I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (CaptainSwan) ON HOLD

3~ An Exhilarating Reunion

Emma's POV

A year. It had been a year since I'd had that strange encounter with the so called 'Santa Claus' And I still wasn't sure if it had all been just a dream. But yet the whole thing was still fresh on my mind. He was still fresh on my mind. Every time I closed my eyes I could see his. Bright blue and filled with a determination I'd only ever seen in her own. That's what scared me the most. The fact that I felt more connected with a strange intruder than I ever had with anyone made me shutter. What kind of demon was he? What kind of allure did he posses that was strong enough for me to be sitting now, in my pajamas on Christmas Eve, waiting to see if he would come back. "This is crazy." I finally concluded after sitting in the dark room for far too long. I turned my phone on, seeing that the time was 2:00 AM. Tomorrow Henry would be jumping on my bed at the first light of day, screaming 'it's Christmas, It's Christmas!' On repeat until I conceded and went downstairs to open presents. It went like that every year. And if I was to be in the least prepared for it, I'd need at least a little sleep. Reluctantly, I pulled myself up from the chair and slumped up the stairs. My bed had never felt as comfortable as it did in this moment and I'm sure it would never be this comfortable again. But right now, enveloped in the darkness and overcome by sleepiness, it felt like heaven. "I guess you were a dream after all, Santa Claus." As soon the last word slipped off my tongue, my eyes fell shut. "Well they do say dreams come true, love." I shot up in my bed, "Killian?" That familiar dark chuckle filled the room and I could suddenly make out the edges of his face as he drawled closer. "Aye, that's right," He whispered back smugly, "Did you miss me?" The question threw me off more than I liked. Because in some strange way I did miss him. He'd intrigued me, left me curious. The way he spoke, the way he'd disappeared in a cloud of what could only be described as magic, the way he kissed me. I wanted to hear more, know more, feel more. But I was Emma Swan... and I didn't show what I felt. "No," I stated firmly, "You've broken into my house twice. So no, I didn't miss you." "Swan, Swan, Swan. There's no point in lying," He reached out his hand and stroked my cheek gently, "You don't want to end up on the naughty list, do you?" His accent got thicker with each word, sending shivers down my spine. Why'd he have to do that? If there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was being thrown off my game. Of course that had to he what he enjoyed doing the most. "I am not lying." An irritating smile spread across his face and he shook his head, "Right, of course. You were obviously just sitting in your living room waiting hours for absolutely nothing. My bad." My eyes went wide. "You... saw that?" "I told you darling," He paused for a moment, examining me with prying eyes, "I see all." Something about the way he said it main my stomach turn. I felt as though he could see everything I was thinking, know everything about me with just a glance and no one I'd ever met before, not even my own son, could do that. "What are you?" I asked finally. It had always been who until now. But this was no normal human. He was something else entirely. And I had the strangest feeling that who wasn't a pronoun that applied to him. He clasped my hand and pulled me out of bed, "Come with me and I'll show you." Don't do it Emma. This is all wrong. My conscience screamed at me over and over but in the end, curiosity won. "Okay." As soon as he'd heard the words he pulled me into him and surrounded us both with the same cloud of red that he'd disappeared into a year ago. It was weird inside of the magic. It seemed to... consume me. And the scary thing was that I liked it. The feeling of power and adrenaline pumping through my veins made me feel more alive than I'd ever thought possible. I didn't want it to go away but, eventually, it did and we were no longer in my room but on what looked like the deck of a ship. "Where are we?" I asked him, stumbling clumsily out of his grasp. "Welcome to Santa's Sleigh, love. Or as I like to call it," He grinned, spreading his arms proudly, "The Jolly Roger." It was now that I realized I was in fact on a ship. But it wasn't where you'd normally expect a ship to be, it was flying. "What the h:::?!" I screamed, looking out over the edge of the vessel. "I thought you might say that. And that's not even the best of it all." And oh was he telling the truth. He took me all around the world, stopping occasionally to let me stare in amazement at landmarks. By the end of the night my mind was filled with more wonder than I ever imagined. Men always seem to promise you the world but it's not often that they actually give it to you. He showed me everything I've ever dreamed of seeing, let me experience things I always thought were impossible and yet at the end of it all... the thing I was most interested in was still him. "So, Swan, what did you think?" "I think that that was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. Thank you." A devilish smirk appeared on his face, "Perhaps gratitude is in order now."  He whispered, tapping his lips with the tip of his finger. "Please, you couldn't handle it." I said it with as much confidence as I could gather, like I was turning him down simply because I wanted to. But the truth was that I really couldn't kiss him, let him get stuck in my head again and taunt me everyday. Always there but never close enough to touch... no, I had to cut it at the seams and let him and his effect on me crumble into the abyss. He inched forward, "Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it." My blood started to boil as the words rolled off his tongue. He had to go and challenge me. I grabbed onto the lapels of his jacket and pulled him into my lips with force. No one challenged me. The kiss was full of passion, even more than last year. No doubt from the longing we'd both been struggling with. And at this point I knew he'd felt it too. That irritating feeling in the pit of your stomach, the dreams of what it felt like to be in each other's embrace... he'd had them all. He made that all too clear in the way he kissed me back. "Oh, Emma." He whispered breathlessly once we'd pulled apart, his forehead still pressed against mine. My lips twitched into a smile, a real genuine one that, up until this point, I'd only gotten around Henry. But it faded almost as soon as it started because in the midst of the night, of the adventure, I'd forgotten about one very important detail of my life. "Graham," I pulled away from Killian, guilt suddenly overtaking me. "Who?" "Look, there's something-" I'd started to tell him the truth but he put his finger to my lips, 'shhh'ing me softly. "No," He said, a certain poison in his tone, "I know what you're going to say but, don't. I'm better than him. I can give you more than him." A sigh escaped my lips, "This isn't about who's better, Killian. It's about who I've committed to." There was a long pause after that, a moment in which all we did was stare at each other. And I felt like maybe he was the thinking the same thing as me... What if. That all too familiar question that everyone seems to face at some point in their life whether they're a human or an ageless enigma who calls himself Santa Claus. It's simply unavoidable. What if I had no commitments, what if he wasn't going to fly off into the darkness not to be seen for another 365 days. What if, what if, what if. But when it came down to it we both knew that all of those things were in fact in the way of whatever it was we had. And that's exactly why, in the end, I found myself sitting alone in my bed again, watching as he faded into the shadows, still thinking, "What if..."
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Writer's note:
Hmmmm what if? I think we're gonna find out what if;) On and unrelated note, I know you
guys are probably wondering why Killian has so suddenly changed his mind about seeing
Emma again but don't worry because it will be explained. The order of the chapters isn't always
going to match up with the order of the events. Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter soon. Xx