I was inspired to do this story by one of my good friends, SonicStar21, on Deviantart. :)

Balan Wonderworld belongs to Square Enix. Coraline belongs to its respective owners. I own nothing.

A/N: This story takes place sometime after "The Belief In Your Heart", which is not dead, I assure you. The second chapter will be released in October and I am hoping to finish it around Christmas. :)

The Power Of A Loving Family

Chapter 1: Shattered Bliss

Coraline smiled as she was tucked into bed by her loving parents, Jack and Sally. "Did you have a good day, Pumpkin?" Her father asked.

She nodded. "I still think the Wind gave me some help in that race against Lock, Shock, and Barrel," she said.

Her mother chuckled. "Perhaps," she said. "The Wind no doubt had a good reason for helping you."

The blue-haired girl giggled before settling down and both her parents kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, sweetie. We'll see in the morning," Jack said.

"Sweet dreams, hon," Sally said.

"Night, Mom. Night, Dad," Coraline said before yawning and closing her eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep as her parents left the room quietly, going to tuck their son Wybie into bed before retiring to bed themselves.

But the peace was not to last.

In Coraline's room, a shadow moved and crept closer to the girl's bed before it was standing right over the sleeping girl and opening something, pouring it out on the girl. Feeling this, the girl woke up with a gasp and when she felt something cold and sharp grab her ankles and begin to pull her out of bed, she screamed loudly. "Mom! Dad! Help!" She screamed out.

Jack awoke with a start at hearing his daughter scream and when she kept screaming, he leapt out of bed and raced down the hall, Sally waking up and quickly following as they got to Coraline's door, but it was locked. "Coraline!" Jack called out. "Open the door!"

A wicked laugh filled the room and Zero, who had come into the room, managed to light up the room with his nose to see who was frightening the Pumpkin Princess. Coraline looked in horror to see a person she thought she'd never see again. "NO!" She screamed. "DAD! MOM! IT'S HER! THE OTHER MOTHER!"

Jack felt his bones go stiff and Sally gasped before the skeleton began trying to ram the door open. "Hang on, Pumpkin! We're coming!" He called out reassuringly.

The child fought hard against the Beldam, grabbing onto the bed and holding tight. "Let me go!" She demanded.

"Never!" The Beldam hissed. "You're mine, girl!"

"Coraline!" Came a familiar voice and she turned her head to see her brother coming in as the boy had come into her room to check on her after he had had a nightmare and now charged at the nightmarish creature trying to kidnap his sister.

"Wybie, be careful!" The girl called to her brother.

The boy bravely faced the monster that had created him. "Dad, I'll hold her off until you can get in!" He called out.

"Be careful, son!" Jack called back, still trying to get in.

The Beldam laughed as she pushed Wybie back and took out something that looked like a portal machine and tapped a few keys, opening a portal to her realm. "You're coming with me and you'll never escape me again!" She screamed at Coraline.

"NO!" Wybie cried out, jumping on her and grabbing one of her arms, making the hand on that arm slam down on the machine, messing up the coordinates just as the Beldam flung a screaming Coraline into the portal and slashed at Wybie's face, not realizing the coordinates had been changed as the portal closed and Jack, thanks to Sally giving him a hairpin to use, got into the room in time to see the portal fully close and he quickly activated his pumpkin fire, trapping the monster in a ring of fire as she cried out and Wybie jumped off of her, landing on Coraline's bed before running over to his parents. "Mom! Dad! She sent Coraline through a portal, but I don't know to where!" He said, his face scratched from where the Beldam had struck him.

The Beldam screamed when she saw the ruined machine had the wrong coordinates. "You brat!" She yelled, reaching for Wybie, but the ring of pumpkin fire flared up, making her scream as it nearly caught on her metal hand.

"Where is my daughter?!" Jack growled at her.

The Beldam glared at him. "She's gone forever, Pumpkin King!" She said.

Sally helped their son and glared at the monster. "You better hope we find her, or you will see how fierce my husband can really be," she said.

"Oh, believe me, this monster will never be able to return from where I'm sending her after we get our answers," Jack said darkly. His tone made shivers run down the Beldam's metal spine, showing that for all her bravado, the Pumpkin King could still scare her. "Now, where did you send Coraline?"

"I'll never tell!" The Beldam hissed.

The skeleton allowed the pumpkin fire to flare up, making her cry out again. "You will pay dearly for this," he said to her. "No one crosses the family of Jack Skellington and gets away with it."

Meanwhile, Coraline was still screaming as she was flying through the colorful portal, unable to stop herself as she was afraid she was going to end up in the Other Mother's world again and she wouldn't be able to escape. She tried to grab onto something, but was moving too fast. Suddenly, she felt something hit her head and she saw her vision go blurry and she became aware of a harsh pain in her side before she blacked out.

In a magical theater, all was quiet as a tendriled being was reading a story he had borrowed from one of the inhabitants and he was so engrossed in it, he didn't see a portal open up in the ceiling, but he did hear a loud thud that made him jump and look up quickly to see what had fallen and disturbed the quiet.

His blue-and-yellow eyes widened in shock at what he saw. A young girl who couldn't have been more than eleven years old lay on the floor in what looked to be a pair of pajamas that had pumpkins and ghosts on them, but one side was cut and he saw she was bleeding. Quickly, he put aside his book and kneeled beside the girl, carefully peeling back the torn fabric to see a long gash in the girl's side that wasn't too deep, but was still worrisome. He gently brushed a hand over her blue hair to see if she'd wake up and felt a lump on her head. "Oh, dear," he said. "What happened that you received such injuries, little one?"

With the upmost gentleness, he picked her up, cradling her head against his left shoulder while his other arm was hooked securely under her knees and a couple tendrils circled the girl's back, taking care not to squeeze her and aggravate her injuries. He could feel a pulse and her breathing, so that gave him some relief that she was still alive. "Hold on, little one," he said before hovering over the carpet and then flying down the hall, clutching his precious cargo protectively as he entered a room and spied a tall maestro in a sparkling white suit. "Balan!" He called out urgently.

The tall being jumped in surprise as he had been in the middle of a dance routine when his counterpart called out to him and he lifted up his head and looked to see why the other had interrupted him, a gasp leaving him when he saw the injured child in the other's arms. "What happened, Lance?" He asked, hurrying over to them.

"She suddenly appeared, Balan," Lance replied. "I was reading when I heard a loud thump and when I looked up, I saw this child laying on the floor."

A blue Tim with bear ears hopped up to them and chirped, to which Balan's eyes widened. "She fell through a hole in the ceiling?" He asked. The Tim chirped and nodded. "A colorful hole? You mean like the portals we use?"

The Tim nodded and Balan and Lance looked at each other, wondering what had happened before the Maestro of Positivity looked down at the child and could now clearly see the extent of her injuries. "Come," he said. "Let's get this one's injuries taken care of and when she wakes up, we'll ask her what happened."

The Maestro of Negativity nodded, looking at the sleeping child and he kissed her forehead gently. "Hold on, child," he whispered to her, hoping that she heard him despite being asleep.

Looks like the Beldam failed in her plan, but how was she able to return? That will be revealed in Chapter 3. :)

Next up: Coraline meets her two rescuers, but there is a small problem as well. What is it? Read on! :)

And please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418