Elle blinked, unsure of what she had just heard.

"Do…what?" She asked uncertainly. The mysterious boy in front of her pushed his hands closer to her face, suddenly illuminating them in a patch of moonlight. Elle recoiled, not so much from fear but from the adrenaline pumping through her system.

"My hands…I got mad and the stitches popped. Mom will get mad at me, so I can't ask her to do it. Besides, if she found out I left the house when she and dad get back from the Halloween parade…" He paused and shuddered. "Well I might as well rip out ALL my stitches if she finds that out."

Elle stared at the strange boy. 'What on earth is he talking about!' Her mind asked wildly. Then it hit her.

"I guess you're not…from…earth, are you?" Duh. The boy looked at her strangely.

"Of course I'm from earth!" he said, his voice tinged with annoyance. "I just need some one to sew me up!" Elle still stood there looking at him. An awkward silence settled between them.

"But…but won't that hurt?" Elle asked him the obvious. "I mean, shouldn't you go to a hospital?" She lifted a finger and ran it hesitantly through the air above a line of stitches on his lower arm. She looked at them with awe. Her voice was soft with pity.

"How did you do this?" She asked quietly. The boy tilted him head in confusion.

"I've always been this way. Since…well since I was very little. My mom's like this too. But grandpa sewed her together. He made me too, but he didn't sew me. The cuts just grew and then he sewed me up." Elle blanched and stared. The boy shrugged and looked desperate.

"Listen, apparently you don't understand. Just sew me up and I'll explain."

Elle shrugged in defeat and motioned for him to sit down. He walked over to her, still hidden in the shadows of the dark night, and settled himself next to her. He extended his right hand for her to sew. Elle sat next to him and slowly lifted her hands to take his. She was shocked at the feel of his skin. It didn't feel quite like human skin. It was like…she felt her costume slide down her arm. Like the satin of her costume. It was like cloth.

She unloosed several loops of thread from around the spool and re-threaded her needle. She made as if she was going to pierce his skin, then thought better of it and putting her needle through her sleeve took her jester's hat and moved to wipe away the blood on his hand. The boy looked at it a moment before realizing what it was. He stopped her.

"Wait, I've got a handkerchief. Don't ruin your hat." Elle smiled grimly.

"The rest of my costume's already ruined. I'll never be able to wear it again anyways." With that she wiped off the blood and put some pressure on the cut. Then she looked up at him.

"Are you sure this won't hurt?" The boy shook his head.

"It never does. Mom usually does it for me though. How did your costume get ruined?" Elle removed the cloth hat from his hand. The bleeding had stopped somewhat and she retrieved her needle and prepared herself to sew up his hand.

"Those kids you saw cut it up. This won't hurt right?" The boy groaned and shook his head.

"No!" He said. Elle swallowed. Placing the needle on his skin, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and pushed the needle through. She opened her eyes. The boy just shrugged.

"See? Nothing. It doesn't hurt." Elle gave a relieved sigh and shakily set about making the stitches. Fink watched her work in silence for a while.

"By the way," he said quietly, "what's your name?" Elle stopped moving her needle and looked up at him.

"Elle." She said. "Morgan." She added as an afterthought. The boy smiled.

"I'm Fink Skellington. Pleased to meet you. I would shake your hand but you've already got mine." He said. Elle giggled.

"I guess so." She was beginning to relax after the initial shock of watching herself sewing someone's hand up.

"So, how did this happen?" She asked. Fink grimaced.

"I was made by my grandfather in his lab. My mom and dad couldn't have kids…the normal way, so my grandpa decided to make me for them. Kinda like he made my mom, but I was going to be more real." Elle glanced at him.

"Real? What do you mean?"

"Well, technically my mom is nothing more than some clothe sewn together and stuffed with leaves." Elle stopped her work and stared at him.

"What?" He asked innocently. "Well she is. He electrocuted her and she came to life. She was his very first creation with a mind." Elle still looked at him.

"What? Stuff like that happens in Halloweentown." Elle shook her head.

"Halloween…town?" Fink face-faulted.

"Oh I forgot, humans don't know about Halloweentown. Well it's a really cool place…"

Fink spent the next hour explaining Halloweentown to Elle. By the time he had told her everything ending with why he had run away, she had long ago finished sewing his hands and sat entranced by his story.

"They called you a monster? That's horrible! Being a little patched up doesn't make you a monster!" Fink looked at her.

"You were patching up your costume when I got here, but you say its ruined and you'll never wear it again." Elle sat stunned at herself. Then she shook her head.

"I didn't mean that. I was just mad because Bobby Trielle and his gang ripped it up.

It was the best thing I had ever made and they destroyed it in a few minutes. But I'm not going to throw it away. " She patted the blood-stained hat fondly. "I'll keep it forever."

She looked up at Fink. "Besides, you're a good person. What does anybody care how you were born or how you look?" Fink looked downcast.

"Because it means I can't participate in Halloween. Ever. Not in the parades. Mom lets me watch from in my tower or from the sidelines sometimes, but I'll never be like my dad."

"The Pumpkin King, right?"

"Yeah…" Fink sighed. "I bet they're worried about me. They'd be home now. I hope Lock, Shock and Barrel have hid themselves really well, or my dad'll kill them." Elle looked at his sad face.

"Are you going to go home?" She asked. Fink was silent for a while.

"I don't know…I just don't know." Elle looked away from him and bit on her tongue, a little habit she had when she was thinking or concerned. Then she brightened.

"Hey, wanna get some ice-cream?" Fink looked up at her strangely.

"Get what?" Elle stared at him in shock.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She grabbed his hands and stood him up and began pulling him to the cemetery gate.

Standing outside the graveyard walls, they stopped and looked around; making sure no one was around to see them. Standing in the glow of a streetlight, they were rewarded with the first true good looks at each other.

Elle was shocked to meet hazel-green eyes peering at her around a jagged cut that ran diagonally across his face. The red line stood out against the pale, pale skin; running up into his hair and over his left ear. The other end of the line wrapped itself down his chin and into his shirt down his back. His clothes were simple, but elegant and appropriately orange and black for Halloween. He wore an orange button-down, long-sleeved shirt that was partially untucked and rolled up to his elbows. His black pants were a strange but effective blend of casual and formal which hung loosely about his attractive hips. Elle noticed for the first time that he was also toting a black jacket stitched with white thread and covered with random zippers. His reddish-brown hair fell messily around his face and ears, stopping just below his eyebrows. Elle was enchanted; the light around Fink's head seemed to frame him like a halo, some otherworldly aura surrounding the otherworldly Prince of Halloweentown.

In other words, Elle had it bad.

Of course, said Prince could not take his eyes off of Elle.

Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a half-ponytail that had been slightly frazzled from her chase, leaving little wisps of hair framing her delicate face. She was petite, a few inches shorted than he was, and all of her features were small and in a word (that Fink said to himself secretly), adorable. Her little nose was sprinkled with freckles and her rouge mouth was perfectly bow-shaped. Her once-perfect jester's costume hung off of her slender body, giving glimpses of white hip-hugger jeans tied with a thick silver ribbon. She wore a pink collared shirt with a cat embroidered below her right shoulder. She was like a tiny glass figure catching the light of the streetlight and sending it in to a thousand tiny sparkles that hovered around her head. (Said Prince was smitten. Poor thing had no chance.)

But what captured Fink's gaze more than anything were Elle's eyes. Unconscious of what he was doing, Fink reached a hand up to caress her face.

"Your eyes…you have blue eyes." Elle barely heard him.

'Oh…good Lord…he's TOUCHING me!' She was mentally bouncing off the walls inside of her head, singing a dance version of "A Moment like This."

Fink for his part was lost in the blue pools of Elle's eyes.

"No one in Halloweentown has blue eyes. I've never seen anything like them… They're beautiful…"

Ice-cream was completely forgotten as Elle and Fink stood on the street under the light, gazing into each other's eyes.

Three pairs of eyes peered over the lip of the open grave, staring in utter shock at the two mangled, angelic figures.

"What the f-!" Shock could hardly speak. Barrel just sat dumbly staring out of the one eye that wasn't swollen shut, his bleeding mouth hanging open. Shock was suddenly overwhelmed with that feeling that had started creeping up on her when she was faced with. She uttered a sweet sigh, completely happy for her friend. Barrel scrunched up his nose and stared at her, suddenly throwing his head back with a small 'Ow' and pinched his nose as the scrunching caused it to start bleeding again.

Lock stood behind them, his arms akimbo, his gaze trained on Fink's hand resting on Elle's cheek, his mouth set in a grim line. His devil tail began to twitch as Elle blushed and smiled as Fink lowered his hand and did the same. Fink offered Elle his arm and they walked across the street. Lock's yellow eyes flickered as he looked Elle up and down as she led Fink around a corner. He turned abruptly and started walking back down the tunnel.

"Let's go."

Yes, this was sappy. But they're in loooove! And what's buggin Lock? Thanx to you guys who reviewed. I hope you like this chapter. I'll update ASAP.
-DragonJester