It was two nights before Christmas Eve and Mara Jones found herself lost deep in thought, as she watched the glistening white snow fall outside the nearby window, sitting on the red couch next to their festively decorated family Christmas tree. She always loved this time of year as she was able to spend quality time with her family and extended family going to holiday parties, exchanging gifts, baking and decorating cookies, and participating in heavily competitive snowball fights. However, something about this year at Christmas time felt different. Being now ten years old, Mara had begun to be quite skeptical of the holly, jolly man himself: Santa Claus. She couldn't help but to hear around school from her classmates and friends that they too had been convinced that Santa was indeed a myth.

Now, both of her parents had noticed over the past few days that their young daughter had been acting peculiar and out of her usual joyful holiday spirit. Killian and Emma sat at the kitchen table, each with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in their hands, as they worriedly looked across the hall at their daughter looking gloomy as she swung her feet back and forth on the couch.

"What do you think we should do about this, Love?" Killian asked his wife, no longer standing the silence in the house.

Emma sighed, "I have no idea what's up with her. It's so hard seeing her like this. Maybe we should just ask her about it?" She suggested, as she fiddled her fingers across her mug.

Killian met her gaze after being preoccupied by the solemn sight of Mara before replying, "Agreed Swan. That may be best."

Just as they both were about to get up from their seats, they were interrupted as Henry came cheerfully bounding in from the front door. Even though he was almost thirty, he never missed a Christmas holiday vacation with his family in Storybrooke. Still to this day, he has kept his promise to both of his mothers and spends his time staying over at both of their houses for half the holiday.

"Hey guys! What are you up to on this winter wonderland of a night?" He exclaimed cheerfully with a big grin on his face as he brushed the snow from his black peacoat, before setting some nicely wrapped presents on the small glass table by the door.

Mara looked up over her shoulder, as she heard the commotion of her big brother's entrance, but didn't run to greet him like usual, instead she remained in her seat and went back to looking at the frosty scene outside.

"What's wrong with-" Henry began to question, before he was interrupted by Emma and Killian hushing him as they quickly guided him to the kitchen.

He was extremely concerned by how strange his parents were acting, but he wasted no time asking more questions as they quietly explained to him what was happening with Mara right after they sat him down.

Henry had to sit there for a couple of minutes to take it all in. He couldn't believe it either, but he had a great idea that had just popped into his head.

"I think I've got this handled guys" he confidently grinned, having complete faith in his plan.

"Really kid, You're up for this? I mean I trust you, but shouldn't this be a task for her parents to deal with?" Emma remarked, placing her hand on his back.

Henry smiled and looked back up at them, "Yeah. There's nothing her big brother can't do to keep her spirits up" he proudly stated before making his way to the family room.

Approaching the couch, Henry carefully took a seat next to Mara and squeezed her into a one-armed hug. "How's my favorite sister doing?" He happily greeted as he tickled her, causing Mara to laugh out.

"Henry, I'm your only sister. You know that!" She jokingly pointed out nudging him.

"Hey, there's that smile that I love to see" he beamed trying to get his little sister to elaborate more on what has been getting her down.

His presence didn't seem to keep Mara happily smiling for long, as she resumed to look down at her feet once Henry asked her the question that was on everyone's mind: "So Mara, our parents and I have been noticing that you've been a little out of it lately. Any reason to why that is? Can I help in any way?" Henry cautiously inquired, placing his hand on her shoulder, showing that he was there to support her.

Mara thought about if she wanted to tell Henry that she had been questioning Santa's existence, but she eventually concluded that she could trust her brother and then realized that he could possibly help with her predicament.

"Well, some kids at school have been talking," she replied, still gloomily looking down at the floor.

"And what were they talking about, exactly?" Henry asked trying to engage Mara into opening up to him.

She then slowly looked up at him before confessing, "They all say that Santa isn't real, and I don't know what to think" She sniffled.

A twinge of pain hit Henry, as he knew how much Mara loved Santa Claus, and he could tell that this was why she had been not herself lately. He also figured out that this was around the age that kids would stop believing in Santa, but luckily for her, she had the heart of the truest believer for a big brother to convince her otherwise.

"You know, when I was about your age I had to believe in something that no one else did. It was hard to do, especially when the whole town and the people you loved didn't think the way you did." He stated as he recalled back to when he was young and tried to convince everyone in the town that they were fairytale characters under a curse.

Mara's face lit up as she too had heard this tale countless of times from Henry and her parents as they had read her the storybook growing up. She had held onto every word in that book so close to her heart and loved hearing all the exciting adventures of her family's past and the story behind her parents' romance.

"Do you mean when you found mom and had to make her believe too?" She spoke out, sitting more upright and attentive in her seat.

"Exactly. And that's what makes our situations so similar, Mara; so, tell me… do you trust what your classmates are saying, or do you still want to believe?" He concerningly asked.

"Well, I want to believe, but they have a good point. I've never seen Santa ever and he's not even in the book, so how can he be real?" She curiously responded.

Henry let out a sigh, as he could see how these questions would cause Mara's belief to cease.

"Mara sometimes seeing isn't always believing, and just because someone's not in the storybook, doesn't mean they don't exist either" he tried to explain. "I mean, you're not in the book and you're real. Aren't you?" he laughed pointing out, as he poked her on the stomach to make sure she was indeed 'real'.

"I guess" she declared as she chuckled out at his funny notion.

"Also, your dad's Captain Hook and your mom is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, to others that may sound a little unbelievable, but you know it's true, so why can't Santa be?" Henry encouraged as he reached out to her.

Once hearing Henry's revelations, Mara found herself becoming less skeptical and was truly thankful for her brother assuring her that she did not have to feel silly anymore for believing in Santa. To share her appreciation, she immediately gave him a big hug as she thanked him for being there for her.

"You're very welcome, kid" he lovingly replied as they shared their hug. It was then that another thought popped in his head and he momentarily excused himself as he got up and went to grab a present on the table.

Getting up, he had noticed both Emma and Killian had been peeking their heads in the family room, as they had been trying their best to eavesdrop into their children's conversation. He simply smiled and gave them a thumbs up after they had mouthed if everything was alright.

Returning back to the couch, he placed the present in Mara's lap and raised his brows as he anxiously awaited her response from opening it.

"What's this? It's not even Christmas yet." Mara puzzled as she tilted her head, grasping the thin square shaped gift in her hands.

"I figured this gift would be quite appropriate after our little conversation, so just think of it as an early Christmas gift from your favorite big brother" he excitedly announced.

She beamed at his thoughtful gesture, and began to enthusiastically rip open the wrapping paper. And what she found was that the wrappings revealed a book underneath called 'A Christmas Wish'.

Henry scooted closer to her and graced his fingers across the cover of the book. "This book is very special to me, well maybe not as special as the official storybook, but still a close second. You see, when I was young and before I met our mom, Regina used to read me this story every year around Christmas. It was a tradition for me, and I was hoping it could be a tradition for you too" he suggested, thinking back to all the good memories the book had given him as a child.

"I have a better idea. It can be our new tradition!" Mara gleefully announced, practically jumping in her seat.

"You know what? That sounds like a wonderful idea" Henry replied, sporting a huge smile upon his face as he patted her on the back.

And just like that, the brother and sister tradition of reading 'A Christmas Wish' had begun as Henry opened the book to its first page and read aloud "Once upon a time".

As he fished the Christmas tale, it ended with the star on top of the main character's tree lighting up after Santa had given the family with a bountiful array of gifts.

Thankfully, Emma and Killian couldn't help but watch this loving scene between their children unfold before their eyes. As Henry had closed the book finishing his tale, Emma took it upon herself to use her magic to light their star on the tree. She hadn't used her magic in a while, as there were no frequent threats from villains or monsters in Storybrooke anymore, but she thought that this special moment could use a touch of Christmas magic. Just as she predicted, Mara's face lit up at this glorious spectacle and she could feel the Christmas belief and joy surrounding her daughter.

Killian took Emma's hand and eagerly pulled her to join their children and experience this grand holiday moment together as a family. The family snuggled up on the couch together, admiring the tree and discussed their exciting forthcoming Christmas plans. Mara looked around at her family and couldn't imagine being anywhere else but here in that moment, as she felt more in the holiday spirit now than ever.

Soon, they had discovered that it was getting quite late. Mara found herself dozing off on Henry's lap, so Killian lifted her off from the couch and took her upstairs to bed. The rest of the family followed closely behind to help tuck her in. Henry was the last to place a kiss upon her forehead as she drifted away into a peaceful slumber of probable gumdrops dancing around in her head. He then wished a Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.