Okay, so I have seen where some authors have done some Coraline and Nightmare Before Christmas crossovers and I decided to jump on the bandwagon. :)

Now this is my first Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline crossover, so please be gentle in the reviews. Thank you. :)

Nightmare Before Christmas belongs to Disney. Coraline belongs to its respective owners. I own nothing. Coraline is 10 years old in this story.

Protective Arms Of A New Family

Chapter 1: Finding Safe Arms

Coraline dashed through the passage as she heard the Other Mother running after her. "Where will you go, Coraline?" She asked with a raspy voice. "You have no one back there."

It was true. Coraline's parents had died back when she was five and she had been in an orphanage and then a foster home for the past five years. Her current foster home wasn't very nice and she had discovered the doorway that led to the Other Mother's home, but when wicked creature had tried to force the girl to stay forever, the young girl had fought for her freedom, especially after seeing how the other mother lost her temper and dealt with what she called 'misbehaving' very seriously.

Now, the ten-year-old was fighting to escape, but it seemed the tunnels weren't cooperating. Nonetheless, she continued running until she found a wooden door that had an pumpkin carved on it. That struck her as odd, but she turned the nose of the pumpkin to open it, hoping it would be a hiding spot for her.

"Get back here!" The Other Mother screamed.

All of a sudden, two pumpkin scarecrows rose up from the ground on either side of Coraline and her jaw dropped in wide-eyed amazement as the scarecrows breathed fire. Though it wasn't aimed at her, she could feel the immense heat as the Other Mother screamed. "No! Not my home!" She cried out. "Close the door, child!"

"No problem!" Coraline said with a smirk before she stepped into the space beyond the door and closed it, seeing the scarecrows still breathing fire and even after she closed the door, she could still hear the 'whoosh' as they breathed more fire. "Fire-breathing scarecrow guards?" She asked herself and something told her that they weren't the Other Mother's doing.

Turning to see where she was, she was shocked to see she was outside. "Odd, I don't remember a door leading to outside from her place," the child said to herself before moving cautiously forward.

The moon in the sky alone told her it was nighttime and she made her way carefully over the stones that were sticking up in her path, only to stop a moment later when she realized they weren't stones.

They were graves.

Coraline quickly moved to the side and breathed a sigh of relief when she was not standing right on the graves. Though she didn't mind the graveyard setting, she still wanted to respect the dead. "Sorry," she said softly and apologetically as she hadn't meant to stand right on the graves.

Moving carefully again, she suddenly heard footsteps and ran fast, thinking the Other Mother was behind her and had made it though the tunnel after all. The footsteps behind her quickened into a run too, making her run faster.

"Wait! Come back!" A voice cried out, but Coraline didn't stop and she didn't look back. Suddenly, something wrapped around her ankles and tripped her, making her fall to the ground. She scrambled to get up, but something quickly wrapped around her middle, pinning her arms to her sides. She saw it was some kind of green rope and it was slimy. She struggled to get free before hearing footsteps come closer and she saw a long trail of the slimy green rope move a little before a person came into view.

Coraline's eyes widened at seeing it was a skeleton, one that wore a black-and-white striped suit and had a bat bowtie, and the end of the green rope was attached to his right wrist. "I wasn't even sure I could do that," the skeleton said, his voice calm before he looked at the girl. "Are you alright?"

She tried to squirm away, but the rope held fast. "Let me go!" She demanded, still struggling.

"Child, calm down," he said to her, kneeling beside her. He noticed she was wearing pajamas and one of the sleeves had been cut by what looked like something sharp. He took a closer look before the child squirmed harder. "Shh, settle down."

"Yeah, right!" She spat out, kicking out at him, but he caught her ankle in one of his bony hands, his strong grip surprising the girl and making her panic more. "Let me go! I won't let her hurt me!"

The skeleton looked confused. "Who?" He asked, thinking perhaps the young one had just been frightened by one of the residents of Halloween Town.

The girl glared at him. "The Other Mother, who else?" She hissed at him.

The skeleton felt his bones freeze as she said that, the damage done to the pajama sleeve now making sense. He nodded. "So I did sense pumpkin fire being used," he said.

Coraline stopped struggling. "What?" She asked.

"Pumpkin fire. The scarecrows would have only activated if she was near."

The girl suddenly realized what he meant. "You mean the fire-breathing scarecrows at the door?" She asked. "Yeah, they popped up when I opened the door to get away from her."

He looked at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "How did you get mixed up with the Beldam?" He asked.

She blinked. "Wait, you know her?" She asked.

"She is a creature not welcomed here because she kidnaps children," the skeleton said before realizing something. "Oh, where are my manners? I never asked your name."

The child blinked at him, his demeanor confusing her. He was either telling the truth or a good actor, but her gut told her he was telling the truth. "Coraline," she replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jack Skellington," he replied with a smile. "And I'm glad you found the door."

She blinked at him again. "You are?" She asked.

"Yes," he said with a nod. "I asked Sandy to help me put the door there in case the children the monster trapped wanted to escape. It leads right to the graveyard."

Coraline swallowed hard. "Are you sure she can't get past the door?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Pumpkin fire is much stronger than regular fire, young one," he said. "It's one of the things she's most afraid of."

Jack then picked up the child, untying the green rope from around her. "I'm glad you escaped from her, but now, you're in danger," he said urgently. "She'll find a way here once she realizes where you've gone."

The young girl squirmed. "I have to get out of here then," she said.

"If you tell me where you live, I can take you home," he said.

Coraline paused at that before looking like she'd rather not tell him. He noticed. "You don't wish to go home?" He asked.

"I don't have a home," she said softly before looking away. "I'm just a foster kid."

Jack felt saddened the child had no home and began walking towards the gate that led to town, feeling Coraline rest her head on his shoulder before she went limp. "Coraline?" He asked gently, but soft breathing answered him and he smiled, making sure his hold on her was secure before he arrived home, finding his wife there to greet him and she looked surprised when he told her about the young girl in his arms.

"She escaped the Beldam?" The ragdoll asked in horror. "I thought that was just a story."

"No, she's real and dangerous," Jack said. "I hoped to never hear of her again, but Sandy and I put the door in the tunnel years ago to help a child looking to get away from here. Coraline is the first one to ever use it."

Sally gently stroked Coraline's hair and the young girl shifted a little, settling down again. "Jack...can we...adopt her?" She asked.

"Yes," he said. "For her safety. I'm also going to let the residents know about her and the horror she escaped from."

"They'll protect her," Sally said.

"Yes, they will," he said before looking at the child sleeping in his arms. "For now, let's get this little one to bed. She's been though a lot today."

Going up to a spare room he had, Jack gently placed Coraline on the bed and tucked her in. "Sleep well, Coraline. You're safe here," he said before looking over to see Zero was awake in his dog bed. "Zero, will you watch over Coraline? She escaped the Beldam."

Zero nodded and flew over to the bed, curling up beside Coraline, ready to defend the girl. Jack smiled and headed out, deciding that first things first was to get with the mayor about adopting Coraline.

Please be gentle in the reviews. Thank you.

GoldGuardian2418