A story idea that came to me after I watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" the other night. I only own Rachel. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" belongs to Disney.

You're Not A Monster To Me

The holidays had come and gone and Rachel was busy taking down the Christmas decorations and putting them away. She was currently by herself at the Grant Mansion because the other girls that lived at the Mansion were off having a girl's day in San Diego and Whampire, Ghostfreak, and Snare-Oh took all the children to Sea World for the day. Rachel had opted to stay at the Mansion and keep an eye on things and she was also enjoying a day off at work.

Little did she know she'd soon have a visitor.

Jack had escaped away from Halloween town to avoid going over plans for next Halloween with the Mayor. Like he had once felt long ago, the tiredness that came after the holidays was wearing him down and he wanted to get away for a bit. He went to the human world and saw he just outside of Staybrook, California. A smile came to his face as he began walking through the town to the Grant Mansion, using the alleyways as cover. He didn't want people to see him and call him a monster like before.

A monster. He knew he was a monster since he was the Pumpkin King, but it still hurt being called a monster. Sure, a good scare was something he liked sometimes, but causing mass panic wasn't something he liked.

As he was thinking, he came to the wrought-iron gate that blocked off the Mansion from the rest of the town. Slipping through the bars, he climbed up the huge hill to where the Grant Mansion sat and knocked on the door.

Hearing the knock on the door, Rachel jumped with a yelp and held onto the ladder and braced herself against the wall to steady herself before taking a deep breath. "Who could that be?" she asked herself as she headed down the ladder and looked through the peephole in the door and didn't see anything, so she opened the door a crack and looked to see a familiar tall skeleton in a black and white suit. "Jack," she said in surprise, but also smiling as she opened the door to let him in. "This is a pleasant surprise. How are you?"

Rachel noticed that Jack looked down in the dumps, especially when he gave her a sad look. "Jack? What's wrong?" she asked, worried about him now.

The tall skeleton gazed at her. "Rachel, can you be honest with me?" he asked.

"Of course," she said immediately, wondering what was going on.

"Then, tell me truthfully, do you think I'm a monster?"

Rachel was stunned and it took her a moment to collect her thoughts and looked at him. "Um, why would you ask that?" she asked.

He sighed sadly and his whole frame slumped. Rachel instantly took his hand and gently pulled him into the living room where they could sit down and she sat down beside him. "Jack, look at me," she said gently and he did. "What's going on?"

He looked down. "I'm feeling restless again, I guess," he said. "Plus, thinking about what happened when…,"

Rachel instantly knew what he was going to say and placed a hand over his mouth to stop the rest of his sentence. "Jack, that was years ago," she said to him.

"Maybe, but everyone still calls me a monster," he said.

Rachel took a minute to piece together why Jack would be upset at being called a monster and then realized it. Jack didn't like being thought off as a monster, especially when his actions many times had proven he wasn't a monster. She then placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Jack, would a monster have saved me from a fire that would have killed me? Would a monster have saved my nieces from bullies? Would a monster be a part of my family?" she asked.

It didn't take Jack long to realize what Rachel was pointing out and he looked at her as she smiled. "A monster wouldn't have saved me or my nieces, nor would a monster be a part of my family, because what I consider to be a monster is someone who seeks to hurt my family or innocents, like the Forever Knights do all the time," she said.

He looked at her. "So, you don't think I'm a monster?" he asked.

She shook her head. "You're not a monster to me," she said. "You're a hero to me."

She didn't know a skeleton could blush, but Jack was blushing a little, which made her smile. "You have a good heart, Jack," she said. "Some people just refuse to see who the real monsters are sometimes."

He now smiled at her. "You know, Rachel, technically, I don't have a heart," he said.

Rachel smiled. "I'm not talking about the kind of heart that keeps humans alive," she said gently. "I mean a heart of gold that shows when you help others."

Seeing what she was getting at, Jack's smile grew. "You mean like when I tickle you to cheer you up?" he asked mischievously as he caught her and pulled her into a hug with her back to his chest. "Like this?" he asked as his fingers began wiggling into her side and she giggled. "Or like this?" Jack asked teasingly as he tickled her underarms next. "Or this?" The skeleton asked playfully as he blew a raspberry into her neck and began tickling her stomach with both hands.

Rachel laughed and squirmed, but Jack didn't let up and she was stuck as he tickled her to pieces before he stopped, letting her catch her breath. "Yes," she said. "That's another thing, a monster wouldn't tickle someone to cheer them up."

"Alright, you've made your point," he said with a smile as Rachel hugged him and he returned the hug. "Thank you, Rachel," he said gratefully.

"That's what family is for," she said to him. "By the way, you might want to tell the mayor to take a break on plans. I know he wants to be ready, but give yourselves like seven months before going over plans."

"Now that is an idea," he said as he stood up and gently set her down before hugging her again and she hugged him back. She then smiled.

"Feeling better, Jack?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Well, I better head back. Sally's making bone fish for supper."

Rachel smiled. "That reminds me that I need to get supper on too," she said. "Oh, but before you go."

She reached into one of the totes and pulled out a small box. "This is for you and Sally for next Christmas," she said. "Because Christmas decorations aren't complete without it."

Jack opened it and saw it was mistletoe. "Thank you, but what is it?" he asked.

Rachel smiled again. "It's a mistletoe," she said. "A homemade one."

Jack's eyes widened. "That's right. A couple is supposed to kiss under the mistletoe," he said. "And Sally and I didn't have one."

"Well, now you do," said Rachel as she accepted another hug from the skeleton and he headed off. She chuckled a bit and headed to the kitchen, putting on supper just as she heard the rest of her family start coming home.

Jack made it back to his home and told the Mayor to take a break from the plans and not to worry. While the Mayor did worry for a bit, he didn't dare argue with the Pumpkin King.

Sally welcomed him when he came in the door. "Jack," she said with a smile. "I was wondering where you ran off to."

"Just visited Rachel," he said. "And she helped me out of a slump."

Sally smiled. "She has a good heart," she said, making Jack smile as he then showed his wife the mistletoe Rachel had made for them before hanging it up and pulling her underneath it and kissing her soundly. She was surprised, but smiled into the kiss. "Is that the 'mistletoe' you were reading about earlier?" she asked.

"Yes," said Jack. "Now our decorations are complete."

She smiled, glad that Jack was back to his usual self, thanks to a kind human they called a good friend.

I just had to. :)

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GoldGuardian2418