Disclaimer: Same as always.

A/N: A one shot about Killian helping Emma check things off from her Christmas wish list. I imagine that Christmas was never a happy holiday for Emma while she was growing up. So she never got super into Christmas. But now she has a family she loves who loves her. Including a husband who always wants to give her whatever her heart desires.

Prompt: Christmas wish

Something was wrong with his Swan. Of that Killian was completely certain. Christmas was coming and while he hadn't experienced the holiday yet himself, he understood that this was supposed to be a joyful time. A time when those who believed celebrated the birth of Jesus. For those who did not believe, it was still a time for family and friends to come together. And it seemed that most of Storybrooke was excited about and looking forward to the upcoming holiday. Killian had even found himself getting swept up in it all, even though he had a hard time understanding some of the customs. He was looking forward to experiencing his first Christmas. His first Christmas in hundreds of years.

There was, however, at least one Storybrooke resident that did not appear to be looking forward to Christmas at all. His beloved Swan who was, in Killian's opinion, the most important of all the residents of Storybrooke. Yes, he was heavily biased and had no problem admitting it. If anyone had a problem with that, well, they could bloody well deal with it. Killian simply adored his Swan and had promised himself that he would always do his very best to give her whatever her heart desired. That he would lift her up when she was feeling down and that he would make her feel better when she was sad.

And now she seemed sad for reasons he didn't yet know and seemed to become sadder with every day that brought them closer to Christmas. As her husband, it was his job to get to the heart of the matter. Killian would find out what was wrong, since he very well couldn't try to make it better if he didn't know what the it in question was. Upon finding that important piece of information out, he would then set about seeing what he could do about it.

He would call his mission Operation: Happy Swan. Clearly, Henry had been rubbing off on him. But for some reason, titling his mission had given him a resolve he hadn't had previously. He had no idea how that worked, but he wasn't about to question it.

Killian had needed to go to the Jolly to see how she was faring in this cold weather and stopped by Granny's on his way over to the station, knowing that Emma would be getting hungry for lunch right about now. Upon entering the station, he found Emma sitting in her office fiddling with her cell phone.

"Hello, my love," he said brightly, smiling at her when she looked up.

"Hey," she replied. "I was just about to text you." Her eyes lit up when she saw the bag from Granny's he had balanced on his hook. "Because I was hungry."

"Lucky for you, my Swan sense was tingling," he said.

"Your Swan sense?" She asked, amused.

"Aye. It's like one of those superheroes Henry likes with the spidey sense," he said. "What's his name?"

"Spiderman," she filled in.

"Ah yes, Spiderman. He has his spidey sense that tells him when something is wrong and I have my Swan sense," he said, setting the drink carrier he'd been holding with his hand on her desk. "Which tells me when something is wrong with you. It's much more specific, you see."

"I see," she chuckled. "Grilled cheese?"

"I'm offended that you would even ask me that," he said, giving her a look of mock outrage. "I've just told you I have Swan sense and you think that I would have the nerve to bring you anything other than a grilled cheese? With onion rings, thank you very much. And did I bring you coffee? I should think not." Killian took out one of the drinks in the carrier and handed it to her. "Hot cocoa with cinnamon sprinkled on top."

"Aw, but I really felt like a coffee," she teased.

"Don't you try that with me, lass. My Swan sense has yet to let me down," he said. "But as it happens, I got myself a coffee and I would give it to you if I thought that's really what you wanted."

"Thank you," she said, moving some papers to make more room on her desk for the food. "Join me?"

"I thought you'd never ask. So how have things been here today?" He asked.

"Quiet," she shrugged. "I've just been doing some paperwork. How's the Jolly?"

"She's doing well, thank you for asking," he answered, touched that she actually cared about his precious ship. Almost as much as he did. They ate in relative silence as Killian pondered how best to approach the subject of what had been bothering her. She was in good enough spirits at the moment, but he could see the dark clouds just underneath the surface.

"So I was talking to Henry who was wondering what we were doing for Christmas," he said, after a while, noting the way her hand stilled on the way to grab an onion ring. "Are we going to your parents or staying home?"

"Um, I don't know?" She answered. "We'll figure it out."

"Hmm."

"What?" she asked.

"It was just a hmm," he replied.

"No, it wasn't. I know your hums," she said, making his eyebrow quirk.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have different hums you use for different things and I can recognize all of them," she informed him, smirking at him. "Call it my pirate sense."

"Alright, if you're so clever, which hum did I just make?" He challenged, well aware that this may be among their most absurd conversations to date.

"That's the hum you make when you're thinking about how to bring something up," she said, stunning him.

"How could you possibly have known that was what that hum meant?" He asked.

"Pirate sense," she said.

"How many hums do I have anyway?" He asked.

"Lots."

"Hmm."

"Not that was the hum you make when you're thinking about something," she told him. "You're thinking about your hums now, aren't you?"

"I was thinking about you," he said, honestly. "But yes, now you have me thinking about my hums as well. I'd much rather talk about you, though."

"What about me?" She asked.

"Everywhere I go, I see people excited about Christmas." Her mood had been lifted during their discussion about his hums, but now he saw it change. "And yet every time I mention Christmas to you, you pull away."

"I'm not pulling away from you," she argued.

"Not from me, love," he said. "From Christmas. What is it about this holiday that makes you sad?"

"Christmas doesn't make me sad," she said, but she wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Emma." Now she sighed.

"Okay, fine. Christmas was never a happy time for me growing up, okay? Some of my foster homes didn't celebrate Christmas at all and the ones who did?" She lifted her hands before letting them drop. "There were a couple that tried to make it a happy day for us, but it's hard to be happy when it's a day about families and you don't have one."

"I'm sorry, love," Killian said, quietly. "But now you have a family who loves you. And it still makes you sad."

"I guess I just..." Emma shook her head as she searched for the words. "I don't how to be happy at Christmas."

"And I've never tried celebrating Christmas," he said with a sigh. "We make quite the pair, Swan. But it's alright, do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I am going to make this the best Christmas that you've ever had," he said. "Now, what is one thing you always wanted to do at Christmas that you never got to?"

"Gosh," she said. "I don't know where to start."

"First thing that comes to mind, then," he suggested. "Don't think, just say whatever you think of first. What is one thing you've always wanted to at Christmas?"

"Build a snowman. I...I've never built one," she answered, giving him a surprisingly shy smile. "I mean, you can do that whenever there's enough snow on the ground. It's not exclusive to Christmas. But you said to say whatever I thought of first."

"That I did," he agreed. "If you don't mind my asking, why haven't you ever built a snowman?"

"I could never get anyone to build one with me," she said, looking down. "And the one time I tried building one myself..."

"What happened?" He asked, frowning at the look of hurt on her face.

"There was a family building one across the street. They were having so much fun together, you know? And there I was, trying to build mine all alone," she said, hating that this memory was enough to feel the sting of tears. "It's stupid. I should have just built the damn snowman." She swiped at her cheek, angry at that she'd shed a tear over something so trivial.

"That's the first thing we'll do, then," he said, gently reaching across the desk to put his hand on hers. "We'll build a snowman."

As it turned out, they didn't just build one snowman, they built two right outside of the station. Emma had thought Killian was kidding when he suggested that they go outside and build one right then. He hadn't been. The day had been quiet enough that she'd agreed.

The original plan had been to only build the one, but then Emma said they should build another so the first one didn't get lonely. She'd actually said that. Killian's tough Swan, the town Sheriff and savior had said she didn't want a snowman to feel alone. So they built one more. It was at that point that Killian told her that he would build as many snowmen with her as she wished. A town full, if she so desired.

The smile she'd given him had been the brightest smile she'd given him all week. Two would be good for the station, she'd decided. But maybe they could build another one at home? They ended up building another two. And then Henry had come home and the three of them had built one more together.

Emma still wasn't excited about Christmas, but Killian felt like he was off to a good start.

Snow inadvertently helped them with another item on Emma's Christmas wish list, as Killian had taken to calling it. He'd gotten her to tell her some of the other things she'd always wanted to do around Christmas and he'd written them all down. Checking them off as they did them.

Making Christmas cookies was one of them. Killian had been planning to call Snow to talk about it, but she ended up calling them first. Just so happening to ask if Emma and Killian wanted to come over to make Christmas cookies. They got Henry to come along, so it'd been a full family affair with Snow in charge.

At one point, Killian looked over to see Emma sitting with Neal in her lap, both of them laughing while decorating a batch of cookies. That was when Killian mentioned Emma's Christmas wish list to David, who was curious to know what else was on it and was there anything he might be able to help with?

"I'm happy you asked, mate," Killian said. "Emma's always wanted to go out into the woods and cut down a real Christmas tree to put in the house." He made a face. "I must admit I still find that particular custom to be very odd. But Emma wants a real Christmas tree so that's what she'll have. I believe we'll require your assistance."

"I think it's between that one," David said a few hours later when he, Emma and Killian had gone out into the woods by his and Snow's house. He pointed at one of the trees they'd been looking at. "Or that one."

"Which one do you think, love?" Killian asked his wife. Not that Killian could tell a difference between the two trees himself, but he wasn't about to admit that to either of them. He watched Emma look back and forth between the two, her lips pursed in thought.

"That one." It was to be the first one David had pointed at.

"I was hoping you'd pick that one," David said.

"Why?" Emma asked.

"Because I was thinking that I want the other one for us," he replied.

"Hold on," Killian spoke up. "We're bringing two trees back?"

"Not at the same time," David said, as if that was supposed to make this new development more appealing somehow. "We'll put yours in my truck. And since you're all already here, how about you help us get decorate ours once we get it up?"

"You want us to help decorate your tree?" Emma asked, her voice suddenly sounding a little husky.

"Of course I do," David said. "It wouldn't be the same without you guys. It'll be fun, we'll throw on some Christmas music and make a party out of it. Sound good?"

"That sounds really good, Dad," Emma said. Decorating a Christmas tree with her family was another of the items on Emma's wish list and Killian knew that it was one of the most important. What made this better in Killian's eyes was that he hadn't mentioned that part of it to his father-in-law. He hadn't missed the look of longing that had appeared in David's eyes when he asked. Killian imagined that this was a wish that all the members of the Nolan family had. And it would finally come true.

"Let's review, my love." It was the following evening and Emma and Killian were sitting on their couch with all of the lights in their house turned off, enjoying the fire in their fireplace. Along with their recently decorated Christmas tree that stood a safe distance away. After decorating the one tree at the Nolan house, they'd all come to Emma and Killian's house to help them decorate theirs the night before. "We've built snowmen and we've made Christmas cookies. We had a snowball fight." He shot Emma a look. "That I still say I won."

"You wish," she quipped. "I kicked your butt."

"Hardly," he argued. "But if it makes you feel better to think that, so be it."

"I kicked your butt," she repeated.

"In any event." Killian shot her another look that made her giggle. "I think we're doing quite nicely. Now what would you like to do next? It's too late to go sledding though, I'm afraid. Tomorrow, perhaps? We could go after work."

"Tomorrow's good," Emma agreed. "Could we go ice skating too?" The question made Killian smile. This little project had seemed to awaken the little kid in Emma and he thought it was a adorable. More importantly, Emma seemed to become a little more excited for Christmas with each item they checked off.

"Of course, we can," he said. "So what else is there?"

"I don't know what else is left on the list you made, but I think I just thought of a new one," she told him, piquing his interest.

"And what's that, Swan?" He asked.

"I was just thinking about how romantic it is to be sitting here by our fire and our tree," she began, smiling as she looked at their beautiful tree.

"It's very romantic," he agreed. Killian had a feeling he was going to like where this was going.

"And Henry is with Regina, so we have the house all to ourselves," she continued.

"We do, indeed," he nodded. "So whatever shall we do about it?"

"I think it would be a shame to waste such a romantic atmosphere," she said, seriously.

"A crime, really, if you think about it," he said, matching her tone.

"And I mean, we're kind of the law in this town, so we probably shouldn't be committing any crimes," she went on.

"An excellent point, my love," he said.

"So I think that you should come a little closer," she suggested.

"Like this?" He asked, leaning in just a bit closer to her.

"Closer," she decided, smiling when he leaned in a little farther. "Closer," she murmurmed, closing her eyes. "Just a little bit more." Their lips met in a tender kiss. And another before Emma laid back on their couch, pulling Killian down with her. Their kisses were deep and slow and Emma had felt Killian's hand sliding underneath her sweater, the calluses on his fingers rough against the soft skin of her stomach.

But then somehow his hook had gotten tangled up in her sweater and he'd had to yank it free, throwing himself off balance in the process. They ended up tumbling off the couch and landing with a thud between it and their coffee table.

"Okay, that didn't work," Killian muttered.

"What, you didn't mean to knock us off the couch?" Emma asked, giggling.

"Are you laughing at me, Swan?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow at her.

"Yes," she managed, bringing her hand to brush some off his hair away from his forehead. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, love," he assured her. "Are you?"

"Yeah, thanks to you. Thanks for breaking my fall, babe," she said.

"Don't mention it," he said, dryly. "Now as much as I'd like to resume our previous activities, I'm not so sure this is the place to do it."

"Not this side of the coffee table," Emma agreed, sitting up on her knees and then standing up. She offered him her hands, helping to pull him up. "Come here." She tugged him over to the other side of the table

"Would you like me to take you upstairs, my love?" Killian asked.

"No," she said, looping her arms around his neck. "I want you to take me right here."

"As you wish," he replied, kissing her.

Killian grinned to himself as he watched Emma humming as she worked in her office. They'd made love in front of their fireplace, making a point to take their time. Killian thought they should take their time far more often. It was always different when they did. When they took the time to learn each other's bodies all over again. They'd sufficiently worn each other out and fallen asleep, wrapped up in each other's arms in front of the then dying fire. Killian had woken up some time later and carried a still sleeping Emma up their bedroom.

And had brought her breakfast in bed that morning. He'd gone with one of their favorites: pancakes. Killian had been inspired to use one of their cookie cutters as a mold for the pancakes so they had been the shape of Christmas trees. He'd then sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. He'd briefly wondered if Emma would think he had lost his mind, but instead he'd been surprised when she'd looked up at him with shining eyes.

Emma had been so touched that he would grow through the trouble, even though he'd tried to tell her that it hadn't been much trouble at all. It was the truth; it hadn't been. But she still wasn't used to have anyone even think to do something like that for her. Now she was humming while she worked, smiling to herself every so often when she thought about it.

Killian liked when she hummed to herself and had been delighted whenever he got close enough to hear what song she was humming. It was always a Christmas song. He'd heard snippets of at least three throughout the day.

It appeared that he might have helped his Swan locate her Christmas spirit. But he was still going to make sure every remaining thing on her Christmas wish list happened.

Now, they'd wrapped up at the office for the day and left to go do one of them. They were going to go sledding.

"Are you okay?" The fact that Emma had somehow gotten the question out during an uncontrollable giggle fit was quite the feat. She'd just watched her husband go careening down a hill on a sled - or an instrument of torture, as he'd just referred to it. Killian had not expected the sled to race down the hill the way it had. Nor did he expect to end up crashing directly into a bush.

The shriek he had emitted upon flying into said bush had been a sound she had never heard him make before. Ever. He had sounded so eerily like his cartoon counterpart that Emma had completely lost it. She'd been desperately trying to pull herself together while a string of curses came out of Killian's mouth while he tried to untangle himself from the bush.

"I should probably be asking you that," he answered. He had no idea that sledding would be such a harrowing experience when he'd agreed and now he was quite certain that he would never subject himself to this insanity ever again. His wife laughing like a complete loon at his misfortune felt like an added insult to injury. It also made it impossible for him to stay annoyed.

"I'm sorry," she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "It really wasn't that funny."

"Could have fooled me, Swan," he said, his lips twitching despite his best efforts.

"That scream, oh my God. I should have been filming," she managed, forcing herself to talk a deep breath to try to get a hold of herself. And succeeding. For about five seconds. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, love. Just go ahead and enjoy yourself. I, on the other hand, may need to hunt down a bandage. Or fifteen," he said, experimentally touching his face for damages.

Emma sobered some as she took a good look at his face, noticing a few scratches. "Here, let me," she said, still giggling a little as she went to him.

"Do you think you can control yourself enough to even use your magic?" he asked, amused when she snorted.

Yes, I..." That was all she could get out before another burst of giggles came out. She pressed her head to his shoulder while she slowly got herself back under control. "Whew." Emma had tears in her eyes when she looked at him again. "Okay, I can do this."

"Hmm."

"Don't you dare," she warned, her lips quivering again. "Just stay still and...and maybe keep your eyes closed." At his quirked eyebrow, she nearly lost it again. "I can't look you in the eye right now, okay? Now close your eyes so I can fix your face."

"For heaven's sake," he muttered, unable to stop from smiling as he closed his eyes. He heard Emma blow out some air, he supposed as a way to ensure that she was calm enough to focus. A moment later he felt her forehead against his and her gloved hands on his cheeks. There was a feeling of warmth and the pain from his scrapes dissipated as her magic healed them.

"There," she said, brushing her lips against his. "All better."

"May it never be said that I don't keep you entertained," he said, laughing a little himself now as he opened his eyes.

"You definitely do," she grinned at him. "So about that ice skating..."

As far as winter activities went, Killian had to say that he might just prefer ice skating over the rest. There were no thorn filled bushes for him to go flying into, so that was already an improvement. It had, admittedly taken him a while to get used to it, but it'd given him an excuse to hold onto his Swan.

Not like he needed an excuse for that. Once he did get the hang of it, he rather enjoyed it. Based on the smile on his wife's face while they kept going in circles around the ice, he'd say that she enjoyed it too. This was something that they'd definitely be doing again.

When Emma was a little girl, one of the first things she thought when she woke up on Christmas was that it was Christmas. And she was alone. There were rarely ever any presents for her on Christmas and there were even less hugs. For some reason, Emma had always imagined how nice it would be to have someone to hug on Christmas. To have someone who loved her be with her on that day. It was something she had always wished she would have someday, not actually believing that she ever would. She certainly didn't growing up. So she had never looked forward to waking up on Christmas. Often wishing that she might sleep right through it. It always caused her too much pain. Especially whenever she would catch glimpses of happy families who clearly loved each other. Christmas has always only served to make her feel sad and alone.

That was no longer the case.

Emma woke up smiling on Christmas Day. This year she had been woken up by the feel of Killian's lips gently kissing hers. "Killian," she whispered his name, smiling against his mouth. She quickly decided that this was the perfect way to be woken on Christmas.

"Merry Christmas, my love," he said, tenderly.

"Merry Christmas, Captain," she said back, her heart full.

Emma was feeling playful as they pulled up to the farmhouse to join up with the rest of their family. So when Killian was heading unlock the trunk to get the presents they'd brought for her parents and Neal, she crouched down and grabbed some snow to make a snowball and threw it at him.

Only to have it hit Henry instead. Killian had bent over to grab the presents at exactly the right time. The snowball had flown right over him and hit poor unsuspecting Henry.

"Mom!" Henry gasped in shock.

"Sorry Kid," Emma said quickly. "I was aiming for Killian."

"I beg your pardon?" Killian asked, straightening to turn to her. And immediately getting hit in the back by a snowball. "Hey!" Killian whirled around to face Henry.

"I was aiming for Mom," Henry said. Killian looked between his wife and stepson for a minute as if debating. He then shot Emma what could only be described as an evil grin before looking at Henry.

"It seems to me that your mother is the problem here, my boy," he said.

"She started it," Henry agreed, nodding.

"Okay, hold on," Emma said, instinctively backing up when they both rounded on her. "Shouldn't we get inside?"

"Ah, so she starts a fight and then tries to back out of it. Not on my watch, lass," Killian smirked, glancing at Henry. "I say we get her."

"I agree," Henry nodded. Before Emma knew what was happening, she was getting pelted with snowballs and trying to use the Bug as a shield as she lobbed some back.

"We've got you, Swan. You may want to quit," Killian teased.

"You wish!" she cried.

"You're outnumbered, Mom," Henry pointed out.

"Oh, no she's not!" None of them had seen David come out of the house. Now he hurled snowballs at Killian and Henry as he dashed to Emma's side.

"Dad!" Emma cheered. It was officially on. This was no regular snowball fight. It was war. Emma and David against Killian and Henry. Snowballs were flying through the air, neither side willing to forfeit.

And then it happened.

"What in the world is going on out here?" Snow asked, making the fatal mistake of stepping out in the middle of the war zone. And taking a snowball right in the face.

Silence filled the battlefield.

"Who threw that?" Snow demanded.

"Uh, I believe that was me," Killian spoke up, rather sheepishly. He winced when she turned her attention to him. "I was aiming for your husband."

"You, uh, you did kind of walk out in the middle of a battlefield, Grandma," Henry said, quick to defend his teammate.

"I suppose I have just one more question, then," Snow announced. "Is this a snowball fight or a tea party?"

"What?" Killian asked. A second before her snowball hit him in the face.

"Quick piece of advice Killian," Snow smirked at him. "Never throw a snowball at Snow White."

The snowball fight had been absolute chaos. For a while it had been Emma, David and Snow against Killian and Henry, but then it devolved into everyone out for themselves. Then there was the additional insanity caused by Wilby, the Nolan's dog, coming out to join the fray. The only family member missing from battle was little Neal. War had been waged during his naptime.

An overall truce had eventually been called and they'd all headed inside where gifts were exchanged.

It was sometime during dinner when Emma realized that she'd finally found her Christmas spirit after a lifetime of little to no Christmas spirit. She'd gotten a little closer as her and Killian had worked their way through her Christmas wish list.

Building snowmen. Baking Christmas cookies. Snowball fights. Picking out a real Christmas tree. Decorating it with her family. Making love with her husband in front of a fire. Sledding. Ice Skating. Her day starting off with a kiss. Presents exchanged and given. And hugs. There were lots of hugs.

But it was while she was finally enjoying a delicious Christmas dinner with her family that she knew. She had her husband sitting beside her on one side and her dad on the other. Henry sat across from her with Neal in his highchair next to him. With her mom between Neal and Killian. All the people she loved most in the world gathered together to celebrate Christmas. And she knew.

Emma had finally found Christmas. Her Christmas wish list was complete.