katleept

Title: "The King of Halloween"
Author: Pirate Turner
For: My beloved Jack and our babies as a bit of a Halloween/Samhain/Anniversary present in this chaotic time of our lives
Rating: PG
Summary: The previously disenheartened Jack Skellington has a fresh perspective upon a new Halloween season.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1,077
Date Written: 6 October, 2010
Disclaimer: Jack Skellington, any other characters mentioned within, and Nightmare Before Christmas are © & TM Disney, Tim Burton, and any one else who legally owns their copyrights, none of which are the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. Everything else is © & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Beady, black eyes full of adoration stared up at the twisted and dark branches stretching far over his bony head into the night sky. The tree was ancient, having lived longer than any one the Mayor of her town had ever known, and she was just as much a symbol of Halloween as he. Jack reached out to her and caressed her strong but withered bark as memories ran through his mind.

He had tried so hard to be something that he wasn't, but in the end, he had learned that all he really wanted to be was himself. He wanted his people to admire him, but then they already did. He wanted the world to admire him, but the world at large really didn't matter. His world, the beings of this town, the animals that scurried through it, and the plants that had chosen to make it their home as well, already admired, loved, and feared him for all that he was.

He was as much Halloween as their beloved holiday itself, and so was this tree, who had also stood the test of time and wielded the marks in her boughs to tell her story of success. Jack sighed as his bony fingers twisted around one of her smaller branches, and he pulled himself up into her waiting arms. He had thought he wanted something new, but all he'd truly wanted was there for him already. Halloween was his all, as it should be, but Halloween, like any other celebration, as he'd learned when he'd tried to take over the other holidays, was what was made of it.

He climbed high into the ancient tree's boughs as he thought of the Kings of Halloween who had come before him. The legends said that this one tree who stood like a silent guard over their cemetery and over their town, over their very world, had already been old when the first King had been born. She had watched over them and protected them all, and he, like a fool, had tried to run away from what he was, from all that he had known, and all that loved him, all that made him who and what he was.

A wry grin twisted Jack Skellington's dead mouth. He was the King of Halloween and the Mayor of her town. He had been born to the role, and though he'd fought against it at one time in his existence, he had since come to accept that there was nothing more or less that he'd rather be. Halloween was what one made of it, and each King had brought something new to the best, or worst, day of the year with their reign.

Jack's smile grew. He, too, would bring something new. The phrase "trick or treat" had been used for centuries, but the holiday had lost the former part of its meaning in light of all the tricks that they all preferred to play on each other. He had decided that he liked passing out presents the year before when he'd tried to be Santa Claws, but he had failed at that holiday because he was not meant for that day. That was a cold holiday lit only by the warmth and love of the beings who celebrated it, but Halloween had never been cold in that sense.

Oh, sure, some years brought more cold to their day than others, but the holiday itself was alight with the simultaneous warmth of history and chill of suspense. No one ever really knew what all would happen on Halloween when she came again, but this time, Jack knew what would come: surprises for all of his people. He had snuck away every day of the past year, collecting items meant to delight and terrify and squirreling them away into a secret underground cave.

Soon, he thought as he watched the parade of beings coming to decorate the town's favorite tree with new lights, skulls, other dismembered body parts, fresh blood, and cobwebs, real soon, he would go and collect all the surprises he had hidden away and hoarded like a dragon hoarding gold, and he would bestow them upon his people. This year, Halloween would see all of the old tricks and, undoubtedly, some new ones, as well, but she would also see the return of the promised treats: cookies that were more than poison; cupcakes that didn't knock the eater out before they had a chance to dine on them; shrunken heads made of gold; baby spiders and little, black kittens in search of new forever homes; candy corn that didn't scream its head off and try to eat every one before it was eaten and was instead simply a sweet morsel of delectableness; monkeys that, though evil, focused more on the banging of their cymbals than on the bashing in of heads; radio-controlled bats; books filled with spells both old and new, macabre poetry, and beloved horror stories; and so much more. He would reign with both tricks and treats this year, and his subjects would find a whole new reason to love him and their holiday as they reveled not only in the tricks of the season but in the treats as well.

The full moon passed from behind the cloud that had hidden her and caressed Jack's pale face like a long, lost lover. His smile filled his face, and his voice boomed out, carrying a message to all of his people: "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" It would be a happy Halloween indeed, and this year, and for every year that would follow, he had no intention of being anywhere but right here in Halloweentown and doing nothing more than reigning in the full glory of his horror and sharing the love and horror of Halloween in all her frightful might and spine-tingling beauty with all the beings of his world.

Smiling and laughing wickedly to himself, Jack scampered up the last and tallest branch of the ancient tree who had seen every Halloween there was to see and sprang down to his waiting people. "Let's get the celebration started!" he crowed and sprinted ahead to take the crowning seat in his parade. He was the King of Halloween, and he could never ask for anything better, no trick nor treat, than that if indeed he lived, in his existence just as it was, to be as old as the tree who loved, protected, and watched over them all!

The End