Disclaimer: Same as always.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review, especially on that last one! I think I will do others like that every now and then. Thanks also to everyone who has taken the time to read any of these regardless of whether you've left a review or now. I have the next few of these mostly done, but wanted to say that if anyone has any ideas or scenarios involving the family (in any configuration) that they'd like to see let me know. And I'll see if I can do them. This one is what we'll call a Catalina mishmash. The main point of this one is to flesh her out as a character a bit more. Some of these things will be more important later. The next one will be more angsty and there's more Emma/Killian centered ones coming. In the meantime, hope you enjoy this one. :)

Rating: K +

There are things that Catalina Pearl knows beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true. Ice is cold. Fire is hot. And her daddy will always catch her when she falls.

Or jumps.

Catalina's always been an active child. Once she mastered the art of walking, she was off. Emma supposed that it was only fitting that her daughter enjoys running; heaven knows Emma's done a fair amount of that in her lifetime. Of course, Emma's running mainly consisted of running away from relationships while Catalina's running consists of, well, actual running.

When David asked her why she loves running so much, she said it was because she loves the feel of the wind in her hair as she runs. She seemed to have been born with a need for adventure. Killian thinks she got that from him and he's probably right. Whenever they all go out on the Jolly Roger, she always begs him to make it go faster.

In addition to running, she also has a bit of a love for climbing. Usually trees or playground equipment. And for some reason seems to enjoy jumping off of things. Like, say, swings.

She's also developed the somewhat odd habit of jumping off of things and into her father's arms.

It started off normally enough. Whenever she's been away from Killian for a few hours, say when he's out working, she always runs to him when he comes back. Runs and tries to jump up into his arms. That's the deal: she jumps up and he catches her.

Then one day they were at the playground. Catalina was up on a small bridge that was part of the playground equipment when she called out for her daddy to catch her before leaping off and into his arms. This has become a somewhat common occurrence, much to Emma's chagrin.

On this particular day, Emma is sitting on their usual park bench with Mary Margaret on one side and Henry on the other. Catalina, Clara and Neal are playing on the playground while David and Killian supervise, as is so often the case.

Today Catalina has climbed a little higher than normal so her now familiar cry of "Daddy, catch me!" almost gives Emma a heart attack. The structure she's standing on is not quite five feet high, but as far as Emma is concerned it may have well been over twenty. Catalina usually gives Killian more warning, but this time it seems like she says it only a split second before doing it.

And Killian caught her, though the momentum makes him stumble a bit. He managed to turn it into a spin that makes her shriek with laughter and everything is fine.

Emma shakes her head as Killian sets their daughter down. Who promptly comes running towards them when Emma calls her over. "Mommy, did you see me jump?" Catalina asked when she reached them.

"Yeah. About that," Emma replied, reaching to tuck a strand of her daughter's long blonde hair behind her ear. "Honey, you have to give Daddy a little more warning before you do that, okay?"

"Why?" Catalina looked puzzled.

"Because you have to give him time to catch you," Emma told her. "I don't want you to fall and get hurt." She watched as a look of utter bafflement appeared on her daughter's face. A look that tells Emma that it's never occurred to Catalina that Killian might not catch her. "Why do you always want Daddy to catch you?" she asked, suddenly curious.

"Because I know that he will." It's the way she said it that causes a rush of emotion to flood Emma's heart. She said it so matter of factly, like it's a given. For Catalina, she supposed that it is. "He always does."

And so he does. Catalina never wonders if Killian will catch her. She never hopes that he will. She knows that he will. Her trust in her father is absolute.

Emma's gaze flickered over to her own father. He's more than earned her trust in the all too short time that she's had him in her life. She knows that she can trust him with her life and has done so on multiple occasions. She trusts him with her children's lives too, as well as Killian's. But that didn't change the fact that as a child, Emma never had anyone to catch her when she fell.

It's different for her girls.

Killian never had to earn their trust; he's had it from the very beginning. For good reason. He's always been there for them. Has kept them safe from the moment they were born. Since before, even. Emma smiled when she thought about how overprotective Killian had been both times she was pregnant. He was naturally protective to begin with, but her pregnancies took it to an entirely new level. It had annoyed her sometimes and she'd end up snapping at him over it.

But she'd never been able to stay annoyed for too long. Not when she knew that it was only because her loved her and their then unborn daughters so much. He never wanted anything bad to happen to any of them. It didn't hurt that he'd usually respond by apologizing while scratching at his ear in that adorable way he did whenever he got embarrassed. After years of being all alone, Emma had to admit there was something quite wonderful about being cared for like that.

She loved that her girls had always had someone to care for them like that. She loved that they had so much faith in their daddy. In her as well, but there was something special about the bond between a father and a daughter. She knew it because even as an adult there were still times when she needed her parents. And as much as she loves her mother, her natural instinct is to go to David first. Always.

"She's right, you know," Mary Margaret piped up, interrupting Emma's train of thought. "Killian always seems to know when either of the girls are in any kind of danger."

"It's like his superpower," Henry agreed.

It's true. Killian seemed to have a kind of a sixth sense where his girls are concerned and Emma knows that she's included in that.

As if to prove the point, Emma watched as Clara was walking across the same structure that Catalina had just jumped off of. Clara definitely does not share her sister's love of adventure and her movements tend to be more cautious, especially when standing up on anything relatively high.

To Emma's horror, a couple of kids rushed past her and caused her to to lose her balance. Killian, meanwhile, had turned his head to say something to David. She heard Clara yelp out a panicked "Daddy!" as she toppled off the side.

And landed safely in Killian's arms. He'd turned back just in time. Emma let out a sigh of relief as she watched Killian cuddle Clara close for a few moments and say something that makes her giggle. He then leaned in to kiss her temple before setting her safely down on the ground.

"See Mommy?" Emma looked at Catalina, who is grinning at her. "Daddy always catches us."

Another thing Catalina knows to true? Dancing makes everything better. Everyone who knows Catalina knows that her love for her family surpasses everything else. But after that? Her two favorite things are running and dancing. She just likes to move. It can be hard for her to stay still.

Which is why Emma and Killian decided to enroll her in a dance class when she's five years old. Oh, they're not learning anything too complicated, but Catalina loves it. Not only does it give her an outlet for the seemingly boundless energy she has, it's also let her meet other kids. For a social butterfly like Catalina, this is a dream come true.

When it comes to dancing with someone else, Killian is her favorite dancing partner. Though truth be told, her Grandpa David is a close second. Dancing with them makes her feel like a princess, especially when they indulge her requests to twirl her.

Twirling's her favorite.

She doesn't wear dresses or skirts every day, but when she does you can rest assured that she will spend a fair chunk of the day twirling around. When it comes to deciding which dresses are her favorite, it's rarely about the color. No, her favorites are the ones that fan out nicely when she spins.

Emma has never really been one for twirling herself, but Catalina has given her a certain appreciation for it. Killian still laughs when he thinks about walking in their bedroom to see if his wife was ready to leave for a date night only to find her spinning around in her dress to the delight of both of their girls. She tried to say that she was only doing it for their benefit, but it's a lie and they all know it.

That's one of the greatest things about Catalina. She has a way of making things fun. If there's some kind of event in town that involves dancing, Catalina will always get the various members of her family dancing if they aren't.

To this point, after her father and grandfather, Catalina's favorite dance partner is probably her sister. Which brings it back to the initial point: dancing makes everything better.

In Catalina's opinion, part of her job as big sister is to try and cheer up her little sister whenever she's sad. So when Clara is in poor spirits one day, Catalina's solution is to ask Emma to put on some music so she can get her sister to dance. Emma agrees, thinking it can't hurt anything. Clara, on the other hand, needed some convincing.

"But I don't want to dance, Lina," Clara protested. She'd had a hard time pronouncing Catalina when she first started talking and so had taken to calling her Lina. She's perfectly capable of saying Catalina now, but the nickname has stuck.

"Please Clara? It'll be fun." Catalina giggled when Clara merely arched her eyebrow in response in a perfect imitation of their father. "Come on, Clary Berry." Catalina urged, using a nickname Henry had given to their little sister when she was a baby. She reached out and grabbed Clara's hands to pull her off the couch.

As it happens, Clara actually likes to dance too; though not as much as her sister. The trouble is that she's too self-conscious to dance in front of anyone else. At least not of her own volition. So Catalina is often the one to get her going. And since Catalina is decidedly not shy, it somehow helps make Clara more comfortable.

It's not long before Clara gets caught up in Catalina's enthusiasm. It's hard not to, especially once Catalina employs her secret weapon: the twirl. Naturally. One of the reasons why Catalina likes dancing with her sister is that she's small enough that Catalina gets to twirl her. That's usually enough to get Clara giggling and tonight is no exception. It's not long before Catalina gets Emma to join in.

This is the sight Killian walked in on when he returned home with takeout from Granny's for dinner: that of his wife and daughters laughing and dancing like they don't have a care in the world. It's only a matter before Catalina convinces him to put the food down and dance with them.

Another thing Catalina knows to be true is that her parents worry that they don't give her enough attention sometimes. But they don't realize that Catalina understands how lucky she is. She has never had to wonder if she's loved; she knows she is. And not just that she's loved, but that she's loved a lot.

It's why she's so confident, so sure of herself and her place in the world. She has never doubted her worth. Never had to wonder if she's good enough. She knows that she has value because that's what her parents - and the rest of her family, really - have told her. It's not just that they say it either. They make a point of showing it as well.

It's this knowledge that makes it so easy for her to love other people. And she does. She has a genuine love for others, the kind of love that helps her see the best in people. She can always find something to like about everyone she meets. She makes friends easily because of it.

For all the things that Catalina knows, there's still a lot of things that she wonders. Like whether she has magic like she thinks she does or not.

She can't remember a time when she didn't know about magic. She knows Emma has it and has seen her use it countless times. Has seen Regina use it as well. She knows that everyone wonders if she'll have it, though no one pushes the issue. They wonder about Clara too.

As for Catalina herself, she strongly suspects that she does have it. Not only her, but her little sister as well. There's been two instances that seem to prove it, but she hasn't told either of her parents about them.

The first incident had happened some weeks ago when Catalina was in the living room playing one afternoon when it started to get dark. She'd gotten up and was reaching to turn a lamp on when the light suddenly came on all by itself. Without her actually touching it.

The only problem was that she hasn't been able to do it since. Not for lack of trying. She just can't seem to do it again. Sometimes she wondered if she'd just imagined doing it that first time, but she knows that she didn't. She didn't imagine it. She actually did it. She only wished she knew how.

Magic was the only thing that made sense.

The second incident happened more recently. Killian had come home with flowers for Emma one day. She'd put them in a vase and set it on the table in the alcove by their front door. It'd been a couple of days and they'd started to wilt.

Catalina and Clara were sitting next to each other while coloring at the table. They'd both been drawing flowers when Clara commented that she wished Mommy's flowers looked as pretty as they had a few days ago. She then asked Catalina to pass her a crayon that was out of her reach.

Then it happened.

Catalina felt her hands begin to tingle and when she handed the crayon to Clara, their hands touched. There was a small flash of light and then Clara gasped. "Lina! Look!"

The flowers suddenly looked the way they had when Killian had first brought them home. The sisters looked at each other with equally wide eyes. "Did we do that?" Catalina asked, stunned.

"I think so? I don't know..." Clara looked completely uncertain.

"Well, would you look at that." Both of them jumped at the sound of Killian's voice and turned their heads to look at him. "These flowers have perked up, haven't they?" His brow furrowed as he took in the looks on their faces. "Are you lasses alright? You seem spooked."

"No," Clara answered.

"Yes," Catalina said at the same time, shooting her sister a look. "You just scared us, Daddy. We didn't hear you coming."

"My apologies." He inclined his head towards them. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," Catalina assured him, quickly. "Right Clara?"

"Right," Clara confirmed. She still seemed uncertain, but was happy enough to go along with it.

"Alright." Killian looked back and forth between them, still somewhat suspicious. "If you say you're okay, I'll have to suppose that you are."

"We are!" Catalina nodded. "Promise."

"Promise," Clara echoed.

Nothing like that has happened again. In her heart of hearts, Catalina does know that she has magic. Especially considering the strange way that being close to Emma while she was performing magic made Catalina's own hands tingle. It was like she was connected to her mother's magic in a way, like her mother's magic was calling out to her own. But aside from those two times, nothing ever comes out of it.

Not yet, anyway.