Dearest Friends

Chapter 12:

The Private Calm Before the Public Storm, Part 2

"OH!" Jack almost stumbled as he suddenly found himself no longer holding an entire rag doll but rather now just a rag doll's severed arm… 'Her arm? Her arm!' "Oh!" He jumped a little and accidentally tossed the appendage up into the air but then remembered the precious thing that it was and caught it again, hugging it close to his body with a slight gasp.

And meanwhile Sally was still just laughing and running from him. Though now as she realized he wasn't following after her, she turned around and looked at him with a curious smile. "Jack…what is it?"

Jack just looked back and forth from the arm to her. "Sally! You…isn't that…aren't you…You're dismembered!" He dashed over to her, cradling the arm like it was the most important thing in the world and appearing quite panicked to say the least.

Sally blinked, now feeling really confused. "Yes. Did I do something wrong?" she asked, feeling a little embarrassed all of a sudden. Come to think of it, she never really took herself apart in front of other people—just the Doctor sometimes to escape from him. Did Jack possibly think she was weird for doing something like that so casually?

"I…it's just…" Jack stood before her now, distress still apparent in his features (though the agitation in his tone had calmed down a little at least). "Does it hurt?"

Sally blinked again and shook her head. "No, of course not. Just like how it doesn't hurt when you take off your skull or something, Jack. I wouldn't have done it if it would have hurt me." She smiled.

Jack watched her with a touch of worry for a moment longer, but then as her explanation absorbed he let out a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, um…of course." He blinked a few times and smiled a touch sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Sally. I suppose I'm being silly. Everyone around here takes off parts of themselves from time to time." His smile warmed a little. "I guess it's just hard to see someone you care about a lot do that."

Sally's smile warmed too. "And seeing someone you care about insist every Halloween on doing backflips in the air over hard cobblestones and jumping from high up into a small, shallow fountain and setting themselves on fire isn't easy to see either, Jack. I was always torn a little about those things, and the Christmas stuff with the sleigh ride too. " She smiled more. "I always wanted to tell you to stop being so reckless…but I know it's part of who you are. And it's also very impressive and dashing sometimes to watch." She giggled a little. Then she sighed, grinning, "Still though, I always wanted to make you stop showing off so much so that you could take care of yourself more."

Jack listened with interest to all of this. She had really been concerned all these years about his antics, his stunts, his daring adventures? He felt bad for worrying her, but still, how sweet of her to care from afar all that time. And she thought he was impressive and dashing? "I guess I can be a little reckless." He shrugged and smiled. "But…" Jack took another step toward her. "If it means I catch the eye of pretty dollies, I don't mind the risks. I'll try to take better care of myself though, just like I said this morning." He winked at her.

Sally felt chills at his approach and wink and smile and words of assurance. He really could be so dreamy. "I-It's okay, just do whatever makes you happy, Jack. And just know I'll be here caring about you the whole time."

Jack smiled more, his gaze dreamy. He sort of wanted to hug her now. But then he remembered…. "Oh, um…your arm—do you want it back?" He held out the limb a little toward her. "Oh and speaking of reckless just, um…promise me that you'll always be careful when you take a part of yourself off. I don't want you to lose anything." He laughed a little. "Once when I was playing with Zero near the lake, I lost one of my bones in the water. They had to dredge the lake to find it."

Sally smiled. "It's okay, Jack, I won't lose anything. And even if I did misplace my arm or something…well, I'd just let it come right back to me."

Jack was about to ask her what she meant when suddenly the arm in his hands sprang to life! "Ah!" Jack gasped, breaths shallow, as indeed the arm wriggled around, then hopped from his grasp, dashed over to Sally on its fingertips, gave her a little wave (she giggled) and then dashed right back over to Jack and jumped up into his arms again! He almost wanted to drop the arm and run, and yet he clung to it once more since it was still a part of his precious Sally. He was about to offer it back to her again when suddenly he found himself watching, his eye sockets wide, as the arm didn't seem quite done with its little adventure. It moved a little as it settled itself in his hold, and then its little hand faced him and opened with a start, almost seeming to suggest surprise on the arm's part at realizing who was holding it. Jack couldn't help smiling curiously at the interesting reaction.

Then the arm started to have a little too much fun…. It looked away almost shyly only to then tiptoe its fingertips up the side of Jack's arm (a little tremble went through Jack—the experience was very strange and yet…the idea of Sally doing something like this to him seemed very nice). When the fingertips found their way to his shoulder, the hand nuzzled his cheek, played with his bat bowtie…and then finished by playfully trailing a fingertip down once or twice over the buttons of Jack's shirt.

At first Sally hadn't realized what was going on with her arm. Now, though, blushing and looking uncomfortable, she quickly walked the few steps over to Jack and interrupted things before they could go any further. "S-Sorry. Um…sometimes if I don't detach my limbs for a little while, they get a little restless." She took the arm from Jack's grasp, holding it close to herself and looking at it in a chastising way. She whispered to it a little. "That's enough. I know you like him, but there wasn't any need for that." The arm looked a little abashed, its hand turning away and downward. Sally smiled, speaking a bit more softly to it. "It's okay. You were surprised. I know it's usually the Doctor who has you. At least you didn't bop Jack on the head." She giggled and the arm seemed happy again, the hand turning back towards her. Sally shook her head and turned, walking over to the sofa and sitting down with her arm.

Jack (trying not to blanche too much at how 'affectionate' Sally's limbs could be apparently) walked over to the sofa as well and sat down next to Sally and the arm. He was quiet at first. Then he started, unable to think of anything else to begin, "You can…talk to your arm then?"

Sally blinked and looked to Jack (she had been stroking the arm gently and glancing at a few different colored spools of thread in her dress pocket, trying to pick one for stitching it back on). "Hmm…Oh. Well, yes." She smiled. "Don't you talk to your bones, Jack?"

Jack blinked and shook his head. "No. My bones don't, um…my bones are just bones. If one comes off of me, it doesn't really do anything. I didn't expect your arm to do anything at all either."

Sally frowned a little and blushed slightly. "Do you not like it?"

Jack shook his head, eye sockets wide. "No! I-I like everything about you! I mean…" he looked down, blanching a little, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I was just curious. I mean, I know everybody's talents and abilities around here inside and out, and I have for a very long time. And here we are, trying to come up with something for you to do for Halloween, and I think I know everything I should know about you, but then I realize I really really don't. I—Oh!" Jack gasped a little. He had gotten so caught up in his apology that it seemed Sally's arm felt sorry for him and had now tiptoed back over to him to pat his hand. Jack let out a breath, trying to move past his surprise, and gave the arm an appreciative smile. It was sweet of the limb to care so much about him…it was sweet of Sally to care about him too.

Sally herself, meanwhile, was smiling beside him, and she nodded in understanding. "Jack, it makes sense that you don't know some things about me. After all, even if we are courting now, I've always been very shy, and I've never really shared much about myself with you during our friendship. But you can ask me about my limbs, Jack, or anything else. I don't mind…and my arm doesn't mind either." She laughed softly and looked down a little sheepishly at her limb and then back up to Jack. "I'm sorry if my arm scared you at all though. She—er, I—we didn't mean to, I promise."

While Sally had been comforting him, Jack had just been smiling down at the arm's hand and taking this chance to examine this piece of Sally, the stitches and cloth…. And what was she stuffed with exactly anyw—"Scared?" That word from Sally stopped Jack's inquisitive thoughts in an instant. He looked at Sally in utter surprise…and then he smiled warmly. "Sally," Jack almost laughed—he had to in order to keep himself from maybe actually realizing that he might have been scared, just for a moment… "I don't get scared. I'm the Pumpkin King. I do the scaring. I-I was just…startled. A little surprised by your arm, that's all." He shrugged. Then he looked down as Sally's arm let his hand go, faced toward him for a moment and then drummed its fingers in a clear touch of disbelief. Jack blinked and then glanced away with a little swallow.

Sally raised an eyebrow at first. Then she smiled. Jack really had always had an ego, hadn't he? Her smile grew. "Oh, I see." Her tone became light and playful. "Well, it's too bad you weren't scared then. I bet you're really cute when you're scared, Jack." She leaned in toward him a little, her eyes hazed.

"I'm sure I'm not…um…r-really?" Jack swallowed, feeling himself blanche at the idea. What was she doing? Telling him he must look cute when he was scared?! What kind of thing was that to say to the feared Pumpkin King? And how could he actually maybe be liking the idea of being scared if it meant he looked cute to her?

Sally just nodded, leaning in a little closer, making her gaze a little dreamier. "Oh yes, I'm sure of it. After all," she tried not to giggle, "you were only 'startled' just now, and you looked very cute. So when you're actually scared—oh, if you ever do get scared of course, my Pumpkin King—I bet you look just adorable." She had to giggle now, she just couldn't help herself.

Jack blanched and looked down into his lap, eye sockets wide. Cute was hard enough for him to deal with but adorable? Was she trying to make him faint or something? And how odd was it that with anybody else he would have taken adorable as an insult, but with her it made him feel like aspiring to adorableness as much as possible? "You were cute when you were scared of the spiders in your hair." The words left Jack softly before he could even think about them much.

Sally blinked, but then remembered earlier when he had suggested her doing that for Halloween and her reaction to it. With her attached arm she touched her hair. "Um…thank you."

"I bet you're adorable when you're getting scared by things at Halloween." Jack chuckled, his eyes hazing. He couldn't help himself.

Sally smiled uncontrollably and bit her lip and looked completely downward. "I-I hope…so…" she managed to murmur. Could Jack really find her cute? Adorable? Just as she found him? The idea practically made her giddy inside.

Jack smiled pretty uncontrollably himself and looked down.

The moment was very happy. And so, naturally…Sally's arm wanted to join in. It laced its fingers with Jack's and began to gently touch and savor each little bone of his hand.

"Ah…oh!" Jack all but jumped at the sudden sensation, a strange warmth building in his rib cage and his fingers contracting and then relaxing and trembling a little in the grasp of Sally's arm

Sally saw what the arm was doing and quickly picked it up and removed it from Jack. With the limb safe in her grasp (and a light blush present upon her features), she looked down and tried to smile a little and mumbled to Jack. "S-Sorry…Um…sometimes my parts also get a little restless if they're unstitched too long. Y-You should see what they would do to the Doctor whenever he had hold one of them—my legs always kick him and my arms always try to bop him in the head. My arm was just happy you were happy and she wanted to be near you, Jack, that's all." She shrugged.

"Why would Doctor Finkelstein have one of your limbs?"

Sally looked up to see Jack looking back at her, an eyebrow raised. She bit her lip and did her best to think quickly of a reasonable (and somewhat truthful) reply. "Oh, um…well…I-I am a little clumsy, Jack, so sometimes I would trip or pull a seam and lose a limb. And, um…if the Doctor found one of them while I was out and couldn't come home for a while, sometimes m-my limbs would get restless waiting for me and then start to bother him. That's all."

Jack blinked and smiled again. "Oh." He really didn't know why he had asked the question. Her comment about the Doctor had just seemed strange, he supposed. But she had explained it, and her reasoning made as much sense as anything else in this insane world of theirs. "And, um…it's okay about your arm and your hand, Sally," Jack added, smiling more. "I understand. You—she—you both were just being affectionate with me. And I told you…I really like when you're affectionate." And, honestly, it had just been holding hands…even if it her fingers had entwined with his very intimately in that moment and touched him with a delicacy he had never dreamed of before…and even if earlier when the arm had first 'come to life' it had touched him rather 'extra' affectionately as well in a way that still made him blanch to think about. Sally's limbs really must have personalities of their own, Jack thought, for one of them to do something so very different from the normal reserved actions of Sally. Yet still the limb was a part of Sally, so did it not retain even a little bit of her preferences or her own will? In other words, did the pieces of Sally really just operate on their own terms or did they say something about her personal desires as well? It was certainly a notion worth pondering…. In fact, Jack suspected it would be an interesting preoccupation of his for quite some time.

"Um…thank you, Jack," Sally murmured in reply. She then just focused on her arm, placing the severed end of the unattached limb near the severed end of her upper arm. She had a feeling the sooner she got her arm reattached, the better. 'At this rate, it'll start holding out one of my fingers to him for an engagement ring if I don't get it under control soon.' Sally sighed, trying to keep herself from blushing more as she grabbed a spool of thread out of her pocket. She was upset with her arm, and yet, strangely enough, Sally also found herself feeling…sort of jealous of the limb. Sally couldn't feel the things her body parts felt when they were detached, so her arm had gotten the experience of touching Jack in all of those ways just now and sadly she had not. But maybe, if tonight they could talk, things could progress and she could touch him gently…and he might hold her…. 'Please let everything work out for the best,' she hoped to herself silently. 'I have a good feeling it will, but still…' Sally took a deep breath and tried to put such thoughts away for now as she began to unravel some of the spool of thread.

"Um…Sally?" Jack's voice broke upon her ears and made Sally pause in her actions and glance up a little at him. He looked to her with a small, sheepish smile. "You know, I know I was only 'startled' before by your arm…but that's close to scared, and there actually might have been a little bit of 'being scared' sort of mixed in with it…." He cleared his throat, going on. "So I can't help but wonder if you could do something with your limbs for Halloween that would be scary to everyone else. What do you think?" He shrugged, appearing as optimistic as he had with every other idea for her role in Halloween.

Sally blinked at the suggestion. Her limbs? "Jack, that's nice of you to say, and I appreciate you still thinking about what could make me scary, but I'm not really sure how I could do that." She looked up at Jack hesitantly. "The parade is a very big thing, and it might be hard for me to get any of my limbs to come back afterward if I took them off and they got too overwhelmed by all of the celebrating. And I'd also need some way to get around or someone to help me while my limbs were off of me. And besides, with so many other things going on, I don't think people would pay enough attention to me falling apart for it to scare or even 'startle' them much." She shrugged. "I'm sorry, Jack, I know you're trying.

Jack still just smiled warmly though. "Well, it's a thought for now. Just promise me you'll keep thinking of ideas and trying to find the best way to celebrate Halloween for yourself, Sally? And that you'll share any other ideas you might have with me, for yourself or for anything else?" he encouraged.

Sally smiled more and nodded. "Okay, Jack. I'll let you know if I get any ideas. For now though…" she took up the end of the thread from the spool with her attached hand, "I think I should get myself back together before all of my leaves fall out." And indeed there were a few pieces of leaf scattered here and there on the floor already. Sally glanced up at Jack with half a smile. "Sorry, I'll clean it up, Jack."

Jack just smiled at her and shook his skull though. "Oh no, really, don't worry about it, Sally. Leaves are a part of Halloween after all—a perfect decoration for the Pumpkin King's house." He chuckled.

Sally smiled more and giggled. "Oh, yes, I suppose that's true." Then she looked to the thread resting in her lap and sighed. Normally, of course, she could sew herself together with one hand in a cinch. Right now, though, she felt quite nervous about trying to do it. It occurred to her then that she was nervous about the idea of being closely watched while she sewed herself, and by Jack of all people who was sitting right beside her. And that nervousness suddenly couldn't help but make her clumsy: the spool of thread fell out of her lap and she had to snatch it up and put it back, she had some trouble unwinding more thread from the spool with her one hand, and she took a needle from her hair but then dropped it in her lap and had to search for it among the patches of her dress.

Meanwhile, Jack watched her politely at first but then couldn't help but offer softly, "Do you need any help, Sally?"

Sally almost blushed a little at the question, glancing up at him. "Oh, um…I think I'll be fine, Jack. I'm just a little tired, I guess. Um…normally I can do this in only a few seconds, even with one arm, really," she smiled sheepishly. "It's just that I…well…um…I don't know…" she finished in a mumble.

"Sally, it's all right," Jack quickly assured. "We were just talking about your arm so much that you're probably a little self-conscious now. If you do want any help though, I'm here for you, even just to hold the spool of thread or something small."

Sally smiled, and it instantly occurred to her that there was one thing very helpful Jack could do for her. "Well, there is one thing…" she held up the thread and needle in her attached hand. "Will you thread the needle for me, Jack? That's the hardest part of trying to do this one handed."

Jack smiled happily and nodded. "Of course. Anything I can do, my darling!" He took the needle and thread from her. Then he held up the end of the thread with one hand and held up the needle with the other and pushed.

The needle didn't thread.

Jack blinked and looked at the items curiously. He tried it again this time, slowly. But the thread just bunched up against the eye of the needle. No threading.

Now he pouted in frustration and looked very intently at the thread and needle. He pushed very, very slowly. Still nothing.

Jack frowned very much now. "I…I'm sorry, Sally." He bit his lower lip. "I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong."

"It's okay, Jack," Sally assured, smiling warmly at him. "You don't sew much, do you?"

Jack blinked at the question. "Um…no. Never, actually. I always just had the witches mend things if I ever needed it." He considered more. "Sewing…it just seemed like it would require a lot of patience and time and detail, and I'm normally so energetic about things that I never thought I would be very good at it, I guess, and so I never tried."

Sally nodded. "That makes sense, Jack. But still it's a nice habit to practice—it keeps you calm and focused, and it lets you think. You should try it sometime if you feel you're under stress. I think you would like it." She smiled more and added, "Anyway, about the thread, just stick the end in your mouth to wet it a little with the tip of your tongue. That'll make it firmer. And then you just hold up the end of the needle and the thread close to your eyes, and gently bring them together. And that should thread the needle. All right?"

Jack nodded. He opened his mouth to insert the thread, but then hesitated for a moment and looked at her again. "Um…my tongue's forked, Sally. It doesn't have a tip. Will it still work?" he asked sincerely.

Sally blinked and blushed a tiny bit but managed to nod in reply. "Y-Yes, your tongue will work, Jack…as long as the thread gets wet."

Jack, just nodded again, and then proceeded to follow her needle threading instructions. It took him a light push or two but then, lo and behold, the needle threaded.

Jack smiled brightly. "Oh thank you, Sally! That worked perfectly!" Then he blinked and held out the threaded needle to her. "Oh, um—for you, of course. I hope it's close to as good as you would have done with it."

Sally giggled. "Jack, it's a threaded needle—there's no better or worse way to do it. But thank you, it's just perfect." She took the threaded needle from him and then got her severed arm into position. She knew the sewing was going to be a tiny bit difficult (as it usually was whenever she lost an arm) and that she was still a tiny bit nervous about doing this with Jack watching her, but she would manage. And maybe by watching her, Jack might even learn how…to…to…

"Jack…" Sally paused before starting her first stitch and looked up at him with a smile.

He had been watching her limb with interest, and now at being addressed he looked to her eyes and smiled at her again. "Yes, Sally? Anything else you need help with? Should I hold your arm steady for you maybe?"

Sally smiled a little more. "Actually…" she held out the threaded needle to him, "…A second pair of hands is always nice for sewing myself whenever I lose an arm. So…would you like to sew my arm on for me, Jack? You could get practice with sewing. It'll be easy, I promise."

Jack blinked, was speechless for a moment, and then words started tumbling out of him in stutters. "O-Oh, I don't, um…Sally…I-I really don't know what I'm doing, a-and I wouldn't want to mess up, and it's sweet of you to offer, but…" Sewing Sally? He would bungle that in an instant, he knew it.

"You won't mess up…" Sally soothed warmly. "It's impossible to mess up on me, Jack. I'm a rag doll—I'm just a bunch of pieces of cloth randomly put together. And you can go slowly, and I'll help you. And also it really would be nice for me to have someone around who knew how to put me together in case I needed it." That really had been one comforting things bout living with the Doctor—he knew how to put her together. It would be nice to have that same comfort from Jack. "But you don't have to if you don't want to," she added politely and sincerely, "I know it's a little awkward to ask."

"N-No, um…I mean…well…" Jack sighed—Sally had such faith in him, and it seemed like him doing this and knowing how to do this really would help her…. Besides, it was sort of an intriguing idea: holding a piece of Sally's body and putting it together. He wanted to try, he realized. "I-I could try to sew you." Jack blanched a little and then blinked and quickly added, "But, Sally, you're not just pieces of cloth randomly put together. I mean, you're much more, you're…crafted so nicely." He glanced away from her shyly.

Sally tried not to blush too much. "Oh, um…thank you." She did her best not to giggle. "I-I guess what I meant was, um…it's not like my seams have to be sewn a certain way or anything. They can go and look any way at all. You can even make new seams, and it's fine. So you don't have to worry, Jack. Whatever you do will be all right, and I'll help you, like I said."

"I'll do my very best, Sally." Jack's eyes returned to hers, and he smiled once more. He reached out then and took the threaded needle from her.

Sally smiled and put the ends of her severed limb together, and then used her attached limb to hold them out toward Jack.

Jack seemed fine for a moment, but then as he looked down, holding up the needle, he hesitated. "Um…so I just…put the needle in near where the seam should be?"

Sally nodded. "Yes. And don't be afraid to push a little. The cloth of my skin is a little thick. Just push until you feel it go through. Then the needle will hit the leaves inside, and then just guide the needle to bring it up through the cloth on the other end of my arm, and then put the needle through the loop of thread and pull to make a knot to hold the thread in place. Then once you have the knot, you just keep guiding the needle down through one end of my arm and up through the other end before you tie it off again with a knot at the last stitch. It's a lot simpler than it sounds, I promise."

Jack still seemed a little unsure, but nodded with determination. "Okay. Here it goes…" He put a hand on the side of her arm to help steady them both, and then brought the needle down to her cloth skin. He bit his lip and pushed. The needle didn't go through right away, and that scared him a little ('Um, s-startled, not scared, heh…' he quickly thought to himself). But Jack pushed a little harder until suddenly the needle went through! He blinked and then looked up at Sally and smiled. "Hey, it went through, Sally!"

Sally giggled. "Yes, it did. See, I knew you could do it. Now just keep going and don't think about it too much." She smiled more. "Thank you for your help, Jack, I really appreciate it." Inside, she shivered as she felt Jack proceeding to sew her. She didn't know why, but the action just felt so intimate to her. Whenever the Doctor used to stitch her up after running away, his attitude and insistence on strapping her into the lab table first had always made her so mad! Even if she was a little grateful for his help, who was he to act all superior—like without him she would just fall apart into a pile of limbs and never be able to save herself? She could put herself back together just fine, in fact! And now, even if she ever couldn't, she would have Jack to help her. Indeed, it felt absolutely wonderful to have Jack helping her like that right now, taking his time and putting in so much tender effort all for her care. She moved closer to him on the sofa. "Thank you for taking care of me, Jack," she murmured gratefully.

"N-No, problem, Sally…" Jack murmured back with a little smile. "Um…and do the stitches I'm doing feel too tight or too loose or anything like that?"

Sally shook her head. "No, it's perfect. The Doctor would always make them too tight, but yours are just right." She smiled more.

"Oh. Good…" Jack continued stitching. Inside, he was trembling and felt warm. He hadn't touched her for this long or this closely before. Sure, there had been that night he had spent cozied up with her in her room, but he had been asleep for that. But it was so nice to really touch her skin now, to get a close glimpse of her seams, to feel himself gently working with her body. She made him very curious, and he felt a twinge of that compulsion he'd always had to know more about curious things. He did his best to suppress such thoughts for now though and to keep himself calm and focused on his task. "The shade of your cloth is pretty," Jack suddenly commented, unable to help himself (and also hoping some conversation might make him feel a little less nervous).

Sally's grin picked up on one side and she blushed a little. "Oh. Um…thanks. I-It's nothing special—just sort of blue."

Jack smiled a little more and glanced up at her a little. "It's like ice and moonlight. I really like it. And it looks splendid with the color of your hair."

Sally smiled fully and looked down. "Thank you," was all she could murmur. Then she swallowed and added, "Um, I like the color of your bones, Jack."

Jack blinked, almost faltering in his gentle stitching, and glanced up at her more fully now. "What? Sally, my bones don't have a color."

Sally blinked and met his gaze again. "Yes, they do." She leaned closer, letting herself see the color of his skull from close up. "They're not just white, they're…a warm white. Like ivory. It's nice. It makes you seem warm too."

Jack's eye sockets went very wide, and then he looked down to his stitching again with a trembly smile upon his lips. "I never thought of that. I-I'm glad that you like the color, then."

Sally smiled and sat a tiny bit back again as she and Jack turned her arm so he could continue sewing around the broken seam.

Jack cleared his throat, attempting to continue the soothing action of conversation. "So, um...do you need me to get anymore leaves for your stuffing before I finish the seam, Sally, or do you have enough inside of you even though you lost some?"

Sally smiled and shook her head. "Oh no, it's fine, Jack. I only lost a few pieces. But thank you anyway."

A touch of relief came to Jack's smile as he glanced to her eyes. "No problem, Sally." He looked downward again, continuing to sew, and then chuckled a little to himself.

Sally raised an eyebrow. "Something in your mind, Jack?"

Jack blinked a couple of times and shrugged. "Oh, um…never mind, you'll think it's silly."

Sally blinked. "Silly?" She smiled more. "No I won't, Jack. Of course not. What is it? Please tell me."

And of course Jack could not refuse such a simple, sweet request. And so he told her. "I never thought you would be full of leaves. I thought that you would be full of white fluff—like the bears."

Sally raised an eyebrow again. "Ah…bears?" She hadn't been sure where to begin, so she had picked there.

"The Christmas bears. The stuffed ones." Jack looked even more awkward now. He sewed a bit more quickly. "For learning about Christmas, I took some stuffed bears and dissected them, and…they were full of fluffy whiteness. So I thought you might be full of the same thing." He sighed, glancing up at her and pausing in his sewing now. "I'm sorry. That's very silly. I don't know why it occurred to me. And you're not a bear, of course. But I didn't want to dissect that little dolly I got from Christmas Town. I could only find one to take, and I figured she must be just like the bears inside, but the bears all got ruined after I dissected them. And I tried to put them back together, but I kept just ending up with two-headed bears or no-headed bears or bears with scary grins every time I tried to piece them together." He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "I can't seem to make anything that isn't scary when I try. I'm afraid I'm doomed to be the essence of Halloween forever." He sighed and chuckled, unable to help himself.

Sally looked back at him, torn between an intrigued smile and a little frown of sympathy. "Jack, even if everything you create has something to do with Halloween, I think your creations are beautiful. So what if you couldn't make a traditional Christmas teddy bear—I bet your Halloween bears were very unique and that people would love them for what they are, just like people love you for who you are." She swallowed and then added softly, "And it's not strange that you would think I would be full of white fluff. It was nice of you to think about me at all. But, no, I'm just leaves inside…so I guess both of us are doomed to always have something of Halloween about us." Sally could control her severed arm now since it was only a few stitches away from being reattached, and so she grasped his lower arm with her hand and squeezed it gently.

Jack had just been making the closing knot on Sally's seam, and as her hand squeezed his arm he blinked and the thread snapped, leaving his sewing done. Her words were so sweet... He gave a very small smile and whispered softly to her, "I always think about you now, Sally. I like to get to know you. And…if we're both 'doomed'," he chuckled, "I'll be happy as long as we can be 'doomed' together." He looked into her eyes, something dreamy in his eye sockets.

Sally trembled, and a wobbly smile came to her features. "Yes, together…Okay, Jack," she cooed softly and giggled.

Jack's smile grew a little and he leaned a little closer to her. "I'd like that."

Sally's smile grew too. She felt her breaths growing shallow at his closeness. "M-Me too."

Interestingly enough, Sally felt a compulsion to kiss Jack now very different from the ones she had felt so far since Christmas. It wasn't a desire to hold him and kiss tenderly for as long as they could manage, nor a desire to get lost in some heated moment of passionate kissing with him…It was just a desire to give a small kiss to his lips just for fun. But if she did, would she really be able to control herself afterward? She still wanted to talk to him about her thoughts about their relationship so far and of course the Doctor. She couldn't let herself be distracted again. It took a lot but she managed, with a blush, to just smile softly and glance away shyly. "You're so kind, Jack. Thank you…" she whispered.

Jack meanwhile, was trying to control a compulsion or two of his own. She was so close and acting so shy again. He liked shy, shy worked on her, and shy apparently worked on him quite a bit too. Shy made him curious, made him want to …"Hmm…" Jack sighed softly through his nose and then pulled back. He had just given the corner of Sally's mouth a lingering little kiss.

Sally just sat there, eyes wide, her face all rosy. Her smile grew considerably.

Jack smiled back at her so warmly. "Dearest friends for eternity…. It's a date then."

Sally giggled and then leaned over and kissed his nonexistent little nose. She pulled back, beaming. "Okay, it's a date."

Jack beamed quite a bit himself. Then he sighed softly and looked down to his sewing once more. He blinked, realizing that he had completed everything. He looked up and held out the needle and thread to Sally. "Here you are, darling. Your arm's all reattached, and thank you for the sewing lesson."

Sally took the items, slipping the thread into her pocket and the needle into her hair. "Thank you, Jack. And thank you again for taking care of me like this."

Jack smiled graciously. "Of course." Then he touched her other arm with his other hand and smiled. "Come on, Sally. I'll help you bring your sewing machine up to your room for now. We can work on it up there next time since that's where you'll be using it anyway, all right? And then down here for now we can do a little more work on the Halloween plans and then rest a little before our date tonight." Jack prepared to stand up from the sofa.

Sally nodded and prepared to stand up as well. "Of course, Jack, we'll—O-oh! Ah!"

"Whoa!"

There was a small commotion as the two lovers stood up, and then suddenly toppled, and now Jack and Sally lay fallen to the floor together between the couch and the coffee table!

Of course both of their first reactions were to try and stand again and figure out what had happened. Yet, such efforts proved futile—no matter how they moved, somehow they both remained stuck on the floor.

"I-I'm so sorry, Sally, here, let me lift my arm and—"

"Ow! Jack, why did you pull my arm?" Sally blinked and pouted.

Jack blinked and frowned. "But, I didn't, I just raised my arm and—"

"Ow! Jack!" Not that Sally really felt pain, but it was never fun to feel a limb yanked a way it shouldn't go.

And now, lying there tangled up together, both blinking and examining their limbs, Jack and Sally understood why Jack raising his arm would cause Sally to feel her arm yanked upward.

It seemed Jack had accidentally sewn his coat sleeve to the seam on Sally's arm.

At the sight, Jack's eye sockets went wide, and he instinctively, in his embarrassment, tried to move or pull himself from her instead of just up from the floor. Yet, his efforts only caused them to topple more and for Jack to twist the wrong way, and then… "Oh!" Jack breathed heavily, looking down with wide eye sockets. It seemed now he was lying on top of Sally. He blinked several times, just staring at her as he tried to catch his breath and process their change in position.

Sally blinked once, realized what had happened, and then couldn't help a bright little smile coming to her lips. She almost wanted to giggle too actually at the nice little thoughts that started to cross her mind in this unexpected moment. Thoughts like how Jack's weight upon her was a bit firmer than she had always imagined it would be—did that mean he was stronger than he looked? Interesting…. And thoughts about how she had never imagined him so close to her on a floor of all places. And thoughts about how, in a way, this moment together was much more intimate than that simple night they had spent together with his arm around her. And thoughts about how she had always wondered what Jack might do next in a situation like this with her…and thoughts about what she wanted them to do together that she felt she would be too shy to admit to anybody ever (except maybe him one day very privately in the future)…

"Um…heh…" Meanwhile, Jack just smiled sheepishly, feeling more and more awkward with each little movement and shift of his body. "Um, sorry…" He took a deep breath and then managed to get off to the side of her again, though it took him a moment and hadn't been easy. She was very, very soft, it seemed, and it was hard for his thin bones not to sink in her warm cloth a little. And it was difficult to push away from a woman in general apparently since every place you touched to do so seemed more awkward than the last. It was just like trying to get himself away from her on the floor when he had woken up last night but infinitely more difficult. Now, however, Jack was off of Sally finally and the two were lying side by side.

Jack let out a deep sigh and just frowned, lifting up his skull and glancing at Sally. "I am so sorry, Sally. I can't believe I did that with your seam. You must think I'm so silly." He sighed and closed his eye sockets, and then let his head rest on the floor. "And I made you fall too. I'm sorry," he added sadly.

Sally, turning a little on her side to face him, blushed and gave him a happy smile…. But then that happy smile quickly became a light giggle which quickly became warm laughter that she couldn't help.

Jack opened his eye sockets and then cringed a little. She was laughing at him. But who could blame her? He couldn't even sew a seam properly. 'She's a master seamstress and I'm a grown man—she must think I'm ridiculous.'

Sally noticed Jack's sad look and instantly got herself more under control, though she still smiled a lot. "Oh Jack, I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you or anything. It's just…it's funny. I don't think you're silly, and you don't have to apologize. It's funny—we're sewed together. Is it really so bad, Jack?" She smiled more and moved a little bit closer to him.

Jack blinked, looking a little shy first, but then finally couldn't help smiling too. He even laughed a little. "I guess it's a little…a little…" He laughed more. "Yes, it's funny, Sally."

The two shared a warm chuckle together, then finally sat themselves up side by side on the floor.

"I'm still sorry that I messed up your seam, Sally. If you want, I can remove the thread and try again," Jack offered with a smile.

Sally smiled in return but shook her head. "That's okay, Jack. It's only a few stitches that have us together. Here…" She looked closely at the seam, found the three or four stitches binding them together, and then tugged at a little piece of thread that quickly snapped, setting them both free. "There, all better."

Jack's coat was fine and Sally's arm just had a little opening near the seam. "Thank you, Sally." Jack looked to the seam. "Do you want me to sew up that little hole?"

Sally shook her head. "It's okay, Jack, I'll just take care of it later. And besides you've already done so much for me with trying to learn to sew and letting me help you with Halloween plans and working on my sewing machine."

"I know," Jack shrugged. "But I love helping you, Sally, and you help me too. It's been a wonderful afternoon. Even if I do have to go to work tomorrow, I'm happy we ended up spending today together." He sighed. "I know it must be boring for you here when I go out. You're like me, Sally—you like having projects. That's why I'm so happy you liked helping me with Halloween planning, and that's why I promise I'll get your sewing machine up and running very soon, that way you can help people with your expert seamstress skills and create any new designs that come to mind and so you can make yourself as many lovely patchwork dresses as you want or even do repairs on yourself more efficiently if it's necessary."

Sally felt a twinge of guilt as his determination to make her sewing machine work and at his admission of having loved staying here with her today instead of going to work. But then the full extent of his sweet compliment processed, and she had to smile just a little. "You really think my patchwork dresses are lovely, Jack? And that I'm an expert seamstress?"

Jack blanched a little and smiled more. He nodded. "Just as much as you think I'm the 'master of fright' and that my pinstripes are cute, Sally."

Sally beamed a little. "I'm happy you like my style, Jack."

Jack's grin picked up on one side. "I'm happy you like my style too, Sally."

They were quiet and happy for a moment, and then sighed Jack and addressed her softly. "Sally, maybe we should put aside anything else and just take a rest before our date tonight. I'd like to start it a little earlier than usual. I have some things I'd like to talk to you about."

Sally raised an eyebrow but did smile and nod. "Of course, Jack, we can start earlier. But, um…what did you want to talk about? Is everything all right?"

Jack blinked. "All right? Oh, of course." He smiled reassuringly. "I just wanted to talk to you about some things and about us. That's all." He shrugged…and then a yawn he couldn't help overtaking him. "But I really could use a little nap first. I haven't been sleeping well, I think." He blinked a few times, his eye sockets drooping a little, though the smile remained upon his lips.

"Oh. Okay, Jack." Sally nodded and tried to smile again as she added, "Um…I wanted to talk to you a little too, actually. But I think you're right, a little nap first might be helpful, and then we can go out and spend the evening together. I'd like that." Her smile became more confident.

Jack's smile faltered just a little now though. "Um…I'm glad, Sally, but…is everything okay? There's nothing wrong or troubling you that you need to talk about, is there?" He frowned slightly.

Sally swallowed but shook her head. "N-No, not really. I just wanted to mention some things, that's all."

Jack nodded and tried to let his smile return. "Oh. Okay. Well, we'll do that then."

Sally took a deep breath and nodded too. "Yes…okay."

They just remained smiling at each other, looking into each other's eyes tenderly. Then Jack's grin picked up on one side a little and held out his hand to her. "May I help you up, my fair lady?" he asked sweetly.

Sally giggled and put her hand in his with a nod. "Of course. Thank you, my dashing Pumpkin King."

Jack stood and helped pull her up with a warm grin. "You're quite welcome, my, delightful dolly."

"Thank you, Jack." Sally smiled more. "I had a very good time this afternoon. I can't wait for tonight."

Jack nodded. "Me either."

"And I can't wait for Halloween," Sally added. "I think it will be our most horrible yet."

Jack chuckled and nodded again. "I think it will be too."

Sally smiled a little sheepishly, glancing down. "And…will you mind having a dearest friend for Halloween who might not end up being able to scare anybody?" She shrugged.

Jack blinked at the question. Then he tilted his skull to the side and smiled all the more. "Only if you won't mind having a dearest friend who, for better or worse, isn't really good at anything but being scary." His grin grew. "The two headed bears—remember? And you should have seen me trying to cut out paper snowflakes—they all turned into spiders webs." He laughed.

Sally had to laugh too. "Oh, we'll work out something, Jack, for next Halloween and for next Christmas." She put her arms around his neck and smiled up at him brightly.

Jack blinked and looked at her with interest. "Sally, you'd really celebrate Christmas with me again? Even after I messed everything up so badly."

Sally nodded. "Of course, Jack. I wouldn't help you steal Christmas—that would be wrong. But celebrating is fine. It would be nice to be able to celebrate all of the holidays one day actually. And even if only you and I want to celebrate, we could make a nice little Christmas together, don't you think?"

Jack positively beamed. "I…I…oh yes, I do think so, I really do!" he shouted and suddenly picked her up, twirled her around and give her a beautiful kiss right on her cheek before setting her down. "Thank you, Sally, I would love that! You're the best dearest friend there ever was, and I adore you!"

Sally just stood there, smiling and looking a little dazed. "Uh…oh, um…of course, Jack. No problem." She blushed and giggled.

Jack chuckled. "Oh dear, I didn't mean to overwhelm you, Sally. I'll tell you what, you get upstairs and take that little nap we talked about, and I'll take mine down here, and then we'll go on our nice, peaceful rowboat date in a few hours. And don't worry, I'll take care of cleaning up down here. All right?" He gently turned her in the direction of the attic door.

Sally regained some composure and just nodded dreamily. "O-Okay, Jack. Thank you. I'll take a little rest, and then I'll see you soon." She walked over to the attic entrance (wobbling quite a bit as she did so, much to Jack's amusement). As she reached the pull down stairs and let them descend, she paused and turned back to Jack with an adoring gaze, giving him a little wave. "Bye for now, my Pumpkin King."

Jack waved too, looking a little dreamy himself. "Bye for now, my Sally doll."

Sally giggled to herself and turned away, starting to head up the stairs.

Jack sighed blissfully and turned back to their Halloween planning to clean everything up…and maybe to spend some time adding some finishing touches to their designs as long as the plans were out.

He had to pause though as Sally suddenly descended a little and ducked her head back in the room. "And, Jack?" she called sweetly to him with a little grin.

"Hmm?" Jack looked over his shoulder at her with a smile. "Yes, darling?"

Sally smiled a little more. "Don't spend this time you're supposed to be using to rest doing more with the Halloween plans, please. You've done a lot already—we both have. So just put them away for now and please really do take a nap. For me." She frowned a little as she added, "You're starting to look a little pale…even for a skeleton."

Jack almost wanted to laugh at her knowing him so well. But he knew to take her advice seriously as well. And he figured the 'pale' comment was probably true. He really was starting to feel worn out more and more ever since Christmas. And so he sighed and smiled and gave her a gracious bow. "I did make you a promise that I would take better care of myself, and I will fulfill that promise. I will just clean up and take a nap, Sally. You have my word."

Sally's smile grew. "Thank you, Jack. Goodnight for now." She kissed her palm and blew it to him.

Jack smiled warmly and then kissed his bony palm blew it to her as well. "Goodnight for now, Sally…" he whispered in return.

Sally gave Jack another little wave and then disappeared entirely.

Jack waved as he watched her go. And then he did turn around and just simply put away the pencils, protractors and other such tools, and rolled up the Halloween plans they had dreamed up so far to put them aside on his desk. Already he could feel himself yawning again. He sat down on the sofa for a moment, taking off his jacket.

The feeling of a weight in his jacket made him pause and investigate.

Jack smiled. Of course—in his breast pocket was another little bag of candies from Flora. 'Oh, why not? I do like sweets. And she did always say to eat them before bed. Nap time must be just as good.' Jack took out a couple of candies and ate them. They tasted strange and wonderful as usual.

A few seconds passed, and Jack just felt more and more tired. He felt like he could have fallen asleep right out here. Come to think of it, though, it really was a comfortable sofa, and it sort of smelled like Sally now, and his jacket didn't make a half bad pillow…so that's exactly what Jack did. Barely a moment later, he was indeed resting on the sofa with his skull propped up by his jacket and his eye sockets closed, a big smile on his face. And as he breathed in and out, the name Sally started to be audible in his sleepy whispers.

Jack's skeletal grin grew.

A/N:

That's all for now! I really hope you all enjoyed this, and I'm sorry for the cliffhanger ^^ But I promise, more drama and romance to come with Jack's third visit to Sally. Things escalate quickly lol. Please review, and thank you again for reading!

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna