AN: I don't know, but I blame the meadow scene from Sunday's episode.
He'd learned to stop dreaming, in the decades and centuries that passed between that bright eyed Lieutenant and the vengeful pirate. He'd stopped wanting for a life of simplicity, of safety, so focused on the task of skinning his Crocodile.
The days when he'd wake with the vision of a beautiful, smiling wife still dancing behind his eyelids were replaced by the times he woke with Milah's final "I love you" still on his lips. Like much of himself, that dream had died with her.
He had ceased to see a future for himself; not without Milah, and not without Liam. Death had driven that desire for normalcy from Killian. He was no longer the dutiful, optimistic boy standing aboard a ship, following his brother into war. He was no longer the Captain steering his crew out to sea, watching the moonlight glint off of his love's hair. He never would be again.
But then came her, and days like this one.
He is watching the sun turn her hair luminescent, watching the smile spread over her face and feeling it fill something inside of his chest.
Killian knows that there are dark days ahead. He knows they cannot stop this beast inside Emma, not yet, not here in Camelot. He knows this is merely the calm before they are thrown headfirst into the storm, and it will be days like this he remembers within the midst of the chaos.
He will remember how warm Emma's skin is against his, and how her laughter rings in his ears. He will remember kissing the hollow of her throat and how she tightens her fingers along the tough hairs of his neck. He will remember her as she is now, light and goodness and filled with such love that it overflows from her, reaching out so that it might drown them both.
He will remember laying beside her on the grass, the pink flower twirling between the fingers of the hand that does not hold his. He will remember turning his head to her, looking upon her soft smile and feeling the dreamer in him return. He will remember looking at her and wanting, for all the world, wanting a future.
He wants nothing but Emma and her boy and this skewed little family that he's become a part of. He wants nothing but simplicity and safety for them all, nothing but quiet moments for the rest of their days.
When the storm comes, Killian will remember this. When the storm comes, he will look upon his Swan and beg her not to forget. Remember this, he wills her now, watching her silent and serene beside him. Remember you are loved.