Author's Note: As a dear reviewer has mentioned, the updating roll continues. Can you tell I've wanted to write this story for a while? Anyhow, Jack, Sally, the Mayor, Doctor Finkelstein, and any other characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas do not belong to me. The entire story was made up my Tim Burton, set to music by Danny Elfman, and directed by Henry Selick. Of course, they had loads of people from Touchstone/Disney make their collective vision a reality. If anyone deserves praise, it's all of them. Not that I don't like praise, I love it. I'm just giving credit where it's due.

Suddenly, calypso and pickled rats sounded like the most interesting topics in the world. Jack found he could talk about them for days if it meant not having to have a chat with Doctor Finkelstein. It was a shame Jack was too polite to tell the doctor he had no intention of speaking to him ever again. Instead, he nodded quietly and walked alongside the disabled scientist. It wasn't until they passed a few tombstones in the graveyard that either of them said a word.

"I don't remember you ever being able to go such a long period without saying anything, Jack," Doctor Finkelstein remarked.

"It depends on my company," Jack said coldly.

"Come now, Jack. You aren't still mad over that little quarrel we had in February, are you?" Doctor Finkelstein asked, getting no response from Jack. "Ah, so you are."

"You insulted my wife-to-be," Jack said.

"A failed experiment."

"Your daughter."

"She is not my daughter, Jack. She is a doll stuffed with leaves."

"You miss her, don't you?" Jack asked the Doctor, watching him stop his wheelchair in its tracks.

"What did you say?" Doctor Finkelstein asked.

"You miss her. You liked having Sally around, who wouldn't?"

"Don't be foolish, Jack."

"I'm not being foolish, Doctor. You are."

"Didn't you ever learn to respect your elders?" the doctor grumbled.

"Don't change the subject, sir," Jack said, smiling as Doctor Finkelstein sighed.

"Jack, you had better swear that anything I say in this graveyard does not reach anyone else's ears. Understand?"

"I understand."

"You want to know the truth, Jack? I'll tell you. Yes, I miss Sally. She was always so helpful and yet… she had a mind of her own. She could make her own decisions without having to come to me for every little thing."

"Things not going so well with Jewel?" Jack asked Doctor Finkelstein.

"I took her half of my brain out," Doctor Finkelstein confessed, opening his head to reveal he had his whole brain before closing it again.

"What?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Jewel always agreed with me, Jack. Always. There was never an argument, never a different opinion, just constant 'Oh, Finky you're so smart' and 'You're never wrong, Finky'," the doctor said bitterly. "Do you have any idea how boring that quickly becomes?"

"No, I can't say I do."

"Even when I made mistakes on purpose just to hear her tell me I was wrong she agreed with me. I couldn't stand it. That's when I realized what I had lost."

"You haven't lost Sally. She's still in Halloween Town."

"Emotionally lost, Jack. I was too hard on her, wasn't I? Keeping her cooped up when she literally had a free spirit and trying to prevent the inevitable. I always knew she would leave me, it was only a matter of time until she moved on to bigger and better things. I don't blame her anymore. Look at me. I'm old and cranky. What young woman would willingly spend her time with me?"

"Doctor, I didn't realize you felt this way. You really should let Sally know."

"So she can pity instead of respect me? I haven't lost all of my senses, Jack. No, it's better if I gradually try to make amends. Nothing too quick, yet."

"I'm glad you're thinking of mending your relationship," Jack said. "And I'm sorry I called you a quack that day."

"Nonsense, I provoked you," Doctor Finkelstein said before clearing his throat. "Jack, you remind me of someone I might have known when I was alive. Sally as well. If the both of you make each other happy, then I really have no choice but to accept it, right?"

"I guess so," Jack said.

"Good. Now, which wedding is this, exactly? The Mayor had been talking about an infinite amount of themes."

"Well… there is a problem with that, sir."

It didn't take long for Jack to tell Doctor Finkelstein the situation of the two wedding planners. So far, Sally had been attending all of Venus' meetings while Jack handled the Mayor. That way, neither Jack nor Sally would confuse one's plans with the other's and thus start a feud between Venus and the Mayor. So far, everything had gone smoothly. However, it was only a matter of time before something would go wrong and the planners would find out the couple had accidentally two-timed them.

"That is quite a situation you've gotten yourselves into, Jack," Doctor Finkelstein said.

"Yes, and one I'd like to get us out of without hurting anyone," Jack replied.

"That will be quite improbable."

"I know."

"Jack, have you considered eloping as an option?"

"Eloping?"

"Running away to get married in secret."

"Briefly, I did. But that would hurt the both of them, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose," Doctor Finkelstein said. "If you do reconsider, I have a contact in the Real World who might be able to hold the ceremony for you."

"Really? You know a mortal?" Jack asked.

"No. A ghost. Henry introduced us a while after he brought me here."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir."

"Good to hear that, my boy," Doctor Finkelstein said as he began to roll himself back to his laboratory before stopping. "And remember, Jack, this whole conversation is between us."

"I'll remember," Jack said, watching the doctor leave as soon as the words left his mouth.

Jack was left stunned by all that was said. Doctor Finkelstein had actually offered to help him and Sally marry. He provided a third option. Even admitted to missing the girl. If Jack didn't know better, he'd think the old man was growing soft. Then again, this was Doctor Finkelstein he was thinking of, the man who created new terrors each and every Halloween. He'd never go soft… would he? Before Jack could ponder that thought, he heard the gate to Halloween Town open.

"She's back," he said to himself happily, rushing over to find Sally struggling under a pile of items and bags. "Hold on there," he said, taking most of the things in his hands.

"Thank you," Sally said before lowering her voice. "They threw me a shower."

"I beg your pardon?" Jack asked.

"A bridal shower. Venus, Psyche, the Muses, they threw me a party," Sally said in her continued whisper.

"Oh. I thought it was… never mind," Jack said.

"That's alright, I thought it was that too until they explained it to me. Let's go home, I have lots to tell you and I don't want to risk the Mayor hearing."

"Good thinking."

"Where is he?" Sally asked as they walked towards the manor.

"In Town Hall. Probably coming up with a new plan," Jack said.

"Jack, I told you to be nice," Sally said.

"I was nice. I was also bored out of my mind," Jack said, climbing up the steps and opening the door for Sally. "Now, what is all of this stuff?"

"Where to begin," Sally wondered as she put everything down and began to dig through a bag, producing a small white box. "Here, something to snack on," she said, passing it to Jack.

"What's in here?" Jack asked.

"Sugar coated almonds from Psyche. She says eating them brings good luck."

"Not bad," Jack said, opening the box and taking out an almond.

"Let's see. We have tickets to see some shows from Melpomene and Thalia."

"Who are they?"

"Muses of comedy and tragedy, they act."

"Act? I love acting! Forget watching them, can we act too?"

"I figured you'd like that gift."

"What else is there?"

"Terpischore and Euterpe invited us to a concert too. They're Muses of dancing and singing."

"Invited again? Can you ask if we can participate?"

"Jack, I can't dance," Sally said, causing Jack to grab her hands and spin her out, then into his arms.

"Yes you can. If you couldn't, we would've crashed just now," Jack said.

"Want to know the rest of the presents or should we just dance?" Sally asked, kissing Jack on the cheek.

"Such a difficult choice," Jack said before reluctantly letting Sally go, but not before giving her an almond.

Sally went on to describe what the rest of the goddesses had in store for the couple. Venus had gone and bought Sally a whole new wardrobe, which would explain all the bags and boxes. Calliope would be need some accounts of their courtship to write a poem about Jack and Sally while Urania had given them a list of nights to watch for meteor showers and constellations. Polyhymnia would be performing the wedding ceremony herself with no charge while Clio would write everything down and make a keepsake scrapbook for Jack and Sally to forever remember the day. That left only Erato's gift, that mysterious book.

"This is from the Muse of lyric and love poetry. She said we'd find this very useful. Then, everything kind of fell apart," Sally said, nervously holding the book.

"What happened?" Jack asked Sally.

"Well, Polyhymnia told Erato that she was giving me filth. Then Erato said they were guidelines and then like giving paint and a brush to an artist."

"How odd."

"I think… Jack, I think it's a sex book."

"A sex book?"

"With pictures," Sally said, watching Jack cough out the almond he was eating.

"That's very curious," Jack said once he regained his composure. "Being that we've never seen anything of the nature."

"Should we take a look?"

"Well, we're getting married and it's be nice to have some idea what we're doing."

"So do I. But Venus said it might scare me to re-death."

"Nonsense, there's no re-death. At least, I don't think there is," Jack said before shaking his head. "If anything, we'll sit down on the couch and look through the book together. That way, if it's shocking, we're already sitting down to take it in."

"Alright," Sally said, leading Jack to the couch and taking a deep breath as they both opened the book.

What on Earth were those mortals doing? Was this the ultimate bodily connection? It looked so… weird. It didn't help that the book was in a completely different language. Nothing explained why the men and women in this book were completely naked and in such twisted and tied up arrangements. It looked almost painful and uncomfortable in some parts. After a few page turns, Sally and Jack closed the book, both of them a little disturbed and oddly enough, even more curious.

"This book is old, maybe it needs to be updated," Jack said to Sally after a few moments of silence.

"Maybe," Sally said. "I'm scared, but not to re-death."

"It can't be like that, can it?"

"This is supposed to be the oldest book on the subject, Jack."

"And obviously out of date," Jack said before taking the book and stuffing it into one of Sally's bags. "There, no need to scare ourselves before getting married."

"Still, it's good we know what it's going to be like, right?" Sally asked.

"What we have now is only a rough idea, Sally. We can't know for sure until we try it for ourselves. It can't be as strange as it was in the book."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I don't feel strange when I'm with you. I feel like I'm on top of the world," Jack said.

"I feel the same way about you."

"So, think about it. We feel like we're on top of the world now, without attempting… that. Imagine when we do."

"Maybe we should write our own book," Sally suggested.

"At least we'd know what we're talking about," Jack replied. "In all seriousness, I think we'll be alright, book or no book. Besides, we have other things to worry about."

"Like our two weddings," Sally said, pausing. "Jack, I've been thinking about it a lot."

"So have I," Jack said.

"I have an opinion about what we should do."

"Me too."

"Ok, you first," Sally said.

"Sally, I don't want to hurt either the Mayor or Venus, but I'm thinking neither of them is going to accept being the one rejected. Today, I came across a third option," Jack admitted.

"Really? So did I," Sally said.

"Sally, does it involve running off?" Jack asked, excited to hear what Sally would say.

"Getting married in secret?" Sally asked, growing tense as the room grew quiet.

"Let's elope!" Jack and Sally exclaimed, happy they had come to the same conclusion and hugging when they did so.

"It's so romantic, Jack. Psyche told me that's how she and Cupid got married. Us against the world, with only each other to depend on. Who told you about it?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Come along, I think I'll show you instead," Jack said, pulling Sally off of the couch with him and leading her out of the house.

Ah, something's brewing. I can feel it. So, who does Doctor Finkelstein know in the Real World who can make this elopement come true? Will the Mayor and Venus find out about all this before it's too late? And just how soon will Jack and Sally be "updating" the book anyway? Answers and more questions to come in the following chapters.