A/N:

Hi everyone! Thank you for your patience (sorry, busy weekend lol). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter-lots of drama lol ^_^ Please review if you can!

Dearest Friends

Chapter 14:

Halloween and Valentine's Day Collide

Among the lovely pinks and pastels of her holiday world, and deep within the stately marble town hall that stood at the center of it all, a certain Heart Queen sat at a table scattered with doilies and strings of paper hearts and dozens of fresh roses. At the other end of the table, a certain golden-robed Magistrate named Marigold (her half-moon rose glasses off at the moment) was recording things on scrolls and using an abacus to calculate some things and talking on and on most animatedly.

Flora, however, had very little awareness of these activities. In fact, for several minutes now she had just been staring off to the side at something, her brow slightly furrowed, her eyes bright as diamonds with her concentration.

"…So if we can just get you to deliver the arrows to the humans on a three-second rotating basis, we can easily manage to have you out of their realm and back here in time for our usual full parade and a peaceful light reception afterwards at sunset! Followed by the Awards Ceremony of course!" Mari announced with a bright smile, holding up her quill, her tone full of pride at having discovered the final detail to making the holiday go off perfectly (again) this year. "Isn't that lovely?"

Silence.

Mari's smile fell. "Isn't that lovely?" she tried again (more weakly this time).

Still nothing.

Marigold blinked and then scowled. "You have not been listening to a word I've said, have you?" Her tone was level but full of frustration.

Still absolutely nothing from the Queen.

Marigold stood up, her tone and features going dry. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm staging a coup. I suppose there are some leader-types who want to steal the holidays of others, but personally I'm happy keeping this an internal affair. Please have your bags packed and be out of our world by the end of the month. All hail Queen Marigold."

Nothing but a sigh and a light, distracted mumble of, "Yes, that's nice…."

Marigold closed her eyes, let out a calming breath, and then walked over to Flora, got right in front of her, and knelt down. She did her best to put on a patient smile. "Flora, my dear old friend, I need you to work with me a little, please. I may be the political heart of our nation, but you're the spirit of it. I cannot make these decisions by myself, and considering how close we are to our holiday, I think I've been very patient lately. Now, tell me what's wrong, let's resolve it, and then we can get back to finalizing holiday planning before I have a heart attack, all right? Please, for me, let's pull this off one more time, hmm?"

Flora finally sighed and blinked a few times, her eyes becoming like soft prisms again. She smiled a little to her friend. "I'm sorry, Mari. If I ever don't listen though, you know it's just because I trust your judgment implicitly." She sighed, her smile falling a little. "My own judgment though…I worry about that sometimes." Her eyes went across the room again.

Marigold blinked and then followed her gaze. Seeing nothing of great interest though, she sighed. "Okay, I give up, Flora. What is it?"

"The dying flowers in the vase."

Marigold's eyes went to a corner, and sure enough on a pedestal there was a vase filled with a dozen fading and dead roses. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is that all? I'll replace them." She went to move forward.

"No…" Flora held up a hand. "Just leave them for a moment." She sighed. "My intuition's been bothering me lately about something…and those flowers make me wonder."

Marigold brought her hand to her temple and rubbed gently, her eyes closed. "This is about the Pumpkin King, isn't it?"

Flora nodded. "Yes…. He seems like his problems about love are average, but I've just been having a bad feeling lately, and especially as he's told me more and more about how nervous he is and about how very important it is to him to have things work out with his true love." Her brow furrowed lightly again. "Dying flowers…their scent is always strongest, more potent. You'd think death would temper potency of some things, but it actually might do just the opposite." Her eyes went a little wide. She looked to Marigold. "I think there's a chance I made a mistake helping Jack the way I did, Marigold."

Marigold smiled softly. "You see—you can trust your own judgment, Flora. It just takes that judgment of yours a little while to come around sometimes."

Flora smiled a little.

Marigold sighed and stepped back. "Now, how about we finish up with a few more notes on holiday planning, and then you can write a letter to Jack telling him about your concerns, and I'll send some doves through the Halloween holiday door to deliver it to him, hmm?" She smiled down at her Queen.

Flora smiled back up at her in kind of a funny way.

Then Flora took a breath. "Mari, I'm so sorry about this." And suddenly she bolted up from her seat and towards the Town Hall exit. "If there's a problem, I really should see to it myself!" she called over her shoulder. "Jack's become such a good friend, and it wouldn't be good for holiday diplomacy if he ended up hurt because of me! I'll just pop into Halloween Town and be back soon! By dinner…or by the weekend the latest if I don't get too distracted! I'm sure you can hold down the fort! Bye!" And just like that she was already gone, dashing along in her airy quick way to the holiday forest of her world.

Marigold just stood there with her jaw dropped for several seconds. Then she glanced around practically in a panic. But then her eyes went back to the town hall exit and narrowed. "Oh no, you are not doing this to me now, Heart Queen. And you are not going off to another world without me there to drag you back here as soon as possible."

And with that, Marigold folded up their Valentine's Day plans, put some blank scrolls and quills in her robe pockets, and then went off at a stately march toward the Holiday Forest

While a Queen had been reconsidering her actions lately, and while Jack and Sally had been sharing moments and keeping secrets and finally separating in an awkward moment of realization and fear, the citizens of Halloween Town had been going through a few crises of their own at the current town meeting.

In fact, along with being worried over Sally's disappearance (and over the possibility that whatever was left of Oogie Boogie could be somehow involved), every citizen was more concerned about Jack and his welfare than they ever had been before in the history of Halloween Town.

First…well, there had been the whole 'Christmas' thing. All right, Jack was their leader and they truly trusted him to have their best interests at heart, and so for a while this 'new holiday' had sort of seemed like it could work out—sort of like a 'Halloween 2' to break up the year between each 'Halloween 1.' But then Jack had started wanting such…odd and strange things from them (and not the good kind of 'odd' and 'strange'). Smiling things and soft things and cuddly things…and even pink things! Pink! He had used words like 'fresh' and 'pleasant' and 'dollies' and 'sugar plums' with just as much sincerity as he had always used words like 'rotting' and 'horrible' and 'vampire bats' and 'toadstools'…. But the citizens had willingly gone along with his ideas because he was their king (though there had been doubts among the people to say the least.)

When Jack had nearly gotten destroyed, though, then they had known this whole Christmas thing had been just wrong, wrong, so very wrong. As the Mayor had said, he had felt it in his gut. But then Jack had come back, and he seemed to be okay and singing and dancing like usual. He had even gotten rid of that bothersome Oogie Boogie. And so as the snow had fallen and their king had taken his rightful place among them once more, everything had seemed great…at first.

But now Jack had been scarce again—up brooding in his tower once more about who knew what kind of craziness (as the light almost constantly shining out of his tower window couldn't help but indicate). Oh sure he had popped down the other day and said a few quick hellos, went into town and bought some strange gears and parts, and quite a bit more food than their thin skeleton leader usually ate, and even some fabric (quite a bit of fabric actually, and in colors which Jack usually didn't seem to wear or decorate with.) But now he had gone and disappeared again, and it had been days and he still hadn't come to town hall for Halloween planning yet—so what in the world was he doing? The townspeople almost feared to ask him out of worry that doing so might trigger another manic obsession in their pumpkin king or another long trip by him to a faraway world to bring back even more strange and troublesome things to their own happy, horrible town.

Yet, despite all of these major points of concern regarding Jack, the main issue at hand for the town at their current town meeting really was Sally and her whereabouts…and Oogie Boogie.

"Attention, attention, everyone! This is serious!" the Mayor called out to the crowd, banging his gavel and wearing his worrisome face as he stood upon the town hall stage before everyone. "We have an emergency! We need to find Sally and make sure that Oogie Boogie isn't back!" He looked around at the various members of the audience. "We have to have someone go down into that lair and investigate! Are there any volunteers?"

The crowd mumbled a bit more, but most of its members just glanced away and clearly tried to avoid being noticed.

"Why can't we just have Jack go?" asked Zeldabourne in her little voice.

That suggestion got some murmurs and assents from the crowd.

"Yeah! Jack brave!" Behemoth supplied.

"Yes, and he makes walls fall and mountains crack! He's the best to go check!" added Undersea Gal.

The Mayor sighed. "But Jack's still…indisposed! I really don't think we ought to disturb him until he's ready to come back to town. After all, considering all he's been through lately, I'm sure we can all agree that a rest is probably the best thing for him." The Mayor tried his best to smile with his worried face, though really he wished he could just put on his happy face for everyone to give them confidence in how things would play out with Jack. In fact, Jack had been so erratic, so unlike his usual bony, terrifying self lately that the Mayor honestly hoped he would rest for as long as possible to get back to being the Pumpkin King they all knew and loved. And yet still, with just how many days Jack had been scarce, the Mayor was starting to feel a little on edge himself (though he knew the last thing he could do was express any of that doubt to the citizens.) The Mayor sighed and tried to move things along. "We can all discuss Jack later. For now we need to focus on Sally and Oogie Boogie!"

"Erm!" Doctor Finkelstein suddenly cleared his throat and wheeled forward now, addressing the crowd. "I understand that we would all feel most comfortable with Jack taking care of things, but he does not seem to be available for much at the moment. Possibly the fight with Oogie and his Christmas flight fatigued him more than we realized. But certainly even if Oogie Boogie has survived somehow he must be very weak. I would check into the matter myself, but my chair won't permit me to go down into his lair at the gorge, and Jewel is so new to this world that it would not be safe for her to venture down to such a treacherous place alone." There were murmurs of assent and understanding from the crowd, so Dr. Finkelstein went on. "I think it would be most sensible for all of us to ban together and head over to Oogie's lair sometime after dawn tomorrow morning. The daylight will make it easier for all of us to examine the area, and perhaps one more night of rest and solitude is just what Jack needs before he would feel up to joining us. In the meantime, we can investigate around the town and the outlying areas to the hinterlands for Sally to see if perhaps she has just run off again or is hurt or lost somewhere nearby. I believe that would be our best course of action."

Jewel, meanwhile, just stood behind the Doctor and beamed and nodded at his plan, secretly admiring his brilliance and sensibility. He was always so together and so smart about things, and he was really caring deep down in his own way…. Jewel was starting to have a strange 'sensation' come over herself for him, though it was hard for her to place what it was. She knew there were these 'things' other people experienced—'emotions' was the best word she had found in the Doctor's books to describe them. And she knew she didn't seem to have access to them. Though Jewel suspected (and quite accurately) that the Doctor could experience 'emotions' and that the reason for this divide between them had something to do with each of them possessing only half of a shared brain…specifically the doctor having the right side—the creative side, the sensitive side, the intuitive side—and herself having the left side—the analytical side, the scientific side, the side based in hard facts and reason. Jewel could only really care about Sally's whereabouts as a logical puzzle to be solved, whereas the Docor could care about Sally's whereabouts on a much more personal level than he ever had before.

Meanwhile, murmurs were going throughout the crowd as the townspeople seemed to be discussing and agreeing the Doctor's proposal.

"Are you kidding me?" Shock suddenly called out from the crowd though. "All of you really think you can take on Oogie Boogie without Jack?" She grinned as all eyes turned to her. "He'd pick you off one by one if he had the chance."

"Yeah, and besides," Lock added from his place in the audience with a grin, "Jack's our king—shouldn't helping him come first?" He shrugged 'innocetly.'

"Yup!" Barrel agreed. "I say we stay here and talk a whole lot about Jack and slowly work our way up to getting him. Who cares about old what's her name anyway?" He shrugged and licked his lollipop.

"She is my creation, and I care," Dr. Finkelstein suddenly announced gruffly, a stern scowl upon his features. "And one way or another I intend to find out what has happened to her as soon as possible for her own safety as well as for the safety of the town. Jack is not missing, Jack is not hurt—Jack can take care of himself. And for now we have to take care of ourselves, and doing so includes taking care of Sally. And we will search for her now just the same as we would want the town to search for any of us if we had gone missing under such mysterious circumstances."

The crowd began to talk excitedly, the opinion of the room clearly ready to go either way.

Suddenly the Mayor cleared his throat and addressed everyone again, ready to use his humble skills as an elected official to guide the room to a final decision. "Now, now, please, the Doctor makes an excellent point. We have to do what's best for one of our citizens who might be in danger, which is a far more important subject than Jack still needing some time to himself to sort out his thoughts. A search party will be efficient for getting to the bottom of things, and if we find anything amiss near Oogie's lair, I'll head to Jack's house and report to him personally myself. And then I'm sure he'll come down and assist us, especially when he knows that we're trying to help another citizen. He is still our great protector and King after all." The Mayor actually got his happy face to come back at the thought. "All in favor of splitting up into search parties to hunt for Sally and then heading over to the gorge together after dawn tomorrow, say aye!"

"AYE!" the whole audience chorused eagerly.

"Simply horrible!" The Mayor banged his gavel and then stepped down from the podium and off of the stage, still smiling. He turned to the Doctor. "Thank you, Doctor Finkelstein, for that terribly sound plan of action. I'm sure we'll find your creation soon and that everything will turn out well." 'Please turn out well, oh please turn out well! Oh I need Jack!' he mentally panicked inside, though he kept his face smiling for everyone.

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you, Mayor," he grumbled softly. Then he glanced over his shoulder. "Jewel, you may take me home now."

Jewel smiled and looked down more and nodded. "Okay, Doctor…" She took the handles of his chair in her hands and began to wheel him away down the aisle past the crowd.

The Mayor turned his attention back to the citizens again. "All right, for tonight's search let's organize the groups. Vampire brothers search the pumpkin patch, Undersea Gal and Slime Man check around the lake, Witches please fly up and see if you can spot Sally from the air, Corpse Family check the alleys around town square, Behemoth call out for her in the woods, everybody else search anywhere you think relevant, and I'll take the car out and use the bullhorn to yell for her."

The crowd nodded and broke up to take care of their tasks while the mayor waddled off to get the car. Actually, though Jack's absence lately had been very worrisome, it had also made the Mayor really be in charge for a bit, and he was surprised to find that he could be okay at it even without Jack constantly by his side. Of course he still wanted the Pumpkin King back in full action, no question, but at least he had more faith now that if anything ever did happen to Jack or if Jack really did want to go off and take an interest in new things, he could hold down the Halloween Town fort quite well on his own for at least a bit.

Outside of his concerns about Jack though, the Mayor really hoped that Oogie wasn't coming back. Part of his new current confidence came from knowing that Oogie was gone. Oogie frightened him a lot and not in a good way. And he also really hoped that Sally girl was safe. She wasn't the scariest lady in town, but she seemed nice enough, and she always seemed to make Jack smile and happy, and that was a good thing in his book.

And overall the Mayor just really hoped that all of these uncertain things would end soon so that he and Jack and everybody could finally get back to planning Halloween. There were 299 days left until the celebration after all!

Meanwhile, as the townspeople proceeded to clear out of the town hall, Lock, Shock, and Barrel looked to each other from across the room with frowns—their plan had backfired, the citizens were still going to head off looking for Sally and in the morning they would be going near the gorge to look for Oogie Boogie.

The three trick-or-treaters approached each other as the room emptied.

"What do we do now, Shock?" Barrel asked, an eyebrow risen.

"Yeah, 'fearless leader' what's the plan now that EVERYONE'S looking for Sally?" Lock frowned at her.

Shock frowned in return but then smiled smugly and replied, "Simple. We go off and find Sally first."

"Aww!" Lock and Barrel both moaned together.

"Come on, Shock, I'm tired! I don't want to run around all over town again!" Barrel moaned with a frown.

"We're at least taking the bathtub," Lock insisted, and then gave a loud whistle to summon the large mobile object. "And just out of curiosity," he looked back to Shock, "How exactly do you think we're supposed to find her when it's just the three of us versus everyone else? Personally, I think we should hold up in the tree house with the bugs to look out for Oogie Boogie and take care of things ourselves."

"Yeah, Oogie Boogie would like that kind of loyalty!" Barrel grinned. But then he frowned. "But then what are we going to do with all of that fabric…and especially if his bugs need it for when he comes back."

Shock sighed and rolled her eyes. "What we're going to do is stick with the original plan. Look, finding Sally ourselves will be a cinch. First of all, it'll take everyone in town a while to get organized, so we'll have a head start. Second of all they don't have Jack helping them since he's so distracted latley, so there's a lost advantage. And third, everyone'll look for Sally only in the most obvious places at first, even though we know she's the best hider there is considering the number of times we've spied and seen her escape from the Doctor AND avoid being lured in by Oogie Boogie while she's been wandering outside of town." She grinned. "Trust me. The three of us know the nooks and crannies of this town better than anybody—we'll find her. And then we'll hold up in the tree house. And when all that's done, we'll have a very nice advantage just in case things play out in favor of Mr. Oogie Boogie man."

Shock started to laugh darkly, and Lock and Barrel couldn't help grinning and laughing with a mischevious air too.

Suddenly the town hall doors burst open, and the bathtub entered, approaching them. The three trick-or-treaters hoped inside, and the bathtub reared up and then started walking them outside while the trick-or-treaters pulled down their Halloween masks, their laughter continuing and continuing.

Jack was walking through the woods so swiftly that he might as well have been running, but he felt too shaky to actually run and not stumble and trip and have all his bones fall apart, and then what would he do? 'I feel so awful, so embarrassed…' He cringed to himself. What side of him exactly had Sally seen lately during the nights? How could he ever make it up to her for all of the awkwardness and distress he must have caused her? And most importantly, how could this have happened in the first place? He needed advice and he needed it now, and what better place to get it than Valentine Town! Thus, Jack was heading right now to the holiday forest and the heart-shaped holiday door.

But this time he wasn't just going to Flora. Oh no, was in big trouble, he needed big help…

He was going to ask her to take him to her holiday leader.

That person would have to have the solution! The master of love, the Heart King—of course he would know where Jack had gone wrong and how to fix it. And then Jack could come back here and implement whatever solution had been suggested to him, and somehow everything would work out because everything needed to work out because quite frankly he could not live without Sally and her sweet romantic companionship and friendship now that he had found it in his life. He didn't want to be alone anymore, he didn't want to be brooding, he didn't want to be so very private and cut off from every single person. He wanted to be happy and to laugh with someone and go for walks holding hands and set the table for more than one person each night and have conversation and Halloween planning with somebody close and he wanted that glorious experience of having someone to welcome him home for the rest of forever. He loved Sally, and he didn't want the small life they had started to make together to end. And so Jack hoped the Valentine's Day leader would have a way to bring Sally back to him.

Jack reached the holiday forest clearing now. He stopped and wiped some nearly dried tears from his face. He had never really cried before, and on his walk here he had actually been surprised to find that his skull could produce so many constant tears that seemed to flow without his will. Jack sighed. 'I'm just so tired… .Between another Halloween and then Christmas and then the sleigh ride and fighting Oogie and the horrible thing I had to do to him and saving Sandy, and now everything with Sally…and now this.' Jack cringed again, leaning against the side of the Valentine Town tree. He just needed a break from it all, some kind of rest and release. He had wanted excitement and change in his life, but everything lately had been just too much all at once.

Jack walked around the tree and opened the heart-shaped door, fully intending to fling himself into the void leading down to the rose fields, when…

"Jack, if you're looking for me, I'm right here."

Jack stopped, nearly reeling forward and then back, and then turned around in surprise.

And sure enough, there stood Flora, sitting on a stump near the shadow of the Christmas Town tree in her usual red robe-like dress and with her hair sparkling silver and her eyes glittering like prisms even in the gloom of the Halloween Town night. She stood up, dusting off her dress as she approached him. "I must say, the ride here is a bit…eccentric. But those bats of yours who help carry you through are very nice. It's a bit rough dropping into that brushy pumpkin patch, but otherwise not too bad. Plenty of moonlight to see by at least to work my way here." She stood before him with a smile.

"Flora?" Jack raised an eyebrow in utter perplexity. "What…how…why…."

Flora let out a soft sigh and moved toward him. "We have to discuss some things, Jack. Also, my intuition about 'feelings' has been suggesting to me very strongly that you might need some of my more direct assistance. So strongly, in fact, that I didn't want to wait until you came to see me next to talk to you." She frowned a little more, observing him closely. "You do seem very distressed, don't you? Oh, my dear friend Jack…I have a bad feeling you're having trouble with love and that it's all my fault." She shook her head to herself. "Please tell me everything that's happened. If my romantic intuition is affecting me as much as it has been even across worlds, I know it's something serious."

Jack looked down and hesitated with a pale blanch for a moment. But then it was so nice to hear a kind word, to feel like he might have found someone who could understand and help, that he couldn't help starting to open up. "Flora, I don't know what to do. I…oh it's awful…" He sighed so very deeply. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just found out that I've been sleep walking and going to Sally. And each time I do, apparently I've said things to her and done things to her…romantic things." He blanched so much. "Things that have made her swoon, things so wild she didn't think they could be real, and I told her so many feelings, tried to run away with her, practically came into her bed. And I can't remember any of it. But I woke up in the middle of it this time, so I know it must be true! I don't understand why I would do those things though. And now she wants to leave our lovely home! And I don't know how to do anything to fix what I've done…. All I know is that if she does leave, I'll miss her more terribly than anyone has ever missed anyone in all the worlds there are." He closed his eye sockets and took a breath, willing away new tears that wanted to fall.

But then something about what Flora had just said processed with Jack and he blinked, raising an eyebrow and glancing to her. "But…Flora, what are you talking about? Why would anything be your fault? All you've done is try and help me throughout this entire courtship mess. I'm very grateful to you. You've been very kind to me. You've welcomed me to your town, you've listened to my problems, and you've given me all of the assistance a friend could ask for. I'm grateful. I-I just…I don't know, somehow something went wrong, went too far, and I don't know what to do." He looked at her with a touch of seriousness. "Flora, I know it's late and I don't mean to impose, but I have a favor to ask of you. I need to speak with your holiday leader. Please. Things have gotten so complicated, and I just feel that if anyone could help straighten it all out, your king could. You've been so helpful yourself, but I don't want to have to bother you too much longer with my situation. If he could help me fix everything then everything would be better, I know it. And then perhaps our worlds could meeting on mutual, friendly terms instead of as a means of trying to fix my love life." He blanched a tiny bit. "May I please meet your leader, Flora…Please?" he finished sincerely, looking into her eyes.

And Flora just looked back at him with surprise and then a weak smile. "O-Oh you…Oh…Jack…" She sighed very deeply. "I'll get you help to fix everything, I promise, but there are some things you haven't realized yet. And I have a confession to make. First of all, you see, I'm…."

As Flora explained some things to Jack, somebody watched them from just outside of the circle of holiday forest trees.

In fact, it was Sally who was watching, with Zero beside her (who was looking at her with more and more worry as the seconds passed). As Sally and Zero had come upon the clearing, Sally had been so puzzled to find Jack stopping at the holiday forest of all places—there was nothing familiar and comforting about this place, in fact there was nothing for him to do here at all anymore…. Yet he had come, like he knew the way here at this point as easily as he knew his way to any site in Halloween Town. And then her heart had broken a little as she had watched him open up one of the doors, the heart one. 'But…he promised me no more other holidays…He promised me.' He hadn't gone through, thankfully, but suddenly there was this woman here now talking with Jack. Sally couldn't hear the words Jack was speaking to this strange, pretty-colored woman with flashing eyes, but she could see him addressing her in a very familiar, almost intimate way…. And there was smiling. And then they got really close and the woman whispered things to Jack.

At first, Jack appeared rather surprised and confused by whatever she told him. Then he blinked several times and seemed to think. The woman just looked down with a blush and a frown. But then Jack smiled softly and clearly said something short and sweet and comforting to her, because the woman looked up and smiled again, her blushing softening.

Then the woman bit her rosy lip and said something else to Jack while looking down.

Whatever she was explaining, it took her a bit of time. Then she looked up at Jack again hesitantly.

Jack looked back at her with wide, almost hurt eye sockets.

She seemed to explain some more, moving closer.

Then Jack looked very upset and pulled away, but she only stepped closer and explained even more. Her features took on something deeply apologetic when she was done.

Jack still looked upset at first. But then he seemed to calm down.

The woman talked more, and he listened more. Then she took a step back from him with a small smile, holding out a fold of her dress in one hand and giving a small bow.

Jack considered for a moment, and then he let out a calming breath and stepped back and gave her a bow as well.

Then they both straightened up and started to talk again, and the woman smiled softly and Jack smiled softly, and they seemed to carry on a conversation with a continuous comfort and intimacy Sally had never seen Jack have with another person…even herself.

Zero, meanwhile, watched sally's facial expressions changing during this whole time and he did not like what he saw. Why was everybody getting so upset and worked up lately? If Jack would just go home and Sally would just go home and the two of them would just kiss and smile and talk (and let him cuddle between them on the sofa while a roaring fire burned in the hearth and everyone drank hot cocoa), everything would be fine again. Why couldn't they just do that instead of being out here with everyone being so unhappy?

He was especially worried when a few more moments passed (ending with Jack suddenly hugging the woman and then hooking his arm with hers), and then Sally suddenly dashed out into the holiday forest clearing to meet Jack and his new, shiny, sparkly, pretty female friend. Zero watched from the sidelines for a little while, but then finally found himself so overwhelmed and disheartened by the confrontation that took place that he chose to fly to his headstone among the other ghosts and rest there for a little while, hoping that soon enough his master and new mistress would make up again.

Meanwhile, Jack and Flora really had been having a very special conversation this entire time.

And of course, Flora's first revelation to Jack had been, well…

"First of all, Jack, you see, I'm the holiday leader." She smiled a touch sheepishly and then gave a regal nod of her head. "Queen Cupidity Amora Flora, the Heart Queen of Valentine Town, at your service."

Jack was rather shocked for a moment to say the least. "I…well…wow, um…so there's no…and you're a…"

Intuitive to a fault, Flora just smiled and assured him with a shrug and a little grin. "Oh come now, Jack, don't be so old-fashioned—you can't think all of the holiday leaders had to be men. Besides, yes, that's an excellent plan—let's put a King in charge of love." She rolled her eyes, smiling more. "No offense, Jack. Men do love just as passionately as women do, but my job requires a certain bit of intuition and finesse much more inherent in the fairer sex. Can't have the leader off being distracted by new holidays when meanwhile true love is hiding right at his side, waiting for him to notice her, can we?" She winked at him.

Jack blanched lightly but understood and even chuckled a little. "No, I suppose not. I understand, I think…" He was about to go through some much more formal introductions, some diplomatic things he had been planning to say lately ever since he had discovered the existence of other holidays and hence other holiday leaders…

But then Flora interrupted with her second admission. She had looked down humbly and explained about her method for fixing his romantic troubles. She knew suppression of natural romantic desires never worked, she knew that Jack's luck with his 'super subtle' approach would run out soon, and he had seemed so eager to please Sally despite his fears. So she had…given him the candies— 'Daydream Drops' as they were known as in Valentine Town. They helped even the most repressed person get in touch with their desires and find the courage to express them. The therapeutic idea behind such drops was that they eventually got a person so comfortable expressing their natural inclinations that soon they didn't need the drops, and they could express or hide their desires at will completely comfortably.

Flora sighed. "But I should have taken better account of the particulars of your situation, Jack. I really should have." She looked up at him. "You've never loved anyone like you love Sally, which normally doesn't cause much difference with those candies. But you've been around much longer than the average person—you've had the chance to repress your desires much more than most other creatures. There's been too much for the potion in those candies to regulate safely. You're dead, and I thought that would compensate somehow by taking off the edge of their effects…but it's only heightened the effects instead. Especially at night, it seems. I should have realized there was a special strength about the power of this place at night, and the position of the moon, and your place as King…. I should have been more responsible instead of just indulging my matchmaking desires by offering you help and assuming it would all turn out for the best as long as my heart was in the right place." She sighed. "Jack, I am so very sorry. I love to help people find love, but I have a horrible tendency of getting carried away and not thinking, especially this time of year with Valentine's Day coming up. And I just hope that you'll forgive me and allow me to help you fix whatever mess I've caused in whatever way I can." She gave a bow of her head.

Jack was not happy with Flora at first. In fact, he felt quite upset actually. But then Jack thought about things for a moment, and he realized he couldn't stay mad. After all, he had made a rather big inter-holiday mistake of his own recently… 'If Santa Claus can forgive me for all of my reckless behavior, how could I not forgive Flora for her honest mistake?'

Jack looked to Flora again (who still seemed so very upset with herself) and then smiled softly and spoke. "I do forgive you, Flora the Heart Queen. And I understand that you were only trying to help me. And I appreciate that you'll help me now. And if I may say so it is a very nice honor to meet another holiday leader…who isn't terribly angry at me for trying to steal their holiday of course, heh…" He smiled sheepishly. "When this is all over and settled, perhaps we could meet more to discuss our holidays further, and maybe the possibility of meeting the other holiday leaders and setting up sort of a holiday council? It's something I've been thinking about ever since I found the holiday forest. I'd love to hear your ideas on the matter." He looked at her with pleasant interest.

Flora smiled so happily. "Oh…oh yes, I think that would be quite nice, Jack. Thank you…. You know, quite a few of us leaders have already know about the other holidays for some time, but we've never sat down to a formal meeting. I think that would be very enjoyable." Then she added softly, "And thank you for forgiving me, Jack the Pumpkin King." She took up a fold of her dress and gave him a formal bow.

Jack just smiled more and stepped back to give her a formal bow as well. "You're quite welcome, Flora. And splendid, we'll set something up then soon for all of us to get to know each other properly." Then they both straightened up, and Jack asked with a small blanch, "And I'd like you to meet Sally, Flora, if you'd like and as long as you're here. I think she'd like you, and it would be nice for her to have another friend. I…" But then Jack paused and he frowned, and so much sadness came into his eye sockets. "Sally…" He looked down. "Oh Sally…Flora, what'll I do if she doesn't come back…?"

Flora frowned and moved closer. "She will come back, Jack," she assured softly. "Please don't worry. I'll do everything I can to see to that. At least you shouldn't end up making anymore nightly visits as long as you don't eat anymore of those candies, so that takes care of part of the problem. But I assure you, we'll work everything out, and you and Sally will be happy again."

Jack sighed and nodded. "Thank you, Flora. I think if anyone can help us, it's you. I…"And then his eye sockets lit up—he had an idea, "Oh, that's…that's brilliant! Yes!" He looked at her eagerly. "Flora, please, come back with me to my house and help me explain to Sally what happened directly—I think that might do it! Or at least it'll be a start!" He blanched a little. "I-It'll be embarrassing, yes, but it might still fix things. As long as you have the time, please do come with me!"

Flora smiled and nodded. "Of course, Jack, I would be honored. And I think talking honestly and confessing everything like that will be an excellent start for helping the two of you and your relationship."

"Splendid!" Jack laughed and gave her a quick hug and then hooked arms with her, "Come on, I'll show you the way, right through here…"

However, before Jack and Flora could make it past the clearing of holiday trees, Sally herself appeared before them.

Of course, Flora and Jack stopped in surprise right in their tracks.

Sally just stood there, looked at the two of them the widest eyes imaginable.

"Oh!" Jack blinked, looking at her curiously. "Sally? How did you get out here?" He smiled a little. Then he remembered his friend. "Oh, um…Sally, I'd like you to meet a special friend of mine—she's from another holiday world, you see, the one with the heart door. They call it Valentine Town. Her name is…well, um…Sally, why are you looking at me like that?" Jack had to pause in his introduction because Sally was looking at him in a way she never had before: her eyes wide, her brow furrowed, her lips pursed, and her sweet hands clenched as fists at her sides. He was almost frightened by her coutenance actually. She seemed unhappy right now, to say the least.

Meanwhile, beside Jack, Flora's prism eyes went wide and she let go of his arm. She could see emotions pretty perfectly, and Sally was glowing a green the land of love knew all too well. "Erm…Jack…" she started carefully, hoping to give him some warning and to use her abilities to gently calm the two lovers.

However, Sally spoke first.

"Jack. Skellington."

Jack actually gulped. No one ever called him by his full name. And no one had ever said any part of it like that before.

"Y-Yes?" he stuttered out to her with a few blinks of is eye sockets.

Sally frowned, then scowled, then pouted, then sighed. Then finally she opened her mouth and did her best to begin. "Jack…how could you? You promised me you wouldn't go off to other worlds again, but look where you are and look who you're with. Have you really been running off to another holiday every time you leave the house? And is she your special 'advisor' friend you've been seeing?" Sally swallowed and couldn't help blushing and crossing her arms over her chest, looking down a little. "Well, now I know why you told me to 'forget everything between us' back at the house—she's quite lovely, Jack, very different, not spooky or scary or a mess of stitches at all." She took a deep breath. "I didn't realize you were still looking for a new holiday to love. My mistake."

Jack blinked a few times (it was going to take a moment to sink in, what she was implying.) "Sally," he started, "I wasn't trying to steal a holiday this time, I swear, I was just seeing Valentine Town and Flora, and…I guess she is quite pretty but…but…" 'Why would she bring up the fact that Flora is pretty? And what does it matter about what I said back at the house? Flora's 'quite lovely'? 'Not a mess of stitches at all'? 'Forget everything'? Looking for a new holiday? What does it all mean? So Flora is a pretty person who's from a different world and who's different than Sally and she's a woman. What does that have to do with anyth—' Suddenly all of Jack's thoughts stopped and his eye sockets went wide as the full realization of his situation finally sunk in. "Oh…Oh!" Jack jerked away from Flora, unable to help himself, his focus (amid his shock) entirely on Sally. "Sally, you think that she and I have been…that I feel…that I've been sneaking off to be with her instead of you because we've been…" Jack instantly shook his head many times, "O-Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no no!" His jaw practically fell. "Sally, for Halloween's sake, you can't possibly think I'm trying to court her too! I barely know her…and I've never even…and she's ALIVE for starters! I probably have bone marrow older than she is!"

"Erm…" Flora interrupted with half a smile, unable to help herself, "Actually, while I am flesh and blood and bone, I'm also a bit immortal as are the other fleshly holiday leaders…and…that's not really important right now is it? Sorry…" She cleared her throat and stepped back again.

Sally just rolled her eyes and focused on Jack. "No, you're not 'courting' her too, Jack, you're just spending half of your time with her and running away from me to meet her and acting like the only way you can stand to touch me is when you're sleepwalking." Sally frowned more, any scowl giving way to such disappointment in her big eyes. "And you lied to me, Jack. You told me no more holiday worlds, but you lied to me."

Jack frowned, approaching her. "But Sally this is different. Let me explain, you see, in Valentine Town—"

Sally cut him off though, shaking her head, her tone calm but so very sad. "I don't care about 'Valentine Town', I don't care about living citizens—I care about you and our home, Jack. Our town. Why is it not good enough for you anymore?" The question left her mouth before she could think about it, but then Sally pressed on. "You ran away from the town for Christmas…and now you're running away from me for Valentine's. Why are we not good enough for you anymore, Jack? Why?"

Jack blinked. He frowned, his eye sockets drooping a little in sadness. "But, Sally, of course you're good enough for me, and of course our town is good enough for me. You're all more than good enough for me. Listen, you don't understand. Flora's actually the Queen of Valentine Town, and—"

"O-Oh, so part of it is a class issue then, hmm?" Sally couldn't help but mock with a choked chuckle, crossing her arms over her chest again and shrugging. "Of course—you're a King, why shouldn't you pursue a Queen over a silly little servant who's just always cared about you and admired you and adored you and lo…lo…" She couldn't say the word now—it was too humiliating. "Why shouldn't you go spend time with royalty instead of the rest of us poor citizens?"

"Sally, no!" Jack blinked again, putting a hand to his heart. "I would never use my title like that! Please, just let me explain."

Sally then sighed, pouted, but finally gave him a single nod. "Okay, Jack Skellington. Explain everything to me. I'm listening." And then she waited patiently.

"I…" Jack hesitated, "I…um…really?" He tilted his skull to the side.

Sally nodded. "Yes. Explain. I would love to hear this one, Jack Skellington. Explain everything to me about your little trips and your little friend and the way you acted back at the house, and why it's all okay and why I'm making a mistake being this upset. I'm listening."

Flora couldn't help but smile a little. She glanced to Jack. "I like her, Jack, she's quite passionate. Looking at her with the glasses, I'd imagine every unattached young man in Valentine Town wouldn't mind the chance to court her."

Sally blinked at the sudden suggestion from this interloper 'Queen', and then blushed in that purplish way she had and looked down. She knew it was just a little joke, but she still didn't appreciate the comment (not to mention she didn't know this 'Flora' well enough to know if her words were a jest at her expense or an attempt at a compliment, though such a compliment about the idea of dating other men couldn't help but make Sally feel uncomfortable.)

Jack, meanwhile, blanched a bit at Flora's comment and glanced at her with a slight frown. "Flora…" 'The other men in town would see her passion and want to court her…' It was a concept Jack didn't even want to think about. It had been bad enough less than an hour ago waking up to the shock of Sally possibly leaving him. But the concept of her then going off with somebody else was simply too much to try bearing, even as a joke.

"My apologies," Flora quickly replied to both of them. Then she gave Jack a meaningful look, her voice lowering. "I was just trying to let you understand what you're working with, Jack. Green eyed monster…" She cleared her throat.

Jack raised an eyebrow for a moment. But then he realized what she meant and looked back at Sally, clearing his throat. "Oh, yes, well…all right, Sally…um…yes, please let me explain. And I promise that it's not what you think. And that Flora and I are just friends—really." He took a breath, put his arms behind his back, and then did his best to begin. "W-Well, um…you see, Sally, I was confused a bit about you and I after Christmas Eve night. After our kiss, I wasn't really sure how to tell you how much I like you…after I'd already sort of implied to you how much I like you on Spiral Hill."

Jack blinked and then cringed a little, realizing his logic made almost no sense. "Anyway…let's see, I didn't really know where else to go or who else to talk to about the problem, so I thought going to the holiday door with the heart made the most sense—where better to learn about lo…um…feelings of a romantic nature?" He blanched. "Then I-I met lots of people, and Flora was one of them. But I didn't even know she was their leader until tonight though, I swear! I just assumed they would have a King…because I'm possibly the most ridiculous man who ever existed."

Jack sighed and rubbed one of his temples before finishing. "Anyway, I told her all about us, and she gave me advice and these special candies, you see. And I thought they were just to help a person relax but apparently they do more, at least when in the system of an old skeleton who never tried having a relationship with a woman until now, and especially since I've been taking the candies before bed and I'm always more passionate during the nights. So I've been sleepwalking because the drops were making me unconsciously express parts of myself that I really did not want to express to you. And then after what happened tonight, I came back here to find Flora and to ask for help, but she found me first. And now we were just going to head back to the house to tell you everything and figure things out from there. And that's everything, Sally, really, so you see, you're still the only girl for me and there's no problem at all, and I haven't done anything to hurt you. All right, my dearest friend?" Jack moved forward and smiled, confident that now everything would be settled and she wouldn't be so angry anymore.

On the contrary though, Sally appeared as unhappy as ever (maybe even more so).

"Jack…everything you just said hurts me…" she said softly, her eyes shining slightly with tears.

Jack's smile fell entirely, and inside he felt his bony heart crack. "Wh-What..?" He blinked and tilted his head to the side.

Sally just looked back at him in confusion and frustration but almost in pity too. Then she sighed. "Goodbye, Jack…" And then suddenly Sally turned around and began walking quickly through the woods.

Jack's eye sockets went wide! "Sally!" He reached out and started to run after her.

Sally just picked up her pace though. Maybe she couldn't run as quickly as he could, but she did know how to dash through forests and trees better than him to be sure—she had done so all her life, hiding and sneaking around to keep her freedom safe. "Oh!"

Sally had closed her eyes, letting some tears leak out that she couldn't control. But when she hadn't been looking, her arm had hit a stray tree branch, and unfortunately the branch had caught on that little place of loose stitches still left over from Jack's attempt to sew her earlier. And now Sally paused as she realized that her arm had fallen entirely off of her and into the snow and leaves somewhere. She glanced around, trying to find the limb in the moonlight, but then she heard and saw Jack getting closer. And so Sally abandoned her search (and her arm for the moment), and dashed away as quickly as she could, feeling more tears building.

"Sally, wait!" Jack called after her from not too far behind.

"Leave me alone!" Sally cried back, ducking off to the side among the trees and finding a footpath she knew to lead her back to the familiar landmarks of town.

As soon as Sally had turned and fled, Jack had raced after her. He had been trying to catch up, but he was so lanky, and going past all of these trees and underbrush pulled at his limbs and coattails a lot. Then he had heard her yell and seen her stop for a moment, upon which he had called out to her, asking her to wait. But then she had just started up and left him, running and darting and hiding until she was out of his sight. And so now, alone in the snow and moonlight, Jack had no idea where Sally had gone to at all.

Jack stopped where he had seen Sally stop, glancing around. 'Where is she? I….' "Oh!"

He had taken a step forward over some brush and had nearly tripped on something. "What's this…?" Jack bent down and moved away some leaves. And there he found Sally's arm. Jack held up the limb, raising it in his tender grasp like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Sally…" She had lost her poor arm. Poor sweet arm… Jack hugged the arm gently, then pulled back to look at it again.

Then the arm woke up in Jack's arms, and his heart skipped a beat.

Then the arm suddenly opened its fingers in a gasping motion to suggest surprise at seeing him, upon which it arched back in a very jarring way and then made a fist and started bopping him right on the top of the skull!

"Ow!" Jack winced, trying to duck the blows. But, of course, since he was still holding the arm, his efforts were less than successful. "Ow! Oh! Please, stop! Hey, come on, I used to have a soft spot there! Ow!" 'Wow, she really must be upset with me if her limb is doing this even at this distance from her!' Finally, Jack put his other hand on top of the arm's hand, holding it down. The arm struggled in his grasp, still clearly ready and waiting to hit him again if it got the chance. "Please," Jack started, speaking in a firm tone but with such a sad look in his eye sockets. "I'm begging you. I know she's mad but just let me explain. I mean explain more. Please." He frowned.

The arm struggled a bit more but then finally at least stopped thrashing, though its appearance still suggested wariness.

Jack and the arm had a little bit of a 'stare down'. Then finally Jack let out a breath and let the arm's hand go.

The limb tensed up, looking very ready to attack again, but kept itself tame for now.

Jack gave a nod to the limb. "Thank you." He sighed, frowning more. "I'm sorry…to you and to her. And you probably know where she is, don't you?" He bit his lip.

The hand of the arm turned away stubbornly, giving a little 'shrug' with two of its fingers.

Jack knew the gesture meant 'yes' though. But he also knew that the arm wasn't likely to give him any hints about Sally's whereabouts in its current stubborn state.

"Please, help me find her…" Jack finally beseeched softly, sincerely, unable to think of anything else to do. "It's dark and cold and she's all alone and she's missing you. Please, take me to Sally, and then I can explain everything."

The arm turned its pointed hand to look back at him. But it did nothing to direct him to Sally. It merely continued to 'eye' him warily.

Jack frowned again but still spoke so softly and tenderly to the limb. "I never meant to hurt her. I know I must have been foolish. It's just that I've never done anything like this before, trying to care for a person—a woman—how I care for her." He had never really tried phrasing the depths of his intimacy and issues to another person, but somehow it was happening and actually proving not as difficult as he had thought it would be. But maybe it was because talking to the arm was kind of like talking to Sally…. So maybe that meant he really could talk to Sally about everything then. "I don't know what I'm doing, I make mistakes too…" Jack's gaze went to the arm's hand again. Something about its posture did seem to soften, though it still continued just to look at him.

Jack sighed softly.

Then he let the thing deepest in his heart come out—it was all he had left to possibly sway the passion of the little limb in his grasp. "I love her…you…Sally. I love, Sally. I'm hopelessly, eternally, undeniably in love with Sally. And if there's even the smallest sliver of hope that she might love me too, please take me to her while there's still a chance I can fix this mess." There was nothing else left to say after that—if the arm really wouldn't help him now, he would just have to find Sally on his own. And no matter how long it took, he would search every nook and cranny of this entire holiday world, day and night, until he found her.

The arm locked up entirely in Jack's grasp for a moment.

Then all of the limb's stiffness or hostility went away, and the arm collapsed entirely against Jack's chest, hugging him as best it could.

Jack blinked and then smiled and hugged the arm back. It was almost like being embraced by Sally again. He figured he would have died a thousand deaths and lived a thousand lives to actually be embraced by Sally again.

"Jack?"

Jack blinked and turned around at the sound of Flora's voice. 'Oh dear, I forgot all about her back in the clearing, didn't I?' She sounded somewhat close though. And then suddenly there was a rustling in the trees, and finally the heart queen stumbled forward through the brush.

"There you are, Jack!" Flora announced with a bright smile. Then she blinked. "Oh, you've got an arm there. Hmm…" she looked at it with interest, "Santa was right—this place is very different. Oh it's very nice, I really think so, it's just different. I think I like it though. Surprises around every corner. I keep wondering what's that and what's this about everything." She smiled a little more but then blinked and looked down. "Oh, I'm sorry, I ddin't mean to get distracted." She looked up at him with concern. "Where is Sally, Jack?"

Jack sighed and hugged the arm (which now was gently touching and caressing his cheek—and even though the gesture felt nice, Jack wished it would stop for a moment now while they weren't alone anymore). "Flora, I'm sorry I left you so suddenly, but Sally is very upset. She ran off somewhere, and I have to go find her. But I think now that it might not be a very good idea for both of us to talk to her at once. Perhaps later sometime, but…I think for now I need to find her myself and that the two of us need to have a long talk alone together. Oh," he held up the arm a little, "This is Sally's. She's a rag doll, you see, and this piece fell off of her. It's going to help me find her." The arm's hand snuggled under Jack's chin. He could feel one of its fingertips getting close to touching and tickling his neck. He blanched a little, glancing away shyly. "Anyway, I-I think you should either wait here for a little while or even return to your own world for now. Whatever you'd like to do."

Flora nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Jack. I may wait in your world for just a little while, at least. If you do need my help at all, just say something about love—I can usually pick up on the scent of that pretty quickly. I'll find my way to you."

Jack nodded, still blanching a little as the hand's index finger continued playing with a vertebrae or two. "All right, thank you…Um, Flora? Before I go, I have a feeling you understand exactly why Sally's so upset with me, beyond just the 'green eyed monster' thing. You couldn't, um…give me a hint, could you?" He had a feeling about what her answer would be to his request, but he had wanted to try just the same.

Flora smiled softly, but gave a light shake of her head. "I'm sorry, Jack. I do understand quite a bit about why she's upset, I think, but you really must talk to her about it. That will be the best way. Just be honest with her. Love will find a way."

Jack smiled softly too. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Yes, I think it will too. All right then, I'll do my best. Thank you, Heart Queen." He gave her a small bow (making the arm settle back down in his grasp for now). "And thank you for coming in the first place, Flora. And I do appreciate the help you tried to give me from the start with all of this, even though it didn't work out."

Flora nodded, giving him a small bow as well. "You're very welcome, Pumpkin King. And I am sorry again for the mess I've let you get into. I've never dabbled much in immortal love, let alone undead love. I suppose I need some more time to learn. But I'll still do my best to help fix it with you."

Jack nodded appreciatively. "I have the utmost faith that you will succeed." And then he looked down a little sheepishly and awkwardly. "Oh, and, um…sorry about that whole 'she's alive!' comment before about you back with Sally. I didn't mean for it to come out how it sounded." He shrugged. "I do think you're very nice and pretty, and alive works on you. But, um…you'll find that preferences here regarding certain things are very different than elsewhere. Most of the food is rotten, everyone's awake half the night, most people are impaled in some way—that kind of thing. And even though I've developed an appreciation for fresh and fleshly things, it hasn't extended to anything romantic." He shuffled his feet. (The arm seemed extra happy to hear this comment and tapped Jack on the lips, causing him to liven up again and blanch entirely and look away so shyly).

Flora smiled and shook her head. "It's all right, Jack—perfectly understandable. I can't say a corpse would be my first choice for a romantic partner either." She let out a small laugh.

Jack smiled and let out a small laugh as well. Then a thought occurred to him, and he raised an eyebrow. "Flora? Can I ask, if it wouldn't be too forward…since you're in charge of love, how…I mean…do you ever love anyone like that?"

Flora blushed a very rosy color for a moment. She still smiled though. "Well…I suppose I just take happiness in helping the loves of others, and in a way I fall a little bit in love with everybody I come to know and help. I suppose it might be nice if I could find a partner to share my life and love with, but I don't think that's what I need right now in my existence." Then she took a step closer to him, looking into his eye sockets. "But I do believe with every bit of holiday intuition I have that love is what you need now in your existence, and Sally too. I feel it in my heart. Go find her, Jack. I know you'll make things right." She smiled.

Jack smiled too and nodded. "I will, Flora. Thank you." He took a step back and gave a graceful bow. "Heart Queen."

"My pleasure." Flora held out the folds of her dress and gave him a bow as well. "Pumpkin King."

The two of them straightened up and gave each other a small wave, and then Flora turned to head back toward the holiday forest clearing and Jack looked back to Sally's arm. "So then…on to Sally, dear arm? Or did you want to affectionately dote upon me some more first?" He couldn't help a warm laugh and the light, playful flirtation with this sweet little piece of his dearest dolly friend.

The arm glanced away coyly…but then let the back of its hand gently nuzzle under Jack's chin.

Jack just smiled more and gave it an affectionate pet. "Lead on then, please."

The arm gave him a thumbs up and then seemed to consider for a moment before pointing forward and to the left.

Jack followed, htough he didn't like the look of the direction in which the arm was taking him. It was sort of and 'old town bridge-ish' direction. He didn't want Sally going there. He didn't want anybody going there actually. In fact, he had decided to close down the bridge for a week as soon as possible and to have the small gorge underneath it filled in, perhaps turned into a landfill or a compost area or even a new swamp. He wanted no trace of Oogie Boogie, and no old lair of misery for anybody to stumble upon. Not to mention, Jack never wanted to have to look down into that dark, dank pit again and think about the harrowing memories of his last time there…His biggest mistake—almost hurting a holiday leader…destroying the happiness of children everywhere…the cries of Sandy and oh the screams of poor Sally…what could have happened to Sally…and the slight guilt and shame he couldn't help but feel now when he thought about the extreme measure he had taken against Oogie Boogie (and how he might have looked to Sally while doing it.)

Jack sighed softly, shaking his skull and coming back to the moment at hand. "Dear arm…" He couldn't think of anything else to address the limb as—'dear arm' seemed nice enough though. "I really hope Sally won't be as mad at me as you were at first. I really hope she can forgive me…and love me." He whispered the lst words as a private little hope for himself.

At the sound of those words, the arm stopped leading on for a moment and turned back to Jack, nuzzling his skull with its hand again.

Jack stopped walking and smiled softly. "Thanks…" he gurgled to the arm. "That feels nice." He really really liked when the arm touched him like—… "O-Oh…" Jack gave the small gasp and straightened up a little. The arm had sort of dragged a finger over his tie, loosening it, and then the palm of its hand came to rest on the center of his chest, clearly pushing and feeling for the bones underneath his shirt in a manner undeniably intimate.

Jack just gulped and looked away very shyly. He actually felt like his knees were quaking… And then suddenly he remembered his thought from Christmas Eve night about kissing Sally and collapsing in the snow with her and not stopping…. He felt like he could have collapsed now himself. "I…" left him softly with a shiver that went up his spine, "P-Please, I love you too, as you are, but take me to Sally now. You can both care for me like this later…if you want."

He was finally able to draw normal breaths again as the arm slipped away, gave a single nod with its hand, and then just settled back into his grasp to continue guiding him onward.

Jack resumed walking once more. And he still wasn't sure how all of this was going to turn out, but he did know one thing: Flora had been right—all of his shyness with Sally and his hesitation with Sally and his avoidance of just talking directly to Sally about his problems had been more doomed to failure from the start than even his Christmas fiasco had been. And he was going to abandon such unnecessary reservations from this moment on before his relationship with Sally turned into even more of a nightmare than Christmas had, no matter what the consequences.

There was still time, and he was going to set things right.

"Sally…" Jack sighed softly, letting his breath escape in a little curl of smoke that wound its way up through the crisp December air to the full and glorious moon above.

A/N:

That's all for now! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I promise, things will get better for Jack and Sally ^_^

Regarding updates, I know I've been doing every two weeks for a while now, but my schedule's changed a lot recently (I'm working a lot, I'm applying to schools, I've got some other writing projects (personal and in other fandoms)). Updates will still be continuing, but they're just going to have to be as I can manage to complete them for now. Thank you all so much for your patience, and I'll try not to make the delays between chapters too long, I promise ^^

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna