtsied to him and said softly "Goodbye Jack." With that said she turned and practically fled the ballroom, leaving Jack with his sockets wider than dinner plates. The Pumpkin King dropped his glass on a tray and sprinted after her, barely catching sight of her billowing dress as she ran, tripping once or twice as she headed towards the graveyard. Jack quickly raced after her, leaping onto a low rooftop to gain a height advantage and just like that he hopped from building to building, being careful to remain hidden, which of course he was excellent at and nearly everyone in town knew that if Jack didn't want to be seen, you wouldn't see him.
He leapt to the ground and realised he was a little ahead of the masked girl so he leaned against one of the gravestones at Spiral Hill's base and waited for her. She ran onwards, glancing behind her occasionally before slowing near the base of Spiral hill, she began to walk up it before seeing Jack's pale skull with red mask in the moonlight, in her shock she let out a soft yelp, wheeling backwards onto the ground, her mask tearing away. Jack just gawped. It was Sally! She was the girl made by the Doctor to be a live-in maid! How did she get out? And to a ball of all places! Jack rested his hands on his hips as he strode closer to inspect her. Mahogany hair? Check. Spider eyelashes? Check. Stitch over right eye? Check. It was definitely Sally.
"Sally?!"
"Um… Hi Jack?"
Authors Note - So this is my first ever Nightmare Before Christmas fan fiction and I think it turned out well. This is a one-shot but I might do a sequel if people pester me enough. Rates & Reviews Appreciated!
Please bear in mind that I am dyslexic so Word does most of my correction in spellings for me.
FIRST EDIT; Thank you to GodlyJewel for correcting me about the stitch over her eye! I got it the wrong way round! Silly me :3. There will be a sequel upon request but I have another one-shot for these two I plan to finish first!