Jack climbed the stairs quicker than usual to see what the noise was. What he found was a broken beaker, and Sally picking up the pieces. He crept over silently and bent over the rag doll before speaking, for once forgetting his powers to instill fear.
"Sally?"
"Jack! It was an accident, I swear."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm ok. I can't say the same for your beaker. I'm so sorry, I'm such a-"
"It's only glass, Sally. Here, I'll help you."
"I was looking for the flower you gave me after I woke up. I thought I left it on the table, so I looked and knocked this to the floor. Clumsy, aren't I?" Sally asked as she put broken pieces on the table.
"Please, you should have seen me break a microscope slide with a holly berry," Jack told her as he put more pieces of glass on the table, "And, I have your flower. I was keeping it safe until you woke up. Here," Jack said as he gave it to her.
"Thank you. I must have woken you up. Stupid me, please, go back to sleep Jack. I won't break anything else."
"No. I was awake. I couldn't sleep that well."
"Do you want me to brew anything for you?"
"No. I was kind of worried about you."
"Worried?"
"Well, were you cold while you were sleeping?"
"Not really."
"But a little? I'd better stay up with you then."
"Jack, you're the one overreacting now."
"I know! I'll sleep next to you."
"Jack, I don't think we both fit."
"Nonsense," Jack said before noticing just how thin and narrow the bed really was, "Well, if we squeeze in together I think we'll be fine."
"You come up with the craziest ideas, you know that?" Sally asked before Jack playfully pulled her on top on him as both landed on the bed.
"See? We fit just fine," Jack said before rolling over to give Sally space, only to fall onto the floor.
"Jack! Did you break anything?"
"My pride, maybe."
"Come on up. If you want to sleep next to me that badly, I guess I can find room for you."
"This is for your own safety," Jack said as he climbed back into bed.
"Of course. Whatever you say," Sally said as she nuzzled up against him.
Jack felt oddly at peace at that moment. Whatever was causing him to worry irrationally was gone. Right now, he was going to fall asleep next to his beloved rag doll. Something told him she didn't think his idea was that crazy at all. It was the way she clung to his ribcage as she fell asleep and smiled. Jack didn't know one could smile while asleep until he saw Sally in her slumber. This was a nice feeling, maybe it was love. Jack made a mental note of that before he too fell asleep, careful not to fall on the floor again.
Though the Pumpkin King rested peacefully next to his desired Queen, the rest of the Council of Celebrations was very much active. They had gone back to Tevel's home to research even more on what happened between Cupid and Venus. The encounter with Venus was obviously no help to any of them. Jack's interference only made things worse between the Goddess of Love and her missing son. However, flipping through an old book of ancient mythology, the pilgrim found some useful information.
"This argument between Cupid and his mother was started by a mortal girl, correct?" Jacob asked.
"Aye, Lad." Saint Patrick answered as he bit into some leftover turkey, which the Easter Bunny sniffed at.
"Perhaps that mortal is in the Real World."
"I was on the same track before I remembered that Psyche was turned into a goddess herself," said Tevel.
"Blimey! If she is a goddess, then why is Venus carrying on about her son loving a mortal?"
"Perhaps it isn't Psyche we should be focusing on," Santa Claus said, "If Cupid could accidentally prick himself with an arrow of love once, he very well could have done it again."
"Clumsy cherub, eh?" Saint Patrick asked.
"It makes sense," the rabbi said, now beginning a train of thought. "Yes, Perhaps on a mission of love, Cupid pricked himself with an arrow and fell in love with another mortal. But why hasn't he returned with the mortal by now?"
"Because it could have been a trap. Someone was out to get Cupid or Valentine's Day in general," Santa Claus said.
"Shady business indeed," the pilgrim said in an uncomfortable tone.
"Or it could be part of a larger plan. Remember who is now in charge of delivering love."
"Jack Skellington," all the council members, except for the Easter Bunny who trembled at the name, said.
"But, I don't understand. Despite his strange humor and gruesome appearance, Jack Skellington is a good chap," Jacob said in defense of the Pumpkin King.
"He's also naive and the real head of Halloween Town. Anyone wanting to take his place is a suspect of this foul plot," Rabbi Tevel pointed out, "Now, do we know anyone who holds a grudge against Jack?"
"The only person I know of is Oogie Boogie, but I squashed the bug down with my own foot," Santa Claus said.
"Aye, 'twas a good tale you told us. Perhaps we are wrong about this foul plot idea," Saint Patrick said.
With that, the group gave another collective sigh and broke for the night. Sleep would help their thinking. However, they were on the right track. At this moment, Oogie Boogie was conversing with his three henchmen, who had finally brought him enough bugs to fill his body.
"Feels good to be back." Oogie said triumphantly as he stretched out his arms.
"Now can you tell us the plan?" Lock said.
"Well, since you three patched me up, fine. Now listen, I'm getting rid of Jack, Sandy, and love all at the same time."
"Getting rid of love? Good idea, boss." Barrel said.
"You remember that kid I told you to get, right?"
"Yeah. What happened to that chump?" Shock asked. "We never saw him again after we stuck him with that arrow he had."
"Not that we wanna. He went all crazy after some puddle of water," Lock said in disgust.
"Good, there's no way Diaper Boy can come back and ruin my plans if he's in love with himself."
"You still owe us candy for listening in on those talks Jack had with Sandy Claws," Barrel pointed out.
"When we take over Halloween Town, you'll have all the candy you want. Now get to work on my cowboys. They don't shoot good anymore. We have a visitor coming and I want everything perfect by the time she gets here."
"Yes, Oogie Boogie," the henchmen said as they went to work at the mechanical cowboys.
With the plan already in play, It was up to Jack and the Council of Celebrations to rid all worlds of Oogie Boogie. But Oogie would certainly not go down without a fight, or without any aces of his burlap sleeves. Also, with January turning into February, time was running out for these heroes.
Oh-:runs off, returns with tray of pink frosted heart cookies and orange frosted pumpkin cookies: Cookie anybody? They'll tide you over until the next part, which I'm sure won't take too long to put up. (Re-edit Comment: HAH! Take that, plot hole!)