Dearest Friends

by Azure129

Jack and Sally have finally realized they're meant to be…but what's next? Jack has never 'courted' a lady before, and Sally still can't believe he actually loves her back! Jack's solution is to sneak off for romance advice to the holiday land with a heart-shaped door, leading him to some very odd behavior. Sally tries to be patient. But eventually something has to give. JackXSally.

25. Epilogue: Now and Forever

A/N:

Hi all! Thank you for your patience—it took me forever to get this epilogue just right and to work as something I really liked. And I hope you all like it too ^_^ Just a little heads up, Jack and Sally do discuss deepening their intimacy a little here, but it's nothing intense (and absolutely nothing I think deserving anything higher than a T rating). Anyway, YAY, the final conclusion to this fic. Thank you all so much for reading, and please review if you can : )

Dearest Friends

Epilogue:

Now and Forever

---

It was a balmy spring day in Valentine Town: the sky was blue azure, the sun was honey-butter yellow, the clouds were pearly white and washed with just a touch of pale pink, and the wind held the fragrance of sweet new flowers. All over town people were strolling and relaxing, taking a rest after another Valentine's Day successfully celebrated a few weeks ago.

As Halloween wasn't due to start for over six months, Jack Skellington and his dear lady friend Sally were taking a little time to relax in this lovely holiday world as well, and to visit their friends Flora and Marigold as well.

Of course, this wasn't the Halloween couple's first time seeing their new Valentine friends since their little post-Christmas adventure together. Indeed, the Valentine Queen had invited every leader from the other holiday worlds to come see the Valentine's Day parade this year, and naturally Jack and Sally had accepted the invitation. It had been a beautiful display with doves flying and heart-shaped floats glittering and all shades of pink and red and purple banners streaming. And Flora had been at the center of things during the annual Valentine's song, dressed in her traditional sparkling pink robes and wielding a mighty silver bow with a quiver of love arrows while Marigold (in full glimmering gold robes) had stood at the head of the parade waving the Valentine Town banner. Everyone had cheered, and then they had all eaten chocolates together afterwards during the big Valentine Card exchange. Jack and Sally had loved the celebration.

Yet, in a way, Jack and Sally were enjoying their current visit to the land of Valentine's Day a little more. It was just so pleasant getting to stroll around the town in its casual state and to be here as humble guests rather than as honored dignitaries. Not to mention Flora and Marigold had more time to spend with them during this weekend-long trip. The Valentine Queen and her head Magistrate had started Jack and Sally's morning yesterday with a light brunch (making sure to include as many chocolate covered bugs as possible) followed by tours of the town and the land with introductions to the main members of the citizenry. Flora and Marigold had also shown them some of the more famous landmarks of the town: the fountain statue of the love goddess Venus in town square, the orchard where heart-shaped apples and strawberries and peaches grew, the love arrow archery shooting range, the forest of cocoa bean trees (from which they made all of their chocolate), and finally of course the town hall where all of their many marriages were performed.

Today, though, for their final day in town, Flora had insisted that Jack and Sally take the afternoon to themselves for a private stroll through Lovers Lane. "I know Jack wants to take you there, Sally," Flora had explained to her rag doll friend with a smile. "Please go. And I'll meet you back at my house later for a farewell dinner with Marigold." (By 'house' she meant her small Parthenon-like palace made of marble that served as her home).

Jack and Sally had agreed with smiles and then departed from her.

Now the Pumpkin King and his lady friend were strolling up Lovers Lane arm in arm as the afternoon wore on.

Sally, dressed in a new patchwork dress she had made for herself (this one a full-length dress in varying shades of black, white, and grey) watched the other couples around them in fascination; she had never seen such open displays of affection. She moved closer to her companion. "They're all so comfortable and happy together, Jack. It must be wonderful to spend your life learning the beauty of showing affection instead of feeling shy and awkward about love." She blushed a little at the sight of some people lying in the grass kissing and added with a small giggle, "It almost seems like it would be fun to be that bold. Is there anything special you wanted to do here, Jack, or should we just stroll?" She glanced up at Jack affectionately.

Jack, wearing his usual pinstripe suite (but with a dark red valentine bowtie on, hand-stitched by Sally of course), felt himself grow warm in his skull. He glanced down shyly. "People usually come here to show deep affection for each other. I wouldn't mind doing that together with you, Sally. I'd quite love it actually. But…I'd like to find a private place for us, perhaps a shady bower away from the Lane."

"Of course, Jack." Sally smiled more and nodded. "We can be as private as you want. Why don't we head down that side path into the gardens up ahead and see if we can find a little place for each other?" She gestured forward.

Jack smiled more and nodded. "That sounds lovely, Sally." He squeezed her hand and moved just a little closer alongside her.

---

The happy couple found a quite, removed, shady place soon enough and settled down in the grass. Jack rested back on his arms, and Sally spread out the folds of her dress underneath herself. Bashful smiles soon progressed to little touches, which soon grew to little kisses, which soon grew to deep embraces as the couple shared their love in privacy and happiness.

After a while though, all Jack and Sally wanted to do, like so many other couples they had seen and could see through an opening in the trees ahead of them looking over the main avenue of Lovers Lane, was just lie together and hold each other as they smiled and talked.

"Oh, Jack, I wish we could visit more often," Sally cooed, nuzzling up against him.

Jack nodded as he stroked through her hair. "I know. I'm sorry the amount of vacations we can take away from town are so limited, Sally. Kings who are now also holiday ambassadors don't get a lot of time for pleasure." He smiled sheepishly.

Sally's smile picked up on one side. "It's all right, Jack." She gently traced his jawline. "We make our own time for pleasure in the moments we get alone back in Halloween Town, don't we, my King?"

A shuddery sigh left Jack, and he nodded. "Oh yes, we certainly manage…" He chuckled. "We manage so well that Zero tells me the townspeople come up with a new song almost each week about the wonder of our love affair and how we're always sneaking off together."

"Do they really?" Sally blushed.

Jack smiled at her, his eye sockets hazed. "Shh…" he cooed. "There's no need to be flustered. It's just something they do because they're curious. Besides, if I were them, I couldn't help but sing too if I knew my future Queen might be the haunting and clever and kind Miss Sally." He looked down into her eyes, smiling more.

Sally blushed purple and giggled. "Jack, we might be courting, but there's no way I'm scary enough to actually be the Pumpkin Queen of Halloween one day."

Jack smirked as he sat up a little more. "Sally, we've been over this—you're terrifying in a subtle way…with your bravery and your cleverness and your fearlessness…and of course with your uncanny knack for premonitions. Do I have to sing the new verse of the Halloween song again? Because I will sing the new verse of the song again and gladly."

"Oh Jack…" Sally sat up a little and blushed lightly.

Jack smiled more and cleared is throat, then sang in a sonorous and deep tone to the tune of their Halloween song.

I am the 'who' when you call 'who's there',

I am the wind blowing through your hair.

I see the future—the scary things to come:

You can't escape me, there's nowhere to run.

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween…"

"Well…" Sally's smile picked up a little on one side, "I suppose I am getting better with the crystal ball. I made the Mayor happy by telling him I didn't see anything bad coming to disrupt this Halloween…and I helped Behemoth with the pumpkin patch by telling him when it was going to rain so he could pick the right day to plant pumpkin seeds…and I helped the vampire brothers by telling them when the next solar eclipse would probably be so that they would know the next time they can go out during the day." She smiled more and played with a few strands of her hair. "It's not terribly scary stuff just yet that I'm predicting, but I'm getting more confident in my feelings about things. And I do like the new lyrics to the song you wrote for me."

Jack chuckled warmly. "You're welcome, my delightful dolly." He snuggled against her a little. "You're just brilliant. Everyone's very impressed. And I'm so happy other people have found use for your sewing skills too along with your fortune telling ones." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wish you hadn't gone and spent the first money you made at your sewing shop all on me."

Sally smiled. "Getting you a present with what I made at the shop helped me feel good. I like making you presents when I sew, but it was nice to be able to buy you something. Now I understand why you liked getting things for me when we were setting up my room—it feels good, providing for someone you love like that."

Jack smiled and nodded. "Yes, exactly. That feeling of taking care of their needs is soothing. Besides," he rested his hand over hers in the grass, "I do like my new telescope, and I'll especially treasure it forever because it came from you."

Sally giggled. "I just thought that since you spent so much time looking through the Doctor's microscopes when you wanted to investigate Christmas, you might like something that would let you look beyond all the worlds to the stars."

Jack nodded then raised part of his brow. "Speaking of the Doctor, how are he and Jewel doing? You talk to Jewel and visit the manor more often than I ever get to."

Sally blushed a little and smiled more to herself, then lowered her voice to a private whisper. "Jewel told me that on Valentine's Day the Doctor kissed her. A real kiss—not just on the cheek."

Jack's eye sockets went a little wide. "Really?"

"Mmm hmm." Sally nodded. "But please don't tell anyone else: it's a secret. Jewel doesn't want the Doctor to get embarrassed about it." She giggled. "Jewel said after it happened, the Doctor was too shy to say anything to her all day. He just wheeled around and tried to do work, and she did her best to help him, though he seemed very distracted."

Jack chuckled. "Well, I hope things continue to work out for them. We should go over to the manor for dinner again soon. I would love to spend more time with Doctor Finkelstein and Jewel. I think the Doctor's really starting to warm up to the idea of you and I being together. He's not nearly as gruff about things whenever I see him in town, and he actually just seems happiest that you're safe and cared for whenever we've talked ever since the new year."

"Yes." Sally smiled a little more. "And the other women in town seem more okay now about things between you and I too. For a while, every time they saw me they'd just be sniffling and trying to congratulate me like I'd won some sort of prize." Sally frowned a little and looked down. "I tried to be polite, but I wish they wouldn't act like that about it. I don't feel honored that I'm courted by the Pumpkin King, I just feel happy that you and I finally found each other and that we're both good for each other."

Jack gave her an affectionate grin. "So what do the women do now if they've stopped lamenting the loss of their handsome bachelor King?"

Sally's smile returned, and she pulled up her knees a little. "Well, now they just tell me that it's very sweet to see you so happy with me and me so happy with you, which is nice. But they also try to ask me questions about you." She did her best not to giggle.

"Questions?" Jack blinked. "What kind of questions?" He raised part of his brow.

Sally shrugged, playing with a few dandelions in the grass. "Well, I don't give them answers, but they ask about how you are in private and what your favorite things are and how romantic you can be. I suppose they've always wondered what you'd be like as a lover, and now I'm their only way of knowing."

Jack looked down and blanched with a sheepish smile. "Oh…Oh dear, I almost wonder if it wouldn't be better if you just told them the truth. I can only imagine all the fantasies and rumors they've come up with about me over the years, let alone lately, like I'm some sort of passionate demon of the night."

"But you are a passionate demon of the night…" Sally whispered near his ear, her voice laced with a touch of its own passion. "In fact, you're always much more romantic as soon as the moon rises and we're home alone together after our busy days. And you're very creative when we're having our sleepovers…and that look in your eye sockets when you see me in a new nightgown is just spine-tingling…and then there's the way you kiss me almost everywhere…" She put her hand on his shoulder and started to lightly kiss his cheeks. "So bold, Jack." She giggled. "Don't worry, I'll never tell another soul. Let them keep guessing. All I do let them know is that I'm very, very happy…and that I look forward to going home and seeing you each night very, very much."

"Sally…" left Jack in a rather deep-toned whispered as he smiled and rested back more on the grass, his eye sockets closed now while she continued to kiss his face, "I can't help myself. I had to endure so many centuries pretending love and kisses and warmth and a companion didn't matter to me in the least…. It's hard not to get carried away now that I have all of that and more. And you're right—the night does something to me, it always has. I'm always at my best at night. Halloween night most of all." Something playful came to his gaze as he opened his eye sockets. "Only a few more months, and then I can take all of that energy I used to put into being melancholy and instead put it into having fun with you." He winked.

"I can't wait." Sally giggled. "But I'm starting to think it's not just Halloween but all holidays in general that make you passionate, Jack. After all, you were already very bold on our first Valentine's night." Sally's gaze grew warm and her kisses tapered off as she remembered that evening of cuddling and pumpkin wine and Jack cooing between kisses that red was absolutely her best color (she had sewn a new nightgown for the occasion). Sally came out of her memories and went on. "And I don't want you to be able to help yourself anyway: I want you to express every desire to me. I love knowing them and helping you work through them. And I love when you help me with mine too." She giggled again, her voice going down to a whisper. "Everything's been so fun together, dearest Jack."

Jack swallowed, and he tried not to tremble too much. "Y-Yes…it all truly has been fun…and more than fun. Especially this trip—our first nights away from home together. And our first Valentine's night together was fun too…" He took a breath, a memory flitting through his mind of Sally in red silk and him moving his hands over her curves to try and feel and know the full patterns of her stitches while she giggled and he blanched until finally in their sleepiness they had dozed off in front of the fire, wrapped up in a blanket and each other. His voice became quiet now, and his eye sockets angled down. He traced in the grass with the fingertips of one of his hands. "We keep getting so close, and the time keeps going by so quickly." His skull was starting to burn white, and he bit his bony lip. "We 'share' so much…"

Sally nodded, her eyes hazed. "Yes, we do." But then she blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Jack…what is it?" Sally placed her hand over his still resting in the grass.

Jack shook his skull once. "Nothing, Sally, really…"

"Jack…" she kept going though, "You've been doing this for two weeks now, getting ready to say something and then putting it off. Please tell me what's bothering you." She frowned a little.

Jack let out a breath, still not looking up. "I'm afraid it's too soon to say it. But…I also don't want to wait until it's too late to say it. I'm not sure what you'll think." He looked up at the feeling of Sally's hand squeezing his.

She was smiling warmly at him. "You won't know until you try, dearest Jack. And if it's important and about us, I want you to tell me."

Jack blinked a couple of times. "I-I know, it's just that, you're a…and I'm a…And maybe I'm just a little caught up in the atmosphere of this place, maybe I should just wait until we get back home or until the last of the holidays finish for the summer or…"

"Jack…" Sally's eyes were a little hazed, one of her eyebrows was slightly arched, and a small smile sat on her lips.

Jack knew that look by now—it was the look she always gave him whenever he was being too dramatic and she was determined to calm him down again.

"Please tell me what's been worrying you," she went on, never letting her gaze leave his.

Jack took a deep breath. And then he told her. "We might want to make love one day soon, Sally. And I think we should talk about it."

Sally's eyes went perfectly wide and her features blushed all purple. Jack hadn't broached the subject so directly before: he hadn't even come close since their first morning together when their kissing had started to go too far and Sally had had to comfort him. 'This place really does make people more romantic.' She took her hand from his then sat up completely and nodded to him, shifting in her dress. "Oh, um, yes…I-I mean, yes, we should talk." She swallowed and blushed a mix of purple and sapphire. Flashes of a hundred fantasies over the years flitted through her mind as did dozens of memories from their nights spent together as two people courting. How they would kiss sometimes, lying together in front of the fire at midnight, and Sally would wish Jack wouldn't pull back eventually and suggest they should probably get to sleep now. Sally took a deep breath. "I didn't realize it was on your mind, Jack. I hope I haven't been pushing you at all," she added softly, looking down.

"No, no, not at all, not in the least." Jack shook his skull. "And I hope I haven't been pushing you at all either," he added, his skull a burning white that he wished would go away. "I-I guess I just wanted to say, now that we're settling into our life together…it's maybe a possibility we should acknowledge, to grow more comfortable with the idea." That was the strongest way Jack felt comfortable putting the situation. Many evenings though, only his shyness and uncertainty kept him reserved enough not to pursue the subject with more vigor in the privacy of their home. His curious nature had never felt the full force of passionate desire until now in his life as he held Sally close almost every evening and grew warm from their kisses in a way that he had never thought the dead could experience. He cleared his throat and blinked a few times to come out of his thoughts. "I have questions first though…" he went on, "a-and I'm sure you must too. And I don't want us to do anything in a haste." A very solemn, humble look came to his features.

Sally smiled sweetly and moved closer to him. Her voice was a gentle coo. "Then we'll talk, Jack. And we'll take time and make a good, private decision. And it'll be beautiful. I have a good feeling."

Jack smiled a little more. "I'll just be happy as long as I can be close to you." He moved closer as well, nuzzling the top of her yarn covered head with his skull, inhaling the familiar gentle scent of her perfume like autumn leaves and pumpkin pie spice and black roses. "And thank you for encouraging me to tell you, Sally. I've been dying to get that off of my chest."

Sally smiled and nuzzled him back. "You're welcome, Jack." She inhaled his scent of burning wood and foggy mists as she tried not to swoon. "And I'll be happy too, as long as we're together."

Jack let out a content sigh. "Sally?" He sat up a bit more and looked into her eyes as he brought his bony fingertips to her cheek. "I know this isn't the best place, but as long as I've got the courage, could I ask one thing about this subject right now?"

"Yes. You can ask me anything, Jack." Sally's cheeks were a lovely glowing shade of purple as she nodded to him. "There's nothing to be ashamed about, and especially not here."

Jack smiled, his eye sockets hazed. "Would you prefer to be married before we made love?"

Sally blinked. "I…oh…I never thought about it before." She considered. "I guess it doesn't matter to me much either way." She smiled. "We know we love each other, we know we're meant to be…we know we'll probably get married one day just like we'll probably make love one day. And I know you're the only man for me and that I'm the only woman for you so…anytime seems good to me as long as we're both ready." Her smile brightened.

"Thank you, Sally." Jack nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." He lowered his hand from her cheek, and his brow furrowed in a pensive way for a moment as he looked forward.

Sally raised an eyebrow. Then she smiled a little more and asked, "Did you have a preference about being married first, Jack?"

Jack blanched a little, hesitated, then finally nodded. "Sort of. I agree, it doesn't matter as long as we love each other and feel ready, but…I suppose part of me is a little old-fashioned and would like to be married first. But I don't want to rush us into a wedding." He turned to her again. "Perhaps we could at least wait until we're engaged?"

"I understand." Sally nuzzled up closer to him and brushed her cheek near his. "That might be nice. And besides, it's fun just to explore together in the ways we already are: you letting me see and name almost all of your bones and letting me play with pieces of you that you take off…and me letting you help tighten the stitches that come loose in all the different parts of my body…and of course the many ways that we kiss together."

Jack nodded, his skeleton grin growing dreamy as he blanched at the memories. "Yes, all of that is certainly so much…and wondrous." He swallowed. "I wanted to wait on the proposal just a bit for the sake of letting the citizens get used to us and so that I can focus on making sure this year's Halloween goes smoothly since we lost so much time in preparing for it. But…I was thinking of asking you sometime after the holiday. Maybe even before Christmas, if you don't think that's too quickly." He glanced at her. "It's funny—I know logically what your answer will most likely be, but I'm still rather nervous thinking about actually asking you the question."

Sally smiled and nodded. "It's a big question, Jack. It makes sense you'd be nervous. I'm nervous too." She gave his cheek a soft kiss. "And it's not too soon to ask, don't worry."

"Okay then." He took a deep breath, smiling more. "I'm glad we discussed it a little now, Sally. It feels nice having everything sort of settled—a good plan for ourselves. I like when we talk. And all the married and engaged people here seem happy." He smiled at the thought and glanced down through the opening in the trees before them to the couples far off lying in the grass and strolling down the lane.

Sally nodded, looking down there too. "Yes." She sighed softly. "Jack? Can I ask you a question now too, as long as we're talking about things like this?"

Jack nodded. "Of course, my love. What's on your mind?"

Sally played with a few strands of her hair. "Well…neither of us has brought up having a baby together ever, at least not seriously. Would you like to have children one day, Jack?" She blushed a little and added, "Of course, that wouldn't be for a while even if you did, but…I was just wondering, would you?"

Jack just remained still, his eye sockets wide. Then finally he blinked a few times. "It's not that I don't…I…" He sighed deeply as he looked into her eyes, his brow furrowed in uncertainty. "Sally, children never seem to like me very much. I can barely get Lock, Shock and Barrel to respect me, and the human children are just scared of me even if they like being scared sometimes. And they were so terrified of me during my Christmas Eve flight…and in a bad way." He frowned. "Children don't naturally like me. It's all right. It's almost expectable. I'm fear embodied, Sally: children aren't exactly comforted by that fact."

'Oh…' Sally moved closer to him and touched his arm. "If you believed children did like you though, would you want to have children one day, Jack?" She blushed. "It's okay if you don't know the answer yet."

Jack smiled a little and turned to look at her. An image recurred to him, one he had had briefly during his first trip to Valentine Town and Lovers Lane and one that was easy to recall as he reposed with Sally now in this shady bower: it was his sudden daydream so long ago of lying in the sun and flowers here with his dearest friend, his hand gently touching a little extra curve in the front of her body while he kissed her and wondered about the wonderful thing their love had made together.

Jack let out a breath and touched Sally's hand on his arm as he spoke. "I never thought about the matter much until now. I don't feel ready to be a father. But if I knew I could be a good one, I…" His voice lowered to a whisper, and something in his eye socket twinkled. "Sally, we could have a baby: how…perfectly splendid that would be. A little of you and a little of me always together. We could create life in our living death."

Sally's eyes hazed completely. She whispered and blushed more. "I want to have a baby with you one day, dearest Jack. I've always wanted to. And I know I would love to, no crystal ball needed. I feel it more strongly than I've ever felt anything else."

Jack blinked a few times, coming out of his dreamy trance. "But Sally, I told you, no matter how I feel about them, children don't like me." He sighed and frowned again. "I don't want to bring a child into our world if all I'll be capable of doing is terrifying it and making it resent me. Our child deserves a better father than that."

"Jack," Sally looked into his eye sockets, "the human children were only terrified at Christmas because you weren't what they were expecting. And they do take comfort from how you scare them at Halloween; it's just a different kind of comfort. Do you know how disappointed they would be if you didn't bring them Halloween each year? And Lock, Shock and Barrel respect you more than you realize. And either way, Jack, there's so much more to you than being scary, and you know it." She smiled again. "Jack, you told me that when you visited here the first few times, you observed the Valentine children because their courtship practices were very basic and innocent, right? Well, when they saw you, were they scared at all? If you came back to them several times, even if they were a bit surprised, they must have gotten used to you enough to talk with you and see that you're such a nice and good-hearted man."

Jack only sighed though. "I never showed myself to the children, Sally. I just watched them from afar sometimes. The adults around here don't get frightened of me because they wear those rose-tinted glasses—how they see people is based on the love in their hearts. But the children don't wear glasses. Flora says it's because they're so young and full of love that they don't need any help focusing on the love in others, but still…what if they saw me as I really am and screamed, and I ruined their sweet time together?" He looked into her eyes. "I'm Jack, the Pumpkin King, master of fright and leader of Halloween. I've accepted that's who I am and that I just have to be the best me I can be. I can't be something I'm not, even if who I am is someone not well-liked by children."

Sally tilted her head to the side but then smiled sweetly. She kissed his lips and pulled back. "Jack…please come with me." She stood up and held out a hand to him.

Jack blinked at first but then took her hand and stood as well. "Of course, Sally, but where are we going?"

Sally turned and started leading them out of their bower. "We are going to see the Valentine children, Jack Skellington, and I am going to show you that children can love you."

"Wait, Sally!" Jack shook his head. "Please, I really do not want to upset the children here. If you want to see them yourself, that's one thing—you're beautiful and comforting by anybody's standards. But I'm so different, and these children are flesh. How well are they going to handle a seven foot tall skeleton in a suit walking into their midst?"

Sally just shook her head though as they made their way through the garden. "Jack, don't be silly. Even I'm a little off-putting for living people: my body's covered in seams, I fall apart and sew myself together all the time, and I'm stuffed with leaves. So you're a skeleton—the children must know by now that there are other holidays, and some might have caught sight of you during the Halloween parade. I'm sure you won't be unexpected. And even if you are, even if they do get frightened at the sight of you, just be yourself and I know they'll love you." She glanced back at him as they reached the road of Lovers Lane again.

Jack just sighed deeply, still wearing a hesitant frown. "Sally, I…" He looked to her, but she met him with that face of complete determination that he knew all too well. He finally nodded. "Okay, Sally. I'll try." He matched pace alongside her as they headed down the lane. "But if the children start to scream and panic, I'm leaving. I won't upset them."

Sally nodded. "Okay, Jack, that's fair. If it really isn't going over well, we can go." She moved closer to him. "But I know you, and I promise you…it'll be good for you."

Jack nodded, looking down in thought. "I hope so, Sally. I sincerely, sincerely do…"

Sally squeezed his hand a little, and Jack squeezed hers in return.

The two went on down the rest of Lover's Lane, Jack leading the way to where the children often played.

---

Sally cleared her throat and stepped out of the trees to find herself amongst a group of four children who were playing and practicing the art of courtship in their little recreational garden. She smiled and addressed them in a gentle tone. "Hello there. I'm sorry to bother all of you. I'm a visitor here from Halloween Town, and my name's Sally. It's a pleasure to meet you." She gave a small bow.

The children, each dressed in varying shades of pastel colors with their hair tinted either silver or gold and eyes of varying shades but with a touch of prism shine about them, all stopped in their playing and looked to Sally. They each blinked a few times. But then a little boy dressed in yellow robes came forward. "Queen Cupidity Amora talked to us about the other worlds, and we saw some of the leaders during the Valentine's Day parade." He looked up at Sally with an eyebrow raised and then gave a little bow. "My name's Clover."

Sally smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Clover."

One of the girls, dressed in lavender robes, came forward now as well. "Hello, my name's Tulip. You have lines on your body." She pointed to Sally's seams. "They look almost like stitches—do they hurt?" She frowned a little.

Sally smiled more and shook her head. "No, not at all. But you're right, they are stitches—I'm a rag doll. Where I come from everyone is either dead or something lifeless even though we're aware and can walk and talk and everything. So I got to be a doll."

Tulip smiled. "I never imagined a doll could be so big. I think you're the most beautiful one I've ever seen." She held up her hand but hesitated, looking at Sally's arm.

Sally smiled and held out her arm. "You can touch, it's okay. And thank you for saying I'm beautiful." She blushed.

"You're welcome, and thank you!" Tulip replied brightly, then she gently touched a seam on Sally's arm.

"Can I touch you too, Sally?" Another little girl popped forward, this one dressed in peach robes. "My name's Daisy. It's so nice to meet you."

"Yes, you can." Sally nodded to the girl. "And it's nice to meet you too, Daisy."

Daisy reached out to touch Sally's arm as well.

"Will you tell us all about how people love each other in Halloween Town?" another little boy, this one dressed in green, asked as he came forward. "And my name's Sycamore. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He smiled and bowed.

Sally giggled. "Yes, of course, I can tell you all about how we do things in Halloween Town, including love. But first there's someone else from Halloween Town I'd like you to meet. But he's a little shy because he looks a little different," she added softly.

"Oh, we'd love to meet somebody else too," Daisy assured with a smile as she and Tulip removed their hands from Sally's stitches and looked up at the rag doll again. "When the leaders came to the parade this year we only caught a little glimpse of all of them. We could barely see the Pumpkin King, let alone any other Halloween people. And if your friend is shy, that's fine—all of us are shy sometimes too."

Sally beamed and then glanced over her shoulder back toward the trees. "Jack, please come out now."

There was nothing at first, then a light rustling sounded, and then finally Jack Skellington emerged into the garden clearing of the children. He came forward, trying to smile. 'It'll be all right, Jack. Trust Sally. Her instincts are never wrong.' He cleared his throat. "Good afternoon, children. My name's Jack Skellington. It's a pleasure to meet you." He gave a little wave.

The eyes of all the children went wide. They were silent.

Jack blinked and frowned a little. "I…" He sighed deeply and looked down. "Yes, I'm a walking skeleton. I know I'm very terrifying. I should probably go now. It was very nice to meet you, but I'm sorry for the intrusion. I didn't mean to upset you."

Sally frowned and turned as he started to back away. "Jack, wait, just give them a moment to—"

Tulip stepped forward. "Please don't go," she said softly.

Jack paused and looked back at the little girl.

Tulip swallowed and continued. "You haven't upset us at all. We're not scared. Well…maybe a little scared. But that's not…we didn't mean to be rude, we just…" She blushed rosy.

Clover cleared his throat. "We weren't expecting to meet a King today, especially not the Pumpkin King of Halloween…"

"We're honored," Sycamore added with a light blush.

Daisy nodded, then quickly gave a small curtsey. "It's a pleasure to be presented to you, King Jack."

"Oh yes!" Tulip curtseyed as well.

Clover and Sycamore bowed.

Jack blinked and held up his hands. "O-Oh, no, no…please don't bow. And the honor is all mine, really. I'm happy to meet you too." He gave a small bow of his own.

Sally addressed the children again (her smile had returned). "Jack has been looking forward to meeting you. You see, because everyone in Halloween Town is dead, we don't have a large population and we barely have any children there. He's been dying to meet other holiday world children for ages." She leaned down and whispered playfully, "He maybe even wants to have some holiday children of his own in the future."

All of the children beamed.

"Congratulations, King Jack. You seem like a nice man to be a father." Daisy smiled and came closer, eyeing him. "I like your suit. I never thought the color black could be any fun at all, but you two look so lovely in it."

Jack blinked, and his skeletal grin picked up on one side. "Oh, er…thank you."

The other children nodded, then started coming closer as well.

"Miss Sally…" Tulip blushed and held her hands behind her back. "You and the Pumpkin King glow with a lot of love around each other, and the Queen told us a little bit about your love. So, would the Pumpkin King's children be your children too?"

Sally blushed and gave a single nod, her smile wide. "Yes."

All four children smiled.

"It would be wonderful to meet your children one day, King Jack," Clover assured the Pumpkin King with a little blush. Then he looked at him and Sally with an eyebrow raised. "Would they be skeletons or rag dolls, or both combined?"

Jack blanched a little. "Oh, well, um…I'm sure probably more like one of us or the other, but they could also take after both of us equally." He swallowed. "I-It would probably be a long time before we had them though." Then he smiled just a little and added, "But I would like to bring our child here one day if you really would like to meet them."

"Are the children in your world all scary, King Jack?" Tulip tilted her head to the side.

"Yes, for the most part." Jack nodded. "We pride ourselves on being scary. There's a corpse child who's very well-mannered. And then there are the three trick-or-treaters…. Erm, they're a little rough around the edges but good deep down."

"What's trick-or-treating?" Sycamore raised an eyebrow.

Jack beamed a little. "Oh, well, trick-or-treating is a very big part of our holiday for the humans: the children all dress in costumes and then visit different people's houses to collect Halloween candies."

The four children looked at each other and smiled brightly.

"We should try trick-or-treating here this Halloween," Clover suggested with a grin. "After all, Queen Cupidity Amora keeps so much chocolate around here, we could probably get a lot of stuff, and I think she would go for it as long as she could come too."

Tulip nodded and turned to Sally. "Sally, do you think that maybe one day before Halloween some of us could visit Halloween town and the trick-or-treaters just to get some pointers on how it's done? And then maybe we could teach them a little bit about our traditions here?"

"Well," Sally considered, "yes, we would love to have you visit. But the trick-or-treaters, they're a little, um…"

"They're more experts at the 'trick' part than the 'treat' part." Jack did his best to put the situation politely. "But we would love to have any of you who wanted visit sometime. Just keep in mind that Halloween Town is very…different. It's very dark and has a lot of bugs and everyone's a bit unusual to look at. But they're very kind and loving deep down."

"Well then that's all that matters—that everyone loves each other and they're kind," Daisy advised, looking up at the Pumpkin King with a smile and a shrug. "Besides, we wouldn't mind a change of pace. And we might not be used to dead people, but we can still share a lot about our holiday and our hobbies—making Valentine cards and writing love poetry and planning parties and growing flowers."

All four of the children nodded.

Jack nodded in return. "Splendid." He smiled sheepishly. "It might be a while though before I feel comfortable sending Lock, Shock and Barrel from our world to visit this one or anyone else's though. 'Trick' with them usually means 'destroy' in some way, and I wouldn't want to put anyone through dealing with them until their manners have improved a little."

Tulip laughed. "Do they like pranks that much, Jack? We really would like to meet them then. We play pranks too sometimes, and they come off quite good, I think."

"Yes, we're successful with many of them." Sycamore nodded.

Jack blinked. "Really, you four prank people?"

The children nodded.

"Yes," Daisy replied. "It might be a little childish, but we are children. We just try to make sure no one gets hurt."

Jack chuckled. "That's very sensible of you. And yes, pranks can be quite fun, I suppose, as long as no one truly does get hurt. You should look very forward to meeting Lock, Shock and Barrel then soon in Halloween Town. And speaking of Halloween Town, " he hooked his arm with Sally's and gave a bow to the children, "Sally and I should probably depart soon. We don't want to keep you children from your activities. Thank you very much for letting us visit with you though. And whenever you want to visit, just let Flor—er, let Queen Cupidity Amora know, and she'll let me know. And for now I hope you'll enjoy your play and courtship practice for the rest of the afternoon."

Rather than wishing him and Sally goodbye in return though, the children looked unsure for a moment. Then they huddled together and started whispering.

Jack straightened up, and he and Sally watched them with eyebrows raised.

The children finally separated. Clover came forward. "King Jack, before you go…if you wouldn't mind…" He looked down, shuffling his foot in the bright grass.

"Yes?" Jack's skeletal grin picked up on one side.

"Would you scare us?" Clover bit his lip and looked up.

Jack blinked. "Come again?"

Daisy came forward now. "The only time we really get scared here is when we ask somebody to let us try courting them and we're not sure if they'll say yes or no. But Queen Cupidity Amora said Halloween Town is full of scares and that one of your mottos is even 'Life's no fun without a good scare.' It was definitely a little scary meeting you and Sally but…we'd love more scares too." She smiled.

"I see." Jack raised part of his brow at the group. "And you all feel this way?"

All four of them nodded.

Jack still hesitated though. "I don't want to upset you. Are you positive you'll be all right if I scare you?"

Tulip smiled. "It would be an honor to be scared by the King himself." She looked to Sally. "And we'd love for you to scare us too, Miss Sally."

Sally blinked and looked down with a small smile. "Oh, well…I'm not nearly as terrifying as Jack, but I could try…as long as Jack wanted to too." She looked to him. "Only if you're comfortable, Jack."

Jack considered a moment longer but then smiled. 'Well, I supposed I would want to give my child little fun scares sometimes…so it might be nice to practice, and also to see if I even could.' He nodded. "Yes…all right. Just a few little scares might be nice." He bent down to address the children again. "And remember, no matter how scared you might get, nothing I do will ever be to hurt you—it's all in fun." He winked.

The four children nodded eagerly.

Jack straightened up and then whispered into Sally's ear.

Sally nodded with a smile. Then she stepped away and (very deliberately) put both arms behind her back. "You can start, Jack." She did her best not to giggle.

Jack nodded. "Thank you, my darling." He stepped forward amongst the children. Then he bent low. "Rwwagh!" His eye sockets narrowed and his mouth opened wide in a screaming growling sound as he bared his sharp teeth.

"Ahhh!" All of the children screamed and jumped at once, clinging to each other, cheeks flushed a rosy color.

Jack smiled normally again. "How was that?"

The children blinked a few times then smiled and giggled.

"Lovely!"

"Exciting!"

"Very scary!"

"Please do it again!"

Jack chuckled and nodded. "Okay…I…Hmm?" Jack raised part of his brow as he straightened up again and put a hand to his ear. "Wait a minute—what's that sound I hear?"

The children all blinked and tried to listen now too. There was only silence though.

Jack smiled again and shrugged. "Hmm, must have been my imagination. Now then, I'll scare you all again. Ready…set…"

"Boo!" Sally suddenly softly added.

"Ahh! Oh my!"

"Oh!"

"Oh dear!"

"Ahh!"

The children all screamed as Sally's severed arm dove amongst them from behind and suddenly started scuttling about and chasing after them all. The children dashed around, clearly torn between terror and laughter as they both screamed and giggled all at once.

Sally laughed warmly and Jack joined her, the Pumpkin King's eye sockets brightening.

Sally turned to him, her voice soft. "See Jack, I told you children could like you and that they could even like being scared by you. You can be the Master of Fright and a loving, nurturing man all at once. Mmm! Jack!" Sally squeaked in surprise as Jack grabbed her in a tight hug, then picked her up and twirled her around, a big, beaming smile on his skull.

The children's scampers started to slow, and they just all blushed and giggled as they looked at Jack and Sally embracing.

Jack finally put down Sally and released her. "Thank you, my splendid Sally. Thank you!" He chuckled.

Sally blushed and giggled. "You're welcome, dearest Jack…"

Jack laughed more and then bent over to pick up her arm, which had crawled over to them and was now 'watching' the scene with interest. As he picked up the limb from the ground, he stroked it tenderly. "Hello, my old friend. I'll return you to your mistress. I've loved getting to know you better through her over the months." He held out the arm to Sally and bowed slightly. "For my lady who's given me a most splendid afternoon. Shall I do the honors, darling?"

Sally blushed and smiled. "Yes, please, Jack." She took a needle and thread from her hair and handed it to him. "Thank you."

The children all crowded around with interest.

"Oh Sally, your arm was very frightening!" Tulip announced with a smile.

"And your scary face and yell were very frightening too, King Jack!" Clover added.

"Is it hard to get your arm back on now?" Daisy asked, an eyebrow raised as she watched Jack thread the needle. "It's so amazing that your arm can walk even when it's not a part of you."

Sycamore nodded. "I've never seen anything like it! Is that what you do for your scary role in the Halloween celebration, Miss Sally?"

Sally smiled to all of them as Jack set her lower arm against her upper arm. "Thank you, I'm glad we could give you all a little fright. No, Daisy, it isn't hard for me to get my arm back on—I'm a doll, so Jack will just sew it back on. It doesn't hurt at all. And no, not quite, Sycamore…I used to just have the spooky wind blow through my hair while I looked up at the moon, but now along with that I'm our town's official fortune teller." She blushed a little.

"Yes," Jack added with a nod. He had just tied the first knot and was now carefully sewing Sally's arm back together. "Sally gets visions and predicts things—all of the spooky, frightening moments that we can't avoid. And in her spare time she runs a little sewing business in town since she happens to be a master seamstress. She really is quite talented."

Sally blushed and looked down humbly. "Jack…I just do my best."

The children smiled in interest and then whispered together before looking back to the macabre couple.

"Will you scare us for just a little while longer, Miss Sally and King Jack?" Clover asked humbly.

Jack finished tying off the final stitch to reattach Sally's arm and smiled down at the little boy. Then he smiled back at Sally. "What do you say, Sally? Just a little while longer, and then we'll join Flora and Marigold for dinner before heading home?"

Sally nodded. "I'd love that, Jack." She looked back at the children. "Children, how about a game of Halloween Town hide and seek? It's sort of like regular hide and seek, but Jack's the only one who hides and suddenly he'll spring out and scare you when and where you least expect it. He's very stealthy."

The children all nodded.

"Yes, please!"

"We'll close our eyes and go off to the edge of the garden so you can hide!"

The four of them nodded and then dashed off.

Sally smiled and looked at Jack innocently enough.

Jack looked back at her with a little smirk. "Sally…"

Sally sighed, smiling more. "Jack…"

Jack chuckled warmly. "You close your eyes and go off with them too. You know I like finding and scaring you best. You make that adorable little gasp that drives me positively mad." He sighed and glanced to the side, adding in a softer tone, "I'm really having fun, Sally. This has been nice. I really didn't think they would like me this much."

Sally's smile warmed. "I'm glad, Jack." Then laughed softly. "And all right, I'll go off with the children and let you surprise me too." She smiled a little coyly and added in a quieter voice, glancing over her shoulder. "When we get home tonight, can we play our own 'special' hide and seek?" Her eyes were a little hazed. "I like when you surprise me."

Jack chuckled and nodded, blanching slightly. "Yes, yes, of course we can play our own 'special' hide and seek." Then he started ushering her in the direction the children had gone with a grin. "But for now please get going, Sally, we don't want to disappoint the little ones."

Sally giggled. "Okay, Jack, I'll see you soon." She dashed off.

Jack just looked after her with a smile before stealthily proceeding to hide himself in the garden.

Jack and Sally enjoyed a lovely and splendid afternoon of playing with each other and the children before dinnertime and their return home.

---

From a private place amongst the trees, a smiling Flora (with a familiar friend by her side) watched Jack and Sally play with the children. "The way those two spread and share love, they'll put me out of business soon." She giggled. "I hope they'll invite me to the wedding. It would be so nice to go to one of those and not to have to officiate the whole thing. I could just be a guest…eat lots of cake. Now that would truly be lovely."

"You're not going to leave these two alone until they show up here with a bunch of little spooky babies in hand, are you?" Marigold tried not to smirk as she wrote something in a clipboard with a quill and gently gave her Queen a little elbow nudge.

Flora just looked up, smiling innocently, and gave a little shrug. "If they want to make an adorably terrifying little family together, who am I to stop them?"

Marigold sighed and shook her head, smiling more. "Let's just pace ourselves about setting up anymore holiday leaders, hmm?"

"Are you sure?" Flora smirked a little, her prism eyes sparkling. "Because, I was thinking, considering the time of year and the fact that our next holiday leader council meeting is in only two weeks, that the Easter Bunny might like some help finding a special somebunny to—"

"Why do you want to create a situation where Easter Land would be suddenly flooded with an influx of royal baby rabbits?" Marigold rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head as she tried not to smile. "Do you have any idea of the paperwork that would be involved for me?"

"But they would be so cute!" Flora clapped her hands together, her prism eyes sparkling.

Marigold smirked a little as she finally finished writing on her clipboard and slipped it into her robe. "The other holiday government assistants are going to hear about this gross attempt at an abuse of power at our next meeting."

Flora chuckled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe I should focus my talents on there then instead of on the leaders. For example, I could help you and the Halloween Town Mayor get to know each other better, and then…"

Marigold let out a deep sigh and held up her hands, blushing slightly. "Fine, go crazy with the Easter bunny. But don't forget that I have access to Love Arrows too." She tilted her head down to glance at Flora over her half moon glasses. "So unless you want to suddenly find yourself attracted to the Thanksgiving Turkey…"

Flora sighed and shook her head with a smile. "Point taken…" She raised an eyebrow, her grin growing and her eyes hazing slightly. "Mari, why in the world do you wear those glasses? You know that as second in command you don't need them anymore than I or those children do."

Marigold's smile picked up on one side and she raised her head high. "Oh, of course I need them. They may not help me see love any better than I would on my own…but they do make me look distinguished. And other people, especially from other worlds, need some kind of quick way to recognize which one of us is the responsible one." She laughed as Flora gave her a little nudge.

"Very funny." The Valentine Queen smiled.

Marigold smiled too. "Given any thought yet to finding your own true love?"

Flora's smile softened, and the glow in her prism eyes was like light silver. "It's not time yet. But one day it will be. Though I'm hoping the time for that crisis of emotions won't come until after Jack's Christmas fiasco has faded into an amusing memory. No sense overwhelming all of the holiday worlds so suddenly again." She looked down a little and blushed lightly. "Actually…helping Jack and Sally find love together helped me realize just how possible it is for a leader to find love. I think that's a good thing for me."

Marigold's smile warmed. She put a hand on Flora's shoulder. "Come on, let's go arrange things for Jack and Sally's farewell dinner tonight. And until the two of them are due at your castle, why don't we visit the chocolate spa for a good rest? I think we could both use the time to ourselves after completing another successful Valentine's Day and seeing to the happiness of things in another holiday world on top of it all."

Flora nodded, and the two started to walk forward together. She cleared her throat. "It really is nice to see Jack and Sally progressing their relationship though. I'll have to arrange a trip to Halloween Town as soon as their first child is born. I already can't wait to see the new little love creation full of Jack's childlike wonder and Sally's sweetness and affection."

Marigold nodded. "Their time together will be beautiful."

Flora smiled a little to herself, glancing around at her citizens as she and Marigold turned down the nearest road toward home. "I suppose I complain about it too much, Mari, but I do love being the Heart Queen deep down. I get to see and be a part of more love than most people can imagine, and true love as well…and I can't think of a more lovely way to live when all is said and done."

Marigold's smile grew. "Well, that's one thing we can both agree on at least."

Feeling more satisfied than they had in a while, Flora and Marigold made their way through the beautiful town.

---

The farewell dinner was lovely, the goodbyes were long and happy, and eventually, as night fell, Jack and Sally left Valentine Town to return to their own spooky home in Halloween Town.

Jack and Sally had arrived home from their trip long after nightfall, and now the happy couple sat alone together on their sofa in the living room going about a task together while a fire burned in the hearth (and Zero slept soundly in his bed in the corner, and Sally's black cat sat outside on the steps eating a plate of fresh fish heads). Jack was dressed in his usual nightclothes and cap (as well as a robe and slippers, of course sewn by Sally) as he sat turned toward Sally with a needle and thread in his hand. And Sally, meanwhile, was facing away from him and wearing one of her silk nightgowns…sort of. In fact, she had allowed the upper half of the nightgown to slip down her body completely to her waist. She held up a sheet to cover her chest and had her hair hanging forward over one of her shoulders, leaving her bare back exposed to Jack. Jack, meanwhile, gently moved the threaded needle back and forth over her seams to tighten the stitches on this side of her torso.

Sally sighed softly with a smile as she felt Jack begin on a new seam. "This is really so much easier than how I used to have to tighten the stitches back there, Jack. I'd have to take off both of my hands and sit with one mirror behind me and one mirror in front of me and work backwards. Even then I could never get the stitches on my back as tight as I wanted. I'd have to redo it every week or two just to make sure my whole torso would never fall apart if I fell. It's nice only to do it every month or so now."

Jack smiled warmly. "I'm glad to be of service, Sally. Though if you needed me for this more often, I wouldn't complain." He let out a soft sigh. "I like the intimacy."

Sally blushed softly and nodded. "Me too." She closed her eyes. "When you finish and run your hands over the stitches to make sure they're even, it makes me shiver."

"It makes me shiver too…" Jack cooed by her ear with a small chuckle before going back to stitching.

Sally giggled. Then she blushed even more and looked down. "I'd only ever let you see and touch and stitch me like this."

Jack smiled and nodded. "So you've told me before. And you're the only woman I'd ever let see and touch and name off each of my bones…in Latin." He chuckled.

Sally giggled. "Fibula…tibia…patella…femur…" Her grin grew as one of her hands drifted back to rest upon his knee and leg.

Jack let out a deep sigh, grinning too. "Ooo, you're the most tantalizing woman there ever was!" He started to give several playful kisses to her neck, letting the needle rest in a stitch on her back for a moment.

Sally giggled all the more. "Jack! S-Stop! There are cookies in the oven to go with the tea for tonight—we don't want them to burn."

"Oh, they can wait a few more minutes." Jack just chuckled deeply, still kissing her. "Besides, you always did look cute wrapped up in a sheet." His kisses continued, and now he brought his hands to her hips, tickling them lightly with those skeletal fingers he knew she loved.

Sally giggled even more and couldn't help squirming. "Mm…Jack…!" she burst out with a little gasp, gripping his upper leg to steady herself and barely remembering to hold up her sheet. She smiled a little and turned to catch his gaze over her shoulder, blushing softly, breathing shallowly, letting herself rest more against him.

Jack's hazed eye sockets caught her eyes, his breaths shallow now too. He paused in his kisses and smiled.

The pair just remained gazing at each other for a moment, foreheads nearly pressed together, Jack's hands still on Sally's hips, Sally's shallow breaths making her body rise and fall against the sheet still held up by one hand.

Sally swallowed, smiling a little funny as she blushed and spoke. "Wh-When, um…when exactly did you say you were thinking about proposing to me, Jack?"

Jack blinked and blanched, catching her meaning instantly. "Erm…very soon. Sometime this year. Definitely by Christmas." He smiled more.

Sally glanced down, her own grin growing too. "Okay then. Well, um…just so you know, I'm ready when you are. Very ready. Really." She let her fingers gently sink against his knee and femur more, flushing a little purple as she did so.

Jack caught the meaning of that reply as well of course. He smirked just the tiniest bit and let his voice lower an octave to a tone he knew could make her shiver even when she wasn't half undressed in the open air of their home. "Oh, now, I bet you say that to all the scary skeleton kings who want to propose marriage to you."

Sally's eyes hazed at his tone. "No, just to the ones who are too devilishly handsome and charming and proud and brilliant and shy and sweet for their own good…and the ones I can 'foresee a future' with of course." She winked at him.

Then Jack chuckled and Sally giggled, both of them just warm and happy together as they relaxed a little again.

Jack kissed Sally's cheek and gave her a warm hug, then pulled back a little and inhaled deeply through his nose. "Those cookies do smell like they're close to done. I suppose for their sake we should finish up things here instead of getting lost in passionate kissing and laughing and anything else." He blanched lightly.

Sally smiled more and nodded. "Yes. Besides, I'm hungry from our long afternoon of talking and playing with the children and from our long trip back here after dinner with Flora and Marigold." She removed her hand from his knee to hold up her sheet more and sat up straight again. "Is there much more to do?"

Jack smiled as he picked up the needle again. "No, just one more small seam." He sighed, his gentle sewing commencing once more. "You know, um…" he blanched a little, "another thing I love about doing this is that ever since we got together, I was so curious about the patterns your stitches made over you. Sewing your back has solved quite a bit of the mystery. And if I may say, they do curve and stretch in the most horrifyingly lovely of ways." He proceeded to tie off the thread of the final seam.

"Oh. Thank you," Sally replied with a blush. "I'm glad you think they're pretty. I've always thought they were pretty too, but I was never sure what you would think. I was never even sure if you'd only want to be with another skeleton."

"Never," Jack assured with a shake of his head. "I have enough bones to deal with myself, thank you. And what person couldn't find appeal in a soft dolly always waiting to embrace him?" He pulled the thread taught and then bit it to cut it. "All done, my darling." He ran his hands lightly over the freshly redone seams. "Perfect."

"Hmm…" Sally sighed with a soft moan and trembled a little, doing her best not to giggle. "Thank you, Jack. They feel very firm. You've gotten so good at sewing."

The Pumpkin King removed the thread from the needle. "Well, good at sewing you maybe, though I can't create garments out of almost nothing like you can. But as long as I can help you with your hard-to-get seams and repair you if you need it, that's all that's important to me."

"And I appreciate it, Jack. Very much." Sally smiled at him over her shoulder. Jack was already putting away the needle and thread in a little sewing kit he now insisted on keeping on hand always for her.

"And I've appreciated you taking the time to teach me, Sally." Jack closed up the sewing kit and placed it in the pocket of his robe. Then he reclined back on the sofa, as he usually did at this point after helping Sally in this way, and politely closed his eye sockets. He carried on speaking. "Are you excited to see Easter Town in a few weeks when we visit their parade? I hear it's very colorful there. And strangely that holiday changes days each year. Hmm, can you imagine the state the Mayor would be in if each year we suddenly had a different number of days to prepare for Halloween?"

Sally laughed as she turned forward slightly. "I don't think any of us could get used to not having a set date in mind when we think of Halloween." She released her hold on the sheet over her chest and blushed for a moment but then began pulling up her white cotton slip from around her waist. "But Easter Town will probably be very nice. I just hope their bunny king isn't too frightened of us. He was very nervous when the trick-or-treaters kidnapped him by accident at Christmas."

Jack, eye sockets still closed, nodded as he frowned just a little. "Yes, I know. I tried to apologize, but those children can be so rough. It really must have been upsetting for him when they brought him here so suddenly and then dragged him back home. I'm hoping that between the two of us you and I can make amends. I'm planning to bring a few peace-offering presents too. I hear bunnies like carrots, and since carrots are orange just like pumpkins, I'm hoping to cook a nice pumpkin dish the Easter citizens might like. And then I thought we could bring some Easter-themed jack-o-lanterns too. What do you think?"

Sally, her slip completely on again, nodded as she pulled up her silk nightgown now (this one a deep purple color and hemmed at the knee instead of at the ankle since the weather was starting to get warmer). "I think all of that will be nice, Jack. You're a very good diplomat."

"Better when I'm with you, though." Jack smiled more.

Sally smiled at the compliment as she turned forward completely, letting her legs hang off of the sofa, and then folded and set aside her sheet and grabbed her silk robe from off of the arm of the sofa. "I'm glad to help, Jack." Her robe on, she now she pushed back her hair and straightened her nightgown a little just for good measure. "Also, I'm decent now." She blushed lightly.

Jack opened his eye sockets finally and looked to her with a little grin. "Decent is never the word for it—you are sensational as usual." He eyed the nightgown with interest. "I adore that color. It compliments your skin very well."

"Thank you." Sally played with her hair a little then looked to him with a small smile. "Jack…let's go get the cookies and tea and then go into your room to spend time together before bed." She gently dragged a playful finger down the buttons of his nightshirt. "Spending time together before bed is my favorite part of the day." Not to mention she found Jack's new, larger brass bed so cozy now, just like her own lovely black walnut wooden bed was cozy too, whether being slept in by one or two people (though two was growing more and more common—Jack and Sally took a great deal of comfort from each other during the nights just as much as the days).

Jack nodded, chuckling warmly with a little glint in his eye sockets. "That sounds like a splendid plan. Spending time together before bed is my favorite part of the day too. And my bed is especially fun now that you surprised me by sewing all those lovely spooky new blankets and sheets for it. Come on," and then he stood up and swiftly got his arms underneath her to lift her off of the sofa, "I'll carry you to the kitchen for the tea and cookies."

Sally clenched her arms around his neck. "Jack!" She giggled. "Silly skeleton." She kissed his cheek.

Jack chuckled as he walked them to the kitchen. "Delightful dolly, I have to practice carrying you over the threshold for that wedding we'd like to have. And you can't think that when you're expecting our child I won't insist on carrying you everywhere myself at some point. Besides…" he lowered his voice as they passed by a still slumbering Zero, "we don't want to wake our faithful companion, and I am the stealthiest on my feet." He and Sally gave the sleeping ghost dog lingering smiles before finally passing into the kitchen. They came to the stove, and Jack paused. "Ready to be put down, my love?" He knew she could wobble a little whenever he set her down.

Blushing now, Sally nodded. "Ready, my King."

Jack set her down and held her hands until she was steady.

Sally smiled up at him. "I'll get the tea if you'll get the cookies." She went to the counter to set up the tea tray.

Jack nodded. "Of course." He went to the oven to remove the cookies and set them on a platter.

Soon enough Jack had the tray of cookies in hand and Sally had the tray of tea. The happy couple proceeded on their way to Jack's room.

"Jack…?" Sally asked softly over her shoulder as she paused near his doorway for a moment.

Jack paused as well and turned to smile at her. "Yes, Sally?"

Sally's crooked little smile picked up on one side. "There's something I didn't mention to you about wanting a baby but…now that I know you want one too, I thought I should mention it as long as we're talking about children today."

Jack nodded. "Of course, Sally. What is it?"

Sally blushed a little and looked down. "I was hoping to have more than just one baby…"

Jack blinked. He swallowed but then smiled again. "Well…" he moved closer to her, "I suppose we could talk about it more later, but…now that you mention it, it might be nice for our baby to have another baby of ours. They would always have each other. I think a second baby could work. Stranger things have certainly happened around here." He chuckled.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Jack. "Sally smiled more. She barely looked up at him, biting her lip. "But just out of curiosity…" her smile became small and mysterious, "…how would you feel about…four or five babies?"

Jack's eye sockets went very wide, and the tea tray almost fell from his hands. "Whoa!" He quickly caught it and just stood there now, blanching bleach white. "I…you want to…with me…four or five…Four or five?" He blinked and looked at her again with wide eye sockets.

Sally smiled a touch sheepishly. "It's a lot to ask, I know…a big family when you've lived so long all alone. I know even the two of us coming together wasn't easy for you at first. And I'm so glad to hear you'd even like to have one baby with me someday. But…I always dreamed of a big family with you, Jack—children running around and playing together and being fussy and needing hugs, and I could help all of them and love all of them and you could too, and there would always be something new to look forward to from each one of them every single day." She looked to him seriously. "But I understand that might not be what you want, and I know we'll be a happy family no matter exactly how our family turns out to be." She smiled and lowered her voice. "I don't need the crystal ball to see that one—I can feel it more strongly than I've ever felt anything about us ever."

Jack remained pensive for a moment but then he let out a breath and looked to her. A smile began to form on his bony lips. "I wouldn't mind discussing more children as we went along, Sally. It's not something I could say I want now. In fact, the idea of so many little ones to look after terrifies me a bit." He gulped, smiling a little sheepishly. "But maybe after the first one and even the second one, we can talk about things and see where we want to go from there. We have plenty of time."

Sally nodded. "I'd like that, Jack. Very much. I'm glad you're taking this so well. I wasn't sure how to bring it up to you."

Jack sighed with a little grin. "Just promise me one thing, darling?" He leaned closer to her. "If you get a premonition that on the first try you're going to have quintuplets, let me know? I'll need some time for mental preparation. And we'll need some time to come up with names. Pumpkin Princes and Princesses deserve very carefully chosen ones after all, my Queen."

Sally blushed, and her smile almost looked like it would burst the stitches in her face. "Princes and Princesses?"

"Of course." Jack nodded. "Their father will be a King, and their mother is a Queen even if in her modesty she always denies how worthy she is of that title." He smiled more. "Five of them though—oh dear, we'll end up more than tripling the population of nobility around here. I can't even imagine if they all really came at once." He laughed.

Sally laughed too. "Well, you'll be the first to know if I get a premonition about quintuplets, Jack. A-And of course Pumpkin Princess and Princesses deserve nice names." She giggled and kissed his non-existent little nose. "Now come on, the cookies and tea are getting cold, and I feel a little chilly too." She gave him a special smile over her shoulder. "And I think you promised me a game of 'hide and seek' before bed, Jack…" She giggled as she slipped into his room.

A grinning Jack followed after her. "I'm afraid I won't be much use if the cookies or tea get cold, but as for you…there I can certainly provide some warmth. And yes, we did say something about 'hide and seek'…" He chuckled as he entered the room now too and closed the door behind them.

---

The hour was rather late now (near midnight, at least), but at the Finkelstein manor a few lights were still on.

At a small table in the lab, the Doctor and Jewel sat across from each other sharing a late night snack of soup while some candles burned on the table between them. Jewel stirred her soup and occasionally sipped it with a smile while the Doctor did an excellent job of sipping his soup from his spoon instead of slurping it or chugging the bowl.

"Doctor?" Jewel said softly. "I think Jack and Sally are coming back from their trip tonight. Maybe we could invite them over this weekend to see your latest experiments and to have dinner?"

The Doctor nodded. "I think that's an excellent idea, Jewel. We would both appreciate the company, and Igor too."

"I'll be sure to cook something nice for them," Jewel added with another sip of soup.

The Doctor looked down a little and nodded. "I'm sure you'll make something delicious. And, erm…maybe I could help you in the kitchen somehow."

Jewel raised an eyebrow and smiled more. "Really?"

"Well…" the Doctor shrugged and stirred his soup, "You help me so much with the lab and by assisting with my experiments. Handing you a few ingredients is the least I could do."

Jewel giggled softly. "All right then, Doctor. I'll be sure to make at least one of my favorite recipes then so that I can share it with you."

"Very good, Jewel." He finished another sip of soup. "I mean, that sounds productive."

Jewel smiled a little more and glanced into his nearly empty bowl. "Are you finished, Doctor? It really is getting late, we should both probably be getting to bed."

The Doctor took one more sip and then lowered his spoon and nodded as he raised his napkin and dabbed his mouth. "Yes, I'm finished. And tired. And you must be too."

Jewel nodded. "A little. But never too much for a late night snack with you." She stood up and gathered the bowls and spoons together, then set them aside in one of the lab sinks.

Then she heard the Doctor's chair wheel closer to her. He stopped.

"Jewel? Leave the dishes until morning. It really is very late."

Jewel smiled a little and nodded. "Maybe you're right, Doctor."

The Doctor sighed.

Jewel smiled more as she turned to him. "Shall we then?"

The Doctor nodded and turned his chair so that the handles at the back were facing Jewel. "Yes, please, my precious Jewel."

Jewel took up the handles and began wheeling the Doctor out of the lab and then upstairs and slowly into the hallway where their rooms were. She paused before his bedroom door and stepped around to the front of his chair. "Goodnight, Doctor." And then she leaned down and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Sweet nightmares."

The Doctor let out a very deep sigh, looking down with a pout, and then turned is head and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek as well. He turned away and cleared his throat. "Goodnight, Precious Jewel. Sweet nightmares to you as well." And then he turned his chair and wheeled it into his room…a small smile upon his face.

Jewel watched him go with a small smile of her own and then turned and headed into her room across the hall.

And once inside, she proceeded to lie down on her bed with a swoon and a smile that would have put Sally's pining over Jack from the past to shame.

Apparently, love could be found blossoming in all sorts of places in Halloween town these days.

---

Meanwhile, back in the Skellington household, midnight had come and gone.

Jack and Sally had set aside their robes and eaten the cookies and tea with smiles. And now the happy couple had finally commenced their special game of hide and seek.

"…Eight…Nine…Ten!" Sally opened her eyes, her smile beaming in anticipation.

She was currently sitting upon Jack's bed, legs curled underneath herself as she glanced around. Hide and seek for just the two of them was very simple: Sally would sit on the bed with her eyes closed and slowly count to ten, then open her eyes. Jack would have hidden somewhere nearby in the meantime (he was so stealthy, she never even heard a sound between closing and opening her eyes), and then she had to guess where he might be before he popped out and scared her.

Already Sally's leaves were fluttering and she felt almost giddy from suspense. "Jack…are you hiding in the armoire again?" Silence. Of course, the silence didn't necessarily mean he wasn't there—it just meant that she might be right but he might be waiting for her to make another few guesses before jumping out and startling her. "Hmm…are you hiding behind your changing screen again?" Still silence. Sally glanced up to Jack's single window. "Jack Skellington," she cooed a little more loudly toward it, "I hope you're not hiding out on the ledge again. You did surprise me very much that time, but you know how worried it made me thinking of you hanging out there so dangerously." Silence. Sally was trembling, the tension in the air palpable to her. He could be anywhere, watching her, waiting for the right moment to explode from secrecy with a frightful grin and scream-worthy entrance. She giggled. "J-Jack, come out, you know how scared I get even just thinking about you striking. Are you, um…oh, I don't know, are you behind the desk? Tucked in the rafters? Underneath the bed?" She heard a single creak among the silence which all but made her stop drawing breath, and then gripped the hem of her nightgown, glancing around for him. "I'll come find you if I have to."

Sally let out a breath and then moved toward the edge of the bed and placed down a foot.

Behind Sally, the top of Jack's cranium crept up into view over the far edge of the bed (he had been hiding underneath the piece of furniture and trying not to chuckle at all of her interesting guesses about his whereabouts). He grinned to himself and silently rose up behind Sally, the bed still between them.

Meanwhile, Sally took another step forward and glanced around. "Jack, please come out?" She cooed playfully. "I'm lonely without you." She giggled again.

Meanwhile, Jack, silent as the air, crawled across his bed toward her.

Sally stepped to the side. "I still think you must be under the bed…" she whispered to herself, and then bent down to lift up the sheet and check under there.

Jack paused, not even blinking, hoping she wouldn't turn around when she rose up and see him about to pounce.

Sally stood back up though and luckily remained looking forward toward Jack's vanity and armoire. "Hmm…" she pouted, "I could have sworn I had a strong feeling you were under the bed this time…"

Behind Sally, Jack was barely an inch away. He beamed at the notion of his impending scare. He wanted to just seductively whisper 'Boo!' by her ear, but he knew she preferred a really intense scare so… He contorted his face and finally screamed. "RRRAWGH!"

"AHH!" Sally screamed and jumped so high that she almost toppled to the floor, though Jack quickly got an arm around her to keep her up as he knelt on the bed.

"Oh Sally," the Pumpkin King laughed and shook his head, "you…you really should see the look on your face one of these days when I do that!"

Sally, still breathing heavily and clinging to him as though for dear life, managed to get her legs steady beneath herself again as she looked to him. "Oh Jack, it's so exciting when you scream at me like that. I love playing hide and seek together!" Giggles poured out of her.

Jack chuckled more and nodded, an arm still around her. "I agree, I like it too. I never thought I'd get used to the idea of someone who actually giggles and smiles when I scare them instead of cowering in fear, but it's starting to grow on me." He smirked a little. "You really are just adorable when you're frightened."

"Well, I can't help giggling and smiling." Sally's eyes hazed. "I just find your scariness so fun…and so attractive. You're the most terrifying man there ever was, after all. And being terrified is thrilling. It makes me feel electrified all over, like how it felt to be brought to life by the Doctor but even better…Jack…my King…" She came forward and kissed him.

Jack closed his eyes and kissed her in return. He was about to step off the bed so that they could be standing together beside it but was stopped as Sally instead climbed onto the bed with him. Reposing together now, their kiss deepened completely and their touching grew as Sally clung to his ribs hidden by his nightshirt and Jack stroked along the silk-covered seams along her back he now knew so well. They were lost in their intimacy, especially as Jack deepened their kiss.

They broke apart after a few moments, breathing heavily, smiling, lips parted.

Sally gazed at him. "I like being scared…a lot." She blushed distinctly and looked down a little.

Jack gave a small nod. "So I gathered." He sighed, still smiling away. "Pouncing me down to the bed isn't fair at all, you know. I'll never be able to fall asleep now…. My marrow's racing too much." He swallowed.

She smiled and just cuddled close to him. "I like when we stay up late anyway. We get to talk more." Yet she yawned, unable to help herself.

Jack smiled warmly and brushed aside a few strands of her hair from her face. "I like talking too. But you seem sleepy. We have had a long day after all: a weekend trip out of town, meeting new people…deciding to possibly make almost half a dozen children together." He sighed and then lay on his back and looked up to the ceiling. "I still haven't the faintest idea where we would put them all even if we really did do that, you know."

Sally laughed. "We can think about it when the time comes, Jack, if four or five is what we really decide on. And besides, this house is very big." She lay down and turned on her back beside him on the bed to look up at the ceiling too.

Jack smiled again but shook his head. "Not big enough though. I just designed it for myself, not a whole family. And the children should each have their own room: trust me, if they're my children they're going to want their own spaces to create and to brood and just to be alone sometimes too. There are maybe two other rooms that could be fixed up as bedrooms, but that's all since I already have this room and you have the tower."

"Jack, don't be silly." Sally's smile picked up on one side. "One of the children could take my tower, or even two of them if we put in a wall to divide it up somehow."

Jack blinked and glanced at her. "But then where would you stay, Sally?"

Sally blushed a little, gazing at him. "Well, if we were married and expecting children…I'd hope I'd be staying in here with you, my King. You know…all the time."

Jack blanched a little. "O-Oh, yes, I…yes, that's right. How silly of me—sorry, sometimes the most obvious things just escape me, heh."

"It's all right." She nuzzled his skull with her head. "It's a lot of changes, it's fine it if takes you some time to get used to the idea of them."

Jack glanced down shyly, a sweet smile on his bony lips. "I'm sure as our time together passes, I'll get used to them easily enough. I'm just happy to have any changes…and such good changes." He hugged her gently. "Everything's new, and I couldn't be happier." He yawned in some sleepiness.

Sally giggled, her eyes growing heavy. "Changes can be fun…and new things too…like visiting Valentine's Town this weekend was. I loved taking a trip together for the first time."

Jack chuckled. "I did too. Though I don't know what's going to be more scandalous to the town—us having gone off together all alone for a weekend for the first official time, or the fact that almost every night the townspeople either see a light on in your room or a light on in my room, but almost never in both of our bedrooms at once…just in the one we clearly both happen to be in for the evening."

"Oh, Jack, it doesn't matter." Sally blushed and smiled more. "As long as we can be with each other, let everyone keep guessing about the details, like I said." She yawned again. "We should take more weekend trips together when we can. Let's go to Christmas town next. I miss playing in the snow." She let out a happy sigh, recalling the fun times she and Jack had shared together while finishing out the winter—building snow corpses and going for walks among the snow covered graves and playing fetch with Zero in the snow drifts and even sharing cozy moments by the fire as they drank a bottle of pumpkin wine together or mugs of some delicious Christmas Town treat Jack had introduced her to called hot cocoa with marshmallows. "Snow's so much fun. I hope Santa brings some to us every year from now on. Do you think he will, Jack?"

Jack sat up a little and nodded, remembering how sweet and enchanting Sally had been frolicking in the snow with him all winter long, having fun, being happy. They had both been like children at times, carefree and full of wonder. 'She'll enchant me right out of my grave, I swear.' "Yes, snow is fun," he replied as he stood up from the bed now. "And yes, I'm sure Mr. Clause will bring us snow as long as we celebrate Christmas and are all good and kind to one another just as we usually are. But just to be safe, I'll certainly see to planning a trip to Christmas Town for us so that you can have fun and play in the snow no matter what." He offered her a hand up, which Sally took to stand, and then Jack pulled back a corner of the blanket and bent low, gesturing for her to enter under the covers first. "Perhaps…we could even have a honeymoon there one day…" he added softly as a little blanch came to his features.

Sally slipped under the blanket, her smile brightening as Jack followed after her on the other side of the bed. "A honeymoon in Christmas Town? Really?"

Now they were both tucked in side by side.

Jack nodded. "If you liked it enough to want one there, then, yes, we could have that. Of course, it's a long way away to make any definite plans though. We could even just go somewhere cold and wintery…a place with a cozy little cabin tucked away in the snowy woods, and a warm fire, and hot cocoa."

Sally's eyes went a little hazed. "…You and I cuddled up with each other safe from the cold…sharing warm blankets…staying up all night…just two lovers 'being together'." She moved just a little closer to him, and one of her fingers came up to gently play with the top button of his nightshirt.

Jack's eye sockets went a little wide, and he blanched as he nodded to her words. "Oh y-yes…just a private place for you and I as we start out our life together." He felt his bones trembling. "Two lovers… 'sharing'."

Sally smiled more, her voice quiet. "I like sharing…"

Jack swallowed, his voice quiet as well. "Me too…" His shy smile couldn't help growing.

Sally sighed dreamily. "I know we'd have a lovely time, Jack…I can feel it." She nuzzled his skull tenderly as she gently removed her fingers from his shirt.

Jack smiled more and nodded. "I-I don't have much intuition, but I feel we would too."

"I'm looking forward to it already." Sally kissed his cheek and then let out such a content sigh, cuddling up more against him beneath the covers. "Breakfast together in the morning like usual?"

Jack nodded, feeling warm all over as he cuddled close to her as well. "Of course: I'll make the vulture eggs, you make the pumpkin porridge. Then we'll walk together into town so I can go to town hall and you can go to your sewing shop…"

"Yes." Sally nodded. "Then we'll have lunch together in town where everyone can see us and whisper about us like they like to do. And then later I can go work on my fortune telling practice, and you can go work on your holiday research."

"Oh yes, of course." Jack chuckled. "Then once we're both done with work, let's be spontaneous and go on a spring evening rowboat ride across the lake with Zero before dinner. There are sea monsters, but I'll terrify them away if I have to all for you, my lady." He winked.

Sally laughed. "That sounds like the most terrifying fun we could have." She yawned once more and then closed her eyes, sleepiness starting to overtake her. "I love you, Jack." She snuggled in under the blankets.

Jack leaned forward and gently kissed the top of her forehead. "I love you too, Sally." He sighed and yawned as well as he closed his eye sockets. "Goodnight, splendid Sally." Jack curled an arm completely around her.

Sally let her hand come up to gently lie against his chest. "Goodnight, dearest Jack."

A good night indeed as the milky moonlight shown in through the window overhead, setting the two slumbering lovers aglow amongst the blackness and the darkness as their lives found a gentle peace together.

---

A/N:

That's all for now, everyone! Thank you so much for reading this story, I'm so happy you all enjoyed it ^_^ I may do a small oneshot sequel to this, we'll see. But I'm not sure when I'll write it if I do. Anyway, please review if you can, and take care everyone! There'll be more stories from me about these two, but mostly random one shots that I hope you'll all like : )

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna