Author's Note: The weather outside is frightful, but my swively chair's delightful. I don't care if this takes all night... I will write, I will write, I will write. Well, that's a first for me, starting a disclaimer with a ditty like that. Anyway, The Nightmare Before Christmas came from Tim Burton. It's music came from Danny Elfman. It was shown in theaters through Disney and Touchstone Pictures. A video game based on it's characters will be coming out courtesy of Capcom. The song I sang before is a lazy parody of "Let It Snow", which I'm pretty sure I didn't write. That's enough of that.

"Sally?" Jack asked the moment he stepped into the house before hushing himself.

"It's alright. I'm not sleeping," Sally said as she walked out of the kitchen. "Cupid was here."

"I know. I saw him flying away."

"He was looking for you. He said to go out to the clearing and meet the others at the turkey door."

"Our meeting day isn't today. He didn't mention anything bad, did he?"

"No. He didn't seem to be himself though, even if he is going to be a father."

"He is? That's great! Did you ask him where he found a baby?"

"I did, but he didn't answer me."

"That's weird. I asked Billy about that today and he didn't answer me either."

"Maybe we need some kind of password or a spell or something."

"I'm still pretty sure there was a Stork and a cabbage patch involved."

"We could spend the whole day talking about this," Sally said, laughing at the silliness of the conversation.

"And we'd still be no closer to finding out where more of these come from," Jack said as he took the baby out of the carrier. "Miss him?"

"I sure did," Sally said as she took the baby from Jack's arms. "Enjoy your day out?"

"If he starts to cough later, give him some extra fluids. Billy was sick today and I really hope he didn't get the little guy sick too."

"Will he be ok to go out?"

"I'm not sure. Where are you going?"

"Valentine Town. Cupid said his mother could probably answer our forbidden baby question."

"Since when is it forbidden?" Jack asked with a slight grin.

"Since everyone we ask decides not to give us a straight answer," Sally said, noticing Jack rub at a closed eye socket. "Are you alright?"

"I'm a little sleepy. I'll take a nap after the meeting. I'm sure it won't be too long."

"So can I take the baby with me?"

"Of course. Just keep him bundled up and take the bag with diapers and formula and all. Good luck with the forbidden baby question."

"Good luck with your meeting."

"Thanks," Jack said before kissing Sally on the forehead. "Take your time, we'll probably be crowding the clearing for a bit anyway."

"I will."

Poor Jack seemed to be coming and going more than he could count these past hours. This time, it was to the same clearing he had described to Billy before. As Jack approached the turkey door, he saw most of the Council of Celebrations waiting for him. They all filled him in on what was going to happen. They were to quietly make their way to Jacob's house and ask him exactly what the problem was in Thanksgiving Town. Then, they would try to figure out exactly how to fix it.

They entered the Thanksgiving passage one by one. The holiday figures made sure to keep to the shadows until they reached Jacob's home. It took a while, since Cupid forgot which house it was. Eventually, they did find it, and he was quite surprised to see his friends in his world.

"Are you all mad! What if someone had seen you!"

"Nice to see you again too, Lad," Saint Patrick said in a sarcastic tone. "I'll be forgiving you for that, since you've been having problems."

"You told them?" Jacob asked Cupid when he flew in.

"Sorry. It kind of slipped out. If it makes you feel better, Patrick, Jack, and the rabbit have no idea what the problem is."

"Lovely. Well, make yourselves at home and pray the Elders don't stop by."

"Are they still mad that we thwarted them?" Cupid asked.

"No, I'm sure they were ecstatic," Santa Claus said dryly.

"I told them it was for their own good and they promised not to tell the town about what happened. It was for the best."

"If you say so," the Rabbi said with a nod from the Easter Bunny.

"What's going on?" Jack asked as he covered a yawn.

"Goodness, I don't know where to begin," Jacob started before a knock came at the door. "Sit tight."

Jacob opened the door carefully before sighing in relief. He let the cloaked figure in before closing the door once more. The figure stopped in the center of the room and made no sudden movements. Jacob figured the visitor was scared of the Council and told the person they meant no harm.

"Oh. Alright then," the visitor, a woman, said as she took off her hood.

"Kimi, what are you doing here?"

"Jacob, something else has happened at our village. Who are these people?"

"My friends. The Council of Celebrations. They're here to help."

"They are?" Kimi asked before turning around. "I don't know which one of you to thank first."

"We all appreciate it, Lass."

"Kimi, you can probably explain what happened to your village better than I can," Jacob said as another knock came at the door. "Go ahead," he said before he went to answer it again.

"My sister and her husband had a baby a month ago. They were very happy with him. He was, no, is a wonderful and delightful child. They named him Takoda, a friend to all, so that he would always get along with others in his life. But he vanished in the middle of the night a few days ago," Kimi said before stopping to collect her emotions, "The Elders were just at the village. They said that a demon took him and that he is going to feed the child to his clan of monsters unless our tribe can slay them."

"That's horrible," Jack said as he felt something in the back of his mind begin to click.

"It's tough to slay demons. Most of them are already dead," the Rabbi thought aloud.

"We have ways of fighting the dead. Our achak hastiin is our greatest weapon in this battle."

"Your what?" Santa Claus said.

"Spirit man. He is a healer and a warrior, one who has learned to send spirits to the Great Beyond. He surely knows how to slay the demons, or at least banish them to another world."

"Are you feeling alright, Lad?" Saint Patrick asked Jack, who looked about ready to pass out. "Kimi, lass, perhaps you should lighten up on the spirit talk, eh?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's alright," Jack said as he regained his composure.

"Damn, I bet the Underworld demons have been escaping again," Cupid said. "They always seem to do that."

"That's a good possibility," Santa Claus said as he saw Jacob enter with another female guest out of the corner of his eye. "Well, look who's the village ladies man."

"This is certainly a mixed bunch," Patience said as she got a good look around the room. "Oh, Kimi. I'm sorry about what happened to your sister."

"Thank you. These men are here to help us."

"Well, good luck to all of you. I'd like to get my hands on the rotten fiend that stole the baby myself."

"All of us would, believe me," Jacob said.

"Jacob, the Elders said that it was a demon that took Takoda," Kimi said. "If the worst should happen, we'll need to call in Pallaton."

"Your spirit man? I'm not sure. I still don't trust the Elders completely, but we will aid you in any way we can. Just say the word and we'll be there."

"Thank you again. I have to go, lest my sister thinks I have gone missing too."

"I'll go with her. The Elders would give her a hard time if they saw her walking alone. Come along, Dearie," Patience said to Kimi.

"Thank you again. All of you," Kimi said before she left with the colonist.

Jack tuned out the rest of the conversation after Patience and Kimi left. This poor woman was desperately looking for her nephew, the nephew he took from the woods. Jack didn't mean to do it, he just figured the little boy had been abandoned there. He took that baby out of the goodness of his heart and now he was supposed to pay for it? No, Jack had to leave at once. He told the Council he promised the Mayor he'd look over some things and left. Jack had a lot of thinking to do.

Jack was in it deep this time. If he had come out moments before and said he had the baby, he was one-hundred percent sure they would have called the spirit man in and had him exorcized to the Great Beyond, but not before Cupid could pummel whatever life Jack had first. Jack faced this same risk if he told the truth at any other time. Jack realized what he had to do- find out who the real culprit was and make them confess. That was easier said than done.

"Jack, you can do this. Halloween Town's depending on you. Sally's depending on you. The baby's depending on you," Jack said before realizing something else. "Oh my God! Sally's on her way to Valentine Town. If Cupid finds her with the baby, she's done for!"

The Pumpkin King was off to save his future queen. He ran through brushes and trees until he found the clearing. Without thinking twice, he opened the door to Valentine Town and dove right in. He ran through the woods until he practically passed Sally and the baby. He only stopped because he tripped over a rock and fell over.

"Jack? Are you alright?" Sally asked as she walked over to him.

"Sally!" he exclaimed as he got up hugged her closely.

"I missed you too but you seem to have missed me more."

"The meeting ended early, so I figured I could take Ta- Little Jack back to the house."

"Jack, you could sleep and get rest if you go back alone. I'm fine with him, really."

"I know, it's just that um... uh... if Venus sees you with a baby-"

"Oh, right! I completely forgot," Sally said.

"Forgot what?" Jack asked.

"Venus did throw a tantrum about Cupid and Psyche's news. I'm sure it's bad enough I'm even asking her about babies. It's a good thing you changed your mind, Jack, or I would've gotten in a big heap of trouble."

"You can say that again."

"You take Little Jack home and I'll get the answer to the forbidden baby question. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Sally? Don't mention Little Jack. If Venus thinks he's ours, she might not give us an answer."

"I'll remember that. Be careful going home, Jack."

Jack waited until Sally was out of sight before rushing his way back to Halloween Town with Takoda. He was officially on the run. He would wait to tell Sally until she came home. She deserved to know what was going on, or at least, as much as Jack knew what was going on. If she wanted to hide out anywhere until this was settled, she could. Jack was not going to have her in danger because of another stupid mistake he made. The same went for Takoda. Jack would not rest until he found out who would wish the child harm.

Go get them, Jack! Can the Pumpkin King keep it together long enough to prove his innocence? Will the spirit man Pallaton be called in to exorcize the Halloween Townspeople? Will the forbidden baby question ever be answered? More to come, so stick around. (Re-edit Comment: I love tension. Don't you?)