How y'all doing!? Well I was super bored, and actually ahead of schedule with typing my chapters *knocks on wood* so I thought I'd update! A big thanks to all of you who have been reading and reviewing!! Here's your reward!

It was early afternoon of the next day when Amelia decided she would take a leisurely stroll around town, mainly to find a good place to draw outdoors. Jack had stepped out to attend a meeting with the Mayor so she spent most of the morning by herself. She had been drawing for a while and felt that she could use a change of scenery. As soon as she stepped outside she took in a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. The Armonia sighed in content and headed for the town square. After she had been walking for a few minuets a familiar voice called out to her.

"Well if it isn't the Little Terror!" The taller witch sister greeted as she and her sibling flew up to the sorceress on their broomsticks.

"Horrible morning Miss Amelia." The shorter one greeted kindly.

"Horrible morning to you both." The Halloween Princess smiled.

"I suppose you need a new nickname," the first witch flew up closer to Amelia. "Seems you've grown out of Little Terror."

"Didn't you say that the last time she was here?" the more petite sister asked.

"Did I?" the taller of the two siblings shrugged, "Oh well. When you're old as dust you can't expect to remember anything." The sorceress laughed at the witch's small joke.

"Well, I'm quite fond of the nickname." Amelia beamed, "It's special to me and I don't mind if it stays the same."

"Anything for you, our most atrocious Pumpkin Princess." The smaller sister stated gladly.

"Eh, let's just stick to Little Terror." The royal said, cringing at her title which she loathed so much.

She bid the two witches goodbye and continued to meander around town. She greeted the citizens she passed and even stopped to talk with a few. But then three children in costumes approached her and she made certain to keep her guard up.

"Hey Amelia!" the trick-or-treating trio greeted.

"Sorry we didn't get a chance to say hi yesterday." Lock scratched his head sheepishly, taking off his mask.

"But we did see you dancing." Shock stated as she too removed her witch's mask.

"Yeah, you were amazing!" Barrel exclaimed, removing the skeleton face.

"Oh…well, thank you." Amelia responded a little taken aback at the compliment. "So what have you three been doing all this time anyway?"

"You know…the usual." Lock began.

"Pulling pranks on everybody!" Barrel finished and all three burst out into laughter.

"I suppose I should have guessed." The sorceress smiled amusedly.

"You better watch your back by the way." The boy in the devil's costume warned after calming down from the fit of giggles.

"Cause we just might get you next!" Shock cackled.

"You three should be careful about just who you pick on." Amelia stated as she turned and began to walk away. "You might end up in way over your heads."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lock scowled as he took a few steps toward her, but then felt something tug on his costume's tail and heard two distinct yelps from behind him. He turned to see his comrades flat on their backs, his tail wrapped around an ankle on each of them.

Amelia didn't even turn around to see what had happened, yet a mischievous smirk spread across her lips.

The fallen trick-or-treaters got up glaring at their fellow cohort accusingly, but he hastily shook his head and pointed to the sorceress walking off. They watched her for a moment before exchanging glances, evil grins spreading across their twisted faces. They snickered mischievously, putting their masks back on, and ran off in the opposite direction that Amelia had gone.

The Princess of Halloween made her way further into the square toward the fountain with the grotesque statue and sat on its ledge. She took in the peaceful view and decided that this would be her spot to draw. The Armonia snapped her fingers and a pencil materialized in her hand as a sketch book appeared in her lap. She flipped a few pages until she came to a clean sheet and began to sketch.

A short while later, Jack stepped out of Town Hall after the meeting with the Mayor and noticed Amelia sitting on the edge of the fountain. He was about to call out to her when he noticed her focused expression and a drawing pad in her hand. Not wanting to disturb her, the skeleton man quietly made his way over to the sorceress but stopped when he was next to a nearby wall. He decided that was close enough and just leaned up against the stone structure. Curiously he watched her, observing her pencil strokes against the paper, however from his viewpoint he couldn't tell what she was sketching. An amused smile crossed his lips when her expression changed from content to disgust and she hastily erased something she drew. Jack chuckled softly to himself for it seemed Amelia never grew out of her perfectionist habits.

After a while or so the determined artist finally finished, giving her work an approving look. She stood up, turned around, and was surprised to see Jack nearby. He had turned his head away just in time so their eyes didn't meet and then pretended to have just noticed her.

"Hello Amelia." He waved and casually strode up to her. He wasn't sure why he acted as though he hadn't seen her, but he didn't want to seem intruding. When he walked up to her, Jack glanced at her closed sketchbook and then back up at the sorceress.

"Drawing I see, what have you been working on?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing." She hastily said and her hand shot up to clutch the gem at the base of her collar. She had a feeling that it was about to start glowing and quickly covered it beforehand.

"Um…nothing special that is." She added, "Just…backgrounds." An idea suddenly popped into her head and she smiled. "But I do have something I drew this morning that you might like."

Sensing that the glow had stopped, she moved her hand from the gem to flip a few pages of the sketch pad and turned it so he could see. It was a pencil drawing of Zero sleeping in his tiny basket.

"Wow Amelia, this is amazing!" he examined it more carefully. "It's practically a photograph!"

"What? Really?" She blinked in surprise.

"Yes! I'm surprised he stayed still long enough for you to draw him." The skeleton man chuckled.

"Yeah," The sorceress giggled a little, "I kept repeating in my head 'don't move, don't move, don't move.'"

Jack laughed and gazed back at the picture for a moment. "Your artistic ability still astounds me." He beamed. "How long have you been drawing, by the way?"

"Oh, I enrolled in a beginner class my freshman year in high school." She stated as she recalled the memory.

"Really now? I would have assumed you've been drawing since before you could write." He joked, making her laugh a little.

"Well I had a rough start. After a year or so I could draw inanimate objects but people and animals were still the toughest. I only recently approved of my ability to draw living things." She closed her sketchbook. "But honestly I'm not all that great. These are stick figures compared to the work of the art students I've met at college."

"I still think it's splendid." He complimented, making her blush a little. He found her modesty amusing.

In the back of his mind, he noted an odd feeling he had, but couldn't quite describe it. All he knew was that he felt it whenever he was around her, and it was gone when he wasn't with her. However, he pushed the thought aside when she spoke again.

"Thank you Jack." Amelia smiled warmly, her light blush still intact.

In truth, she had lied to him about just drawing backgrounds. Her mind had wandered as she drew earlier and didn't even realize what she had sketched until she was finished. A drawing of Jack in his masquerade costume was on the sheet of paper, and her heart had leapt when she noticed that her subject had been standing only a few feet away.

For the rest of the day Amelia and Jack spent it remembering old times and just simply catching up since they hadn't had the opportunity yesterday. Unfortunately for the Armonia, she had to cover her pendant on a few occasions and made up odd excuses for suddenly doing so. The skeleton man was slightly confused whenever she did, but simply shrugged it off.

--

The following day, Amelia decided to explore her room to find things from her treasured past.

"I know I put them in here somewhere." She grumbled as she dug through the chest of drawers. "Aha!" She pulled out several slightly aged papers with sketches of the town and a hastily written speech scrawled onto a piece of scrap. It was her old plans for the Halloween celebration. She glanced over them and smiled as she remembered feeling so rushed while putting everything together. She was supposed to come up with a completed idea to present to the citizens the very same night she had returned to Halloween Town, no thanks to the Pumpkin King for it was the result of one of his many spontaneous ideas.

"Jack and his random impulses." The sorceress rolled her eyes and giggled.

She then glanced at the top of her dresser, stood up, and snapped her fingers. An ornate black box suddenly appeared. Amelia smiled warmly as she set the papers down and then opened the lid of the box. An all too familiar melody began to play and she sat down on the edge of her bed to savor the sound. Her cerulean blue orbs shined as the memory of her birthday resurfaced. Her fingers then barely brushed against the blue stone at the base of her collar, remembering when Jack had placed the pendant around her neck.

"I never will get over you, will I?" Amelia gave a disgruntled sigh. "What if…What if I do tell him the truth? I'm not a child anymore, and I would like him to know…" She let out a deep breath and shook her head, "No, too much time has passed, and I've only just returned to Halloween Town. If I told him now…it would be too sudden. I would be turned down for sure." Her eyes were downcast, a sad expression across her gentle features.

The sorceress decided to knock herself out of her gloom by doing something she always did when she's down. She left her bedroom and walked down the hallway until she came to a door. Gently grasping the knob, she carefully pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Amelia found herself looking at her reflection in a wall of mirrors. Her ocean blue eyes scanned the room and lit up when they spotted the beautiful grand piano at the other end of the room. Feeling a rush of excitement coursing through her veins, she hurried over to the wonderful instrument and sat down on the black wooden bench. She gingerly lifted the cover and lightly placed her fingers upon the white keys. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and exhaled to relax. Then, she began to play Beethoven's famous piece Fur Elise.

The gentle, peaceful, and serene melody filled the room as well as the pianist's soul. She felt completely at ease as she let the music envelop her, her hands dancing across the keys. She was so focused on the music she didn't even realize that she was no longer alone in the room. Amelia hit the final notes and let the sound slowly decay before gently lifting her hands off the piano.

"Your musical skills have also greatly improved." A masculine voice spoke, causing Amelia to gasp in surprise and whip her head toward the person. Jack was leaning against the wall near the door with his trademark smile across his face.

"I really shouldn't be surprised by your sudden appearances anymore." She joked.

"That just proves you've been gone too long." He beamed and walked over to her. "May I?" he gestured to sit next to her.

She arched an eyebrow in slight confusion but moved further down the bench to make room. He sat down and let one bony hand grace the keyboard and played a few notes. Her eyes widened with interest so she struck a couple notes as well. To her surprise, he repeated the melody exactly. She played a different tune and again he copied it flawlessly. Jack then brought up his other hand and began to play a song. Amelia recognized it and followed suit with a countermelody. The piece was classical but with a relatively fast pace. Their music flowed together seamlessly and effortlessly. Needless to say, the Armonia was shocked to find that he could play the piano, and so well! The song came to a close and she couldn't help but state the obvious.

"I didn't know you could play!"

"What, did you think this fine instrument was in here for show?" he laughed. "It's a skill my father taught me. He was quite gifted."

"You learned from your father?" She repeated in further surprise and he gave an affirm nod.

"He was proud to find that his own son was a prodigy." The skeleton man beamed.

"Oh quit bragging." She playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"What can I say? He loved to be the center of attention and I inherited that personality trait." Jack grinned, "Plus, his talent was how he charmed my mother, and he hoped one day I would do the same for a special someone."

Amelia just rolled her eyes and glared a little, "You know, you just totally killed the mood with your arrogance." She retorted and he just laughed.

"I'm only teasing." He winked.

"I notice you've been doing that more than usual lately." She arched an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Funny, I thought you were doing the same." He taunted, "I'm just simply returning the favor."

"Oh sure, like you don't enjoy tormenting me." She stated sarcastically.

"Now that's just harsh." He replied with a mock-hurt expression.

"I see right through your little façade." She said as she stood up, and then whispered in his ear. "Scaredy Skeleton."

He quickly turned around only to find her gone. He slouched a bit and laughed a little.

"The nerve of that girl, she certainly has a sharp tongue." He retorted. Jack sat up straight and crossed his arms in thought.

'The feeling is gone.' He mentally commented to himself. 'Why does it disappear when she does? And what is it anyway?' His would-be eyebrows furrowed as he contemplated possible answers, but he never came to any conclusions. With a sigh, he stood and made his exit. When he stepped into the door frame, he glanced back into the room for a moment.

'Something is odd about this room,' he thought, 'but I can't place what it is…' He then shrugged it off and left.

Jack can't resist showing off now can he? XD I hope you all enjoyed it!! Please review!