The Heart of the Spider

Why Did You Leave?

He was fast to get to his wanted destination, the words of the Hanging Tree and the Corpse Child repeating relentlessly in his skull. It was a fear he wouldn't wish to impose on anyone, not even his worst enemy - the encumbering feeling of knowing the person you loved was in danger. That they were taken beyond their will, forced into imprisonment, and possibly tortured or manipulated when you weren't there. And that was the fear Jack had to face as he raced across the Graveyard, refusing to imagine his beloved harmed in any way, or treated anymore as a slave than she already had been. That had been his fault from the start: forcing his people to succumb to the rule of a manipulative, sadistic murderer whose purpose was tormenting anyone he could get his hands on...

When Ethan told him Oogie's baddies had kidnapped Sally, he didn't know what to think. It was an initial form of both shock and anger - their previous encounter on that fateful Christmas day rang true to his mind. Surely Boogie had learned nothing by taking someone so dear to him, the same person who ultimately determined his fate the moment he decided to keep her in his clutches...the woman whom he had taken now, except this time, Jack wasn't there to swoop in and save her. And that was the concern gnawing at his bones as he pressed his heels further into the dirt, kicking up the remnants of dead bugs and disturbed cobwebs as he arrived at the crypt.

He felt so confident when the plan of a rescue mission became clear to him. But the exhilaration that fueled him on the way somehow diminished, and was now replaced with wariness as he looked over the tall building. Not only was he dealing with the possibility that the love of his death may be harmed, or trapped, or captured, or possibly dismembered somewhere inside - but when all is well, he'd have to face her. After 2 months of leaving Sally alone, to fend for herself in these dangerous times...after a long time of being away from her; dealing with the consequences of his absence. It was him who put her in this position, who couldn't be there when she truly needed it. And if that didn't eat away at what was left of his confidence, he was sure it would eat away at hers.

He took all of this in a brief moment of pause, then resumed his way by walking through the empty corridors. He looked around in search of her red yarn hair, or anything that stuck out from the grayness of the walls and the dust collected in the air. But he didn't have to go very far before he found a figure standing across the large room, their gaze locked on the floor with their arms clutched to their side. He felt a hefty triumph in his chest as his eye sockets widened. He couldn't stop her name from slipping off of his tongue. The name of a woman whom he missed dearly, and craved again for a long time...a beautiful ragdoll that he worried so much about, to be in one-piece, and perfectly okay!

"Sally!"

She became aware of his presence instantly and jumped. She turned quickly to face him. Both of their gazes met for a solid minute. And in that time, Jack inched closer to her figure, strutting at a quicker pace to get to her and reunite with his love again. To have her scream his name, run into his arms, and hold her close in compensation of their lack of contact for the past 2 months...for everything to be left behind them, and to be fully reconciled. To finally hear her voice again and stroke her soft cheeks, to run his hands through her yarn hair again and know that, this time, he's truly home. But when he got a better look at her, he recognized that something was different. Something that was most likely resulted from his negligence.

She was crying.

The moment he saw the tears stream down her face, he wanted nothing more than to console her. And that's what he did - stepping up and wrapping his arms around her smaller figure, bringing her as close as possible to him. She didn't fight or protest, but turned very weak in his arms as she clutched at his sleeves. He could feel her tears falling on his undershirt, and every time he heard her sniffle, his bones grew more numb. This moment lasted for several minutes, with Jack combing his hands through her hair and using the other to rub her back. She dug her head further in his chest and he felt her grip start to tighten. Her fingers began to wobble and so did her legs, and he had to keep an arm around her waist to stop her from falling.