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Emma looked pale under the flickering blue light coming from the television screen as it continued to play the programme she played before drifting to sleep. Killian slowly and gently removed the clicker from Emma’s grasp, holding his breath to keep his hand steady. Once he’d freed the device, he lowered the volume so she could continue resting. His attention strayed quickly from the absurd antics of the people on the screen to the stunning woman lying in his lap.
Sleep had relaxed her features into an expression that made her look younger, almost childish. He marvelled, once again, that he was the man with whom she had chosen to share quiet moments like this one. Even after a few years of marriage, he was still astounded that he had somehow earned the honour of her trust and was permitted access to the achingly beautiful vulnerabilities his swan kept tucked away. The way she softened so completely in her sleep, the way she always curled onto her left side once she’d fallen asleep and the sigh she made once she finally crossed into the lands of Morpheus were tightly guarded secrets shared with no other living soul.
Her face scrunched up tight and she mumbled lowly in her sleep. Killian smoothed the crease that was deepening between her eyebrows. “I’m here, love. You’re safe,” he spoke lowly, more of a rumble in his chest, trying to ease the concern on her features without waking her.
“Don’t go,” she whimpered. Killian froze, his heart breaking at the pain and loss that even sleep could not keep from her voice.
“Killian?” Her pleas tore his heart into more pieces, “No, please, Killian.”
“Love, I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured into her ear. He begged the universe, the gods, Morpheus - if he were real, to let her hear his words, to allow her that small comfort.
When she cried out again, he decided that he could not allow this to continue any longer. He hauled her up so that she was resting on his chest and gently nudged her with the curve of his hook until her eyes slowly cracked open. Her gaze was unfocused, the dream still playing behind them.
“You were dreaming, love.”
“I lost you. You were swallowed by the storm.” Her voice was quiet and woven with sleep and the desperation left by her nightmare. He rubbed his thumb soothingly along her cheek, lifting her head gently to catch her gaze.
“Emma, love, I am a better captain than that,” he reassured her gently with a crooked smile on his lips. Emma nodded, but her features were still haunted by whatever awful images her mind had conjured in her sleep. “I’ve faced many a storm and outrun curses,” he added as evidence to his previous claim.
“I know,” she sighed and rested her head heavily on his chest. “I know,” she said again but it sounded like she actually believed her words this time. She nestled into his chest and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.
“If a storm ever did pull us apart, I would find my way back to you. Your presence tugs at my heart with more clarity than even the stars can match. Nothing could keep me from you. I would crawl back to you, Swan, if I were unable to walk. I would not rest until you were back in my arms.
“If you wished it, I would find a way to join you in your dreams and keep you safe even there. Don’t you know? There is nothing I would not do for you, Swan. No place that I would not go. No torment that I would not endure.”
Her sweet sigh drifted up to him moments later as she returned to the shores of the dreaming.
He pressed a kiss onto her temple. “Sweet dreams, my love. I’ll keep the nightmares away.”