A/N:
Hi everyone! Thank you for bearing with me regarding the frequency of story updates—my schedule is just packed right now unfortunately. But I appreciate you waiting and reading still : ) I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Dearest Friends
Chapter 16:
Mending a Bond
"Yes, I suppose that could work, Jack." Sally considered as she knelt upon the ground. The plan was simple, neat, made sense…. It would probably be a little awkward to execute, but overall it seemed like it would work, and considering their current circumstances it really was their best option for saving Jewel. Sally smiled at Jack and nodded. "Yes, okay, Jack. I think that's a very good idea, actually." Sally stood up from the ground (her unattached arm still in her hand), and Jack (his own detached limb still in his hand) stood as well.
Jack smiled. "Thank you, Sally. Let's tell, Jewel." They both headed over to the edge of the gorge. Jack knelt down. "My dear Miss Jewel? I'm sorry we've both kept you waiting so long."
Jewel looked up at Jack and Sally. "Oh, it's quite all right, thank you. I know I caused a bit of a bother with getting stuck down here. But I appreciate you trying to help me. I'd like to get out of here very soon. The Doctor must be terribly worried." Then with a frown she looked to Sally and added, "Sally, whenever you get home, I left you some dinner in the kitchen. I thought you might be hungry after everything you've been through. And I want you to keep up your strength."
Sally blinked. "Oh, well, um…" 'Someone…made dinner for me…in the Finkelstein house?' "Oh that's…very kind of you, Jewel. Thank you," she called down appreciatively.
"You're welcome!" Jewel called back up with a smile.
Jack smiled more and cleared his throat to address Jewel again. "Jewel, Sally and I unfortunately don't have a rope to pull you up with, and neither one of us could reach down there alone, so…" He gestured for Sally to kneel down beside him, which she did, and the two of them held up their severed limbs, "We're going to attach our limbs together and use that to help you pull out of there." Jack beamed a little as he explained the idea further. "You see, my arm can't do much of anything once it's detached from me but Sally's arm can grip and do all sorts of things even when it's not attached to her. So she and I will lay down on the ground here side by side. Then with our attached arms we'll hold Sally's severed arm by the elbow hanging down toward you, and the hand of that arm will hold the shoulder of my detached arm. And then you should just be able to reach my arm's hand so we can pull you up. Does that sound all right to you?"
Jewel nodded. "Oh yes, it sounds very logical, Pumpkin King, and very sound, Sally. Thank you for devising such a clever plan all for me."
Jack grinned with a touch of that undeniable pride of his, and Sally beamed a little too
"Thank you, Jewel, and you're very welcome." Jack gave Jewel a small polite bow. Then he turned to Sally. "All right, Sally, let's get ready. Um…yes, let's just move very close." He moved his seated body a little closer to Sally's, and she did the same. "And, um…" Jack spoke to Sally's arm now, "Here's the end of my arm…" He put the shoulder joint in the doll arm's soft hand. Sally's arm gave a thumbs up and then got a good grip on Jack's shoulder. Jack let out a little sigh of concern and glanced down at Jewel again. "Jewel, I'm not sure how long my arm will be all right for pulling you up. I usually don't put much pressure on the bones when they're not attached to me. So just try to climb up it and get to Sally's arm as quickly as you can. And also only hold my arm at the parts around the elbow joint, never the joint itself—the lower section of my arm might come off then," he cautioned.
Jewel nodded up at him. "Yes, I'll keep all of that in mind. Thank you, Pumpkin King."
Jack smiled again. "Just call me Jack, Jewel, please." He looked at Sally once more. "Okay, let's both take hold of the end of your arm now." They both reached over with their attached limbs, Sally with her right arm, Jack with his left, and held tightly to the cloth arm's upper section.
Sally smiled reassuringly at Jack. "I think this will work out very well, Jack. And my arm won't let anything happen to your arm, I promise."
Jack smiled at her softly. "I know. And I won't let anything happen to Jewel or your arm. As soon as climbs up and reaches your arm, I'll let go and grab her around the waist and pull her up here with us. You just worry about getting our arms back up here. Okay, Sally?"
Sally nodded. "Okay, Jack." Then she moved back a bit from the edge of the gorge and started to lie herself down on her front side. "I'm ready, Jack." She tightened her hold and smiled up at him.
Jack moved back a little too. "I'm ready too, Sally." He lay down on his front side as well.
Their general physical position so far seemed to be good, but both Jack and Sally quickly realized that they needed to get as close as possible to really have the best hold on everything before they went and lowered the arms down to Jewel.
"Here, let's just, um…" Jack started as the two of them turned inward on their sides on the ground. Suddenly they found themselves slightly facing each other and only a few inches apart. Jack's breath caught, then he swallowed and glanced over at Sally, keeping his voice as normal as he could manage. "Do you feel comfortable?"
Sally (blushing a little) nodded. They were shoulder socket to shoulder socket, hip to hip, almost head to head, lying half on their sides so close together. "Oh, yes. And you, Jack?"
Jack nodded, grinning a little. "Yes. But I think I should just turn a little more, and… Ah, there we…go…" Their new shift had put Jack and Sally full on their sides and so close that Jack had the sudden compulsion to declare that he loved Sally madly, then roll atop her and kiss her in the undead grass until she swore she would never leave him and accepted he would never leave her. At the very least, he had the urge to observe closely the delicate lines of her collar and chest as she lie there with her patchwork dress twisting lightly around her body and her whole self pressed so close to him. 'Focus…. You'll tell her all these things later. Right now a life needs to be saved and you've got a town on the way out here to find you, and no one but you is going to be too happy if you end up rolling with a woman in the barren dirt on a whim. But then you can talk to her. I know you can. No more fighting it, it's only hurting you both.' "I think this should do it." Jack turned his eye sockets downward, trying to curb his gaze a little. He felt hot inside of his bones.
Sally wasn't fairing much better, to be honest.
Still a bit unhappy with him but forgiving him more by the minute and suddenly finding herself all but thrust side by side against him wasn't helping her maintain her perspective on their recent disagreement. She couldn't help but notice how well they seemed to fit together, how perfectly compatible their bodies were, and how much warmth they seemed to be able to create by being near one another even despite the fact that they were both cold and dead. Their fingertips touched as they held her arm, working together, and Sally could have easily rested her yarn-covered head against that smooth, creamy cranium of Jack's…with those big, dreamy eye sockets like pools of darkness and eternal morbid rest amidst this mad chaos in which they lived.
At the very least, Sally wished she could feel what her detached limb was feeling as it gripped the top of that bony arm of his. At the very most she wanted to take his skull in her hand and kiss him. If he really couldn't take initiative to increase the intimacy between them and commit to each other, then she certainly wasn't going to give up without a fight—she would take some initiative herself! If things still didn't end up working out, then she would do her best to accept that the most they really could be was dearest 'friends' and move on, but still first…she would try…try…try…try to make whatever love they might be able to have work. Sally felt a little shiver run through her body, down her attached arm, and down into her unattached arm.
"Sally, is your arm all right? I thought I felt it shake." Jack glanced at her.
Sally let out a sigh and shook her head. "It's all right, um…it's just getting used to this. Let's lower away…" She began to reach down as much as possible.
Jack reached down all the way too. "Okay." He swallowed and addressed Jewel. "Jewel, can you reach my hand?"
From down below in the gorge, Jewel reached up high but to no avail. "Oh, no I'm afraid not, but…hmm…" She paused, then went on. "I do think if I stack a small pile of the rocks on this ledge that I could reach you with ease. Just a moment please." Some light sounds of rock gently moving against rock could be heard coming up from the edge of the gorge now.
Meanwhile, Jack and Sally waited, filled with a touch of concern for Jewel (and still with a very large amount of active interest in each other.)
"She's very nice, Sally," Jack managed shyly, clearing his throat and looking to Sally's eyes now.
Sally nodded, swallowing but managing eye contact as well. "Yes, she is." She frowned a little. "I hope the Doctor treats her well."
Jack frowned too. "What do you mean?"
Sally blushed and looked down. "The Doctor's not the easiest man to live with…or the kindest master to serve."
Jack raised part of his brow. "Really?" He tried to catch her eyes again. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that."
"It's all right, Jack." Sally let out a small sigh and looked at him a little more again. "I haven't had the worst life. At least I have life. The Doctor was gracious enough to give me that. If I want it to be a happy one, I just can't rely on him—I have to do my best to find my own happiness. That's all I've ever wanted anyway." A soft little smile came to her lips.
Jack just looked at her with such wonder. "I…I know how you feel. I've always wanted to just find my own happiness too." He gazed at her with a touch of happy longing he couldn't help. "I've been lonely…" left him softly, and he barely realized it. 'What would I do without you, Sally?'
'Oh, my dearest Jack…' Sally's gaze softened, and a light, purplish blush came to her features. "I know how you feel too. I've been lonely too, Jack."
If only they weren't in the middle of doing something so important, if only they both weren't still so confused and even slightly mad at each other, if only their position wasn't so precarious…then in this moment maybe Jack and Sally could have broken past all of their anxieties and reservations and finally found a way into the closeness together that they had so craved.
But such was not the case, however, and so Jack and Sally just let out a soft sigh each and looked downward a little, though neither could help slight smiles lingering upon their lips.
Jack broke their moment to clear his throat and call down to Jewel. "Jewel, are you doing all right?"
"Oh yes, almost high enough!" she called up cheerfully. "Is there any way for you to lower the arm just a little bit more though?"
"We'll try!" Jack assured her. He glanced at Sally and she nodded in return, then the two of them came as close as possible, allowing their attached arms to reach down to their fullest extent.
"That's perfect! Thank you! It should just be another moment!" Jewel called back up to them.
Meanwhile, Jack and Sally just gazed into each other's eyes, unable to help doing so as the skeleton and rag doll now found themselves completely turned on their sides and with their bodies pressed flush together.
Needless to say, both of them looked and felt quite a bit flustered.
"I…never realized how much you can blush," Jack suddenly observed, unable to help really noticing now the way Sally could do that…and around him still. Could she still have such deep affections for him? What a nice assurance to receive. "With your blue skin it comes up purple in your cheeks." He smiled a little more.
Sally smiled (and blushed) a little more at the comment, unable to help herself. She replied in a soft mumble. "It's just, um…chlorophyll and color…from the autumn leaves inside of me. Just the pigment, I think…"
Jack laughed a little and nodded. "Well, blood or chlorophyll, if you're planning to be more sociable now that you'll be pursuing your happiness, you might want to keep the blushing under control or the vampire brothers will start trying to put the bite on you."
Sally actually laughed a little too. And she couldn't help adding, "Oh. Well, between that and everyone in Valentine Town flocking to me because I'm so passionate, I'll certainly be very popular, I guess. I'm shy though, of course, so I might have to find a whole new and different home for myself." She looked at him more. "What do you think of Christmas Town maybe? Dolls are part of Christmas, after all, right, Jack?"
A touch of awkwardness had come to Jack's features at the first part of her response but then he smiled a little again and nodded. "Oh, yes, quite. Rag dolls, especially." He swallowed. "None of them as pretty or as, um…commanding as you, but I think you would fit right in. Besides, if you lived there it would give me a perfect excuse to visit Christmas Town often. If I would be welcome by you for a lot of visits, of course…" His smile suddenly brimmed with something truly joyful. "Oh, I'd love to show you Christmas Town one day, Sally."
Sally's smile brimmed with some small joy in return. "Even though I'll probably stay here to live, I would go see Christmas Town with you one day, Jack, if we were invited…and if you really wanted to go with me."
"Oh I do…" Jack assured. "I'd go to any of the holiday worlds with you one day…even Valentine Town. If you forgave me that much, and only if you wanted to, I mean." A touch of hesitation came to his features.
Sally's smile went a little wobbly. She tried not to laugh as she whispered back to him, moving her head just close enough that the distance between their noses barely existed. "Do you just want to go with me if I go to Valentine's Town because of what your Queen friend said about the boys there liking me?" She giggled.
Jack's eye sockets went wide and he looked down shyly. He whispered back. "Well…she did make a valid point, after all."
Sally just giggled more. So cute when he was unsure of himself, when he tried to explore with her, to impress her even. "Silly skeleton man…" she whispered back playfully.
Jack's smile perked up. He glanced at her once more. "Sally…does this mean we're making up?"
Sally blinked and raised an eyebrow. Then her smile fell to something more serious. "I'd still like to have a talk about everything, Jack. We need to. I think we're both very confused…but I think we could understand each other again maybe." And then she just couldn't help herself anymore—she closed her eyes a little and nestled the top of her head against the side of his skull, savoring the closeness.
The first thing an elated jack did was take a deep inhale through his nose right near that hair. 'Oh, it smells like cloves and burning leaves…' he thought to himself dreamily. "Oh, I'd like that too, Sally…to talk…and understand…a lot." He nuzzled against her head a little, his eye sockets closing. "I have so much to tell you. So very much."
"Me too…" Sally assured, practically over the moon and falling fast. "Oh dearest Jack…" left her in a quiet coo, "I—Oh!"
"Whoa!"
Suddenly both the rag doll and the skeleton's eyes popped open wide, and their focus was back on the present situation and specifically holding fast to their little arm rope.
Jewel had just gotten herself elevated enough to reach Jack's bony, detached hand, and now suddenly she was holding on tight. "Jack? Sally? Are you ready? I'm going to climb up now!" she called up to them.
Jack and Sally put aside their fluster and nodded, trying to catch their shallow breaths.
"Yes, Jewel!" Sally assured.
"Yes, Jewel, we're ready!" Jack added.
"Okay. Here I go!" she called back.
Jack and Sally had to dig in very tightly against the ground as Jewel started climbing, and Sally could feel her detached arm struggling to hold Jack's arm and the weight of Jewel.
"Are you doing okay, Sally?" Jack asked, eye sockets narrowed and focused down on the task at hand.
"Yes," Sally assured, likewise looking focused. "Just not for too much longer."
Jack nodded. "When I tell you, just yank the arms up with all you have, Sally, okay?"
"Okay, Jack." She nodded.
"I'm almost to Sally's arm!" Jewel announced.
"Just tell us when you can reach her elbow!" Jack called down.
"I'm there!"
"Now, Sally!" Then Jack leaned half down over the gorge, caught up Jewel around the waist and pulled her up as Sally gave a final yank to pull the arms up with them!
Jack ended up on the ground on his side, Jewel ended up sitting up on the grass a small distance from him, and Sally ended up near Jewel and clutching two arms in her one-armed grasp, one of them her familiar blue cloth appendage and the other…
She kept her attached hand from doing too much unnecessary touching but couldn't help her gaze at least roving over Jack's detached arm, taking in all the bony detail with interest (while her detached arm took Jack's hand, lacing fingers with it, and Sally giggled.)
"Is everyone all right?" Jack stood up, rubbing the side of his head with his one hand and looking between the two ladies.
Sally instantly took her attention away from the arms and stood up and walked over to Jack. "Yes, I'm all right, Jack. And so are our arms. Um…here you go." She managed to loosen the fingers of their limbs to hand him the bony one.
Jack took the arm from her and nodded, smiling softly. "Thank you, Sally."
Sally nodded and smiled back at him softly in return. She knew in that moment once more in her life that she could never not love him—she would always care for him a little at least, even if they didn't end up together, and she would always melt inside whenever he showed affection for her or they worked together or they were close.
"Oh…Oh dear."
Jewel's words made Jack and Sally blink and look to the young creation.
Poor Jewel was sitting upon the ground holding one of her arms where a tear appeared to have formed in a seam of her limb. She was trying to stuff her own filling back in but the hole was quite apparent. She sighed softly. "I broke myself." She looked over at the two of them. "I'm sorry to be a bother. The Doctor really was right…I'm not ready for so much excitement."
Jack looked a touch confused at the comment but Sally immediately walked over to Jewel and knelt down beside her. She put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh yes you are, Jewel. Don't listen to the Doctor, he just gets very overprotective. You absolutely can handle excitement. Everybody makes mistakes and even gets hurt sometimes. It's not a bad thing. And it was very brave what you did, coming to look for Jack and me at the scariest place in town. Besides, you'll see soon that everyone here falls apart in some way or another. The slime man drips everywhere, the Behemoth has an ax that comes in and out of his head, the clown's face tears away, and I come unstitched too," she held up her detached arm, which waved at Jewel, "and Jack's bones can come off."
Sally glanced back at Jack who just continued to watch their conversation with interest at first, but then he blinked and added, "Oh, um…yes!" He held up his detached arm.
Sally nodded and turned back to Jewel. "And even the Doctor can open his cranium and scratch his brain. So you're not so different from everybody else." She smiled more and looked down at the split seam. "And that's not so bad. You can sew it up in now time." She looked up at Jewel encouragingly.
Jewel had seemed quite interested in her words. But as Sally finished, she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, but…I can't sew, Sally. Not at all." She explained. "The Doctor says he kept the half of our brain that knew how to sew so the he could keep me in repairs and create other experiments too. He said it might be very difficult for me to learn how to sew because of that, so I should just do my best to be safe and always come back to him if I ever got hurt. He said he would take care of me."
Sally sighed. On the one hand she could have easily gone off on a total tirade against the Doctor and his controlling ways right now. But she resisted. No need to sour Jewel on him entirely, and Jewel didn't seem to have many complaints about him. Besides, he wasn't all bad: selfish, controlling, arrogant, and insensitive, maybe, but not bad. He meant well in his own odd way. So Sally just smiled. "Oh Jewel, don't be silly. I'll help you understand how to sew. It must be in your head somewhere even if the Doctor got the half of the brain with the easiest access to it. Look…" She took out a needle from her hair and some thread from her pocket. "You watch me sew myself back together, and then we'll work on you, all right?"
Jewel nodded, smiling happily. "Oh that sounds like a very efficient idea. Thank you, Sally." She laughed a little. "I don't know what the Doctor was thinking. You're not restless or easily distracted at all. You're very clever and nice and smart. I like you very much. Things will be very good when you come back to live with us."
Sally paused in her threading of the needle. Her smile faded for a moment. "Jewel…I can't come back and live with you. I don't belong with the doctor. I'm not happy with the doctor. I'll visit you, if you'd like, but I have to live for myself now." She finished her threading.
Jewel was quiet at first. "Oh…" 'Happy?' "Does that mean…if I was unhappy, I would have to leave the Doctor too? Or that if the Doctor was unhappy, he would leave me?"
Sally looked up at her and blinked. "I…well…if you were unhappy, you'd want to leave him anyway. But if you want to stay with him, that probably means that you're happy there. And the Doctor would never leave you, Jewel. He made you because he wanted you. And he's very proud of you and likes you." She smiled softly, bringing her severed limb up against the base of her upper arm on her body to begin sewing. "Trust me, I know."
"How?" asked Jewel very curiously, leaning in closer, looking down at Sally's arm as the rag doll pushed and pulled the needle and thread through her cloth flesh so fluently.
"Because I watched him make you," Sally explained. "And because when he did make you, he would talk to you all about how much he was looking forward to meeting you. And when he gave you half his brain he even kissed it because he likes you so much." She smiled more as her deft fingers approached the final stitches. "And doesn't he call you precious? He never called me anything like that, not even once. He must like you very much, Jewel. And besides…" Sally added with a touch of a far away look, "I've had a good feeling about his creation after me from the start—that bringing you into the world would help make things right for him. And I think it's starting to."
Jewel just sat there, her small eyes wide. "O-Oh…I see. How interesting…." Oh that feeling, that feeling that wanted to burst forth from her but never seemed there enough to be able to come all the way. The doctor had kissed her half of their brain… 'I'll never wash my brain again…' "I like him too…very much…so much…" She sighed deeply and softly (and wistfully).
For a moment Sally paused in her stitching, wide-eyed, unmoving.
Sally knew that sigh.
Sally had made that sigh more times than she could count in her life, usually while gazing out of her bedroom window over toward Jack's looming tower with the windows glowing mysteriously and housing her beloved within.
She looked to Jewel and considered saying something.
"Whoa!" The sound of Jack calling out and then falling, however, broke her attention for the moment.
Sally raised an eyebrow and looked to him over her shoulder. "Jack, what's wrong?"
Detached arm still in hand, Jack sat up from the ground several feet away and turned to her, raising an eyebrow of his own. "Trying to reattach an arm to a collar bone while wearing a dress shirt and a jacket is not easy, it seems." He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "I've never done anything like this before, taking off such large parts of myself and putting them back on. No wonder you like wearing dresses best, Sally—they must be easiest for sewing yourself up and putting yourself back together again." He sighed as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm sorry, ladies. Ignore me." He gave a small bow. "Just go back to fixing yourselves up, please. I think I know how to take care of this now." He then moved himself off several feet farther away from Jewel and Sally.
Sally just watched him go and tried not to giggle too much.
"The Pumpkin King is a very nice man. I like him. Do you like him too, Sally?" Jewel asked with interest.
Sally turned back to her and nodded. "Yes. I like him very, very much…" She lowered her voice and added, picking up her needle and thread again to finish the seam on her arm, "I'm happy with him."
"Will he let you live with him, then, as his 'precious' since you don't want to live with the Doctor anymore?" Jewel tilted her head to the side and smiled a little.
Sally smiled more and shrugged. "Oh…something like that."
Jewel smiled more. "Maybe once we're all together with the people we're supposed to be with, you and Jack and the Doctor and I could have dinner together one night? I'd like for all of us to be together. But before that maybe you could visit and help me with teaching the Doctor how to use utensils?" She pouted a little. "Igor's doing all right, but the Doctor is so set in his ways. I don't know how you managed."
Sally giggled. "Oh, he's stubborn, but you just keep asking very nicely and he might actually do it. Come to think of it, asking nicely over and over was the only approach I never tried." She shrugged. "I supposed I was never very focused on my domestic duties."
"Oh, I'm sure you were a wonderful helper," Jewel assured. "I like you and it's helpful that I get to know you, after all."
Sally smiled more. "I like you very much too, Jewel. I hope we can be very good friends." She tied off her final stich and flexed her arm. "There, see, very easy and good as new. Now, as for your seam, since sewing one handed takes some practice and since we don't have a lot of time right now, I'll stitch it for you very slowly and you just watch me closely. Then maybe someday soon we can have a proper lesson, okay?"
Jewel nodded. "All right, Sally. And you were right—sewing doesn't look so very hard."
"I'm glad." Sally threaded the needle again (this time with a spool of white thread from her pocket) and started to tie the thread into Jewel's skin. "Hmm…" She observed her fellow creation closely. "The Doctor didn't use cloth like mine. Is this skin of some sort?"
"Spider silk and resin and plant fibers. The doctor thought it might be more durable," Jewel explained. "That's also why he stuffed me with cotton and burlap. He said he wanted me to have as little chance as possible of getting hurt."
Sally had to smile. "See, I told you he liked you." She got to work on the stitching, going carefully.
Jewel looked on, but then a movement far behind Sally caught her eye and she glanced up over the rag doll's shoulder to observe the source. "Jack's quite fortunate. He doesn't have any stitching to worry about at all."
"Hmm? Oh, yes, Jack just has…" Sally picked her head up to answer her but then turned around as she noticed the direction of Jewel's gaze, "…bones…" Sally finished softly, her eyes going wide.
Apparently, trying to slip a thin, lanky, three-foot length of bone in the shape of an arm up into three feet of dress shirt surrounded by three feet of pinstripe jacket really was quite a tedious and impossible task. So right now Jack was far off to the side, facing slightly away from the ladies, and completely oblivious to any watching that might be going on: he had his jacket off, his tie undone, and he had managed to undo the buttons of his shirt enough to remove half of the garment, exposing his currently empty shoulder socket.
In short, Jack had his back to Sally as he tried to put himself back together, and Sally could see most of his bare collar and half of his ribs as he proceeded to reattach his arm.
Sally had entirely stopped stitching Jewel's seam at this point, and was just sitting there biting her lower lip as that purple blushing color grew in her cheeks while she watched the scene most intently.
"Sally? Are you all right? Should I ask Jack to come help?" came Jewel's soft voice to her ears after a moment.
"No!" Sally squeaked, instantly turning back around and hastily trying to start stitching her friend again. She swallowed, smiling a little funny. "Um…no, that's fine. He's pretty…I-I mean, he's busy! I mean, he's pretty busy so, um…I'm fine, and I'll just finish up now." She blushed more and more, doing her best to steady her hands and to relax again a little. 'It's normal, you're in love with him—it's perfectly normal to like him that way…but stop acting silly about it.' She sighed. 'Still mad at him, you're still a little mad at him. He lied to you and talked about you with another woman and took potions to live with you. He does not get to get away with that just because you happen to like bones.' She felt better now, though her blushing (and a dreamy little smile) still persisted. "And…there!" Sally finished the last stitch and pulled off the thread, leaving Jewel's arm in tact again. Sally looked up at Jewel. "See, sewing's not so bad—you just go in and out, over and over, and then make a knot at the end and cut the thread. You can practice on your legs very easily, Jewel. Here…" Sally reached to the other side of her head and pulled out a spare needle. "Here's a needle for you." She slipped it into Jewel's hat. "And I'll give you this spool of thread. I don't use the white much since I don't like how it goes with my cloth, but that color matches your skin very nicely." She handed the spool of white thread to Jewel.
Jewel took the item like it was quite precious to her, touched the place where the needle was in her hat, and then tucked the thread safely in her dress pocket. "Thank you, Sally. I'll practice, I promise."
"All ready to head back to town ladies?" Jack suddenly asked, coming up to them with a grin. His coat and jacket were back on, his arm was clearly in place once more, and he was just pulling tight his bat bowtie, though the bat in it wasn't as neat as could be.
Jewel nodded, standing up. "Oh, yes, and thank you again, Jack. You're a very kind and helpful Pumpkin King." She gave a little grateful bow.
Sally slipped her needle back into her hair and stood as well. "Yes, we're all stitched up and ready to go, Jack. And I'm glad to see you're back together too." She took a step closer to him, and her fingers came up to gently pull and tuck his tie until it was in its usual perfect bat shape. She whispered as she finished. "There, we go…" Before he could respond (and all he could do was seem confused for a moment and then blink and look a little funny), Sally smiled and turned back to Jewel. "Come on, Jewel, let's all go back to town together and sort everything out. And you just remember, if you ever do feel unhappy with the Doctor, you don't have to stay at the manor. You can come stay with me wherever I am. I wouldn't mind the company."
Jewel looked up from examining the new stitch in her arm with a mixture of wonder and scientific curiosity. "Oh, that's kind of you, Sally. But it's okay…" she smiled and shrugged, "I like being with the Doctor…and it's nice to know he must like me so much."
Sally nodded and laughed warmly, and the two ladies proceeded to stroll forward.
Jack, meanwhile, remained still for a moment, trying not to feel too embarrassed about the tie thing and whether or not it meant 'someone' had peeked at him when he had been…
Jack blinked, put the thought out of his mind, and then dashed up to get alongside Sally as the small group walked in the direction of town. "I think we should go directly to the Town Hall," Jack advised, putting his arms behind his back. "We'll be most likely to find everyone there. And then we can return you to the Doctor, Jewel, and I can try to explain some of my behavior lately to everyone, and we can let them all see that Sally is safe and sound." He let out a sigh, looking down and thinking to himself, a hand on his chin. "The most important thing is to quash any suggestion that somehow Oogie Boogie is involved in any way in our absences. There have been too many changes lately, I can't let there be a panic. Sing a song, give assurances, apologize…" he mumbled to himself. Then he glanced at Sally. "Sally, I'm sorry, I won't be able to be at the house much for at least a few days—after everything everyone's been through lately, I just have to make myself be out and about among the citizens, reassuring them and helping everything here return to normal. I'm sorry…" He frowned. "I know you don't like it when I'm gone." He looked down and added, "Of course, um…that won't matter much I guess if you choose to leave, but…for what it's worth, I promise I'm not being selfish this time with needing to be away from the house. I just have to be king for everyone and start paying the proper attention to the citizens again. They need me, and I don't want to let them down anymore."
Sally's hand suddenly slipped into Jack's, their fingers entwining.
Jack's eye sockets went wide, and he glanced over to Sally with an eyebrow slightly raised.
Sally smiled warmly at him. "Yes, they do need you, Jack. You're a good King. So you do whatever you need to do to be a good king. And I'll be waiting for you, no matter where I am." She squeezed his hand. "But thank you for telling me about your plans. I appreciate that very much. It's just nice to be included in your ideas and the things that are important to you." And then she leaned in and kissed his cheek before turning away shyly to look forward once more as they strolled.
Jack smiled considerably, looking forward as well. "Oh, well…you're welcome, Sally." He squeezed her hand in return. He swallowed, swinging their hands a little absentmindedly. Then he kissed her cheek in return before looking forward with a grin again.
Sally beamed.
Jewel (at this point) just observed them with quiet interest. And she daydreamed about holding the Doctor's hand as they walked and having him give her brain or cheek or any other part of her a little kiss. Being around Jack and Sally was sort of starting to make her have lots of thoughts like these.
For a few moments the threesome just walked through the hinterlands in peace as they made their way toward town. Everything was so calm in the hinterlands. Rarely did a soul venture out here, after all.
Yet, Sally suddenly stopped walking as a bad feeling washed over her…and a faint sound in the distance like laughter met her ears.
"Sally…" Jack had stopped when she had stopped, and now he looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "What is it?"
Jewel paused as well, glancing to her friend. "Sally?"
Sally bit her lip and looked down. "I have a bad feeling…" She glanced out over the landscape, mostly bare of course in the moonlight save for the looming spiral hill far off near the graveyard on the outskirts of town,
But no, wait, among the greyness and somber tones were three little bits of somberness scurrying…right by an old large tree not too far away.
Jack saw the movement, and he also knew what that tree was…and how it held a tree house for a certain three little citizens (and with a connection to a certain former bug and burlap sack monster foe). Perhaps the little trick-or-treater trio was just out here slacking off from the search for Jack and Sally. And yet hadn't he noticed some activity out there a couple of days ago on one of his walks away from the house? And if Sally had a bad feeling…
"A bad…feeling?" Jack blinked and glanced at Sally again. "What do you mean, Sally?"
Sally blinked, coming out of her slight trance of staring at the tree, and glanced to the side and shrugged. "I get feelings about things sometimes. You should have seen the bad feeling I got about Christmas…. It was a doozy." She sighed. "And I'm having another bad feeling right now." Her eyes went out to the tree again (which the three trick-or-treaters clearly must have climbed up into now).
Jack considered. Then he released his hand from Sally's and stepped away from the two women. "Sally, Jewel," he smiled, "You both head back into town. I'll check on Lock, Shock and Barrel." He shrugged, trying to seem casual. "They're probably just playing or something, but I'd like for them to be at the town meeting anyway, so I'll fetch them and join you soon."
Jewel nodded. "That seems sensible, Jack."
Sally did not nod. "I'll go with you, Jack."
Jack shook his head. "No, Sally, I'll go by myself. Really, I insist."
Sally shook her head right back. "And I insist on going, Jack. And if you don't let me go with you right now, I'll just sneak back around and join you anyway."
Jack blinked and pouted. "Sally, it's safest in town. You're not…"
"…Not ready for so much excitement?" Sally couldn't help but supply in a dull voice with a somewhat dark look on her features.
Jack almost looked a touch nervous at such a reply. He wasn't sure what to say.
"But, Sally…" Jewel offered shyly, "That's what the Doctor said he would always say about you? But you definitely seem to be okay with excitement. Much more than I am, at least."
Sally let out a small sigh and smiled again. "Thank you, Jewel. You're very kind and supportive and understanding." She was very certain to deliberately deliver these compliments to Jewel and not at all to Jack. "Jewel, do you know your way back to town from here?"
Jewel nodded. "Oh yes, the Doctor made sure I had a full working knowledge of the town and surrounding areas so that I could take him anywhere he needed to go."
Sally smiled more. "Good. Would you mind going back to town and letting everyone know that you're safe and that I'm safe and Jack's safe, and that Jack and I might be back a little later than we told Zero but still very soon?" She frowned a little. "I'm sorry to send you back alone. But…" she blinked, "Oh I know!" Then Sally gave a whistle and called out, "Zero!"
It took a few seconds, but then a howl sounded in the night, and soon enough a familiar glowing pumpkin nose was racing toward them through the air. When the ghost dog who owned that distinct nose arrived, Zero swirled around Jack once with a smile and then gave Sally a lot of kisses.
Sally giggled and patted his head. "Thank you for coming, Zero. This is Jewel." She gestured to Jewel who smiled and waved at the little dog. "She needs an escort back to town. Can you help?"
Zero nodded and flew around Jewel once and then nestled by her side with a big smile.
Sally looked to Jewel (who was currently patting the ghost dog with a touch of amazement in her features). "Zero is Jack's dog, Jewel. He'll escort you back to town." And then Sally came forward and gave Jewel a big hug before pulling back happily. "I'm very happy we finally got to meet, Jewel."
Jewel looked quite happy too. "I think it's good that I got to meet you to, Sally. And it was very nice to meet you too, King Jack. And thank you both for introducing me to another new friend." She glanced at the little dog. "It's nice to meet you, Zero. I like your nose."
Zero's nose glowed extra brightly, and he glanced to the side with playful shyness.
Jewel just laughed and turned to start walking back toward town. "Come on, let's go, Zero."
"Arf!" Zero replied with a nod.
"Zero, before you go…" Jack stepped forward, a touch of concern in his features as Zero looked back at him, awaiting instructions. "Please tell the mayor to get together a town meeting together himself if he wouldn't mind since Sally and I are still busy at the moment. I have some things I'd like to discuss with everyone as soon as we get back. All right?"
Zero nodded affirmatively. "Arf!"
Jack smiled. "Thank you, boy. Sally and I will be along shortly. And thank you for escorting Jewel back to town."
Zero nodded again and then turned toward town, flying alongside Jewel as she walked and waved over her shoulder at Jack and Sally. "Bye, Jack and Sally! See you soon!" Then she looked forward, and the pair went along on their way.
Once they were out of earshot, Sally let out a sigh, her smile falling a little. "Come on, Jack," she started heading in the direction of the tree, "Let's go see what those three are up to."
Jack looked after her with an eyebrow raised and then started following her. "Um…did I do something wrong again?" he asked hesitantly.
Sally just sighed again. She knew he was trying, and that he didn't mean to be insensitive and that he didn't mean to upset her. "Jack," she began to explain as patiently as she could manage, "I appreciate that you're concerned for my safety, but I don't want anybody protecting me or sheltering me. That's been my whole life, and I've hated it. A lot." She glanced at him. "I know I'm young and that I'm not scary and that I can be clumsy and seem small and soft, but I can handle a lot and I don't like being left all alone while everyone else takes care of everything. I won't live like that, Jack." She looked into his eyes, then couldn't help frowning a little and adding, "You know, it's not like all I did during the Christmas thing was sew your suit and then wait on the hill for you to find me. I tried to warn you, I tried to stop you…"
Her companion smiled and nodded. "Yes, you did."
"…I went to save Santa and helped keep him alive long enough for you to get there."
"Very true."
"…And I had to…endure a lot from Oogie Boogie. I'm not very strong but I always do my best. And I don't let anything scare me away if it means I can help people, and especially people I care about."
"I know." Jack came closer to Sally, his smile warm and his tone full of sincerity and truth. "And I'm sorry. And if I had to pick anybody to have by my side, in good or bad times, it has to be you. I would never trust anybody else the way I trust you." He took her hand again.
As they walked on, Sally just looked at him with confusion but wonder. Then she smiled a little. "Thank you, Jack…" Another moment passed and she squeezed his hand.
Jack smiled considerably.
They walked in quiet together for another few moments, though now with more intimacy about them.
"So…" Jack then started, raising an eyebrow and his smile picking up a little more, "you get feelings about things?"
Sally blinked and nodded to him. "Yes. I can't help it. The Doctor said he made me extra intuitive so that I would be able to anticipate his needs." She smiled a little more. "Mostly though it just helped me know when he was coming along so I could hide from him whenever I snuck out of the house."
Jack laughed a little.
"The feeling I have now isn't too strong yet. It's more like just a suspicion instead of a full premonition of something bad." Sally looked to the tree once more and then back to Jack. "Do you think the three of them really could be up to anything dangerous?"
Jack considered. "I think it may be something rather annoying and maybe even a little underhanded. But I'm not sure of how much danger they'd be capable of at the moment. But it doesn't hurt to check. And they really shouldn't be out here right now either way."
Sally nodded in agreement. "That feels right to me."
Jack nodded as well, glancing back to her again, his smile growing warm. "Me too."
Sally looked to him in return. Her smile picked up on one side, and a touch of something playful came to her voice. "But maybe we shouldn't walk up to them holding hands. They might get a bit suspicious of your intentions with me."
Jack blinked and blanched a bit, and quickly released his hand from hers. "O-Oh, yes, right, heh…" He rubbed the side of his arm. "Not that I'm embarrassed, it's just…they usually require fear to be obedient, and I don't think me seeming like I'm on a date would be very scary."
Sally did her best not to giggle. "No, I guess not. But hopefully they won't need too much scaring anyway. I don't think they're entirely horrible children. They were nice to bring the mayor too help us escape from Oogie's lair on Christmas Eve. Don't forget that."
"If anything, that's evidence against their favor," Jack replied with a touch of dryness. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sally look at him quizzically, and he smiled a little and explained his comment. "It's not that I didn't appreciate a way out of there and a ride home…but I could have done without the public interruption and the shining spotlight interrupting you and me right when we were about to really talk for the first time." He swallowed and added softly, "It ended up taking me almost an hour extra time after that to fully realize how much I cared about you. Maybe a villain's glowing hideout wouldn't have been the ideal place for a first kiss, but still…I didn't appreciate the delay." His gaze went forward.
Sally swallowed and was quiet for a moment. Then her gaze went forward as well. "You know, we haven't kissed like how we kissed on that hill once since that night. I'm not even sure if we've really kissed on the lips at all since that night actually."
"I know." Jack blanched and looked down in a mix of contemplation and embarrassment. "Believe me, I know." He glanced over to her, and for the first time Sally truly noticed how lily white he could get around her. He went on. "I'll explain it to you later, Sally. I promise. I made some mistakes about us, but I understand that now. And I want…to…with you…kiss like how we kissed on that hill." He glanced down shyly. "I want to be close to you like that more than anything."
Sally looked down very shyly and nodded. Then she smiled in a special way and glanced at him. "Well, then…let's take care of Lock, Shock and Barrel and the town meeting and our talk about things as quickly as possible then…" she supplied softly with a small smile upon her lips, "…And we'll see what happens." She swayed to give him the smallest playful nudge and then trotted sprightly off ahead.
Jack just paused and then raised an eyebrow, looking distinctly intrigued, before quickly following along after her…a special (and rather hopeful) smile coming to his lips as well.
They were before the large tree soon enough, and Jack and Sally prepared to investigate.
Meanwhile, up in the tree house, three trick-or-treaters had been taking a moment to rest and regroup after a very exhaustive search of the Halloween Town area for a certain ragdoll seamstress.
Shock sighed deeply, lying on the floor not far from the cages of bugs piled up against one of the walls. "What did Sally do, go off to another holiday world like Jack did?"
Lock, leaning against his pitchfork to rest, rolled his eyes. "Well, if she did, we're not doing a search of the rest of the holidays to find her. I'm drawing a line. Barrel, you with me?"
Lock's question was only met with a loud snore from Barrel who was suddenly passed out asleep on top of the bug cages.
The devil trick-or-treater just rolled his eyes.
Shock sighed and sat up with a scowl. "Look, there's no way she would go to another world after all that dangerous craziness that happened with Jack going to another world. She's around here, we're just not looking hard enough."
Lock scowled back at her. "Fine, we'll look harder next time. But right now, I—" He paused and blinked…then put a hand to his ear. "Did you hear something?"
Shock blinked and then took off her witch's hat to put the tip to her ear as well.
A large snore suddenly escaped from Barrel.
Lock scowled and poked Barrel with his pitchfork.
"Ah!" Barrel gasped and sat up. "What? What, I'm up! What happened?"
"Shut up, you ninny!" Shock hissed, then she went back to listening…
…Only now a person didn't need to listen closely—now the sound was nearby and distinct, like a pair of feet lightly walking through the dead leaves and gnarled roots that made up the lawn around the tree house. Somebody was outside.
Shock stealthily crept over to the window and raised her head just enough to peek out.
The partial view she saw was of Sally, wandering around near the base of the tree, looking confused and unsure.
Shock grinned ear to ear. She kept her voice low. "Oh boys?" Lock and Barrel raised an eyebrow each and slowly approached. Shock went on. "I don't think we need to search anymore. Our victim came to us instead…"
The two boys, barley peeking above the windowsill, saw the sight Shock saw and grinned as well. The group broke into some low cackles and then separated and quickly prepared for how best to catch innocent, wandering, (seemingly) alone Sally for their diabolical plan.
A/N:
That's all for now! I hope you guys liked the chapter. In the next chapter, the kids finally get a hold of Sally and reveal their diabolical little plan…and we see some rare angry Jack lol. And Jack and Sally continue to make up in their own small yet meaningful ways. I hope you all enjoy it!
Happy Reading!
~Azure129 aka Jenna