On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…A Pirate in a Pine Tree

"You know, Swan, the concepts of Christmas and gift giving make sense to me, but I still do not understand the need for a bloody tree that leaves its needles all over the living room."

Emma laughed and patted Killian's arm. "Killian, it's just what you do. You get a tree for Christmas and decorate it with ornaments, and you put the star on the very top and all of the presents go under. It's tradition."

"You're not the one carrying this wretched thing," Killian grumbled, shifting the tree he was carrying so that it wouldn't put as much of a burden on his shoulder. It was the smallest tree they could find in the lot, but Emma guessed that it would barely fit through their apartment door. Normally she would have tried to magically shrink it, but her magic had been going haywire lately and she wanted to have a nice, intact tree for their first Christmas together.

"We're almost home," Emma said, rolling her eyes at Killian's woe is me expression. As much as he complained, Emma knew that he was excited to turn their apartment into a winter wonderland. When they had gone shopping for decorations, Emma's plan was to grab a variety pack of ornaments and tinsel and call it good, but Killian had other ideas. He had spent nearly an hour looking at all of the choices the store had to offer, and had put two more packages of ornaments in the basket.

Emma had never liked Christmas growing up. When she was in a foster home, she could never really expect a present, and most of the time she didn't stick around long enough to spend Christmas with the family anyway. The only time she could remember enjoying Christmas was when she was three and with the Swan family. They had given her a teddy bear and a coloring book and multiple hugs throughout the day, and it was more than she could have ever asked for. For years, though, Emma disliked Christmas as much as she disliked her birthday. Those occasions were only reminders that she was alone in the world. She had fake memories of spending every single Christmas with Henry, and while she treasured those, she wanted to have real, good memories of the holiday.

Her first memory would be of her pirate with his head in the pine tree.

Emma couldn't help but snort when the tree rolled a little, Killian's head getting caught in between two branches. She managed to snap a picture of him in that position with her phone (she'd have to send it to David later) before he freed himself, looking highly offended as she continued to laugh.

"I didn't know my suffering was so amusing to you," Killian sniffed, and tried to look dignified despite all of the pine needles scattered in his hair.

"Sorry," Emma said, grinning at him as she unlocked the door to their apartment. "I'll make it up to you later." She reached up and pressed a kiss to Killian's nose, holding the door open for him so he could go through with the tree.

"I've no doubt you will," Killian replied, looking back at Emma with a smirk that she matched as she closed the door behind her.