A/N: Okay, so I really enjoyed writing the one-shot "Reasons why I, Killian Jones, love Emma Swan" and I loved thinking of reasons why Killian would love Emma. Then I had a spark of brilliance and decided to set myself a challenge!
At least once a week I will endeavour to sit down and for an hour and write a drabble based on one of the reasons why Killian loves Emma.
This will mean some will be long whilst others will probably be much shorter. Whatever I have written at the end of the hour will be posted onto this story as an addition but I can make no guarantees as to if it'll be feasible for me to do this every week.

Final Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters. Anything else I use or mention in following chapters will have its own disclaimer but for now this will be the final Once Upon a Time disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I do not own Swan Lake.

Chapter 2

157. When she was little she wanted to be a ballerina (one of her the rare good families she ended up with took their entire family to see a production of Swan Lake. She loved it but then only two days later they sent her back to the orphanage).

***Killian***

Killian sat on the couch in the Charming's apartment and let his head drop back until it clunked on the top of the sofa. He was very tired. All this dashing about and all these heroics were making him tired and he was spending so much time out trying to foil each bad thing that he hadn't spent any time with Emma alone since New York.

There was a creak on the floorboards and Killian instantly jerked to attention and rose up from his slouched position. His head spun to see who the intruder on his brief moment of quiet was and to his surprise it was Emma.

She had showered and put on soft warm clothing that hung loosely around her frame. He found it rather – quaint – as she shuffled towards him with the slippers that looked like happy rabbits scuffing the floor. Her hair was still damp and she had it up in a ponytail that was swaying slightly as she moved.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hello lass." Killian replied and smiled softly not his usual smirk. Encouraged Emma crossed to the sofa and plonked herself down on the far end from him.

"Long day huh?" She said after an awkward silence in which Killian contemplated leaving and venturing out into the downpour and back to the warmth of his room in Granny's B&B.

"As usual. And I do not doubt that more will arise tomorrow and we will find ourselves just as weary as tonight." Killian teased and was rewarded with a wry smile from Emma.

She bit her lip nervously before picking up the remote for the TV and turning the box on. Killian had by now grown accustomed to the TV and merely watched with vague disinterest as Emma began something Henry called "Channel-Hopping" as she flicked quickly through the different programs trying to find something she liked.

She would pause on a show for a while and he would begin to relax into the sofa and allow the mind-numbing-ness of whatever was being shown on the screen to allow his mind to drift when she would make a discontented noise and the channel would swap again. Each time there would be a new presentation of noise, colour and scenario and Killian would feel his attention being captured for a few moments as he puzzled out whatever new show Emma had landed on until he could drift off again.

***Killian***

To his surprise Killian found he had actually managed to fall asleep for a few short minutes when he was abruptly awoken by an excited gasp from the blonde who was now perched on the edge of the sofa like a dog as she stared at the TV screen.

Killian looked over her face for a few seconds whilst she was blissfully unaware of him. Sometimes he wasn't sure if he should be insulted that she forgot he was with her or if he should be pleased that she felt comfortable enough around him to disregard his presence and freely demonstrate her feelings. At the moment he was seeing what he thought was a mixture of fondness, excitement and bitterness simultaneously and when he glanced at the screen and saw a ballet he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What has excited you so by this show love?" He asked softly but Emma still jumped on the sofa at his voice. She had truly forgotten he was in the room with her.

"It's Swan Lake. The ballet."

Killian chuckled. "I know what ballet is love, even if I don't know the story."

Emma glanced at him with a sigh. Killian dared not move as she sank back into the seat and licked her lips nervously.

"It's the story of a princess named Odette who is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer named Von Rothbart. She can only regain her human form at night and she lives with her companions who are other maidens suffering under the same enchantment. The only way for the spell to be broken is if a young man fall into eternal love with her and promises to remain faithful to her only. If the vow of eternal love is broken then Odette will remain a swan forever."

Killian felt his eyebrows rise up in surprise. He wouldn't have expected Emma to like such a tale. Her aversion to magic and all, but it seemed she had a fondness for this tale.

"Odette falls in love with Prince Siegfried and hopes that her freedom is soon at hand. Von Rothbart however tricks Prince Siegfried into breaking his vow at the Ball when Siegfried vows eternal love and faithfulness not to Odette but to Odile, Von Rothbart's daughter who the sorcerer has enchanted to look like Odette."

Emma paused for a moment to watch the ballet and Killian found his attention too drawn to the screen.

"Siegfried realises his mistake and follows Odette back to the lake and begs her forgiveness."

The dancers twirled and danced upon the screen before Siegfried fell to his knees and pleaded to Odette. The music swelled and crescendoed and for a moment Killian thought the sound might wake the sleeping Mary Margaret and Charming but there was no sound from their room.

Von Rothbart was defeated and Emma bounced slightly on the sofa catching Killian's attention again. He saw her childish delight at the ballet and the way her mouth parted as she watched the drama on stage. The swans danced on stage as Odette and Siegfried embraced.

"Odette forgives Siegfried but she cannot face being trapped as a swan forever. To never be with her true love. Unwilling also to be without her Siegfried chooses to die with her and the two lovers throw themselves in the lake and are reunited in death for eternity."

The ballet ended on a triumphant chord and applause began as the credits rolled up. Killian swallowed nervously.

"I would not have thought you would like such a tale Emma." He said tentatively and watched as Emma let out a bitter chuckle.

"One of the foster families I lived with took the whole family to see the ballet. It was the first trip we made as a family. The parents, the two children and me. We got in the car and drove for over an hour to the city. Before the ballet they took us out for tea. We had pizza and ice cream. Then when we went into the theatre and took our seats someone sat in front of me and I couldn't quite see the stage. The father picked me up and let me sit on his lap for the entire ballet.

When the performance finished the other children had fallen asleep but I had watched the entire thing with my heart in my throat and tears in my eyes. The father bought me a feather tiara, a cheap thing they were selling at the doors on the way out and the next day I spent hours twirling around in the living room, trying to copy the dancers I'd seen the night before.

I wanted to be a ballerina. I wanted to be Princess Odette and dance on the lake with the other swans and be lifted into the air by Prince Siegfried. I even wanted to dance as poor Odile. I told the father that and he laughed and said he'd see if we could get me into a ballet class. I was so happy.

The day after that there was an accident and the father ended up in the hospital. I was sent back to the orphanage. I never saw that family again and they never contacted me. Not even a letter."

Emma's voice was bitter and choked. She viciously pressed the off button on the remote and the benign chatter of some reality show was abruptly halted.

"Did you get the dance lessons?" Killian asked.

"No." Emma said and then smiled. "I always wanted to be a ballerina. Up until I ran away. But a kid in the system doesn't get ballet lessons."

She got up from the sofa and crossed over to her room, rummaging around in the darkness of the room. Killian didn't dare move in case she didn't come back. Finally she returned, the bunny slippers abandoned on the floor of her room and her feet padding silently across the floorboards.

As she came closer he could see white feathers clasped in her hands and his mouth fell open in slight astonishment at the tiny feather tiara that lay cupped in her palms like a butterfly.

Emma smiled delightedly at his reaction.
"One of the few things that has happy memories and that I managed to keep from my childhood."

Killian slowly rose to his feet and plucked the tiara from Emma's hands. Carefully and gently he slid the plastic teeth into her hair until the tiara was perfectly positioned. Then he reached around and pulled the hair tie from her now dry locks and watched as they cascaded down her back.

"Your Majesty." Killian said and bowed low.

Emma giggled and curtsied, the feathers on the tiara fluttering at her movements.

"Thank you Captain."

Later, just as Killian was leaving he turned at the door and glanced back to the open space before the TV. He was just in time to watch as Emma carefully positioned her feet before lifting her arms up and began to dance. It was an echo of the ballet they had watched. Not perfect of course, nor indeed particularly graceful but Killian could see in her movements the memory of the little girl she had been who had wanted with all her heart to be a ballerina.

157.2 Because she is a true Odette.

***Killian***

A/N: So what do you think? Too OC? Too angsty?
The drabbles won't be in any particular order. I'll probably bounce around picking ones that intrigue me or I have ideas for but some will be from before Killian admitted he loved Emma and others from after.
I'll start with some of the ones I mentioned in the one-shot but I'd love any suggestions from readers!

Please Review and let me know what you think of this!

Thanks for reviewing: sabrinatheoncer & 1994omi