Summary: Henry recruits Killian in trying to return some Christmas cheer to the house after they come home from the Underworld. This is a gift for my onceuponasecretsanta recipient, @hissaviourqueen! Hope you enjoy it, Shauna and happy holidays! <3333
“So, we’re still celebrating Christmas, right?” Henry asked his mother. They were sitting in the living room of the new house. Two steaming mugs of hot cocoa sat on the table. Killian was down at the Jolly Roger.
“I don’t know, kid,” Emma sighed. “I don’t think Killian’s really up to celebrating Christmas right now.” She picked at a loose thread on the cuff of her sleeve. She couldn’t even get her pirate to spend a night in the house, let alone spend a whole, loud, festive holiday in it.
“That’s why we need it!” Henry exclaimed. “Mom, we need Christmas in here. First of all, it’ll give us better memories than all the shitty--”
“Language!” she scolded, though her heart wasn’t really in it.
“—Dark One memories that are here,” he finished, raising an eyebrow at his mother. Emma did her best not to flinch. “And, I bet he doesn’t even know what Christmas is, and he’d definitely want to celebrate it once he knew what it was!”
“What is this, some kind of new operation?” she asked exasperatedly.
“Operation Silent Night,” Henry responded, true to form as ever. There was something in her son’s eyes that she couldn’t quite read, and that made her a little nervous, if she was completely honest.
Emma sighed, running a hand over her face. Through her fingers, she could see Henry giving her puppy dog eyes, pleading silently with her. “You can go down and ask him if he wants to participate,” she finally said, picking her head up. “And if he doesn’t know what it is, explain what Christmas is. And if he says no, don’t push it, okay?”
“I will! I will!” Henry said excitedly, leaping up. He kissed her cheek before heading out the door. “I’m gonna go ask him right now! I’ll see you later, Mom! I love you!” The door closed behind her son without a resounding slam, and Emma was left alone in her house.
Her stomach churned at the achingly familiar feeling of being alone in that great big house. She decided to clean up Henry’s hot cocoa, ignoring the way her hands trembled at the echo of her footfalls. The sound of the running water and the warmth against her skin soothed her for a moment, until she had to turn the water off.
“Sleep,” Emma muttered to herself. “I still need to catch up on all the sleep I missed. That’s why I’m like this. I’ll feel better after in a little while.” She dragged herself up to the king-sized bed that was far too big for her. She placed herself directly in the center of the bed so it wouldn’t seem as big.
Emma pulled up the covers to her chin and curled up into a tight ball, trying not to think about just how much she wanted Killian curled up beside her in that moment. She allowed just two tears to slip out before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
“Killian! Killian!” Henry called, bounding to the gangplank of the Jolly Roger. “Can I come aboard, Captain?
“Of course you can, lad, you’re always welcome,” he said fondly with a soft smile.
“Good! Because I really need to talk to you about something! It’s really, really important!” the boy replied in a rush.
Killian’s heart constricted at the seemingly urgent way Henry called for him, and noticed the boy’s mother wasn’t with him. “Everything okay, lad?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm. The boy wasn’t hurt and didn’t seem distressed.
“Yeah, I just gotta ask you something,” he said, coming aboard the ship.
“Where’s your mother?” Killian asked, cleaning things off the railing, even though there was no dirt to be found.
“She’s at home,” Henry said with a shrug. “She should be okay for a little while.” Killian frowned a little bit at “should be”, but Henry continued with, “Listen, I have a question to ask you.”
“All right,” the man replied, looking Henry in the eye. It didn’t escape his notice that he could make direct eye contact with Henry now. The lad wasn’t the small boy he’d been when Killian first got to Storybrooke.
“Do you want to celebrate Christmas with me and my mom?” Henry asked hopefully. Killian’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Okay, so you don’t know what Christmas is. So. Basically, Christmas is a time when families get together and exchange presents and there’s a tree with lights and ornaments and it’s really festive and exciting and Mom and I want you to celebrate it with us,” the boy rambled.
“Oh,” Killian said, needing a moment to absorb all that information. “So…it’s a holiday for families?”
“Yeah!” Henry said excitedly. “Please? We want you to come home and decorate the house with us. So we can all spend Christmas together!”
Killian’s mind traveled to Emma all alone in the big house. He hadn’t known how to speak to her since she had brought him home from the Underworld. She had been skittish and avoidant and he had no idea why. But he knew Henry wouldn’t have invited him if Emma hadn’t agreed to it. She wanted to make things back to the way they were before and so did he.
“All right,” he said with a grin. “Let’s go set up for Christmas.”
When they opened the door, the first thing they heard was screaming. Killian, all too acquainted with the sound of Emma’s screams from the torture he’d received in the Underworld, went sprinting up the stairs to the bedroom.
Opening the door to the bedroom, he saw Emma fast asleep, screaming and thrashing. “No, no! Killian!” she screamed, and his heart broke. He sat beside her, not wanting to touch her. Her beautiful face was twisted up in pain. “Give him back, please! I need to save him!”
“Emma, Emma, open your eyes,” Killian coaxed gently. “I’m right here, love. You saved me…it’s okay. You’re safe. Everyone’s safe, Emma, love.” Is this what I’ve been missing when I haven’t been sleeping here? Oh, Emma, why didn’t you say something? “Wake up, love. I’m right here. I haven’t left you.”
Emma gasped and her eyes fluttered open. “Killian?” she croaked out, her voice hoarse from screaming. “Is that…are you…?”
“Aye,” Killian said in a trembling voice. “Can I sit up on the bed?” She nodded, and he did. Once he was seated, and she all but threw herself into his arms, burying her face into his neck. His hand found the back of her head and cradled her close. “Do you have these every time you fall asleep?” he asked into her hair. She nodded, clinging to him with trembling hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to think that I was being selfish or weak,” Emma mumbled, closing her eyes. “You were in the Underworld. Tortured. Because I put you there.”
“Emma, I don’t expect you to have known where I was going to end up when you took the darkness out of me,” Killian said softly.
“I know,” she sighed. “But the fact still remains…you went to the Underworld because of me.”
“You’re having night terrors because of me,” Killian countered, like he wasn’t experiencing night terrors of his own on the Jolly Roger.
Emma’s eyes were full of sadness. “I didn’t want you to blame yourself for it either. And we…we still haven’t talked about what happened as Dark Ones, because we need to. We both said—and did things—to each other that were awful. And I thought—I still think—that once you found out about this…” She sighed, greedily pressing in closer to his comfort and care.
“When I found out,” he prompted gently after a few moments of blissful silence.
“You’d stay because you felt obligated,” she admitted, looking down. “That you’d feel obligated to me because I was having a rough time of it.”
“You’ve got to stop making assumptions about what I do and don’t want,” Killian replied, but there wasn’t much bite to it. “I would never feel obligated to you, Emma. I would hope you wouldn’t feel obligated to me for the same reason.”
“You get them too?” Emma asked softly, looking up at up at him. She grimaced. “I wish you had told me. But I should’ve told you too.” She hesitantly reached up to stroke her cheek. “I love you,” she said softly.
“Isn’t that my line?” he murmured, leaning into her touch. “I love you too, Emma. So much.” Emma kissed him gently, and the tension in both their postures unwound, as if a piece of their soul suddenly slid back into place.
“Everything okay now?” Henry asked, with tears in his eyes. Emma and Killian opened their arms to him and the boy cuddled in close for a moment. “Can we set up for Christmas now? I was serious when I wanted to set up Christmas for you guys.”
As they put up tinsel and wreaths, bows and ornaments, the three of them talked about what happened during the time of the Dark Ones. There were tears, anger and apologies strewn throughout the night, but by the time the house was all set up Emma, Henry and Killian were smiling brightly.
When everyone climbed into bed on Christmas Eve night, all was quiet through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Not even Emma nor Killian, who were both sound asleep. And Henry knew that his family had hope to keep.
The lights shone bright in the tree, colorful enough for all the neighbors to see. Tinsel danced along the banister with care, and bows added on for extra flair. Three empty plates rested in the sink, with three empty glasses that had been filled with drink. Snow fell from the sky, while parents told their children of reindeer who could fly. And perhaps in this little town in Maine, Saint Nicholas would come again.
Though to the three inside, no gifts from Santa would compare. Something new had come forth when as they hung their stockings with care. After all, the Swan, the Mills and the Jones had finally made a home to lay their bones.
Though dark had held fast, true love had shown that darkness never would last.
Operation Silent Night had been a success, and now they could finally get some rest.
